The Evolution of School Health and Nutrition in the Education Sector 2000–2015 in sub-Saharan Africa

Study objectives: To document the progression of school health and nutrition and its integration within the education sector in sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2015. Background: School health and nutrition programs have contributed to "Education for All" objectives by helping ensure that children benefit from quality education and reach their educational potential. Methods: Analysis of education sector plans (ESPs) in terms of the Focusing Resources on Effective School Health (FRESH) framework and the World Bank Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) School Health survey from a set of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Results: Between 2000 and 2015, the presence and scope of school health and nutrition as reflected in the four FRESH pillars grew substantially in ESPs. Three of these pillars have large, upfront costs. The fourth pillar requires recurring annual budgetary allotments. Conclusion: Governments clearly recognize that evidence-based, contextually designed school health and nutrition programs can contribute to education sector goals. Moving into the post-2015 era, these programs can also help draw the last 10% of children into school and enhance their readiness to learn

Re-Imagining School Feeding : A High-Return Investment in Human Capital and Local Economies

Analysis shows that a quality education, combined with a guaranteed package of health and nutrition interventions at school, such as school feeding, can contribute to child and adolescent development and build human capital. School feeding programs can help get children into school and help them stay there, increasing enrollment and reducing absenteeism. Once children are in the classroom, these programs can contribute to their learning by avoiding hunger and enhancing cognitive abilities. The benefits are especially great for the poorest and most disadvantaged children. As highlighted in the World Bank’s 2018 World Development Report (World Bank 2018), countries need to prioritize learning, not just schooling. Children must be healthy, not hungry, if they are to match learning opportunities with the ability to learn. In the most vulnerable communities, nutrition-sensitive school meals can offer children a regular source of nutrients that are essential for their mental and physical development. And for the growing number of countries with a “double burden” of undernutrition and emerging obesity problems, well-designed school meals can help set children on the path toward more healthy diets. In Latin America, for example, where there is a growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), school feeding programs are a key intervention in reducing undernutrition and promoting healthy diet choices. Mexico’s experience reducing sugary beverages in school cafeterias, for example, was found to be beneficial in advancing a healthy lifestyle. A large trial of school-based interventions in China also found that nutritional or physical activity interventions alone are not as effective as a joint program that combines nutritional and educational interventions. In poor communities, economic benefits from school feeding programs are also evident—reducing poverty by boosting income for households and communities as a whole. For families, the value of meals in school is equivalent to about 10 percent of a household’s income. For families with several children, that can mean substantial savings. As a result, school feeding programs are often part of social safety nets in poor countries, and they can be a stable way to reliably target pro-poor investments into communities, as well as a system that can be scaled up rapidly to respond to crises. There are also direct economic benefits for smallholder farmers in the community. Buying local food creates stable markets, boosting local agriculture, impacting rural transformation, and strengthening local food systems. In Brazil, for example, 30 percent of all purchases for school feeding come from smallholder agriculture (Drake and others 2016). These farmers are oftentimes parents with schoolchildren, helping them break intergenerational cycles of hunger and poverty. Notably, benefits to households and communities offer important synergies. The economic growth in poor communities helps provide stability and better-quality education and health systems that promote human capital. At the same time, children and adolescents grow up to enjoy better employment and social opportunities as their communities grow

Evaluation of innovative methods for the detection and detoxification of aflatoxins

Typescript (photocopy).Aflatoxins encompass a structurally similar group of naturally occurring, fungal-elaborated poisons that have been strongly implicated in disease and death in men and animals. Consequently, there is a growing awareness of the significant dangers associated with these substances. Remedial measures are more and more directed toward concepts of aflatoxin management that include an early detection and subsequent diversion of contaminated commodities from the food and feed supply, and practical techniques of decontamination. The present study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of a rapid method (SAM) for the early detection of aflatoxins and the mechanism by which a phyllosilicate (HSCAS) inactivates aflatoxins in situ. Several peanut cultivars grown under environmental conditions known to induce the production of interfering compounds were analyzed using the SAM-AZ test. The results compared to those obtained with an established HPLC method. No false positives or negatives were obtained. The SA -AZ test was also evaluated for the semi-quantitation of aflatoxin levels in peanuts products. Samples with a wide array of aflatoxin levels previously determined by HPLC were utilized. These levels were successfully approximated using the SAM-AZ test. In the second segment of our work, we studied the mechanism by which the phyllosilicate HSCAS tightly binds and alters the carcinogenicity of aflatoxins. Structure activity analyses utilizing compounds with one or more of the functional groups in common with aflatoxin demonstrated that the strong binding involved (β-dicarbonyl or α-dilactone groups of aflatoxins and related compounds. Infrared analyses of solid AFB[1] on HSCAS and of the complex AFB[1]-HSCAS indicated a formation of a chelate between carbonyl groups of AFB[1] and metal ions of HSCAS. X-ray diffraction analyses of HSCAS and the complex AFB[1]-HSCAS demonstrated that the chelation was a surface reaction

Evaluation of innovative methods for the detection and detoxification of aflatoxins

Typescript (photocopy).Aflatoxins encompass a structurally similar group of naturally occurring, fungal-elaborated poisons that have been strongly implicated in disease and death in men and animals. Consequently, there is a growing awareness of the significant dangers associated with these substances. Remedial measures are more and more directed toward concepts of aflatoxin management that include an early detection and subsequent diversion of contaminated commodities from the food and feed supply, and practical techniques of decontamination. The present study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of a rapid method (SAM) for the early detection of aflatoxins and the mechanism by which a phyllosilicate (HSCAS) inactivates aflatoxins in situ. Several peanut cultivars grown under environmental conditions known to induce the production of interfering compounds were analyzed using the SAM-AZ test. The results compared to those obtained with an established HPLC method. No false positives or negatives were obtained. The SA -AZ test was also evaluated for the semi-quantitation of aflatoxin levels in peanuts products. Samples with a wide array of aflatoxin levels previously determined by HPLC were utilized. These levels were successfully approximated using the SAM-AZ test. In the second segment of our work, we studied the mechanism by which the phyllosilicate HSCAS tightly binds and alters the carcinogenicity of aflatoxins. Structure activity analyses utilizing compounds with one or more of the functional groups in common with aflatoxin demonstrated that the strong binding involved (β-dicarbonyl or α-dilactone groups of aflatoxins and related compounds. Infrared analyses of solid AFB[1] on HSCAS and of the complex AFB[1]-HSCAS indicated a formation of a chelate between carbonyl groups of AFB[1] and metal ions of HSCAS. X-ray diffraction analyses of HSCAS and the complex AFB[1]-HSCAS demonstrated that the chelation was a surface reaction