Discovering the benefits of soybean: an informative half-day nutrition experience among low income women in Vaal region of South Africa

Abstract

In developing countries, women generate about 80% of food production and are in charge of cooking meals for their family. Despite their productivity and contribution in food production, they make up about 70% of the world’s impoverished population. In sub-Saharan Africa, women are more likely to face the triple burden of malnutrition when compared to males, and in South Africa, 42% of households were led by women in 2022. Soy is known for having the most complete nutritional characteristics among legumes capable of addressing the nutritional effects of malnutrition. Theory-based nutrition education is of extreme importance in areas where resources and healthcare personnel are scarce, as it empowers and provides people with knowledge, abilities, and motivation to adopt a healthier diet. When combined with a varied diet, soy consumption has advantages in addressing the adverse effects of malnutrition. Thus, the objective of this study was to inform women in the Vaal region of South Africa about the health benefits of soy and how to prepare soy-based foods. To this end, a registered dietitian implemented a nutrition education intervention with selected participants, and a validated questionnaire was used before and after the intervention to collect participants’ data. Pretest and posttest data were analysed along with sociodemographic information. Over 50% of the women were unemployed, and when asked about their frequency of soy consumption, more than 65% reported never eating soy. Most of the participants (95%) met the minimum dietary diversity score. There was no statistically significant change in the overall perception, knowledge, or self-efficacy total scores after the intervention. However, statistically significant (p = < 0.001) correlations were found between pre total knowledge score and the dietary diversity score, pre knowledge and knowledge about foods containing soy, and knowledge and use of soy for human consumption (ρ = .441, ρ =.614, and ρ = 0.615, respectively). The only statistical significance (p < 0.001) when knowledge questions were analysed separately was found for the change score related to knowledge of the health benefits of soy. Surprisingly, despite these correlations, when asked if they use soy-based foods in their house, 63.3% of participants said they do not use them. This may be explained by the fact that 41.7% reported feeling neutral about (neither disliking or liking) or disliking (21.7%) the taste of soy.