Urbanization and Infectious Disease.

The United Nations currently estimates that over half of the global population has lived in cities since 2017 and that this proportion is continuing to grow, particularly in the Global South. While urbanization is not new, increased population density combined with accelerating rates of (re)emerging and noncommunicable diseases as well as growing economic disparities has created new challenges to human health and well-being. Here, I examine peri-urban communities, peripheral settlements on the edges of urban areas populated by rural people, and argue that these areas are often overlooked, despite becoming increasingly common.

Intestinal microbiota composition and efficacy of iron supplementation in Peruvian children.

Objective: Despite repeated public health interventions, anemia prevalence among children remains a concern. We use an evolutionary medicine perspective to examine the intestinal microbiome as a pathway underlying the efficacy of iron-sulfate treatment. This study explores whether gut microbiota composition differs between anemic children who respond and do not respond to treatment at baseline and posttreatment and if specific microbiota taxa remain associated with response to iron supplementation after controlling for relevant inflammatory and pathogenic variables.

Revisiting geophagy: An evolved sickness behavior to microbiome-mediated gastrointestinal inflammation.

Geophagy, the consumption of clay or similar substances, is known as an evolved behavior that protects vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and children, against gastrointestinal injury. However, perplexing questions remain, like the presence of geophagy in the absence of overt gastrointestinal infection and the potential causal relationship between geophagy and iron deficiency anemia. In this review, we hypothesize that geophagy is an inflammation-mediated sickness behavior regulated via the vagus nerve.

Adiposity and pathogen exposure: An investigation of response to iron supplementation and hypothesized predictors in anemic pre-school-aged children living in a dual burden environment.

Objectives: Peruvians are experiencing rapid dietary and lifestyle changes, resulting in a phenomenon known as the "dual burden of disease." A common manifestation of the dual burden in individuals is the co-occurrence of overweight and anemia. Despite recent initiatives introduced to address these concerns, rates continue to be public health concerns.

Child, caretaker, and community: Testing predictors of anemia and response to iron supplementation in Peruvian preschool-aged children.

Objectives: Despite repeated governmental and nongovernmental interventions, anemia remains a widespread public health concern in Peru. This article examines nutritional and disease factors associated with the prevalence of anemia and response to iron supplementation in Peruvian children, with the aim of understanding the lack of success of national programs.

Methods: Data come from children, aged 2-5 years (n = 102), living in peri-urban Lima.

Iron and infection: An investigation of the optimal iron hypothesis in Lima, Peru.

Objectives: This article explores the optimal iron hypothesis through secondary data analysis of the association between hemoglobin levels and morbidity among children living in Canto Grande, a peri-urban community located on the outskirts of Lima, Peru.

Methods: Risk ratios were used to test whether lower iron status, assessed using the HemoCue B-Hemoglobin System, was associated with an increased relative risk of morbidity symptoms compared to iron replete status, controlling for infant age, sex, weight for height z-score, maternal education, and repeated measures in 515 infants aged 6-12 months.

Results: Infants with fewer current respiratory and diarrheal morbidity symptoms had a lower risk of low iron deficiency compared to participants who were iron replete (P < .