METHODS: This study reports baseline data from a longitudinal study that was conducted at a hospital in Vietnam. KTRs aged ≥18 years and >3 months post-transplantation were recruited. Assessments included sociodemographic and blood biomarkers. Dietary intake was estimated from 24-hour recalls. A Short Form-36 Health Survey, comprising physical (PCS) and mental component summaries (MCS), was administered to assess QoL. Multivariate linear regression models were performed.
RESULTS: The study included 106 patients (79 men) with a mean age of 43.2 years (± 11.9). Mean duration after kidney transplantation was 28.5 months (± 14.9). Patients with MetS had 6.43 lower PCS score (P < .05) and 3.20 lower MCS score (P < .05) than their counterparts without MetS. Calcium intake (β = -0.01; 95% CI, -0.03 to 0.00) and inadequate protein (β = -14.8; 95% CI, -23 to -6.65) were negatively associated with PCS score. MCS score was negatively associated with calcium intake (β = -0.02; 95% CI, -0.04 to -0.01) and inadequate protein intake (β = -15.1; 95% CI, -24.3 to -5.86), and positively associated with fat intake (β = 0.43, 95% CI, 0.02-0.85).
CONCLUSIONS: MetS and poor dietary intake are independently associated with the QoL of KTRs. Nutritional intervention plans developed specifically for the recipients will improve dietary intake, reduce the incidence of MetS, and help enhance QoL.
METHODS: We systematically searched for publications in PubMed® and Scopus, manually searched the grey literature and consulted with national health and nutrition officials, with no restrictions on publication type or language. We included low- and middle-income countries in the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China. We analysed the included programmes by adapting the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's public health surveillance evaluation framework.
FINDINGS: We identified 82 surveillance programmes in 18 countries that repeatedly collect, analyse and disseminate data on nutrition and/or related indicators. Seventeen countries implemented a national periodic survey that exclusively collects nutrition-outcome indicators, often alongside internationally linked survey programmes. Coverage of different subpopulations and monitoring frequency vary substantially across countries. We found limited integration of food environment and wider food system indicators in these programmes, and no programmes specifically monitor nutrition-sensitive data across the food system. There is also limited nutrition-related surveillance of people living in urban deprived areas. Most surveillance programmes are digitized, use measures to ensure high data quality and report evidence of flexibility; however, many are inconsistently implemented and rely on external agencies' financial support.
CONCLUSION: Efforts to improve the time efficiency, scope and stability of national nutrition surveillance, and integration with other sectoral data, should be encouraged and supported to allow systemic monitoring and evaluation of malnutrition interventions in these countries.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 219 primary school children (105 boys; 114 girls) aged 7 years old-10 years old in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2016-2017. Children from three main ethnicities, namely Malay, Chinese and Indian, were recruited. Weight, height and waist circumference were measured; body composition was assessed by deuterium dilution technique. CAPA and level of PA were obtained through self-administered questionnaires and reported as CAPA and PA scores.
RESULTS: Median CAPA and PA scores were 3.40 (Q1 = 3.00, Q3 = 3.80) and 2.31 (Q1 = 1.95, Q3 = 2.74), respectively. Significant gender differences were found in CAPA and PA scores, with boys being more attracted to PA (3.16 [Q1 = 2.90, Q3 = 3.44]; P = 0.001) and more physically active compared with girls (2.47 [Q1 = 2.07, Q3 = 3.07]; P = 0.001). CAPA and PA scores correlated positively in both sexes. Boys scored higher than girls in 'liking of games and sports' (ρ = 0.301, P = 0.002) and 'liking of vigorous PA' (ρ = 0.227, P = 0.02) CAPA subscales, which also correlated positively with PA scores. Girls' PA scores correlated with 'peer acceptance in games and sports' (ρ = 0.329, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Boys are more physically active and have higher attraction to PA compared with girls. Differences in PA scores between the sexes were related to gender differences in CAPA scores. Thus, attention should be given to gender differences in CAPA related psychosocial factors when planning interventions to promote PA among children.
METHODS: Cross-sectional study of ambulant children with epilepsy on long-term AEDs for >1 year seen in three tertiary hospitals in Malaysia from April 2014 to April 2015. Detailed assessment of pubertal status, skin pigmentation, sunshine exposure behavior, physical activity, dietary vitamin D and calcium intake, anthropometric measurements and bone health blood tests (vitamin D, alkaline phosphatase, calcium, phosphate, and parathyroid hormone levels) were obtained on all patients. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels ≤35 nmol/L and insufficiency as 25(OH)D levels of 36-50 nmol/L.
RESULTS: A total of 244 children (146 male) participated in the study. Ages ranged between 3.7 and 18.8 years (mean 12.3 years). 25(OH)D levels ranged between 7.5 and 140.9 nmol/L (mean 53.9 nmol/L). Vitamin D deficiency was identified in 55 patients (22.5%), and a further 48 (19.7%) had vitamin D insufficiency. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified polytherapy >1 AED (odds ratio [OR] 2.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07-4.36), age >12 years (OR 4.16, 95% CI 1.13-15.30), Indian ethnicity (OR 6.97, 95% CI 2.48-19.55), sun exposure time 30-60 min/day (OR 2.44, 95% CI 1.05-5.67), sun exposure time <30 min/day (OR 3.83, 95% CI 1.61-9.09), and female (OR 2.61, 95% CI 1.31-5.20) as statistically significant (p < 0.05) risk factors for vitamin D deficiency.
SIGNIFICANCE: Despite living in the tropics, a high proportion of Malaysian children with epilepsy are at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Targeted strategies including vitamin D supplementation and lifestyle advice of healthy sunlight exposure behavior should be implemented among children with epilepsy, particularly for those at high risk of having vitamin D deficiency.
METHODS: This multinational, cross-sectional study included data from 1071 children 3-5 yr old from 19 countries, collected between 2018 and 2020 (pre-COVID). Sedentary behavior was measured for three consecutive days using activPAL accelerometers. Sedentary time, sedentary fragmentation, and seated transport duration were calculated. Linear mixed models were used to examine the differences in sedentary behavior variables between sex, country-level income groups, urban/rural settings, and population density.
RESULTS: Children spent 56% (7.4 h) of their waking time sedentary. The longest average bout duration was 81.1 ± 45.4 min, and an average of 61.1 ± 50.1 min·d-1 was spent in seated transport. Children from upper-middle-income and high-income countries spent a greater proportion of the day sedentary, accrued more sedentary bouts, had shorter breaks between sedentary bouts, and spent significantly more time in seated transport, compared with children from low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Sex and urban/rural residential setting were not associated with any outcomes. Higher population density was associated with several higher sedentary behavior measures.
CONCLUSIONS: These data advance our understanding of young children's sedentary behavior patterns globally. Country income levels and population density appear to be stronger drivers of the observed differences, than sex or rural/urban residential setting.
METHOD: Cross-sectional study of ambulant children with epilepsy on long-term AEDs for >1 year seen in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia from 2014 to 2015. Detailed assessment of anthropometric measurements; environmental lifestyle risk factors; serum vitamin D, calcium and parathyroid hormone levels; genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms of genes in vitamin D and calcium metabolism; and lumbar spine BMD were obtained. Low BMD was defined as BMD Z-score ≤ -2.0 SD.
RESULTS: Eighty-seven children with mean age of 11.9 years (56 males) participated in the study. The prevalence of low lumbar BMD was 21.8% (19 patients). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified polytherapy >2 AEDs (OR: 7.86; 95% CI 1.03-59.96), small frame size with wrist breadth of <15th centile (OR 14.73; 95% CI 2.21-98.40), and body mass index Z-score 2 AEDs, underweight or with small frame size as they are at higher risk of having low BMD.
METHODS: A literature search was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar databases from January 1, 2018 to January 31, 2023 to include studies focusing on 0 to 5 years old children in Nigeria, reporting data on nutritional status, nutrient deficiencies, and published in English.
RESULTS: 73 out of 1,545 articles were included. Stunting remained alarmingly high ranging from 7.2% (Osun, South West) to 61% (Kaduna, North Central), while wasting varied from 1% (Ibadan, South West) to 29% (FCT Abuja, Central) and underweight from 5.9% (Osun, South West) to 42.6% (Kano, North West) respectively. The overall prevalence of anemia and vitamin A deficiency ranged between 55.2 to 75.1 % and 5.3 to 67.6%, respectively. Low rates of achieving minimum dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency were reported across different states depicting the suboptimal quality of complementary feeding. The prevalence of overweight/obesity ranged from 1.5% (Rivers, South South) to 25.9% (Benue, North Central).
CONCLUSION: Multiple early childhood malnutrition issues exist with a wide disparity across states in Nigeria, particularly in the Northern region. Targeted nutrition interventions must be implemented to improve the situation.