Food insecurity among university students at two selected public universities in Malaysia

Most of food insecurity studies focus on the general households’ level and less have been done for the university students. Therefore, this cross-sectional study focused on determining food insecurity, assessing factors contributing to the food insecurity and the association between socioeconomic status and food security status among students in two public universities in Terengganu. About 96 undergraduate students from two selected public universities in Terengganu participated and filled out a self-administered questionnaire consisting of three primary sections; Demographic profile, Food Security Index and Causes of Food Insecure and these were later analysed by SPSS. Results showed that 22% of respondents were classified as food insecure, with 14% of them were categorized in the low food security group and 8% were categorized as very low food security. High cost of living is among the main factors contributing to food insecurity among the university students in Terengganu. However, no significant association was found between socio-economic status and food insecurity status at p<0.05. This may indicate that there are other factors besides socioeconomic status, which may influence food insecurity of the students in this study. In the future, similar studies should be extended to focus on assessing students’ food insecurity and food coping strategies

Nutritional status and pregnancy outcomes between anaemic and non anaemic pregnant women in Hulu Selangor, Malaysia

Anaemia among pregnant women has been documented to be associated with low birth weight and poor health status of newborns. Anaemia due to lack of certain nutrients before and during pregnancy remains a great concern worldwide. Chronic nutrient deficiencies during the pregnancy stage will affect not only the health status of the mother but also the infant’s birth weight and general development. A comparative study on nutritional status and pregnancy outcomes between anaemic and non-anaemic pregnant women were done. This study was conducted in the districts of Hulu selnagor, Selangor. A total of 188 pregnant mothers in their third trimesters and fulfilling the inclusion criteria from five health clinics (KK Kuala Kubu Baru, KK Kalumpang, KK Rasa, KK Hulu Yam, and KK Serendah) were recruited and interviewed. A set of questionnaire were used to collect data on socio-demographic background, history of the pregnancy, and other health related data. Dietary intake was assessed using a Semi-Quantities Food Frequency Questionnaire. Pregnancy outcome data and infant nutritional and health data were collected after delivery and after the infant has reached one month of age. All data were analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0 and dietary data with Nutritionist Pro version 2.4.1 was used to analyze subjects’ nutrient intake. Independent t-test was used to compare differences of means between the two groups. Out of 188, 90 were anaemic (A) and 98 were non-anaemic (NA). The mean values for haemoglobin levels for (A) and (NA) subjects were 10.1±0.8g/dl and 11.9±0.7g/dl, respectively. The mean age for anaemic mothers was 29.1±5.0 and that of non-anaemic mothers was 29.1 ± 5.2 years old. Majority of them had secondary level education and ranked at the fourth Social Class level with the range of monthly household income between RM1001-2000. About 40% of the subjects were fulltime housewives. The rest were working in government and private sectors. The mean weight gain was 8.1±4.7kg for (A) and 7.9±4.6 kg for (NA) throughout their pregnancies. Majority of the babies were delivered normally, and 2% of non-anaemic mothers delivered stillbirth infants. Only 13% of the babies were delivered by Caesarean section and 1% by the vacuum method foe anaemic subjects, while 22% were delivered by Caesarean section by non-anaemic subjects. Majority of infants given birth by the subjects had normal birth weights (>2.5kg). The mean birth weight for babies of anaemic subjects was 3.2±0.5 kg, while that of non-anaemic subjects was 3.1±0.5kg. About 39.5% for (A) and 44.9% for (NA) gave birth to preterm babies with a mean of 36 weeks and 32 weeks respectively. After one month of age, both (A) and (NA)’s infants were not significantly different on weight, length, chest circumference and head circumference. In terms of nutrient intake, there were significant differences between (A) and (NA) on carbohydrate (p = 0.001) and calcium (p = 0.049) intakes. Other nutrient intake showed no significant difference between the two groups. MANOVA analysis wre done included confounding factors which also shown significantly indifference on birth weight and term birth of infants between anaemic and non-anaemic subject. Thus the overall results indicated that the nutitional status and pregnancy outcomes between both groups were similar. However, the concern was towards all pregnant women with or without anaemia on understanding and implementing good nutritional status in order to have good pregnancy outcomes. Ongoing research need to be done and focus on those who having more severe anaemia status which has low haemoglobin level of less than 9g/dl

Association of socio-demographics and home food environment factors on body weight status among primary school children

Introduction: Obesity in children is a global epidemic issue. Home food environment is an important aspect that may influence children’s body weight status. The aim of this study is to identify the association between socio-demographics and home food environment (HFE) factors with body weight status in primary school children in Bangi, Selangor. Methods: There were 398 children (43.5% males and 56.5% females) aged 7-11 years old (mean age of 9.04±1.41 years) and their parents (66.6% mothers and 33.4% fathers) from eight randomly selected primary schools participated in this study. Parents were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire on socio-demographic background, feeding practices and food availability, while children were interviewed to obtain information on parental styles and physical activity level. Weight and height of children were assessed, and BMI-for-age z-score (BAZ) was calculated by using WHO Anthroplus Software. Results: Overweight and obesity prevalence was 17.8% and 13.1% respectively. A majority of the parents (61.3%) in this study practiced authoritative parenting style. The increased odds of childhood obesity has been found to be associated with an increasing age (OR=1.239, p<0.05). The risk for overweight or obese was greater for male students than for female students (OR=1.619, p<0.05). Parent’s increasing restriction for weight control (OR=1.080, p<0.05) and decreasing pressure to eat (OR=0.913, p<0.05) increased childhood overweight and obesity risk. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the importance of involving parents in the obesity intervention programs for children

Parental pre-pregnancy obesity and the risk of offspring weight and body mass index change from childhood to adulthood

The purpose of this study was to examine the association of parental pre-pregnancy weight and body mass index (BMI) on offspring weight and BMI change from childhood to adulthood

Students’ perception, knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards halal food products in Malaysia

The perception, knowledge, attitude, and behaviour of Muslims are important in determining their purchasing behaviour of halal food products. This study exclusively focused on the purchasing behaviour of young Muslim university students who live independently and hold their purchasing power. The main objective of this study is to investigate the perception, knowledge, attitude, and behaviour of university students towards halal food products in Malaysia. This study has adopted the framework based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) that hypothesized three determinants of behavioural intention; attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control with the addition of two other variables; religiosity and ambience. This study has found that all the TPB determinants attitude (r = 0.187, p<0.05), subjective norms (r = 0.266, p<0.01), perceived behavioural control (r = 0.336, p<0.01) including the other two additional; religiosity (r = 0.245, p<0.245) and ambience (r = 0.254, p<0.01) were positively and significantly associated with purchasing intention of halal food products among the students. This study also revealed that families and media play an important role in introducing halal food products to these young consumers. Therefore, it was suggested that the authorities create a positive social norm on halal products among society

Perceived benefits, perceived barriers and self-efficacy towards weight reduction among overweight and obese children in Kedah, Malaysia

The objective of this study was to identify the psychological factors (perceived barriers to, perceived benefits of, and perceived self-efficacy toward weight reduction) associated with body mass index (BMI) among overweight (OW) and obese children. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among primary school children in Kedah, Malaysia. A multistage randomised cluster sampling technique was used in this study. The socio-demographic data were collected from the parents, and the researchers took anthropometric measurements of the children. A set of validated instruments were used to assess perceived benefits of weight reduction, perceived barriers to weight reduction, perceived self-efficacy in dietary practice and perceived self-efficacy in exercise among the participants. Data were analysed by using SPSS software for Windows Version 25.0. A total of 398 OW and obese children aged 10 and 11 years old (221 boys and 177 girls) were recruited. Based on the socio-demographic data, the father’s educational level was found to be significantly associated with the child’s body mass index (BMI) (2 = 7.873, p = 0.049). There were no significant differences in mean scores for perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and perceived self-efficacy in dietary practice and exercise between the OW and obese groups (p&amp;gt;0.05). However, perceived self-efficacy in exercise was significantly associated with BMI among OW and obese children (p&amp;lt;0.05). Health perceptions and beliefs variables are important and should be included in any future weight management programme among OW and obese children

Generational increase in obesity among young women: A prospective analysis of mother-daughter dyads

© 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. Background/Objectives:Increases in obesity in young adults over recent decades are shown by national survey data but have yet to be replicated using prospective data. We aim to quantify the increase in obesity and overweight over two generations of young adult women using prospective measures of body mass index (BMI).Subjects/Methods:Data are from the Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), a prospective pre-birth cohort study started in 1981 in Brisbane, Australia. Analyses were restricted to 992 mother-daughter dyads who were at similar ages at the time they were assessed and for whom measures of BMI were available. We also conducted an additional analysis to test whether there was a similar increase amongst father-son dyads. We used multinomial logistic regression for clustered data to compare the same prospective measures of BMI categories between mother and daughters.Results:Controlling for a number of sociodemographic and lifestyle factors in the female sample, daughters had 5.04 (3.03, 8.85) times the odds of being obese and 2.54 (1.86, 3.54) times the odds of being overweight compared with their mothers. A large increase in obesity was also observed in the male sample.Conclusions:Using a longitudinal design to partly account for familial confounding of obesity risk factors, this study confirms a large and concerning increases in obesity rates over two generations of young adults and suggests increases in obesity over the past 20 years may be greater than previously anticipated

COVID-19 restrictions and maternal experience and infant feeding

Background : The Movement Control Order (MCO), also known as the partial lockdown, was introduced in Malaysia in March 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, changing many public sector protocols and regulations. This may have implications for neonatal and maternity care and services, especially among new mothers. Objective : The aim of this study was to compare the postnatal experiences and feeding practices between mothers who gave birth before MCO (B-MCO) and during MCO (D-MCO). Method: One thousand fifty-one mothers with an infant under 18 months in Malaysia completed an online survey between July 2020 and October 2020. The survey advertisement was disseminated online via various social media platforms. Results: More D-MCO mothers faced a significant effect on the ability to pay rent/mortgage, with their spouses facing a higher impact on employment. D-MCO mothers were more likely to have changed their birth plans, perceived insufficient breastfeeding support, and experienced changes in postnatal services since MCO. In contrast, more B-MCO mothers had stopped breastfeeding during the MCO and started complementary feeding earlier than planned. Many mothers reported feeling down and lonely and having trouble sleeping and a poor appetite. D-MCO mothers had more time to focus on their health, whereas B-MCO mothers spent more time outdoors. Discussion: MCO affected mothers’ livelihood and postnatal experiences, potentially causing emotional distress. Hence, improved breastfeeding support, particularly at birth, is recommended, as is routine mental health screening during the postnatal checkup. Furthermore, because online contact was readily accessible during the pandemic, the efficacy of online breastfeeding support should be evaluated

Effect of vitamin D3-fortified fruit juice supplementation of 4000 IU daily on the recovery of iron status in childbearing-aged women with marginally low iron stores: protocol for an 8-week, parallel group, double-blind randomized controlled trial

Background : In recent years, emerging evidence has highlighted the role of vitamin D as an iron absorption enhancer by suppressing hepcidin concentration, albeit with an unclear underlying mechanism. Dietary-based approach in improving iron status has been widely practised, however, there is a scarcity in randomized controlled trials (RCT) to elucidate the effect of vitamin D-fortified juice on iron status recovery. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of an 8-week vitamin D3-fortified fruit juice supplementation on iron status indicators in childbearing-aged women with marginally low iron stores. Methods : In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, RCT, a total of 120 women aged between 19–40 with serum ferritin < 20 μg/l and fulfilled the eligibility criteria will be randomized into consuming either vitamin D3-fortified fruit juices containing 4000 IU (100 mcg) (vitamin D) or placebo-fruit juices (placebo) daily for eight weeks. At every 4-week interval, 10 ml fasting blood sample, information on dietary habit and anthropometric measurement will be collected. A mixed model repeated-measures analysis of variance will be performed to determine the effect of the intervention and the interaction with time points for all iron and vitamin D status blood biomarkers. Discussion : Vitamin D supplementation in food fortification as a novel iron absorption enhancer might be a future and relevant alternative management of iron deficiency as opposed to the oral iron therapy that has poor adherence