Hidden hunger and child undernutrition in South Asia: A meta-ethnographic systematic review.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: South Asia hosts the largest proportion of undernourished children in the world. Hidden hunger and undernutrition continue to be a major global health concern in the region. A systematic review looking at factors and drivers for hidden hunger and child undernutrition was undertaken. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: This review was conducted using the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta- Analysis guidelines. Five computerized databases were searched: CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, PsycINFO and Scopus, in addition to various grey literature sources. RESULTS: A total of 3601 articles were retrieved from databases and 25 studies from grey literature, 98 studies met our inclusion criteria. Included studies were assessed for quality by validated tools. A Meta-ethnographic narrative approach was used to analyse the findings. The most commonly reported factors for child undernutrition were maternal education, poor dietary diversity and rural residence. CONCLUSIONS: Based on findings we propose a model to mainstream context specific nutrition behavioural change along with nutrition specific and sensitive interventions aimed at targeting gender, social and cultural factors and norms. Findings from the review add to the extant literature of child undernutrition to inform policy and program.

Population-attributable risk estimates for factors associated with inappropriate complementary feeding practices in The Gambia.

OBJECTIVE: The present cross-sectional study aimed to determine population-attributable risk (PAR) estimates for factors associated with inappropriate complementary feeding practices in The Gambia. DESIGN: The study examined the first and most recent Demographic and Health Survey of The Gambia (GDHS 2013). The four complementary feeding indicators recommended by the WHO were examined against a set of individual-, household- and community-level factors, using multilevel logistic analysis. PAR estimates were obtained for each factor associated with inappropriate complementary feeding practices in the final multivariate logistic regression model. SETTING: The Gambia. SUBJECTS: Last-born children (n 2362) aged 6-23 months. RESULTS: Inadequate meal frequency was attributed to 20 % (95 % CI 15·5 %, 24·2 %) of children belonging to the youngest age group (6-11 months) and 9 % (95 % CI 3·2 %, 12·5 %) of children whose mothers were aged less than 20 years at the time of their birth. Inadequate dietary diversity was attributed to 26 % (95 % CI 1·9 %, 37·8 %) of children who were born at home and 20 % (95 % CI 8·3, 29·5 %) of children whose mothers had no access to the radio. Inadequate introduction of solid, semi-solid or soft foods was attributed to 30 % (95 % CI 7·2 %, 38·9 %) of children from poor households. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the study suggest the need for community-based public health nutrition interventions to improve the nutritional status of Gambian children, which should focus on sociocultural and economic factors that negatively impact on complementary feeding practices early in infancy (6-11 months).

Health of refugees settled in Australia over time and generations: a transformative mixed methods study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Refugees resettled in Australia may experience significant physical, mental and emotional health issues on arrival and difficulty accessing mainstream healthcare that often demands specialised services. It is not known if and how refugee health needs and service use change over time and generations, how this compares with the broader Australian population and what level of resourcing is required to maintain specialised services. There is also a significant knowledge gap concerning the resources and skills of refugees that can be harnessed to sustain the health and well-being of individuals and communities. Such knowledge gaps impede the ability of the health system to deliver responsive, efficient, acceptable and cost-effective care and services and limit the engagement of refugees in the coproduction of these services. METHODS: This study will be the first to provide comprehensive, longitudinal, population-based evidence of refugee health, service use and the accumulated resources or assets related to positive health and well-being (compared with data on deficits, illness and death) across the lifespan and generations. This will enable a comprehensive understanding of the relationships among assets, health status, service gaps and behaviours. We will identify the assets contributing to increased capacities to protect and promote health. This evidence is essential for planning health prevention programmes.This project has three phases: (1) employ national linked datasets to examine the health and social outcomes of refugees in Australia; (2) engage with refugees in a participatory manner to map the social, economic, organisational, physical and cultural assets in their communities and deliver an integrated model of health; and (3) codesign a roadmap of agreed actions required to attain health and well-being in communities and indicators to assess outcomes. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics and procedures-phase I:Ethical approval for phase I was gained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for Person Level Integrated Data Asset microdata (unit record data) via the ABS DataLab and the NSW Population and Health Services Research Ethics Committee (2023ETH01728), which can provide a single review of multijurisdictional data linkage research projects under the National Mutual Acceptance Scheme. This will facilitate approval for the Victorian and ACT datasets. The ABS will be the integrating/linkage authority. The Centre for Health Record Linkage (CHeReL) and the Victorian Data Linkage Unit will prepare a data extract representing all data records from the dataset to provide to the ABS for linkage.Ethics and procedures-phases 2 and 3:Written consent will be obtained from all participants, as well as consent to publish. We have obtained ethical approval from the University of Technology Sydney Medical Research Ethics Committee; however, as we deepen our consultation with community members and receive input from expert stakeholders, we will likely seek amendments to hone the survey and World Café questions. We will also need to provide flexible offerings that may extend to individual interviews and online interactions. DISCUSSION: This innovative approach will empower refugees and put them at the centre of their health and decision-making.

Protocol for integrated solutions for healthy birth, growth and development: a cluster-randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a mixed nutrition intervention package in reducing child undernutrition in Lao People's Democratic Republic.

INTRODUCTION: While Lao People's Democratic Republic has seen economic gains in recent years, one-third of children aged 5 years and under are stunted. There is a need for evidence around clinically effective and cost-effective integrated nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions in the local context. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We aim to conduct a cluster-randomised control trial to test the effectiveness of an integrated package of community-based nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions compared with the standard government package of nutrition actions. The trial will be in six districts within the province of Vientiane. We will recruit pregnant women in their third trimester and follow the children born to them every 6 months until 18 months of age. A total of 256 villages (serviced by 34 health centres) will be randomised to a control arm or an intervention arm using a minimisation algorithm. The primary outcome is the prevalence of stunting among children aged 6, 12 and 18 months. The secondary outcomes include prevalence of low birth weight and wasting among children aged 6, 12 and 18 months. Analyses for the primary and secondary outcomes will be conducted at the mother-infant dyad level and adjusted for the cluster randomisation. The difference in prevalence of low birth weight, wasting and stunting between control and intervention groups will be assessed using Pearson's χ2 tests and 95% CIs for the group difference, adjusted for clustering. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The trial protocol was approved by the Alfred Human Research Ethic Committee (Ref: 227/16) and the Lao National Ethics Committee for Health Research (Ref: 81). The trial was registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry on 28 April 2020 (ACTRN12620000520932). The results will be disseminated at different levels: study participants; the local community; other Lao stakeholders including policymakers; and an international audience. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12620000520932.

Prevalence of key breastfeeding indicators in 29 sub-Saharan African countries: a meta-analysis of demographic and health surveys (2010-2015).

OBJECTIVES: To carry out a meta-analysis to assess the prevalence of four key breastfeeding indicators in four subregions of 29 sub-Saharan African countries. DESIGN, SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: The 29 countries were categorised into four subregions, and using cross-sectional data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (2010-2015) of these countries prevalence of each of four key breastfeeding indicators was estimated for each of the subregions by carrying out a meta-analysis. Due to the presence of significant heterogeneity among the various surveys (I2>50%), a random-effect analytic model was used, and sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the effects of outliers. MAIN OUTCOME VARIABLES: Early initiation of breast feeding, exclusive breast feeding, predominant breast feeding and bottle feeding. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of early initiation of breast feeding varied between a lowest of 37.84% (95% CI 24.62 to 51.05) in Central Africa to a highest of 69.31% (95% CI 67.65 to 70.97) in Southern Africa; the overall prevalence of exclusive breast feeding ranged between a lowest of 23.70% (95% CI 5.37 to 42.03) in Central Africa to a highest of 56.57% (95% CI 53.50 to 59.95) in Southern Africa; the overall prevalence of predominant breast feeding ranged between a lowest of 17.63% (95% CI 12.70 to 22.55) in East Africa and a highest of 46.37% (95% CI 37.22 to 55.52) in West Africa; while the prevalence of bottle feeding varied between a lowest of 8.17% (95% CI 5.51 to 10.84) in West Africa and a highest of 30.05% (95% CI 28.42 to 31.69) in Southern Africa. CONCLUSIONS: West Africa and Central Africa recorded lower overall prevalence of early initiation of breast feeding and exclusive breast feeding than the WHO's recommended target of 50% by the year 2025. Intervention for improved breastfeeding practices in sub-Saharan Africa should target West and Central Africa, while intervention to minimise bottle feeding should target Southern Africa.

Pre-migration and post-migration factors associated with mental health in humanitarian migrants in Australia and the moderation effect of post-migration stressors: findings from the first wave data of the BNLA cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The process of becoming a humanitarian migrant is potentially damaging to mental health. We examined the association between pre-migration and post-migration potentially traumatic events and stressors and mental health, and assessed the moderating effect of post-migration stressors in humanitarian migrants in Australia. METHODS: In this study, we used the first wave of data between 2013 and 2014 from the Building a New Life in Australia survey. The survey included 2399 migrants who had arrived in Australia holding a permanent humanitarian visa 3-6 months preceding the survey, with 77% and 23% of participants being granted visas through offshore and onshore humanitarian programmes, respectively. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was measured with the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder 8 items (PTSD-8) and severe mental illness was measured with the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6). Pre-migration potentially traumatic events and post-migration stressors related to asylum process and resettlement were measured with a self-reported questionnaire. FINDINGS: Of the 2399 participants, 762 (31%; 95% CI 29·4-33·2) had PTSD and 394 (16%; 95% CI 14·2-17·2) had severe mental illness. The mean number of pre-migration potentially traumatic events was 2·1 (SD 1·4). 64%, 59%, 49%, and 18% of participants reported poor social integration, economic problems, worrying about family or friends overseas, and loneliness as post-migration stressors. Pre-migration potentially traumatic events and post-migration stressors were positively associated with PTSD and severe mental illness. Factors significantly modifying the association between pre-migration potentially traumatic events and mental health after controlling for confounding factors were resettlement related stressors, including loneliness (odds ratio 1·17, 95% CI 1·05-1·28 for PTSD and 1·28, 1·16-1·41 for severe mental illness) and the number of social integration stressors (1·10, 1·05-1·16 for PTSD). INTERPRETATION: Our data suggest that post-migration resettlement-related stressors were the most important correlates of mental health in humanitarian migrants, accounting for both direct and indirect associations. Targeting resettlement-related stressors through augmenting psychosocial care programmes and social integration would be a key approach to improve humanitarian migrants' mental health. FUNDING: None.

Prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease among African migrant and refugee adults in Melbourne: a pilot study.

Migration to industrialised countries poses a "double whammy" for type 2 diabetes among sub-Saharan African migrant and refugee adults. This population group has been found to be at an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes, which may be further aggravated by inadequate vitamin D status. Thus, this study aimed to describe the demographics of vitamin D insufficiency, obesity, and risk factors for type 2 diabetes among sub-Saharan African migrants and refugees aged 20 years or older living in Melbourne, Australia (n=49). Data were obtained by a questionnaire, medical assessment, and fasting blood samples. The mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was 27.3 nmol/L (95% CI: 22.2, 32.4 nmol/L); with 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels <50 nmol/L occurring in 88% of participants. Participants displayed a cluster of risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease: 62% were overweight or obese, 47% had insulin resistance (HOMA-IR >=2), 25% had low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels >=3.5 mmol/L, 24.5% had high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels <=1.03 mmol/L, 34.6% had borderline or high levels of total cholesterol (>=5.2 mmol/L), 18.2% had borderline or high levels of triglyceride (>=1.7 mmol/L), and 16% had hypertension (systolic blood pressure >=140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure >=90 mmHg). These findings suggest that sub-Saharan African migrants and refugees may be at risk of type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis-related diseases such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. Well-designed vitamin D interventions that incorporate lifestyle changes are urgently needed in this sub-population.

Food insecurity, malnutrition and mortality in Maewo and Ambae Islands, Vanuatu.

CONTEXT: This paper reports on findings from the ex-post evaluation of the Maewo Capacity Building project in Maewo Island, Vanuatu, which was funded by World Vision Australia. OBJECTIVES: To examine the extent to which the infrastructure and systems left behind by the project contributed to the improvement of household food security and health and nutritional outcomes in Maewo Island, using Ambae Island as a comparator. SETTING: Two-stage cluster survey conducted from 6 to 20 July 2004, which included anthropometric measures and 4.5-year retrospective mortality data collection. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 406 households in Maewo comprising 1623 people and 411 households in Ambae comprising 1799 people. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Household food insecurity, crude mortality rate (CMR), under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and malnutrition prevalence among children. RESULTS: The prevalence of food insecurity without hunger was estimated at 15.3% (95% confidence interval (CI): 12.1, 19.2%) in Maewo versus 38.2% (95% CI: 33.6, 43.0%) in Ambae, while food insecurity with hunger in children did not vary by location. After controlling for the child's age and gender, children in Maewo had higher weight-for-age and height-for-age Z-scores than children of the same age in Ambae. The CMR was lower in Maewo (CMR = 0.47/10 000 per day, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.55) than in Ambae (CMR=0.59/10 000 per day, 95% CI: 0.51, 0.67) but no difference existed in U5MR. The major causes of death were similar in both locations, with frequently reported causes being malaria, acute respiratory infection and diarrhoeal disease. CONCLUSIONS: Project initiatives in Maewo Island have reduced the risks of mortality and malnutrition. Using a cross-sectional 'external control group' design, this paper demonstrates that it is possible to draw conclusions about project effectiveness where baseline data are incomplete or absent. Shifting from donor-driven evaluations to impact evaluations has greater learning value for the organisation, and greater value when reporting back to the beneficiaries about project impact and transformational development in their community. Public health nutritionists working in the field are well versed in the collection and interpretation of anthropometric data for evaluation of nutritional interventions such as emergency feeding programmes. These same skills can be used to conduct impact evaluations, even some time after project completion, and elucidate lessons to be learned and shared. These skills can also be applied more widely to projects which impact on the longer-term nutritional status of communities and their food security.