Public Health Nutrition

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Encouraging veggies over fries!

What we eat is influenced by a myriad of external factors: our mood, the occasion, friends and family, new food trends, the location, food presentation, to name only a few. We tend to choose our food differently at a wedding reception surrounded by people we are meeting for the first time than at a garden BBQ with family and friends after a rough day at work.

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A greener deal for ready meals

Ready meals are a popular choice in the UK, and it is estimated that almost 90% of us eat them. Many ready meals can be classified as ultra-processed foods, which often have multiple added ingredients such as sugar, salt, fat, artificial colours, or preservatives, and consumption of ready meals has been associated with an increased risk of obesity. However, the jury is still out on the nutritional quality of ready meals.

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Expanding the use of a revolutionary therapy in childhood wasting

The development of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and the advent of the community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) model of care revolutionized the management of severe acute malnutrition in children living in low- and middle-income countries. In addition to improved recovery rates and decreased mortality rates, the CMAM model democratized care for children in remote settings by bringing care to the village and household level. This approach has been further expanded to include children with moderate acute malnutrition as well. Scaling up coverage of care and optimizing treatment protocols remain high on the global nutrition agenda.

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Persisting inequalities, retaining child anemia vulnerabilities

Anemia or low hemoglobin concentration in the blood is a serious public health problem, affecting one-fourth of the global population. Children under five years of age carry the highest toll of this burden. Approximately 145 thousand children die per year worldwide due to nutritional deficiencies including iron-deficiency anemia. Therefore, wiping out of anemia can save avoidable child deaths.

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Infant Formula Websites Overtly Discourage Breastfeeding

Direct-to-consumer messages on company websites promote benefits of formula feeding, position it as superior to breastmilk An analysis of websites for baby formula manufacturers finds that their messages and images discourage breastfeeding while touting the benefits of formula, despite public health efforts to support breastfeeding and informed choice.…

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How a nutrition-sensitive agroecological intervention improved women’s mental health

Maria is a smallholder farmer in rural Singida, Tanzania. We worked together for the past few years on the Singida Nutrition and Agroecology Project (SNAP-Tz), a nutrition-sensitive agroecological intervention that sought to improve children’s diet. In it, farmers learned about and experimented with sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and gender equity using an integrated and participatory curriculum

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Processed supermarket meals gives food for thought

With more people eating at home due to COVID-19, New Curtin research published in Public Health Nutrition has found more than half of Australian supermarket own brand chilled ready-made meals are unhealthy and 94 percent are ‘ultra-processed’ – yet more than 80 percent are labelled with a ‘pass mark’ under the Health Star Rating system.…

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Strategies to Address Anaemia Among Pregnant and Lactating Women in India

The Nutrition Society Paper of the Month for April is from Public Health Nutrition and is entitled ‘Strategies to address anaemia among pregnant and lactating women in India: a formative research study’ by Pamela A Williams, Jon Poehlman, Katelin Moran, Mariam Siddiqui, Ishu Kataria, Anna Merlyn Rego, Purnima Mehrotra and Neela Saldanha.…

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Do global guidelines for calcium supplementation to prevent preeclampsia put women at risk of excessive intake: evidence from Ethiopia suggests this could be the case

Public Health Nutrition Editorial Highlight ‘Applying international guidelines for calcium supplementation to prevent pre-eclampsia: simulation of recommended dosages suggests risk of excess intake in Ethiopia’ Authors: Biniyam Tesfaye, Kate Sinclair, Sara E Wuehler, Tibebu Moges, Luz Maria De-Regil and Katherine L Dickin discuss their research below.

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Policy could be the key to meeting breastfeeding goals

Public Health Nutrition Editorial Highlight ‘‘Why do we need a policy?’ Administrators’ perceptions on breast-feeding-friendly childcare’ Authors: Stephanie L Marhefka, Vinita Sharma, Ellen J Schafer, DeAnne Turner, Oluyemisi Falope, Adetola Louis-Jacques, Mary M Wachira, Taylor Livingston and Regina Maria Roig-Romero discuss their research below.

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Barriers to exclusive breast-feeding in Indonesian hospitals

The Nutrition Society Paper of the Month for August is from Public Health Nutrition and is entitled ‘Barriers to exclusive breast-feeding in Indonesian hospitals: a qualitative study of early infant feeding practices’ by Authors: Valerie J Flaherman, Shannon Chan, Riya Desai, Fransisca Handy Agung, Hendri Hartati and Fitra Yelda.

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Are All Conflicts Alike?

Public Health Nutrition Editorial Highlight: 'Source of bias in sugar-sweetened beverage research: a systematic review' Authors: Ethan A Litman, Steven L Gortmaker, Cara B Ebbeling and David S Ludwig.

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Assessing the Impact of a Natural Disaster on WIC Providers

Public Health Nutrition Editorial Highlight: 'Superstorm Sandy’s impact on the provision of WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) services in New York State' Authors: Michelle Wemette, Asante Shipp Hilts, Stephanie R Mack, Yunshu Li, Millicent Eidson, Loretta A Santilli, Trang Nguyen and Guthrie S Birkhead discuss their research below.

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‘Learning by doing’ helps mothers tackle under-nutrition in Malawi – showing significant improvements in just 3 weeks

Malnourished children under two in rural Malawi whose mothers were trained in diet diversity, hygiene and food safety have shown significant improvements of their nutrition and health in just three weeks. The study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition and lead by ICRISAT scientist, S. Anitha, demonstrates the rapid impact a properly designed nutrition education intervention can have.

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How are the current dietary practices for young French children?

Public Health Nutrition Editorial Highlight: ‘The French national survey on food consumption of children under 3 years of age – Nutri-Bébé 2013: design, methodology, population sampling and feeding practices’  by Authors: Jean-Pierre Chouraqui, Gabriel Tavoularis, Yves Emery, Aurée Francou, Pascale Hébel, Magali Bocquet, Régis Hankard and Dominique Turck.…

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New study shows restaurant program in rural community can positively impact healthy food practices

A community-wide program aimed at improving the rural restaurant food environment may hold promise for increasing the availability, identification and promotion of healthier food and beverage options, according to the study ‘Changing the restaurant food environment to improve cardiovascular health in a rural community: implementation and evaluation of the Heart of New Ulm restaurant programme’ published online in the journal Public Health Nutrition.…

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Disparities in Feeding Practices and Nutrient Intake Among US Infants and Toddlers

The rise in childhood obesity in the US has increased rates of health problems such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease, anxiety, and depression in children. Early obesity also increases the risk for adult obesity and obesity-related disease. Factors associated with early childhood obesity include rapid weight gain in early infancy, Mexican-American ethnicity and being low income. However, not much has been reported on disparities in early feeding practices and nutrient intake by race/ethnicity and income.

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Mass Media for Infant and Young Child Feeding

'Systematic review of the design, implementation, and effectiveness of mass media and nutrition education interventions for infant and young child feeding' has been selected as an Editorial Highlight for Public Health Nutrition. Authors Matthew Graziose, Shauna Downs, Jessica Fanzo discuss their research.

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Citizen Science to Study Food Environments

Residents from the neighborhood of Los Rosales (Madrid, Spain), public health practitioners, and researchers worked together in this citizen science project. We analyzed how the food environment influenced residents’ diets from a multi-level perspective in Madrid. The results have been published in Public Health Nutrition. 

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A formula for concern: The boom of milk-based formula sales

To ensure children get the best start in life the World Health Organization recommends that infants are exclusively breastfed to six months of age with ongoing breastfeeding for up to two years of age and beyond. Yet worldwide the prevalence of infants exclusively breast fed to six months hovers at around 37% and has improved only marginally in recent decades.

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New study finds depression associated with vitamin D deficiency among urban Malaysian women

Researchers from the Julius Centre University of Malaya (JCUM) have found a relationship between vitamin D deficiency and depressive symptoms among urban Malaysian women. More than two-thirds of the women who participated in the study, published in Public Health Nutrition, were vitamin D deficient, and those with vitamin D deficiency were at a higher risk for depression and reported poorer mental health.

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Dietary survey results from Brazil

Results of the first Brazilian nationwide individual dietary survey reveal low diet quality, especially among high income individuals Similar to many other countries, dietary patterns in Brazil have changed rapidly and drastically in recent decades.…

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