Le Novelist | Haiti: Nutritional status of prisoners at famine level

Initially, it should be a study to demonstrate “that with education about healthy eating, individuals should have access to better nutrition compatible with disease prevention. In the case of prisons, it follows that the people to be taught are the ones who choose and prepare the food.”

As in Côte d’Ivoire and Ethiopia, in low-income countries, nutritional deficiencies at the root of many diseases are linked to the problem of education about food selection and preparation. The problem of education about the formula to be used in a healthy diet with a limited number of foods was a major concern of the researchers, who were relying on educational programs implemented in many countries with the aim of improving the food and nutritional status of prisoners. in Haiti.

However, unlike other countries, they came to the conclusion that the situation in Haiti is very exceptional. “Quality education as suggested by the study is not the key to improving the nutritional status of prisoners in Haiti. Chefs, even with good training, face unavailability of food, inability to change dishes, and social and political unrest making it difficult to deliver equipment needed to cook food. Indeed, the nutritional status of prisoners At the level of hunger The researchers concluded that education will not solve this problem.

The study was conducted in the National Prison (Port-au-Prince) and in the Miribalais prison with approximately 4,000 and 300 subjects, respectively, although it was designed for a smaller population. The researchers sampled 560 people from the two prisons for a baseline assessment and 500 people for follow-up between 2021 and 2022. At the end of this study, they found that the average daily calorie intake in the two prisons was lower. of 600 calories “hunger compatible level”.

With such a nutritional status, living in prison would be synonymous with the death penalty. Above all, the number of calories consumed per day
showed a statistically significant decrease between baseline and follow-up. “In terms of food security, intake of vitamin C (to prevent scurvy) and vitamin B1 (to prevent beriberi), the majority of prisoners do not get enough vitamin C and vitamin B1 daily. As with caloric intake, they were The nutritional composition of the diet is actually statistically significant, and worse on follow-up assessment compared to baseline.”

“The basic nutrition of people in Haitian prisons indicates that they have a diet on the level of starvation, underweight, and significant undernutrition,” the researchers said.

Moreover, the researchers expressed their fears based on the social and political unrest that is likely to exacerbate the situation. “Because our program was well-intentioned to help a vulnerable person in a low-income country experiencing social strife, it became clear that our educational training for prison chefs was not the key to improving the nutrition and health of prisoners. During the life of the project, political unrest in Haiti increased.

The President of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated on July 7, 2021, and the position of President remains vacant. Many communities have been gripped by violence and chaos, and people who previously visited the prison and provided food assistance can no longer travel. Although until recently the violence was most visible in Port-au-Prince, the site of the national prison, other neighborhoods across the country have also been affected. The other investigated prison site saw violence in Mirebalais, and driving from Port-au-Prince to Mirebalais can be dangerous. This affects food delivery to prisons in a country with high criminal gang activity and low budget for providing social services, food selection and food delivery to prisons.”

The researchers calculated that “at a follow-up evaluation, more than 75% of the men had a diet that put them at risk of both scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) and beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency)”. It may have a particular benefit to consider in creating an agricultural system in or near the prison where inmates can grow their own food. This will provide the opportunity to produce food for a more varied and nutritious diet. It would also eliminate some of the challenges faced by food vendors and their ability to deliver and transport food in a hazardous environment. A constant source of food will be guaranteed to the prison. It would also lessen the impact of any budget cuts on prison food supplies.
In fact, a pilot program to try to create such a system was conceptualized in its infancy at the Four Liberty prison on Haiti’s northern coast,” the research team suggested.

Arch G. Mainous III, Jean Bernard, Stephanie Auguste, Jacques R. Louis, Danove J. Dieufort, Karine Duverger, Madsen Beau de Rochars, and John May participated in this study.