Search

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is heavily affected by food insecurity and malaria. To find out if these 2 conditions are associated with each other, we studied a convenience sample of 153 women with children 1-5 y old in Camp Perrin, South Haiti. Household food insecurity was assessed with the 16-item Escala Latinoamericana y Caribena de Seguridad Alimentaria (ELCSA) scale previously validated in the target communities. ELCSA's reference time period was the 3 mo preceding the survey and it was answered by the mother. Households were categorized as either food secure (2%; ELCSA score = 0), food insecure/very food insecure (42.7%; ELCSA score range: 1-10), or severely food insecure (57.3%; ELCSA score range: 11-16). A total of 34.0% of women reported that their children had malaria during the 2 mo preceding the survey. Multivariate analyses showed that severe food insecure was a risk factor for perceived clinical malaria (odds ratio: 5.97; 95% CI: 2.06-17.28). Additional risk factors for perceived clinical malaria were as follows: not receiving colostrum, poor child health (via maternal self-report), a child BMI doi: 10.3945/jn.109.108852

Research was conducted to examine the exclusive breastfeeding practices among four Hispanic subgroups of women residents of New York State. A sample of 136 respondents participated in the breastfeeding census. Results indicate that less acculturated women tend to engage in breastfeeding practices than more acculturated women. Findings suggest a tendency toward the preservation of traditional infant-feeding practices that are prevailing in most parts of Mexico.

Abstract Background In Bangladesh, many programs and projects have been promoting breastfeeding since the late 1980 s. Breastfeeding practices, however, have not improved accordingly. Methods For identifying program-relevant issues to improve breastfeeding in infancy, quantitative data were collected through visits to households (n = 356) in rural Chittagong and urban slums in Dhaka, and qualitative data from sub-samples by applying semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 42), focus group discussions (n = 28), and opportunistic observations (n = 21). Trials of Improved Practices (TIPs) (n = 26) were conducted in the above sites and rural Sylhet to determine how best to design further interventions. Our analysis focused on five breastfeeding practices recommended by the World Health Organization: putting baby to the breast within the first hour of birth, feeding colostrum and not giving fluids, food or other substances in the first days of life, breastfeeding on demand, not feeding anything by bottle, and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. Results The biggest gaps were found to be in putting baby to the breast within the first hour of birth (76% gap), feeding colostrum and not giving other fluids, foods or substances within the first three days (54% gap), and exclusive breastfeeding from birth through 180 days (90% gap). Lack of knowledge about dangers of delaying initiation beyond the first hour and giving other fluids, foods or substances, and the common perception of "insufficient milk" were main reasons given by mothers for these practices. Health workers had talked to only 8% of mothers about infant feeding during antenatal and immunization visits, and to 34% of mothers during sick child visits. The major providers of infant feeding information were grandmothers (28%). Conclusions The findings showed that huge gaps continue to exist in breastfeeding behaviors, mostly due to lack of awareness as to why the recommended breastfeeding practices are beneficial, the risks of not practicing them, as well as how to practice them. Health workers' interactions for promoting and supporting optimal breastfeeding are extremely low. Counseling techniques should be used to reinforce specific, priority messages by health facility staff and community-based workers at all contact points with mothers of young infants.

Background and objective. Anemia is a widespread public health problem. While anemia can be caused by malaria, schistosomiasis, or chronic kidney disease, nutritional deficiencies are among the biggest causes. The purpose of this project was to review literature to identify the proportion of anemia in women of childbearing age due to deficiencies of specific nutrients including iron, folate, vitamin B12, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, thiamine, and vitamin E. Methods. A search of 17 online databases between November 14, 2020 and December 14, 2020 yielded 5,598 results. Two reviewers independently screened document abstracts and titles via Covidence. The inclusion criteria were as follows. longitudinal intervention studies, including non-randomized controlled trials, randomized controlled trials, and intervention trials without control groups; micronutrients were provided to anemic women to observe if their anemia was eliminated; and micronutrients were administered orally for at least four weeks. Primary outcomes were change in hemoglobin concentration and change in anemia prevalence. Studies will be synthesized using armbased network meta-analysis with the pcnetmeta package in R. Results. We expect individual and pooled estimates of the effect sizes of each micronutrient and combinations of micronutrients on nutritional anemia reduction among women of reproductive age. Results will be stratified by delivery method of treatment, study duration, age of women (10-19, 15-49, 10-50 years), nutrient administered, and dosage of nutrient administered. Conclusions. We expect further evidence of the impact of oral micronutrient treatments (singly or combined) on hemoglobin concentration and anemia prevalence. This project will provide an up-to-date perspective on a variety of micronutrient treatments for anemia. Compared to previous systematic reviews, which usually focus on only one or two nutrients, this analysis will compare oral treatments with multiple nutrients across low-, middle- and highincome countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]