Relaxed minds for healthier food choice at school: A field experiment in southern Mexico.

Stress leads to unhealthy food choices since the school-age stage. Yet, there is limited evidence particularly in low- and middle-income countries regarding the impact of stress-reduction strategies on school-age children's food choices. Such aspects were crucial during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated psychological distress and unhealthier food choices among children.

Food waste in primary schools: Evidence from peri-urban Viet Nam.

Schools are a major source of food waste and an important setting for achieving dietary improvements. Few studies explore the links between food waste and nutrition. This study measured individual plate waste of about 1700 primary school children in peri-urban Viet Nam, adding to evidence on school food waste in low- and middle-income countries.

Influence of poverty concerns on demand for healthier processed foods: A field experiment in Mexico City.

Living in poverty can present cognitive biases that exacerbate constraints to achieving healthier diets. Better diets could imply food choice upgrades within certain food categories, such as electing processed foods with an improved nutritional profile. This study evaluated the influence of monetary and health concerns on the willingness to pay (WTP) for healthier processed foods in a low-income section of Mexico City.

Changes in women's empowerment in the household, women's diet diversity, and their relationship against the background of COVID-19 in southern Bangladesh.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, associated public health measures, and people's reactions were projected to have caused job losses among women, a decline in women's empowerment and reduced women's diet diversity. Using a November 2020 telephone survey to re-interview adult female respondents of a November 2019 in-person survey, contrary to expectations we find that more women found than lost jobs, and women's diet diversity increased over the year partly marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. We did not find evidence of a decline in women's involvement in food purchase decisions, nor women's autonomy over use of household income.

Sweet or not: Using information and cognitive dissonance to nudge children toward healthier food choices.

In the interest of public health, it is important to nudge children toward healthier food choices (e.g., beverages with less added sugar).

Identifying effective message-framing techniques in behaviour change communication for healthy diets: An experimental study of promoting biofortified maize adoption in Ethiopia.

There is an increasing interest in using insights from behavioural economics and psychology to influence people's decisions. However, little is known as to how to leverage these insights to inform educational campaigns in the context of nutrition-sensitive agriculture. We help to fill this void by investigating the effect of framed messages (gain vs loss) in stimulating demand for nutritionally enhanced crops.

Consumer Nutrition Knowledge and Dietary Behavior in Urban Ethiopia: A Comprehensive Study.

This paper studies the association between nutrition knowledge and consumer dietary behavior using large survey data from 996 respondents in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We find that health was the most important factor in individuals' food choice. However, most consumers were found to have imperfect understanding of the link between food and health.

A qualitative exploration of the experiences of community health animation on malaria control in rural Malawi.

Background: While great strides have been achieved in fighting malaria through the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) strategy, the recent world malaria report shows an increase in malaria-related deaths compared to previous years. Malaria control tools are efficacious and effective in preventing the disease; however, the human behaviour aspect of the intervention strategies is weak due to heavy reliance on positive human health behaviour. The challenge lies in adoption of control interventions by the target population which, to an extent, may include access to prevention and treatment tools.