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The determinants of dietary diversity and nutrition: ethnonutrition knowledge of local people in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, April 2017
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • Among the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#45 of 792)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (89th percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (66th percentile)

Mentioned by

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1 news outlet
twitter
14 X users
googleplus
2 Google+ users

Citations

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63 Dimensions

Readers on

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322 Mendeley
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Title
The determinants of dietary diversity and nutrition: ethnonutrition knowledge of local people in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania
Published in
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, April 2017
DOI 10.1186/s13002-017-0150-2
Pubmed ID
Authors

Bronwen Powell, Rachel Bezner Kerr, Sera L. Young, Timothy Johns

Abstract

Diet and nutrition-related behaviours are embedded in cultural and environmental contexts: adoption of new knowledge depends on how easily it can be integrated into existing knowledge systems. As dietary diversity promotion becomes an increasingly common component of nutrition education, understanding local nutrition knowledge systems and local concepts about dietary diversity is essential to formulate efficient messages. This paper draws on in-depth qualitative ethnographic research conducted in small-scale agricultural communities in Tanzania. Data were collected using interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation in the East Usambara Mountains, an area that is home primarily to the Shambaa and Bondei ethnic groups, but has a long history of ethnic diversity and ethnic intermixing. The data showed a high degree of consensus among participants who reported that dietary diversity is important because it maintains and enhances appetite across days, months and seasons. Local people reported that sufficient cash resources, agrobiodiversity, heterogeneity within the landscape, and livelihood diversity all supported their ability to consume a varied diet and achieve good nutritional status. Other variables affecting diet and dietary diversity included seasonality, household size, and gender. The results suggest that dietary diversity was perceived as something all people, both rich and poor, could achieve. There was significant overlap between local and scientific understandings of dietary diversity, suggesting that novel information on the importance of dietary diversity promoted through education will likely be easily integrated into the existing knowledge systems.

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X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 14 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 322 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 322 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 68 21%
Student > Bachelor 35 11%
Student > Ph. D. Student 27 8%
Researcher 25 8%
Student > Doctoral Student 15 5%
Other 39 12%
Unknown 113 35%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Nursing and Health Professions 49 15%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 48 15%
Social Sciences 23 7%
Medicine and Dentistry 22 7%
Environmental Science 16 5%
Other 45 14%
Unknown 119 37%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 21. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 November 2023.
All research outputs
#1,823,684
of 25,983,475 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
#45
of 792 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#33,428
of 327,354 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
#2
of 6 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,983,475 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 92nd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 792 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 327,354 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 6 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 4 of them.