Publications by authors named "Mariah Ngutu"

Increased access to a variety of foods in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) has led to greater autonomy in food choice decision-making. Autonomy allows individuals to make decisions through negotiation of considerations in ways that are consistent with basic values. The aim of this study was to identify and describe how basic human values drive food choice in two diverse populations with transitioning food environments living in the neighboring East African countries of Kenya and Tanzania.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Consumption of unsafe foods increases morbidity and mortality and is currently an issue, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Policy actions to ensure food safety are dominated by mitigation of biological and chemical hazards through supply-side risk management, lessening the degree to which consumer perspectives of food safety are considered.

Objectives: This study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding, from vendor and consumer perspectives, of how food-safety concerns of consumers translate into their subsequent food-choice behaviors in 6 diverse low- and middle-income countries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Small ruminant production facets like decision-making, ownership, labour allocation, access to- and control over assets are gendered. This study investigates intra-household gender dynamics and practices around sheep and goat production among smallholder farmers in South East region of Kenya. A quantitative study was conducted on 358 dual-headed (married) households to generate gender-disaggregated data on ownership, decision-making and labour allocation around small ruminant production.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Gender shapes household decision-making and access for nutritious diets, including animal source foods (ASFs) that impact on child health and nutrition status. However, research shows that the poorest households in the urban informal settlements of Nairobi have low ASFs consumption. This study was conducted to explore further from a qualitative perspective the gender, sociocultural factors affecting household ASF consumption this study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Animal-source foods (ASFs) are high-quality nutrient-dense products key to reducing stunting and micronutrient deficiencies. However, their consumption among the poorest households in urban informal settlements is low. Several drivers beyond price, including health considerations have been reported to drive ASF choice and consumption among consumers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In spite of access to behavioral and biomedical HIV prevention strategies, HIV transmission occurs. For HIV-serodiscordant couples, prevention programs can be tailored to address individual and couples' needs to preserve their relationship while minimizing HIV risk. Programs for serodiscordant couples may benefit from learning from experiences of couples who transmit HIV.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV-uninfected persons is highly efficacious for HIV prevention. Understanding how people at risk for HIV will use PrEP is important to inform PrEP scale-up and implementation. We used qualitative methods to gather insights into couples' early experiences with PrEP use within the Partners Demonstration Project, an open-label implementation study evaluating integrated delivery of PrEP and antiretroviral therapy (ART).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cervical cancer is the most frequent cancer among women aged between 15 years and 44 years in Kenya, resulting in an estimated 4,802 women being diagnosed with cervical cancer and 2,451 dying from the disease annually. It is often detected at its advanced invasive stages, resulting in a protracted illness upon diagnosis. This qualitative study looked at the illness trajectories of women living with cervical cancer enrolled for follow-up care at Kenyatta National Hospital cancer treatment center and the Nairobi Hospice, both in Nairobi county, Kenya.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF