BackgroundUndernutrition poses a serious health challenge in developing countries and Tanzania has the highest undernutrition burden of Eastern and Southern Africa. Poor infant and young child feeding practices have been identified as the main causes for undernutrition. As dietary diversity is a major requirement if children are to get all essential nutrients, it can thus be used as one of the core indicators when assessing feeding practices and nutrition of children. Therefore, adequate information on the association between dietary diversity and undernutrition to identify potential strategies for the prevention of undernutrition is critical. Here we examined to what extent dietary diversity is associated with undernutrition among children of 6 to 23 months in Tanzania.MethodsUsing existing data from the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey of 2015–2016, we carried out secondary data analysis. Stunting, Wasting and Underweight of the surveyed children were calculated from Z-scores of Height-for-age (HAZ), Weight-for-height (WHZ) and Weight-for-age (WAZ) based on 2006 WHO standards. A composite dietary diversity score was created by summing the number of food groups eaten the previous day as reported for each child by the mother ranging from 0 to 7. Then, minimum dietary diversity (MDD) of 4 food groups out of seven was used to assess the diversity of the diet given to children. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression techniques were used to assess the crude and adjusted odds ratios of stunting, wasting and being underweight.ResultsA total of 2960 children were enrolled in this study. The prevalence of stunting was 31%, wasting 6% and underweight 14%. Among all children, 51% were female and 49% male. The majority (74%) of children did not reach the MDD. The most commonly consumed types of foods were grains, roots and tubers (91%), and Vitamin A containing fruits and vegetables (65%). The remaining food groups were reported to be consumed by a much lower proportion of children, including eggs (7%), meat and fish (36%), milk and dairy products (22%), as well as legumes and nuts (35%), and other vegetables (21%). Consumption of a diverse diet was significantly associated with a reduction of stunting, wasting and being underweight in children. The likelihood of being stunted, wasted and underweight was found to decrease as the number of food groups consumed increased. Children who did not receive the MDD had a significantly higher likelihood of being stunted (AOR = 1.37, 95% CI; 1.13–1.65) and underweight (AOR = 1.49, 95% CI; 1.15–1.92), but this was not the case for wasting. Consumption of animal-source foods has been found to be associated with reduced stunting among children.ConclusionConsumption of a diverse diet is associated with a reduction in undernutrition among children of 6 to 23 months in Tanzania. Measures to improve the type of complementary foods in order to meet the energy and nutritional demands of children should be considered in Tanzania.

Background: Undernutrition is a public health problem worldwide. Tanzania has made significant achievements in the reduction of childhood undernutrition over the past two decades. However, the exact burden of undernutrition was underestimated when using conventional indices of stunting, wasting and underweight. The objective of this study was to determine the overall prevalence of undernutrition, describe the trends and examine the correlates associated with undernutrition among children under-five years using the composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF). This study aims to understand the real burden and drivers of undernutrition to improve design, implementation and monitoring of appropriate interventions to ameliorate all form of childhood undernutrition in the country. Methods: About 37,205 mother-child pairs were retrieved and analyzed from the Tanzania Demographic and

Background Undernutrition poses a serious health challenge in developing countries. Tanzania has the highest undernutrition burdens in East and Southern Africa. Poor infant and young child feeding practices including consumption of undiversified diet are the main cause for undernutrition. There is limited information regarding the association between dietary diversity and undernutrition in Tanzania. The objective of this paper was to examine to what extent the dietary diversity is associated with undernutrition of children of 6 to 23 months in Tanzania.Methods This is a secondary data analysis from data collected by the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey of 2015-2016. Stunting, wasting and underweight were calculated from Z-scores based on 2006 WHO standards. A dietary diversity score was created by summing the number of food groups reported for each child by the mother ranging from 0 to 7. Then, a Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) indicator was used to assess the diversity of the diet given to children. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression techniques were used to assess the odds ratios of becoming undernourished.Results A total of 2,960 children were enrolled in this study. The majority (73.9%) of children did not reach the recommended Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD). The most commonly consumed types of foods were grains, roots and tubers (91%), and Vitamin A containing fruits and vegetables (65%). Consumption of a diverse diet was significantly associated with a reduction of stunting, wasting and being underweight in children. The likelihood of being stunted, wasted and underweight was found to decrease as the number of food group consumed increased. Children who did not received an MDD diet had a significantly higher likelihood of being stunted (AOR=1.37, 95% CI; 1.13-1.65) and underweight (AOR=1.49, 95% CI; 1.15-1.92), but this was not the case for wasting. Consumption of animal source foods has been found to be associated with reduced stunting among children.Conclusion Consumption of a diverse diet was associated with a reduction in undernutrition among children of 6 to 23 months in Tanzania. Measures to improve the type of complementary foods in order to meet the energy and nutritional demands of children should be considered in Tanzania.

Introduction: In the Police Forces Hypertension, Diabetes, Renal Insufficiency and Thyroid Derangement (HyDRIT) pilot study we explored the prevalence, risk factors, awareness, treatment adequacy and complications of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and other non-communicable diseases among adult Police Forces households in two housing complexes in Khartoum, Sudan. Methods: Serum creatinine measurements and urine dipstick testing were performed for 273 individuals. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was estimated using the standardized Cockroft-Gault and the four variable MDRD formulas. CKD was defined as an estimated GFR of less than 60 ml/min/1.73m2 and/or proteinuria. Results: The overall prevalence of CKD was 11% (30/273) using the standardized Cockroft-Gault equation and 7.7% (21/273) using the four variable MDRD equation. According to the standardized Cockroft-Gault formula, 14 subjects had reduced GFR with negative urine dipstick testing, two subjects had both proteinuria and reduced GFR, and 14 subjects had proteinuria without reduction in GFR. None of those subjects was aware of his kidney problem. According to the standardized Cockroft-Gault formula, 14 of the identified CKD cases were hypertensive (46.7%); eight of them (57.1%) had a prior diagnosis of hypertension but none achieved therapeutic targets. Four of the identified CKD cases were diabetic (13.3%), three of whom had a prior diagnosis of diabetes mellitus with reasonably controlled blood sugar levels. Only age above 50 years and low educational level proved to be independent risk factors for CKD in multivariate analysis. Conclusion:The prevalence of CKD in the study population seems to be comparable to other countries.

Objective: Generally, child's feeding practices especially exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is affected by individual, social, cultural, and health services related factors. Planning, implementation and evaluation of programs to promote Infant and Young child's Feeding (IYCF) require detailed current information about these factors. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of EBF and identify factors that predicted EBF among mothers in Micheweni, Chake-Chake, and North 'A' districts in Zanzibar.Methods: This is a community based cross-sectional study conducted among 303 mother-infant pairs aged up to 6 months. Standardised questionnaire was used to record infant's characteristics including age, gender, and place of delivery. Mothers were interviewed about their current breastfeeding practices, their knowledge regarding breastfeeding and support they obtained from their husbands, grandmothers and other family members. Both univariate and multivariate analysis were used to identify prevalence and predictors to EBF.Results: The prevalence of EBF in this study was found to be at 20.8% (n=63). Mother's knowledge was good regarding some breastfeeding practices, however; many of them didn't practice EBF. After multiple logistic regressions, variables that predicted EBF were: current age of mother, number of children under five, time when a mother is away from her child, place of delivery, support from madrassa and health centres, and knowledge about breastfeeding. The odds of mothers to EBF their babies were found to be significantly higher for: young mothers aged 21-25 years (AOR=7.4; 95% CI, 1.76-31.9), children who were born at the hospital (AOR=2.66; 95% CI; 1.37-5.17), and mothers who were strongly supported from community classes or madrassa (AOR=10.6; 95% CI, 2.8-39.75).Conclusion: Although majority of mothers have shown a good understanding on the importance of breastfeeding, the prevalence of EBF was still low. Factors affecting EBF are multifaceted; thus, government through its ministries should intensify EBF promotions for reduction of childhood malnutrition.