Efficacy of front-of-pack warning label system versus guideline for daily amount on healthfulness perception, purchase intention and objective understanding of nutrient content of food products in Guatemala: a cross-over cluster randomized controlled experiment.

Background: Front-of-package warning labels (FOPWL) have been adopted in many countries aiming at reducing the consumption of unhealthy food and drink products and have also been considered in Guatemala. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of FOPWL versus Guidelines for Daily Amount (GDA) on products' healthfulness perception (HP), purchase intention (PI) and the objective understanding of the nutrient content (UNC) in Guatemala.

Methods: Participants (children and adults) (n = 356) were randomly assigned to evaluate either FOPWL or GDA during a crossover cluster randomized experiment in rural and urban areas across 3 phases of exposure.

Trends and factors related to adolescent pregnancies: an incidence trend and conditional inference trees analysis of northern Nicaragua demographic surveillance data.

Background: We aimed to identify the 2001-2013 incidence trend, and characteristics associated with adolescent pregnancies reported by 20-24-year-old women.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of the Cuatro Santos Northern Nicaragua Health and Demographic Surveillance 2004-2014 data on women aged 15-19 and 20-24. To calculate adolescent birth and pregnancy rates, we used the first live birth at ages 10-14 and 15-19 years reported by women aged 15-19 and 20-24 years, respectively, along with estimates of annual incidence rates reported by women aged 20-24 years.

Under-5 Mortality in Central America: 1990-2016.

Background And Objectives: We aimed to calculate the change in under-5 mortality rates (U5MRs) (1990-2016), to assess countries' status regarding Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.2.1 (reducing the U5MR to ≤25 deaths per 1000 live births by 2030), to list the most important causes of death (1990, 2016), and to examine the association between selected SDG indicators and U5MRs using a linear mixed-effects regression.

Association of parity with birthweight and neonatal death in five sites: The Global Network's Maternal Newborn Health Registry study.

Background: Nulliparity has been associated with lower birth weight (BW) and other adverse pregnancy outcomes, with most of the data coming from high-income countries. In this study, we examined birth weight for gestational age z-scores and neonatal (28-day) mortality in a large prospective cohort of women dated by first trimester ultrasound from multiple sites in low and middle-income countries.

Methods: Pregnant women were recruited during the first trimester of pregnancy and followed through 6 weeks postpartum from Maternal Newborn Health Registry (MNHR) sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Guatemala, Belagavi and Nagpur, India, and Pakistan from 2017 and 2018.

Overweight and obesity of school-age children in El Salvador according to two international systems: a population-based multilevel and spatial analysis.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO-2007) and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF-Cole) systems assess child weight status. However, derived estimations often differ. We aimed to a) compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity, b) analyze individual and contextual factors associated with child weight using multilevel analysis and c) explore the spatial distribution of overweight and obesity using both classification systems.

Assessing the Multiple Dimensions of Poverty. Data Mining Approaches to the 2004-14 Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Cuatro Santos, Nicaragua.

We identified clusters of multiple dimensions of poverty according to the capability approach theory by applying data mining approaches to the Cuatro Santos Health and Demographic Surveillance database, Nicaragua. Four municipalities in northern Nicaragua constitute the Cuatro Santos area, with 25,893 inhabitants in 5,966 households (2014). A local process analyzing poverty-related problems, prioritizing suggested actions, was initiated in 1997 and generated a community action plan 2002-2015.

Food insecurity and self-rated health in rural Nicaraguan women of reproductive age: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Access to food is a basic necessity, and food insecurity may impair the individual's well-being and health. Self-rated health measurements have frequently been used to assess population health. Little is known, however, as to whether food security is associated with self-rated health in low- and middle-income settings.

Child survival revolutions revisited - lessons learned from Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Rwanda and Vietnam.

Unlabelled: Analysing child mortality may enhance our perspective on global achievements in child survival. We used data from surveillance sites in Bangladesh, Nicaragua and Vietnam and Demographic Health Surveys in Rwanda to explore the development of neonatal and under-five mortality. The mortality curves showed dramatic reductions over time, but child mortality in the four countries peaked during wars and catastrophes and was rapidly reduced by targeted interventions, multisectorial development efforts and community engagement.

The Global Network Neonatal Cause of Death algorithm for low-resource settings.

Aim: This study estimated the causes of neonatal death using an algorithm for low-resource areas, where 98% of the world's neonatal deaths occur.

Methods: We enrolled women in India, Pakistan, Guatemala, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Zambia from 2014 to 2016 and tracked their delivery and newborn outcomes for up to 28 days. Antenatal care and delivery symptoms were collected using a structured questionnaire, clinical observation and/or a physical examination.

Breaking the cycles of poverty: Strategies, achievements, and lessons learned in Los Cuatro Santos, Nicaragua, 1990-2014.

Background: In a post-war frontier area in north-western Nicaragua that was severely hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, local stakeholders embarked on and facilitated multi-dimensional development initiatives to break the cycles of poverty.

Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe the process of priority-setting, and the strategies, guiding principles, activities, achievements, and lessons learned in these local development efforts from 1990 to 2014 in the Cuatro Santos area, Nicaragua.

Methods: Data were derived from project records and a Health and Demographic Surveillance System that was initiated in 2004.

Comparing progress toward the millennium development goal for under-five mortality in León and Cuatro Santos, Nicaragua, 1990-2008.

Background: Social inequality in child survival hampers the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4). Monitoring under-five mortality in different social strata may contribute to public health policies that strive to reduce social inequalities. This population-based study examines the trends, causes, and social inequality of mortality before the age of five years in rural and urban areas in Nicaragua.

Progress towards Millennium Development Goal 1 in northern rural Nicaragua: findings from a health and demographic surveillance site.

Background: Millennium Development Goal 1 encourages local initiatives for the eradication of extreme poverty. However, monitoring is indispensable to insure that actions performed at higher policy levels attain success. Poverty in rural areas in low- and middle-income countries remains chronic.

Tracking progress towards equitable child survival in a Nicaraguan community: neonatal mortality challenges to meet the MDG 4.

Background: Nicaragua has made progress in the reduction of the under-five mortality since 1980s. Data for the national trends indicate that this poor Central American country is on track to reach the Millennium Development Goal-4 by 2015. Despite this progress, neonatal mortality has not showed same progress.

Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in children and young adults in Nicaragua.

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) results in morbidity and mortality that is disproportionate among individuals in developing countries compared to those living in economically developed countries. The global burden of disease is uncertain because most previous studies to determine the prevalence of RHD in children relied on clinical screening criteria that lacked the sensitivity to detect most cases. The present study was performed to determine the prevalence of RHD in children and young adults in León, Nicaragua, an area previously thought to have a high prevalence of RHD.

The Nicaraguan Health and Demographic Surveillance Site, HDSS-Leon: a platform for public health research.

Aim: To describe the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in León, Nicaragua and to present results from the 2002-2003 baseline.

Design And Methods: A 22% sample of the total population in León, both urban and rural, was selected in 1993. This sample was updated in 2002 and will be followed up on a biannual basis with regard to births, deaths, in-migration, and out-migration.

From "among girl friends" to "among mothers"--baseline research adjusts a health promoting intervention in Nicaragua.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to show how baseline findings can redefine the design of an intervention.

Design: A baseline cross-sectional study. Setting.