Simulated Impact of Vitamin A-Fortified Sugar on Dietary Adequacy and Association of Usual Sugar Intake With Plasma and Breast Milk Retinol Among Lactating Zambian Women.

In Zambia, mandatory sugar fortification with vitamin A (VA) has been implemented, but its impact on VA inadequacy and status has yet to be assessed. This study evaluated the contribution of VA-fortified sugar to dietary VA adequacy and the relationship between dietary intakes and VA status in 243 lactating women, based on 24-h dietary recalls in Mkushi, Zambia. We estimated usual intake distributions and the prevalence of VA adequacy using the National Cancer Institute (NCI) method across five scenarios: without sugar fortification; with fortification at 3.

Double burden of malnutrition among under-five children in Eastern and Southern African countries.

There is limited evidence on the burden and drivers of the co-occurrence of overweight/obesity and undernutrition at the individual level in low- and middle-income countries. This gap hinders the design of double-duty actions (DDAs) that can effectively address all forms of malnutrition. This multi-country study aimed to determine the magnitude of double burden of malnutrition (DBM) among under five children and identify household and individual level determinants in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) countries.

Mid-upper-arm circumference: a surrogate measure for BMI for age z-score to identify thinness among adolescent girls in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: The mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) is an anthropometric screening tool used to assess the nutritional status of individuals, offering a practical and feasible option in low-resource settings. However, the potential of MUAC as a screening tool for identifying thinness among adolescents remains underexplored.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of MUAC in identifying all forms of thinness among adolescent girls enrolled in selected schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Disordered eating behaviours and body shape dissatisfaction among adolescents with type 1 diabetes: a cross sectional study.

Background: Disordered eating behaviours (DEBs) are variations in regular eating patterns and behaviours and might include symptoms and behaviours of eating disorder with lower level of severity. Such behaviours are common during adolescence at which time several physical and psychological changes occur favouring unhealthy dietary behaviours. Although the magnitude of DEBs is high among high-income countries, similar data are limited among adolescents with diabetes in low-income countries including Ethiopia.

Comparison of Published Estimates of the National Prevalence of Iron, Vitamin A, and Zinc Deficiency and Sources of Inconsistencies.

Micronutrient deficiencies result in a broad range of adverse health and functional consequences, but the true prevalence of specific deficiencies remains uncertain because limited information is available from nationally representative surveys using recommended biomarkers. The present review compares various reported national deficiency prevalence estimates for nutrients and years where the estimates overlap for individual countries that conducted nationally representative surveys and explores possible reasons for any discrepancies discovered. Nationally representative micronutrient status surveys that were conducted since 2000 among preschool-aged children or women of reproductive age and included assessment of iron, vitamin A, or zinc status based on recognized biomarkers were considered eligible for inclusion, along with any modeled deficiency prevalence estimates for these same countries and years.

Impacts of micronutrient intervention programs on effective coverage and lives saved: Modeled evidence from Cameroon.

Policymakers are committed to improving nutritional status and to saving lives. Some micronutrient intervention programs (MIPs) can do both, but not to the same degrees. We apply the Micronutrient Intervention Modeling tool to compare sets of MIPs for (1) achieving dietary adequacy separately for zinc, vitamin A (VA), and folate for children and women of reproductive age (WRA), and (2) saving children's lives via combinations of MIPs.

Health effects associated with vegetable consumption: a Burden of Proof study.

Previous research suggests a protective effect of vegetable consumption against chronic disease, but the quality of evidence underlying those findings remains uncertain. We applied a Bayesian meta-regression tool to estimate the mean risk function and quantify the quality of evidence for associations between vegetable consumption and ischemic heart disease (IHD), ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, type 2 diabetes and esophageal cancer. Increasing from no vegetable consumption to the theoretical minimum risk exposure level (306-372 g daily) was associated with a 23.

Correlates of Sedentary Time Among Children and Adolescents in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: To assess the correlates of sedentary time among children and adolescents in Ethiopia.

Methods: The study was conducted in representative samples of children and adolescents in the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to determine associations of sedentary time and predictor variables.

Population vitamin D status might be related to COVID-19 mortality but not with infection rate in Africa: evidence from ecological analysis.

Introduction: there is a large body of literature that has linked vitamin D status in the population with COVID-19 infection risk and disease severity. However, there is paucity of evidence in African context. Hence, this study aimed to conduct an ecological analysis to explore correlation between population level vitamin D status, COVID-19 infection, and mortality in Africa.

Aflatoxin exposure among children of age 12-59 Months in Butajira District, South-Central Ethiopia: a community based cross-sectional study.

Background: The continued provision of safe food, free of aflatoxin remains a huge challenge in developing countries. Despite several favourable climatic conditions that facilitate aflatoxin contamination in Ethiopia, there is little information showing aflatoxin exposure in children. Therefore, this study assessed aflatoxin exposure among young children in Butajira district, South-Central Ethiopia.

Reconsidering the Tolerable Upper Levels of Zinc Intake among Infants and Young Children: A Systematic Review of the Available Evidence.

Safe upper levels (UL) of zinc intake for children were established based on either (1) limited data from just one study among children or (2) extrapolations from studies in adults. Resulting ULs are less than amounts of zinc consumed by children in many studies that reported benefits of zinc interventions, and usual dietary zinc intakes often exceed the UL, with no apparent adverse effects. Therefore, existing ULs may be too low.

Applying Zinc Nutrient Reference Values as Proposed by Different Authorities Results in Large Differences in the Estimated Prevalence of Inadequate Zinc Intake by Young Children and Women and in Cameroon.

Nutrient reference values (NRVs) for zinc set by several expert groups differ widely and may affect the predicted prevalence of inadequate zinc intake. We examined this possibility using NRVs published by four different authorities and nationally representative dietary intake data collected among children aged 12-59 months and women in Cameroon. Usual zinc intake was estimated from 24 h recall data using the National Cancer Institute method.

Magnitude of urban household food insecurity in East Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the magnitude and determinants of urban household food insecurity in East Africa.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Setting: Studies conducted in East Africa.

Effectiveness of a nutrition education and counselling training package on antenatal care: a cluster randomized controlled trial in Addis Ababa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the need for a strong nutrition training package for practitioners, including antenatal care (ANC) providers. Without such a training package, ANC visits remain a missed opportunity to address nutritional problems among pregnant women. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an in-service nutrition education and counselling package on the providers' counselling skills during ANC visits.

Mid-upper arm circumference as a screening tool for identifying adolescents with thinness.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) to identify thinness in the late adolescence period (aged 15-19 years) in Ethiopia.

Design: We conducted a school-based cross-sectional study. The receiver operating characteristics curve was used to examine the validity of MUAC compared with BMI Z-score to identify adolescents with thinness (BMI Z-score <-2 sd).

Within-Person Variation in Nutrient Intakes across Populations and Settings: Implications for the Use of External Estimates in Modeling Usual Nutrient Intake Distributions.

Determining the proportion of a population at risk of inadequate or excessive nutrient intake is a crucial step in planning and managing nutrition intervention programs. Multiple days of 24-h dietary intake data per subject allow for adjustment of modeled usual nutrient intake distributions for the proportion of total variance in intake attributable to within-individual variation (WIV:total). When only single-day dietary data are available, an external adjustment factor can be used; however, WIV:total may vary by population, and use of incorrect WIV:total ratios may influence the accuracy of prevalence estimates and subsequent program impacts.

Micronutrient Fortification of Commercially Available Biscuits Is Predicted to Have Minimal Impact on Prevalence of Inadequate Micronutrient Intakes: Modeling of National Dietary Data From Cameroon.

Background: Voluntarily fortified snack products are increasingly available but are not necessarily formulated to meet known dietary nutrient gaps, so potential impacts on population micronutrient intake adequacy are uncertain.

Objectives: We modeled the impacts of hypothetical micronutrient-fortified biscuits on inadequate micronutrient intake in children and women of reproductive age (WRA) in Cameroon.

Methods: In a nationally representative survey stratified by macro-region (North, South, and Yaoundé/Douala), 24-h dietary recall data were collected from 883 children aged 12-59 mo and from 912 WRA.

Performance of mid-upper arm circumference as a screening tool for identifying adolescents with overweight and obesity.

Background: Adolescent overweight and obesity is a global public health problem, associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome. Recently, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) has been suggested as a screening tool to identify overweight and obesity among school-age children and early adolescents (5-14 years). However, little is known about the potential use of MUAC in the late adolescence period (15-19 years).

Predictive accuracy of perceived baby birth size for birth weight: a cross-sectional study from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey.

Objectives: The study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of maternally perceived baby birth size assessments as a measure of birth weight and examine factors influencing the accuracy of maternal size assessments.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: The study is based on national data from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey.

Good governance, public health expenditures, urbanization and child undernutrition Nexus in Ethiopia: an ecological analysis.

Background: Child undernutrition remains the major public health problem in low and middle-income countries including Ethiopia. The effects of good governance, urbanization and public health expenditure on childhood undernutrition are not well studied in developing countries. The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between quality of governance, public health expenditures, urbanization and child undernutrition in Ethiopia.