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Background: More than a quarter of children who are affected by severe acute undernutrition reside in Sub-Saharan Africa. Incorrect feeding practices have a negative impact on a child's health in both the short and the long term, and the interval from conception to two years is the most critical for the development of undernutrition-related complications. These first 1000 days of life also represent an "opportunity window" for early interventions, hence, having a clear insight into dietary habits and the determinants of diet quality is fundamental to improving nutritional counseling practices. Objectives: To investigate incorrect feeding practices, dietary diversity determinants and nutritional status in children aged 6–23 months. Methods: Prospective quali-quantitative observational study conducted at the Missionary Catholic Hospital of Chiulo (Angola) from March to April 2023. Results: Of 250 children, global acute malnutrition affected 25.2% and was associated with starting complementary feeding at <4 months of age (p = 0.007) and not achieving the minimum meal frequency (p < 0.0001). Minimum dietary diversity was found in 11.2%, minimum meal frequency was experienced by 72.8%, and the minimum acceptable diet was found in 11.2% of participants. The minimum dietary diversity was reached only by households with access to food from five or more major food groups (p = 0.007) or the money to buy food from five or more major food groups (p = 0.008) and was higher in households where the householder had a higher educational level (p = 0.002). Regarding the determinants linked to family traditions and beliefs, the main religion-associated beliefs concerned the impurity of pork (n = 25) and fish (n = 8), while eggs (n = 19) and cow milk (n = 8) were the main food types that were deemed harmful for children. Conclusions: Although some factors (economic and religious) may be difficult to overcome, other factors linked to erroneous beliefs (dangerous foods) or incorrect feeding practices (early weaning and an incorrect frequency of meals) can be targeted, to improve the effectiveness of nutritional counseling practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deviations from normothermia affect early mortality and morbidity, but the impact on neurodevelopment of the survivors is unclear. We aimed to investigate the relationship between neonatal temperature at admission and the risk of cerebral palsy (CP) at one month of age in a low-resource setting. Methods: This retrospective study included all inborn neonates admitted to the Special Care Unit of Tosamaganga Hospital (Tanzania) between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020. The neurological examination at one month of age was performed using the Hammersmith method. The relationship between the admission temperature and the risk of CP was investigated using logistic regression models, with temperature modeled as the non-linear term. Results: High/moderate risk of CP was found in 40/119 (33.6%) of the neonates at one month of age. A non-linear relationship between the admission temperature and moderate/high risk of CP at one month of age was found. The lowest probability of moderate/high risk of CP was estimated at admission temperatures of between 35 and 36 °C, with increasing probability when departing from such temperatures. Conclusions: In a low-resource setting, we found a U-shaped relationship between the admission temperature and the risk of CP at one month of life. Expanding the analysis of the follow-up data to 12–24 months of age would be desirable in order to confirm and strengthen such findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malnutrition is a multifactorial pathology in which genetic, epigenetic, cultural, environmental, socio-economic factors interact with each other. The impact that this disease has on the health of children worldwide is dramatic. Severe acute malnutrition in particular is a disease affecting nearly 20 million preschool children worldwide, most of them in Africa and South East Asia. Objectives: This work aims to investigate potential prognostic factors in the clinical evolution of acute malnutrition and potential risk factors for the development of the disease. Methods: Our study was carried out at the "Hospital da Missão Catolica do Chiulo", in Angola, where the NGO Doctors with Africa CUAMM has been operating since 2000. In the first part of the study we analyzed the characteristics and clinical evolution of 163 patients hospitalized for acute malnutrition at the UEN (Unidade Especial de Nutrição) of the Chiulo Hospital over a period of 6 months, in order to identify potential prognostic factors of the disease. The second part of our study was carried out by administering a questionnaire to a group of caregivers of malnourished children and to a group of caregivers of non-malnourished children admitted to Pediatrics for other causes, with the aim of identifying potential risk factors for the development of malnutrition. Results and conclusions: The analysis of prognostic factors revealed that the most relevant are the WHZ (weight for height z-score) at the time of admission, the presence of Stunting and the presence of other pathologies or clinical conditions associated with severe acute malnutrition. The analysis of risk factors has shown that not only food shortages, but also errors in the timing of the suspension of breastfeeding and the timing of the introduction of complementary foods play an important role. Equally important were some family risk factors, including the size of the family unit and the presence of deceased children. It also emerged that the lack of knowledge of what a child needs to grow up healthy often affects the development of malnutrition. It follows that a useful and low-cost tool for preventing child malnutrition would be large-scale nutrition education campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]