Collective eating and the management of chronic disease in Dakar: translating and enacting dietary advice

Abstract

In the past decade Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have become a highly visible public health issue in Senegal. In the absence of adequate and affordable care people diagnosed with NCDs seek to manage their symptoms through the adoption of healthy diet. However, in households built on collective eating, dietary change is extremely challenging. Drawing on participant observation, biographical interviews and focus groups with women in six households in the Dakar suburb of Pikine, this paper presents a relational analysis of the reception and translation of dietary advice within low income households. Women diagnosed with chronic disease strategically “bracketed” advice that not possible to enact, prioritised collective transformation over individual change, and valued consumption that demonstrated “respect” and solidarity over “healthy eating”. I show that relational approaches open up new intervention and health promotion strategies for the prevention and management of Non Communicable Diseases outside of the global North.