Affordability of healthy and water-saving dietary patterns in The Gambia.

Dietary modification has the potential to improve nutritional status and reduce environmental impacts of the food system. However, for many countries, the optimal composition of locally contextualized healthy and sustainable diets is unknown. The Gambia is vulnerable to climate-change-induced future water scarcity which may affect crop yields and the ability to supply healthy diets.

Climate change mitigation through dietary change: a systematic review of empirical and modelling studies on the environmental footprints and health effects of 'sustainable diets'.

The adoption of healthy diets with low environmental impact has been widely promoted as an important climate change mitigation strategy. Typically, these diets are high in plant-sourced and low in animal-sourced and processed foods. Despite the fact that their environmental impacts vary, they are often referred to as 'sustainable diets'.

Long-term impact of West African food system responses to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact health and livelihoods in West Africa. Exposure of food system fragilities by the pandemic presents the opportunity for regional-specific reforms to deliver healthy diets for all and promote resilience to future shocks.

UK's fruit and vegetable supply increasingly dependent on imports from climate vulnerable producing countries.

Domestic contribution to total fruit and vegetable supply in the UK decreased from 42% in 1987 to 22% in 2013. The impact of this changing pattern of UK fruit and vegetable imports, from countries with different vulnerabilities to projected climate change, on the resilience of the UK food system is currently unknown. Here, we used the UN FAO bilateral trade database over a period of 27 years to estimate changes in fruit and vegetable supply in the UK, and the NDGAIN climate vulnerability categories to assess the climate vulnerability of countries supplying fruit and vegetables to the UK.

Dietary recommendations in Spain -affordability and environmental sustainability?

Global food demand is increasing due to population growth and dietary transitions, resulting from rising incomes, are associated with increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases. Improving the sustainability of the food sector is also critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This study assesses for the first time the greenhouse gases emissions (Carbon Footprint - CF), the water footprint (WF) and the cost of three omnivorous diets recommended in Spain due to their health benefits: the Mediterranean diet (MD), the Southern European Atlantic diet (SEAD) and the Spanish dietary guidelines (NAOS).

Drinking Water Salinity and Raised Blood Pressure: Evidence from a Cohort Study in Coastal Bangladesh.

Background: Millions of coastal inhabitants in Southeast Asia have been experiencing increasing sodium concentrations in their drinking-water sources, likely partially due to climate change. High (dietary) sodium intake has convincingly been proven to increase risk of hypertension; it remains unknown, however, whether consumption of sodium in drinking water could have similar effects on health.

Objectives: We present the results of a cohort study in which we assessed the effects of drinking-water sodium (DWS) on blood pressure (BP) in coastal populations in Bangladesh.

Drinking Water Sodium and Elevated Blood Pressure of Healthy Pregnant Women in Salinity-Affected Coastal Areas.

Coastal areas in Southeast Asia are experiencing high sodium concentrations in drinking water sources that are commonly consumed by local populations. Salinity problems caused by episodic cyclones and subsequent seawater inundations are likely (partly) related to climate change and further exacerbated by changes in upstream river flow and local land-use activities. Dietary (food) sodium plays an important role in the global burden of hypertensive disease.

Risk Factors of Typhoid Infection in the Indonesian Archipelago.

Background: Knowledge of risk factors and their relative importance in different settings is essential to develop effective health education material for the prevention of typhoid. In this study, we examine the effect of household level and individual behavioural risk factors on the risk of typhoid in three Indonesian islands (Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Papua) in the Eastern Indonesian archipelago encompassing rural, peri-urban and urban areas.

Methods: We enrolled 933 patients above 10 years of age in a health facility-based case-control study between June 2010 and June 2011.

Salinity in drinking water and the risk of (pre)eclampsia and gestational hypertension in coastal Bangladesh: a case-control study.

Background: Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy are among the leading causes of maternal and perinatal death in low-income countries, but the aetiology remains unclear. We investigated the relationship between salinity in drinking water and the risk of (pre)eclampsia and gestational hypertension in a coastal community.

Methods: A population-based case-control study was conducted in Dacope, Bangladesh among 202 pregnant women with (pre)eclampsia or gestational hypertension, enrolled from the community served by the Upazilla Health Complex, Dacope and 1,006 matched controls from the same area.

A retrospective study of the epidemiology of leprosy in Cebu: an eleven-year profile.

Background: Cebu has been one of the most leprosy endemic areas in the Philippines. Despite the high coverage rates of multiple drug therapy (MDT) and high BCG-vaccine coverage in children, leprosy control authorities believe that leprosy transmission and incidence (as evidence by continuing new case detection in both adults and children) have not declined as expected, once leprosy had been eliminated. In response to the concerns communicated by the authorities regarding ongoing leprosy transmission in Cebu, this study aims to examine the evidence for the hypothesized ongoing transmission, both in children and adults.

Multi-locus variable-number tandem repeat profiling of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi isolates from blood cultures and gallbladder specimens from Makassar, South-Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Multi-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis differentiated 297 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi blood culture isolates from Makassar in 76 genotypes and a single unique S. Typhi genotype was isolated from the cholecystectomy specimens of four patients with cholelithiasis. The high diversity in S.

Peer education: the effects on knowledge of pregnancy related malaria and preventive practices in women of reproductive age in Edo State, Nigeria.

Background: There is limited uptake of measures to prevent malaria by pregnant women in Nigeria which is often related to the lack of knowledge on Malaria in Pregnancy (MIP) and its effects on mother and foetus. This study, explored peer to peer education as a tool in raising knowledge of MIP among women of child bearing age.

Methods: 1105 women of child bearing age were interviewed in their households using a structured questionnaire about their knowledge of malaria in general, MIP and use of preventive measures.