Food prices are a daily concern in many households’ decision-making, especially when people want to have healthier diets. Employing Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 710 Indonesian citizens, we found that people from wealthier households are less likely to have concerns about food prices. However, the degree of health considerations in food consumption was found to moderate against the above association. In other words, people of higher income-based social classes may worry more about food prices if they (...) care more about the health impacts of their food choices. These findings provide more insights for policymakers on the psychological aspects of promoting the balance between finance and health in food consumption. (shrink)

Background: Food fortification refers to the process of adding nutrients to foods during their production. It is a cost-effective strategy with well-documented health, economic, and social benefits. Food fortification practices in school meal programs need guidance and legal support from various national policies. Aim: This study aims to analyze how various national policies—such as those related to school feeding, nutrition, health, food safety, agriculture, and the private sector—associate with the implementation of in-school food fortification among countries with school meals programs. (...) Methods: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, combining the reasoning strengths of Mindsponge Theory and inference advantages of Bayesian analysis, was employed on a dataset of 126 government representatives who manage large-scale school meal programs in 126 different countries. Results: Findings showed that food safety policy and agriculture policy were positively and significantly associated with the in-school food fortification practices, while school feeding policy and private sector policy had ambiguous relationships with these practices. Nutrition policy and health policy had a significant negative association with food fortification practices among countries implementing school meal programs. Conclusions: Findings underscore the strong position of food safety policy and agriculture policy in guiding food fortification practices in school meal programs. There is a need to re-assess the implemented nutrition policy and health policy due to their significant negative associations with these practices. Enhancing and strengthening the school feeding policy and private sector policy may increase their potencies in giving positive impacts on in-school food fortification practices. (shrink)

Background: Food insecurity condition challenges the availability of food, access to food, food supply stability, and food utilization. Food banks play a major role in the food aid sector by distributing donated and purchased groceries directly to food-insecure families, thus significantly impacting food insecurity. On the other hand, school meal programs are implemented in many countries to combat food insecurity among school-aged children. The synergy between school meal programs and food banks has a great potency to combat food insecurity among (...) children effectively. Aim: This study aims to examine the association between experts’ involvement—such as nutritionists, farmers, and private sectors—and community engagement, including parents and others, with the linkage between food banks and school meal programs among implementing countries. Methods: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, combining the reasoning strengths of Mindsponge Theory and inference advantages of Bayesian analysis, was employed on a dataset of 126 government representatives who manage large-scale school meal programs in 126 different countries. Results: Findings showed that the involvement of nutritionists and the private sector was positively associated with the linkage between food banks and school meal programs, while farmers’ involvement showed an ambiguous association. The engagement of parents and others also showed an ambiguous relationship with this linkage. Conclusions: Findings underscore the strong need to formulate strategies for increasing the involvement of nutritionists and the private sector to successfully link the food banks with school meal programs in implementing countries, which is crucial for effectively combating food insecurity among school-aged children. (shrink)

Background: Overnutrition, undernutrition, and micronutrient deficiency present a major global public health challenge due to food insecurity. Micronutrient deficiencies are prevalent among children and result in impaired intellectual growth. Policy guidelines at the national level are essential for the success of micronutrient supplementation programs for children during school feeding. Aim: This study aims to analyze how various national policies guiding the school meal programs—such as those related to school feeding, nutrition, health, food safety, agriculture, and the private sector—associate with the (...) implementation of in-school micronutrient supplementation among countries with school meals programs. Methods: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, combining the reasoning strengths of Mindsponge Theory and inference advantages of Bayesian analysis, was employed on a dataset of 126 government representatives who manage large-scale school meal programs in 126 different countries. Results: Findings showed that school feeding policies were positively associated with in-school micronutrient supplementation, while nutrition policy had a negative association with these practices. Both associations were only moderately reliable. Policies on health, food safety, agriculture, and the private sector had ambiguous relationships with micronutrient supplementation among countries implementing school meal programs. Conclusions: Findings highlight the evidence of school feeding policy’s positive association with micronutrient supplementation in school meal programs, indicating effective policy guidance on these practices. There is a need to re-assess the implemented nutrition policy due to its negative association with these practices. Enhancing and strengthening the national policies on health, food safety, agriculture, and the private sector may increase their potencies in supporting in-school micronutrient supplementation among countries implementing school meal programs. (shrink)

Background: The school meals program has multiple objectives of education, nutrition, and value transfer. To ensure achieving the goal, total quality management (TQM) is implemented in the school meals program. Supply chain issues pose significant challenges to TQM implementation in the program execution. Aim: This study aims to examine national and international capacities in supply chain management by analyzing the variety of food items delivered through the school meals program. Methods: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, combining the reasoning strengths of Mindsponge (...) Theory and inference advantages of Bayesian analysis, was employed on a dataset of 126 government representatives who manage large-scale school meal programs in 126 different countries. Results: Findings showed that the method of obtaining supplies, whether through in-kind donations from local, regional, national sources, or national food reserves and purchasing from neighboring or distant countries, had a significant positive association with the variety of food items included in school meals or snacks. Conversely, obtaining supplies in-kind from neighboring or distant countries had a significant negative association with the food variety. Additionally, purchasing supplies from local, regional, or national food reserves had an unclear association with the food variety. Conclusions: Findings underscore the importance of supporting the World Bank and World Food Programme’s recommendation to rely more on local resources and capacities. Enhancing supply chain management at the national level is crucial for developing a long-term and sustainable school meals program. (shrink)

Background: Food biofortification practices in agricultural sectors involve the process of employing biotechnology to enhance the nutritional content of crops during their growth process. Biofortification makes foods even more nutritious and highly functional for addressing malnutrition among children. These practices in farming industries need guidance and legal support from various national policies to support high-quality supplies of school meals fully. Aim: This study aims to analyze the association between various national policies and the implementation of food biofortification practices in agricultural (...) sectors among countries implementing school meal programs. Methods: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, combining the reasoning strengths of Mindsponge Theory and inference advantages of Bayesian analysis, was employed on a dataset of 126 government representatives who manage large-scale school meal programs in 126 different countries. Results: Findings showed that food safety policy was positively associated with food biofortification practices in agricultural sectors among countries implementing school meal programs. In contrast, nutrition policy had a significant negative association with these practices. Additionally, policies of school feeding, health, agriculture, and the private sector had unclear associations with food biofortification. Conclusions: Findings underscore the strong position of food safety policy in guiding food biofortification practices in agricultural sectors among countries implementing school meal programs. There is a need to re-assess the implemented nutrition policy due to its significant negative association with these practices. Enhancing and strengthening the policies of school feeding, health, agriculture, and the private sector may increase their potencies in giving positive impacts on food biofortification practices in agricultural sectors to ensure high-quality school meal supplies. (shrink)

Healthy eating has long been a focus of professionals and researchers, both to evaluate strategies for improvement and to gain a deeper understanding of its dynamics in order to develop effective promotion methods. This study aims to examine the roles of individuals’ information-seeking abilities and e-health literacy in fostering a healthy eating intention among Iranians. Employing Bayesian Mindsponge Framework analytics on a dataset of 9,755 Iranian participants, the study found positive associations between healthy eating information-seeking ability, e-health literacy, and healthy (...) eating intention among Iranian adults. However, the moderating effect of e-health literacy on the relationship between information-seeking ability and healthy eating intention remains ambiguous. We suggest that enhancing individuals' healthy eating information-seeking abilities and e-health literacy, alongside improving the availability, affordability, and accessibility of reliable healthy eating information, is essential for fostering healthy eating intentions. (shrink)

Background: The feeding modalities applied in countries with school meal programs are varied because these are shaped not only by the national commitments to alleviate food insecurity among children but also by resource availability from national and international agencies. In terms of financial resources, the USA plays a consistent role in providing donations, grants, loans, and loan guarantee programs to support global school feeding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees these funding sources for international school meal programs. Aim: This (...) study aims to examine the moderating effect of USDA funding on the relationship between supply purchasing methods and feeding modalities among countries implementing school meal programs. Methods: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, combining the reasoning strengths of Mindsponge Theory and inference advantages of Bayesian analysis, was employed on a dataset of 126 government representatives who manage large-scale school meal programs in 126 different countries. Results: The findings indicated that USDA funding has the potential to positively moderate the relationship between foreign supply purchases and the feeding modalities of school meal programs. However, the direct association between foreign purchases and feeding modalities was unclear. Conversely, while USDA funding was found to have a negative moderation effect on the relationship between domestic supply purchases and feeding modalities, it is these domestic purchases that show potential for positively influencing the feeding modalities. Conclusions: Findings underscore the importance of supporting the World Bank and World Food Programme’s recommendation to rely more on local resources and capacities for developing long-term and sustainable school meal programs. Further exploration of the impact of foreign supply purchases on feeding modalities is needed. Formulating strategic plans to better leverage USDA funding for enhancing domestic supply purchases is highly recommended. (shrink)

Food security is one of the major concerns in the Philippines. Although livestock and poultry production accounts for a significant proportion of the country’s agricultural output, smallholder households are still vulnerable to food insecurity. The current study aims to examine how livestock production and selling difficulties affect smallholder households’ food-insecure conditions. For this objective, Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was employed on a dataset of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Data in Emergencies Monitoring (DIEM) system. We found that production and (...) selling difficulties significantly adversely affect food insecurity in the Philippines. However, their effects vary according to the severity of food insecurity. In particular, production and selling difficulties affect the households’ likelihood of eating less healthy and nutritious food equally. However, the production difficulties have more negligible impacts on the possibility of skipping meals and even ambiguous impacts on the likelihood of not eating for a whole day compared to the effects of selling difficulties. Moreover, we also found that the market plays a crucial role in facilitating not only livestock trading but also livestock production (e.g., purchase of feed and medicines). Based on these findings, we suggest that the livestock market needs to be expanded and regulated to maintain the balancing prices between livestock products and products and services used for livestock production, and facilitate the product-exchanging mechanism. (shrink)

Cancer care has transitioned from clinical-based to home-based care to support longterm care in a more familiar and comfortable environment. This care transition has put family caregivers (FCGs) in a strategic position as care providers. Cancer care at home involves psychological and emotional treatment at some point, making FCGs deal with the stress of cancer patients frequently. Due to their limited care competencies, they need supportive care from healthcare professionals in cancer stress management. This study aims to examine how types (...) of demanded healthcare information affect the FCG’s role in reducing the stress of female cancer patients. The mindsponge theory was used in conceptual development and interpretation. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics were used for statistical analysis on a dataset of 48 spouses (husbands) and 12 other family members in five congested communities of Surabaya, Indonesia. Results showed that among the six types of healthcare information, FCGs with higher demand for cancer-specific information were more likely to need support in reducing the stress of female cancer patients. Meanwhile, FCGs with a higher demand for information about support services were less likely to need support to reduce cancer patients’ stress. Other types of healthcare information have ambiguous effects on the need for support in reducing cancer-induced stress. This study reveals that the demanded cancer-specific information, e.g., cancer prognosis or likely outcome, must be prioritized to assist FCG’s role in managing cancer stress. (shrink)

Adaptation and stress are two main concepts useful for better understanding the phases of illness and health-related human behavior. The two faces of adaptation, adaptation as a process and adaptation as a product, have raised the question of how long the adaptation process will take in cancer trajectories. The care setting transition from clinical-based into home-based cancer care has stressed the role of family caregivers (FCG) in cancer management. This study examines how types of demanded healthcare information affect the FCG’s (...) role in catalyzing the adaptation of female cancer patients. The mindsponge theory was used in conceptual development and results interpretation. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was used for statistical analysis on a dataset of 48 spouses (husbands) and 12 other family members in five congested communities of Surabaya, Indonesia. Results showed that among the six types of demanded healthcare information, FCGs with a higher tendency to demand cancer-specific information are more likely to need support in catalyzing the adaptation of female cancer patients. Meanwhile, FCGs with a higher demand for information on alternative therapies are less likely to need support in catalyzing cancer adaptation. Other types of healthcare information have ambiguous effects on the need for support in cancer adaptation assistance. This study reveals that the demanded cancer-specific information, e.g., cancer’s prognosis or likely outcome, must be prioritized to assist FCG’s role in catalyzing adaptation among female cancer patients. Cancer prognosis and outcomes reflect the future of cancer care results. (shrink)

Background: The feeding modalities used in school meal programs—such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and take-home rations—are influenced by various factors, including supply chain constraints and technical challenges in food distribution. The methods of supply sourcing, whether through domestic or foreign food reserves via in-kind donations or purchases, play a critical role in shaping the feeding options provided. Aim: This study aims to examine the association between supply-sourcing strategies, i.e., domestic and foreign in-kind donations and national-international purchases, with the feeding (...) modalities applied in school meal programs. Methods: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, combining the reasoning strengths of Mindsponge Theory and inference advantages of Bayesian analysis, was employed on a dataset of government representatives who manage large-scale school meal programs across 126 countries. Results: The findings revealed that sourcing supplies through in-kind donations from neighboring or distant countries showed a highly reliable negative association with the feeding modalities of school meal programs, while those from the national bodies showed an ambiguous relationship. The purchasing methods—whether domestic or foreign—tended to exhibit positive associations with feeding modalities, though these associations were only weakly reliable. Conclusions: The findings reveal substantial rooms to improve the effectiveness of supply purchasing strategies in enhancing school meal program feeding modalities. Further research is needed to examine the impact of sourcing supplies through domestic in-kind donations on feeding outcomes. Additionally, developing strategic plans to optimize the use of in-kind donations from international organizations is strongly recommended to avoid its negative consequences and further enhance program effectiveness. (shrink)

Individual attributes, such as educational background, may influence the degree of health consideration in food consumption. The local social norms may affect the same consideration in the collective level. Represented by education level and the custom rules adherence in food choosing behavior, this study aimed to examine how knowledge influences health consideration in food consumption and how the local social norms moderate this association in a multicultural enriched society. By utilizing the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) as a conceptual framework, this (...) study analyzed a dataset of 710 urban residents in Indonesia. There was a negative association between education level and health consideration in food consumption in which the custom rules adherence in food choosing behavior moderated against this negative association. For those with a low level of custom-based food consumption, their health consideration is lower as they have higher education level. However, the opposite trend which is a more intuitive positive association was found in those who consume more custom-based food. Socio-cultural factors have a complex impact on food choosing behavior among Indonesian urban residents. Therefore, governmental policies in the health promotion campaign of healthy-nutritious food should incorporate socio-cultural aspects with a deeper understanding of the human mind’s information processing. (shrink)

The data used in this study was kindly provided by Food and Agriculture Organization (United Nations) and Data in Emergencies Hub (Food and Agriculture Organization).