Food Hygiene Practices of Rural Women and Microbial Risk for Children: Formative Research in Nepal.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Food Safety

Background:

• Mothers in rural Nepal face challenges practicing adequate food hygiene.
• Inadequate practices lead to young children's exposure to contaminated food, water, and milk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To inform the design of an intervention promoting safe food hygiene practices.
• To identify key risk behaviors and their determinants in households with young children (6-59 months).

Main Methods:

• Utilized Behavior Centered Design theory and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP).
• Employed mixed methods: video recording, observation, interviews, focus groups, motive mapping, and microbiological assessment.
• Researched 68 households in a rural hill setting in Nepal.

Main Results:

• Identified challenging physical environments, particularly kitchens, hindering hygiene practices.
• Found five of six critical control points required improvement.
• Determined that physical, social, and psychological factors influence hygiene behaviors.

Conclusions:

• Five key food hygiene risk behaviors require prioritization for intervention.
• Interventions must consider the physical, biological, and social environment.
• Messages should align with motives like nurture, disgust, affiliation, and social status.