Growing up in Scotland: sweep 3 food and activity report

This report uses data from the Growing Up in Scotland study to explore the prevalence of, and many issues related to, food and activity in Scotland specifically in relation to young children

Exploring public health nurses experience with cross-cultural service provision and communication regarding infant and child nutrition

In Norway, public health nurses have a long history of working with health promotion and, in particular, in relation to maternal and child health. Appropriate feeding practices are of fundamental importance for growth, development and health among infants and young children. As the number of children from immigrant families in Norway increases, more public health nurses are working with families whose cultural backgrounds are markedly different from their own. According to some studies, immigrant mothers experience the infant feeding advice provided by public health nurses as limited. These studies describe inadequate advice about the benefits of breastfeeding and the introduction of solid food, specifically, and about infant and child nutrition in general. This study therefore explores current public health nurses’ perspectives on and experiences with cross cultural service provision and communication regarding infant and child nutrition. A qualitative study design and in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in particular, were employed to investigate this. The data were collected over a period of four months, in three municipalities in Norway (Oslo, Akershus and Østfold), where the prevalence of immigrants is the highest in the country. Research participant were recruited from nine different maternal and child health clinics, and consisted of 24 certified public health nurses. Findings from this study show that language is perceived as a barrier that leads to a superficial level of communication and cause time constrains; lack of a common understanding of cultural knowledge and food pose as an additional barrier; interpreters are fundamental; visual aids strengthen cross-cultural communication when a common language is missing; booklets on infant and child nutrition are used as complements to verbal advice; group meetings are perceived to have potential for strengthening nutrition counseling with immigrant mothers in particular. Based on findings from this study, we suggest the following: cultural education for public health nurses, clear interpreter guidelines/education, providing public health nurses with iPads and access to visual nutrition tools, translating and re-working the booklet ‘Food for Infants’ and making it available on the internet, and acting on public health nurses suggestion regarding the value of providing cross-cultural group meetings for all mothers. The study concludes that such measures are pertinent for strengthening cross-cultural communication regarding infant and child nutrition. Key words: Public health nurses, Immigrant mothers, cross-cultural service provision, Infant and child nutrition, Qualitative, Interview, Focus group discussion

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Breastfeeding Promotion Within Georgia\u27s WIC Program

INTRODUCTION: It is well established that breastfeeding is optimal for infants for the first six months of life. Breastfeeding is a public health concern as current prevalence and initiation rates within the state of Georgia do not reflect public health target rates. AIM: To examine the cost and health savings of infants who are exclusively breastfed versus the expenditures and health detriment for exclusively formula fed infants in Georgia. METHODS: A cost effectiveness analysis was conducted on breastfeeding rates for infants in the Georgia’s WIC using data from the USDA. RESULTS: Breastfeeding programming in GA is costlier than formula use for WIC infants, but more cost effective as a whole given short-term outcomes. DISCUSSION: Improving breastfeeding rates in Georgia by providing infants the healthiest start in life is an adequate prevention strategy to reduce health disparities gaps within the United States

Voices from Urban Africa: The Impact of Urban Growth on Children

Urban poverty -- and its impact on children -- is often overlooked and misunderstood. More than half of the world's population now lives in cities. Each year the number of urban residents increases by nearly 60 million.1 By 2050, it is projected that two thirds of the global population will be living in urban areas.2 It is estimated that 94 percent of urban growth will take place in less developed countries.3Africa, though it is the least urbanized continent today, is predicted to have one billion urban dwellers by 2040, with a substantial youth majority. Over the next 40 years, 75 percent of urban population growth in Africa will take place in Africa's secondary cities.4 Currently, over half of the African urban population lives in slum conditions. These figures alone demonstrate the growing importance of prioritizing the urban context in development work.Coupled with this growing urban population, the development community's reliance on aggregate data, which generally compares development indicators for urban and rural areas within a country, means that children and adults living in urban areas appear to be better off than those living in rural areas.Citywide statistics and the 'urban advantage' allow the wealth of some urban individuals to obscure the hardships faced by those living in urban poverty and the vast inequalities present within urban communities. The absence of detailed data means that the depths of urban poverty are often missed and children living in urban poverty are at risk of not being reached by development efforts

Friday Facts, June 19, 2015, Vol. 254

Bureau of Nutrition and Health Promotion part of the Iowa Department of Public Health produces of weekly newsletter about the Iowa WIC Program for the State of Iowa citizen

Horizontal Inequalities and Violent Conflict. Côte d’Ivoire Country Paper

human development, aid, trade, security

Investigating Childhood Stunting and Malnutrition Outcomes in Sukadana and Simpang Hilir, Indonesia

Best of GradCon Award Winner: Poster Presentations - Humanities and Social Sciences Purpose: Infant and child growth is understood as an important indicator of nutritional status and health in populations. Stunting, wasting, and being underweight are the indicators used to measure child growth and reflect nutritional imbalance resulting in undernutrition. The World Health Organization has cited Indonesia as one of five countries that have child stunting higher than both the regional and global averages, making this a priority issue for the government as well as clinics across the country including Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) Clinic located in Sukadana, Borneo. The aim of this study is to gain information on the target population to inform a tailored intervention within the capacity and existing programming of the clinic. Methods and Materials: A health assessment survey was implemented in the clinic and in the surrounding community to measure differences in malnutrition outcomes based on household factors, access to quality health care, issues during pregnancy, maternal and child health, breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices, and quality of child diet. Results: Out of a rich variety of results, some factors were associated with higher rates of malnutrition outcomes or were otherwise noteworthy. Rates of stunting and underweight were 32% and 48% respectively in households with smoking exposure in the home compared to 14% and 27% respectively in households with no smoking. There was a difference in rates of stunting and underweight children from mothers who reported having a cough during their pregnancies (31% and 44% respectively) compared to mothers who reported not having a cough (20% and 34% respectively). Additionally, there was a 13% difference in stunting and an 11% difference in wasted and an 11% difference in underweight in children who had a cough in the last month. Although almost all mothers breastfed their child at some point, initiating and maintaining breastfeeding did not always follow best practices. Stunting and underweight were 23% and 15% higher, respectively, in children that received liquids or food other than breastmilk under 6 months compared to those 6 months or older. Additionally, stunting and underweight were 50% and 31% higher, respectively, in children who first received solid foods under 6 months. The majority of mothers did not believe that stunting was an issue in the community or identified specific causes. Mothers also held the belief that a multitude of foods should be avoided during and after pregnancy to prevent convulsions and luge (weak disease). Significance: ASRI Clinic can address childhood stunting and malnutrition outcomes in Sukadana and Simpang Hilir by investing in community education focusing on tobacco cessation, breastfeeding and nutrition. Within the clinic, ASRI can implement policies and procedures to support patients in smoking cessation and best breastfeeding practices. In addition, the clinic can partner with Puskesmas to continue education and monitoring outside of the clinic. Originality: This is the first time that ASRI clinic has investigated malnutrition outcomes in their community and has partnered with the University of Montana to assess a health disparity

Determinants of Neonatal and Post-neonatal Mortality in Pakistan

Ensuring the survival and well being of children is a concern of families, communities and nations throughout the world. Since the turn of the 20th century infant and child mortality in more developed countries has steadily declined and, currently, has been reduced to almost minimal levels. In contrast, although infant and child mortality has declined in the past three decades in most less developed countries, the pace of change and the magnitude of improvement vary considerably from one country to another. The inverse relationship between socio-economic variables of the parents and infant and child mortality is well established by several studies [Muhuri (1995); Forste (1994); Hobcraft, et al. (1984); Caldwell (1979); Sathar (1985, 1987)] and it holds true irrespective of the overall level of mortality in the national populations [Ruzicka (1989)]. The influence of parental education on infant and child health and mortality has proved to be universally significant [Bicego and Boerma (1993); Caldwell, et al. (1990)]. The father’s education, mother’s education and their work status each have independent effects upon child survival in developing countries [Sandiford, et al. (1995); Forste (1994); Caldwell, et al. (1983)]. Economic conditions of the household also help in explaining the variation in infant and child mortality. The nature of housing, diet, access to and availability of water and sanitary conditions as well as medical attention all depend on the economic conditions of the household. For example, poor families may reside in crowded, unhygienic housing and, thus, suffer from infectious disease associated with inadequate and contaminated water supplies and with poor sanitation [Esrey and Habicht (1986)]. Maternal factors, which are biological attributes of birth, such as the age of mother at the time of childbirth, birth order and birth interval [Forste (1994); Rutstein (1984)], have significant effects on child survival.