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Impact Of Maternal Education About Complementary Feeding And Provision Of Complementary Foods On Child Growth In Developing Countries, Aamer Imdad, Mohammad Yawar Yakoob, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Woman and Child Health

Background:Childhood undernutrition is prevalent in low and middle income countries. It is an important indirect cause of child mortality in these countries. According to an estimate, stunting (height for age Z score < -2) and wasting (weight for height Z score < -2) along with intrauterine growth restriction are responsible for about 2.1 million deaths worldwide in children < 5 years of age. This comprises 21 % of all deaths in this age group worldwide. The incidence of stunting is the highest in the first two years of life especially after six months of life when exclusive breastfeeding alone cannot fulfill the energy needs of a rapidly growing child. Complementary feeding for an infant refers to timely introduction of safe and nutritional foods in addition to breast-feeding (BF) i.e. clean and nutritionally rich additional foods introduced at about six months of infant age. Complementary feeding strategies encompass a wide variety of interventions designed to improve not only the quality and quantity of these foods but also improve the feeding behaviors. In this review, we evaluated the effectiveness of two most commonly applied strategies of complementary feeding i.e. timely provision of appropriate complementary foods (+/- nutritional counseling) and education to mothers about practices of complementary feeding on growth. Recommendations have been made for input to the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) model by following standardized guidelines developed by Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG).

Methods:

We conducted a systematic review of published randomized and quasi-randomized trials on PubMed, Cochrane Library and WHO regional databases. The included studies were abstracted and graded according to Study Design, limitations, intervention details and outcome effects. The primary outcomes were change in weight and height during the study period among children 6-24 months of age. We hypothesized that provision of complementary food and education of mother …

Preventive Zinc Supplementation In Developing Countries: Impact On Mortality And Morbidity Due To Diarrhea, Pneumonia And Malaria, Mohammad Yawar Yakoob, Evropi Theodoratou, Afshan Jabeen, Aamer Imdad, Thomas P. Eisele, Joy Ferguson, Arnoupe Jhass, Igor Rudan, Harry Campbell, Robert E. Black, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Woman and Child Health

Background:Zinc deficiency is commonly prevalent in children in developing countries and plays a role in decreased immunity and increased risk of infection. Preventive zinc supplementation in healthy children can reduce mortality due to common causes like diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria. The main objective was to determine all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality and morbidity in children under five in developing countries for preventive zinc supplementation. Data sources/review methods: A literature search was carried out on PubMed, the Cochrane Library and the WHO regional databases to identify RCTs on zinc supplementation for greater than 3 months in children less than 5 …

An Evaluation Of The Emerging Interventions Against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (Rsv)-Associated Acute Lower Respiratory Infections In Children, Harish Nair, Vasundhara R. Verma, Evropi Theodoratou, Lina Zgaga, Tanvir Huda, Eric Af Simoes, Peter F. Wright, Igor Rudan, Harry Campbell

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the leading cause of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) in children. It is estimated to cause approximately 33.8 million new episodes of ALRI in children annually, 96% of these occurring in developing countries. It is also estimated to result in about 53,000 to 199,000 deaths annually in young children. Currently there are several vaccine and immunoprophylaxis candidates against RSV in the developmental phase targeting active and passive immunization.

Methods: We used a modified CHNRI methodology for setting priorities in health research investments. This was done in two stages. In Stage I, we systematically reviewed …