ABSTRACT
<b>Objectives </b><BR> Recently, there has been an increasing focus on nutrition in international health cooperation. However, little attention has been paid on global nutrition issues and their methodologies in Japan. One of the possible reasons is that the whole picture cannot be clearly grasped, because nutrition issues and actions have been considered separately at international organizations such as WHO, FAO, and UNICEF. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the trends in food and nutrition policy framework, dietary recommendations and nutritional requirements formulated by international organizations through a review of published nutrition policy guidelines and standards since the 1990s.<BR><b>Method</b><BR> Policy guidelines, technical reports, annual reports, and other relevant materials published between 1990 and 2015, available on the WHO, FAO and UNICEF websites, were reviewed. Then, we extracted the study focused on nutrition problems and their solutions. The purpose and contents of each document and guidelines were identified and categorized in a summary table, so as to investigate their feasures and time trend.<BR><b>Results</b><BR> This study identified 22 statements on food and nutrition policy frameworks, 14 dietary recommendations and nutritional requirements, and 5 information systems. It was revealed that, in the 1990s, the focus was to develop and standardize the methods for nutritional assessment of children. The goal during this period was to achieve food-based security through improvement in energy and nutrient intakes such as proteins and vitamin A, so as to reduce severe child malnutrition and maternal mortality. Later, various recommendations were formulated on double burden of malnutrition, the importance of breastfeeding and the context of the food system and nutrition in the 2000s, and on noncommunicable disease prevention and control policies and practical methodologies to reduce nutrition disparities after 2010. Several information systems were established, which have been utilized as the evidence database to develop policy frameworks.
ABSTRACT
A community-based case control study was conducted to identify risk factors of hypertension in Phuttamonthon District, Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand. The selected case sample comprised of 115 females aged 40 years and over who were diagnosed as hypertensive (Blood Pressure (BP) >140/90 mmHg). The control sample consisted of 109 females in the same age range with normal blood pressure (BP<140/90 mmHg). Data collection was carried out between January 15 and February 14, 2004. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information that was required for the objective determination in this study.<br>The results indicated that the most significant risk factor of hypertension in the study area was obesity (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.62-3.63). It was confirmed that diabetes was also a risk factor of hypertension (OR = 2.42, 95% CI = 1.08-5.43). When obesity and diabetes were combined, the risk of developing hypertension was elevated (OR = 4.10, 95% CI = 1.17-15.72). There was no significant association between hypertension and sodium consumption behavior, salty food consumption (OR = 0.78, 95%CI = 0.44-1.36) and risky eating habit (OR = 1.04, 95%CI = 0.60-1.83). <br>According to the results, the most prioritized intervention to control hypertension in the study area is body weight modification. Although moderating sodium consumption is becoming the most prioritized nationwide intervention to control blood pressure based on findings of studies mostly conducted in Bangkok, it is not the most effective strategy in the study area. Considering regional differences, it would lead effective results if future interventions can focus on specific areas in which people are having similar patterns of diet and physical exercise, social conventions and culture, in combinations with population-wide approaches as well as with individual-based interventions.