The effect of food safety education on handwashing practices in school canteens’ food handlers

This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a newly developed food safety education to improve the handwashing practices of food handlers in school canteens. A community-based intervention study was carried out over a 2-year period. Sixteen out of 98 primary schools were randomly selected and assigned into intervention and control groups using a simple random sampling method. The study population included food handlers who worked in the canteens of the school selected. The Food Safety Education Programme (FSEP) for the intervention group was developed based on the theory of planned behaviour. The main outcome measures used were handwashing practices from the observations carried out at baseline, 6-weeks (Post1) and 12-weeks (Post2) after the intervention. Out of 79 food handlers who participated in this study, 33 (41.8%) were in the intervention group and 46 (58.2%) were in the control group. Prior to FSEP, handwashing was not commonly practiced following critical events and the majority did not perform correctly. The time-effect of the mixed design analysis of variance showed a significant increase (p=0.004) in the mean percentage of the total observed handwashing practices from 29% at the baseline to 50.8% at Post1 (p=0.004). However, the intervention-effect of mixed design ANOVA did not show any significant difference in the handwashing practices (p=0.210). The FSEP was effective in improving the handwashing practices of the food handlers in the selected primary school canteens

Mutritional status, academic performance and parental feeding practices of primary school children in a rural district in Kelantan, Malaysia

Introduction: The increasing burden of undernutrition and overnutrition at both ends of the nutrition spectrum in children are often accompanied by adverse consequences in school performance. Children with poor nutritional status had lower scores on tests of cognitive functioning, lower activity levels, and poorer psychomotor development, whereas severe malnutrition often leads to impaired psychological and intellectual development. Purpose: To investigate the relationship between children’s nutritional status, their socioeconomic background as well as their parents’s beliefs, attitudes and practices in child feeding with their academic achievement in school. Materials and methods: Anthropometric measure-ments and socioeconomic background information were collected from systematically selected school children aged 10 to 12 years old (n=309), while information regarding parental child feeding practices were obtained via a set of self-administered questionnaire. Results: Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) growth charts, 10.7% and 18.1% of the children were thin and overweight or obese, respectively. Results also showed that children’s nutritional status, household socioeconomic background and parental child feeding beliefs and practices were interrelated with the children’s academic achievement. Conclusion: These findings justified the need for relevant health and nutrition interventions in schools, especially the children of bottom billion community living in the rural areas

Factors Predicting Early Discontinuation of Exclusive Breastfeeding among Women in Kelantan, Malaysia

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to identify factors predicting discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding in the first month of lactation among women in Kelantan, Malaysia. A prospective cohort study was conducted in two districts in Kelantan. A two-stage sampling was applied and data were collected through interviewer-guided questionnaire. Intended duration of exclusive breastfeeding, past behaviour and socio-demographic data were assessed prenatally. During follow-up at one-month post-partum, their delivery experiences, postpartum social support, breastfeeding difficulty and exclusive breastfeeding behaviour were determined. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate factors associated with discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding at one month. A total of 210 women participated at baseline, with 97.1% response rate at one month post-partum. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding at one month was 54.4%. The logistic regression model showed that discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding was associated with late initiation of breastfeeding, breastfeeding difficulties, prenatal intended duration and breast milk expression. Women who initiated breastfeeding more than one hour after delivery and those with more breastfeeding difficulties were more likely to discontinue exclusive breastfeeding. A longer prenatal intended duration and those who did not express their breast milk were less likely to discontinue exclusive breastfeeding. Strengthening of baby-friendly hospital initiative by encouraging early initiation of breastfeeding and providing skill to handle breastfeeding difficulties are needed. A correct breast milk expression technique and storage might prevent women from discarding the expressed milk. All these strategies should be emphasized during antenatal classes to improve the women's intention and actual breastfeeding behaviour later

The association between visceral fat and blood pressure in adults

This cross-sectional study investigates the association between body composition measurements and blood pressure in Malay adults. A total of 296 adults, aged between 18 to 59 years, consisting of 122 males and 174 females underwent measurements of weight and height, waist and hip circumference, body fat and visceral fat, and blood pressure. Body fat and visceral measurements were carried out through bioelectric impedance, using a portable Tanita body fat analyser. Bivariate correlation analysis was used to study the association of each body composition measurement with blood pressure. There was significant association between Body Mass Index (BMI) (r= 0.25, P<0.01), waist circumference (r= 0.27, P<0.01), hip circumference (r= 0.20, P<0.01) and visceral fat (r= 0.29, P<0.01) with blood pressure, respectively. No significant relationship was found between waist hip ratio (WHR) and total body fat with blood pressure. The association between visceral fat and blood pressure is an interesting finding with regards to this community research setting. It is important to further study the affordability, accuracy and application of bioelectrical impedance technology in community research

Meal patterns of Malaysian adults: Findings from the Malaysian adults nutrition survey (MANS)

Introduction: Meal patterns have received little attention in nutrition studies. The aim of this study is to present the findings on general meal patterns of Malaysian adults. Methods: The Malaysian Adults Nutrition Survey (MANS), carried out in 2002 and 2003, involved 6,928 adults selected by stratified random sampling from all households by zone in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. Results: In general, the results showed that most respondents (74.16%) ate three meals per day; 89.20% of the respondents consumed breakfast, while 88.57% consumed lunch and 91.97% consumed dinner with no significant difference in terms of sex. In Peninsular Malaysia, the Northern Zone had the highest number of people consuming breakfast compared to other zones. Meanwhile, the population in Sarawak had the largest proportion of people consuming lunch and dinner, but the smallest proportion of people consuming breakfast. A significantly higher number of the rural population consumed breakfast and lunch than urbanites; however there was no significant difference in dinner consumption. Generally, breakfast consumption increased with age whereby significant difference existed between the 18 to 19 years age group and the age group of 30 years and older. Lunch intake among the age groups showed no significant difference. In contrast, dinner consumption was significantly lower among the 18 to 19 years age group compared to all other age groups. Comparison among the ethnic groups showed that the Indian population had the lowest percentage of having breakfast and lunch while the Orang Asli had the lowest percentage of consuming dinner. However, the Orang Asli recorded the highest percentage for taking breakfast and lunch while the Chinese had the highest percentage of taking dinner. Conclusion: Considering that Malaysian adults consumed their conventional breakfast, lunch and dinner, these findings indicatethat Malaysians are maintaining their traditional meal patterns