Associations of health status and diabetes among First Nations Peoples living on-reserve in Canada.

Objective: Our objective is to describe self-reported health status, prevalence of diabetes and obesity and their associations in participants from the First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study (FNFNES) in order to identify possible correlates of health in First Nations adults.

Methods: FNFNES is a participatory study with First Nations Peoples living on reserve lands south of the 60 parallel. Health and diabetes were self-reported, and prevalence of obesity was evaluated.

First Nations households living on-reserve experience food insecurity: prevalence and predictors among ninety-two First Nations communities across Canada.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of food insecurity in First Nations households across Canada while identifying barriers and enablers to traditional food (TF) consumption.

Methods: The First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study is a cross-Canada participatory study of on-reserve First Nations from 2008 to 2018. The Household Food Security Survey Module was used to capture income-related challenges experienced by First Nations households.

Comparison of measures of diet quality using 24-hour recall data of First Nations adults living on reserves in Canada.

Objective: Assess the diet quality of First Nations adults in Canada using percentage energy from traditional foods (TF) and ultra-processed products (UPP), food portions from the 2007 Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide - First Nations, Inuit and Métis (EWCFG-FNIM) and a Healthy Eating Index (HEI).

Methods: Data collection for this participatory research occurred in 92 First Nations reserves across Canada from 2008 to 2016. Percent daily energy intakes were estimated from 24-hour recalls for TF and NOVA food categories.

Nutrient adequacy and nutrient sources of adults among ninety-two First Nations communities across Canada.

Objectives: To identify food sources of nutrients in First Nations adults in Canada and to establish whether these populations are meeting their nutrient requirements and whether traditional foods (TF) contribute to better nutrient intake.

Methods: The First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study is a cross-Canada participatory study of First Nations adults living south of the 60 parallel. Twenty-four-hour recalls were conducted in 92 First Nations communities from 2008 to 2016.

Importance of the traditional food systems for First Nations adults living on reserves in Canada.

Objective: To describe the traditional food (TF) systems of First Nations in Canada, including intake, barriers and promoters.

Methods: The First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study is a cross-Canada participatory study of First Nations adults below the 60 parallel that obtained data for communities excluded from other national studies. A food frequency questionnaire was used to establish frequency of TF intake (number of days in a year) to allow comparisons across ecozones/regions in Canada.

Using DHS and MICS data to complement or replace NGO baseline health data: an exploratory study.

Non-government organizations (NGOs) spend substantial time and resources collecting baseline data in order to plan and implement health interventions with marginalized populations. Typically interviews with households, often mothers, take over an hour, placing a burden on the respondents. Meanwhile, estimates of numerous health and social indicators in many countries already exist in publicly available datasets, such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), and it is worth considering whether these could serve as estimates of baseline conditions.

Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Iron Deficiency Anemia in the Northern and Southern Provinces of Rwanda.

Background: Anemia remains a public health problem in Rwanda, affecting 38% of young children and 17% of reproductive-aged women (Demographic and Health Survey [DHS] 2010). The importance of iron deficiency (ID) as a cause of anemia in Rwanda is not known.

Objective: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of ID and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among young children and women in 2 provinces of Rwanda.

An adequacy evaluation of a maternal health intervention in rural Honduras: the impact of engagement of men and empowerment of women.

Objective: To determine the impact that a 6-year maternal and child health project in rural Honduras had on maternal health services and outcomes, and to test the effect of level of father involvement on maternal health.

Methods: This was a program evaluation conducted through representative household surveys administered at baseline in 2007 and endline in 2011 using 30 cluster samples randomly-selected from the 229 participating communities. Within each cluster, 10 households having at least one mother-child pair were randomly selected to complete a questionnaire, for a total of about 300 respondents answering close to 100 questions each.

A systematic review of the nutritional adequacy of the diet in the Central Andes.

Objective: To examine dietary adequacy in the Andean area, including macro- and micronutrient intakes, with a particular focus on rural communities; to highlight nutrition priorities in the Andes; and to identify opportunities for improvement.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted, identifying published and grey literature in English and Spanish related to diet in the central Andean countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Articles reporting data from dietary surveys or nutrition interventions were included.

Effectiveness of post-campaign, door-to-door, hang-up, and communication interventions to increase long-lasting, insecticidal bed net utilization in Togo (2011-2012): a cluster randomized, control trial.

Background: It is well established that insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), in particular long-lasting, insecticidal nets (LLINs), can be used as one of the primary interventions for effective malaria control. A consistent gap between net ownership and use has been observed, indicating that factors exist that prevent an owned mosquito net from being used. One approach used in the context of LLIN campaigns is a post-distribution, door-to-door visit of households with educational messages and to physically assist with hang-up of nets.

Intrahousehold distribution of food: a review of the literature and discussion of the implications for food fortification programs.

Background: The selection of food vehicles and fortification levels in food fortification programs may be made on the assumption of equitable intrahousehold distribution of food. There are concerns that biased intrahousehold distribution of food will make food-based interventions ineffective or unsafe.

Objective: To review available data documenting intrahousehold energy intake (as a proxy for food distribution) in low- and middle-income countries, and discuss the relevance for food fortification programs.

[Breastfeeding, complimentary feeding practices and childhood malnutrition in the Bolivian Andes].

Northern Potosi is one of the poorest parts of Bolivia with the highest indicators of rural poverty, malnutrition and food insecurity in the Bolivian Andes. The objective of this research was to characterize the levels of malnutrition and describe infant feeding practices in Potosi, Bolivia and use this information to develop an effective, gender sensitive and culturally relevant intervention encouraging good infant feeding practices. Standard methods were used to collect anthropometric data.

Effects of a participatory agriculture and nutrition education project on child growth in northern Malawi.

Objective: To investigate whether children in households involved in a participatory agriculture and nutrition intervention had improved growth compared to children in matched comparable households and whether the level of involvement and length of time in the project had an effect on child growth.

Design: A prospective quasi-experimental study comparing baseline and follow-up data in 'intervention' villages with matched subjects in 'comparison' villages. Mixed model analyses were conducted on standardized child growth scores (weight- and height-for-age Z-scores), controlling for child age and testing for effects of length of time and intensity of village involvement in the intervention.

Assessment and characterization of the diet of an isolated population in the Bolivian Andes.

Objectives: The goal of this research is to characterize the composition and nutrient adequacy of the diets in the northern region of the Department of Potosí, Bolivia. Communities in this semiarid, mountainous region are isolated and impoverished having the highest rates of child malnutrition and under-five mortality in the Americas.

Methods: A total of 2,222 twenty-four-hour dietary recalls were conducted in 30 communities during May and November 2006 and May and November 2007.

Contribution of integrated campaign distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets to coverage of target groups and total populations in malaria-endemic areas in Madagascar.

In October 2007, Madagascar conducted a nationwide integrated campaign to deliver measles vaccination, mebendazole, and vitamin A to children six months to five years of age. In 59 of the 111 districts, long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) were delivered to children less than five years of age in combination with the other interventions. A community-based, cross-sectional survey assessed LLIN ownership and use six months post-campaign during the rainy season.

An adequacy evaluation of a 10-year, four-country nutrition and health programme.

Background: Evaluations of large-scale health and nutrition programmes in developing countries are needed for determining the effectiveness of interventions. This article critically analyses a non-governmental organization (NGO)-led large-scale, multi-country, 10-year micronutrient and health (MICAH) programme with an 'adequacy evaluation', that is, a documentation of time trends in the expected direction.

Methods: MICAH was implemented from 1996 to 2005 in selected areas of Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi and Tanzania, reaching >6 million people with numerous health and nutrition interventions.

Dietary assessment of Indigenous Canadian Arctic women with a focus on pregnancy and lactation.

Objectives: To assess the diet of Indigenous women, including pregnant and lactating women, in the Canadian Arctic in terms of dietary adequacy, and to assess the contribution of traditional food to the diet.

Study Design: Population-based cross-sectional design, using 24-hour dietary recalls. METHODS; Twenty-four hour quantitative dietary recalls were collected in 47 communities in 5 surveys between 1987 and 1999, including non-pregnant and non-lactating women (n = 1300), pregnant women (n = 74) and lactating women (n = 117).

Breastfeeding and mixed feeding practices in Malawi: timing, reasons, decision makers, and child health consequences.

Background: In order to effectively promote exclusive breastfeeding, it is important to first understand who makes child-care and child-feeding decisions, and why those decisions are made; as in most parts of the world, exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age is uncommon in Malawi.

Objective: To characterize early infant foods in rural northern Malawi, who the decision-makers are, their motivation, and the consequences for child growth, in order to design a more effective program for improved child health and nutrition.

Methods: In a rural area of northern Malawi, 160 caregivers of children 6 to 48 months of age were asked to recall the child's age at introduction of 19 common early infant foods, who decided to introduce the food, and why.

Unique patterns of dietary adequacy in three cultures of Canadian Arctic indigenous peoples.

Background: Information is needed on dietary adequacy of Arctic indigenous populations in Canada. Extensive work has been completed on composition of Arctic food and food use, and dietary reference intakes are available.

Objective: To complete the first comprehensive dietary adequacy assessment of three populations of adult Arctic indigenous people.

Age differences in vitamin A intake among Canadian Inuit.

Background: Inuit traditional food provides ample amounts of preformed vitamin A. However, the dietary transition away from traditional food raises concerns regarding dietary adequacy. Vitamin A is an essential nutrient with inadequate and excessive exposures having adverse effects.

A review of the effectiveness of agriculture interventions in improving nutrition outcomes.

Objectives: To review the impact of agriculture interventions on nutritional status in participating households, and to analyse the characteristics of interventions that improved nutrition outcomes.

Design: We identified and reviewed reports describing 30 agriculture interventions that measured impact on nutritional status. The interventions reviewed included home gardening, livestock, mixed garden and livestock, cash cropping, and irrigation.

Food Use and Nutrient Adequacy in Baffin Inuit Children and Adolescents.

In evaluating adequacy of nutrient intake and relative contribution of locally harvested food (i.e., "traditional" food) and imported market food for 164 Baffin Inuit children and adolescents, 604 24-hour recalls were obtained over a one-year period (1987 to 1988).

Stunting in an Andean community: Prevalence and etiology.

The magnitude and potential causes of linear growth retardation in a rural agricultural community of the Ecuadorian Andes are examined. Growth stunting is common in this population, as height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) for boys and girls 1-5 years average -2.2 and -2.