Bmc Public Health
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Chronic malnutrition or stunting among children under 5 years old is affected by several household environmental factors, such as food insecurity, disease burden, and poverty. However, not all children experience stunting even in food insecure conditions. To seek a solution at the local level for preventing stunting, a cross-sectional study was conducted in southeastern Kenya, an area with a high level of food insecurity. ⋯ Our results suggest that measures against childhood stunting should be optimized according to food security level observed in each community.
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The use of dietary quality scores/indices to describe diet quality in children has increased in the past decade. However, to date, few studies have focused on the use of these scores on disease outcomes such as childhood obesity and most are developed from detailed dietary assessments. Therefore, the aims of this study were: firstly to construct a diet quality score (DQS) from a brief dietary assessment tool; secondly to examine the association between diet quality and childhood overweight or obesity; thirdly we also aim to examine the associations between individual DQS components and childhood overweight or obesity. ⋯ The findings suggest that diet quality may be an important factor in childhood obesity. A simple DQS developed from a short dietary assessment tool is significantly associated with childhood obesity.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Walking away from back pain: one step at a time - a community-based randomised controlled trial.
Low back pain is highly prevalent and a significant public health burden in Western society. Feasibility studies suggest personalised pedometer-driven walking is an acceptable and effective motivating tool in the management of chronic low back pain (CLBP ≥ 12 weeks). The proposed study will investigate pedometer-driven walking as a low cost, easily accessible, and sustainable means of physical activity to improve disability and clinical outcomes for people with CLBP in Saskatchewan, Canada. ⋯ This paper describes the design of a community-based RCT to determine the effectiveness of a pedometer-driven walking programme in the management of CLBP.
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Inadequate nutrition during the first two years of life may lead to childhood morbidity and mortality, as well as inadequate brain development. Infants are at increased risk of malnutrition by six months, when breast milk alone is no longer sufficient to meet their nutritional requirements. However the factors associated with nutritional status of infants after 6 months of age have received little attention in pastoralist communities of Ethiopia. Therefore this study aimed to identify the factors associated with nutritional status of infants and young children (6-23 months) in Filtu town, Somali Region, Ethiopia. ⋯ Under nutrition is a public health problem among infants and young children in Filtu town, Somali region Ethiopia. Breastfeeding was associated with lower odds of wasting and underweight while diarrheal disease was associated with higher odds of wasting and underweight. Low dietary diversity scores, inappropriate age of complementary feeding initiation and bottle feeding were identified to be significant predictors of stunting. Those factors should be considered for any intervention aimed to reduce under nutrition among infants and young children in Filitu town, Somali region, Ethiopia.
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The cause of under-nutrition in schoolchildren is complex and varying from region to region. However, identifying the cause is the basic step for nutritional intervention programs. ⋯ Household food insecurity, low maternal education and infection with Trichuris trichura were some of the major factors contributing to under-nutrition in the study area.