Context-Tailored Food-Based Nutrition Education and Counseling for Pregnant Women to Improve Birth Outcomes: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural Malawi.

Background: Inadequate maternal dietary intakes remain a public health challenge in low-income countries like Malawi and can cause adverse birth outcomes.

Objectives: To improve maternal dietary intakes and thus reduce the prevalence of adverse birth outcomes in rural Malawi.

Methods: We performed a 2-armed (1:1) cluster-randomized controlled trial in Southern Malawi, enrolling pregnant women at gestational age 12-18 wk.

The hidden burden of dysmenorrhea among adolescent girls in Palestine refugee camps: a focus on well-being and academic performance.

Background: Dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation) is a condition that may have a profound effect on adolescent girls' health status and well-being. It can impede their engagement in daily activities and hamper their regular school attendance. This study aims to explore the relationship between dysmenorrhea, well-being, and academic performance among adolescent girls living in Palestine refugee camps in the West Bank and Jordan.

Menstrual characteristics and dysmenorrhea among Palestinian adolescent refugee camp dwellers in the West Bank and Jordan: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Women and girls experience menstruation throughout their reproductive years. Normal adolescent menstrual cycles gauge current and future reproductive health. Dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation) is the most prevalent menstrual disturbance in adolescents that can be debilitating.

Coming of age: a qualitative study of adolescent girls' menstrual preparedness in Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Jordan.

Menstrual health is important for adolescent girls and is particularly compromised in displaced communities due to restricted access to information and lack of private spaces to manage menstruation. Menarche is the biological and social milestone of girls' adolescence, marking the onset of puberty and confirming womanhood in many communities. It also marks a difficult transitional period influenced by socio-cultural beliefs and expectations.

The impact of dietary diversity and seasonality in food availability on the quantile distribution of birth size among pregnant women in rural Malawi - a cross-sectional study.

Background: Dietary diversity scores can be used as a proxy for dietary intakes and for assessment of nutrient adequacy. Studies from low-resource settings have found maternal dietary diversity scores to be associated with neonatal birth size. We here investigated the relationship between the dietary diversity score among pregnant mothers and birth size of their offspring across quantiles of the birth size variables; birth weight, length, abdominal circumference, and head circumference.