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Objectives: We evaluated changes in priority indicators of child growth from 2006 to 2021 and examined the role of human development measures in these changes., Methods: We estimated cumulative and annualized changes in state- and district-level child growth indicators using 3 rounds of National Family Health Surveys (2005-2006, 2015-2016, 2019-2021) in 36 states. Outcomes included stunting, underweight, wasting, and overweight. Human development was measured using a principal components analysis of 9 ecological indicators. We contrasted expected versus observed changes in district-level growth outcomes between 2016 and 2021 based on changes in development indicators using 2-way Blinder Oaxaca decomposition., Results: From 2006 to 2021, the prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting decreased by 12.3, 10.3, and 0.7 percentage points, respectively, while the prevalence of overweight increased by 1.9 percentage points. The annualized rate of within-state change for stunting was lower from 2016 to 2021 compared with the 2006 to 2016 period, while the rate of change in overweight was higher. Simultaneously, all 9 human development indicators improved between 2006 and 2021. A unit increase between 2016 and 2021 in the human development score predicted a -5.1 percentage point (95% confidence interval=-5.8, -4.4) change in stunting, yet observed stunting declined by just -2.5 percentage points., Conclusions: From 2016 to 2021, population-level reduction in child stunting has slowed and the rise in child overweight has accelerated, relative to the 10 years preceding this period., (© Varghese et al.)

Background: The prevalence of mental health concerns is growing worldwide, along with lack of access to and receipt of needed treatment. Current gaps in treatment provision have led to exploring alternative methods of prevention, with research linking nutrition and mental health, of particular relevance in low- and middle-income countries, with a high prevalence of undernutrition., Objectives: To examine whether exposure to a protein-energy nutritional supplement during the first 1000 d of life decreased odds of mental distress in adulthood among men and women in Guatemala compared with receiving a low energy-no protein supplement or supplementation outside the 1000-d window., Methods: Data from participants (n = 1249) in a longitudinal cohort protein-energy supplementation trial (early-life, supplementation data from 1969 to 1977, ages 0-7 y; life course, outcome data from 2017-2018 follow-up, ages 40-57 y) were analyzed for associations between nutrition in the first 1000 d and mental distress in adulthood (WHO Self-Reporting Questionnaire 20 [SRQ-20]), controlling for early-life variables and current life stress; life course variables (e.g. education) were examined as potential mediators of this relation. Generalized linear mixed models and zero-inflated Poisson generalized linear mixed models were utilized., Results: Both partial and full supplementation with Atole during the first 1000 d were associated with 63% (95% CI: 0.16, 0.87) and 56% (95% CI: 0.19, 1.03) lower odds, respectively, of experiencing mental distress in adulthood. Results did not differ by sex. These inverse relations remained relatively unchanged (partial OR = 0.34 [95% CI: 0.14, 0.83]; full OR = 0.38 [95% CI: 0.16, 0.92]) after controlling for early-life and life course variables, including life stress., Conclusions: Protein-energy supplementation during the first 1000 d of life in Guatemala, where undernutrition is prevalent, may reduce the prevalence of later mental distress in adulthood. This effect appears to occur directly, rather than indirectly, through pathways of life course variables such as education, wealth, and marital status., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society for Nutrition.)

Background: The prevalence of mental health concerns is growing worldwide, along with lack of access to and receipt of needed treatment. Current gaps in treatment provision have led to exploring alternative methods of prevention, with research linking nutrition and mental health, of particular relevance in low- and middle-income countries, with a high prevalence of undernutrition., Objectives: To examine whether exposure to a protein-energy nutritional supplement during the first 1000 d of life decreased odds of mental distress in adulthood among men and women in Guatemala compared with receiving a low energy-no protein supplement or supplementation outside the 1000-d window., Methods: Data from participants (n = 1249) in a longitudinal cohort protein-energy supplementation trial (early-life, supplementation data from 1969 to 1977, ages 0-7 y; life course, outcome data from 2017-2018 follow-up, ages 40-57 y) were analyzed for associations between nutrition in the first 1000 d and mental distress in adulthood (WHO Self-Reporting Questionnaire 20 [SRQ-20]), controlling for early-life variables and current life stress; life course variables (e.g. education) were examined as potential mediators of this relation. Generalized linear mixed models and zero-inflated Poisson generalized linear mixed models were utilized., Results: Both partial and full supplementation with Atole during the first 1000 d were associated with 63% (95% CI: 0.16, 0.87) and 56% (95% CI: 0.19, 1.03) lower odds, respectively, of experiencing mental distress in adulthood. Results did not differ by sex. These inverse relations remained relatively unchanged (partial OR = 0.34 [95% CI: 0.14, 0.83]; full OR = 0.38 [95% CI: 0.16, 0.92]) after controlling for early-life and life course variables, including life stress., Conclusions: Protein-energy supplementation during the first 1000 d of life in Guatemala, where undernutrition is prevalent, may reduce the prevalence of later mental distress in adulthood. This effect appears to occur directly, rather than indirectly, through pathways of life course variables such as education, wealth, and marital status., (Copyright © 2022 American Society for Nutrition.)

Background: In India, the prevalences of stunting and anemia have declined in the last decade, but continue to remain high in many regions, whereas those of overweight and obesity have increased in all age and socioeconomic groups. Determining whether these forms of malnutrition cluster is important for the development of appropriate interventions., Objectives: Our objective was to describe the prevalence of a comprehensive list of dual burdens of malnutrition in individuals and households across the 36 states and 640 districts of India., Methods: We analyzed data from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015-2016, including 655,156 women aged 15-49 y and 145,653 children aged 6-59 mo in India. We measured the coexistence of 19 combinations of women's anemia, underweight, and overweight and children's stunting, underweight, overweight, and anemia at the individual and household levels. We aggregated this information to the state (n = 36) and district (n = 640) levels. We examined whether the observed dual burden prevalence exceeded the expected prevalence, and whether any such excess was related to household wealth., Results: Of the 19 dual burdens examined, 8 had significant excess prevalence at the state level and 5 had significant excess prevalence at the district level. All but 1 of these instances reflected an excess dual burden of undernutrition as opposed to clustering of overweight with a form of undernutrition. Household wealth was not positively associated with any clustering of burdens., Conclusions: While dual burdens of anemia, stunting, and underweight are prevalent, there is no evidence of clustering of overweight with other forms of malnutrition in India., (Copyright © American Society for Nutrition 2019.)