Triple burden of malnutrition among Malaysian children aged 6 months to 12 years: Current findings from SEANUTS II Malaysia.

OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to report South East Asian Nutrition Surveys (SEANUTS) II Malaysia data on nutritional status, dietary intake, and nutritional biomarkers of children aged 6 months to 12 years. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey conducted in 2019-2020. SETTING: Multistage cluster sampling conducted in Central, Northern, Southern, and East Coast regions of Peninsular Malaysia. PARTICIPANTS: 2989 children aged 0.5-12.9 years. RESULTS: Prevalences of stunting, thinness, overweight, and obesity among children aged 0.5-12.9 years were 8.9%, 6.7%, 9.2%, and 8.8%, respectively. Among children below 5 years old, 11.4% were underweight, 13.8% had stunting, and 6.2% wasting. Data on nutritional biomarkers showed a small proportion of children aged 4-12 years had iron (2.9%) and vitamin A deficiencies (3.1%). Prevalence of anaemia was distinctly different between children below 4 years old (40.3%) and those aged 4 years and above (3.0%). One-fourth of children (25.1%) had vitamin D insufficiency, which was twice as prevalent in girls (35.2% vs. boys: 15.6%). The majority of children did not meet the recommended dietary intake for calcium (79.4%) and vitamin D (94.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Data from SEANUTS II Malaysia confirmed that triple burden of malnutrition co-exists among children in Peninsular Malaysia, with higher prevalence of overnutrition than undernutrition. Anaemia is highly prevalent among children below 4 years old, while vitamin D insufficiency is more prevalent among girls. Low intakes of dietary calcium and vitamin D are also of concern. These findings provide policymakers with useful and evidence-based data to formulate strategies that address the nutritional issues of Malaysian children.

Attenuation of stress-induced cardiovascular reactivity following high-intensity interval exercise in untrained males.

Exaggerated cardiovascular (CV) reactivity to stress is associated with negative cardiovascular outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the effects of acute high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) and moderate-intensity exercise (MIE) on CV reactivity in response to a stress challenge in untrained males. Thirteen, normotensive males (age: 22.8 ± 2 years, BMI: 21.9 ± 3.6 kg/m2) underwent three conditions in counterbalanced order: HIIE (bodyweight exercises; 80-90% HRR), MIE (treadmill-jog; 55-60% HRR) and seated rest (CON) separated by 7-10 days. Thirty minutes after performing HIIE, MIE or CON, subjects underwent a 2-min cold pressor task (CPT). Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured before, during, and after CPT. CV reactivity, i.e., the change in BP and HR responses were compared across conditions. Systolic BP reactivity were attenuated following HIIE (-60%, p = 0.015) and MIE (-42%, p = 0.033) compared to CON, but no differences were observed between HIIE and MIE. HR reactivity was not different across all conditions. We conclude that performing HIIE or MIE 30 minutes prior to acute stress exposure lowers BP reactivity compared to rest in untrained males. These findings highlight the potential benefits of HIIE in lowering stress-induced elevations in blood pressure.

The Effects of Circadian Rhythm Disruption on Mental Health and Physiological Responses among Shift Workers and General Population.

Background: The effect of circadian disruption on the bio-psychological clock system has been widely studied. However, the mechanism and the association of circadian rhythm disruption with mental health and physiological responses are still unclear. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of circadian rhythm disruption on mental health and physiological responses among shift workers and the general population. Methods: A total of 42 subjects participated in this quasi-experimental study. Participants were divided into a group of shift workers (n = 20) and a general population group (n = 22). Polysomnography tests, blood tests (cortisol, triglycerides and glucose), and psychological tests (Abbreviated Profile of Mood States, General Health Questionnaire-28, Working Memory and Processing Speed Indexes of the Wechsler Adult Intelligent Scale (WAIS-IV) were used to examine the effects of circadian rhythm disruption. Results: The results showed a significant relationship between circadian rhythm disruption and mood (r = 0.305, p < 0.05). The findings of this study also indicated that there was a significant effect of circadian rhythm disruption on mood (F(2,40) = 8.89, p < 0.001, η2 =0.182), processing speed (F(2,40) = 9.17, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.186) and working memory (F(2,40) = 4.963, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.11) in shift workers and the general population. Conclusions: Our findings showed that circadian rhythm disruption affects mood and cognitive performance, but it does not significantly affect psychological wellbeing and physiological responses. Future studies are warranted to examine moderator and mediator variables that could influence the circadian rhythm disruption.

Self-Reported Sleep Quality Using the Malay Version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-M) In Malaysian Adults.

(1) Background: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a useful tool for the assessment of subjective sleep quality in non-clinical and clinical settings. This study aimed to determine sleep quality in a general Malaysian adult population using a validated Malay version of the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI-M); (2) Methods: The original PSQI was translated into Malay following forward and backward translation guidelines. The final Malay version was administered to a sample of healthy working adults (n = 106; mean age: 35.3 ± 7.6 years) without history of sleep disorders. Reliability and agreement were assessed using Cronbach's alpha, intra-class correlations coefficient (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM), and Bland-Altman plot. Convergent validity of PSQI-M was examined with the Malay version of Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS-M) using Pearson's correlation coefficient; (3) Results: Overall mean PSQI global score was 5.25 ± 1.85. About 45% of the sample had PSQI global score >5, indicating poor sleep quality. Total sleep duration per night was 5.95 ± 1.05 h, below the recommended amount. Sleep quality seems to be affected by age but not gender. Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's alpha in the whole sample was 0.74, with test-retest reliability (ICC) of 0.58 and SEM of 1.34. The PSQI test-retest scores indicated that most of the respondents (90%) lay within the 95% limits of agreement. The PSQI-M also showed significant correlation with ESS-M scores (r = 0.37, p < 0.01); (4) Conclusion: The PSQI-M showed acceptable reliability and is valid to be used in a general Malaysian adult population. Findings also indicate that a majority of the adults in our sample were experiencing inadequate sleep, thus further research is needed to identify the factors associated with poor sleep quality.