Use Of Nutrition Information By Providers Of Alternative Health Care In Tanzania: Case Study Of Dar Es Salaam

ABSTRACT

The public is exposed to all sorts of nutrition issues which they need to understand in order to reach the right decisions. The overall objective of the study was to assess nutrition information offered by providers of alternative health care to people with seemingly dietary-related problems. The study design was cross-sectional, in which a sample size of 375 clients and 75 practitioners were interviewed using a structured questionnaire as a tool to collect information. Snowball and convenience sampling techniques were employed to sample both practitioners and clients. A big proportion of clients (44.8%) and practitioners (54.7%) were in the age of 25 and 35 years. Sixty four percent of clients were females while 89.3% of practitioners were males. Most of the practitioners had medium levels of education (secondary school and post-secondary). Furthermore, more than two thirds of alternative health care providers (69.3%) were found to have not received any health/nutrition related qualification or training. They hardly involve nutrition experts in providing nutrition education to their clients (98.7%). Friends using word of mouth, was the most used source of nutrition information by the practitioners. The majority of the practitioners have very poor knowledge of nutrition science. For example, they were not aware of drugs-nutrient interactions (93.3%) or nutrient-nutrient interactions (92.0%). About 72% of practitioners recommend fruits to be eaten 30 minutes to 60minutes before or after a meal. 38.7% of practitioners advise their clients to eat vegetables and fruits only, or to avoid processed and fried foods. It was also revealed that posters and clients’ testimonies (54.7%) are the number one communication strategy used by practitioners. On the other hand, more than 80% of clients showed to be satisfied with the nutrition information provided while 16.3% were unsatisfied and perceived the nutrition information provided to be misleading and not specific in terms of food selection.