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It has been well documented that women and children in The Gambia are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. The combination of heavy labor demands on women and a weaning diet low in calories takes its toll on women and children during the pre-harvest lean season. In 1995, the Small-Scale Sesame Oil Production project introduced an inexpensive, manual technology for edible oil extraction, called the ram press, to women in The Gambia. The overall aim of the project was to improve household nutritional security through the adoption of the ram press by women sesame growers. A 13-month study was conducted to evaluate the success of the Small-Scale Sesame Oil Production project. The study involved 120 rural households: 40 households with access to motorized expeller technology (Expeller group) for sesame oil extraction, 37 households with access to manual ram press technology (Press group), and 43 households with access to both technologies (Combination group). Twenty-four hour recalls, food frequency data, anthropometric measurements, and production data were obtained at the baseline and at the post-harvest, peak sesame oil-pressing, and pre-harvest lean seasons. At the baseline, women in the Expeller group had higher mean intakes of kilocalories than those in the Press and Combination groups. After introduction of the ram press, the Press and Combination women reported consistently higher intakes of kilocalories than the Expeller women at all seasons, with the largest differences at the peak oil-pressing and pre-harvest lean seasons. At the baseline, the consumption of kilocalories for Expeller children was greater than that of the Combination and Press children. After introduction of the ram press, this trend was reversed and the intake of kilocalories for Combination and Press children was greater than that of Expeller children at all other seasons. The Expeller children exhibited a marked increase in weight-for-height z-scores at the peak oil-pressing season that decreased to near baseline levels thereafter. The Combination and Press children exhibited a steady increase in weight-for-height z-scores across seasons except for the pre-harvest lean season when their scores leveled off. These results indicate that women and children in households with access to ram press technology experience much less of a seasonal fluctuation in food consumption than those without ram press technology. Findings of this study also indicate that when women are given choices as to which technology is best for them, they will maximize their benefits from the available technologies. Master of Science

National studies indicate that older women have a suboptimal intake of calcium, and are not consuming the recommended daily servings of dairy foods. Three focus groups of 5-10 women were conducted to examine older women’s perceptions of dairy foods. Independent living, Caucasian women aged 65 and older were recruited from retirement communities in urban and rural areas of Virginia. Discussion questions addressed preferences for dairy foods, advantages and disadvantages of dairy foods, factors that influence dairy intake, and possibilities for product improvements. Focus group discussions were audio taped, transcribed by the facilitator, then checked for accuracy by a Virginia Tech graduate student using methods described by Krueger (1988). Both persons identified major and minor themes and organized quotations thematically. Analysis was independently conducted to verify correct interpretation of quotations. Results were reported in the following three broad themes: Positive and Negative Health Perceptions, Sensory Attributes, and External Influences. The predominant negative health perception was that many dairy foods are high in fat. Many women also associated dairy foods with cholesterol, sodium, and calories. One woman in each focus group reported that she experienced lactose intolerance. Participants believed dairy foods were a good source of calcium and other nutrients and were aware of osteoporosis and its relationship with calcium. However, calcium supplement use, particularly Tums®, was prevalent, and participants felt it was important in osteoporosis prevention. Women reported their physicians encouraged them to use calcium supplements and watch intake of dairy foods due to fat content. Women also reported receiving information from media sources such as health newsletters. Women wanted the food industry to recognize older adults as an important market. Many felt that dairy food packages, particularly cottage cheese and reduced-fat ice creams, were too large for a single person and resulted in spoilage and wasted money. Women found it difficult to locate and read expiration dates, and some expressed confusion over “Use By” and “Sell By” dates. Products, such as plastic milk cartons and zip-pack cheeses, were difficult for women with arthritic hands and diminished vision to open. Women’s comments suggested that they would be receptive to products and packaging designed and marketed to meet their needs. Appropriate recommendations are made to the dairy industry for the promotion and development of such dairy foods. Nutrition education programs for this population should continue to promote the use of low fat dairy foods and should emphasize other nutrients, such as Vitamin D and phosphorus, found in dairy foods. Master of Science

In this participatory action research study, an Empowerment Process Model (EPM) was tested for the development of feasible action plans that addressed the priority concerns and the implicit food and nutrition problems of village families within their current socio-economic and political context. The Visual Verification Survey (VVS) was used to test the EPM results and its usefulness with similar participants. An EPM with 24 village women and a VVS with 68 village women were purposefully sampled in two locations in Dominica, West Indies, along with key informant interviews with eleven agency leaders to identify, prioritize, and describe their perceptions of villagers' life problems, the root causes of the problems, and solutions. This community-based approach used participatory non-written activities and locally developed visual aids to empower Dominican women to develop feasible action plans: a sewing workshop, how to start a business workshop, coffee house project, and women's group. Thematic content analysis and participatory activities were used to identify the themes and "give voice" to the participants' perceptions of top prioritized life problems: unemployment and economic issues, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of educational services, and teenage pregnancy. When specifically asked, the women identified basic health, food, and nutrition concerns, such as a steady income to buy food, a variety of foods to maintain health, and an accessible, clean water supply. The study revealed substantial differences in the rankings between the EPM and VVS women. The differences may have been influenced by the women's educational level, family situation, and previous involvement in community activities and leadership roles. Similar top prioritized root causes associated with many life problems by the women included lack of educational services, facilities and qualified teachers; and girls exchanging sexual favors for money or possessions. Overall, key informants and the Dominican women participants had similar perceptions of prioritized life problems of typical Dominican families. The results of the research demonstrated the need for site-specific programs and assessments using participatory non-written activities to engage a variety of women and to satisfy their diverse needs and locations. To become effective and sustainable, nutrition programming should be integrated into overall life problems. Ph. D.

Thirty-two Antiguan women from a women's church group attended participatory group meetings to describe their priority health definitions, perceived health barriers, preferred health barrier solutions, and body size preferences and perceptions. Participants were 21-70 years old, and were divided into three age groups. Although 70% of the sample were either overweight or obese, weight issues received little priority as a health related factor. Instead, women under 30 defined health more in terms of personal appearance, and dietary inadequacy from lack of resources, with priority for mental and social health barriers, while those in their 30's were mainly concerned about barriers related to their mental and social well-being, and those ~ 40 years gave priority to dietary inadequacy and inactivity barriers related to chronic and general health factors. Although self-curing barrier solutions were most preferred~ religious and medical solutions were perceived as easier to attain. Using silhouettes, women under 30 frequently chose thinner ideals than those over 30, and perceived themselves as heavier than anthropometric measurements indicated, while those ≥40 years perceived themselves as lighter. Master of Science

The purpose of this research was to incorporate a potato product into bread as a partial replacement for wheat flour and to describe a collaborative process for the development of bread products in three Soviet communities. Six potato flake breads and six cooked-mashed potato breads, with and without added gluten, were evaluated in a pilot study. Consumer acceptance scores indicated no significant differences among the twelve bread products. Four bread products, 29% and 45% cooked-mashed potato breads without added gluten, 15% potato flake bread with added gluten, and a 100% wheat flour bread, were selected for objective measurements, descriptive sensory evaluation, and central location acceptance testing. The four breads were not significantly different in the objective measurements of standing height, percent protein and amino acid content The three potato breads had the highest moisture percent loss on day 1. Texture analysis indicated the 45% bread had the highest texture measurements from the day of baking through day 4. The control "rapid" bread had the lowest analysis of freshness measurements. Staling, as measured by differential scanning calorimetry, indicated the potato breads had significantly reduced staling rates when compared to 100% wheat flour bread. Eleven trained panelists judged ten characteristics of the control and potato breads. The panelists perceived the potato breads to be more moist than the control. The other sensory characteristics of the control and potato breads were judged as similar. Central location acceptance testing in Alaska and the Soviet Far East indicated that the potato breads were acceptable and consumers indicated they would buy the breads if they were available. Across all locations the locally purchased control bread was liked significantly less than the potato breads. A collaborative process was designed for development of food products in Soviet and Alaskan communities. Ph. D.

The purpose of the study was to describe the usefulness of 24-hour dietary information obtained from 42 children between the ages of 9 and 11 using a workbook type of recall method by comparing selected aspects to parental reported intakes and researcher's observations. The results indicated no significant differences between means of the parents' reports and the children's recalls for the 24-hour period for selected nutrients and cholesterol. However, the mean number of items recalled by the children in the breads, non-dairy beverages, condiments and fats/oils groups were significantly lower than the parent's reports indicating potential underreporting of these types of food items. For the lunch period, children reported significantly lower mean intakes for vitamin A and calcium than the researcher. Parents reported significantly higher mean calories for breads and fats/oils than the researcher while children reported significantly lower mean calories for condiments than the researcher. There were significantly lower mean number of items reported by the parents for entrees, vegetables and snacks/desserts when compared to the researcher's records. Children's recalls of the mean number of items for entrees, breads, dairy foods/beverages and condiments were significantly lower than the researcher's records. The meals and snacks in the study were not all observed by the parents. Analysis of school lunch, brown bag lunch, the before dinner snack and breakfast indicated differences for selected nutrients and cholesterol and the number of items by food group when comparing the parents' observed and unobserved reports to the children's recalls and researcher's records. There was a limited number of respondents reporting in various food groups. The results indicate the need for further research into the factors which affect parental reporting when observing or not observing children' s intake. Master of Science

The purpose of the research was to describe the relationship of nutrition/consumption to agricultural production and related areas in the diagnosis and preliminary design of project activities and to describe the contributions of a nutrition focus to problem identification, grouping and treatment selection compared with an agricultural focus. A multidisciplinary team integrated the nutrition/consumption perspective into the rapid community assessment for planning (RCAP) by incorporating topic areas, observational items and questions in each of five stages in the community diagnosis. Three problems in subsistence food production and consumption were among the top five priority problems. Differences in problems between the team and the community were attributed to differing perspectives. Compared with the agriculture RCAP, nutrition-related problems were reported only to a limited degree and their rankings were generally lower. Seasonality was a particularly important linkage, along with income, labor, enterprise mix and markets. Groups of farm families based mainly on farming system shared production-related but not nutrition-related characteristics. The household characteristics most useful for research domain subgroups were agroecology, produce disposal, resources and food and income gaps. Nutrition/consumption information enabled the team to plan separate research designs for groups of families with similar conditions. Production factors identified for investigation related to the priority problem of food crop production included crop protection, soil improvement, pest and disease control and overall plot design. Nutrition/ consumption aspects related to research trials included: selection of crops and varieties for filling food, income and nutrient gaps; and other nutrition-related areas of sanitation, labor and post-harvest storage, many of which were established based on nutrition information integrated into the RCAP. Areas for ex ante analysis included food preferences, sanitation and women's time conflicts. The nutrition focus contributed information important for problem identification, grouping and treatment selection. Master of Science