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Assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable Lebanese during a double crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the nutritional content and quality of food parcels distributed in Lebanon and assess their adherence to dietary guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study (June–July 2020); phone survey (thirty...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Cambridge University Press
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10346028/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36779273 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1368980023000241 |
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author | Mattar, Lama Hassan, Hussein Kalash, Nour Malli, Dana Diab-El-Harake, Marwa Nassour, Sahar Jomaa, Lamis |
author_facet | Mattar, Lama Hassan, Hussein Kalash, Nour Malli, Dana Diab-El-Harake, Marwa Nassour, Sahar Jomaa, Lamis |
author_sort | Mattar, Lama |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the nutritional content and quality of food parcels distributed in Lebanon and assess their adherence to dietary guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study (June–July 2020); phone survey (thirty items). SETTING: Lebanon. PARTICIPANTS: Food parcel providers (FPP; n 72) involved in food parcel distribution (FPD), mainly to Lebanese households. RESULTS: FPP included international non-governmental organizations (INGO) (n 3), local non-governmental organizations (n 45) and personal initiatives (n 24). Overall, low adherence to the World Food Programme (WFP) food parcel guidelines were observed among FPP for specific food items, including vegetables, fish, legumes and cereals, whereas salt content significantly surpassed the guidelines (all P-values <0·001). On average, a food parcel provided 608·4 ± 55 kcal/d/person. The greatest contributors to total energy intake (TE) in the food parcel were carbohydrates (46·4 %) and fats (46·8 %), while protein contributed to 7 %TE. In addition, %TE from fats and sugars significantly surpassed the dietary reference intakes (DRI) for a single person per d (134–234 % and 185 % of DRI, respectively, P-values <0·001). Only 10–15 % of daily needs for key micronutrients, including Fe, Zn, thiamin, riboflavin and dietary folate, were met through the food parcels. Adequate food safety and hygiene practices were reported among FPP, yet dramatic changes in food costs due to overlapping crises affected the quality and quantity of food in parcels. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the need to improve the nutritional content of food parcels and adherence to dietary guidelines to alleviate food and nutrition insecurity while preventing diet-related diseases among vulnerable beneficiaries in Lebanon. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10346028 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Cambridge University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-103460282023-08-29 Assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable Lebanese during a double crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown Mattar, Lama Hassan, Hussein Kalash, Nour Malli, Dana Diab-El-Harake, Marwa Nassour, Sahar Jomaa, Lamis Public Health Nutr Research Paper OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the nutritional content and quality of food parcels distributed in Lebanon and assess their adherence to dietary guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study (June–July 2020); phone survey (thirty items). SETTING: Lebanon. PARTICIPANTS: Food parcel providers (FPP; n 72) involved in food parcel distribution (FPD), mainly to Lebanese households. RESULTS: FPP included international non-governmental organizations (INGO) (n 3), local non-governmental organizations (n 45) and personal initiatives (n 24). Overall, low adherence to the World Food Programme (WFP) food parcel guidelines were observed among FPP for specific food items, including vegetables, fish, legumes and cereals, whereas salt content significantly surpassed the guidelines (all P-values <0·001). On average, a food parcel provided 608·4 ± 55 kcal/d/person. The greatest contributors to total energy intake (TE) in the food parcel were carbohydrates (46·4 %) and fats (46·8 %), while protein contributed to 7 %TE. In addition, %TE from fats and sugars significantly surpassed the dietary reference intakes (DRI) for a single person per d (134–234 % and 185 % of DRI, respectively, P-values <0·001). Only 10–15 % of daily needs for key micronutrients, including Fe, Zn, thiamin, riboflavin and dietary folate, were met through the food parcels. Adequate food safety and hygiene practices were reported among FPP, yet dramatic changes in food costs due to overlapping crises affected the quality and quantity of food in parcels. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the need to improve the nutritional content of food parcels and adherence to dietary guidelines to alleviate food and nutrition insecurity while preventing diet-related diseases among vulnerable beneficiaries in Lebanon. Cambridge University Press 2023-06 2023-02-13 /pmc/articles/PMC10346028/ /pubmed/36779273 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1368980023000241 Text en © The Authors 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Research Paper Mattar, Lama Hassan, Hussein Kalash, Nour Malli, Dana Diab-El-Harake, Marwa Nassour, Sahar Jomaa, Lamis Assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable Lebanese during a double crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown |
title | Assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable Lebanese during a double crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown |
title_full | Assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable Lebanese during a double crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown |
title_fullStr | Assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable Lebanese during a double crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown |
title_full_unstemmed | Assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable Lebanese during a double crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown |
title_short | Assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable Lebanese during a double crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown |
title_sort | assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable lebanese during a double crisis: covid-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown |
topic | Research Paper |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10346028/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36779273 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1368980023000241 |
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