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Stunting is a major multifactorial health problem in Indonesia that negatively impacts children. Among Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia had the highest prevalence of child stunting (0–59 months old). As Indonesia has also the largest population in Southeast Asia, it is crucial to assess measures to decrease the prevalence of stunting in the country. Therefore, this study aims to examine the prevalence and determinants of stunting among children 6–23 under two years old in Indonesia.

The study used a cross-sectional design using the national database. A total of 15,641 children aged 6–23 months were included in the study. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the association between the dependent and independent variables.

The prevalence of stunting was 18% (95% CI = 17.5%–18.7%). This study found that children aged 12–23 months were the dominant factor in stunting (OR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.92–2.36). Factors associated with stunting include being male (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.26–1.49), low birth weight (LBW) (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.68–2.27), short birth length (SBL) (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.64–2.01), history of infection (OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.06–1.26) and lack of dietary diversity (OR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.04–1.00) consumption of empty calorie drinks (OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.01–1.24), unimproved sanitation (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.04–1.30), middle socioeconomic status (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.16–1.55), low maternal education (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.08–2.10) and living in a rural area (OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.06–1.26).

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the prevalence and determinants of stunting among children under two years old in Indonesia using a national which represented a population of interest.

With digitisation, a new kind of inequality has emerged in society between people and groups of people. A lack of digital inclusion creates challenges for the economic and social development of society and citizen participation. This study analyses how the country-level cultural factors defined by Hofstede are associated with citizens' digital skills and internet usage and how they moderate the effects of age, gender, educational level and income level.

This comparative cross-sectional study examines digital inclusion in 22 European countries. Data from the European Social Survey (N = 37,602) are analysed using a two-level regression analysis.

The study found significant effects of demographic and socio-economic factors and country-level indulgence on digital skills and internet usage. In addition, the study shows that a high value on the indulgence index moderates the negative effect of age.

The digital divide has been studied widely with regard to individual-level influencing factors and international comparisons. The significance of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in terms of digitisation and digital divides has also been confirmed in previous studies. However, there is a lack of analysis combining the effects of country-level culture and individual-level demographic and socio-economic factors on citizens' digital skills and internet usage. Generally, the research emphasises the significance of national culture in digital inclusion and especially in supporting the digital inclusion of older adults.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. However, the role of dietary patterns as a potential risk factor for COVID-19 has not been well established, especially in studies with large samples. Therefore, this study aims to identify and evaluate the association between major dietary patterns and COVID-19 among adults from Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, the authors included 9,189 participants aged 20–70 who participated in the Yazd Health Study (YaHS) and Taghzieh Mardom-e-Yazd study (TAMIZ). They used factor analysis to extract dietary patterns based on a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Then, they assessed the relationship between these dietary patterns and the odds of COVID-19.

This study identified two major dietary patterns: “high protein and high fiber” and “transitional”. Participants in the highest tertile of the “high protein and high fiber” dietary pattern, which included vegetables, fruits, dairy and various kinds of meats such as red meat, fish and poultry, had a lower odds of COVID-19 compared with those in the lowest tertile. However, the “transitional” dietary pattern did not affect the risk of COVID-19.

In conclusion, a “high protein, high fiber” diet may lower the odds of COVID-19. This study suggests that dietary patterns may influence the severity and spread of future similar pandemics.

Global social restrictions driven by COVID-19 exposed the vast potential of digital technologies for remote mental health and wellbeing provision. To combat the youth mental health crisis, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers must seek innovative solutions. The digital adaptation of evidence-based, in-person programmes offers one such promising approach. Co-authored by a young person, this chapter discusses democratising the research agenda and presents an exploratory study with co-production at its heart. The aim of the project was to inform the development of digitalised resources based on the robustly evidenced Super Skills for Life psychosocial intervention for adolescents. ‘Key ingredients’ for effective online content are presented by the young person developer, alongside their personal reflections on co-production research. This case study illustrates how collaboration with intervention recipients can augment programme development and expand access to evidence-based support. Not only extending reach but offering a choice of support pathways to a digital generation.

Cataract, or lens opacification, is a major public health burden accounting for more than half of all blindness worldwide. Plant-based dietary indices provide a unique approach to investigating a modifiable risk for age-related cataracts (ARC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between plant-based diet indices and risk of ARC.

This case-control study was conducted on 97 patients with newly diagnosed ARC and 198 healthy people (as a control group) in Iran. Convenience sampling and a food frequency questionnaire were used. Three plant-based dietary indices were used based on the health promoting qualities of food items, the overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthful plant-based diet index (H-PDI) and unhealthful plant-based diet index (U-PDI) which comprised refined carbohydrates and highly processed foods. The plant-based dietary indices were used to investigate relationships with risk of ARC.

After adjusting for potential covariates, no significant association between a higher adherence to O-PDI and risk of ARC. As well, a higher adherence to H-PDI was inversely associated with the risk of ARC (OR = 0.35,95%CI:0.16–0.78). In contrast, there was a significant positive association between a higher adherence to U-PDI and the risk of ARC (OR = 3.67,95%CI:1.66 – 8.15).

The findings of this study have underscored the potential impact of the quality of plant-based food selections on the likelihood of developing ARC. Therefore, adopting a plant-based diet that is rich in nutrient-dense plant-based foods while being low in unhealthy options may have the potential to reduce the risk of ARC.

This study aims to quantify the influence of urbanization on housing prices at the district-based level, while also investigating the heterogeneous impacts across different quantiles of housing prices.

The study uses remote-sensed spectral images from the Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite to measure urbanization, replacing prior reliance solely on urban population metrics. Subsequently, the two-step system generalized method of moments is used to evaluate how urbanization influences district-based housing prices through three spectrometries: Urban Index (UI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) and Built-Up Index (BUI). Finally, this study examines the heterogeneous impacts across various housing price quantiles through Dynamic Panel Quantile Regression with non-additive fixed effects under Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation.

The study demonstrates that urbanization leads to an increase in regional housing prices. However, these impact magnitudes vary across housing price quantiles. Specifically, the impact exhibits an inverse V-shaped curve, with urbanization exerting a more pronounced influence on the 60th percentile of housing prices, while its effect on the 10th and 90th percentiles is comparatively weaker.

This study uses a novel method of remote sensing to measure urbanization and investigates its effects on housing prices. Furthermore, it provides an empirical application of non-additive fixed effect quantile regression for analyzing heterogeneity.

The global population has been experiencing an unprecedentedly rapid demographic transition as the populations have been growing older in many countries during the current decades. The purpose of this study is to introduce a Grey Exponential Smoothing model (GESM)-based mechanism for analyzing population aging.

To analyze the aging population of Sri Lanka, initially, three major indicators were considered, i.e. total population, aged population and proportion of the aged population to reflect the aging status of a country. Based on the latest development of computational intelligence with Grey techniques, this study aims to develop a new analytical model for the analysis of the challenge of disabled and frail older people in an aging society.

The results suggested that a well-defined exponential trend has been seen for the population ages 65 and above, a total of a million) during 1960–2022; especially, the aging population ages 65 and above has been rising rapidly since 2008. This will increase to 24.8% in 2040 and represents the third highest percentage of elderly citizens living in an Asian country. By 2041, one in every four Sri Lankans is expected to be elderly.

The study proposed a GESM-based mechanism for analyzing the population aging in Sri Lanka based on the data from 1960 to 2022 and forecast the aging demands in the next five years from 2024 to 2028.

People with intellectual disabilities are at a significantly higher risk than the general population for experiencing a wide range of adverse and potentially traumatic events. This paper aims to explore the incidence of experiences of lifetime trauma across this population in one Forensic Intellectual Disability Service. Risk management recommendations and psychological risk formulations were also examined for their consideration of traumatic experiences.

Risk assessment reports (n = 39) were reviewed for evidence of traumatic experiences and the consideration of trauma in patient risk formulations and risk management treatment recommendations.

Trauma was rated as present or partially present in 84.6% (n = 33) of risk assessment reports reviewed. None of the patients had received a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. Recommendations regarding trauma were identified in 39.4% (n = 13) of the risk assessment reports where trauma was rated either “present” or “partially present”.

Findings suggest a need for diagnostic tools to be used to measure trauma symptoms and potential cases of PTSD to best support needs of patients. Trauma-focused interventions should also be considered. Further investigation is needed to clarify the disparity between the consideration of trauma in formulations and treatment recommendations.

This study highlights the different traumatic experiences that forensic patients across three settings have been exposed to during their lifetimes.

We identify lessons from a project sponsored by a large charitable trust, which sought to build capability for end-of-life (EOL) care in Hong Kong through interdisciplinary and multi-agency collaboration.

An in-depth case study drawing on 21 in-depth interviews with diverse stakeholders was conducted. Lyman et al.’s (2018) model of organisational learning (OL) in healthcare settings was applied to analyse the relative emphasis on particular contextual factors and mechanisms, and to identify outcomes perceived to have been achieved.

Infrastructure such as materials for assessment and education received the most emphasis among the contextual factors and deliberate learning such as training sessions received the greatest attention among the mechanisms. While perceptions indicated that desired outcomes were being achieved in terms of social impact, there were relatively few mentions of “soft” factors such as enhanced motivation, leadership or OL skills among staff.

This study extends the literature on how to create valuable social impact through OL. While prior studies have examined social impact in terms of solutions for social and environmental problems, ours is one of the few that examines how improvements are made to organisations’ capability to deliver such impacts in the context of healthcare.