Do the poor need nutrition education? Some methodogical issues and suggestive evidence from Kinshasa, Zaire

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: It is frequently asserted that the diets of poor urban households in Africa and elsewhere are not nutritionally optimal, The composition of family food purchases is thought to be quite inefficient in many cases, reflecting the nutritional ignorance of the purchasers. At the same time, intrafamilial allocation of available foodstuffs is often seen as irrational in the sense that adult males, the least nutritionally vulnerable group, are given preference in feeding. [TRUNCATED]