ArticlePublic health nutrition2021
Food insecurity, diet quality and body composition: data from the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) pilot survey in urban Soweto, South Africa.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Retention in theBMJ global health · 2025Trial
- The role of a community health worker-delivered preconception and pregnancy intervention in achieving a more positive pregnancy experience: the Bukhali trial in Soweto, South Africa.BMC women's health · 2024Trial
- Evaluating implementation of the FIGO Nutrition Checklist for preconception and pregnancy within the Bukhali trial in Soweto, South Africa.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2023Trial
- Building knowledge, optimising physical and mental health and setting up healthier life trajectories in South African women (BMJ open · 2022Trial
- "Motherhood is a work in progress": a qualitative longitudinal study of maternal subjectivity and well-being of women in the Bukhali trial in Soweto, South Africa.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Article
- Food insecurity impacts healthy lifestyle practices and medication adherence among persons with hypertension in Colombia and Jamaica: Findings from a cross-sectional study.Research square · 2025Article
- Black South Africans Who Migrate Away From Their Rural Homes and Their Chances of Having Abdominal Obesity.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Development and Validation of the South African Diet Quality Index for Pregnancy: The NuEMI Study.Food and nutrition bulletin · 2024Article
- Food insecurity and coping strategies associate with higher risk of anxiety and depression among South African households with children.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Dietary patterns and their socio-demographic correlates in the context of migration and urbanisation demonstrate nutrition transitions in South Africa.Global public health · 2024Article
- Evaluation of food insecurity and associated factors in women of childbearing age: A community-based study from Turkey.Food science & nutrition · 2024Article
- What values drive communities' nutrition priorities in a resource constrained urban area in South Africa?BMC public health · 2023Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study of the Associations between Biomarkers of Vitamin D, Iron Status, and Hemoglobin in South African Women of Reproductive Age: the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative, South Africa.Current developments in nutrition · 2023Article
- Development, Implementation, and Process Evaluation ofGlobal implementation research and applications · 2023Article
- Determinants of anaemia among women of reproductive age in South Africa: A Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI).PloS one · 2023Article
- Food insecurity, low dietary diversity and poor mental health among Syrian refugee mothers living in vulnerable areas of Greater Beirut, Lebanon.The British journal of nutrition · 2022Article
- Evaluation of a Text Messaging Intervention to Promote Preconception Micronutrient Supplement Use: Feasibility Study Nested in the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative Study in South Africa.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Relationships between adiposity distribution and metabolic health in preconception women in South Africa.Obesity science & practice · 2022Article
- Cross-sectional associations between mental health indicators and social vulnerability, with physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep in urban African young women.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether food security, diet diversity and diet quality are associated with anthropometric measurements and body composition among women of reproductive age. The association between food security and anaemia prevalence was also tested.
designSecondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) study. Food security and dietary data were collected by an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Hb levels were measured using a HemoCue, and anaemia was classified as an altitude-adjusted haemoglobin level < 12·5 g/dl. Body size and composition were assessed using anthropometry and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.
settingThe urban township of Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa.
participantsNon-pregnant women aged 18-25 years (n 1534).
resultsAlmost half of the women were overweight or obese (44 %), and 9 % were underweight. Almost a third of women were anaemic (30 %). The prevalence rates of anaemia and food insecurity were similar across BMI categories. Food insecure women had the least diverse diets, and food security was negatively associated with diet quality (food security category v. diet quality score: B = -0·35, 95 % CI -0·70, -0·01, P = 0·049). Significant univariate associations were observed between food security and total lean mass. However, there were no associations between food security and body size or composition variables in multivariate models.
conclusionsOur data indicate that food security is an important determinant of diet quality in this urban-poor, highly transitioned setting. Interventions to improve maternal and child nutrition should recognise both food security and the food environment as critical elements within their developmental phases.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.