An Ex-Ante Analysis of the Impact of Biofortified Zinc Rice on Dietary Zinc Inadequacy: Evidence from Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Background: South, East, and Southeast Asia are among the regions of the world with the highest estimated prevalence of inadequate zinc intake. Because populations in those regions eat rice as their main staple, zinc biofortification of rice can potentially improve zinc intake, especially among the most vulnerable.

Objectives: We modeled the impact of the consumption of zinc-biofortified rice on zinc intake and inadequacy among women of childbearing age and young children nationally in Indonesia, the Philippines, and at a subnational level in Bangladesh.

Intra-uterine exposure to lower maternal haemoglobin concentration is associated with impaired cognitive function in stunted adolescents: results from a 17-year longitudinal cohort study in Indonesia.

The long-term impact of maternal anaemia on cognitive performance remains unknown. Indonesian longitudinal cohort data of 363 paired pregnant mothers and their 10-14-year-old offspring were used to investigate the association between maternal haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and their offspring's cognitive function (assessed by Raven's Progressive Matrices test) during adolescence. The weighted anaemia prevalence was 49.

Nutrient Density as a Dimension of Dietary Quality: Findings of the Nutrient Density Approach in a Multi-Center Evaluation.

The nutrient adequacy of a diet is typically assessed by comparing estimated nutrient intakes with established average nutrient requirements; this approach does not consider total energy consumed. In this multinational survey investigation in Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa, we explore the applications of the "critical nutrient-density approach"-which brings energy requirements into the equation-in the context of public health epidemiology. We conducted 24 h dietary recalls in convenience samples of normal-weight (BMI 18.

Food Composition Tables in Southeast Asia: The Contribution of the SMILING Project.

Objectives Food composition data are key for many nutrition related activities in research, planning and policy. Combatting micronutrient malnutrition among women and young children using sustainable food based approaches, as aimed at in the SMILING project, requires high quality food composition data. Methods In order to develop capacity and to align procedures for establishing, updating and assessing the quality of key nutrient data in the food composition tables in Southeast Asia, a detailed roadmap was developed to identify and propose steps for this.

Biofortified β-carotene rice improves vitamin A intake and reduces the prevalence of inadequacy among women and young children in a simulated analysis in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Background: Vitamin A deficiency continues to be a major public health problem affecting developing countries where people eat mostly rice as a staple food. In Asia, rice provides up to 80% of the total daily energy intake.

Objective: We used existing data sets from Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines, where dietary intakes have been quantified at the individual level to 1) determine the rice and vitamin A intake in nonpregnant, nonlactating women of reproductive age and in nonbreastfed children 1-3 y old and 2) simulate the amount of change that could be achieved in the prevalence of inadequate intake of vitamin A if rice biofortified with β-carotene were consumed instead of the rice consumed at present.

Dietary diversity, animal source food consumption and linear growth among children aged 1-5 years in Bandung, Indonesia: a longitudinal observational study.

Dietary diversity involves adequate intake of macronutrient and micronutrient. The inclusion of animal source foods (ASF) in the diet helps prevent multiple nutrient deficiencies and any resultant, linear growth retardation. The objective of the current study was to assess the relationship between dietary diversity, ASF consumption and height-for-age z-score (HAZ) among children aged 12-59 months old across a 1-year observation.

Anaemia prevalence over time in Indonesia: estimates from the 1997, 2000, and 2008 Indonesia Family Life Surveys.

Objective: To summarize anaemia prevalence data for children, women, and men using data from the second, third and fourth waves of the Indonesia Family Life Surveys (IFLS), which were conducted in 1997/8, 2000, and 2007/8, respectively.

Methods: Anaemia prevalence was determined for children 0 to 5 years, 5 to 12 years, 12 to 15 years, non-pregnant women at least 15 years, pregnant women at least 15 years, and men at least 15 years, based on haemoglobin adjusted for altitude and smoking status.

Results: Compared with 1997/8 estimates, anaemia prevalence estimates were lower in 2007/8 for all groups, with the greatest relative decline occurring in children 5 to 12 years (25.

The SMILING project: a North-South-South collaborative action to prevent micronutrient deficiencies in women and young children in Southeast Asia.

Background: The "Sustainable Micronutrient Interventions to Control Deficiencies and Improve Nutritional Status and General Health in Asia" project (SMILING), funded by the European Commission, is a transnational collaboration of research institutions and implementation agencies in five Southeast Asian countries--Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam--with European partners, to support the application of state-of-the art knowledge to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition in Southeast Asia.

Objective: The major expected outcomes are to improve micronutrient status on a large scale, to identify priority interventions in each Southeast Asian country, and to develop a road map for decision makers and donors for inclusion of these priority interventions into the national policy.

Methods: SMILING has been built around a strong project consortium that works on a constant and proactive exchange of data and analyses between partners and allows for the differences in contexts and development stages of the countries, as well as a strong North-South-South collaboration and colearning.

Cost of the Diet (CoD) tool: first results from Indonesia and applications for policy discussion on food and nutrition security.

Background: The Minimum Cost of a Nutritious Diet (MCNut) is the cost of a theoretical diet satisfying all nutrient requirements of a family at the lowest possible cost, based on availability, price, and nutrient content of local foods. A comparison with household expenditure shows the proportion of households that would be able to afford a nutritious diet.

Objective: To explore using the Cost of Diet (CoD) tool for policy dialogue on food and nutrition security in Indonesia.

Fermented soyabean and vitamin C-rich fruit: a possibility to circumvent the further decrease of iron status among iron-deficient pregnant women in Indonesia.

Objective: Increasing the consumption of Fe-rich foods and thus improving Fe bioavailability without significantly increasing diet cost is the most sustainable intervention for improving Fe intake. We assessed the effect of supplementary food consisting of fermented soyabean (tempeh) and vitamin C-rich fruit consumed during pregnancy on maternal iron deficiency (ID).

Design: Pregnant women were randomly allocated by village into optimized diet and control groups.

Red cell folate and predicted neural tube defect rate in three Asian cities.

Background: Periconceptional folic acid reduces neural tube defect (NTD) risk. Red blood cell folate concentration is inversely associated with NTD risk. In many countries there is a lack of information on NTD rates.

Determination of discretionary salt intake in an iodine deficient area of East Java-Indonesia using three different methods.

As salt is a potential vehicle for delivering iodine to a population, study on salt intake is important. Many methods have been used to measure iodised-salt intake, but the methods were suspected to be inaccurate. A new method, called a lithium-marker technique, has been considered as suitable and safe; hence it has been proposed as a gold standard for measuring the actual salt intake of an individual.

Anaemia and iron deficiency anaemia among young adolescent girls from the peri urban coastal area of Indonesia.

Anaemia due to iron deficiency is still a widespread problem. Among adolescent girls, it will bring negative consequences on growth, school performance, morbidity and reproductive performance. This cross sectional study aimed to identify the different nutritional and iron status characteristics of young adolescent girls 10-12 years old with iron deficiency anaemia and anaemia without iron deficiency in the rural coastal area of Indonesia.

Mental and psychomotor development in Indonesian infants of mothers supplemented with vitamin A in addition to iron during pregnancy.

Maternal nutrition is important for fetal development, but its impact on the functional outcome of infants is still unclear. The present study investigated the effects of vitamin A and Fe supplementation during gestation on infant mental and psychomotor development. Mothers of infants from five villages in Indonesia were randomly assigned to supervised, double-blind supplementation once per week from approximately 18 weeks of pregnancy until delivery.

Nutritional status and linear growth of Indonesian infants in west java are determined more by prenatal environment than by postnatal factors.

One of the health problems in Indonesia is the high prevalence of stunting in infants. Determinants and specifically the relative contribution of prenatal and postnatal factors to growth and nutritional status of Indonesian infants were investigated. Newborn infants, from women recruited at approximately 18 wk of pregnancy from 9 rural villages in West Java, Indonesia, were followed until 12-15 mo of age.