Baseline insights into the food practices and needs of a South African resource-constrained community

Abstract

We report here on one phase of a broader research project that focused on the development, implementation and effect of a school-based health promotion intervention. We explored food-related practices and needs in a resource-constrained community, with the aim of developing and implementing a school-based health promotion intervention. The focus was on community practices regarding food choice, production, preparation and consumption. We followed an interpretivist qualitative approach and implemented a multiple case study design. We generated data with 45 primary school teachers (Grades 4–6) and 23 parents, sampled via criterion and snowball sampling techniques. In this article, we specifically report on the first phase of the broad research project, referring to the current food-related practices and associated needs of the participating community. We aim to contribute to the current understanding of food practices in resource-constrained contexts in South Africa, as a platform against which health promotion interventions can be designed and implemented. We argue for the importance of understanding the underlying reasons for food-related habits, when wanting to address unhealthy food and nutrition-related practices. This argument confirms the importance of tailor-made interventions that can be utilised to promote healthy eating habits in specific communities, against the background and importance of broader systems and holistic transformation that can support food security on a wider level. SIGNIFICANCE : Our findings highlight the specific food-related practices and needs of a resource-constrained community in South Africa. These findings can serve as baseline information to inform the development of health promotion interventions that can potentially contribute to sustainable food systems in South Africa. By grounding interventions in the expressed needs of communities, initiatives can be better tailored to local realities and more likely to support positive change. Moreover, if targeted at a specific community, interventions can encourage healthier dietary habits at ground level, thereby contributing to the broader efforts of supporting food and nutrition security goals in South Africa.