Nutrition, hygiene, and stimulation education to improve growth, cognitive, language, and motor development among infants in Uganda: A cluster-randomized trial.

Stunting is associated with impaired cognitive and motor function. The effect of an education intervention including nutrition, stimulation, sanitation, and hygiene on child growth and cognitive/language/motor development, delivered to impoverished mothers in Uganda, was assessed. In a community-based, open cluster-randomized trial, 511 mother/children dyads aged 6-8 months were enrolled to an intervention (n = 263) or control (n = 248) group.

Nutritional and developmental status among 6- to 8-month-old children in southwestern Uganda: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Undernutrition continues to pose challenges to Uganda's children, but there is limited knowledge on its association with physical and intellectual development.

Objective: In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the nutritional status and milestone development of 6- to 8-month-old children and associated factors in two districts of southwestern Uganda.

Design: Five hundred and twelve households with mother-infant (6-8 months) pairs were randomly sampled.

The principles and practices of nutrition advocacy: evidence, experience and the way forward for stunting reduction.

Advocacy represents an intervention into complex, dynamic and highly contextual socio-political systems, in which strategies and tactics must be adjusted on a continual basis in light of rapidly changing conditions, reactions from actors and feedback. For this reason, the practice of advocacy is often considered more art than science. However, capacities and practices for advocacy can be strengthened by sharing and analysing experiences in varying contexts, deriving general principles and learning to adapt these principles to new contexts.

Multi-sectoral interventions for healthy growth.

The risk of stunted growth and development is affected by the context in which a child is born and grows. This includes such interdependent influences as the political economy, health and health care, education, society and culture, agriculture and food systems, water and sanitation, and the environment. Here, we briefly review how factors linked with the key sectors can contribute to healthy growth and reduced childhood stunting.

Reduction of unnecessary transfusion and intravenous fluids in severely malnourished children is not enough to reduce mortality.

Aim: To test whether standardising the use of blood transfusions and intravenous (IV) infusions could reduce fatality in severely malnourished children admitted to Mulago Hospital, Kampala.

Methods: Improved adherence to the WHO protocol for blood transfusion and IV fluids was effected in patients with severe malnutrition by continuous medical education. A 'before and after' design was used to study 450 severely malnourished children (weight-for-height < -3 Z-score or presence of oedema) under 60 months of age.

Risk factors in hospital deaths in severely malnourished children in Kampala, Uganda.

Background: Although the risk factors for increased fatality among severely malnourished children have been reported, recent information from Africa, during a period of HIV pandemic and constrained health services, remains sketchy. The aim of this study has been to establish the risk factors for excess deaths among hospitalized severely malnourished children of below five years of age.

Method: In 2003, two hundred and twenty consecutively admitted, severely malnourished children were followed in the paediatric wards of Mulago, Uganda's national referral and teaching hospital.

Child nutritional status and maternal factors in an urban slum in Nairobi, Kenya.

Objective: To assess the relationship between maternal factors and child nutritional status among children aged 6-36 months.

Design: Cross sectional descriptive survey.

Setting: Urban slum settlement in Nairobi, Kenya.

Do street food vendors sell a sufficient variety of foods for a healthful diet? The case of Nairobi.

This study examined whether street food vendors sell a sufficient variety of foods for a healthful diet. It was hypothesized that vendors sold only low-cost food groups to enable the buyer to afford the food while the vendor also made a profit. A structured questionnaire was administered to 580 vendors in three selected locations.

The role of street foods in the dietary pattern of two low-income groups in Nairobi.

Objectives: To examine the frequency of street food consumption of people living in low-income settlements in Nairobi and the role of street foods in their daily diet and to reveal why people consume street foods rather than home-prepared foods. SETTING, SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was done with 1011 households and in-depth interviews with a subsample of 73 households in two selected areas in Nairobi: Korogocho, a low-income slum area and Dandora, a low-middle-income area.

Results: The frequency of street food consumption was higher in Korogocho than in Dandora (3.

Evaluation of weaning diets in peri urban Kumasi, Ghana.

This work evaluates the commonly used weaning diets in peri-urban Kumasi, Ghana, in terms of the type of diets, daily energy and nutrient intakes of the infants, frequency of feeding, and the chemical composition of the diets. Women with children of up to two years old in peri-urban communities of Kumasi municipality of Ghana, were interviewed in a cross-sectional survey. One hundred and seventy two mothers were randomly sampled and questioned on their socio-economic characteristics, types of weaning diets they give to their children, and the dietary intakes of their children.

Effect of tempe-yellow maize porridge and milk-yellow maize porridge on growth rate, diarrhoea and duration of rehabilitation of malnourished children.

The diet for 117 protein-energy-malnourished children admitted into the Mbooni Family Life Training Centre between November 1992 and March 1993, was supplemented with either tempe-yellow maize porridge (TYMP) or milk-yellow maize porridge (MYMP). Fifty-six malnourished children had their diet supplemented with TYMP. Another group of 61 children had theirs supplemented with MYMP.

Dietary considerations in designing nutrition intervention programmes in rural areas of Kenya.

A comparative study was carried out in three localities in Kenya: Kwale, Mbooni and Lwak in an attempt to identify dietary factors important in designing community based nutrition interventions. The data indicate geographical differences in age at weaning, reasons for termination of breastfeeding, the variety in the diets consumed and the nutrient intake adequacy. However, there was no difference in the duration in breastfeeding and, for children above 6 months (a period when weaning is recommended) rarely was there any food termed as "baby food" but children consumed bits and portions of the family food.

Relationship between household access to food and malnutrition in eastern and southern Africa.

This review paper gives an overview of the relationship between household access to food and malnutrition using national level data in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region. The overall prevalence of malnutrition amongst the under-five population have not changed significantly over the decade and, in some cases, have deteriorated. The situation of household access to food differs between economies and production systems, but most households (average of 80%) in the region do not have access to adequate food.