Browsing by Author "Mosha, Dominic"

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    Meals, Education, and Gardens for In-School Adolescents (MEGA): study protocol for a cluster randomised trial of an integrated adolescent nutrition intervention in Dodoma, Tanzania
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2022) Wang, Dongqing; Katalambula, Leonard Kamanga; Modest, Andrea R; Young, Tara; Ismail, Abbas; Mwanyika-Sando, Mary; Tinkasimile, Amani; Mosha, Dominic; Malero, Augustine; Vuai, Said; Fawzi, Wafaie W
    Introduction Secondary schools have the transformative potential to advance adolescent nutrition and provide a unique entry point for nutrition interventions to reach adolescents and their families and communities. Integrated school nutrition interventions offer promising pathways towards improving adolescent nutrition status, food security and building sustainable skill sets. Methods and analysis The Meals, Education, and Gardens for In-School Adolescents (MEGA) project aims to implement and evaluate an integrated, school-based nutrition intervention package among secondary schools in the Chamwino District of Dodoma, Tanzania. MEGA is a cluster-randomised controlled trial, including six public secondary schools assigned to three different arms. Two schools will receive the full intervention package, including school meals, school gardens, nutrition education and community workshops. Two schools will receive the partial intervention package, including the school garden, nutrition education and community workshops. Two schools will serve as the controls and will not receive any intervention. The intervention will be implemented for one academic year. Baseline and end-line quantitative data collection will include 750 adolescents and 750 parents. The domains of outcomes for adolescents will include haemoglobin concentrations, anthropometry, educational outcomes and knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding nutrition, agriculture and health. The domains of outcomes for parents will include knowledge, attitudes and practices of nutrition, agriculture and health. End-line focus group discussions will be conducted among selected adolescents, parents and teachers to assess the facilitators and barriers associated with the intervention. Ethics and dissemination. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (approval number: IRB20-1623), the Institutional Research Review Committee at the University of Dodoma (approval number: MA.84/261/02) and the Tanzania National Institute for Medical Research (approval number: NIMR/HO/R.8a/Vol. IX/3801). A manuscript with the research findings will be developed for publication.
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    School-based nutrition programs for adolescents in Dodoma, Tanzania: a situation analysis
    (SAGE, 2021) Rector, Collete; Afifa, Nadhira Nuraini; Gupta, Varun; Ismail, Abbas; Mosha, Dominic; Katalambula, Leonard K.; Vuai, Said; Young, Tara; Hemler, Elena C.; Wang, Dongqing; Fawzi, Wafaie W.
    Tanzania has a double burden of malnutrition, including a high prevalence of undernutrition and an increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents. Schools present a valuable opportunity to reach a large section of the country’s adolescent population with nutrition-oriented interventions. The objective of this study was to assess the current state of adolescent school nutrition interventions in Dodoma, Tanzania, with emphasis on 3 potential school-based nutrition interventions, school vegetable gardens, school meals, and education (on nutrition, agriculture, and water, sanitation, and hygiene). Focus group discussions were conducted with several regional and district-level governmental stakeholders, including health, education, and agricultural officers. Ten public secondary schools were visited, and interviews with school administrators, teachers, students, and parents were conducted. All stakeholders interviewed supported interventions to improve school-based nutrition, including school gardens, school feeding, and nutrition education. All 10 schools visited had some experience providing school meals, but parents’ contributions were essential for the program’s sustainability. Most schools visited had land available for a school garden program, but water availability could be challenging during certain times of the year. The teachers interviewed expressed that the curriculum on nutrition education was highly theoretical and did not allow students to practice the knowledge and skills they learned in the classroom. The current school-based approach to tackling the double burden of adolescent malnutrition in Dodoma is localized and ad hoc. To leverage the potential of schools as a platform for nutrition interventions, integrated and policy-mandated interventions are needed.