Dietary transitions in African cities: Leveraging evidence for interventions and policy to prevent diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs)

Africa is experiencing rapid urbanisation partly driven by increasing migration of individuals to cities. Dietary habits are also changing with increasing consumption of unhealthy foods. Such changes have resulted in increasing levels of obesity in cities, with rates higher among women. Policy responses have been limited in success so far, and are mostly influenced by experiences in higher income countries. There is also a lower understanding of the factors that drive food consumption in Kenya, particularly the role that people's social networks and the neighbourhoods that individuals live in play in driving these relationships.
Objective: This project aims to explore the factors associated with people's food consumption and their food environments (where, when and with whom they eat) in Nairobi, Kenya.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study, employing a mixed methods approach to data collection and analyses, including a survey and anthropometric measurements, 24 hour dietary recall to collect information on participants' food consumption, photovoice and qualitative interviews to explore the social, economic, and physical factors influencing participants' food consumption, and spatial (GIS) data collection on the features of the participants' neighbourhoods that may influence food choices. The findings will be shared with experts and policy makers for discussions on designing effective strategies to improve dietary patterns and practices to tackle obesity and related non communicable diseases.