Characterising infant and young child feeding practices and the consumption of poultry products in rural Tanzania: A mixed methods approach.

Suboptimal breastfeeding practices, early initiation of complementary feeding, and monotonous cereal-based diets have been implicated as contributors to continuing high rates of child undernutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. Nutrition-sensitive interventions, including agricultural programs that increase access to nutrient-rich vegetables, legumes, and animal-source foods, have the potential to achieve sustainable improvements in children's diets. In the quest to evaluate the efficacy of such programs in improving growth and development in the first 2 years of life, there is a role for mixed methods research to better understand existing infant and young child feeding practices. This analysis forms part of a longitudinal study assessing the impact of improvements to poultry health and crop production on diets and growth of 503 randomly selected children from eight rural communities in Manyoni District in central Tanzania. Using an explanatory sequential design, the quantitative phase of data collection was conducted between May 2014 and May 2016, comprising six monthly structured questionnaires, four monthly household-level documentation of chicken and egg consumption, and fortnightly records of children's breastfeeding status. The subsequent qualitative phase involved in-depth interviews with a subset of 39 mothers in October 2016. Breastfeeding was almost universal (96.8%) and of long duration (mean = 21.7 months, SD = 3.6), but early initiation of complementary feeding was also common (74.4%; mean = 4.0 months, SD = 1.8), overwhelmingly driven by maternal perceptions of insufficient milk supply (95.0%). Chicken and eggs were infrequently eaten, but close associations between maternal and child consumption patterns (p < .001) suggest the potential for strategies that increase household-level consumption to bring nutritional benefits to young children.

Assessment of nutritional habits on a group of pupils from a countryside elementary school in Romania.

UNLABELLED: Food is a major contributor to healthy children and youth. The study of this factor must be complex, considering the dietary habits of the population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 65 pupils from rural area were surveyed weekly about eating chicken, fish, fruits, bread and cereal by-products. A special attention was given to daily consumption of fruits (to those who recognize this contribution). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: chicken appears in menus mostly 2-3 times a week (40.0%) or 4-7 times (27.7%). Fish is particularly present in menus one time (47.6%) or 2-3 times (26.2%). Fruits are provided in 75.4% cases 4-7 times a week. The dominant consumption of bread is of 4-7 times (90.8%) and of cereal by-products is of 2-3 times (58.5%) or even of 4-7 times (27.7%) a week. Self body weight is considered to be appropriate by 63.1% teenagers and in 23.1% cases they considered their body weight is too high. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of national dietary programs can change the nutritional habits of children if they are based on a real assessment, achieved only with the help of surveys conducted by questionnaire method.

[Family income--nutrition correlation in a group of Negresti Vaslui preschool children]. / Relatia venitul familiei--alimentatie la un lot de prescolari din orasul Negresti judetul vaslui.

UNLABELLED: Growth and development are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. From the environmental factors, nutrition plays a key role and is income dependent. OBJECTIVES: Assessing food intake according to family financial status. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A study was conducted on 134 preschool children (ages from 3 to 7 years of age) from a Negresti kindergarten. Questionnaires were filled by parents for weekly food intake and family financial situation. Statistical analysis used Pearson test. RESULTS: According to income the group is structured in: very low income (32.8%), low income (28.3%), average income (26.8%) and above average income (12.1%). The majority of the families provides milk to their children (58.9%), varying from 54.5% (very low income) to 63.1% (low income). Poultry is present in the diet mainly for 2-3 times per week (45.5%) going from 36.8% in low income families to 55.5% in average income families. Daily fruit intake is present in 59.7% of families, varying from 45.4% (very low income) to 68.7% (above average income). Recorded differences have no statistic significance. CONCLUSION: Families income is different but the nutrition provided to children is similar, being strongly influenced by traditional nutritional habits.

Indigenous chicken production in Iran: a review.

One of the sources that, provide protein in developing countries, is native chicken. So, they should be taken into consideration in poultry improvement programs. Indeed, egg and meat production of indigenous chickens in Iran have been considered by different researchers. In this study, various works have been studied for different years and investigated some results regarding laying and meat production traits of Iranian indigenous chickens, as well as their crossings with exotic breeds.

Flies, fingers, fomites, and food. Campylobacteriosis in New Zealand--food-associated rather than food-borne.

AIMS: New Zealand has a very high rate of seasonal, sporadic campylobacteriosis compared to other OECD countries. Can the seasonality of New Zealand cases fit with an explanation of food-borne transmission (especially by chicken meat), and where does the fly-transmission hypothesis fit? METHODS: Analysis of seasonal campylobacteriosis reports at the District Health Board level compared to regional ambient temperatures, and chicken consumption data. Literature review particularly of food-associated disease risks and transmission routes. RESULTS: Campylobacteriosis rates in New Zealand show a national annual increase at a rate similar to chicken consumption. A drastic reduction in chicken consumption was associated with significantly reduced campylobacteriosis cases in two European countries, further strengthening the link between disease risk and chicken consumption. However, serotype analysis of the Campylobacter isolates is ambiguous regarding chicken meat itself as the major source of infection. The seasonal colonisation pattern in live chickens follows the seasonal increase in human cases. Flies are a plausible vector, associated with increasing overwintered fly foraging activity, rather than a summer increase in fly numbers. CONCLUSION: The typically sporadic rather than outbreak nature of campylobacteriosis, the disjoint between seasonal patterns of human and chicken infection, the seasonal pattern itself, and inconclusive serotype evidence indicates against chicken meat itself as the major source of infection. However, chicken consumption is a significant risk factor.

Perspective from Western Canada and the Canadian meat industry.

The Canadian broiler chicken and turkey industries are distributed approximately according to human population. Individual components of these industries tend to be smaller than their U.S. counterparts and not to be vertically integrated. The outlook of the poultry meat industries is positive because of increasing per capita consumption of chicken and the potential for gains in turkey consumption. The number of permanently employed poultry scientists at publicly funded institutions has declined in Western Canada. University training in Poultry Science is restricted to four major institutions where it has been integrated into Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine programs. For the most part, poultry scientists have developed successful research programs and this research has been enhanced by scientists employed in term positions. Publicly funded poultry extension has declined but this reduction has been compensated to some degree by industry-sponsored programs and the private sector. The majority of research funding, which was once derived from government, is now provided by industry; government contributions are frequently contingent on initial industry support. The consequence of this type of funding arrangement is a trend to more short-term and less long-term research. Canada has no strategic plan regarding poultry training, research, or extension and this needs to be addressed before there is a further reduction in the country's infrastructure. Modern communication technology offers promise to reduce the isolation of scientists in different parts of Canada.

Ability of commercial laying hens producing different egg outputs to meet their methionine and energy requirements when fed the same diet.

An experiment was conducted to determine whether commercial laying hens with different egg outputs could meet their Met requirement when fed the same diet. Three groups of hens were selected with either low, medium, and high egg output. Body weight of hens was positively related to egg output. As egg output increased, feed consumption increased. This resulted in essentially the same amount of energy consumed per gram of egg content (EC) for all three groups. Egg weight was greatest with hens producing the greatest EC. The Met intake of hens was increased with increased EC; however, the Met per gram of EC was not different for the three groups of hens. These data indicate that the Met and energy requirements of commercial layers can be met with one feed when individual hens produce different amounts of EC.