Farming Mothers Research Articles

Pendampingan Budidaya Sayuran Lokal Khas Rawa di Pekarangan dalam Upaya Peningkatan Keberagaman Konsumsi Pangan Masyarakat di Polder Alabio

The supply of nutritious food through a variety of food consumption is very important in reducing stunting prevalence. Some areas of Hulu Sungai Utara (HSU) Regency are the alabio polder area with high cases of stunting children and unproductive swamp land conditions when flooded with rainwater. This service activity provides a solution in utilizing home yards as a place to cultivate local swamp vegetables that have high nutrition, namely water spinach and water mimosa. The activities carried out include planning, which is done by direct observation and coordination with related stakeholders, then educating about the importance of consuming nutritious vegetables. Training and mentoring were given to 25 residents, the majority of whom were farming mothers. Evaluation was carried out by giving a questionnaire to participants regarding the sustainability of the activity. This activity was able to increase the knowledge and skills of the community in cultivating plants in the yard. The application of semi-hydroponic cultivation techniques of typical swamp vegetables has helped the community in providing vegetables when swamp rice fields are flooded in the rainy season and cannot be planted. Evaluation results showed that 88% of participants were enthusiastic about implementing the training in their daily lives because it suited their needs.

Early cessation of breastfeeding and the associated factors among mothers with children aged 2 to 3 years in rural Southern Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

BackgroundBreast milk is the first natural food for babies. It has nutritional, immunological, developmental, psychological, societal and environmental advantages. Failing to feed children for twenty-four months has so many negative consequences to children. Though studies have well documented the duration of breast feeding in the first six months, the proportion of women completing the recommended duration and factors associated with it has not been well investigated in rural places of Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap in evidence among mothers with children aged 2 to 3 years in Arba Minch Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in 2021 E.C.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in all kebeles of the surveillance site by employing multi-stage sampling technique. Descriptive statistics was done to summarize findings and binary logistics regression model was used to identify factors significantly associated with early breast-feeding cessation respectively. OR with its 95% CI was obtained to quantify the degree of association between explanatory variables and early breastfeeding cessation.ResultThe proportion of early cessations of breast feeding was 29.30% (25.02, 33.64%). Being from a household with no fathers ‘education or primary education [AOR=0.22; 95%CI (0.07, 0.74)] and [AOR=0.30; 95%CI (0.12, 0.76)], farmer mothers [AOR=6.40; 95%CI: (1.38, 29.74)], birth interval of less than 2 years [AOR=2.07; 95%CI: (1.03, 4.16)], and with mothers’ one or two to three antenatal care visits [AOR = 2.73; 95%CI: (1.27,5.88)] were factors significantly associated with early cessations of breast feeding.Conclusion and recommendationThe proportion of early cessations of breast feeding was high. Father’s education, being farmer, birth interval and ante natal care visit were significant factors. Health education about proper breast feeding practice and improving ante natal care attendance might improve premature cessation of breast feeding among women.

Influence factors for upper respiratory tract infection in Chinese rural children: Across-sectional study.

The prevalence rate of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is high in children. Influencing factors for URTI have been reported in Chinese urban children, but those have not been explored in rural children. In China, children in the rural areas are a disadvantaged group. Therefore, this study aims to explore influencing factors for URTI in Chinese rural children. This is a cross-sectional study based on the 1991-2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). In total, 5,289 children were eligible for the analysis, including 3,684 rural children and 1,605 urban children. The generalized estimating equation was used to determine the influencing factors, and results were expressed as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The results showed that rural children aged 7-12 and 13-17years had lower odds of URTI than those aged 0-1year, with OR value of 0.17 (95% CI, 0.11-0.27) and 0.12 (95% CI, 0.08-0.19), respectively. Compared with uneducated mothers, those with education level of primary school (OR: 0.59, 95% CI, 0.42-0.84), lower middle school (OR: 0.53, 95% CI, 0.38-0.73), and upper middle school and technical school (OR: 0.62, 95% CI, 0.40-0.95) were associated with the lower odds of URTI in rural children. Children, whose mothers were office workers, had 46% lower odds of URTI than those with farmer mothers (OR: 0.54, 95% CI, 0.34-0.84). This study found that mother's education level, children's age, and mother's occupation were significant influencing factors for URTI, which suggested the importance to improve mother's health-related knowledge and working conditions in Chinese rural areas.

FAKTOR PENENTU PERAN SERTA PETANI DALAM MEMPERTAHANKAN KEBERLANJUTAN LUMBUNG PANGAN MASYARAKAT (LPM)

The development of Community Food Estate is important to maintain the availability of food locally. The development of food estate is determined by the activeness of the famer groups and their members. The growth and development of food estate is observed through the participation of the farming community in managing them, starting from planning activities, organizing activities, implementing activities, using results, evaluating and monitoring. This study aims to examine the active status of farmers' participation in supporting the development of community food barns and describe various determinants of the active participation of farmers. The survey method was used to obtain information on 85 farmers randomly drawn from eight farmer groups. The findings show that 65% of farmers play a fairly active role with a score of 3.01. Significant determinants of farmer activity are the number of family members, dependency ratio, non-formal education of farmers, and farmer mothers, land area and rice equivalent production. Meanwhile, the determinants of formal education of farmers and peasant mothers did not show a significant influence.

Critical factors in local food development policies, farming, and coping mechanisms mothers with stunting children in Jember

Jember Regency has the potential of local food diversity that has not been optimally utilized in stunting recovery. Local institutions have also not fully contributed optimal roles in rural mothers with stunting children. The research aims to determine key policy factors for local food development, farming, and coping mechanisms in mothers with stunting children. Adequate policies, especially in utilizing cheap and easily obtain nutritious local food sources, are expected to facilitate effective stunting recovery efforts. This research method uses quantitative and qualitative approaches. Description of local food sources and their processing, demographics, and maternal behavior, is carried out through focus group discussion activities involving key stakeholders. Furthermore, modeling is carried out based on key factors or elements with interpretative structural modeling methods. The study’s findings suggest that increasing maternal knowledge of local food and nutritional content and health aspects is a crucial policy factor. Systematically these key factors need to be supported by strengthening maternal health in decision-making in the household, handling maternal health detection, maternal skills to process food, and maternal skills to choose food according to family needs. Policy implementation requires formal and informal institutional support that exists in the countryside.

Facebook Ads Manager as a Recruitment Tool for a Health and Safety Survey of Farm Mothers: Pilot Study.

BackgroundSocial media platforms have experienced unprecedented levels of growth and usage over the past decade, with Facebook hosting 2.7 billion active users worldwide, including over 200 million users in the United States. Facebook users have been underutilized and understudied by the academic community as a resource for participant recruitment.ObjectiveWe performed a pilot study to explore the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of Facebook advertisements for the recruitment of an online agricultural health and safety survey.MethodsWe undertook a 1-week advertising campaign utilizing the integrated, targeted advertising platform of Facebook Ads Manager with a target-spending limit of US $294. We created and posted three advertisements depicting varying levels of agricultural safety adoption leading to a brief survey on farm demographics and safety attitudes. We targeted our advertisements toward farm mothers aged 21-50 years in the United States and determined cost-effectiveness and potential biases. No participant incentive was offered.ResultsWe reached 40,024 users and gathered 318 advertisement clicks. Twenty-nine participants consented to the survey with 24 completions. Including personnel costs, the cost per completed survey was US $17.42. Compared to the distribution of female producers in the United States, our advertisements were unexpectedly overrepresented in the eastern United States and were underrepresented in the western United States.ConclusionsFacebook Ads Manager represents a potentially cost-effective and timely method to recruit participants for online health and safety research when targeting a specific population. However, social media recruitment mirrors traditional recruitment methods in its limitations, exhibiting geographic, response, and self-selection biases that need to be addressed.

Exposure to a Farm Environment During Pregnancy Increases the Proportion of Arachidonic Acid in the Cord Sera of Offspring.

Growing up in a farm environment is protective against allergy development. Various explanations have been put forward to explain this association. Fatty acids are regulators of immune function and the composition of fatty acids in the circulation system may affect immune development. Here, we investigate whether the fatty acid composition of cord serum differs for infants born to Farm (n = 26) or non-Farm mothers (n = 29) in the FARMFLORA birth-cohort. For comparison, the levels of fatty acids in the maternal diet, serum and breast milk around 1 month post-partum were recorded. The fatty acids in the cord sera from infants born to Farm mothers had higher proportions of arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6) and adrenic acid (22:4 n-6) than those from infants born to non-Farm mothers. No differences were found for either arachidonic acid or adrenic acid in the diet, samples of the serum, or breast milk from Farm and non-Farm mothers obtained around 1 month post-partum. The arachidonic and adrenic acid levels in the cord blood were unrelated to allergy outcome for the infants. The results suggest that a farm environment may be associated with the fatty acid composition to which the fetus is exposed during pregnancy.

Socioeconomic Risk Factors for Plasmodium falciparum Infection in Primary School Children in Three Districts of the Volta Region Of Ghana.

Socioeconomic factors influence the prevalence of malaria infection in endemic areas. This study evaluated the socioeconomic risk factors for Plasmodium falciparum infection in primary school children in the Volta region of Ghana. This cross-sectional study involved selected primary school children from the region; questionnaires were administered, and blood samples were collected for malaria detection using a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microscopy. A total of 550 primary school children were enrolled in this study. The predominant occupation of the parents was trading (mothers, 334, 60.73%; fathers, 254, 46.18%) and farming (mothers, 156, 28.36%; fathers, 170, 30.91%). Three hundred and five (305; 55.45%) children tested positive for malaria with RDT and microscopy. Male sex (AOR=1.53), rural area (Afegame school) (AOR=4.01) and parental farming occupation (AOR=6.39), were independently associated with P. falciparum infection. Plasmodium falciparum infection was significantly found in children in rural areas of Ghana with low socioeconomic status in this study.

A cross-sectional study to investigate factors related to the time of initiation of breastfeeding in Jamnagar district of Gujarat, India

Background: Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) and exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life prevents around 20% newborn deaths and 13% under-five deaths. EIBF is predominately associated with socioeconomic, health related, and individual factors. Very few studies in Gujarat and probably none in Jamnagar district have been conducted to know factors related to the timing of initiation of breastfeeding. Objectives: This study was carried out with the objective to find out the prevalence of EIBF and association of demographic, antenatal, and intranatal factors with prelacteal feeding practice in Jamnagar district of Gujarat. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in 2015–2016 in four talukas of Jamnagar district with a sample size of 426 mother-infant pairs calculated with appropriate formula using prevalence of EIBF. Out of this, 400 samples with adequate response were analyzed. Multistage sampling was done and mothers who gave valid consent were taken as respondent. Chi-square, Fisher exact, and Pearson correlation tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: The prevalence of EIBF was 62% in Jamnagar district. About 94.8% newborn of 15–19 years aged mothers, 96.4% newborns of mothers of Class-V socio-economic class, 87.5% newborns of illiterate mothers, 96.5% newborns of farmer mothers, and 77.4% of 1st birth order newborns received breastfeeding within 1 h of their birth. The proportion of newborn receiving breastfeeding within 1–4 h after birth increased significantly with increasing number of antenatal care (ANC) visits (P < 0.01). Among mothers with prolonged labor, 43.5% could initiate breastfeeding early. Mode of delivery and health facility for delivery were a significant determinant for the time of initiation of breastfeeding. Conclusion: EIBF decreased with increasing age of mothers, increasing socio-economic class and increasing the education level of mothers. The practice of EIBF is also low among employed mothers, among newborn with high birth order and among mothers of general caste. EIBF is high in mothers with fewer ANC visits, among mothers with prolonged labor, in case of normal delivery, delivery at primary health care, and delivery assisted by female health staff.

Maternal exposure to farming environment protects offspring against allergic diseases by modulating the neonatal TLR-Tregs-Th axis

BackgroundAs the development of urbanization in China, the morbidity of allergic disease rise up prominently even in children, which may be partially associated with the excessively clean environment. It has been reported that common microorganism in rural environment shows protective effects on allergic disease by modulating TLRs-Tregs/Th cell axis. But the mechanism of this protection still needs to be elucidated in detail. We investigated the effects of maternal exposure to farming environment on the neonatal innate immune system, especially on the TLR-Treg-Th (Th1, Th2, Th9, and Th17) axis, in the Jilin province of China.MethodsEighty-four non-farming and 42 farming pregnant women were recruited. Endotoxins and glucans in dust from the living rooms of the pregnant mothers were measured. Cord blood mononuclear cells were challenged with phytohemagglutinin, lipopolysaccharide, or peptidoglycan. Proliferative response of lymphocyte was measured by 3H-TdR incorporation methods, CD4 + CD25 + FOXP3 + T cells percentage was assessed with flow cytometry, Tregs specific genes (FOXP3, LAG3, GITR, CTLA-4 and TGF-β) and TLR2, TLR4 genes expression were detected by RT-PCR, specific cytokines of Th1, Th2, Th9, Th17 and Tregs were measured with flow cytometer, suppressive capacity of Tregs was tested by culturing with effector cells in vitro, and TLR2/4 gene polymorphism was detected.ResultsHigher endotoxin content was observed in the living rooms of the farming mothers. Compared with that in the non-farming group, in farming neonatal CBMCs, lymphocyte proliferation declined; the IFN-γ/IL-13 ratio increased; and the quantity of Tregs and gene expression of FOXP3, GITR, CTLA4 and TLR2 increased significantly (P < 0.05). Isolated Tregs suppressed the proliferation of effector T cells and IL-13 production more strongly in vitro (P = 0.04, 0.03, respectively), and the TLR2 polymorphism affected FOXP3 expression and IFN-γ and IL-13 production.ConclusionsMaternal exposure to farming affected the quantity and function of neonatal Tregs upon stimulation with PPG and LPS, which partly contributed to reducing the risk for allergic diseases in the offspring. The results of our study will lay the theoretical foundation for allergic disease prevention in early life.

Exposure of tobacco farm working mothers to pesticides and the effects on the infants’ auditory health

ABSTRACT Objective: to check and compare female farm workers’ and female tobacco farm workers’ behavior related to the use of pesticides after the pregnancy diagnosis and their effect on the infants’ hearing. Methods: a cross-sectional analytical observational study developed with 59 female farming mothers. From these, 25 were tobacco farm workers (Group F) and 34 were farm workers for other crops (Group A - control). The results of the hearing screening of 59 infants, from both groups, were verified. The anamnesis to raise the risk factor indicators for hearing disabilities as well as the caption of Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs) was accomplished. Results: tobacco farming is directly related to the use of pesticides (p=0.0043); laundry of clothes worn to apply the pesticides is an indirect means of exposure/ contamination by pesticides and/or chemical substances (p=0.018); the association between pass/fail results and Hearing Disabilities Risk Indicators (HDRI) of infants in both groups (tobacco farm workers and other workers) did not show significant statistical differences. Conclusion: effects on the hearing health of infants of female tobacco farm workers and other farm workers exposed to pesticides were not found in this research. Further studies on this theme are suggested.

Undernutrition among children under five in the Bandja village of Cameroon, Africa

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa has a long history of struggling with child undernutrition. The prevalence of undernutrition is still high and knowledge about this public health problem and the underlying causes is essential for children’s health.Aim: To evaluate the anthropometric status of children under five in the Bandja village of Cameroon.Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken that included 388 children. Undernutrition was evaluated in terms of wasting, stunting and underweight. Information on sex, age, birth order, birth interval, duration of breastfeeding, and mother’s age at birth, occupation and educational level were collected.Results: The prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight was 3.2%, 16.4% and 5.2%, respectively. Boys were more stunted than girls (OR 2.24; 95% CI 1.16–4.34). Children less than 30 months were more often wasted than older children (OR 17.70; 95% CI 1.82–172.40). The first and second born in order were more stunted than the third or later born in order (OR 2.06; 95% CI 1.02–4.18). Children of farming mothers were more often stunted (OR 2.87; 95% CI 1.35–6.13) and underweight (OR 3.47; 95% CI 1.09–11.09) than others. Children still being breastfed were more underweight (OR 6.52; 95% CI 1.31–32.43) than those whose mothers had finished breastfeeding.Conclusion: Undernutrition is highly prevalent in Bandja, and is more common among boys, younger children, first born in order, children still being breastfed and children of farming mothers. This study underlines the importance of intervention to prevent and reduce undernutrition among children.

Stunting and its determinant factors among children aged 6\u201359\xa0months in Ethiopia

BackgroundThough Ethiopia has implemented different nutritional interventions, childhood stunting on which literature is limited continues as a severe public health problem. Thus, this study aimed to investigate stunting and its determinants among children aged 6–59 months in the predominantly rural northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA community based cross-sectional study was conducted from May to June 2015 at Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) site. A total of 1295 mother-child pairs were included for analysis. An ordinal multivariable logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the determinants of severe stunting. To show the strength of associations, both Crude Odds Ratio (COR) and Adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were estimated. Also, a P-value of <0.05 was used to declare statistical significance in the final model.ResultsThe overall prevalence of stunting among children aged 6–59 months was 64.5%, of which about 37.7% and 26.8% were moderately and severely stunted, respectively. Farming occupation of mother [AOR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.93], lack of postnatal vitamin-A supplementation [AOR = 1.54; 95%: 1.19, 2.00], poorer household wealth status [AOR = 2.07; CI: 1.56, 2.75] and accessing family food from farms [AOR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.89] were identified as the key determinants of severe stunting.ConclusionIn the district, the magnitude of stunting was a critical public health concern. Therefore, emphasis should be given to improving mothers’ postnatal vitamin A supplementation coverage and building knowledge about appropriate child feeding practices among farmer mothers and poorer households.

Improving dietary diversity of school adolescents through school based nutrition education and home gardening in Jimma Zone: Quasi-experimental design

PurposeThe purpose of this operational study was to assess the effectiveness school-based health and nutrition intervention supported with backyard gardening on the dietary diversity among school adolescents. MethodsA total of 1000 school adolescents from 10 to 19years were selected randomly. The intervention involved peer-led behavior change communication and health promotion through school media and health clubs. Data were collected at baseline, midline and end-line using structured questionnaires. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to determine the independent effect of interventions. ResultsThere was a significant increment of proportion of school children consuming diversified diet among the intervention group from 34.8% at baseline through 65.6% at midline to 74.7% at the end-line (p<0.001). Among control group, there was no change from midline (49.4%) to endline (48.8%), though there was a change from baseline (32.1%) to midline (49.4%). A significant difference of dietary diversity intake was observed between intervention and control groups at midline (F=5.64, p=0.042) and endline (F=5.85, p<0.001) survey. Being in the intervention school (OR=2.55 [1.55, 3.50]), being a boy (OR=1.75 [1.91, 2.56]) and having farmer mothers (OR=2.58 [1.01, 6.87]) were independent positive predictors of a diversified diet intake. However, having a mother who attended secondary schools were inversely associated (OR=0.25 [0.06, 0.97]) with consuming a diversified diet. ConclusionFindings of this study demonstrated that there was a significant improvement in dietary diversity of adolescents in intervention schools. The results imply that school based nutrition education should be a part of comprehensive school health programs to reach students and potentially their families.

Farm production, market access and dietary diversity in Malawi.

The association between farm production diversity and dietary diversity in rural smallholder households was recently analysed. Most existing studies build on household-level dietary diversity indicators calculated from 7d food consumption recalls. Herein, this association is revisited with individual-level 24 h recall data. The robustness of the results is tested by comparing household- and individual-level estimates. The role of other factors that may influence dietary diversity, such as market access and agricultural technology, is also analysed. A survey of smallholder farm households was carried out in Malawi in 2014. Dietary diversity scores are calculated from 24 h recall data. Production diversity scores are calculated from farm production data covering a period of 12 months. Individual- and household-level regression models are developed and estimated. Data were collected in sixteen districts of central and southern Malawi. Smallholder farm households (n 408), young children (n 519) and mothers (n 408). Farm production diversity is positively associated with dietary diversity. However, the estimated effects are small. Access to markets for buying food and selling farm produce and use of chemical fertilizers are shown to be more important for dietary diversity than diverse farm production. Results with household- and individual-level dietary data are very similar. Further increasing production diversity may not be the most effective strategy to improve diets in smallholder farm households. Improving access to markets, productivity-enhancing inputs and technologies seems to be more promising.

Farm Families: Gendered Perceptions of Youth Safety and Injury Vulnerability

Farming is a male-dominated occupation, with gendered responsibilities evident on the family farm. The gendered construction of agricultural work roles carries over into parenting. Farm mothers have primary childcare responsibilities, but fathers usually oversee the most dangerous youth farm work, namely work around large equipment. This study examined mothers’ and fathers’ work and family roles on family commodity farms, as well as risk-taking propensity, safety perceptions, and perceptions of youth injury vulnerability. Participants were 248 farm parents (124 married couples) with a youth aged 9–19 yrs. Mothers were less likely than fathers to operate tractors, less confident and self-efficacious related to keeping their youth safe, and less knowledgeable about farm safety. Off-farm employment of mothers had little effect on their home or farm responsibilities. Fathers, but not mothers, believed boys could safely operate equipment at younger ages than girls. Unexpectedly, mothers perceived less injury vulnerability to youth than did fathers. For mothers and fathers, younger youth age, lower risk-taking, lower safety self-efficacy, and greater knowledge about farm safety predicted higher perceptions of youth injury vulnerability. For mothers, experience operating tractors predicted lower perceptions of youth vulnerability. Mothers often deferred to fathers when making decisions related to youth use of farm equipment. Mothers’ gendered roles and limited opportunity to gain farm safety knowledge may compromise their ability to work jointly with their husbands to keep youth safe on the farm. There is a need for communities to provide farm safety education to women who jointly farm with their husbands.

Predictors of Uptake and Timeliness of Newly Introduced Pneumococcal and Rotavirus Vaccines, and of Measles Vaccine in Rural Malawi: A Population Cohort Study

BackgroundMalawi introduced pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and monovalent rotavirus vaccine (RV1) in 2011 and 2012 respectively, and is planning the introduction of a second-dose measles vaccine (MV). We assessed predictors of availability, uptake and timeliness of these vaccines in a rural Malawian setting.MethodsCommencing on the first date of PCV13 eligibility we conducted a prospective population-based birth cohort study of 2,616 children under demographic surveillance in Karonga District, northern Malawi who were eligible for PCV13, or from the date of RV1 introduction both PCV13 and RV1. Potential predictors of vaccine uptake and timeliness for PCV13, RV1 and MV were analysed respectively using robust Poisson and Cox regression.ResultsVaccine coverage was high for all vaccines, ranging from 86.9% for RV1 dose 2 to 95.4% for PCV13 dose 1. Median time delay for PCV13 dose 1 was 17 days (IQR 7–36), 19 days (IQR 8–36) for RV1 dose 1 and 20 days (IQR 3–46) for MV. Infants born to lower educated or farming mothers and those living further away from the road or clinic were at greater risk of being not fully vaccinated and being vaccinated late. Delays in vaccination were also associated with non-facility birth. Vaccine stock-outs resulted in both a delay in vaccine timeliness and in a decrease in completion of schedule.ConclusionDespite high vaccination coverage in this setting, delays in vaccination were common. We identified programmatic and socio-demographic risk factors for uptake and timeliness of vaccination. Understanding who remains most vulnerable to be unvaccinated allows for focussed delivery thereby increasing population coverage and maximising the equitable benefits of universal vaccination programmes.

Effect of an educational program for farming mothers to protect their children from pesticide exposure

Pesticides represent a major environmental hazard. The toxic effects of pesticides are a concern among high risk groups, especially children. Aim: To evaluate the effect of an educational program for farming mothers to protect their children from pesticide exposure. Subjects and method: Quiz-experimental design was used for this study. The study was conducted in general pediatric out- patient clinics at Assuit University Children Hospital. The study subjects included a convenient sample of 60 farming mothers. Two tools were developed by the researchers for data collection. Tool I: Socio- economic scale; it was developed by (Abd El-Twaab 2004). Tool II: Structure interview questionnaire: divided into two parts: Part 1 Questions to assess farming mothers' knowledge about pesticides: Part 11: Questions to assess farming mothers' knowledge about their practice regarding pesticides. Results: the mean age of the mothers was 38.8± 9.7 years. 60% were illiterate, 95% were house wife and farmer, and more than half were in the middle social class. Most of the mothers had poor knowledge and unsatisfactory knowledge about practices in the pretest. Statistically significant differences were detected between mothers' total score of knowledge and their knowledge about practice. Conclusions: Most of the mothers had poor level of knowledge and unsatisfactory knowledge about practice regarding pesticide in preprogram and after implementation of program, the level of mothers 'knowledge and their knowledge about practice improved. Recommendation: Medical conveys in the village for the public about pesticides by the directors of rural health units shared with professors in medicine and nursing in the university. Using mass media to disseminate correct information about pesticides and to increasing the mothers' awareness about its harmful effect on health.

Diet in 1-year-old farm and control children and allergy development: results from the FARMFLORA birth cohort

BackgroundA farming environment confers strong protection against allergy development. We have previously shown that farming mothers consume more full-fat dairy than control mothers, who instead consume more low-fat dairy, margarine, and oils; margarine and oil intake was associated with increased risk of allergy development in their children.ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to investigate the differences in diet between children in farming and control families at 1 year of age, to investigate the relation between the diets of the mothers and their children, and to relate the children's diet to allergy development.DesignThe diet of 1-year-old children from dairy farming families (n=28) and from control families in the same rural area (n=37) was assessed by 24-h dietary recalls, followed by 24-h food diaries. Allergy was diagnosed by pediatricians at 3 years of age using strict predefined criteria.ResultsFarm children had a higher intake of farm milk, whole cream, cholesterol, saturated fat, and fat in total and tended to eat more butter, while controls consumed more carbohydrates and poultry and tended to eat more margarine. Farm children also had higher intakes of homemade porridge/gruel, oily fish, and iodine. The intake of butter and whole milk in children and mothers correlated significantly in farm families but not in controls. A weak negative association was found between seafood intake and allergy development, while allergy was positively associated with the intake of pork as well as zinc in the control group; these intakes also correlated with each other.ConclusionsConsistent with mothers in farming families, the children consumed more full-fat dairy and saturated fat than did controls, but this could not be linked to the low risk of allergy in the farming group. Seafood intake might protect against allergy development, in accordance with earlier findings.

Poor linkages in maternal health care services-evidence on antenatal care and institutional delivery from a community-based longitudinal study in Tigray region, Ethiopia.

BackgroundProgress towards attaining the maternal mortality and maternal health targets set by Millennium Development Goal 5 has been slow in most African countries. Assessing antenatal care and institutional delivery service utilization and their determinants is an important step towards improving maternal health care services.MethodsData were drawn from the longitudinal database of Kilite-Awlaelo Health and Demographic Surveillance System. A total of 2361 mothers who were pregnant and who gave birth between September 2009 and August 2013 were included in the analysis. Potential variables to explain antenatal care and institutional delivery service utilization were extracted, and descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to determine the magnitude of maternal health care service utilization and associated factors, respectively.ResultsMore than three-quarters, 76% [95% CI: 74.8%-78.2%] (n = 1806), of mothers had undergone at least one antenatal care visit during their previous pregnancy. However, only 27% [95% CI: 25.3%-28.9%] (n = 639) of mothers gave birth at a health institution. Older mothers, urban residents, mothers with higher education attainment, and farmer mothers were more likely to use antenatal care. Institutional delivery services were more likely to be used among older mothers, urban residents, women with secondary education, mothers who visited antenatal care, and mothers with lower parity.ConclusionsDespite a relatively high proportion of mothers attending antenatal care services at least once, we found low levels of institutional delivery service utilization. Health service providers in Kilite-Awlaelo should be particularly vigilant regarding the additional maternal health needs of rural and less educated women with high parity.