Major dietary patterns of community dwelling adults and their associations with impaired blood glucose and central obesity in Eastern Ethiopia: Diet-disease epidemiological study.

BACKGROUNDS: Unhealthy dietary intake is an important preventable risk factor for obesity and impaired blood glucose (IBG), ultimately increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases. When compared to individual food intakes, dietary patterns are a stronger predictor of health outcomes and should be systematically evaluated where such evidence is lacking. This study evaluated dietary patterns and their association with the risk of central obesity and IBG among adults. METHODS: A community-based survey was conducted among 501 randomly-selected adults from Eastern Ethiopia. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire during a face-to-face interview that included sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, as well as a validated 89-item food frequency questionnaire (collected over one month). Principal component analysis was used to derive the dietary pattern. While central obesity was assessed using waist and/or hip circumference measurements, fasting blood sugar was used for IBG. A multivariable logistic regression model was fitted with an odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals, and p-values reported. RESULTS: A total of 501 adults (95.3%) were interviewed, with a mean age of 41 years (±12). Five major dietary patterns explaining 71% of the total variance were identified: "nutrient-dense foods", "high fat and protein", "processed foods", "alcohol drinks", and "cereal diets". While 20.4% (17.0-24.2%) had IBG, 14.6% (11.8-17.9) were centrally obese, and 94.6% (92.3-96.3) had an increased waist-to-hip circumference ratio. Central obesity is associated with upper wealth status (AOR = 6.92; 2.91-16.5), physical inactivity (AOR = 21.1; 2.77-161.4), a diet high in nutrient-dense foods (AOR = 1.75; 0.75-4.06), processed foods (AOR = 1.41; 0.57-3.48), and cereal diets (AOR = 4.06; 1.87-8.82). The burden of IBG was associated with upper wealth status (AOR = 2.36; 1.36-4.10), physical inactivity (AOR = 2.17; 0.91-5.18), upper tercile of nutrient-dense foods (AOR = 1.35; 0.62-2.93), fat and protein diet (AOR = 1.31; 0.66-2.62), and cereal diet consumption (AOR = 3.87; 1.66-9.02). CONCLUSION: IBG and central obesity were prevalent and predicted by upper tercile consumption of nutrient-dense foods, high fat and protein diets, processed foods, and cereal diets, which could guide dietary interventions.

Level and Predictors of Knowledge of Reproductive Rights Among Haramaya University Students, Eastern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Globally, two-thirds of pre-mature deaths and one-third of the total disease burden in adults are associated with problems that began in adolescent and youth. Global and national acting educational and health policies, strategies, and programs designed to promote, implement, and improve adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health services utilization should be responsive, consider the knowledge of reproductive rights and risk factors. This study assessed the level and predictors of knowledge of reproductive rights among Haramaya University students in Ethiopia. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected Haramaya University students from March 1 to 24, 2018. A self-administered pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data from participants. Data were entered using EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with knowledge of reproductive rights. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% CI was used to report association and significance was declared at P-value < 0.05. Results: Of 822 total students invited to the study, 812 (98.8%) respondents participated in the study. A total of 424 students (52.2%, 95% CI: 48.8, 55.4%) had an above-average level of knowledge on reproductive rights. Participants who were in the fourth and above year of the study [AOR = 2.37 (1.58, 3.54)], whose father's had higher education [AOR = 1.89 (1.27, 2.80)], who came from rich families [AOR = 1.54 (1.07, 2.21)], in the health faculty [AOR = 3.37 (2.17, 5.23)], utilized reproductive health services [AOR = 2.81 (2.21, 4.98)] and participated in reproductive health club [AOR = 1.77 (1.27, 2.47)] were significantly associated with knowledge of reproductive rights. Conclusion: Around half of the participants knew reproductive rights. In this study, lack of awareness (information) on reproductive health issues and absence of reproductive health services utilization were strong independent predictors of knowledge of reproductive rights.

Climate change and One Health.

The journal The Lancet recently published a countdown on health and climate change. Attention was focused solely on humans. However, animals, including wildlife, livestock and pets, may also be impacted by climate change. Complementary to the high relevance of awareness rising for protecting humans against climate change, here we present a One Health approach, which aims at the simultaneous protection of humans, animals and the environment from climate change impacts (climate change adaptation). We postulate that integrated approaches save human and animal lives and reduce costs when compared to public and animal health sectors working separately. A One Health approach to climate change adaptation may significantly contribute to food security with emphasis on animal source foods, extensive livestock systems, particularly ruminant livestock, environmental sanitation, and steps towards regional and global integrated syndromic surveillance and response systems. The cost of outbreaks of emerging vector-borne zoonotic pathogens may be much lower if they are detected early in the vector or in livestock rather than later in humans. Therefore, integrated community-based surveillance of zoonoses is a promising avenue to reduce health effects of climate change.