Peak timing of slowest growth velocity among young children coincides with highest ambient temperatures in Burkina Faso: a longitudinal study.

Background: Seasonal cycles in climatic factors affect drivers of child growth and contribute to seasonal fluctuations in undernutrition. Current growth seasonality models are limited by categorical definitions of seasons that rely on assumptions about their timing and fail to consider their magnitude.

Objective: We disentangle the relationship between climatic factors and growth indicators, using harmonic regression to determine how child growth is related to peaks in temperature, precipitation, and vegetation.

Factors associated with anemia among school-going adolescents aged 10-17 years in Zanzibar, Tanzania: a cross sectional study.

Background: Anemia among adolescents (ages 10-19 years) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries and carries long-term health and economic consequences. To address the issue, policymakers and programmers require evidence of the burden of anemia among adolescents in specific contexts, as well as an understanding of the factors associated with anemia in this population.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey as a baseline assessment to determine the prevalence and factors associated with anemia in secondary school students, as part of a cluster-randomized effectiveness trial testing different micronutrient supplementation strategies in addressing anemia among adolescents in Zanzibar.

School-based supplementation with iron-folic acid or multiple micronutrient tablets to address anemia among adolescents in Burkina Faso: a cluster-randomized trial.

Background: Iron-deficiency anemia is a leading cause of morbidity among adolescents (aged 10-19 y), especially in low- and middle-income settings. Few policies and programs have targeted adolescent health.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based supplementation with iron-folic acid (IFA) or multiple micronutrient supplements (MMSs) in addressing anemia among adolescents in Burkina Faso.

Scaling-up high-impact micronutrient supplementation interventions to improve adolescents' nutrition and health in Burkina Faso and Tanzania: protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Adolescence is a critical time for growth and development, but this age group is often neglected in research and development of nutrition interventions. Despite recommendations from the WHO to provide nutrient supplements to adolescents, evidence remains scarce on the most effective supplementation strategy. This study aims to compare weekly iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation with daily multiple micronutrient supplements (MMSs) in prevention of anaemia and improvement of school outcomes among adolescents in Burkina Faso and Tanzania.

Linear Growth Spurts are Preceded by Higher Weight Gain Velocity and Followed by Weight Slowdowns Among Rural Children in Burkina Faso: A Longitudinal Study.

Background: The temporal relationship between length (linear) and weight (ponderal) growth in early life is important to support optimal nutrition program design. Studies based on measures of attained size have established that wasting often precedes stunting, but such studies do not capture responsiveness of growth to previous compared with current conditions. As a result, the temporality of linear and ponderal growth relationships remain unclear.

Monthly measurement of child lengths between 6 and 27 months of age in Burkina Faso reveals both chronic and episodic growth faltering.

Background: Linear growth faltering is determined primarily by attained heights in infancy, but available data consist mainly of cross-sectional heights at each age.

Objectives: This study used longitudinal data to test whether faltering occurs episodically in a few months of very low growth, which could potentially be prevented by timely intervention, or is a chronic condition with slower growth in every month of infancy and early childhood.

Methods: Using anthropometric data collected monthly between August 2014 and December 2016, we investigated individual growth curves of 5039 children ages 6-27 mo in Burkina Faso (108,580 observations).

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of 4 supplementary foods for treating moderate acute malnutrition: results from a cluster-randomized intervention trial in Sierra Leone.

Background: Moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) affects 33 million children annually. Investments in formulations of corn-soy blended flours and lipid-based nutrient supplements have effectively improved MAM recovery rates. Information costs and cost-effectiveness differences are still needed.

Fortified blended flour supplements displace plain cereals in feeding of young children.

Lipid-based nutritional supplements (LNS) and fortified blended flours (FBF) are widely used to increase the nutrient density of children's diets and improve their health, but their effectiveness could be modified by displacement of other foods. We reanalysed data from a cost-effectiveness trial comparing impacts on anthropometry of three FBFs (Corn Soy Blend Plus [CSB+], Corn Soy Whey Blend [CSWB], SuperCereal Plus [SC+]) and one LNS (Ready-to-use Supplementary Food [RUSF]) among infants aged 7-23 months in Burkina Faso. Using dietary diversity data from a single 24-h recall period (n = 1,591 children, observed once over 18-month study period), we fit logistic regression models to estimate differences in intake of each food group making up the infant and young child minimum dietary diversity score and linear models to test for differences in dietary diversity score among children in each supplement arm.

Impact of stakeholder perspectives on cost-effectiveness estimates of four specialized nutritious foods for preventing stunting and wasting in children 6-23 months in Burkina Faso.

Background: Multiple specialized nutritious food options are programmed for supplementation in humanitarian and development settings. However, comparative cost-effectiveness evidence is lacking, let alone incorporation of perspectives from uncompensated stakeholders. A Burkina Faso trial evaluated the cost-effectiveness of Corn Soy Blend Plus w/ oil (CSB+ w/oil, reference arm), Corn Soy Whey Blend w/oil (CSWB w/oil), Super Cereal Plus (SC+), and Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food (RUSF) in reducing stunting and wasting among children 6-23 months old.

Cost-Effectiveness of 4 Specialized Nutritious Foods in the Prevention of Stunting and Wasting in Children Aged 6-23 Months in Burkina Faso: A Geographically Randomized Trial.

Background: There is a variety of specialized nutritious foods available for use in programs targeting undernutrition, but evidence supporting the choice of product is limited.

Objectives: We compared the cost-effectiveness of 4 specialized nutritious foods to prevent stunting and wasting in children aged 6-23 mo in Burkina Faso.

Methods: Four geographic regions were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 intervention arms: Corn-Soy Blend Plus (CSB+) programmed with separate fortified vegetable oil (the reference food), Corn-Soy-Whey Blend (CSWB; a new formulation) with oil, SuperCereal Plus (SC+), and ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF).

Factors that May Influence the Effectiveness of 4 Specialized Nutritious Foods in the Prevention of Stunting and Wasting in Children Aged 6-23 Months in Burkina Faso.

Background: A trial in Burkina Faso compared the cost-effectiveness of 4 specialized nutritious foods (SNFs) used to prevent stunting and wasting in children aged 6-23 mo.

Objectives: This article explores differences in SNF use that may have influenced effectiveness, specifically in relation to consumption by the recipient child and by any other person (i.e.

Advancing Nutrition in the International Food Assistance Agenda: Progress and Future Directions Identified at the 2018 Food Assistance for Nutrition Evidence Summit.

Background: Global food insecurity persists despite continued international attention, necessitating evidence-based food assistance interventions that adequately address nutritional concerns. In June 2018, the US Agency for International Development's Office of Food for Peace through the Food Aid Quality Review (FAQR) project sponsored a "Food Assistance for Nutrition Evidence Summit" to share evidence relevant to policy and programmatic decision-making and to identify critical evidence gaps.

Objective: This article presents 4 priority areas to advance nutrition in the international food assistance agenda generated through presentations and discussions with the food assistance community at the Evidence Summit.