Using weight-for-age for predicting wasted children

Background: The equipments for taking body weights (scales) are more frequent in Cameroon health centres than measuring boards for heights. Even when the later exist there are some difficulties inherent in their qualities; thus the height measurement is not always available or accurate. Objective: To construct statistical models for predicting wasting from weight-for-age. Methods: 3742 children a ged 0 to 59 months were enrolled in a cross-sectional household survey (2004 Cameroon Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)) covering the entire Cameroon national territory. Results: There were highly significant association between underweight and wasting. For all discriminant statistical methods used, the test error rates (using an independent testing sample) are less than 5%; the Area Under the Curve (AUC) using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) is 0.86. Conclusions: Weight-for-age can be used for accurately classifying a child whose wasting status is unknown. The result is useful in Cameroon as too often the height measurements may not be feasible, thus the need for estimating wasted children.Anthropometric measures, nutritional status, discriminant analysis, underweight, wasting

Using weight-for-age for predicting wasted children in Cameroon

Introduction: The equipment for taking body weights (scales) are more frequently used in Cameroon health centres than measuring boards for heights. Even when the later exist there are some difficulties inherent in their qualities; thus the height measurement is not always available or accurate. Our objective for this study was to construct statistical models for predicting wasting from weight-for-age. Methods: 3742 children aged 0 to 59 months were enrolled in a cross-sectional household survey (2004 Cameroon Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)) covering the entire Cameroon national territory. Results: There were highly significant association between underweight and wasting. For all discriminant statistical methods used, the test error rates (using an independent testing sample) were less than 5%; the Area Under Curve (AUC) using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) was 0.86. Conclusion: The study showed that weight-for-age can be used for accurately classifying a child whose wasting status is unknown. The result is useful in Cameroon as too often the height measurements may not be feasible, thus the need for estimating wasted children. This study provides baseline information that will help to design a preliminary pivotal study on an immediate nutrition intervention for acute undernutrition. Its complications that could lead to morbidity and mortality can be greatly reduced or set up a management control strategy that will go a long way in reducing the cost of health care in Cameroon.Pan African Medical Journal 2013; 14: 9

Using weight-for-age for predicting wasted children

Background: The equipments for taking body weights (scales) are more frequent in Cameroon health centres than measuring boards for heights. Even when the later exist there are some difficulties inherent in their qualities; thus the height measurement is not always available or accurate. Objective: To construct statistical models for predicting wasting from weight-for-age. Methods: 3742 children a ged 0 to 59 months were enrolled in a cross-sectional household survey (2004 Cameroon Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)) covering the entire Cameroon national territory. Results: There were highly significant association between underweight and wasting. For all discriminant statistical methods used, the test error rates (using an independent testing sample) are less than 5%; the Area Under the Curve (AUC) using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) is 0.86. Conclusions: Weight-for-age can be used for accurately classifying a child whose wasting status is unknown. The result is useful in Cameroon as too often the height measurements may not be feasible, thus the need for estimating wasted children

Using weight-for-age for predicting wasted children

Background: The equipments for taking body weights (scales) are more frequent in Cameroon health centres than measuring boards for heights. Even when the later exist there are some difficulties inherent in their qualities; thus the height measurement is not always available or accurate. Objective: To construct statistical models for predicting wasting from weight-for-age. Methods: 3742 children a ged 0 to 59 months were enrolled in a cross-sectional household survey (2004 Cameroon Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)) covering the entire Cameroon national territory. Results: There were highly significant association between underweight and wasting. For all discriminant statistical methods used, the test error rates (using an independent testing sample) are less than 5%; the Area Under the Curve (AUC) using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) is 0.86. Conclusions: Weight-for-age can be used for accurately classifying a child whose wasting status is unknown. The result is useful in Cameroon as too often the height measurements may not be feasible, thus the need for estimating wasted children

Dietary habits and nutritional status of medical school students : the case of three state universities in Cameroon

INTRODUCTION : malnutrition is a major risk factor of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and therefore the importance of good dietary practices and balanced diet cannot be overemphasized. University students tend to have poor eating practices which is related to nutritional status. The objective of our study was to assess the dietary practices of medical students, determine the prevalence of malnutrition among medical students and factors associated with malnutrition. METHODS : we carried out a cross-sectional study from December 2013 to March 2014 involving 203 consenting students in the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaoundé I, Faculties of Health Sciences of the Universities of Bamenda and Buea. A three-part questionnaire (socio-demographic profile, eating practices, and anthropometric parameters). Data was analysed using SPSS 18.0. Frequencies and percentages were determined for categorical variables. Means and standard deviations (mean ± SD) were calculated for continuous variables. Fischer's exact test was used to compare the categorical variables. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS : males constituted 44.3% of respondents. The mean age was 20.8 ± 1.6yrs. Most students had a monthly allowance of less than 20 000frs (34 USD) and 59.1% lived alone. Most students (49.8%) reported taking two meals a day with breakfast being the most skipped meal while supper was the meal most consumed by students. Snacking was common among these students as 40.8% admitted consuming snacks daily. Daily intake of milk, fruits, vegetable and meat were low (6.2%, 4.3%, 20.0% and 21.3% respectively). The BMI status of students was associated with gender (p=0.026). CONCLUSION : our findings showed a high prevalence of malnutrition of 29.4% based on BMI (underweight 4.9%, overweight 21.6% and obesity 3.0%) among second year medical students of these three state universities. Irregular meals, meal skipping, low fruit, vegetable and milk consumption, high candy, fried foods and alcohol intakes were found to be poor eating practices frequent among these students. Our findings therefore suggest the need for coordinated efforts to promote healthy eating habits among medical students in general and female medical students in particular (and by extension youths in general) as a means of curbing malnutrition among youths.http://www.panafrican-med-journal.comam2021School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH

Quantifier scope in sentence prosody? : A view from production

Logical scope interpretation and sentence prosody exhibit intricate, yet scarcely studied interrelations across a variety of languages and constructions. Despite these observable interrelations, it is not clear whether quantifier scope by itself is able to directly affect prosodic form. Information structure is a key potential confounding factor, as it appears to richly interact both with scope interpretation and with prosodic form. To address this complication, the current study investigates, based on data from Hungarian, whether quantifier scope is expressed prosodically if information structure is kept in check. A production experiment is presented that investigates grammatically scope ambiguous doubly quantified sentences with varied focus structures, while lacking a syntactically marked topic or focus. In contrast to the information structural manipulation, which is manifest in the analysis of the acoustic data, the results reveal no prosodic effect of quantifier scope, nor the interaction of scope with information structure. This finding casts doubt on the notion that logical scope can receive direct prosodic expression, and it indirectly corroborates the restrictive view instead that scope interpretation is encoded in prosody only in cases in which it is a free rider on information structure

Nutritional status and haemoglobin levels of pregnant adolescent girls in the city of Yaoundé, Cameroon

Recently, there has been so much attention on adolescent health issues such as adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and Human Immune Virus infections but adolescent pregnancy and nutrition have aroused very little interest. This cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the nutritional status of adolescents aged 15 to 19 years in the city of Yaoundé, Cameroon. Three referral hospitals were selected at random for the recruitment of subjects in Yaoundé. Body Mass Index (BMI), hemoglobin level, a 24-hour recall, food frequency and socio–demographic data were collected using a pretested questionnaire. Hemoglobin level and BMI were used as dependent variables to evaluate nutritional status. The data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0 (ANOVA and student (t) test) with p <0.05. Sixty-two percent (62%) of subjects had a normal BMI, 28 % were overweight, and 10% were obese. Based on ANOVA analysis, Meal frequency, diet quality and the term of pregnancy had significant effect on BMI (p = 0.003<0.05). Diet quality had a significant effect on hemoglobin levels (p = 0.003<0.05). The term of pregnancy, especially at the third trimester, significantly affected BMI due to foetus additional weight. Thus, nutritional status depends on the quantity and quality of food intake. RésuméRécemment, on a accordé tant d’attention aux problèmes de santé des adolescents tels que la grossesse chez les adolescentes, les infections sexuellement transmissibles et les infections à virus immunitaire humain, mais la grossesse et la nutrition des adolescentes ont suscité très peu d’intérêt. Cette étude transversale a été réalisée pour évaluer l’état nutritionnel des adolescents âgés de 15 à 19 ans dans la ville de Yaoundé, au Cameroun. Trois hôpitaux de référence ont été sélectionnés au hasard pour le recrutement des sujets à Yaoundé. L’indice de masse corporelle (IMC), le taux d’hémoglobine, un rappel de 24 heures, la fréquence d’alimentations et les données sociodémographiques ont été recueillis à l’aide d’un questionnaire prétesté. Les taux d’hémoglobine et l’IMC ont été utilisés comme variables dépendantes pour évaluer l’état nutritionnel. Les données ont été analysées en utilisant SPSS 17,0 (ANOVA et test de Student (t)) avec p <0,05. Soixante-deux pour cent (62%) des sujets avaient un IMC normal, 28% étaient en surpoids et 10% étaient obèses. Sur la base d’une analyse ANOVA, la fréquence des repas, la qualité du régime alimentaire et la durée de la grossesse ont eu un effet significatif sur l’IMC (p = 0,003 <0,05). La qualité de l’alimentation avait un effet significatif sur les taux d’hémoglobine (p = 0,003 <0,05). La durée de la grossesse, en particulier au troisième trimestre, a considérablement affecté l’IMC en raison du poids supplémentaire du foetus. Ainsi, l’état nutritionnel dépend de la quantité et de la qualité de l’apport alimentaire

Metabolic effects of quail eggs in diabetes-induced rats: comparison with chicken eggs

Background: Quail eggs as a food item have recently been introduced into the diet of some Cameroonians. These eggs are being sold in local markets, but with many unfounded health claims. One claim is that quail eggs can reduce blood glucose levels in diabetics. It was therefore necessary to evaluate the effect of consuming quail eggs on blood glucose levels, lipid profiles, and oxidative stress parameters in diabetes-induced rats. Methods: Twenty Wistar rats weighing, on average, 250 g were divided into four groups of five rats each. Group 1 consisted of rats with normal blood glucose, and the other three groups (2, 3, and 4) consisted of diabetes-induced rats achieved by intravenous injection of streptozotocin. During 16 days, rats in groups 1 and 2 received distilled water; and rats in groups 3 and 4 received quail and chicken eggs, respectively, with gastroesophageal probe at a dose of 1 mL/200 g body weight. Fasting blood glucose levels were determined in all the groups on the 1st, 7th, 14th, and 17th days after induction of diabetes. On the 17th day, the fasting rats were sacrificed, and blood and liver samples were collected for biochemical analyses. Results: In 17 days, the consumption of quail and chicken eggs had no effect on blood glucose levels of diabetic rats. Total cholesterol levels were higher in groups 3 (75.59 mg/dL) and 4 (59.41 mg/dL) compared to group 2 (55.67 mg/dl), although these differences were not significant (all p>0.05). Triglyceride levels were significantly higher (p <0.05) in groups 3 (106.52 mg/dL) and 4 (109.65 mg/dL) compared to group 2 (65.82 mg/dL). Quail eggs had no effect on oxidative stress parameters (malondialdehyde, hydroperoxides, and catalase). Conclusions: The consumption of quail eggs by diabetic rats at the tested dose had no effect on blood glucose level and oxidative stress parameters and may have a negative effect on lipid profile

Nutrient changes due to processing of some species of Vernonia in Cameroon

No Abstract. Journal of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences Vol. 5(2&3) 2005: 115-12