Maternal Child Nutrition Research Articles

A aprendizagem na área de Nutrição Materno-Infantil por meio de casos clínicos como alternativa às aulas práticas

The use of active learning methods combined with the early insertion of students in the activities of professional daylife, becomes a potential alternative to reduce the dichotomy between theory and practice. In the Maternal-Child Nutrition course of a Nutrition graduation, due to the impossibility of practical classes and the contact with the public / patient due to the social distance necessary to fight the pandemic of COVID-19, an alternative found was making an activity, in remote format, to simulate a clinical case. With the objective of identifying which Strands of Scientific Learning (FAC) were present in the speeches of the students during this activity, this research found the following FAC: interest, understanding of knowledge, scientific thinking, self identification as a professional; which shows that the use of clinical cases can be made to bring students closer to the public/patients, being an alternative that minimizes the insecurity of students, in face-to-face care in the future.

Early Childhood Junk Food Consumption, Severe Dental Caries, and Undernutrition: A Mixed-Methods Study from Mumbai, India.

In India, globalization has caused a nutrition transition from home-cooked foods to processed sugary snacks and drinks, contributing to increased early childhood caries (ECC). This mixed-methods study describes risk factors for ECC and associations with undernutrition in low-income communities in Mumbai. Interviews with mothers of 959 children, ages six-months through six-years, addressed maternal-child nutrition and oral health, and children received dental exams and anthropometric assessments. Focus groups with community health workers and mothers explored experiences and perceptions of oral health, nutrition, and ECC. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses of quantitative data, and content analysis of qualitative data were performed. Eighty percent of children lived 5 min from a junk-food store, over 50% consumed junk-food and sugary tea daily, 50% experienced ECC, 19% had severe deep tooth decay, 27% experienced mouth pain, and 56% experienced chronic and/or acute malnutrition. In children ages 3–6, each additional tooth with deep decay was associated with increased odds of undernutrition (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.10, Confidence Interval [CI] 1.02–1.21). Focus groups identified the junk-food environment, busy family life, and limited dental care as contributors to ECC. Policy interventions include limits on junk-food marketing and incorporating oral health services and counseling on junk-food/sugary drinks into maternal–child health programs.

Integrating nutrition services into health care systems platforms: Where are we and where do we go from here.

Integrating maternal-child nutrition into health care services is a desirable but complex task that requires implementation research studies. This special supplement, entitled "How to Strengthen Nutrition into the Health Platform: Programmatic Evidence and Experience from Low- and Middle-Income Countries" presents a collection of mixed-methods research and case studies mostly conducted in sub-Saharan Africa that help us gain a better understanding of the barriers and facilitators for this integration to happen. Collectively, the evidence confirms that integrating nutrition services as part of health care systems and other platforms is feasible, but for that to be successful, there is a need to address strong barriers related to all six key health care systems building blocks identified by the World Health Organization. These include financing, health information systems, health workforce, supplies and technology, governance, and service delivery. Moving forward, it is crucial that more robust implementation science research is conducted within the rough and tumble of real-world programming to better understand how to best integrate and scale up nutrition services across health care systems and other platforms based on dynamic complex adaptive systems frameworks. This research can help better understand how the key health care systems building blocks need to interlock and communicate with each other to improve the policymakers' ability to integrate and scale up nutrition services in a more timely and cost-effective way.

Comparing Iraqi Regional Differences on Infant Feeding through Breastfeeding and Formula

Research tends to focus on the health implications of breastfeeding, but understanding associations that might drive maternal choice in infant feeding practice is also very important. To understand the relationship between women’s feeding strategies for their children and the context in which they live in Iraq, mixed methods are deployed through analysis of surveys and interviews. Using data from the 2000 and 2011 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, trends are quantitatively examined in breastfeeding and infant formula use for Iraq using linear probability models. Interviews are qualitatively analyzed that were collected from women in Sulaimani governorate in the Kurdish region of Iraq to begin understanding the reasons why Iraqi women initiate breastfeeding and formula use. Being urban, wealthier, and more educated increases the probability of a mother using infant formula, while only increasing wealth and increasing education are associated with increasing the probability of breastfeeding. In 2000, governorates significantly differ in the probability of mothers using infant formula (e.g. Karbala = 24.32 percentage points lower probability of using infant formula relative to Sulaimani, (p<0.0001), but differences in breastfeeding seem to be between the southern and northern governorates (e.g. Karbala = 6.78 percentage points higher probability of breastfeeding relative to Sulaimani, (p<0.01). Over the ensuing decade, the probability of breastfeeding decreases, and the probability of infant formula use increases across most governorates. Interviews provide narratives that help explain these trends such as mothers continuing to breastfeed during stressful times but using infant formula when working outside of the home. Between governorate differences could be driven by differences in conflict over the decade. This study contributes to a more nuanced perspective on infant feeding practices in Iraq at the governorate level, suggesting that future maternal-child nutrition studies need to account for the effects of where a mother lives within Iraq.

PROTOCOL: Nutrition interventions and programs for reducing mortality and morbidity in pregnant and lactating women and women of reproductive age: a systematic review

PROTOCOL: Nutrition interventions and programs for reducing mortality and morbidity in pregnant and lactating women and women of reproductive age: a systematic review

Maternal–Child Nutrition Practices and Pediatric Overweight/Obesity in the United States and Chile: A Comparative Study

Childhood overweight/obesity is now epidemic in both developed countries and those undergoing economic transition. This study compared maternal and school-age child nutrition practices and body mass index in the United States and in Chile. Children (125 in the United States, 121 in Chile) and their mothers (116 in the United States, 101 in Chile) participated. Findings indicated that child nutrition practices were comparable, but mothers in the U.S. group demonstrated fewer healthy nutrition practices on behalf of their children. Significant associations were found between maternal and child nutrition practices. Substantially more children in the U.S. sample were overweight/obese. Implications for practice are presented.