Food and Nutrition Bulletin最新文献

Background: Poor diet quality may contribute to undernutrition, particularly affecting young children from low-income households. Therefore, affordable and healthy local food-based recommendations (FBRs) are needed.

Objectives: This study aimed to (1) identify problem nutrient(s), (2) identify locally available nutrient-dense food sources that can provide adequate nutrients to meet the recommended dietary intakes of undernourished urban poor children aged 2-5 years, and (3) use linear programming to recommend a daily diet based on the current food patterns that achieves dietary adequacy and meets average food costs for these children.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Seremban, Malaysia. Three-day 24hour dietary recalls were collected from the mothers (n = 168). Food costs were estimated using market surveys. The FBRs were formulated by linear programming analysis using Optifood software.

Results: Folate was an "absolute problem nutrient" (such a nutrient does not achieve the 100% recommended nutrient intake even upon diet optimization). Full-cream milk, chocolate malted milk, fortified cornflakes, and chicken egg were the common locally available nutrient-dense foods that would provide adequate nutrients to meet the recommended dietary intakes of undernourished urban poor children. The final FBR set would ensure dietary adequacy for eight to nine of 11 nutrients at a cost of ringgit Malaysia (RM) 4.80/day (US $1.05/day) and RM6.20/day (US $1.34/day), depending on the age group.

Conclusions: Interventions are required to ensure dietary adequacy for undernourished urban poor children under 5 years old. Dietary adequacy could be improved via realistic changes in habitual food consumption practices.

Fluctuations in economic policy often create ripple effects that can significantly impact commodity prices, including those of essential food items, with potential consequences for food security. The five emerging nations outlined as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have most recently extended by including four new members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE) on January 1, 2024. Additionally, Argentina and Saudi Arabia are anticipated to join the group soon. This enlargement will alter the geopolitical scenario, potentially fostering fresh collaboration and competition dynamics. This expansion will reshape the geopolitical landscape, possibly leading to new cooperation and competition dynamics. The core objective of the present work is to measure how economic policy uncertainty asymmetrically influences food prices in the expanded BRICS countries. Previous investigations have primarily relied on panel data methods, often overlooking heterogeneities in the policy uncertainty-food prices nexus across different countries. Conversely, this research applies the Quantile-on-Quantile method, which permits a more exact examination, providing a thorough worldwide overview and specific insights tailored to each country. The results indicate a significant increase in food prices due to economic policy uncertainty throughout different quantile ranges in the chosen economies. These outcomes accentuate the essentiality for policymakers to execute all-inclusive appraisals and effectively manage approaches connected to economic policy uncertainty and food inflation.

Background: In Ethiopia, a school-based weekly iron and folic acid supplementation (WIFAS) program is being implemented to reduce burden of anemia in adolescent girls. While the program's impact on iron levels is well-studied, there is limited evidence on its effect on folate status.

Objective: The study was aimed at assessing the effect of the WIFAS on serum folate levels of school adolescent girls in Sidama Region, Southern Ethiopia.

Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study that compared the serum folate concentration among adolescent girls (10-19 years) enrolled in schools with (n = 165) and without (n = 165) the WIFAS program was carried out. Adolescent girls from both groups were sampled using multistage sampling procedure. The serum folate was compared between the 2 groups using mixed effects linear regression model.

Results: The study presented significantly higher mean (±standard deviation) serum folate concentration among girls from schools implementing the WIFAS program (9.76 ± 4.02 ng/mL) than their counterparts (7.38 ± 4.53 ng/mL) (β = 2.28, P < .001). The mean hemoglobin level was also higher in the WIFAS arm (13.07 ± 1.81 g/dL) than the comparator group (12.4 ± 1.93 g/dL (β = 0.86, P = .034).

Conclusion: The school-based WIFAS program showed positive association with serum folate and hemoglobin concentration in adolescent girls. This evidence should be used for advocating the scale-up of the program to areas with high prevalence of anemia and folic acid deficiencies.

Background: To prevent micronutrient deficiencies and address the Double Burden of Malnutrition, Benin has implemented Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) and food fortification policies for several years. Despite these efforts, significant micronutrient deficiencies persist, posing a public health problem.

Objective: This study aims to identify barriers and facilitators to the implementation of government policies on IYCF and food fortification in Benin.

Methods: We conducted in-depth individual interviews with 23 key national and local stakeholders involved in implementing these policies. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed through a deductive and iterative process based on the study's objective.

Results: Stakeholders identified several barriers to policy implementation, including low staff motivation, exacerbated by poor personnel management and lack of recognition. Financial resources are insufficient despite organizational support. Training and awareness among health workers and producers are limited outside UNICEF's intervention areas. Traditional eating habits and cultural resistance impede the adoption of new practices. The monitoring system is complex and ill-equipped, hindering quality control of fortified foods. Facilitators include strong political commitment, partnerships with international nongovernmental organizations, and effective intersectoral collaboration. These partnerships have improved training and community awareness, though gaps remain. The involvement of local producers and professional associations also supports food fortification initiatives.

Conclusion: Nutrition policies in Benin face challenges such as low staff motivation and lack of resources. However, strong political commitment and international partnerships present opportunities to overcome these barriers.

Background: The gender-gap in power is still persistent around the globe. Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) interventions have been implemented to increase women's empowerment as a goal in itself, and as a pathway to food and nutrition security (FNS). However, contradicting evidence exists on whether the interventions, besides food security, realize women's empowerment. Furthermore, the concept of women's empowerment has different meanings across different cultures, regions, and countries.

Objective: To assess the understanding of, and perspectives on, women's empowerment among different stakeholders in the context of an NSA project in Laos, and to assess whether this project contributes to women's empowerment and FNS.

Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with local implementers of NSA interventions (n = 13) and senior program managers and advisors (n = 5). Six focus group discussions were conducted with community members (n = 46).

Results: Our findings reveal that community members had a materialistic understanding and local implementers an instrumental understanding, in contrast to senior program managers and advisors, who had an egalitarian understanding of women's empowerment. The level of women's empowerment in Nong was considered low by all respondents. Furthermore, respondents reported that the NSA interventions had a positive impact on FNS, but not on women's empowerment.

Conclusions: In a community in which both women's empowerment and FNS are low, working with women may contribute to FNS, but not necessarily contribute to women's empowerment. Nevertheless, from an emic perspective, women do feel more empowered as the interventions contributed to increased household capacity to address FNS.

Does our project lead to having enough food and improved women's status in communities living in rural, mountainous areas in Laos?

Background: Water and food security in Israel and the Palestinian Authority are deeply interconnected due to the region's arid climate and water scarcity, shared water resources, and interrelated agricultural sectors. Therefore, jointly addressing water reuse is vital to supporting sustainable agricultural production and ensuring food safety.

Objectives: This paper examines the food safety implications of the cross-border trade of fresh fruits and vegetables between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, with an emphasis on the influence of, water technologies, agricultural practices, and environmental health.

Methods: This paper provides a comprehensive review of existing data to assess water irrigation quality, food safety, and water reuse regulations in the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

Results: Significant discrepancies in food safety, food quality, and exposure to contaminants from fresh produce result from different water reuse regulations, practices, and socioeconomic conditions. Given the volume of trade, consumer mobility, and environmental sustainability, coupled with geopolitical limitations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, there is an urgent need for a unified regulatory strategy for wastewater reuse ensuring food safety and security. We propose a single, coordinated approach to overseeing wastewater reuse to enhance public health and address contaminants of emerging concern that are not currently regulated. Navigating the political and legislative complexities in a proactive stance requires both Israeli and Palestinian decision-makers to address the matter conscientiously. Existing data and the precautionary principle are sufficient to propose an interim prohibition on treated wastewater irrigation for leafy vegetables to mitigate pollution risks and act as a catalyst for improving irrigation water quality.

Conclusions: Our proposed strategy for a unified water reuse regulation emphasizes the necessary steps for its implementation and addresses potential obstacles. This strategy underscores the importance of responsible wastewater management in advancing common goals of environmental sustainability, food safety, and human health.

Short synopsis: We propose a coordinated Israeli-Palestinian approach to wastewater reuse to ensure food safety based on shared environmental and health concerns, economic considerations, and the precautionary principle.

A Call for Joint Israeli-Palestinian Guidelines for Water Recycling to Improve Food Security and Safety.

Background: Food environments are rapidly changing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), leading to dietary shifts. Many gaps exist in the measurement of food environments in LMICs making it difficult to characterize the linkages between food environments and diets.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of implementing USAID Advancing Nutrition's Market Food Environment Assessment (MFEA)-a suite of 7 non-resource intensive food environment assessments.

Methods: We implemented the MFEA package in 4 countries (Liberia, Honduras, Nigeria, and Timor-Leste) and assessed the feasibility of implementing the package by conducting a descriptive analysis, using both qualitative and quantitative data of enumerators' feedback collected through training evaluations, feedback forms, detailed notes from meetings, and final reports from in-country partners.

Results: Overall, we found it feasible to implement the MFEA, some assessments being easier to implement and more practical than others. Several key themes related to the MFEA implementation were identified across the countries, including: the potential for vendors to be hesitant to engage in assessments; the importance of ascertaining buy-in from local officials; the need to shift toward electronic, rather than paper-based, data collection; difficulties in selecting markets; the time constraints of conducting some of the assessments; and the need for better alignment between the instructions, data collection, and data analysis sheets.

Conclusions: The package of food environment assessments, with minimal additional refinement, can be used to characterize market food environments in LMIC settings to inform context-specific interventions.

Testing the feasibility of implementing a package of 7 assessments to measure factors influencing food access in low-resource settings.

Background: Many recent efforts focus on promoting neglected and underutilized species (NUS) for improved nutrition, but consumption depends on various factors.

Objective: With this in mind, this study aims to understand the factors associated with the consumption patterns of Adansonia digitata, Ocimum gratissimum, Vigna radiata, and Moringa oleifera by households in Atacora, northern Benin.

Methods: To achieve this, a food consumption survey was carried out in 3 communes. Two villages per commune were randomly selected to carry out the food consumption frequencies of households through a 7-day recall for periods of abundance and scarcity. A multinomial regression model was used to explain the consumption frequency of species depending on socio-demographic factors and seasonality.

Results: Different parts of these different species targeted were used in various forms to prepare sauces, porridges, juices, etc. Baobab- and moringa-based foods appeared to be the most widely consumed foods, regardless of the season. Even though fresh moringa leaves sauce and baobab seeds sauce were consumed mostly in periods of scarcity. The probability of rarely consuming foods made from these species was lower for households living in Toucoutouna and Tanguiéta compared to Natitingou. Furthermore, the consumption of these foods was usually higher for mothers who were students, hairdressers or seamstresses compared to housewives (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The consumption patterns then vary from species to species and are influenced by demographic factors such as household location and mother's occupation. Promoting NUS among the population is essential to increase awareness of their nutritional importance and improve their consumption.

Plain language title: Factors Affecting Consumption of Neglected and Underutilized Species in Atacora, Northern Benin.