Background: The establishment of staff canteens is expected to improve the nutritional situation of Cambodian garment workers. The objective of this study is to assess the nutritive value of low-price model lunch sets provided at a garment factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Methods: Exemplary lunch sets were served to female workers through a temporary canteen at a garment factory in Phnom Penh. Dish samples were collected repeatedly to examine mean serving sizes of individual ingredients. Food composition tables and NutriSurvey software were used to assess mean amounts and contributions to recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) or adequate intake of energy, macronutrients, dietary fiber, vitamin C (VitC), iron, vitamin A (VitA), folate and vitamin B12 (VitB12). Results: On average, lunch sets provided roughly one third of RDA or adequate intake of energy, carbohydrates, fat and dietary fiber. Contribution to RDA of protein was high (46% RDA). The sets contained a high mean share of VitC (159% RDA), VitA (66% RDA), and folate (44% RDA), but were low in VitB12 (29% RDA) and iron (20% RDA). Conclusions: Overall, lunches satisfied recommendations of caloric content and macronutrient composition. Sets on average contained a beneficial amount of VitC, VitA and folate. Adjustments are needed for a higher iron content. Alternative iron-rich foods are expected to be better suited, compared to increasing portions of costly meat/fish components. Lunch provision at Cambodian garment factories holds the potential to improve food security of workers, approximately at costs of <1 USD/person/day at large scale. Data on quantitative total dietary intake as well as physical activity among workers are needed to further optimize the concept of staff canteens.
Background: Home gardens are an old agricultural practice playing a key role in household food security and diversity. Proximity of gardens to the home facilitates easy access to food and reduces household expenditure. Home gardens combined with nutrition education could improve household diets both quantitatively and qualitatively. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of a nutrition education intervention on families with home gardens in Morogoro, Tanzania. Methods:Two cross-sectional nutrition surveys were conducted at different time points, the baseline in OctoberNovember 2013 and endline in May-June 2014. Between the surveys, an intervention consisting of three interactive nutrition education sessions was conducted in December 2013. The study targeted forty households owning home gardens in urban areas of Morogoro municipality. Mixed methods were used to collect data, including semi-structured questionnaires for quantitative data and focus group discussions for qualitative data. Results:The estimated marginal means showed small statistically non-significant improvements in knowledge scores for vitamin A (p = 0.145, partial η 2 = 0.065) and iron (p = 0.403, partial η 2 = 0.022). There were more positive scores observed for both nutrients at endline compared with baseline. Composite knowledge scores calculated for participants showed improvements in the category with scores between 3 and 6 points, for both nutrients. Conclusion:While a statistically significant improvement in knowledge scores was not observed, an increase in number of positive scores and composite knowledge scores indicate an improvement in nutrition knowledge among participants. These results show that families having home gardens and who are provided with nutrition education can improve the quality of their household diets. Nutrition education in combination with other agricultural interventions could be a potential tool to improve nutritional status and should be integrated into public health programmes and strategies.
Background: Pakistan has grappled with the challenge of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) however the country has made definite strides towards addressing it. IDD is easily prevented through consumption of adequately iodized salt. This article documents Pakistan's journey on the road to achieving universal salt iodization. Methods: Non-systematic review of Nutrition International's (NI) internal documents, case studies and other articles was used to assimilate findings. Additionally, Situation Analysis of the Salt Sector was also undertaken. Results: There are 1,350 salt processors producing 1.12 million tonnes of salt, of which 54% is for edible purposes and 46% for industrial purposes. Small, medium and large salt processors are categorized based on the production capacities. NNS, 2018 reported a higher household coverage of iodized salt (79.6%), while urinary iodine excretion showed that 7.3% of 6-12 year children were severely deficient in iodine. Conclusion: As Pakistan moves ahead in its journey towards achieving USI, it is important to understand that the focus on the program will gradually shift to sustaining USI. Hence, keeping in mind all the constraints, we need to prepare ourselves for the next stage of achieving and sustaining USI.
Background: Anaemia is one of the most common public health challenges. The objective of this paper was to estimate the prevalence of anaemia among non-pregnant and non-lactating women (NPNLW) (15-49 years) from low-income families and to assess the associations between socio-demographic and economic factors, and the prevalence of anaemia.Methods: Primary data of non-pregnant and non-lactating women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years) from low-income families collected from two selected districts of Madhya Pradesh state, India were used. Inferential statistical tools like; multiple binary logistic regressions and random forest analysis were adopted to assess the socio-demographic and economic factors associated with anaemia.Results: The results revealed that prevalence of anaemia in both the districts are quite high at 60.8% (95% CI: 58.6%, 62.9%) in Vidisha to 63.7% (95% CI: 61.6%, 65.7%) in Raisen with mean haemoglobin levels of 11.27±1.92 g/dl in Vidisha to 11.24±1.70 g/dl in Raisen, which is close to <12 g/dl cut-off based on WHO categorization. It was also found that those who are from the scheduled caste and other castes were less likely to be anaemic compared to those who were from scheduled tribes in Vidisha district. Majority of women not consuming iron supplements were found to be anaemic.Conclusions: Education was observed to be the most predominant factor inversely associated with anaemia. Age and the type of household were also found to be associated factors. Along with supplementation and nutrition education, fortification of foods is also recommended in addressing the anaemia burden.
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