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Nutrition Programs and Policies for Maternal and Child Health

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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutritional Policies and Education for Health Promotion".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2024) | Viewed by 8181

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jean Kerver

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Guest Editor

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Interests: dietary patterns; nutritional biomarkers; health behaviors; prenatal nutrition; infant feeding practices; maternal and child health outcomes

Dr. Blessing J. Akombi-Inyang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Interests: global health; maternal neonatal and child health; malnutrition; adolescent health services; epidemiology; public health; developing countries

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nutrition policies have large impacts on maternal and child health worldwide. In the US, deliberations are ongoing about major policy changes that have the potential to increase health equity and improve population health. Examples include the Momnibus Act (i.e., a series of bills that seek to address racial inequalities in maternal health outcomes, among which only some have been signed into US law) and the proposal for Medicaid (i.e., US-government-funded insurance) to cover doula services. Globally, other examples abound. This Special Issue of Nutrients, entitled “Nutrition Programs and Policies for Maternal and Child Health”, seeks evidence from across the world that can inform the development of effective nutrition policies. This Special Issue aims to cover the most promising programs and policies, either with original research or reviews, which can provide evidence for policy makers to improve health equity by supporting programs that minimize maternal and child morbidity and mortality and decrease existing health disparities.

Dr. Jean Kerver
Dr. Blessing J. Akombi-Inyang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

nutrition programs and policies
maternal and child health
health equity
population health
dietary assessment
nutritional biomarkers

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 470 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Association between Child Nutritional Anthropometric Indices and Iron Deficiencies among Children Aged 6–59 Months in Nepal

by Kingsley Emwinyore Agho, Stanley Chitekwe, Sanjay Rijal, Naveen Paudyal, Sanjeev Kumar Sahani and Blessing Jaka Akombi-Inyang

Nutrients 2024, 16(5), 698; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16050698 - 29 Feb 2024

Viewed by 908

Abstract

Developmental impairment remains an important public health problem among children in many developing countries, including Nepal. Iron deficiency in children may affect development and lead to anaemia. This study on 1702 children aged 6–59 months aimed to assess the association between nutritional anthropometric indices and iron deficiencies. Data for this study were extracted from the 2016 Nepal National Micronutrient Status Survey. Three nutritional anthropometric indices (stunting, wasting and underweight) and their association with anaemia and iron deficiencies (ferritin and sTfR biomarkers) were assessed by conducting multivariate statistical analyses. The prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among children aged 6–59 months was 35.6%, 11.7% and 29.0%, respectively. Most of the children were not stunted (64.4%), not wasted (71.0%) and not underweight (88.3%). Belonging to castes other than the Janajati, Dalit and Brahmin castes increased the odds of anaemia and iron deficiency (ferritin biomarker). Children in the age group 6–23 months were significantly at higher odds of having anaemia and iron deficiency (ferritin and sTfR biomarkers). Stunting significantly increased the odds of anaemia [adjusted odds ratio (OR): 1.55; 95% confidence interval (CI): (1.11, 2.17)], iron deficiency (ferritin biomarker [OR: 1.56; 95% CI: (1.16, 2.08)] and sTfR biomarker [OR: 1.60; 95% CI: (1.18, 2.15)]). Further, underweight significantly increased the odds of anaemia [OR: 1.69; 95% CI: (1.12, 2.54)] and iron deficiency (sTfR biomarker [OR: 1.48; 95% CI: (1.14, 1.93)]). Interventions to minimise the occurrence of anaemia and iron deficiencies among children in Nepal should focus on providing appropriate healthcare services that would reduce the burden of stunting and underweight. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Programs and Policies for Maternal and Child Health)

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13 pages, 296 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strong Negative Association between Cesarean Delivery and Early Initiation of Breastfeeding Practices among Vietnamese Mothers—A Secondary Analysis of the Viet Nam Sustainable Development Goal Indicators on Children and Women Survey

by Tam Thi Thanh Nguyen, Kimihiro Nishino, Lan Thi Huong Le, Souphalak Inthaphatha and Eiko Yamamoto

Nutrients 2023, 15(21), 4501; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15214501 - 24 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1224

Abstract

Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) involves feeding a newborn with the mother’s breast milk within the first hour of delivery. The prevalence of EIBF in Vietnam has recently shown a downward trend. The present study aimed to demonstrate the current prevalence of EIBF practices and identify factors associated with EIBF among Vietnamese mothers with children under 24 months of age. This study was a secondary analysis of data from the Viet Nam Sustainable Development Goal Indicators on Children and Women (SDGCW) survey 2020–2021. The study participants included 1495 mothers extracted from the SDGCW dataset. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were performed. The prevalence of EIBF practice was 25.5% among all mothers, 31.9% among vaginal-delivery mothers groups, and 9.0% among cesarean-section mothers groups. Factors negatively associated with EIBF were younger age (0.18 times), cesarean delivery (0.25 times), and absence of skin-to-skin contact with newborns immediately after birth (0.43 times). The prevalence of EIBF among Vietnamese mothers was found to be substantially low, especially among those who underwent cesarean delivery. EIBF should be promoted among younger mothers and those who underwent cesarean delivery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Programs and Policies for Maternal and Child Health)

25 pages, 1150 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wasting and Underweight in Northern African Children: Findings from Multiple-Indicator Cluster Surveys, 2014–2018

by Nagwa Farag Elmighrabi, Catharine A. K. Fleming and Kingsley E. Agho

Nutrients 2023, 15(14), 3207; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15143207 - 19 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1328

Abstract

Northern Africa faces multiple severe detrimental factors that impact child nutrition. This study aimed to identify the predictors for wasting and underweight in children aged 0–59 months in Northern Africa. We analysed pooled cross-sectional data from multiple-indicator cluster surveys conducted in four countries (Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, and Tunisia) involving 37,816 children aged 0–59 months. A logistic regression analysis was used, considering clustering and sampling weights, to identify factors associated with wasting and underweight among children aged 0–23, 24–59, and 0–59 months. Among children aged 0–59 months, the overall prevalence was 7.2% (95% CI: 6.8–7.5) for wasting and 12.1% (95% CI:11.7–12.5) for underweight. Sudan and Algeria had the highest rates of wasting, while Sudan and Egypt had the highest rates of underweight. Multiple regression analyses indicate that factors associated with wasting and being underweight include child age, country, rural residency, poor wealth index, being male, birth order, maternal education, body mass index, media use, lack of diverse foods, longer duration of breastfeeding, perceived small baby size, and diarrhoea. These findings highlight the importance of implementing targeted health and nutrition initiatives, such as maternal education, family planning, and community engagement. Priority should be given to children from underprivileged areas who lack proper dietary variety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Programs and Policies for Maternal and Child Health)

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16 pages, 1708 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effects of Yogurt Supplementation and Nutritional Education on Malnourished Infants: A Pilot RCT in Dhaka’s Slums

by Kaniz Jannat, Kingsley Emwinyore Agho, Sarker Masud Parvez, Mahbubur Rahman, Russell Thomson, Mohammed Badrul Amin and Dafna Merom

Nutrients 2023, 15(13), 2986; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15132986 - 30 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1708

Abstract

Our objective was to quantify the effects of yogurt supplementation and nutrition education over three months on the linear growth of infants at risk of stunting. We conducted a three-arm pilot randomized controlled trial: (1) nutrition education for mothers; (2) nutrition education plus a daily yogurt supplement (50 g) for the index child; and (3) usual care (control). Dyads of children aged 4–6 months and at risk of stunting [length-for-age z-score (LAZ) ≤ −1 SD and >−2 SD] and their mothers with ≤10 years of education were eligible for the study. Participants were recruited from five slum areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Intention-to-treat (N = 162) and complete-case analyses (N = 127) showed no between-group statistically significant differences in LAZ or weight-for-age (WAZ). However, the yogurt group showed greater change in linear growth compared to the control (LAZ: mean difference 0.20, 95% CI: −0.06, 0.47, p-value 0.13), which was also slightly greater than the education-only group. Children in the yogurt plus group were five times (95% CI: 0.80, 31.80, p-value 0.09) more likely to meet the minimum dietary diversity (MDD) score compared to the control. A 3-month follow-up of this pilot study did not demonstrate that yogurt was beneficial to linear growth. However, there were encouraging trends that merit replication of the intervention with larger samples and longer follow-ups. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Programs and Policies for Maternal and Child Health)

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Other

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20 pages, 1627 KiB

Open AccessStudy Protocol

A Multi-Omics and Human Biomonitoring Approach to Assessing the Effectiveness of Fortified Balanced Energy–Protein Supplementation on Maternal and Newborn Health in Burkina Faso: A Study Protocol

by Yuri Bastos-Moreira, Lionel Ouédraogo, Marthe De Boevre, Alemayehu Argaw, Brenda de Kok, Giles T. Hanley-Cook, Lishi Deng, Moctar Ouédraogo, Anderson Compaoré, Kokeb Tesfamariam, Rasmané Ganaba, Lieven Huybregts, Laeticia Celine Toe, Carl Lachat, Patrick Kolsteren, Sarah De Saeger and Trenton Dailey-Chwalibóg

Nutrients 2023, 15(18), 4056; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15184056 - 19 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2489

Abstract

Fortified balanced energy–protein (BEP) supplementation is a promising intervention for improving maternal health, birth outcomes and infant growth in low- and middle-income countries. This nested biospecimen sub-study aimed to evaluate the physiological effect of multi-micronutrient-fortified BEP supplementation on pregnant and lactating women and their infants. Pregnant women (15–40 years) received either fortified BEP and iron–folic acid (IFA) (intervention) or IFA only (control) throughout pregnancy. The same women were concurrently randomized to receive either a fortified BEP supplement during the first 6 months postpartum in combination with IFA for the first 6 weeks (i.e., intervention) or the postnatal standard of care, which comprised IFA alone for 6 weeks postpartum (i.e., control). Biological specimens were collected at different timepoints. Multi-omics profiles will be characterized to assess the mediating effect of BEP supplementation on the different trial arms and its effect on maternal health, as well as birth and infant growth outcomes. The mediating effect of the exposome in the relationship between BEP supplementation and maternal health, birth outcomes and infant growth were characterized via biomonitoring markers of air pollution, mycotoxins and environmental contaminants. The results will provide holistic insight into the granular physiological effects of prenatal and postnatal BEP supplementation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Programs and Policies for Maternal and Child Health)

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