High cost of nutritious foods and eating out of home (OH) might be barriers to healthy and sustainable diets. We examined adherence to Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), EAT–Lancet ...reference diet (EAT) and Mediterranean diet score (MDS) and the associations with dietary cost and eating OH. We evaluated cross-sectional data from single multiple-pass 24-h diet recalls from 289 young adults (18–24 years) in Tirana, Albania. Dietary cost (in Albanian Lek (ALL)) was estimated by matching food consumption data with retail prices from local fast-food chains, supermarkets, restaurants and food vendors. Poisson regression was fitted to models that included DASH, EAT and MDS as dependent variables to assess associations between healthy sustainable diet indicators and dietary cost and eating OH. Adjusted models were controlled for BMI, sex and total energy intake (kJ) using the residual method. Our findings indicate relatively poor adherence to healthy and sustainable dietary patterns among young men and women in Albania. Furthermore, better adherence to DASH, EAT or MDS was not associated with dietary cost (per 100 ALL; range incidence rate ratios (IRR): 0·97–1·00; all (un-)adjusted P > 0·05). Nonetheless, eating OH was related to lower adherence to DASH (IRR: 0·79; P = 0·003) and MDS (IRR: 0·69; P < 0·001). In conclusion, adherence to health and sustainable dietary patterns was poor and not differentiated by cost, but rather source of foods (i.e. OH or at home). Further research on the potential public and environmental health effects of these findings is warranted in Albania.
Suboptimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices have profound implications on child survival, health, growth, and development. First, our study analysed trends in 18 IYCF indicators and ...height‐for‐age z‐score (HAZ) and stunting prevalence across Nepal's Family Health Survey 1996 and four rounds of Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys from 2001–2016. Second, we constructed multivariable regression models and decomposed the contribution of optimal IYCF practices on HAZ and stunting prevalence over the 1996–2016 period. Our findings indicate that most age‐appropriate IYCF practices and child linear growth outcomes improved over the past two decades. At present, according to the World Health Organization's tool for national assessment of IYCF practices, duration of breastfeeding is rated very good, early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) are rated good, whereas minimal bottle‐feeding and introduction of solid, semi‐solid or soft foods are rated fair. Our study also reports that a paucity of age‐appropriate IYCF practices—in particular complementary feeding—are significantly associated with increased HAZ and decreased probability of stunting (p < .05). Moreover, age‐appropriate IYCF practices—in isolation—made modest statistical contributions to the rapid and sustained reduction in age‐specific child linear growth faltering from 1996–2016. Nevertheless, our findings indicate that comprehensive multisectoral nutrition strategies—integrating and advocating optimal IYCF—are critical to further accelerate the progress against child linear growth faltering. Furthermore, specific focus is needed to improve IYCF practices that have shown no significant development over the past two decades in Nepal: EBF, minimum acceptable diet, and minimal bottle‐feeding.
Histogram of mycotoxins co-exposure among 579 pregnant women in Ethiopia. Exposure to a mycotoxin was defined as a serum concentration above the limit of detection.
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•Multiple ...mycotoxin exposure is prevalent among pregnant women in Ethiopia.•No association between mycotoxin exposures and adverse birth outcomes was observed.•Future research is required to estimate both targeted and untargeted mycotoxin exposure.
Mycotoxin exposure during pregnancy has been associated with adverse birth outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. The evidence, however, is inconsistent and mainly limited to the assessment of a single mycotoxin. We assessed biomarkers of exposure to multiple mycotoxins during pregnancy and their associations with adverse birth outcomes in rural Ethiopia.
We analyzed data from 579 pregnant women between 8 and 24 weeks of completed gestation enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Serum mycotoxin concentrations were determined using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Multivariable linear probability models, adjusted for potential confounding factors and multiple comparisons, were fitted to assess the associations between mycotoxin exposure and small for gestational age and preterm birth. We applied principal component analysis to reduce the dimensionality of biomarker data from several taxonomic mycotoxin groups.
All pregnant women were co-exposed to at least five mycotoxins, and one pregnant woman was co-exposed to 27 mycotoxins. Fumonisins (FB), i.e., FB2, FB3, FB1, and tenuazonic acid were the most frequently identified mycotoxins in 98.8, 95.3, 93.3, and 81.4% of the samples respectively. Deoxynivalenol was detected in 38.7%, nivalenol in 50.1%, ochratoxin α in 67.9%, and zearalenone in 50.9% of the serum samples. After adjustment, we found no statistically significant (all P ≥ 0.05) associations between mycotoxin exposures and birth outcomes.
Despite our study providing no evidence for relationships between mycotoxin biomarkers and adverse birth outcomes, our findings do indicate an extensive presence of multiple mycotoxin exposure among pregnant women. Public health policies and nutrition-sensitive interventions must ensure exposure to mycotoxins is reduced in rural Ethiopia.
Minimum dietary diversity for women of reproductive age (MDD-W) was validated as a population-level proxy of micronutrient adequacy, with indicator data collection proposed as either list-based or ...open recall. No study has assessed the validity of these two non-quantitative proxy methods against weighed food records (WFR). We assessed the measurement agreement of list-based and open recall methods as compared to WFR (i.e., reference method of individual quantitative dietary assessment) for achieving MDD-W and an ordinal food group diversity score. Applying a non-inferiority design, data were collected from non-pregnant women of reproductive age in Cambodia (
= 430), Ethiopia (
= 431), and Zambia (
= 476). For the pooled sample (
= 1337), proportions achieving MDD-W from both proxy methods were compared to WFR proportion by McNemar's chi-square tests, Cohen's kappa, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Ordinal food group diversity (0-10) was compared by Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank tests, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), and weighted kappa. MDD-W food groups that were most frequently misreported (i.e., type I and II errors) by the proxy methods were determined. Our findings indicate statistically significant differences in proportions achieving MDD-W, ordinal food group diversity scores, and ROC curves between both proxy methods and WFR (
< 0.001). List-based and open recall methods overreported women achieving MDD-W by 16 and 10 percentage points, respectively, as compared to WFR (proportion achieving MDD-W: 30%). ICC values between list-based or open recall and WFR were 0.50 and 0.55, respectively. Simple and weighted kappa values both indicated moderate agreement between list-based or open recall against WFR. Food groups most likely to be misreported using proxy methods were beans and peas, dark green leafy vegetables, vitamin A-rich fruit and vegetables, and other fruits. Our study provides statistical evidence for overreporting of both list-based and open recall methods for assessing prevalence of MDD-W or ordinal food group diversity score in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries. Operationalizing MDD-W through qualitative recall methods should consider potential trade-offs between accuracy and simplicity.
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.
Providing balanced energy-protein (BEP) supplements is a promising intervention to improve birth outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); however, evidence is limited. We aimed to assess ...the efficacy of fortified BEP supplementation during pregnancy to improve birth outcomes, as compared to iron-folic acid (IFA) tablets, the standard of care.
We conducted an individually randomized controlled efficacy trial (MIcronutriments pour la SAnté de la Mère et de l'Enfant MISAME-III) in 6 health center catchment areas in rural Burkina Faso. Pregnant women, aged 15 to 40 years with gestational age (GA) <21 completed weeks, were randomly assigned to receive either fortified BEP supplements and IFA (intervention) or IFA (control). Supplements were provided during home visits, and intake was supervised on a daily basis by trained village-based project workers. The primary outcome was prevalence of small-for-gestational age (SGA) and secondary outcomes included large-for-gestational age (LGA), low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth (PTB), gestational duration, birth weight, birth length, Rohrer's ponderal index, head circumference, thoracic circumference, arm circumference, fetal loss, and stillbirth. Statistical analyses followed the intention-to-treat (ITT) principle. From October 2019 to December 2020, 1,897 pregnant women were randomized (960 control and 937 intervention). The last child was born in August 2021, and birth anthropometry was analyzed from 1,708 pregnancies (872 control and 836 intervention). A total of 22 women were lost to follow-up in the control group and 27 women in the intervention group. BEP supplementation led to a mean 3.1 percentage points (pp) reduction in SGA with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of -7.39 to 1.16 (P = 0.151), indicating a wide range of plausible true treatment efficacy. Adjusting for prognostic factors of SGA, and conducting complete cases (1,659/1,708, 97%) and per-protocol analysis among women with an observed BEP adherence ≥75% (1,481/1,708, 87%), did not change the results. The intervention significantly improved the duration of gestation (+0.20 weeks, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.36, P = 0.010), birth weight (50.1 g, 8.11 to 92.0, P = 0.019), birth length (0.20 cm, 0.01 to 0.40, P = 0.044), thoracic circumference (0.20 cm, 0.04 to 0.37, P = 0.016), arm circumference (0.86 mm, 0.11 to 1.62, P = 0.025), and decreased LBW prevalence (-3.95 pp, -6.83 to -1.06, P = 0.007) as secondary outcomes measures. No differences in serious adverse events SAEs; fetal loss (21 control and 26 intervention) and stillbirth (16 control and 17 intervention) between the study groups were found. Key limitations are the nonblinded administration of supplements and the lack of information on other prognostic factors (e.g., infection, inflammation, stress, and physical activity) to determine to which extent these might have influenced the effect on nutrient availability and birth outcomes.
The MISAME-III trial did not provide evidence that fortified BEP supplementation is efficacious in reducing SGA prevalence. However, the intervention had a small positive effect on other birth outcomes. Additional maternal and biochemical outcomes need to be investigated to provide further evidence on the overall clinical relevance of BEP supplementation.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03533712.
Panel data indicate that nonpregnant women’s dietary diversity fluctuates across climatic seasons in low- and middle-income countries. The natural day-to-day variability in food group consumption ...during gestation is unknown.
A longitudinal study was conducted among pregnant women enrolled in the Micronutriments pour la Santé de la Mère et de l’Enfant study 3 randomized controlled efficacy trial i.e., daily fortified balanced energy-protein supplement and an iron-folic acid (IFA) tablet compared with an IFA tablet only to investigate the number of 24-hour recalls required to estimate usual prenatal food group (FG) diversity and the seasonality of pregnant women’s dietary diversity in Houndé, Burkina Faso.
FG consumption was assessed twice weekly by qualitative, list-based, 24-hour recalls among 1757 pregnant women (892 control, 865 intervention). The number of days needed to estimate a woman’s usual prenatal 10-point FG diversity score was calculated using the within-subject coefficient of variation. Regression models, including truncated Fourier series, were fitted to assess seasonal variations in the FG diversity score and the probability of reaching Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W; i.e., ≥5 FGs).
The monthly mean FG scores (<5 FGs) and MDD-W prevalence (<45%) were low. Five list-based recalls allowed observed FG diversity to lie within 15% of the true mean in 90% of the estimations (mean ± SD, 40.4 ± 20.7 recalls per woman). Both the FG diversity score and prevalence achieving MDD-W showed responsiveness to seasonal variations, with peaks at the end of the dry season (i.e., April or May) and troughs in the rainy season (i.e., August).
Five list-based recalls are sufficient to estimate usual FG diversity during gestation, although intra-annual seasonal patterns did modestly affect the FG diversity score and MDD-W prevalence. Thus, timing of repeated dietary surveys is critical to ensure nonbiased inferences of change and trends in Burkina Faso. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT 03533712.
The EAT–Lancet Commission promulgated a universal reference diet. Subsequently, researchers constructed an EAT–Lancet diet score (0–14 points), with minimum intake values for various dietary ...components set at 0 g/d, and reported inverse associations with risks of major health outcomes in a high-income population. We assessed associations between EAT–Lancet diet scores, without or with lower bound values, and the mean probability of micronutrient adequacy (MPA) among nutrition-insecure women of reproductive age (WRA) from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We analysed single 24-h diet recall data (n 1950) from studies in rural DRC, Ecuador, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Associations between EAT–Lancet diet scores and MPA were assessed by fitting linear mixed-effects models. Mean EAT–Lancet diet scores were 8·8 (SD 1·3) and 1·9 (SD 1·1) without or with minimum intake values, respectively. Pooled MPA was 0·58 (SD 0·22) and energy intake was 10·5 (SD 4·6) MJ/d. A one-point increase in the EAT–Lancet diet score, without minimum intake values, was associated with a 2·6 (SD 0·7) percentage points decrease in MPA (P < 0·001). In contrast, the EAT–Lancet diet score, with minimum intake values, was associated with a 2·4 (SD 1·3) percentage points increase in MPA (P = 0·07). Further analysis indicated positive associations between EAT–Lancet diet scores and MPA adjusted for energy intake (P < 0·05). Our findings indicate that the EAT–Lancet diet score requires minimum intake values for nutrient-dense dietary components to avoid positively scoring non-consumption of food groups and subsequently predicting lower MPA of diets, when applied to rural WRA in LMIC.
Micronutrient-fortified balanced energy-protein (BEP) supplements are promising interventions to prevent intrauterine growth retardation in low- and middle-income countries. On the other hand, one ...concern with blanket prenatal supplementation programs using energy-dense supplements is that they could lead to more maternal and/or infant overweight. However, evidence is lacking on the potential effect of BEP on maternal and offspring body composition. This study evaluates the effects of micronutrient-fortified BEP supplementation during pregnancy on body composition of mothers and their newborns in rural Burkina Faso.
The MISAME-III study is an open label individually randomized controlled trial where pregnant women (n = 1,897) of gestational age <21 weeks received either a combination of micronutrient-fortified BEP and iron-folic acid (IFA) tablets (i.e., intervention) or IFA alone (i.e., control). The prenatal phase of the MISAME-III study was conducted between the first enrollment in October 2019 and the last delivery in August 2021. In a sub-study nested under the MISAME-III trial, we evaluated anthropometry and body composition in newborns who were born starting from 17 November 2020 (n: control = 368 and intervention = 352) and their mothers (n: control = 185 and intervention = 186). Primary study outcomes were newborn and maternal fat-free mass (FFMI) and fat-mass (FMI) indices. We used the deuterium dilution method to determine FFMI and FMI and %FFM and %FM of total body weight within 1 month postpartum. Our main analysis followed a modified intention-to-treat approach by analyzing all subjects with body composition data available. Univariable and multivariable linear regression models were fitted to compare the intervention and control arms, with adjusted models included baseline maternal age, height, arm fat index, hemoglobin concentration and primiparity, household size, wealth and food security indices, and newborn age (days). At study enrollment, the mean ± SD maternal age was 24.8 ± 6.13 years and body mass index (BMI) was 22.1 ± 3.02 kg/m2 with 7.05% of the mothers were underweight and 11.5% were overweight. Prenatal micronutrient-fortified BEP supplementation resulted in a significantly higher FFMI in mothers (MD (mean difference): 0.45; 95% CI (confidence interval): 0.05, 0.84; P = 0.026) and newborns (MD: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.50; P = 0.012), whereas no statistically significant effects were found on FMI. The effect of micronutrient-fortified BEP on maternal FFMI was greater among mothers from food secure households and among those with a better nutritional status (BMI ≥21.0 kg/m2 or mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) ≥23 cm). Key limitations of the study are the relatively high degree of missing data (approximately 18%), the lack of baseline maternal body composition values, and the lack of follow-up body composition measurements to evaluate any long-term effects.
Micronutrient-fortified BEP supplementation during pregnancy can increase maternal and newborn FFMI, without significant effects on FMI.
ClinicalTrials.gov with identifier NCT03533712.
Childhood linear growth faltering remains a major public health concern in Nepal. Nevertheless, over the past 20 years, Nepal sustained one of the most rapid reductions in the prevalence of stunting ...worldwide. First, our study analysed the trends in height‐for‐age z‐score (HAZ), stunting prevalence, and available nutrition‐sensitive and nutrition‐specific determinants of linear growth faltering in under‐three children across Nepal's Family Health Survey 1996 and Nepal's Demographic and Health Surveys 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016. Second, we constructed pooled multivariable linear regression models and decomposed the contributions of our time‐variant determinants on the predicted changes in HAZ and stunting over the past two decades. Our findings indicate substantial improvements in HAZ (38.5%) and reductions in stunting (−42.6%) and severe stunting prevalence (−63.9%) in Nepalese children aged 0–35 months. We also report that the increment in HAZ, across the 1996–2016 period, was significantly associated (confounder‐adjusted p < .05) with household asset index, maternal and paternal years of education, maternal body mass index and height, basic child vaccinations, preceding birth interval, childbirth in a medical facility, and prenatal doctor visits. Furthermore, our quantitative decomposition of HAZ identified advances in utilisation of health care and related services (31.7% of predicted change), household wealth accumulation (25%), parental education (21.7%), and maternal nutrition (8.3%) as key drivers of the long‐term and sustained progress against child linear growth deficits. Our research reiterates the multifactorial nature of chronic child undernutrition and the need for coherent multisectoral nutrition‐sensitive and nutrition‐specific strategies at national scale to further improve linear growth in Nepal. Correction added on 6 November 2020, after first online publication: in , the citation year in the fourth sentence has been changed from ‘2001’ to ‘2011’.
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