Commercial milk formula marketing entry points: setting the course of infant and young child feeding trajectories.

Background: There is a limited understanding of the dynamic influences that shape infant and young child feeding (IYCF) decisions over time. We conducted an innovative qualitative study to reconstruct IYCF trajectories across early life course phases, in the context of the socioecological model (SEM) and the commercial determinants of IYCF.

Methods: Women of different socioeconomic status were interviewed in two large metropolitan areas in Mexico.

Corrigendum: Barriers to promoting breastfeeding in primary health care in Mexico: a qualitative perspective.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.

A community-based intervention study involving family gardens with aromatic herbs on changes in dietary and urinary sodium.

Objective: To measure dietary and urinary changes in sodium (Na) intake and excretion through the implementation of family gardens with aromatic herbs and workshops for cooking, using the herbs as a substitute for salt and seasoning powder.

Methods: Thirty-five participants from a neighborhood of Mexico City were included. A general questionnaire was administered to collect information on sociodemographic factors.

Barriers to promoting breastfeeding in primary health care in Mexico: a qualitative perspective.

Objective: This article aimed to identify the main barriers related to promoting and counseling breastfeeding (BF) at the Primary Health Care (PHC) in Mexico.

Methodology: A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach was carried out in 88 health centers of the Ministry of Health in the states of Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Mexico, and Yucatan. From September to November 2021, we interviewed 88 key health professionals (HPs) (physicians, nurses, nutritionists, and others) from the PHC of the Ministry of Health in Mexico and 80 parents of children under 5 years old.

Implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in Mexico: a systematic literature review using the RE-AIM framework.

Unlabelled: The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global strategy to encourage health facilities to promote, support, and protect breastfeeding by implementing a package of policies and practices known as the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Prior studies have found that implementing the Ten Steps has a positive impact on breastfeeding outcomes. Yet, little is known about the implementation of the Ten Steps in Mexico.

Healthcare professionals and commercial milk formula recommendations in the urban Mexican context.

Introduction: Breastfeeding (BF) is considered an essential component of optimal care for child health and development. In the past two decades, global data have shown improvements in some, but not all, BF indicators. Despite these positive changes sales and per capita intake of commercial milk formula (CMF) have increased globally.

An analysis of actors participating in the design and implementation of workplace breastfeeding interventions in Mexico using the NetMap analysis approach.

Introduction: While breastfeeding is recognized as providing optimal nutrition for infants and toddlers, maternal employment is a commonly mentioned barrier to breastfeeding. The goal was to (a) identify key actors participating in the design and implementation of workplace breastfeeding interventions in Mexico, (b) understand the complexity of interactions between the actors, and (c) map the connections and influence between the actors when looking into networks of Advice, Command, Funding, and Information.

Method: Following the NetMap methodology, a total of 11 semi-structured interviews with 12 interview partners from 10 organizations were conducted.

A scoping review and critical evaluation of the methodological quality of clinical practice guidelines on nutrition in the preconception.

Introduction: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) contain recommendations for specific clinical circumstances, including maternal malnutrition. This study aimed to identify the CPGs that provide recommendations for preventing, diagnosing, and treating women's malnutrition. Additionally, we sought to assess the methodological quality using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument.

Adaptation of a community health outreach model during the COVID-19 pandemic: the case of the Mexican consulates in the United States of America.

The Ventanillas de Salud (VDS - "Health Windows") are a culturally sensitive outreach program within the 49 Mexican Consulates in the United States that provides information and health care navigation support to underserved and uninsured Mexican immigrants. During the COVID-19 pandemic the VDS rapidly transitioned to remote operations adding new services. Based on the EquIR implementation framework, this qualitative study investigates how adaptations to improve emergency preparedness were performed.

Legislation on marketing of breast-milk substitutes in digital and social media: a scoping review.

Innovative and continuously changing methods of digital marketing are routinely used to reach young women and their families with advertisements that normalise infant artificial feeding and undermine breastfeeding. Legislation and provisions regulating digital and social media marketing are limited across countries. The aim of this scoping review was to systematically identify and summarise worldwide legislation implemented to regulate breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing on digital and social media, as well as identifying areas of opportunity to strengthen and improve it.

Breastfeeding: crucially important, but increasingly challenged in a market-driven world.

In this Series paper, we examine how mother and baby attributes at the individual level interact with breastfeeding determinants at other levels, how these interactions drive breastfeeding outcomes, and what policies and interventions are necessary to achieve optimal breastfeeding. About one in three neonates in low-income and middle-income countries receive prelacteal feeds, and only one in two neonates are put to the breast within the first hour of life. Prelacteal feeds are strongly associated with delayed initiation of breastfeeding.

Violations of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes: a multi-country analysis.

The marketing of formula milk as a substitute for breast milk continues to be ubiquitous and multifaceted despite passage by the World Health Assembly of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code) in 1981. In this paper, we summarized reports of the Code violations from eight studies using the WHO/UNICEF NetCode protocol. Among 3,124 pregnant women and mothers with young children, in eight countries, 64% reported exposure to promotion of products covered under the Code in the previous 6 months, primarily from advertisements seen outside of health facilities (62%).

Quality Appraisal of Nutritional Guidelines to Prevent, Diagnose, and Treat Malnutrition in All Its Forms during Pregnancy.

This work aimed to identify clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) that include recommendations for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of women’s malnutrition during pregnancy and to evaluate the quality of these guidelines using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument. We conducted a literature review using PubMed and different websites from January 2009 to February 2021. The quality of the CPGs was independently assessed by reviewers using the AGREE II instrument, which defines guidelines scoring >70% in the overall assessment as “high quality”.

Weight gain trajectories patterns from pregnancy to early postpartum: identifying women at risk and timing to prevent weight regain.

Background: Woman's weight changes during pregnancy and postpartum contribute to obesity and health outcomes later in life. This study aimed to identify and characterize weight change trajectories from pregnancy to one year postpartum among adult women.

Methods: We used data from an ongoing cohort of healthy adult women (n = 819) with singleton pregnancies from 2007 - 2011.

Methodologies for Monitoring the Digital Marketing of Foods and Beverages Aimed at Infants, Children, and Adolescents (ICA): A Scoping Review.

While television has been the most widely used medium for food and beverage marketing, companies are shifting in favor of digital media. The ubiquitous digital marketing of breast-milk substitutes (BMS) and foods and beverages high in saturated fat, salt, and/or free sugars (FBHFSS) has been considered a powerful environmental determinant of inadequate dietary practices during infancy, childhood, and adolescence. The scoping review's aim was to systematically identify and map the types of methodologies available to monitor the digital marketing of foods and beverages targeting infants, children, and adolescents (ICA) worldwide.

Physical Activity in Mexican High Schools.

Background: We evaluated the association between availability of specific physical activity (PA) spaces and PA practices among adolescents within Mexican high schools (HS).

Methods: Data were collected through an online survey applied to principals or person in charge of 4023 Mexican HS during the 2015-2016 school year. Adequate PA was defined as moderate to vigorous intensity PA for ≥60 minutes/day, ≥5 days/week, whereas PA-specific spaces were considered those that were available and specifically designed/used for PA.

Associations of the COVID-19 pandemic with social well-being indicators in Mexico.

Background: Public health measures for COVID-19 containment have implied economic and social life disruptions, which have been particularly deleterious in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) due to high rates of informal employment, overcrowding, and barriers to accessing health services, amongst others social determinants. Mexico, a LMIC, is a country with a high COVID-19 mortality in which there has been a very limited governmental response to help mitigate such COVID-related disruptions. This study analyzes the association of the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis in Mexico with four well-being indicators: income, employment, anxiety, and food security.

What will it take to increase breastfeeding?

The introduction for the Supplement in Maternal & Child Nutrition: What will it take to increase breastfeeding? describes the contribution of each of the articles included in this Supplement to the current evidence about the major structural challenges in place to overcome to improve breastfeeding practices, as well as the evidence-based policies and interventions that can be effective at advancing breastfeeding on a large scale to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.

Exposure to marketing of breastmilk substitutes in Mexican women: Sources and scope.

Background: Aggressive and unregulated marketing of breastmilk substitutes (BMS) results in increased child morbidity and mortality. Unregulated BMS marketing is a major public health concern because it encourages formula consumption at the expense of breastfeeding. This study aimed to identify the sources and characterize the nature of exposure to marketing of BMS among Mexican mothers of children under 18 months of age.

Implementation of Breastfeeding Policies at Workplace in Mexico: Analysis of Context Using a Realist Approach.

Return to work is one of the most significant barriers to breastfeeding (BF). Family-friendly policies are critical to ensure that BF and maternal work are not mutually exclusive. This study aims to determine contextual factors and underlying mechanisms influencing the implementation of workplace policies in Mexico.

Breastfeeding media coverage and beliefs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico: implications for breastfeeding equity.

Background: Because breastfeeding offers short- and long- term health benefits to mothers and children, breastfeeding promotion and support is a public health priority. Evidence shows that SARS-CoV-2 is not likely to be transmitted via breastmilk. Moreover, antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are thought to be contained in breastmilk of mothers with history of COVID-19 infection or vaccination.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Loneliness and Social Isolation: A Multi-Country Study.

The COVID-19 global pandemic and subsequent public health social measures have challenged our social and economic life, with increasing concerns around potentially rising levels of social isolation and loneliness. This paper is based on cross-sectional online survey data (available in 10 languages, from 2 June to 16 November 2020) with 20,398 respondents from 101 different countries. It aims to help increase our understanding of the global risk factors that are associated with social isolation and loneliness, irrespective of culture or country, to support evidence-based policy, services and public health interventions.