Search

The current COVID-19 pandemic remains severe. There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting every aspect of our lives. Currently, the spread of inaccurate information or fake news on the internet to the public is causing the community to panic. Thus, this study aims to obtain available information on food and nutrition related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 from various sources. A scoping review framework was used to chart the evidence on nutritional recommendations to prevent COVID-19 based on the preferred method in reporting systematic review and meta-analysis extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The articles were categorised into three main groups: i) general dietary recommendations; ii) supplementation with specific micronutrients and iii) their mixtures and supplementation with traditional herbs and miscellaneous foods. A total of 60 articles met the inclusion criteria and were used in the review. This scoping review demonstrates that there is no miracle cure, food or supplement that can cure or prevent COVID-19. Currently, there is no confirmed treatment or vaccine for the disease. Practicing healthy eating habits is the best nutritional recommendation during the pandemic. Hence, this review hopefully will provide evidence-based nutrition recommendations that are available for current COVID-19 treatment. We hope that the authorities can inform the public and media to stop the spread of nutrition pseudoscience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The epidemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) in China and a number of countries had led to the Covid-19 pandemic declaration by WHO. The aim of this study is to assess the evidence and to report the effectiveness of Covid-19 containment and mitigation measures among the affected countries. A comprehensive search strategy was performed using the MESH terms of “Novel coronavirus,” “Novel coronavirus 2019”, “2019 nCoV”, “Covid-19”, “Wuhan coronavirus”, “SARS-CoV-2”, “Containment”, “Mitigation” and “Control”. After completion of the initial screening, 922 articles were excluded for the following reasons: the article did not meet the inclusion criteria (N = 862), the article was a duplicate (N = 60). The remaining 72 articles were screened at the full-text level. After full review for relevancy, 41 articles were excluded and a total of 31 articles were selected for scoping review. The two most successful countries that managed to control this pandemic were Hong Kong and South Korea. While, the United States of America (USA) and Brazil are the countries yet unable to significantly reduce the Covid-19 cases. The aggressiveness of government efforts and the compliance among the population are the main factors contributing to the effectiveness of the containment and mitigation measures implemented.

IntroductionVegetarian diet has been practiced in many countries in the world. There are growing evidence that vegetarian diet helps to maintain better health status compared to non-vegetarian diet. In Malaysia, there are adults practice vegetarian diet due to different reasons. This study aims to determine the overall prevalence of adults practicing vegetarian diet and to investigate the sociodemographic distribution of vegetarians among adults in Malaysia. Methods1. Secondary data from the population representative cross-sectional survey, National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019 was analysed. 2. A two-stage stratified cluster sampling design was used in NHMS 2019. 3. Information on socio-demographic background was obtained from a face-toface interview conducted by trained research team members. 4. Vegetarian was defined as respondent who reported practising vegetarian since one month ago during the home visit. 5. Data from 10,419 respondents who were aged 18 years and above, were selected to conduct descriptive analysis and Rao-Scott chi-square test using SPSS software. Results[Refer to Poster]. DiscussionOverall, the prevalence of adults practising vegetarian diet was 4.9%. This prevalence is comparable with the findings in the United State (5.0%) 3 . 2. There was no significant difference between location, marital status, education level, and household income among vegetarians. 3. The gender difference of practicing vegetarian diet in this study maybe be as results of different level of adherence to meat intake among males and females4 . 4. The findings of this study will help to alert the government agencies that the population prevalence of adults practicing vegetarian diet with the basic socio-demographic characteristics distribution in the country ConclusionIn conclusion, only one in twenty adults in Malaysia were vegetarians. Sex and ethnicity are the factors for vegetarian practice in Malaysia. Future study is suggested to investigate the health status and dietary quality of vegetarians in Malaysia.

IntroductionNoncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are among the leading causes of death and contributes to approximately 70% of all deaths worldwide. Elevated body mass index (BMI) is recognized as a major risk factor for NCDs. Several studies have determined various BMI cut-offs for classifying dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes or at least one cardiovascular risk factor (CRF) 2,3,4 . • For Malaysian adults, the proposed optimal BMI cut-off points for the risk of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia varied from 23.34kg/m2 to 24.14kg/m2 for men and from 24.04kg/m2 to 25.4kg/m2 for women3 . However, they were determined based on data collected in 2006, more than a decade ago. ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to verify the sensitivity and specificity of these cut-off points for the Malaysian adult population using data from a recent national survey Methods[Refer to Results]. ResultsThe total number of respondents aged ≥ 18 years was 10,472 (4785 males and 5687 females). Majority aged between 31 to 59 years. 51.0% Malay, 21.5% Chinese, 11.1% Other bumiputras, 10.6% other ethnic groups and 5.8% Indian. The prevalence of BMI above 23.0 kg/m2 was 66.0% (BMI range from 14kg/m2 to 55kg/m2). Discussion / ConclusionOur findings indicate that the proposed BMI cut-offs (23.3 to 24.1 kg/m2 for men and 24.0 to 25.4 kg/m2 for women) correctly identified more than 67% of those with NCDs and correctly identified more than 39% of those without.The BMI cut-off points proposed by the previous study showed acceptable sensitivity but relatively low specificity.Therefore, we suggest that the use of these proposed BMI cut-offs for classification of overweight among Malaysian adults should be revised periodically to increase its sensitivity and specificity for the NCDs screening and weight management programs.

IntroductionIn December 2019, an epidemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) began in China and the number of countries infected by the virus has continued to rise. This phenomenon has led WHO to declare Covid-19 as pandemic on March 11, 2020, and has urged all affected countries to take urgent and aggressive action to control this pandemic. Most of the countries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic were recommended to adopt the containment and mitigation measures in order to control the disease from spreading. Briefly, the containment measures aimed at preventing the disease from taking hold, encompassing early detection, isolation, and care of people already infected, with careful tracing and screening of their contacts. While, mitigation measures aimed at reducing the impact and its incidence, as well as disruptions to economic, political, and social systems, encompassing social distancing strategies such as the cancellation of conferences and other large gatherings, reducing non-essential use of public transport, and closure of schools. ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to determine the control methods used in containment and mitigation of the Covid-19 virus from the affected countries and to ascertain what are the best methods in Covid-19 transmission control. MethodologyIn our study, a scoping review approach in searching, screening, reviewing and data extraction was applied based on framework by Arksey and O’Malley. A comprehensive search strategy was performed, which included published scientific journals, unpublished work, grey literature using the MESH terms of “Novel coronavirus,” “Novel coronavirus 2019”, “2019 nCoV”, “Covid-19”, “Wuhan coronavirus”, “SARS-CoV-2”, “Containment”, “Mitigation” and “Control”. Two reviewers independently screened all references from the articles search and then reached consensus on which met the eligibility criteria. Two reviewers independently screened all references from the articles search and then reached consensus on which met the eligibility criteria. Non-English language articles were excluded as the translation was not practical. Data from the articles were extracted and summarized on a standardized form with the data reviewed by both authors. ResultsA total of 996 sources of evidence identified from the literature search and grey literature hand search were included in the review, representing the types of containment and mitigation from four regions; i. Western Pacific and South East Asia, ii. European, iii. Eastern Mediterranean, and iv. The Americas. After completion of the initial screening, 922 articles were excluded for the following reasons: the article did not meet the inclusion criteria (N = 862), the article was a duplicate (N = 60). The remaining 72 articles were screened at the full-text level. After full review for relevancy, 41 articles were excluded and a total of 31 articles were selected for scoping review (Figure 1;).After more than one month of the containment and mitigation control measures taken, most of the countries managed to reduce the Covid-19 cases from spreading in the communities [45]. However, the two most successful countries that managed to control this pandemic were Hong Kong and South Korea. While, the United States of America (USA) and Brazil are the countries yet unable to significantly reduce the Covid-19 cases (Table 1). ConclusionThis review revealed all countries affected by the Covid-19 had implemented multiple containment and mitigation measures to reduce the impact of the disease. Thus, making it difficult to measure the effectiveness of each individual method. A combination of multiple control measures is necessary, since this could increase the success in reducing the transmission of the Covid-19 disease. In addition, the aggressiveness of government efforts and the compliance among the population are the main factors for the effectiveness of the containment and mitigation measures implemented. Lastly, the efforts should be directed at the creation of standard guidelines to improve the containment and mitigation efforts, considering the characteristics of the virus and community acceptance.

Aim The rise in the prevalence of abdominal obesity (AO), in particular, has become a major concern as it contributes to diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease and certain types of cancer. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and associated factors of AO among older adults aged ≥60 years in Malaysia. Methods This was a nationwide cross-sectional study using two-stage stratified random sampling. In total, 3977 older adults aged ≥60 years were involved in this study. Socio-demography characteristics were obtained using self-administered questionnaire. AO was measured using waist circumference and classified according to the cut-off values of ≥90 cm for men and ≥80 cm for women based on the WHO recommendation. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analysis using a complex sample design were performed for data analysis. Results Our findings showed that 2371 (67.3%) older adults had AO. Older adults who were from urban areas (69.7%), of women (78.4%), married (66.7%), with tertiary education (73.6%) and unemployed (70.9%) had the highest prevalence of AO. Those from urban areas (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.29), women (aOR = 3.12), unemployed (aOR = 1.14), diagnosed with hypertension (aOR = 1.56) and diabetes mellitus (aOR = 2.08) were also significantly associated with a higher risk of AO. Conclusions This study identified several risk factors that are associated with AO among older adults in Malaysia. Such information is important and needed to improve the healthcare system systematically, enable nutrition screening and appropriate intervention to combat the growing AO in Malaysia. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 20: 68-72.