Objective: Despite numerous global initiatives on breast-feeding, trend data show exclusive breast-feeding (EBF) rates have stagnated over the last two decades. The purpose of the present systematic review was to determine barriers to exclusive breast-feeding in twenty-five low-and middle-income countries and discuss implications for programmes. Design: A search of Scopus, MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsychINFO was conducted to retrieve studies from January 2000 to October 2015. Using inclusion criteria, we selected both qualitative and quantitative studies that described barriers to EBF. Setting: Low-and middle-income countries. Subjects: Following application of systematic review criteria, forty-eight articles from fourteen countries were included in the review. Results: Sixteen barriers to EBF were identified in the review. There is moderate evidence of a negative association between maternal employment and EBF practices. Studies that examined EBF barriers at childbirth and the initial 24 h postdelivery found strong evidence that caesarean section can impede EBF. There is moderate evidence for early initiation of breast-feeding and likelihood of practising EBF. Breast-feeding problems were commonly reported from crosssectional or observational studies. Counselling on EBF and the presence of family and/or community support have demonstrated improvements in EBF. Conclusions: Improving the counselling skills of health workers to address breastfeeding problems and increasing community support for breast-feeding are critical components of infant and young child feeding programming, which will aid in attaining the 2025 World Health Assembly EBF targets. Legislation and regulations on marketing of breast-milk substitutes, paid maternity leave and breast-feeding breaks for working mothers require attention in low-and middle-income countries.

Adequate maternal nutrition during the “first 1,000 days” window is critical from conception through the first 6 months of life to improve nutritional status and reduce the risk of poor birth outcomes, such as low birthweight and preterm birth. Unfortunately, many programmes have targeted implementation and monitoring of nutrition interventions to infants and young children, rather than to women during pregnancy or post‐partum. A literature review was conducted to identify barriers to food choice and consumption during pregnancy and lactation and to examine how low‐ and middle‐income countries have addressed maternal nutrition in programmes. A literature review of peer‐reviewed and grey literature was conducted, and titles and abstracts reviewed by authors. Twenty‐three studies were included in this review. Barriers to adequate nutrition during pregnancy included cultural beliefs related to knowledge of quantity of food to eat during pregnancy, amount of weight to gain during pregnancy, and “eating down” during pregnancy for fear of delivering a large baby. Foods considered inappropriate for consumption during pregnancy or lactation contributed to food restriction. Drivers of food choice were influenced by food aversions, economic constraints, and household food availability. Counselling on maternal diet and weight gain during pregnancy was seldom carried out. Programming to support healthy maternal diet and gestational weight gain during pregnancy is scant. Tailored, culturally resonant nutrition education and counselling on diet during pregnancy and lactation and weight gain during pregnancy, as well as monitoring of progress in maternal nutrition, are areas of needed attention.

* Indicates significance of difference by t -tests between no pica and any pica groups. † Values are mean (SD). 147PICA, ANEMIA, AND GI DISTRESS IN ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA The prevalence of IDA followed a similar pattern, with the prevalence of IDA significantly higher among amylophagists than among those who reported no pica at any point in pregnancy (52.6% versus 36.1%; P < 0.001) and highest among women who ate both pica substances (57.0% versus 36.1%; P < 0.001) ( Figure 2 ). The effect of uncooked rice and earth on iron status was independent; there was no evidence of interaction between the two types of pica behavior on Hb or ZPP.A significantly higher proportion of women who had eaten earth in the current pregnancy had experienced abdominal pain and constipation than non-geophagic women ( Table 4 ). A significantly higher proportion of pregnant women who had consumed uncooked rice at some point in the current pregnancy had experienced nausea and abdominal pain than those who had not. More women who had engaged in any form of pica had experienced nausea, abdominal pain, and constipation in this pregnancy than those who had not. There were no significant differences in loss of appetite, diarrhea, or vomiting between the pica versus non-pica group.Statistical models of pica. We built a multivariate logistic regression model of any pica to examine the relative strength of the association of the correlates of pica when considered jointly ( Table 5 ). Hookworm was not included for three reasons: it greatly limited the sample size, the effects of hookworm on iron status are largely captured by the inclusion of Hb, and we have already established that geophagy is not a vector for hookworm transmission in this population. 15Women with lower Hb concentrations, women who were later in gestation, and women who had experienced abdominal pain or nausea were more likely to engage in pica. Older women and women whose husbands had received formal education were less likely to engage in pica. The variable with the strongest association with any pica was nausea (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.20-1.73), followed by Hb. For every g/dL decrease in Hb concentration, the likelihood of engaging in pica increased by 31.5% (OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.73-0.81).We then examined how the predictors of any pica determined geophagy and amylophagy separately ( Table 5 ). The ORs in logistic models of geophagy and amylophagy separately were consistently in the same direction and of similar magnitude as they were for any pica. DISCUSSIONOf the 2,367 pregnant women, 897 (37.9%) had engaged in geophagy by the time of their enrollment into the larger study of the prevention of severe anemia in pregnancy. Of these, 36.3% were amylophagists, 5.2% were geophagists, and 3.6% had eaten raw rice and earth.The prevalence of geophagy among pregnant women in Africa has been reported to range from 28% to 100% [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] ; the prevalence on Pemba Island was markedly lower (5.2%). However, the amounts of earth consumed in Pemba (26.5 grams/day)...

Polymorphisms in PapA, the major structural subunit and antigenic determinant of P fimbriae of extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, are of considerable epidemiological, phylogenetic, and immunotherapeutic importance. However, to date, no method other than DNA sequencing has been generally available for their detection. In the present study, we developed and rigorously validated a novel PCR-based assay for the 11 recognized variants of papA and then used the new assay to assess the prevalence, phylogenetic distribution, and bacteriological associations of the papA alleles among 75 E. coli isolates from patients with urosepsis. In comparison with conventional F serotyping, the assay was extremely sensitive and specific, evidence that papA sequences are highly conserved within each of the traditionally recognized F serotypes despite the diversity observed among F types. In certain strains, the assay detected serologically occult copies of papA, of which some were shown to represent false-negative serological results and others were shown to represent the presence of nonfunctional pap fragments. Among the urosepsis isolates, the assay revealed considerable segregation of papA alleles according to O:K:H serotype, consistent with vertical transmission within clones, but with exceptions which strongly suggested horizontal transfer of papA alleles between lineages. Sequencing of papA from two strains that were papA positive by probe and PCR but F negative in the new PCR assay led to the discovery of two novel papA variants, one of which was actually more prevalent among the urosepsis isolates than were several of the known papA alleles. These findings provide novel insights into the papA alleles of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli and indicate that the F PCR assay represents a versatile new molecular tool for epidemiological and phylogenetic investigations which should make rapid, specific detection of papA alleles available to any laboratory with PCR capability.

In Egypt, the double burden of malnutrition and rising overweight and obesity in adults mirrors the transition to westernized diets and a growing reliance on energy-dense, low-nutrient foods. This study utilized the trials of improved practices (TIPs) methodology to gain an understanding of the cultural beliefs and perceptions related to feeding practices of infants and young children 0-23 months of age and used this information to work in tandem with 150 mothers to implement feasible solutions to feeding problems in Lower and Upper Egypt. The study triangulated in-depth interviews (IDIs) with mothers participating in TIPs, with IDIs with 40 health providers, 40 fathers and 40 grandmothers to gain an understanding of the influence and importance of the role of other caretakers and health providers in supporting these feeding practices. Study findings reveal high consumption of junk foods among toddlers, increasing in age and peaking at 12-23 months of age. Sponge cakes and sugary biscuits are not perceived as harmful and considered 'ideal' common complementary foods. Junk foods and beverages often compensate for trivial amounts of food given. Mothers are cautious about introducing nutritious foods to young children because of fears of illness and inability to digest food. Although challenges in feeding nutritious foods exist, mothers were able to substitute junk foods with locally available and affordable foods. Future programming should build upon cultural considerations learned in TIPs to address sustainable, meaningful changes in infant and young child feeding to reduce junk foods and increase dietary quality, quantity and frequency.

Objective: The present literature review aimed to review the evidence for community-based distribution (CBD) of iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation as a feasible approach to improve anaemia rates in low-and middle-income countries. Design: The literature review included peer-reviewed studies and grey literature from PubMed, Cochrane Library, LILAC and Scopus databases. Setting: Low-and middle-income countries. Subjects: Non-pregnant women, pregnant women, and girls. Results: CBD programmes had moderate success with midwives and community health workers (CHW) who counselled on health benefits and compliance with IFA supplementation. CHW were more likely to identify and reach a greater number of women earlier in pregnancy, as women tended to present late to antenatal care. CBD channels had greater consistency in terms of adequate supplies of IFA in comparison to clinics and vendors, who faced stock outages. Targeting women of reproductive age through school and community settings showed high compliance and demonstrated reductions in anaemia. Conclusions: CBD of IFA supplementation can be a valuable platform for improving knowledge about anaemia, addressing compliance and temporary side-effects of IFA supplements, and increasing access and coverage of IFA supplementation. Programmatic efforts focusing on community-based platforms should complement services and information provided at the health facility level. Provision of training and supportive supervision for CHW on how to counsel women on benefits, side-effects, and when, why, and how to take IFA supplements, as part of behaviour change communication, can be strengthened, alongside logistics and supply systems to ensure consistent supplies of IFA tablets at both the facility and community levels. Globally, anaemia affects 29 % of pregnant women and 38 % of non-pregnant women (1) and is associated with one-fifth of maternal deaths (2) . Anaemia puts women at greater risk of mortality, morbidity, postpartum haemorrhage and poor birth outcomes, including preterm births and low birth weight (3,4) . The WHO recommends daily iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation (30-60 mg iron, 0·4 g folic acid) initiated as early as possible and continued throughout pregnancy for all adolescent and adult women as a key intervention to reduce the risk of maternal anaemia, iron deficiency and infants born with low birth weight (5) . According to findings from a recent meta-analysis, IFA supplementation would increase the mean blood Hb concentration by 10·2 (95% CI 6·1, 14·2) g/l in pregnant women and by 8·6 (95% CI 3·9, 13·4) g/l in non-pregnant women (aged 19-21 years) (6) . Applying these shifts to estimated blood Hb concentrations indicates that about 50 % of anaemia in women could be eliminated by IFA supplementation (6) .

The Baby‐Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) is an extension of the 10th step of the Ten Steps of Successful Breastfeeding and the Baby‐Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) and provides continued breastfeeding support to communities upon facility discharge after birth. BFCI creates a comprehensive support system at the community level through the establishment of mother‐to‐mother and community support groups to improve breastfeeding. The Government of Kenya has prioritized community‐based programming in the country, including the development of the first national BFCI guidelines, which inform national and subnational level implementation. This paper describes the process of BFCI implementation within the Kenyan health system, as well as successes, challenges, and opportunities for integration of BFCI into health and other sectors. In Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) and UNICEF areas, 685 community leaders were oriented to BFCI, 475 health providers trained, 249 support groups established, and 3,065 children 0–12 months of age reached (MCSP only). Though difficult to attribute to our programme, improvements in infant and young child feeding practices were observed from routine health data following the programme, with dramatic declines in prelacteal feeding (19% to 11%) in Kisumu County and (37.6% to 5.1%) in Migori County from 2016 to 2017. Improvements in initiation and exclusive breastfeeding in Migori were also noted—from 85.9% to 89.3% and 75.2% to 92.3%, respectively. Large gains in consumption of iron‐rich complementary foods were also seen (69.6% to 90.0% in Migori, 78% to 90.9% in Kisumu) as well as introduction of complementary foods (42.0–83.3% in Migori). Coverage for BFCI activities varied across counties, from 20% to 60% throughout programme implementation and were largely sustained 3 months postimplementation in Migori, whereas coverage declined in Kisumu. BFCI is a promising platform to integrate into other sectors, such as early child development, agriculture, and water, sanitation, and hygiene.

). Antimicrobial resistance profiles were variable, and resistance was inconsistently transferred by conjugation. These findings indicate that the O15:K52:H1 clonal group is broadly distributed beyond Europe, exhibits previously unrecognized phenotypic and genotypic diversity, and contributes significantly to extraintestinal infections in humans.