Gender and socio-economic stratification of ultra-processed and deep-fried food consumption among rural adolescents: A cross-sectional study from Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Although consumption of ultra-processed and deep-fried foods among adolescents is a global health concern, little is known about its gender and socio-economic stratification in rural settings of low- and middle-income countries. We, thus, aimed to describe ultra-processed and deep-fried food consumption among rural adolescents by gender and socio-economic factors, and to explore their relative importance in shaping consumption. METHODS: This cross-sectional study drew on data from a household survey in Matlab, a rural sub-district in Bangladesh. The analytic sample comprised 2463 adolescents. We assessed consumption of four ultra-processed food groups: ready-to-eat or "instant" foods; confectionery, sweets and similar packaged products; savory snacks; sugar-sweetened beverage; and of deep-fried foods with a 24-hour, qualitative recall. Asset scores were constructed. Proportion of consumption was calculated and compared by gender and household wealth. Logistic regression models were fitted to isolate socio-demographic variables associated with consumption. RESULTS: Approximately 83% (81.5-84.4) adolescents consumed at least one ultra-processed or deep-fried item. Confectioneries were the most consumed (53.5%), whereas sugar-sweetened beverage was the least consumed (12%) group. Boys had greater odds of consumption than girls for all food groups. The association was strongest for sugar-sweetened beverage (adjusted odds ratio = 2.57; 95% CI: 1.97, 3.37), followed by deep-fried foods (adjusted odds ratio = 1.96; 95% CI: 1.66, 2.32) and ready-to-eat foods (adjusted odds ratio = 1.85; 95% CI: 1.45, 2.38). Belonging to the richest households was associated with ready-to-eat food consumption (adjusted odds ratio = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.12, 2.16). Adolescents with higher educational attainment had lower odds of consuming sugar-sweetened beverage (adjusted odds ratio = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.98). CONCLUSION: Consumption of packaged confectioneries, savory snacks, and deep-fried foods appeared common, while SSB consumption was relatively low. Role of gender was pre-eminent as consumption was more likely among boys across the food groups. This may disproportionately expose them to the risk of diet-related non-communicable diseases.

Exploring the Experience and Determinants of the Food Choices and Eating Practices of Elderly Thai People: A Qualitative Study.

Over the past decade, Thailand has experienced a rapid increase in its elderly population. Many unfavorable health outcomes among elderly people are associated with nutrition. Nutrition in elderly people is affected by physical, mental, and social factors. This study explored the food choices and dietary practices among community-dwelling elderly people in Thailand from the perspective of both caregivers and the elderly people themselves. Six focus group discussions and six semistructured interviews were conducted in the Samut Sakhon Province of Thailand. Deductive thematic analyses were conducted based on the "food choice process model framework." The results show that physical and mental factors and societal factors are important determinants of food choices. Moreover, a changing food environment and economic factors were found to affect food choices. Issues of trust in food safety and food markets were highlighted as growing issues. Therefore, fostering healthy food choice interventions that consider both environmental and societal aspects is necessary.

The Social Stratification of Availability, Affordability, and Consumption of Food in Families with Preschoolers in Addis Ababa; The EAT Addis Study in Ethiopia.

The aim of this study was to understand the quality of diet being consumed among families in Addis Ababa, and to what extent social stratification and perceptions of availability and affordability affect healthy food consumption. Data were collected from 5467 households in a face-to-face interview with mothers/caretakers and analyzed using mixed effect logistic regression models. All family food groups, except fish were perceived to be available by more than 90% of the participants. The food groups cereals/nuts/seeds, other vegetables, and legumes were considered highly affordable (80%) and were the most consumed (>75%). Households with the least educated mothers and those in the lowest wealth quintile had the lowest perception of affordability and also consumption. Consumption of foods rich in micronutrients and animal sources were significantly higher among households with higher perceived affordability, the highest wealth quintile, and with mothers who had better education. Households in Addis Ababa were generally seen to have a monotonous diet, despite the high perceived availability of different food groups within the food environment. There is a considerable difference in consumption of nutrient-rich foods across social strata, hence the cities food policies need to account for social differences in order to improve the nutritional status of the community.

Exploring Rural Adolescents' Dietary Diversity and Its Socioeconomic Correlates: A Cross-Sectional Study from Matlab, Bangladesh.

The majority of 36 million Bangladeshi adolescents live in rural areas. Improved understanding of their dietary patterns is of great public health importance. This study aimed to explore dietary diversity (DD) with its socioeconomic and gender stratification in a rural adolescent cohort and to isolate factors associated with inadequate DD. Household survey provided data for constructing dietary diversity scores (DDS) and assessing relevant socio-demographic variables. Final analysis included 2463 adolescents. Means and proportions were compared, and a binary logistic regression model was fitted. Inadequate DD was observed among 42.3% (40.3-44.2). Consumption of nutrient-rich foods varied significantly across gender and SES categories. Belonging to the poorest households (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.59; 95% CI: 1.27, 2.00) and food insecure households (aOR 1.34; 95% CI: 1.13, 1.59), adolescents' attainment of secondary education (aOR 1.38; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.71), and having mothers with secondary education or above (aOR 0.76; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.96) were associated with inadequate DD. Compared with girls from food secure households, girls from food insecure ones had higher odds of inadequate DD (aORgirl 1.42; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.81). Improving rural adolescents' DD would require targeted interventions as well as broader poverty alleviation.

[The MINIMat study in Bangladesh: International research collaboration and research training with a perspective from foetus to future health]. / Från foster till framtida hälsa - MINIMat-studien i Bangladesh har halverat dödligheten hos spädbarn och gett bättre tillväxt och metabola markörer.

In South Asia, maternal and child undernutrition is common with consequences for short- and long-term health. In the MINIMat trial (Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab) in Bangladesh 4436 pregnant women were allocated to early or later start of food supplements and different micronutrient alternatives. Children of mothers who received food supplementation from week 9 combined with multiple micronutrients showed a halved infant mortality rate. The early initiation of prenatal food supplementation reduced the risk of stunting up to five years and was associated with more favourable metabolic markers. The MINIMat study is run by icddr,b in Bangladesh and Uppsala University in collaboration with seven other universities. Twenty Ph.D. students have so far defended their theses and more than 100 scientific papers have been published.

PSICA: Decision trees for probabilistic subgroup identification with categorical treatments.

Personalized medicine aims at identifying best treatments for a patient with given characteristics. It has been shown in the literature that these methods can lead to great improvements in medicine compared to traditional methods prescribing the same treatment to all patients. Subgroup identification is a branch of personalized medicine, which aims at finding subgroups of the patients with similar characteristics for which some of the investigated treatments have a better effect than the other treatments. A number of approaches based on decision trees have been proposed to identify such subgroups, but most of them focus on two-arm trials (control/treatment) while a few methods consider quantitative treatments (defined by the dose). However, no subgroup identification method exists that can predict the best treatments in a scenario with a categorical set of treatments. We propose a novel method for subgroup identification in categorical treatment scenarios. This method outputs a decision tree showing the probabilities of a given treatment being the best for a given group of patients as well as labels showing the possible best treatments. The method is implemented in an R package psica available on CRAN. In addition to a simulation study, we present an analysis of a community-based nutrition intervention trial that justifies the validity of our method.

Mixed blessings: A qualitative exploration of mothers' experience of child care and feeding in the rapidly urbanizing city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Many studies have drawn attention to the vital role mothers have in safeguarding the health and nutritional wellbeing of their children. However, little is known about mothers' experiences and the challenges they face in fulfilling this role in rapidly urbanizing cities in Africa. This study aims to explore child care and feeding practices of mothers with children under five years of age in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This qualitative study was conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. A total of thirty-six interviews were conducted with purposively selected participants. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and translated for analysis. We used a thematic analysis approach, which was guided by a resilience framework. The findings are presented as three major themes. 1) 'Mixed blessings-balancing motherhood's expectations'. While mothers identified positively with the social recognition and sense of fulfillment of being a 'good mother', they were ambivalent/torn about earning the necessary income from outside work and fulfilling their duties at home. 2) 'Instabilities due to rampant urban sprawl'. While women expressed a keen desire to balance work and motherhood, the disintegrating social capital, due to large in-migration, market fluctuations and abrupt/forced resettlements to new housing units had left mothers without support for childcare, stressed and exhausted. 3) 'Anchored by faith: a source of resilience to cope with adversities'. In the face of the multiple adversities, mothers cited their strong faith as their most reliable foundation for their resilience. In summary, the societal and environmental changes accompanying the rapid urbanization in low income settings makes combining child care and working outside the home very challenging for mothers. As a result they suffer from fatigue and feelings of isolation. Efforts to improve child feeding and care in urban low-income settings need to consider context appropriate strategies that support mothers with small children.

Breast-feeding counselling mitigates the negative association of domestic violence on exclusive breast-feeding duration in rural Bangladesh. The MINIMat randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if exclusive breast-feeding counselling modifies the association of experience of any lifetime or specific forms of domestic violence (DV) on duration of exclusive breast-feeding (EBF). DESIGN: In the MINIMat trial pregnant women were randomized to receive either usual health messages (UHM) or usual health messages with breast-feeding counselling (BFC) in eight visits. During pregnancy (30 weeks), lifetime experience of any or specific forms of DV was measured. Infant feeding practice information was collected from 0 to 6 months at 15 d intervals. SETTING: Matlab, Bangladesh. SUBJECTS: Pregnant and postpartum women (n 3186) and their infants. RESULTS: Among women in the UHM group, those who had experienced any lifetime DV exclusively breast-fed for a shorter duration than women who did not experience any lifetime DV (P=0·02). There was no difference, however, in duration of EBF among women in the BFC group based on their experience of any lifetime DV exposure (P=0·48). Using Cox regression analysis, there was an interaction of exposure to any lifetime DV, sexual violence and controlling behaviour, and counselling group with duration of breast-feeding at or before 6 months (P-interaction≤0·08). Among the UHM group, experience of any lifetime DV, sexual violence or controlling behaviour was associated with fewer days of EBF (P<0·05). In contrast, among the BFC group, experience of DV was not associated with duration of EBF. CONCLUSIONS: The experience of DV compromises EBF and the support of breast-feeding counselling programmes could assist this vulnerable group towards better infant feeding practices.

Perceptions of usage and unintended consequences of provision of ready-to-use therapeutic food for management of severe acute child malnutrition. A qualitative study in Southern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute child malnutrition (SAM) is associated with high risk of mortality. To increase programme effectiveness in management of SAM, community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programme that treats SAM using ready-to-use-therapeutic foods (RUTF) has been scaled-up and integrated into existing government health systems. The study aimed to examine caregivers' and health workers perceptions of usages of RUTF in a chronically food insecure area in South Ethiopia. METHODS: This qualitative study recorded, transcribed and translated focus group discussions and individual interviews with caregivers of SAM children and community health workers (CHWs). Data were complemented with field notes before qualitative content analysis was applied. RESULTS: RUTF was perceived and used as an effective treatment of SAM; however, caregivers also see it as food to be shared and when necessary a commodity to be sold for collective benefits for the household. Caregivers expected prolonged provision of RUTF to contribute to household resources, while the programme guidelines prescribed RUTF as a short-term treatment to an acute condition in a child. To get prolonged access to RUTF caregivers altered the identities of SAM children and sought multiple admissions to CMAM programme at different health posts that lead to various control measures by the CHWs. CONCLUSION: Even though health workers provide RUTF as a treatment for SAM children, their caregivers use it also for meeting broader food and economic needs of the household endangering the effectiveness of CMAM programme. In chronically food insecure contexts, interventions that also address economic and food needs of entire household are essential to ensure successful treatment of SAM children. This may need a shift to view SAM as a symptom of broader problems affecting a family rather than a disease in an individual child.

Socio-economic resources, young child feeding practices, consumption of highly processed snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages: a population-based survey in rural northwestern Nicaragua.

BACKGROUND: Socio-economic resources may be associated with infant feeding in complex patterns in societies undergoing a nutrition transition. This study evaluates associations of housing quality, food security and maternal education to the World Health Organization (WHO) feeding recommendations and to consumption of highly processed snacks (HP snacks) and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in rural Nicaragua. METHODS: Data were collected from May to November 2009, with mothers of 0- to 35-month-olds being asked about young child feeding using a food frequency questionnaire. A validated questionnaire was used to assess household food insecurity and data were collected on maternal education and housing quality. Pearson's chi-squared test was used to compare proportions and determine associations between the resources and young child feeding. The three socio-economic resources and other confounders were introduced to multivariate logistic regression analyses to assess the independent contribution of the resources to the feeding practices and consumption of HP snacks and SSBs. RESULTS: Mothers with the lowest education level were more likely to be exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) their infants (OR not EBF: 0.19; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.51), whilst mothers of 6- to 35-month-olds in the lowest education category had more inadequate dietary diversity (DD) (OR for not meet DD: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.36, 3.08), were less likely to consume HP snacks (OR for HP snacks: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.68) and SSBs (OR for SSBs: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.98), compared to mothers with the highest level of education. Similarly, children residing in households with the highest food insecurity were also more prone to have inadequate dietary diversity (OR for not meet DD: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.05). The odds for double burden of suboptimal feeding (concurrent inadequate diet and consumption of HP snacks/SSBs) were significantly lower in children of least educated mothers (OR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.92). CONCLUSIONS: Higher level of education was associated with both more and less adherence to the WHO recommended feeding practices as well as with more consumption of HP snacks and SSBs. Regardless of educational strata, the children in the community were exposed to suboptimal feeding practices conducive to both under- as well as overnutrition.

Early invitation to food and/or multiple micronutrient supplementation in pregnancy does not affect body composition in offspring at 54 months: follow-up of the MINIMat randomised trial, Bangladesh.

Growth patterns in early life are associated with later health. The effect of nutrition during in utero development on later body composition is unclear. We evaluated whether prenatal early invitation to food and/or multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) in pregnancy has an effect on offspring body composition at 54 months of age. In Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab trial (ISRCTN16581394) in Bangladesh, 4436 pregnant women were randomised into six equally sized groups: double-masked supplementation with capsules of either 30 mg Fe and 400 µg folic acid, or 60 mg Fe and 400 µg folic acid, or MMS (15 micronutrients), was combined with a randomised early invitation (around 9 weeks) or a usual invitation (around 20 weeks) to start food supplementation (608 kcal 6 days per week). At 54 months, the body composition of the offspring was assessed by leg-to-leg bioelectrical impedance analysis. Of the 3267 live singletons with birth anthropometry, 2290 children were measured at 54 months, representing 70% of the live births. There was no interaction between the food and micronutrient supplementation on body composition outcomes. There were no significant differences in a range of anthropometric and body composition measurements, including weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference, head circumference, skinfold thickness, and fat mass and fat-free mass between the different prenatal food and micronutrient groups using an intention-to-treat analysis. This analysis shows that early invitation to food supplementation and MMS provided to rural Bangladeshi women during pregnancy did not affect offspring body composition at 54 months of age.

Arsenic exposure affects plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in children in rural Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to inorganic arsenic (As) through drinking water during pregnancy is associated with lower birth size and child growth. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of As exposure on child growth parameters to evaluate causal associations. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: Children born in a longitudinal mother-child cohort in rural Bangladesh were studied at 4.5 years (n=640) as well as at birth (n=134). Exposure to arsenic was assessed by concurrent and prenatal (maternal) urinary concentrations of arsenic metabolites (U-As). Associations with plasma concentrations of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), calcium (Ca), vitamin D (Vit-D), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (B-ALP), intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), and phosphate (PO4) were evaluated by linear regression analysis, adjusted for socioeconomic factor, parity and child sex. Child U-As (per 10 µg/L) was significantly inversely associated with concurrent plasma IGF-1 (ß=-0.27; 95% confidence interval: -0.50, -0.0042) at 4.5 years. The effect was more obvious in girls (ß=-0.29; -0.59, 0.021) than in boys, and particularly in girls with adequate height (ß=-0.491; -0.97, -0.02) or weight (ß=-0.47; 0.97, 0.01). Maternal U-As was inversely associated with child IGF-1 at birth (r=-0.254, P=0.003), but not at 4.5 years. There was a tendency of positive association between U-As and plasma PO4 in stunted boys (ß=0.27; 0.089, 0.46). When stratified by % monomethylarsonic acid (MMA, arsenic metabolite) (median split at 9.7%), a much stronger inverse association between U-As and IGF-1 in the girls (ß=-0.41; -0.77, -0.03) was obtained above the median split. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that As-related growth impairment in children is mediated, at least partly, through suppressed IGF-1 levels.

Early cessation of breastfeeding amongst women in South Africa: an area needing urgent attention to improve child health.

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding is a critical component of interventions to reduce child mortality. Exclusive breastfeeding practice is extremely low in South Africa and there has been no improvement in this over the past ten years largely due to fears of HIV transmission. Early cessation of breastfeeding has been found to have negative effects on child morbidity and survival in several studies in Africa. This paper reports on determinants of early breastfeeding cessation among women in South Africa. METHODS: This is a sub group analysis of a community-based cluster-randomized trial (PROMISE EBF) promoting exclusive breastfeeding in three South African sites (Paarl in the Western Cape Province, and Umlazi and Rietvlei in KwaZulu-Natal) between 2006 and 2008 (ClinicalTrials.gov no: NCT00397150). Infant feeding recall of 22 food and fluid items was collected at 3, 6, 12 and 24 weeks postpartum. Women's experiences of breast health problems were also collected at the same time points. 999 women who ever breastfed were included in the analysis. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusting for site, arm and cluster, was performed to determine predictors of stopping breastfeeding by 12 weeks postpartum. RESULTS: By 12 weeks postpartum, 20% of HIV-negative women and 40% of HIV-positive women had stopped all breastfeeding. About a third of women introduced other fluids, most commonly formula milk, within the first 3 days after birth. Antenatal intention not to breastfeed and being undecided about how to feed were most strongly associated with stopping breastfeeding by 12 weeks (Adjusted odds ratio, AOR 5.6, 95% CI 3.4 - 9.5 and AOR 4.1, 95% CI 1.6 - 10.8, respectively). Also important was self-reported breast health problems associated with a 3-fold risk of stopping breastfeeding (AOR 3.1, 95%CI 1.7 - 5.7) and the mother having her own income doubled the risk of stopping breastfeeding (AOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.3 - 2.8). CONCLUSION: Early cessation of breastfeeding is common amongst both HIV-negative and positive women in South Africa. There is an urgent need to improve antenatal breastfeeding counselling taking into account the challenges faced by working women as well as early postnatal lactation support to prevent breast health problems.

Mother's perceptions and experiences of infant feeding within a community-based peer counselling intervention in South Africa.

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) has the potential to significantly reduce infant mortality, but is frequently not practiced in low-income settings where infants are vulnerable to malnutrition and infections including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This study explores mothers' experiences of infant feeding after receiving peer counselling promoting exclusive breast or formula feeding. This qualitative study was embedded in a cluster randomized peer counselling intervention trial in South Africa that aimed to evaluate the effect of peer counselling on EBF. Participants were selected from the three districts that were part of the trial reflecting different socio-economic conditions, rural-urban locations and HIV prevalence rates. Seventeen HIV-positive and -negative mothers allocated to intervention clusters were recruited. Despite perceived health and economic benefits of breastfeeding, several barriers to EBF remained, which contributed to a preference for mixed feeding. The understanding of the promotional message of 'exclusive' feeding was limited to 'not mixing two milks': breast or formula and did not address early introduction of foods and other liquids. Further, a crying infant or an infant who did not sleep at night were given as strong reasons for introducing semi-solid foods as early as 1 month. In addition, the need to adhere to the cultural practice of 'cleansing' and the knowledge that this practice is not compatible with EBF appeared to promote the decision to formula feed in HIV-positive mothers. Efforts to reduce barriers to EBF need to be intensified and further take into account the strong cultural beliefs that promote mixed feeding.