Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to ravage health and economic metrics globally, including progress in maternal and child nutrition. Although there has been focus on rising rates of ...childhood wasting in the short term, maternal and child undernutrition rates are also likely to increase as a consequence of COVID-19 and its impacts on poverty, coverage of essential interventions, and access to appropriate nutritious foods. Key sectors at particular risk of collapse or reduced efficiency in the wake of COVID-19 include food systems, incomes, and social protection, health care services for women and children, and services and access to clean water and sanitation. This review highlights key areas of concern for maternal and child nutrition during and in the aftermath of COVID-19 while providing strategic guidance for countries in their efforts to reduce maternal and child undernutrition. Rooted in learnings from the exemplars in Global Health’s Stunting Reduction Exemplars project, we provide a set of recommendations that span investments in sectors that have sustained direct and indirect impact on nutrition. These include interventions to strengthen the food-supply chain and reducing food insecurity to assist those at immediate risk of food shortages. Other strategies could include targeted social safety net programs, payment deferrals, or tax breaks as well as suitable cash-support programs for the most vulnerable. Targeting the most marginalized households in rural populations and urban slums could be achieved through deploying community health workers and supporting women and community members. Community-led sanitation programs could be key to ensuring healthy household environments and reducing undernutrition. Additionally, several COVID-19 response measures such as contact tracing and self-isolation could also be exploited for nutrition protection. Global health and improvements in undernutrition will require governments, donors, and development partners to restrategize and reprioritize investments for the COVID-19 era, and will necessitate data-driven decision making, political will and commitment, and international unity.
Maternal and child malnutrition in low-income and middle-income countries encompasses both undernutrition and a growing problem with overweight and obesity. Low body-mass index, indicative of ...maternal undernutrition, has declined somewhat in the past two decades but continues to be prevalent in Asia and Africa. Prevalence of maternal overweight has had a steady increase since 1980 and exceeds that of underweight in all regions. Prevalence of stunting of linear growth of children younger than 5 years has decreased during the past two decades, but is higher in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere and globally affected at least 165 million children in 2011; wasting affected at least 52 million children. Deficiencies of vitamin A and zinc result in deaths; deficiencies of iodine and iron, together with stunting, can contribute to children not reaching their developmental potential. Maternal undernutrition contributes to fetal growth restriction, which increases the risk of neonatal deaths and, for survivors, of stunting by 2 years of age. Suboptimum breastfeeding results in an increased risk for mortality in the first 2 years of life. We estimate that undernutrition in the aggregate—including fetal growth restriction, stunting, wasting, and deficiencies of vitamin A and zinc along with suboptimum breastfeeding—is a cause of 3·1 million child deaths annually or 45% of all child deaths in 2011. Maternal overweight and obesity result in increased maternal morbidity and infant mortality. Childhood overweight is becoming an increasingly important contributor to adult obesity, diabetes, and non-communicable diseases. The high present and future disease burden caused by malnutrition in women of reproductive age, pregnancy, and children in the first 2 years of life should lead to interventions focused on these groups.
Micronutrient deficiencies continue to be widespread among children under-five in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), despite the fact that several effective strategies now exist to prevent ...them. This kind of malnutrition can have several immediate and long-term consequences, including stunted growth, a higher risk of acquiring infections, and poor development outcomes, all of which may lead to a child not achieving his or her full potential. This review systematically synthesizes the available evidence on the strategies used to prevent micronutrient malnutrition among children under-five in LMICs, including single and multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation, lipid-based nutrient supplementation (LNS), targeted and large-scale fortification, and point-of-use-fortification with micronutrient powders (MNPs). We searched relevant databases and grey literature, retrieving 35,924 papers. After application of eligibility criteria, we included 197 unique studies. Of note, we examined the efficacy and effectiveness of interventions. We found that certain outcomes, such as anemia, responded to several intervention types. The risk of anemia was reduced with iron alone, iron-folic acid, MMN supplementation, MNPs, targeted fortification, and large-scale fortification. Stunting and underweight, however, were improved only among children who were provided with LNS, though MMN supplementation also slightly increased length-for-age z-scores. Vitamin A supplementation likely reduced all-cause mortality, while zinc supplementation decreased the incidence of diarrhea. Importantly, many effects of LNS and MNPs held when pooling data from effectiveness studies. Taken together, this evidence further supports the importance of these strategies for reducing the burden of micronutrient malnutrition in children. Population and context should be considered when selecting one or more appropriate interventions for programming.
Almost two billion people are deficient in key vitamins and minerals, mostly women and children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Deficiencies worsen during pregnancy due to increased ...energy and nutritional demands, causing adverse outcomes in mother and child, but could be mitigated by interventions like micronutrient supplementation. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that aimed to compile evidence from both efficacy and effectiveness trials, evaluating different supplementation interventions on maternal, birth, child health, and developmental outcomes. We evaluated randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies published since 1995 in peer-reviewed and grey literature that assessed the effects of calcium, vitamin A, iron, vitamin D, and zinc supplementation compared to placebo/no treatment; iron-folic (IFA) supplementation compared to folic acid only; multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation compared to IFA; and lipid-based nutrient supplementation (LNS) compared to MMN supplementation. Seventy-two studies, which collectively involved 314 papers (451,723 women), were included. Meta-analyses showed improvement in several key birth outcomes, such as preterm birth, small-for-gestational age (SGA) and low birthweight with MMN supplementation, compared to IFA. MMN also improved child outcomes, including diarrhea incidence and retinol concentration, which are findings not previously reported. Across all comparisons, micronutrient supplementation had little to no effect on mortality (maternal, neonatal, perinatal, and infant) outcomes, which is consistent with other systematic reviews. IFA supplementation showed notable improvement in maternal anemia and the reduction in low birthweight, whereas LNS supplementation had no apparent effect on outcomes; further research that compares LNS and MMN supplementation could help understand differences with these commodities. For single micronutrient supplementation, improvements were noted in only a few outcomes, mainly pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (calcium), maternal anemia (iron), preterm births (vitamin D), and maternal serum zinc concentration (zinc). These findings highlight that micronutrient-specific supplementation should be tailored to specific groups or needs for maximum benefit. In addition, they further contribute to the ongoing discourse of choosing antenatal MMN over IFA as the standard of care in LMICs.
Zinc plays an important role in cellular growth, cellular differentiation and metabolism. The results of previous meta-analyses evaluating effect of zinc supplementation on linear growth are ...inconsistent. We have updated and evaluated the available evidence according to Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria and tried to explain the difference in results of the previous reviews.
A literature search was done on PubMed, Cochrane Library, IZiNCG database and WHO regional data bases using different terms for zinc and linear growth (height). Data were abstracted in a standardized form. Data were analyzed in two ways i.e. weighted mean difference (effect size) and pooled mean difference for absolute increment in length in centimeters. Random effect models were used for these pooled estimates. We have given our recommendations for effectiveness of zinc supplementation in the form of absolute increment in length (cm) in zinc supplemented group compared to control for input to Live Saves Tool (LiST).
There were thirty six studies assessing the effect of zinc supplementation on linear growth in children < 5 years from developing countries. In eleven of these studies, zinc was given in combination with other micronutrients (iron, vitamin A, etc). The final effect size after pooling all the data sets (zinc ± iron etc) showed a significant positive effect of zinc supplementation on linear growth Effect size: 0.13 (95% CI 0.04, 0.21), random model in the developing countries. A subgroup analysis by excluding those data sets where zinc was supplemented in combination with iron showed a more pronounced effect of zinc supplementation on linear growth Weighed mean difference 0.19 (95 % CI 0.08, 0.30), random model. A subgroup analysis from studies that reported actual increase in length (cm) showed that a dose of 10 mg zinc/day for duration of 24 weeks led to a net a gain of 0.37 (± 0.25) cm in zinc supplemented group compared to placebo. This estimate is recommended for inclusion in Lives Saved Tool (LiST) model.
Zinc supplementation has a significant positive effect on linear growth, especially when administered alone, and should be included in national strategies to reduce stunting in children < 5 years of age in developing countries.
Zulfiqar A. Bhutta discusses prevention and treatment strategies for optimization of community-based management of severe acute malnutrition in children.
Childhood undernutrition is prevalent in low and middle income countries. It is an important indirect cause of child mortality in these countries. According to an estimate, stunting (height for age Z ...score < -2) and wasting (weight for height Z score < -2) along with intrauterine growth restriction are responsible for about 2.1 million deaths worldwide in children < 5 years of age. This comprises 21 % of all deaths in this age group worldwide. The incidence of stunting is the highest in the first two years of life especially after six months of life when exclusive breastfeeding alone cannot fulfill the energy needs of a rapidly growing child. Complementary feeding for an infant refers to timely introduction of safe and nutritional foods in addition to breast-feeding (BF) i.e. clean and nutritionally rich additional foods introduced at about six months of infant age. Complementary feeding strategies encompass a wide variety of interventions designed to improve not only the quality and quantity of these foods but also improve the feeding behaviors. In this review, we evaluated the effectiveness of two most commonly applied strategies of complementary feeding i.e. timely provision of appropriate complementary foods (± nutritional counseling) and education to mothers about practices of complementary feeding on growth. Recommendations have been made for input to the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) model by following standardized guidelines developed by Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG).
We conducted a systematic review of published randomized and quasi-randomized trials on PubMed, Cochrane Library and WHO regional databases. The included studies were abstracted and graded according to study design, limitations, intervention details and outcome effects. The primary outcomes were change in weight and height during the study period among children 6-24 months of age. We hypothesized that provision of complementary food and education of mother about complementary food would significantly improve the nutritional status of the children in the intervention group compared to control. Meta-analyses were generated for change in weight and height by two methods. In the first instance, we pooled the results to get weighted mean difference (WMD) which helps to pool studies with different units of measurement and that of different duration. A second meta-analysis was conducted to get a pooled estimate in terms of actual increase in weight (kg) and length (cm) in relation to the intervention, for input into the LiST model.
After screening 3795 titles, we selected 17 studies for inclusion in the review. The included studies evaluated the impact of provision of complementary foods (± nutritional counseling) and of nutritional counseling alone. Both these interventions were found to result in a significant increase in weight WMD 0.34 SD, 95% CI 0.11 - 0.56 and 0.30 SD, 95 % CI 0.05-0.54 respectively) and linear growth WMD 0.26 SD, 95 % CI 0.08-0.43 and 0.21 SD, 95 % CI 0.01-0.41 respectively. Pooled results for actual increase in weight in kilograms and length in centimeters showed that provision of appropriate complementary foods (± nutritional counseling) resulted in an extra gain of 0.25 kg (± 0.18) in weight and 0.54 cm (± 0.38) in height in children aged 6-24 months. The overall quality grades for these estimates were that of 'moderate' level. These estimates have been recommended for inclusion in the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) model. Education of mother about complementary feeding led to an extra weight gain of 0.30 kg (± 0.26) and a gain of 0.49 cm (± 0.50) in height in the intervention group compared to control. These estimates had been recommended for inclusion in the LiST model with an overall quality grade assessment of 'moderate' level.
Provision of appropriate complementary food, with or without nutritional education, and maternal nutritional counseling alone lead to significant increase in weight and height in children 6-24 months of age. These interventions can significantly reduce the risk of stunting in developing countries and are recommended for inclusion in the LiST tool.
Abstract
Worldwide, there is an array of clinical trials under way to evaluate treatment options against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome ...coronavirus 2. Concurrently, several nutritional therapies and alternative supportive treatments are also being used and tested to reduce the mortality associated with acute respiratory distress in patients with COVID-19. In the context of COVID-19, improved nutrition that includes micronutrient supplementation to augment the immune system has been recognized as a viable approach to both prevent and alleviate the severity of the infection. The potential role of micronutrients as immune-boosting agents is particularly relevant for low- and middle-income countries, which already have an existing high burden of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. A systematic literature review was performed to identify nutritional interventions that might prevent or aid in the recovery from COVID-19. The PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases were searched electronically from February to April 2020. All abstracts and full-text articles were examined for their relevance to this review. The information gathered was collated under various categories. Deficiencies of micronutrients, especially vitamins A, B complex, C, and D, zinc, iron, and selenium, are common among vulnerable populations in general and among COVID-19 patients in particular and could plausibly increase the risk of mortality. Judicious use of need-based micronutrient supplementation, alongside existing micronutrient fortification programs, is warranted in the current global pandemic, especially in low- and middle-income economies.
Summary Building on long-term benefits of early intervention (Paper 2 of this Series) and increasing commitment to early childhood development (Paper 1 of this Series), scaled up support for the ...youngest children is essential to improving health, human capital, and wellbeing across the life course. In this third paper, new analyses show that the burden of poor development is higher than estimated, taking into account additional risk factors. National programmes are needed. Greater political prioritisation is core to scale-up, as are policies that afford families time and financial resources to provide nurturing care for young children. Effective and feasible programmes to support early child development are now available. All sectors, particularly education, and social and child protection, must play a role to meet the holistic needs of young children. However, health provides a critical starting point for scaling up, given its reach to pregnant women, families, and young children. Starting at conception, interventions to promote nurturing care can feasibly build on existing health and nutrition services at limited additional cost. Failure to scale up has severe personal and social consequences. Children at elevated risk for compromised development due to stunting and poverty are likely to forgo about a quarter of average adult income per year, and the cost of inaction to gross domestic product can be double what some countries currently spend on health. Services and interventions to support early childhood development are essential to realising the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals.
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