Catherine T. Ndagire’s research while affiliated with Makerere University and other places

Inaccurate weight perceptions (body image distortion) and body image dissatisfaction among children and adolescents may lead to unhealthy weight control practices, increasing the risk of adult obesity and related health issues. This study aimed to assess weight perception, body image distortion, dissatisfaction, their associated factors, and how these influences affect the nutritional status of children and adolescents attending schools in Kampala District, Uganda. The cross-sectional survey included 1,043 children and adolescents (aged 8–19 years) attending primary and secondary schools in Kampala. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data on self-reported weight perception and preference. Overall, 17.74% of participants underestimated, 67.98% accurately estimated, and 14.28% overestimated their weight status. There was only fair agreement between participants’ actual and perceived weight status, as indicated by a kappa coefficient of 0.21. A significant proportion of participants (32.02%) exhibited body image distortion. The highest levels of dissatisfaction were found among: individuals classified as grade 3 thinness based on BMI, perception, and preference; children aged 10–14 attending primary schools; and females. Normal weight status was the most preferred, while grade 3 thinness was the least preferred weight category. More children (14.46%) than adolescents (9.95%) preferred being obese, and more females (15.29%) than males (8.06%) preferred being thin. Factors such as actual, perceived, and preferred weight status, age, gender, and education level were found to influence weight perception, weight preference, and body image distortion and dissatisfaction. These factors should be considered when designing interventions to prevent and manage childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity.

Insects are potential ingredients for animal feed and human food. Their suitability may be influenced by species and nutritional value. This study was aimed at determining the nutritional profile of four insects: Dipterans; black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens Linnaeus) family stratiomyidae and blue calliphora flies (Calliphora vomitoria Linnaeus) family Calliphoridae; and orthopterans; crickets (Acheta domesticus Linnaeus) family Gryllidae and grasshoppers (Ruspolia nitidula Linnaeus) family Tettigoniidae to establish their potential as alternative protein sources for animals (fish and poultry) and humans. Gross energy, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, carbohydrates, and total ash were in the ranges of 2028.11-2551.61 kJ/100 g, 44.31-64.90, 0.61-46.29, 5.075-16.61, 3.43-12.27, and 3.23-8.74 g/100 g, respectively. Hermetia illucens had the highest energy and ash content; C. vomitoria were highest in protein and fiber content, R. nitidula were highest in fat, whereas A. domesticus had the highest carbohydrate content. All insects had essential amino acids required for poultry, fish, and human nutrition. The arginine to lysine ratios of H. illucens, C. vomitoria, A. domesticus, and R. nitidula were 1.45, 1.06, 1.06, and 1.45, respectively. The fatty acids comprised of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and saturated fatty acids (SFAs). Palmitic acid (23.6-38.8 g/100 g of total fat) was the most abundant SFA, exception R. nitidula with 14 g/100 g stearic acid. Linoleic acid (190-1,723 mg/100 g) and linolenic acid (650-1,903 mg/100 g) were the most abundant PUFAs. Only C. vomitoria had docosahexaenoic acid. The study indicates that the insects studied are rich in crude protein and other nutrients and can potentially be used for human and animal (fish and poultry) feeding. Keywords: black soldier fly; blue calliphora fly; cricket; insect; nutritional value

Introduction Fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and participation in leisure‐time physical activity (PA) and in sedentary behavior in accordance with the recommendations are met in a minority of populations including children and adolescents. Objective To describe the frequency of FV intake, leisure‐time PA, and sedentary behavior, assess compliance with international recommendations, and how selected factors are associated with these recommendations. Methods The FV consumption and PA questionnaire items previously assessed for reliability in a Ugandan setting were used to gather information about FV consumption, PA, and sedentary behavior among 621 children and adolescents attending schools in Kampala Uganda. The results of FV consumption and PA were categorized as adequate or inadequate while sedentary behavior was categorized as adequate or excess. The relationship between FV consumption, PA, and sedentary behavior with selected independent variables was verified by chi‐square test statistic. Results Half of the participants (50%) reported inadequate fruit consumption, and 76% of them reported inadequate vegetable consumption. More children (68%) than young adolescents (52%) and older adolescents (44%) met their daily recommendation for fruit consumption. A similar trend was observed for vegetable consumption. Adequacy of FV intake was significantly associated with participant's age, level of education, school ownership, and type of school. Less of 8‐ to 17‐year‐olds (14%) than 18 years and above olds (41%) met their weekly recommendation for leisure‐time PA. Majority of participants (54%) participated in acceptable levels of sedentary behaviors. Leisure‐time PA was significantly associated with age category and school ownership while sedentary behavior was significantly associated with participant's age and education level. Conclusions The intake of FV and participation in leisure‐time PA was not adequate in the study population. A significant proportion of participants engaged in excess sedentary behavior. Developing and implementing strategies to increase FV intake and PA among children and adolescents in schools should be a national priority.

Background and aims: Body composition is important as a marker of both current and future health status. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a simple and accurate method for estimating body composition in field, clinical and research settings, if standard protocol procedures are followed. However, BIA requires population-specific equations since applicability of existing equations to diverse populations has been questioned. This study aimed to derive predictive equations for Total Body Water (TBW), Fat Free Mass (FFM) and Fat Mass (FM) determinations with BIA and anthropometric measurements in a population of children and adolescents aged 8-19 years in Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 203 children and adolescents aged 8-19 years attending schools in Kampala district (also referred to as Kampala city since the city is conterminous with the district), Uganda through a two-stage cluster sample design. Deuterium dilution method (DDM) was used as the reference measure while BIA and anthropometric measures were used to create the new body composition prediction equations through multivariate regression. Results: The new prediction equations explained 88%, 87% and 71% of the variance in TBW, FFM % and of FM respectively with no statistical shrinkage upon cross-validation. The linear regression models proposed in this study were well adjusted with respect to TBW, FFM and FM. Log of TBW obtained by DDM = 0.0129 × Impedance index + 0.0055 × Age + 0.0049 Waist Circumference + 0.1219Ht2 + 2.0388. Log of FFM obtained by DDM = 0.0197 × FFM obtained by BIA - 0.0181 sex code - 0.00055 × Impedance + 3.1761. Log of FM obtained by DDM = 0.0634 × FM obtained by BIA - 0.1881 sex code + 0.0252 × Weight + 0.5273. Conclusion: The use of these equations for more accurate body composition assessment may facilitate identification of effective intervention strategies to prevent or combat overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. They may also assist in treatment of conditions where more accurate information on body composition measures is required.

Background: Accurate measurement of body composition in children and adolescents is important as the quantities of fat and fat-free mass have implications for health risk. The objectives of the present study were: to determine the reliability of Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements and; compare the Fat Mass (FM), Fat Free Mass (FFM) and body fat percentage (%BF) values determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to those determined by deuterium dilution method (DDM) to identify correlations and agreement between the two methods. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 203 children and adolescents aged 8-19 years attending schools in Kampala city, Uganda. Pearson product-moment correlation at 5% significance level was considered for assessing correlations. Bland Altman analysis was used to examine the agreement between of FTIR measurements and between estimates by DDM and BIA.. Reliability of measurements was determined by Cronbach's alpha. Results: There was good agreement between the in vivo D2O saliva enrichment measurements at 3 and 4 h among the studied age groups based on Bland-Altman plots. Cronbach's alpha revealed that measurements of D2O saliva enrichment had very good reliability. For children and young adolescents, DDM and BIA gave similar estimates of FFM, FM, and %BF. Among older adolescents, BIA significantly over-estimated FFM and significantly under-estimated FM and %BF compared to estimates by DDM. The correlation between FFM, FM and %BF estimates by DDM and BIA was high and significant among young and older adolescents and for FFM among children. Conclusions: Reliability of the FTIR spectroscopy measurements was very good among the studied population. BIA is suitable for assessing body composition among children (8-9 years) and young adolescents (10-14 years) but not among older adolescents (15-19 years) in Uganda. The body composition measurements of older adolescents determined by DDM can be predicted using those provided by BIA using population-specific regression equations.

Efforts to promote sustainable production and processing of Ruspolia differens Serville (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) as a viable agribusiness model for enhancing food and nutrition security have gained momentum. However, the inexistence of rearing techniques adapted to this insect creates uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of up-scaling production. This study evaluated the effect of five temperatures (26, 28, 30, 32 and 34 °C) on egg development time, percentage hatchability and nymphal weight at hatching. It also evaluated the average weekly wet weight attained by R. differens and percentage survival during growth when reared at 30 °C on four different food plant diets. The diets composed of (1) star grass Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.; (2) wild millet Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn.; (3) guinea grass Panicum maximum Jacq.; and (4) a mixture of the three food plants. The highest hatchability (89.33±3.06%) was observed for egg clusters that were not detached from the leaf sheaths and incubated at 30 °C. At the same temperature, the hatchability of eggs detached from the leaf sheath was 43.33±4.16%. The wet nymphal weight at hatching varied significantly across the different incubation temperatures. For eggs that were not detached from the leaf sheath, it ranged between 3.12±1.20 mg at 30 °C to 4.15±0.98 mg at 34 °C, while for eggs that were detached, it ranged between 2.96±1.14 at 32 °C to 6.0±2.0 mg at 26 °C. The highest wet nymphal weight (586.4 mg) and growth rate (10.47 mg/day) of adult R. differens after 8 weeks was recorded on wild millet, followed by the mixture of the three food plants (553.7 mg; 9.9 mg/day). Food plants significantly influenced survival of nymphs, with C. dactylon and P. maximum associated with the highest survival rate (53.3%). These findings are central to upscaling R. differens production.

Protein-energy malnutrition is the most serious nutritional body depletion disorder among infants and young children in developing countries, attributable to inadequate energy and nutrient intake, partly due to high dietary bulk of weaning and infant foods. The gruels fed to children are typically of low nutrient and energy density due to the low flour incorporation rate required for drinking viscosity. The aim of this study was to develop a nutritious product, based on common dry beans and other grains, suitable for supplementary feeding. The optimal processing conditions for desired nutritional and sensory attributes were determined using Response Surface Methodology. For bean processing, soaking for 6, 15, or 24 h, germination for 24 or 48 h, and cooking under pressure for either 10 or 20 min were the independent variables. The processed bean flour's total polyphenol, phytic acid and protein content, the sensory acceptability of the bean-based composite porridge and its protein and starch digestibility were dependent variables. Based on product acceptability, antinutrients and protein content, as well as on protein and starch digestibility, the optimum processing conditions for the bean flour for infant and young child feeding were 24 h of soaking, 48 h of malting, and 19 min of steaming under pressure. These conditions resulted in a product with the highest desirability. The model equations developed can be used for predicting the quality of the bean flour and the bean-based composite porridge. Bean optimally processed and incorporated with grain amaranth and rice flours of a ratio of 40: 30: 30, respectively, resulted into flour with high energy, mineral, and nutrient density of the final porridge. The composite is well adaptable to preparation at rural community level. The use of these locally available grains and feasible processes could make a great contribution to nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries.