Search results

This study aims to examine the association between minimum dietary diversity (MDD) and the concurrence of stunting and overweight (CSO) among children aged 6–23 months.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Sedayu Subdistrict, Bantul District, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta. The authors assessed the concurrence of stunting (height-for-age Z-score below −2 standard deviations SD) and overweight/obesity (Body mass index BMI-for-age Z-score above +2 SD) among a total of 189 children aged 6–23 months as the primary outcome. The authors defined MDD as consuming at least four out of seven food groups using a single 24-h recall. The authors also included other covariates, including sociodemographic characteristics, exclusive breastfeeding history and complementary feeding practices. To identify the factors associated with CSO, this study conducted multiple logistic regression across the study variables using STATA 16.1.

In the adjusted model, children who met the MDD criterion were associated with a reduced risk of CSO (adjusted odds ratios [OR]: 0.14; 95%confidence interval CI: 0.03–2.43). Compared to boys, girls were more likely to experience CSO (adjusted OR: 5.23; 95%CI: 1.02–26.9). Middle economic status was a protective factor for CSO (adjusted OR: 0.10; 95%CI: 0.01–0.98). This study did not find a significant relationship between CSO and the child’s age, low birth weight, exclusive breastfeeding, energy intake, protein intake, parental education and parental occupation.

This study suggests future programs and policies that promote dietary diversity to reduce the risk of CSO.

This study reveals the association between MDD and the coexistence of stunting and overweight.

This purpose of this study was to assess dietary diversity among women of reproductive age (WRA) and the associations between consumption of a diversified diet and overweight/obesity statuses in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Cross-sectional study of 207 WRA from six local government areas in Ekiti State, Nigeria, was done. A validated interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, dietary intake and anthropometry. Dietary intake was assessed with 24-h dietary recall to calculate the Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women (MDD-W). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman rank correlation and Chi square test at α_0.05.

Majority of the participants (65.2%) were aged between 19 and 34 years, 58.5% were married and 49.8% had high school as their highest level of education. Mean MDD-W and body mass index (BMI) were 3.8 ± 0.9 and 25.46 ± 6.4 kg/m², respectively. All participants (100%) consumed foods from the “grains, white roots and tubers” group and majority also from the “meat and poultry” group (79.7%) but ranked low in the consumption of foods from other food groups. Many were overweight (34.8%), obese (14.0%) and a few (1.9%) had morbid obesity. MDD-W was significantly associated with marital status (X² = 7.7, P = 0.022) and BMI (X² = 11.4, P = 0.023) and had a weak positive correlation with BMI (r = 0.189, P = 0.007).

Study shows that both undernutrition and overweight/obesity coexist in the population, indicating a case of double burden of malnutrition (DBM) at a population level. However, further studies may be needed to investigate the extent of DBM at individual levels. Although there was a positive correlation between MDD-W and BMI, it cannot be used to predict causality. Study further reveals that the micronutrient intake of the WRA population in Ekiti is inadequate. Considering the importance of the 10 food groups highlighted in MDD_W to nutrition and health, the promotion of the consumption of foods from these food groups with more attention to the micronutrient-rich ones needs to be heightened.

Diet of participants was not diverse enough, indicating micronutrient inadequacy. Promotion of the consumption of a diverse diet, particularly from the food groups rich in micronutrient, needs to be heightened, while food groups high in calorie should be minimally consumed to forestall DBM.

There is a considerable gap in the literature examining the effect of parental international migration on children’s health in Pakistan. The author aims to examine the impact of parental international labour migration on the health (anthropometric measures) of children left-behind in Pakistan.

The author investigates the impact of parental international labour migration on the health (anthropometric measures) of children left-behind in Pakistan using econometric estimation techniques and the latest wave of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017–2018. The main child health measures the author uses include weight-for-age (WAZ) and height-for-age (HAZ) Z-scores for children under five years of age. Since unobservable factors may be vital determinants of the child nutrition outcomes, the author uses two unique instrumental variables to address the potential endogeneity problem.

The author finds that international migration improves the left-behind children’s weight-for-age and height-for-age nutritional outcomes, generating essential policy insights.

To the best of the auhtor’s knowledge, no previous study has been conducted on parental migration and left-behind children in Pakistan using the latest Demographic and Health Survey.

Pakistan ranks third globally in terms of newborn deaths occuring within the first 24 hours of life. With a neonatal mortality rate of 42.0%, it carries the highest burden compared to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh (17%), India (22.7%) and Afghanistan (37%). While there has been a decline in neonatal mortality rates in Pakistan, the pace of this decline is slower than that of other countries in the region. Hence, it is crucial to conduct a comprehensive examination of the risk factors contributing to neonatal mortality in Pakistan over an extended period. This study aims to analyze the trends and determinants of neonatal mortality in Pakistan over three decades, providing valuable insights into this persistent issue.

The study focused on neonatal mortality as the response variable, which is defined as the death of a live-born child within 28 days of birth. Neonates who passed away during this period were categorized as “cases,” while those who survived beyond a specific timeframe were referred to as “noncases.” To conduct a pooled analysis of neonatal mortality, birth records of 39,976 children born in the five years preceding the survey were extracted from four waves (1990–2018) of the Pakistan Demographic and Household Survey. The relationship between risk factors and the response variable was examined using the Cox Proportional Hazard Model. Neonatal mortality rates were calculated through the direct method using the “syncmrates” package in Stata 15.

During the extended period in Pakistan, several critical protective factors against neonatal mortality were identified, including a large family size, improved toilet facilities, middle-aged and educated mothers, female children, singleton live births, large size at birth and longer birth intervals. These factors were found to reduce the risk of neonatal mortality significantly.

This study makes the first attempt to analyze the trends and patterns of potential risk factors associated with neonatal mortality in Pakistan. By examining a large dataset spanning several years, the study provides valuable insights into the factors influencing neonatal mortality.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2022-0604

That social franchising programs induce favorable outcomes is readily taken for granted, albeit lacking robust empirical support. Addressing this situation, this paper takes a closer look at a fractional social franchising program in the public health-care sector in Vietnam to better understand how such programs work. This paper aims to expand the nascent body of empirical research that has examined the inner workings of social franchising programs from the perspective of clients by focusing on the health professionals who work there.

Using an exploratory qualitative research design, the authors conducted 25 semistructured interviews with health professionals of a fractional franchising program called Sisterhood, which introduced reproductive health and family planning services into existing health facilities in Vietnam. Interviews were triangulated with Sisterhood’s internal documents as well as with publicly available reports.

The analysis highlights two pathways through which the social franchising program brought about positive change. On the one hand, the analysis suggests that many of the positive outcomes reported by public health professionals were consistent with the stated goals and measures used by the Sisterhood program, providing evidence that improving the quality of health care for disadvantaged communities can be achieved through careful design and execution. On the other hand, the analysis revealed beneficial outcomes that were outside the scope of the Sisterhood program and, in this sense, “unexpected.” Specifically, the paper sheds light on unintended knowledge spillover effects in which nonfranchised health professionals began to adopt new practices and principles introduced by the social franchising program.

The paper taps into a largely under-researched phenomenon – fractional social franchising – from the perspective of health professionals. Unpacking how the social franchising program created favorable outcomes, some by design and others by accident, the paper opens new empirical and policy insights into how social franchising can improve public health in hard-to-reach communities in the global South. Based on the findings, the authors argue for the intentional promotion and institutionalization of knowledge transfers from franchised to nonfranchised health facilities to reinforce and scale up the positive impact of social franchising. The authors conclude by emphasizing the need for future research to adopt a complexity-sensitive approach that accounts for the dynamic, nonlinear adoption pathways social franchising can take. Such an approach is essential to uncover the beneficial outcomes that can result from social franchising programs but cannot be readily predicted by program design.

The low rate of exclusive breastfeeding and the early introduction of complementary feeding are among the causes of nutritional problems in children. The national coverage of exclusive breastfeeding in 2019 was 67.7%, surpassing the target of the 2019 Strategic Plan, which was 50%. However, there are still several practices of early and inappropriate complementary feeding (32.3%) that can be contributing factors to malnutrition problems in children. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence mother’s self-efficacy levels regarding complementary feeding practices among toddlers in the Tengger tribe.

The study conducted was an observational study with a cross-sectional design. It focused on mothers with children aged 6–24 months in Wonokitri village, East Java. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and information from the local health center. The analysis involved univariate and bivariate analysis using the chi-square test.

Most mothers were aged 20–34 years (78.9%), had a good level of knowledge (61.4%), the last education level of fathers and mothers was high school (47.4%; 54.4%), parents work as farmers (86.0%; 61.4%), Hinduism (98.2%), family income is less than the minimum wage (78.9%), and mothers receive good family support (73.7%). Most toddlers were boys (56.1%), aged 13–24 months (68.4%), and the second child (66.7%). Family support was the only factor that was significantly related to a mother’s self-efficacy in complementary breastfeeding practices (p-value = 0.042).

It is hoped that more families and health workers will support mothers in giving food to their babies based on the guidelines.

This paper collects evidence from indigenous people of the Tengger tribe.

The study aims to present a systematic literature review (SLR) to understand the current status of research on social media usage among the bottom of the pyramid (BOP). The purpose of this study is to identify the research gaps in this domain and review future research agendas by using theory, context, characteristics and methods [TCCM] framework.

An SLR, keywords co-occurrence and TCCM analysis were used to analyse and synthesize insights from 44 studies gained from Web of Science and Scopus databases.

The findings suggest that the USA and India are popular contexts for studying BOP. The BOP population uses social media to gain utilitarian, hedonic and social values. Further, social media can help BOP explore “entrepreneurship” opportunities, value co-creation and bring innovations.

This study expands the intellectual boundaries of social media at BOP and suggests multidisciplinary research. Additionally, adopting novel theoretical lenses helped determine social media's impact on BOP.

This study aims to investigate the food choice motivations of rural households using a cross-sectional dataset of 510 households from northwest Vietnam interviewed in 2016.

A modified Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) is used to assess factors related to food choice and explore relationships between food choice factors, diet quality and various sociodemographic characteristics.

Results show four distinct food choice factors: “Natural and healthy,” “Familiarity,” “Balanced diet” and “Convenience.” Two distinct consumer clusters are identified: “Health-conscious” households and “Pragmatic” households. “Health-conscious” households rank “Balanced diet” and “Natural and healthy” highly, while “Pragmatic” households prioritize “Convenience” and “Familiarity.” “Health-conscious” households have significantly more diverse diets, are wealthier and have a greater geographic concentration in the high vegetable density per capita-high elevation areas (36%). Their main food preparers are more educated and about 13% have Kinh ethnicity.

Further research is warranted to explore the temporal dimension of parental food choice motivations given the changing agrifood system in Vietnam.

This study is one of the few studies that assess the food choice motivations among ethnic minority groups in a rural setting.