TABLE 2.
Top 10 ranked foods mothers said would help them or their child attain or maintain their preferred body size
| Rank | Mothers who want a smaller body size (N = 63) | Mothers who want the same or larger body size (N = 205) a | Mothers who want their child to have a smaller body size (N = 28) | Mothers who want their child to have the same or larger body size (N = 240) b | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | N (%) | Food | N (%) | Food | N (%) | Food | N (%) | |
| 1 | Green leafy vegetables | 20 (32) | Green leafy vegetables | 131 (64) | Porridge | 15 (54) | Porridge | 153 (64) |
| 2 | Less fats/oil | 19 (30) | Fruit | 108 (53) | Fruit, nsima, fizzy drinks | 10 (36) | Fruit | 113 (47) |
| 3 | Lemons | 15 (24) | Meat | 91 (44) | Maheu | 9 (32) | Milk | 94 (39) |
| 4 | Nsima | 13 (21) | Nsima | 75 (37) | Yogurt | 8 (29) | Nsima | 91 (38) |
| 5 | Fruit (not lemons) | 12 (19) | Milk | 68 (33) | Meat, green leafy vegetables | 7 (25) | Green leafy vegetables | 84 (35) |
| 6 | Lots of water, milk | 9 (14) | Fizzy drinks | 64 (31) | Groundnuts | 5 (18) | Meat | 67 (28) |
| 7 | Fish, meat | 8 (13) | Porridge | 56 (27) | Milk, rice | 4 (14) | Groundnuts | 65 (27) |
| 8 | Fizzy drinks, juice, food with bicarbonate of soda | 7 (11) | Beans | 49 (24) | Less fats/oil, juice | 3 (11) | Yogurt | 63 (26) |
| 9 | Less meat/lean meat | 6 (10) | Maheu | 40 (20) | Beans, potatoes, thobwa, margarine | 2 (7) | Fizzy drinks, maheu | 61 (25) |
| 10 | Beans, porridge, thobwa | 5 (8) | Groundnuts/groundnut flour | 39 (19) | ‐ | ‐ | Rice | 35 (15) |
Note: Porridge includes porridge made of maize, soya, maize and soya mixed or rice. Porridge containing soya was mentioned most often as facilitating weight gain, especially among children. Fruit includes bananas, pawpaws, mangoes, guavas, oranges, tangerines and apples. Lemons were mentioned only by women who wanted to have a smaller body size and were not counted in the fruit category. Meat includes beef, goat, pork and chicken. Yogurt includes liquid yogurt and thicker yogurt, both of which are usually sweetened and commonly fed to children. Groundnuts include plain or roasted groundnuts, groundnut flour and peanut butter. Nsima is stiff maize porridge, the staple food. Maheu is a sweetened mass‐produced maize drink. Thobwa is a fermented maize drink, often home‐produced.
Ninety‐two mothers wanted to maintain their body size; 113 mothers wanted to increase their body size.
Ninety‐one mothers wanted their child to maintain his or her body size; 149 mothers wanted their child to increase his or her body size.