The Relationship Between Dietary Diversity Among Women of Reproductive Age and Agricultural Diversity in Rural Tanzania

摘要

Background: Agriculture can influence diets through consumption of home-produced foods orincreased purchasing power derived from sale of agricultural commodities.Objective: This article explores cross-sectional relationships between agricultural diversification anddietary diversity (a proxy for micronutrient adequacy) among women of reproductive age in ruralTanzania.Methods: Dietary diversity was measured using the women’s minimum dietary diversity score indicator. Data were analyzed from the baseline survey of a cluster randomized control trial in Rufiji,Tanzania. One woman of reproductive age was randomly surveyed from each eligible household,totaling 1006 individuals. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate the relationship between agricultural indicators and dietary diversity.Results: Median dietary diversity score for women was 3.00 (interquartile range: 2-3). Approximately73% of households grew at least 1 crop in the previous year. Women’s dietary diversity score waspositively associated with cropping diversity (P for trend ? .04), ownership of livestock (adjustedcoefficient: 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.08-0.44; P ? .005), cash crop production (adjustedcoefficient: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.03-0.41; P ? .02), and production of pulses (adjusted coefficient: 0.50; 95%CI: 0.27-0.74; P .0001) and other vegetables (adjusted coefficient: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.11-1.17; P ? .02).Conclusions: Average dietary diversity is well below the recommended 5 food groups per day, awidely used indicator of micronutrient adequacy. Since the majority of households participate in agriculture, the efforts to promote agricultural diversification and/or specialization and sale of agricultural goods may positively influence dietary diversity and associated health and nutrition outcomes.