Publications by authors named "Marko Kerac"

Article Synopsis
  • * A secondary analysis from previous trials found that linear growth and weight gain velocities in children with SAM were similar between the new simplified treatment and the standard treatment, despite using lower RUTF doses.
  • * The results suggest that using a reduced RUTF dosage for treating SAM does not negatively impact linear growth or overall growth velocities, indicating that the simplified protocol is an effective option.
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An integrated care pathway to manage small and nutritionally at-risk infants under 6 months (u6m) and their mothers (MAMI Care Pathway) is consistent with 2023 WHO malnutrition guidelines and is being tested in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) in Ethiopia. To optimise trial implementation, we investigated contextual fit with key local stakeholders. We used scenario-based interviews with 17 health workers and four district managers to explore perceived feasibility.

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Maternal/caregivers' mental health (MMH) and child nutrition are both poor in low- and middle-income countries. Links between the two are plausible but poorly researched. Our aim was to inform future malnutrition management programmes by better understanding associations between MMH and nutritional status of infants aged under six month (u6m).

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigated non-exclusive breastfeeding (NEBF) as a public health issue, highlighting that its prevalence differs based on sociodemographic, economic, and environmental factors related to livelihood security in two distinct areas.
  • - A survey involving 1,060 mother-infant pairs was conducted, using statistical analysis methods to evaluate the influence of various factors on NEBF, identifying significant associations through binary logistic regression.
  • - Results indicated that 51% of mothers practiced NEBF, with higher risks linked to not remembering the infant's birth date and male infants in livelihood-insecure areas, while well-educated household heads and lower socioeconomic status were protective factors in livelihood-secure areas.
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Article Synopsis
  • The 'double burden of malnutrition' means that some people can be both undernourished and overweight at the same time, which is a big problem in many countries.
  • Even though some places have improved their nutrition, more people in cities are becoming overweight, especially after growing up with poor nutrition.
  • Researchers believe we need to rethink how we study this issue and focus more on different factors like the environment and food systems to come up with better solutions.
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Malnutrition and disability are major global public health problems. Poor diets, inadequate access to nutrition/health services (NaHS), and poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) all increase the risk of malnutrition and infection. This leads to poor health outcomes, including disability.

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The care of infants at risk of poor growth and development is a global priority. To inform new WHO guidelines update on prevention and management of growth faltering among infants under six months, we examined the effectiveness of postnatal maternal or caregiver interventions on outcomes among infants between 0 and 6 months. We searched nine electronic databases from January 2000 to August 2021, included interventional studies, evaluated the quality of evidence for seven outcome domains (anthropometric recovery, child development, anthropometric outcomes, mortality, readmission, relapse, and non-response) and followed the GRADE approach for certainty of evidence.

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Small and nutritionally at-risk infants aged under 6 months (<6 months) are at high risk of death, but important evidence gaps exist on how to best identify them. We aimed to determine associations between anthropometric deficits and mortality among infants <6 months admitted to inpatient therapeutic care. A secondary analysis of 2002-2008 data included 5034 infants aged <6 months from 12 countries.

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Maternal mental health (MMH) conditions and infant malnutrition are both major global public health concerns. Despite a well-established link between the two, many nutrition programmes do not routinely consider MMH. New World Health Organization (WHO) malnutrition guidelines do, however, emphasise MMH.

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Backgrounds & Aims: Childhood malnutrition is a major global health problem with long-term sequelae, including non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Mechanisms are unknown but may involve metabolic programming, resulting from "short-term" solutions to optimise survival by compromising non-priority organs. As key players in lipid metabolism, desaturases have been shown to be predictive of NCDs.

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Nutritional rehabilitation during severe acute malnutrition (SAM) aims to quickly restore body size and minimize poor short-term outcomes. We hypothesized that faster weight gain during treatment is associated with greater cardiometabolic risk in adult life. Anthropometry, body composition (DEXA), blood pressure, blood glucose, insulin and lipids were measured in a cohort of adults who were hospitalized as children for SAM between 1963 and 1993.

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Age and sex influence the risk of childhood wasting. We aimed to determine if wasting treatment outcomes differ by age and sex in children under 5 years, enroled in therapeutic and supplementary feeding programmes. Utilising data from stage 1 of the ComPAS trial, we used logistic regression to assess the association between age, sex and wasting treatment outcomes (recovery, death, default, non-response, and transfer), modelling the likelihood of recovery versus all other outcomes.

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Adolescent pregnancy is associated with poor fetal growth and development which, in turn, increases the risk of childhood wasting and underweight. However, evidence on how young maternal age affects childhood anthropometry beyond the neonatal period is limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined associations between adolescent pregnancy and child wasting and underweight and explored potential underlying social and biological factors.

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Skilled staff are essential for successfully managing child malnutrition, especially when dealing with small, nutritionally at-risk infants aged under 6 months. Training and patient management tools provide healthcare workers with core knowledge, skills, and support. To inform more effective future approaches and support the rollout of new WHO wasting prevention/treatment guidelines, we aimed to map and understand globally available training and patient management tools.

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Introduction: Evidence gaps limit management of small and/or nutritionally at-risk infants under 6 months and their mothers, who are at higher risk of death, illness, malnutrition and poor growth and development. These infants may be low birth weight, wasted, stunted and/or underweight. An integrated care model to guide their management (MAMI Care Pathway) is being tested in a randomised controlled trial in Ethiopia.

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Malnutrition is a leading cause of preventable deaths in infants and children. To benefit from treatment and prevention programmes, malnourished children must first be identified. Low weight-for-age is an anthropometric indicator of malnutrition which is gaining much recent attention because it is particularly effective at identifying children at highest risk of death.

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Child undernutrition and later-life non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are major global health issues. Literature suggests that undernutrition/famine exposure in childhood has immediate and long-term adverse health consequences. However, many studies have theoretical and methodological limitations.

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Stunting affects 149 million children worldwide and is a form of chronic malnutrition defined by low height-for-age. Surveys and intervention programmes depend on effective assessment and identification of affected individuals. Gold standard assessment is based on height-for-age Z-score (HAZ): HAZ <-2 defines stunting; HAZ <-3 defines severe stunting.

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Anthropometric measurements, including mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), are used for monitoring and evaluating children's nutritional status. Evidence is limited on optimal nutritional assessment for children with disabilities, who are at high risk for malnutrition. This study describes MUAC use among children with disabilities.

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Objective: To explore patterns of post-malnutrition growth (PMGr) during and after treatment for severe malnutrition and describe associations with survival and non-communicable disease (NCD) risk 7 years post-treatment.

Design: Six indicators of PMGr were derived based on a variety of timepoints, weight, weight-for-age z-score and height-for-age z-score (HAZ). Three categorisation methods included no categorisation, quintiles and latent class analysis (LCA).

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Nutrition and feeding interventions are important for children’s growth and development. Holt International’s Child Nutrition Program (CNP) is a child nutrition and feeding intervention. This study aims to describe and explore the implementation of CNP in Mongolia and the Philippines using mixed methods including qualitative and quantitative data analysis.

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Nutritional vulnerability under the age of 6 months is prevalent in low- and middle-income countries with 20.1% infants underweight, 21.3% wasted and 17.

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