eajahme

Efforts to Address the Burden of Overweight and Obesity Among Children and Adolescents in Tanzania: Stakeholders' Perspectives on the Available Policies and Strategies

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction: Malnutrition affects all ages and accounts for 36% of the global disease burden. The World Health Organization (WHO) developed a plan to help governments address malnutrition through better policies and service delivery. In Tanzania, nearly 500,000 children are overweight or obese, especially among urban adolescent girls. However, the effectiveness of current policies on this issue is unclear. This study aims to explore stakeholders' perspectives on policies addressing childhood obesity and identify priorities for national action.

Methods: This cross-sectional exploratory qualitative study was conducted in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam regions. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select Key Informants. A total of 22 respondents were selected for interviews from within and outside the government sectors. Respondents were selected from among national government officials, representatives of United Nations agencies, academicians from institutions of higher learning, members of civil society organisations, professional associations, and personnel from mass media. A landscape analysis and thematic analysis were employed to analyse the collected data.

Results: The study highlights significant gaps in policies, legislation, and strategies addressing overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. Existing policies are outdated and focus more on being underweight than on being overweight, despite the latter being a major contributor to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Findings revealed a lack of accessible data, particularly for demographics beyond children and reproductive-age women, and a low level of awareness about the health effects of overweight and obesity. Key challenges included insufficient data systems and the prevalence of unhealthy diets.

Conclusion: The study calls for improved knowledge through interventions targeting all sectors and decision-making levels. It suggests incorporating overweight and obesity control into school curriculums, updating policies to include nutrition labelling, and regulating unhealthy food marketing to children. Creating an enabling environment for healthy food choices and physical activity is also essential. A multi-sectoral approach involving stakeholders is crucial for addressing these issues effectively.

Experiences of Providing Family Planning Services to Women with Disabilities Attending Public Health Facilities at Ubungo Municipal Council in Dar es Salaam Region: Healthcare Providers and Client Perspectives

Janethe Milasi, Emmy Metta — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Background: Women with disabilities suffer from limited access to and low utilization of family planning services. Our study assessed the experiences of providing family planning services to this population group from the perspectives of healthcare providers and clients, because the information on their experiences is generally lacking.

Methods: The study involved in-depth interviews, first with eight healthcare providers and, second, with six women with disabilities to understand their experiences with providing family planning services. The latter were follow-up interviews on issues described by the healthcare workers. The study used thematic analysis with the support of the Nvivo12 software.

Findings: Healthcare providers reported providing family planning information and education, and women with disabilities affirmed receiving education and advice on family planning options. However, healthcare providers experienced communication challenges with some women due to their limited skills in sign language use; they had to communicate loudly, use written and visual aids, or rely on a person who cared for the woman as an interpreter. Women with disabilities were prioritized for service provision. The choice and autonomy to decide on methods to use rested on the women themselves. The feeling of being stigmatized, discriminated against, and negatively perceived by the healthcare providers existed among the women. Health facilities lacked the basic amenities to support the inclusive provision of family planning services to women.

Conclusion: Healthcare providers provided information and education on family planning services to women to inform the choice of methods to use. The women felt stigmatized and discriminated by the healthcare providers and the facilities lacked the basic amenities to support women’s access and inclusive family planning services provision. There is a need to address these challenges and strengthen health facilities' responsiveness to women with disabilities family planning needs to boost their access to and inclusive utilization of quality sexual and reproductive health services

Keywords: women with disabilities, family planning, experiences, healthcare provider, inclusion

Bayesian Multilevel Modelling of Women’s Decision-Making Capacity on Intimate Partner Violence in Tanzania

Upendo Mlengu, Tukae Mbegalo, Justine Mbukwa — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction: Despite the focus on gender equality and women's empowerment in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) remains a significant issue in Tanzania, with 38% of women experiencing IPV. This poses a challenge to achieving SDG targets by 2030. The power imbalance in family decision-making is a major risk factor for IPV, yet the relationship between women's empowerment and IPV remains unclear. This study centres on addressing the question of how women's decision-making capacity influences IPV.

Methods: Bayesian Multilevel mixed effects generalized linear models were used to analyse the influence of women’s decision-making capacity on IPV using the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS) 2015/16.

Results: Compared to women not involved in decision-making, those who participated in household purchases exhibited a 13% (95% CI: 0.767, 0.978) lower likelihood of experiencing physical IPV. Similarly, women who decided on social visits were 7 % (95% CI: 0.873, 0.985) less likely to experience physical IPV. Women who decided on their health had a 15% (95% CI: 0.734, 0.979) lower risk of experiencing sexual violence. Women decision-making capacity on health was associated with a 10% (95% CI: 0.843, 0.951) reduction in emotional IPV. Women who decided on household purchase had a 26% (95% CI: 0.669, 0.820) lower risk of experiencing emotion IPV and 44% (95% CI: 0.473, 0.672) decrease in sexual IPV. Regional variations in IPV prevalence were also observed, with significant differences in physical (4.5%, BPOR - 0.045), sexual (9.7%, BPOR - 0.097), and emotional IPV (13.3%, BPOR - 0.133) odds at the regional level.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that improving awareness of women’s decision-making capacity is crucial. This is especially important because effective interventions in this field appear to face inherent challenges.