A systematic analysis and future projections of the nutritional status and interpretation of its drivers among school-aged children in South-East Asian countries.

Background: Nutrition inadequacy during childhood and adolescence can cause suboptimal growth, intergenerational effects on offspring and an increased risk of chronic diseases in adulthood. There is little information on the prevalence and drivers of malnutrition in children aged 5-19 years, in the South-East Asian setting, since most existing interventions have to date targeted undernutrition. We assessed the national prevalence of nutritional indicators, their trends, and associated risk factors among children aged 5-19 years from 11 countries of WHO South-East Asia Region (SEA Region) in order to provide evidence to guide future policy direction.

Regional Overview on Maternal Nutrition and Examples of Health System Programme and Policy Responses: Asia and the Pacific.

Background: The double burden of malnutrition in Asia and the Pacific is driving a renewed focus on maternal malnutrition.

Summary: Though adverse consequences of maternal malnutrition have been long recognized, there is slow progress in addressing nutritional problems of women/adolescent girls. Coverage and quality of current maternal nutrition interventions, mostly delivered through antenatal care programmes vary across countries, and are often sub-optimum.

Reducing childhood malnutrition in Bangladesh: the importance of addressing socio-economic inequalities.

Objective: To obtain projections of the prevalence of childhood malnutrition indicators up to 2030 and to analyse the changes of wealth-based inequality in malnutrition indicators and the degree of contribution of socio-economic determinants to the inequities in malnutrition indicators in Bangladesh. Additionally, to identify the risk factors of childhood malnutrition.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

A field tool for prediction of body fat in Sri Lankan women: skinfold thickness equation.

Background: Valid skinfold thickness (SFT) equations for the prediction of body fat are currently unavailable for South Asian women and would be a potentially robust field tool. Our aim was to assess the validity of existing SFT equations against deuterium (HO) dilution and, if invalid, to develop and validate an SFT equation for % fat mass (%FM) in Sri Lankan women.

Methods: HO dilution was used with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy as the criterion method for the assessment of %FM in urban Sri Lankan women (30-45 years).

Effects of Dehydration on Cricket Specific Skill Performance in Hot and Humid Conditions.

The aim of the current study was to assess the effects of dehydration on cricket specific motor skill performance among fast-bowlers, fielders, and batsmen playing in a hot and humid environment. 10 fast-bowlers, 12 fielders and 8 batsmen participated in two field trials conducted 7 days apart: a fluid provision trial (FP) and a fluid restriction trial (FR). Each trial consisted of a 2-hr standardized training session and pretraining and posttraining skill performance assessments.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices on Lifestyle and Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Metabolic Syndrome Patients in an Urban Tertiary Care Institute in Sri Lanka.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a significant predictor of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). A pretested questionnaire was used to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) of CVD and its risks among Sri Lankan urban adults (35-55 years) with MetS. KAP scores were predefined as high, moderate, and low.

Lifestyle patterns and dysglycaemic risk in urban Sri Lankan women.

Specific dietary patterns are associated with the risk of chronic disease. An in-depth understanding more reflective of lifestyle would be possible when assessing the synergistic effects of both diet and physical activity in pattern analysis. In the present study, we examined the biochemical markers of dysglycaemia and cardiometabolic risk in relation to lifestyle patterns using principal component analysis (PCA).

Body composition in urban South Asian women; development of a bioelectrical impedance analysis prediction equation.

Background: Assessment of body composition plays a significant role in combating chronic disease among South Asians. Accurate assessment of body composition by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) requires population-specific equations which are currently unavailable for urban South Asian women.

Aim: To assess validity of direct BIA assessment and selected equations for prediction of total body water (TBW), against Deuterium ((2)H2O) dilution and develop and validate a population-specific TBW equation for urban South Asian women.

Sedentary behaviour and physical activity in South Asian women: time to review current recommendations?

Objective: Our aims were to describe activity and sedentary behaviours in urban Asian women, with dysglycaemia (diagnosed at recruitment), and without dysglycaemia and examine the relative contribution of these parameters to their glycaemic status.

Methods: 2800 urban women (30-45 years) were selected by random cluster sampling and screened for dysglycaemia for a final sample of 272 newly diagnosed, drug naive dysglycaemic and 345 normoglycaemic women. Physical activity and sedentary behaviours were assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ).

Body fat assessment in Sri Lankan adolescent girls; development of a simple field tool.

Background: Development of accurate, simple measures of body fat is essential in developing countries due to the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity. Application of skin-fold thickness (SFT) to body fat prediction equations is an inexpensive method suitable for field settings.

Aim: To determine percentage fat mass (%FM) of Sri Lankan adolescent girls using Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometry (FTIR) as a reference method and develop a SFT-prediction equation to estimate %FM.

Dietary supplement intake in national-level Sri Lankan athletes.

Intake of dietary supplements is widespread among athletes in developed countries. This study evaluated the use of dietary supplements in athletes from a developing country. Dietary supplementation practices of 113 national-level athletes age 15-35 yr in Sri Lanka were assessed.

Maternal & child nutrition: the Sri Lankan perspective.

Most improvements gained during the past two decades in maternal and child nutrition can be attributed to the successful, countrywide maternal and child health programme of the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka. Other supporting programmes to combat deficiencies of individual micronutrients have also contributed significantly. As the latest Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data have shown regional disparities in nutrition status, it indicates that more effort is needed to improve nutrition status of marginalized populations.

Empathic family stress as a sign of family connectedness in Haitian immigrants.

Research on familial experiences has documented the important role of receiving family support, but has not examined the effects of providing such support. Empathic family stress refers to the stress that individuals experience in response to difficult life circumstances of family members. The current study took a first step in examining the empathic family stress of 134 Haitian immigrants.

Iron supplementation improves iron status and reduces morbidity in children with or without upper respiratory tract infections: a randomized controlled study in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Background: Iron deficiency anemia and recurrent infections are common among children of low socioeconomic status.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the effects of iron supplementation on iron status and morbidity in children with or without infection.

Design: Children aged 5-10 y were recruited for a randomized, controlled, double-blind study from outpatients attending the Children's Hospital, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Ferritin concentrations in dried serum spots from capillary and venous blood in children in Sri Lanka: a validation study.

Background: Assessing iron status continues to be challenging in field situations. Spot methods developed for analyzing ferritin from serum or plasma samples that are spotted and dried on filter paper have been shown to provide reliable and accurate iron-status assessments. However, the spot methods are based on samples from venous serum or plasma and have not been evaluated in field settings.