Search

Aims: To assess the consumption, willingness to consume, availability and knowledge of people about the whole grain food products across the Sultanate of Oman. Methods: A self-administered survey was conducted among a convenience sample of adults to assess the consumption, willingness to consume, availability and knowledge about whole grain products across all the nine Governorates of Oman. Results: Almost all respondents (99%, n = 1891) reported that they consume rice and bread at least 4 days per week. Less than 5% of adults indicated that they consume brown rice, whereas 20% to 90% consume whole grain bread. Forty percent of the respondents indicated that they did not know, which type of bread or rice either white or brown, is healthier. Only 20% to 30% of the respondents reported that brown rice or whole wheat bread was available in the market all the time. The various indexes (0 to 1, where 0 as nil and 1 as maximum) developed based on the survey results for the availability, knowledge and willingness to consume whole grain products were 0.36 to 0.87, 0.35 to 0.64 and 0.51 to 0.57 respectively, in different Governorates of Oman. Conclusion: The results indicated that there is an urgent need to educate the Omani people about the nutritional and health benefits of consuming whole grain products and to improve the availability of whole grain food products across Oman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental challenge for research in the twenty-first century may necessitate consideration of the extent to which the goals and aspirations of research includes a renewed commitment to combining the knowledge and experience of the research community, the educational practitioner community and local communities. A cohesive triangular alliance is conceptualised, which takes account of the epistemological variation in these triple communities. The challenge is to forge collaborative relationships with links that provide support for new constructions of knowledge, rather than chains that may act as a restriction to innovatory and potentially constructive connections. This article investigates the potential for fresh links between the ‘community triangle’ of research, education and local communities with reference to ‘Actionaid’, a case study of a community-based parents' project, arising in conjunction with a doctoral study, combining the writer's academic and research knowledge, community based knowledge, education practitioner knowledge as well as her cultural knowledge and understanding as an African Caribbean woman. In describing this study the researcher will draw attention to questions surrounding ‘positionality’ and professionalism, in particular their impact on the development of knowledge formulations, which encompass methodological, professional and community credibility across the three communities [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]