Characterization of dietary behavior and nutritional status of women in sedentary and pastoral environments in Niger

Food is a necessary response to the body's needs and also a highly socialized practice that exposes the consumer in making a choice in these behaviors. The objective of this work is to analyze the food behaviors in connection with the nutritional status of women in sedentary and pastoral households. To do this, a dietary survey of 845 households was conducted as part of this cross-sectional analytical study. Multiple linear regression was applied to see the relationship between dietary behaviors and the nutritional status of women. Thus, the results revealed that most (74.3%) of the households usually eat 3 meals a day and that breakfast (90.9%) and eating between meals (81.6%) are frequent. The results also show that 93.4% of households do not systematically add salt to ready-to-eat meals. On the other hand, 92.6% of the respondents do not take food supplements. However, the addition of chili to meals remains a reality in both sedentary and pastoral settings. In fact, more than half (65.2%) of urban households add pepper to their dish before and/or at the time of eating. On the other hand, low consumption of meat (78.2%), fish (86%), milk/dairy products (66.7%) and fruit/vegetables (76.3%) was recorded. Also, the frequency of consumption of fruit/vegetables (85%), milk/dairy products (74.1%) and the meat/fish/egg group (82.5%) was below the recommended norm. At the same time, the assessment of nutritional status shows that 70.4% of women have a normal nutritional status. Leanness is much more prevalent in rural (24.9%) and pastoral (12.5%) areas, while overweight (25.7%) and obesity (11.4%) are frequent in urban areas. Nevertheless, the dietary behavior of households influences the nutritional status of women. Indeed, this association is significant between the nutritional status of women and dietary behaviors such as, frequency of consumption of meat (Beta 0.327 and P-value 0.000) and oils (Beta 0.106 and P-value 0.007), number of meals taken by households (Beta 0.189 and P-value 0.011), fat (Beta 0.087 and P-value 0.027), meat (Beta 0.081 and P-value 0, 030) in household diets, household perceptions of quantity of food (Beta -0.163 and P-value 0.000), frequency of consumption of milk/dairy products (Beta -0.094 and P-value 0.015), the routine addition of chili peppers to dishes (Beta -0.078 and P-value 0.018), and the number of meals eaten at home (Beta -0.140 and P-value 0.045) by households. Dietary behavior is a key factor to consider in ensuring better nutrition for the population.