METHODS: We evaluated food environment by geospatial mapping of food outlets through a transect walk across the "food ecosystem" from rural to urban areas. Diet quality was assessed using the Diet Quality Index - Vietnamese (DQI-V) comprising Variety, Adequacy, Moderation and Balance components. Malnutrition status was determined using body mass index. We performed a mediation analysis utilising mixed effect models to control for neighbourhood clustering effects. Confounders included age, education, income and nutrition knowledge score.
RESULTS: Analysis of data from 595 adult participants (mean ± SD age: 31.2 ± 6.4 years; 50% female) found that longer distance to the nearest food outlet was associated with higher overall DQI-V (β = 2.0; 95% confidence interval = 0.2-3.8; p = 0.036) and the Moderation component (β = 2.6; 95% confidence interval = 1.2-4.0; p = 0.001). Outlet density shows a negative association with the odds of underweight among women (odds ratio = 0.62; 95% confidence interval = 0.37-0.96). However, we did not observe statistically significant relationships between diet quality and malnutrition. Education and nutrition knowledge scores were positively associated with diet diversity, while income was negatively associated with diet moderation.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study have important implications for nutrition and dietetics practice in Vietnam and globally. It emphasises the need to consider various dimensions of sustainable diets, including economic, health and socio-cultural/political factors. Longer distances to food outlets are associated with higher diet quality, whereas lower food outlet density increases the odds of underweight among women. This poses challenges in balancing modernisation and its adverse effects on sustainable food systems. Socio-economic status consistently correlated with diet quality and malnutrition, necessitating further research to promote healthy diets across socio-economic strata.
METHODS: Using the keyword 'melioidosis' in the ProMED search engine, all of the information from the reports and collected data was reviewed using a structured form, including the year, country, gender, occupation, number of infected individuals, and number of fatal cases.
RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-four entries reported between January 1995 and October 2014 were identified. A total of 4630 cases were reported, with death reported in 505 cases, suggesting a misleadingly low overall case fatality rate (CFR) of 11%. Of 20 cases for which the gender was reported, 12 (60%) were male. Most of the cases were reported from Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia, with sporadic reports from other countries.
CONCLUSIONS: Internet-based reporting systems such as ProMED are useful to gather information and synthesize knowledge on emerging infections. Although certain areas need to be improved, ProMED provided good information about melioidosis.
Methods: Data were collected during household surveys conducted between 2016 and 2020 in the five surveillance sites in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam. We defined hypertension as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg or taking blood pressure-lowering medication. We defined hypertension control as systolic blood pressure
DESIGN: Data from the SEANUTS II cohort were used. Questionnaires, including a COVID-19 questionnaire, were used to study the impact of the pandemic on parents/guardians and their children with respect to work status, household expenditures and children's dietary intake and lifestyle behaviours.
SETTING: Data were collected in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam between May 2019 and April 2021.
PARTICIPANTS: In total, 9203 children, aged 0·5-12·9 years, including their parents/guardians.
RESULTS: Children and their families were significantly affected by the pandemic. Although the impact of lockdown measures on children's food intake has been relatively mild in all countries, food security was negatively impacted, especially in Indonesia. Surprisingly, in Malaysia, lockdown resulted in overall healthier dietary patterns with more basic food groups and less discretionary foods. Consumption of milk/dairy products, however, decreased. In the other countries, intake of most food groups did not change much during lockdown for households based on self-reporting. Only in rural Thailand, some marginal decreases in food intakes during lockdown persisted after lockdown. Physical activity of children, monthly household income and job security of the parents/guardians were negatively affected in all countries due to the pandemic.
CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted societies in South-East Asia. To counteract negative effects, economic measures should be combined with strategies to promote physical activity and eating nutrient-adequate diets to increase resilience of the population.
METHODS: The study adopted a quantitative, cross-sectional approach with 468 recently unemployed office workers in 2023. The participants ranged from ages 22 to 49 years and worked in different fields including technology, finance, consumer services, and infrastructure services.
RESULT: The results indicated severe to extremely severe mental health symptoms, with 54.5%, 50.9%, and 38.9% of respondents reporting symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. Our results have shown that psychological capital can significantly predict mental health issues including depression, anxiety, stress, and suicidal ideation. Self-esteem was found to play a moderating role in the relation between psychological capital and stress, depression, and suicidal ideation but not anxiety.
CONCLUSIONS: Businesses or government agencies should provide mental health support for unemployed workers. Employees should realize that they must improve their psychological capital and self-esteem to propose mental well-being in the post-pandemic period.
AIM: To determine the prevalence of HT and its risk factors in the elderly in that area.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a study area in the northern of Vietnam. We interviewed 354 adults aged 60 years or over who were randomly selected, and then measured their blood pressure.
RESULTS: The overall HT prevalence was 62.15%. The isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) prevalence was 22.88%. There was a slight decrease in the proportion of HT by stage 1, stage 2 and stage 3 respectively. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated some risk factors for HT including age groups, body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHR) (p Vietnam.