Nutrition Specific

Weekly iron-folic acid supplementation to improve iron status and prevent pregnancy anemia in Filipino women of reproductive age: the Philippine experience through government and private partnership. With the participation of the government and private sectors in the Philippines, weekly iron-folic acid supplementation introduced within a social marketing framework and a social mobilization campaign successfully improved […]

Use of multiple opportunities for improving feeding practices in under-twos within child health programmes. OBJECTIVES: In a community randomized trial, we aimed to promote exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding practices in under-twos to ascertain the feasibility of using available channels for nutrition counselling, their relative performance and the relationship between intensity of counselling and behaviour […]

Micronutrient status and intervention programs in Malaysia. Approximately 70% of the world’s malnourished children live in Asia, giving that region the highest concentration of childhood malnutrition worldwide. Prevalence of stunting and underweight are high especially in south Asia where one in every two preschool children is stunted. Iron-deficiency anemia affects 40%-50% of preschool and primary […]

Acceptability of multiple micronutrient supplements by pregnant and lactating women in Mali. BACKGROUND: In Mali, an estimated 73% of pregnant women are anaemic largely due to iron deficiency. National policy recommends women to take iron and folic acid supplements daily from first prenatal contact until 3 months postpartum. However, many pregnant women in Mali could […]

Decisions and advice about infant feeding: findings from sociological work in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. What are women’s practices and experiences? And what are pregnant women being told about risks through breastfeeding in an area of high HIV seroprevalence? This work sets out to explore these two principal questions in terms of the implications for women, […]

Feasibility of “directly observed home-based twice-daily iron therapy” (DOHBIT) for management of anemia in rural patients: a pilot study. BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a significant public health challenge in resource-poor settings, despite strong evidence for efficacy of iron supplementation. We hypothesized, modeled on the successful initiatives in disorders like tuberculosis or HIV, that directly […]

Senegalese grandmothers promote improved maternal and child nutrition practices: the guardians of tradition are not averse to change. The vast majority of community nutrition/health programs in developing countries focus on women of reproductive age (WRA) and a few explicitly involve senior women, or grandmothers. In Senegal, as in many other places, older, experienced women play […]

Combating hidden hunger: the role of international agencies. The importance of micronutrient deficiencies or “hidden hunger” was clearly emphasized by the inclusion of specific goals on iron, vitamin A, and iodine deficiency at the 1990 World Summit for Children and other major international nutrition conferences. Significant progress has since been made toward eliminating vitamin A […]

Role of public-private partnership in micronutrient food fortification. Iron, iodine, and vitamin A deficiencies prevent 30% of the world’s population from reaching full physical and mental potential. Fortification of commonly eaten foods with micronutrients offers a cost-effective solution that can reach large populations. Effective and sustainable fortification will be possible only if the public sector […]

Promotion and advocacy for improved complementary feeding: can we apply the lessons learned from breastfeeding? Although many successes have been achieved in promoting breastfeeding, this has not been the case for complementary feeding. Some successes in promoting complementary feeding at the community level have been documented, but few of these efforts have expanded to a […]