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The article discusses a 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey on the prevalence of vitamin-mineral supplement use for improving micronutrient intake and preventing deficiencies. It states that prevalence was 38% and 53% among Canadian men and women, respectively, and that sociodemographic and lifestyle variables were linked to supplement use, especially among adults. Also noted are independent positive predictors of supplement use like female gender, older age, and higher education level.

Background/objectives: Identifying groups at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and improving prevention strategies are important due to the high rates of these diseases in the world. We aimed to determine the 10-year ASCVD risk and cardiovascular age gap (CAG) of Canadians 40-79 and the association between prevalent dietary patterns and ASCVD risk, and CAG.Subjects/methods: Health measures and dietary intake information were obtained from 2088 respondents representative of 13,655,671 Canadians 40-79 years in the cross-sectional Canadian Health Measures Survey Cycles 1 and 2 (2007-11). The estimated 10-year ASCVD risk and CAG were determined for 40-79 years adults across different levels of sociodemographic/lifestyle factors. Dietary patterns emerged using the principal component analysis from 32 food groups collected using food frequency questionnaire. The association between 10-year ASCVD risk, and CAG, with dietary patterns was investigated controlling for potential covariates. Survey data were weighted and bootstrapped to be nationally representative.Results: The mean 10-year ASCVD risk of 40-79 years was 6.9%. The mean CAG for men was -4.1 years (older) and for females was +0.4 years (younger). Four dietary patterns emerged. Of note, the "High carbohydrate and protein" dietary pattern, which included potatoes, red meat, sausage, egg and ice-cream/frozen yoghurt was positively associated with 10-year ASCVD (Ptrend = 0.013). The "Healthy like" and "Fast food" dietary patterns had an inverse (p < 0.0001) and positive (p = 0.005) association, respectively, with CAG.Conclusions: Dietary patterns prevalent among this population were associated with CAG and ASCVD risk. Interventions for promoting healthy dietary patterns may be beneficial to reduce ASCVD in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Ethiopia, child undernutrition and anemia are major public health concerns, resulting in increased childhood morbidity and mortality. Despite progress made to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition (especially stunting) from 50% in 2000 to 38% in 2016, little is known about the magnitude and risk factors for concurrent nutritional deficiencies in Ethiopia.Methods: Analysis for this study was based on a total sample of 9218 children aged 6-59 months drawn from the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) conducted in the year 2016. The study used two outcome variables: Multiple nutrition deficit index formed by combining stunting, underweight, wasting and anemia status; and a concurrent stunting and anemia (CAS) index. Two mixed effect regression models, Poisson and Logistic, were used to identify the key risk factors of the two outcome variables, respectively.Results: The proportion of children with stunting (length-for-age), underweight (weight-for-age) and wasting children (weight-for-length) was 38%, 25.2% and 9.4%, respectively. About 58% of the children had anemia. The prevalence of children with concurrent stunting and anemia children was 24.8%. Our results showed that the risks of multiple nutritional problems were determined by a range of individual, household and behavioral factors including: sex of the child, age of the child, birth order, parity, parental education, religion, household wealth index and type of family structure. The proximate variables (hygiene and sanitation score, feeding practice, and child health service utilization score) were also found to exert a strong influence on the risk of multiple nutritional deficiencies. The likelihood of co-occurrence of stunting and anemia was determined by certain individual and household factors, including sex of the child, age of the child, maternal education, household asset based wealth, religion and household hygiene and sanitation.Conclusions: This study underscores the importance of improving parental education, household wealth, hygiene and sanitation conditions, promoting feeding practice and child health service utilization. Also, any nutrition sensitive and specific intervention should consider a child's characteristics such as his/her age, gender and birth order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Daily iron supplementation, with or without folic acid, is a proven public health intervention. Although maintaining compliance is crucial for the success of the intervention, inconsistent findings are available on compliance and its predictors in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to estimate the iron–folic acid (IFA) supplementation compliance rate and its predictors among pregnant women in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted in eight randomly selected health centers in Wolaita, Southern Ethiopia. A total of 647 pregnant women were included using multistage sampling procedure. Data were entered into Epi Info (a free statistical analysis software) and exported to SPSS. Bivariate relationship was explored through correlation coefficients. A multiple linear regression model was constructed to estimate the variability coefficient of the compliance rate due to selected factors. Of 647 pregnant women, only 18 (2.8%) pregnant women had received the supplement for 90 days or more. Overall, the compliance rate was 73.2% (95% CI, 70.72 to 75.79). Experiencing heartburn and vomiting significantly reduced the compliance rate. Unintended pregnancy and better education were negatively associated with compliance. By contrast, acceptability of IFA supplement, number of antenatal care (ANC) visits, and being ever married were positive predictors. On average, a pregnant woman did not take more than one-fourth of the daily IFA supplementation. During ANC visits, addressing the issues of side effects, unintended pregnancy, and acceptability of the supplement may improve compliance rate. Overall in Ethiopia, educated, older, and unmarried Ethiopian women need additional attention for successful compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Maternal and child under nutrition is highly prevalent in low-income and middle-income countries, resulting in substantial increases in mortality and overall disease burden. The aim of this baseline survey was to determine the association between selected maternal characteristics, maternal nutritional status and children’s nutritional status. Methods and Findings: A survey with a cross sectional design was conducted between September and October 2012 in Hula, Ethiopia. The study subjects were 197 mothers of children between the ages of 6 and 23 months. Weight and height (mothers) or recumbent length (children) were measured using calibrated, standardized techniques. Seven percent of children were below -2 weight for height Z score (WHZ), 11.5% were below -2 height for age Z score (HAZ) and 9.9% were below -2 weight for age Z score (WAZ). Maternal anthropometrics were associated with child nutritional status in the bivariate analysis. Maternal BMI (r = 0.16 P = 0.02) and educational status (r = 0.25 P = 0.001) were correlated with WHZ of children while maternal height (r = 0.2 P = 0.007) was correlated with HAZ of children. After multivariate analysis, children whose mothers had salary from employment had a better WHZ score (P = 0.001) and WAZ score (P<0.001). Both maternal BMI and maternal height were associated with WHZ (P = 0.04) and HAZ (P = 0.01) score of children. Conclusion: Having a mother with better nutritional status and salaried employment is a benefit for the nutritional status of the child. The interrelationship between maternal and child nutritional status stresses the value of improving maternal nutritional status as this should improve both maternal and child health outcomes. Therefore strategies to improve nutritional status of children should also include improving the nutritional status of the mother and empowering her financially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Initial risk assessment to estimate 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is completed by Framingham Risk Score (FRS). In 2012 2 modifications were added to FRS by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society: FRS is doubled in subjects aged 30-59 years who have CVD present in a first-degree relative before 55 years of age for men and 65 years of age for women; and cardiovascular age is calculated for each individual. Our aim was to implement these modifications and evaluate differences compared with traditional FRS. Further, we evaluated the association between dietary intake and 10-year risk. The Canadian Health Measures Survey data cycle 1 was used among participants aged 30-74 years ( n = 2730). Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted using STATA SE 11. Using modified FRS for predicting 10-year risk of CVD significantly increased the estimated risk compared with the traditional approach, 8.66% ± 0.35% versus 6.06% ± 0.18%, respectively. Greater impact was observed with the 'cardiovascular age' modification in men versus women. The distribution of Canadians in low- (<10%) and high-risk (≥20%) categories of CVD show a significant difference between modified and traditional FRS: 67.4% versus 79.6% (low risk) and 13.7% versus 4.5% (high risk), respectively. The odds of having risk ≥10% was significantly greater in low-educated, abdominally obese individuals or those with lower consumption of breakfast cereal and fruit and vegetable and greater potato and potato products consumption. In conclusion, the traditional FRS method significantly underestimates CVD risk in Canadians; thus, applying modified FRS is beneficial for screening. Additionally, fibre consumption from fruit and vegetable or breakfast cereals might be beneficial in reducing CVD risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)