Diet profile, nutritional gaps and recommendations: A cross-sectional study of rural women consumers in Fernena, Tunisia

The significant political, socio-economic and lifestyle changes experienced in the country, has considerably influenced the diet patterns of Tunisians. Particularly, the significant change in food systems has led to the emergence of new forms of malnutrition. The objectives of this research were to deepen the understanding of the behaviors in food consumption in rural area, namely in the selected food hub of Fernana, Tunisia. A 500 respondent survey was conducted with women-children peers aged between 6 and 23 months. The survey took place during the months of February and March 2023 in the region’s health centers and the Fernana regional center for women and children’s protection. Nutritional gaps were established based on determination of parameters such as the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women of Reproductive Age (MDD-W), Food Group Diversity Score (FGDS) and the Global Dietary Recommendations score (GDR). The nutritional recommendations were determined based on the identified gaps and interactions with different stockholders. Results highlighted Dietary deficiencies following dietary diversity issues and non-availability of products healthy food. Such gaps could be avoided by promoting short supply chain distribution and encouraging creation of vegetable gardens at family and school scale.