Food purchase diversity is associated with market food diversity and diets of children and their mothers but not fathers in rural Tanzania: Results from the EFFECTS baseline survey.

Rural households in East Africa rely on local markets, but the influence of market food diversity and household food purchase diversity on diets has not been well-characterized. We quantify the associations among market food diversity, household food purchase diversity and dietary diversity of mothers, fathers and children in rural Tanzania. This study uses baseline data from a randomized controlled trial, Engaging Fathers for Effective Child Nutrition and Development in Tanzania.

Expanding the food environment framework to include family dynamics: A systematic synthesis of qualitative evidence using HIV as a case study.

Food environment changes in low- and middle-income countries are increasing diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This paper synthesizes the qualitative evidence about how family dynamics shape food choices within the context of HIV (Prospero: CRD42021226283). Guided by structuration theory and food environment framework, we used best-fit framework analysis to develop the Family Dynamics Food Environment Framework (FDF) comprising three interacting dimensions (resources, characteristics, and action orientation).

Demand-driven capacity building for public health nutrition research in Lao PDR.

In Laos, rates of undernutrition, especially among children under 5 years of age, remain high. In response, a large multidisciplinary team embarked on a multi-year project in Laos beginning in 2019 with the purpose of institutional strengthening around public health nutrition research. This paper summarizes the Applied Nutrition Research Capacity Building project's activities, immediate project results, and prospects for sustaining impacts into the future.

Contribution of Food from Market Purchases and Home Production to Child Nutrient Intake: Evidence from the EFFECTS Study Baseline Data.

Background: Child undernutrition is prevalent in Tanzania, and households rely primarily on local markets and home production as food sources. However, little is known about the contribution of food market purchases to nutrient intakes among children consuming complementary foods.

Objectives: To quantify the relationships between diversity of foods purchased and produced by households and adequate child nutrient intake in Mara, Tanzania.

How Livelihood Change Affects Food Choice Behaviors in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review.

Livelihoods have changed dramatically over the past decade in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). These shifts are happening in tandem with shifts in individual and household food choice behaviors. This scoping review aimed to identify and characterize mechanisms through which livelihood changes could affect food choice behaviors in LMIC, including behaviors relating to food production, acquisition, preparation, distribution, and consumption.

Unveiling the effect of microplastics on agricultural crops - a review.

Microplastics (MPs), ever since they were identified as a potential and widely distributed persistent contaminant, the number of studies highlighting their impacts on various terrestrial ecosystems have been increasing. Recently, the effect of MPs on the agricultural ecosystem has gained momentum. Hence, the present review examines the impact of microplastics on agricultural crop systems and the mechanism underlying its toxicity.

Dose-dependent toxicity of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) on physiological and biochemical response of blackgram and its associated rhizospheric soil properties.

Microplastic contamination in terrestrial ecosystem is emerging as a global threat due to rapid production of plastic waste and its mismanagement. It affects all living organisms including plants. Hence, the current study aims at understanding the effect of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) at different concentrations (0, 0.

Effects of engaging fathers and bundling parenting and nutrition interventions on early child development and maternal and paternal parenting in Mara, Tanzania: a factorial cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Background: Multicomponent interventions are needed to address the various co-occurring risks that compromise early child nutrition and development. We compared the independent and combined effects of engaging fathers and bundling parenting components into a nutrition intervention on early child development (ECD) and parenting outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a 2×2 factorial cluster-randomized controlled trial across 80 villages in Mara Region, Tanzania, also known as EFFECTS (Engaging Fathers for Effective Child Nutrition and Development in Tanzania; ClinicalTrials.

Effect of ozone stress on crop productivity: A threat to food security.

Tropospheric ozone (O), the most important phytotoxic air pollutant, can deteriorate crop quality and productivity. Notably, satellite and ground-level observations-based multimodel simulations demonstrate that the present and future predicted O exposures could threaten food security. Hence, the present study aims at reviewing the phytotoxicity caused by O pollution, which threatens the food security.

How Perspectives on Food Safety of Vendors and Consumers Translate into Food-Choice Behaviors in 6 African and Asian Countries.

Background: Consumption of unsafe foods increases morbidity and mortality and is currently an issue, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Policy actions to ensure food safety are dominated by mitigation of biological and chemical hazards through supply-side risk management, lessening the degree to which consumer perspectives of food safety are considered.

Objectives: This study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding, from vendor and consumer perspectives, of how food-safety concerns of consumers translate into their subsequent food-choice behaviors in 6 diverse low- and middle-income countries.

Global food systems transitions have enabled affordable diets but had less favourable outcomes for nutrition, environmental health, inclusion and equity.

Over the past 50 years, food systems worldwide have shifted from predominantly rural to industrialized and consolidated systems, with impacts on diets, nutrition and health, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability. We explore the potential for sustainable and equitable food system transformation (ideal state of change) by comparing countries at different stages of food system transition (changes) using food system typologies. Historically, incomes have risen faster than food prices as countries have industrialized, enabling a simultaneous increase in the supply and affordability of many nutritious foods.

Effects of engaging fathers and bundling nutrition and parenting interventions on household gender equality and women's empowerment in rural Tanzania: Results from EFFECTS, a five-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Advancing gender equality and women's empowerment (GE/WE) may contribute to better child nutrition and development in low-resource settings. However, few empirical studies have generated evidence on GE/WE and examined the potential of engaging men to transform gender norms and power relations in the context of nutrition and parenting programs. We tested the independent and combined effects of engaging couples and bundling nutrition and parenting interventions on GE/WE in Mara, Tanzania.

Evolution of infant feeding practices in children from 9 to 24 months, considering complementary feeding indicators and food processing: Results from the Brazilian cohort of the MAL-ED study.

Infant feeding practices impact children's nutritional and health status, influencing growth and development. This study aimed to analyse the evolution of infant feeding practices from 9 to 24 months of age, considering infant and young child feeding (IYCF) indicators and food processing. The infant feeding practices in children from the Brazilian site of the MAL-ED study were evaluated at 9 (n = 193), 15 (n = 182) and 24 months (n = 164) using 24-h dietary recalls.

Operational Characteristics of Women Street Food Vendors in Rural South Africa.

Objective: To characterize the operations of the street food enterprise in the Vhembe district, focusing on business profile, sold foods, inputs, pricing, record-keeping practices and total running cost.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional face-to-face study of 511 vendors was done using a structured researcher-administered questionnaire comprising demographic and operational characteristics. Convenience sampling was used to choose the vending sites.

Exploring drivers of food choice among PLHIV and their families in a peri-urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Background: A nutritious diet is critical to minimizing disease progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and maximizing treatment efficacy. In low resource settings, meeting the food preference needs of people living with the HIV (PLHIV) can be achieved with a supportive food environment when HIV status is disclosed. However, less is known about family-level strategies related to building a supportive food environment.

Phyto Synthesis of Manganese-Doped Zinc Nanoparticles Using Leaves: Structural Properties and Its Evaluation for Catalytic, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities.

The current study aims to synthesize bimetal oxide nanoparticles (zinc and manganese ions) using the leaf extract. The crystallite size of the nanoparticle from X-ray diffraction method was found to be 19.23 nm.

Risk factors for early childhood growth faltering in rural Cambodia: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: This study aimed to determine risk factors of growth faltering by assessing childhood nutrition and household water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) variables and their association with nutritional status of children under 24 months in rural Cambodia.

Design: We conducted surveys in 491 villages (clusters) randomised across 55 rural communes in Cambodia in September 2016 to measure associations between child, household and community-level risk factors for stunting and length-for-age z-score (LAZ). We measured 4036 children under 24 months of age from 3877 households (491 clusters).

Gender and Age Differences in Meal Structures, Food Away from Home, Chrono-Nutrition, and Nutrition Intakes among Adults and Children in Tanzania Using a Newly Developed Tablet-Based 24-Hour Recall Tool.

Background: In many regions of the world, little is known about meal structures, meal patterns, and nutrient intake because the collection of quantitative dietary intake is expensive and labor-intensive.

Objectives: We describe the development and field feasibility of a tablet-based Tanzania 24-h recall tool (TZ-24hr-DR) and dietary intakes collected from adults and children in rural and urban settings.

Methods: Using the Tanzanian food-composition table, the TZ-24hr-DR tool was developed on an Android platform using the Open Data Kit.

Response of rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars to elevated ozone stress.

The plant response to elevated ozone stress reveals inter-species and intra-species disparity. Ozone-induced crop yield loss is predicted to increase in the future, posing a threat to the world economy. This study aims to evaluate the cultivar specific variation in rice exposed to elevated ozone.

The role of chicken management practices in children's exposure to environmental contamination: a mixed-methods analysis.

Background: Household chicken production presents an opportunity to promote child nutrition, but the benefits might be offset by increased environmental contamination. Using household surveys, direct observations, and in-depth interviews with woman caregivers, we sought to describe the relationship between chicken management practices and household exposure to environmental contamination, and assess barriers to adopting improved husbandry practices.

Methods: First, we analyzed baseline data from 973 households raising chickens in the two interventions arms from the Agriculture-to-Nutrition (ATONU) study in Ethiopia to assess the relationship between animal management practices and environmental exposures.

Informal food environment is associated with household vegetable purchase patterns and dietary intake in the DECIDE study: Empirical evidence from food vendor mapping in peri-urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

We study the relationship between the food environment (FE) and the food purchase patterns, dietary intakes, and nutritional status of individuals in peri-urban Tanzania. In Africa, the prevailing high density of informal vendors creates challenges to characterizing the FE. We present a protocol and tool developed as part of the Diet, Environment, and Choices of positive living (DECIDE) study to measure characteristics of the FE.

Characteristics associated with the transition to partial breastfeeding prior to 6 months of age: Data from seven sites in a birth cohort study.

The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. However, the transition of the infants' diet to partial breastfeeding with the addition of animal milks and/or solids typically occurs earlier than this. Here, we explored factors associated with the timing of an early transition to partial breastfeeding across seven sites of a birth cohort study in which twice weekly information on infant feeding practices was collected.

La Niña weather impacts dietary patterns and dietary diversity among children in the Peruvian Amazon.

Objective: In 2011-2012, severe El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions (La Niña) led to massive flooding and temporarily displacement in the Peruvian Amazon. Our aims were to examine the impact of this ENSO exposure on child diets, in particular: (1) frequency of food consumption patterns, (2) the amount of food consumed (g/d), (3) dietary diversity (DD), (4) consumption of donated foods, among children aged 9-36 months living in the outskirts of City of Iquitos in the Amazonian Peru.

Design: This was a longitudinal study that used quantitative 24-h recall dietary data collection from children aged 9-36 months from 2010 to 2014 as part of the MAL-ED birth cohort study.