The effect of a combination of nutrition education, soy and vegetable gardening, and food preparation skill training interventions on dietary intake and diversity in women: a case study from Qwa-Qwa.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine if an integrated food and nutrition intervention, including home gardening, nutrition education and recipe development and training, would improve dietary diversity in women. Design: This was a single-system case study. Setting: The study setting was peri-urban Qwa-Qwa, Free State province, South Africa. Subjects: Fifty randomly selected women were included in the study from three purposively selected tribes. Outcome measures: Three 24-hour recall questionnaires were used to determine dietary intake and nutrient adequacy, a dietary diversity questionnaire to calculate the dietary diversity scores (DDSs), and the Radimer-Cornell Hunger Scale questionnaire to ascertain food insecurity. Results: The median food variety score (FVS) was 23 at baseline, and improved significantly (p-value 0.002) to 29 at follow-up. Micronutrient intake was consistently low, despite the median adequacy ratio (MAR) improving significantly (p-value 0.002)