A qualitative study comparing the coping strategies between food secure and food insecure households of Kaluppini indigenous people in South Sulawesi

@# Introduction: Food insecurity remains a global challenge, especially among vulnerable indigenous populations. Coping strategies to maintain food security among indigenous groups can be unique and complex, being influenced by cultures. This study aimed to explore the coping strategies employed by food secure and food insecure households in times of food insufficiency, in the Kaluppini indigenous population of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Methods: The study recruited mothers of children aged below 5 years, who agreed to participate in the study’s focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews. All information was recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed. Results: A total of 61 mothers participated in 22 in-depth interviews and six FGDs. Five coping strategies were used by the Kaluppini people i.e. additional income generation, dietary alteration, access to alternative food sources, access to alternative cash sources, and, traditional ways of coping. Both food insecure and secure households reported making dietary changes, such as reducing consumption or substituting foods, borrowing food or money, and practising traditional coping strategies, such as food sharing after performing rituals. In order to generate income, food insecure households reported seeking additional work in the neighbourhood areas, while food secure households migrated in search of work to the other islands or other countries. Conclusion: Food insecure and food secure households changed their diets, borrowed food or money from relatives and relied on traditional coping mechanisms such as food sharing. It is suggested that food insecure Kaluppini households be encouraged to grow essential foods in their gardens to enhance food security.

Limited Health Literacy And Its Associated Factors Among Overweight And Obese Housewives Living In Klang Valley Low Cost Flats: Findings From The My Body Is Fit And Fabulous At Home (Mybff@Home) Study

@#Limited health literacy is highly associated with poor health status. The concept of health literacy in public health relates to the concern that people with lower health literacy were also less likely to engage in health promoting behaviours. This is an analysis on health literacy and its associated factors among housewives and also a sub analysis of the Malaysian My Body is Fit and Fabulous at Home (MyBFF@home) study involving 328 overweight and obese housewives living in low cost flats in Klang Valley, part of a weight loss programme recruited using convenient sampling. Health literacy was measured using the Malay version of Newest Vital Sign (NVS) test with scores ranging from 0 to 6. Total score of ≤2 indicate limited health literacy and total scores of >2 indicate adequate health literacy. Descriptive analysis, chi-square test and multiple logistic regression were used to analyse the data.The mean(SD) NVS score was 1.07(1.19) with most (87.5%) housewives having limited health literacy. Factors that were significantly associated with limited health literacy were older age of 45 to 59 years old (p = 0.040), primary education and below (p = 0.001) and absence of internet connectivity (p = 0.001). In the final model, absence of internet connectivity (OR 2.61; 95%CI 1.31 to 5.22) was associated with limited health literacy. Majority of the housewives have limited health literacy and providing internet connectivity to housewives may increase their health literacy.

La variación genética en el locus de la enzima convertidora se asocia con riesgo de nefropatía diabética / Genetic variation at the angiotensin-I converting enzyme locus and the risk for diabetic nephropathy: an update based on 53 studies and 17 791 subjects

Durante la última década se ha debatido la asociación entre el polimorfismo de inserción/deleción de la enzima convertidora de angiotensina (ECA) y la nefropatía diabética. Para aclarar esta situación actualizamos nuestro metanálisis previo para incluir algunos estudios pertinentes publicados desde 1994, lo que arroja un total de 17 791 sujetos provenientes de 53 estudios. Los casos (n = 9 556) eran personas con diabetes tipo 1 o tipo 2 con nefropatía diabética incipiente o avanzada, mientras que los controles (n = 8 235) eran en su mayor parte normoalbuminúricos. No se detectó ningún sesgo obvio de publicación. Con el uso de una definición de caso mínima sobre la base de la nefropatía diabética incipiente, los sujetos con genotipo II tuvieron una disminución del 22% en el riesgo de enfermedad en comparación con los portadores del alelo D (OR acumulada = 0.78, IC 95% = 0.70-0.87). Si bien se observó una disminución del riesgo entre pacientes de raza blanca con diabetes tipo 1 o tipo 2, la asociación fue más pronunciada entre los asiáticos (chinos, japoneses, coreanos) con diabetes tipo 2 (OR = 0.64, IC 95% = 0.51-0.80); este OR es significativamente diferente del obtenido para los pacientes de raza blanca con diabetes tipo 2 (OR = 0.89, IC 95% = 0.78-1.01) (p = 0.0105). Con una definición de caso más estricta, basada en la nefropatía diabética avanzada, se observó una reducción comparable del riesgo del 19% al 30% entre los tres subgrupos. Esta reducción fue estadísticamente significativa entre los asiáticos con diabetes tipo 2 y los caucásicos con diabetes tipo 1, pero no entre los de raza blanca con diabetes tipo 2. Este metanálisis actualizado fortalece la hipótesis de que la variación genética en el locus de la ECA contribuye al riesgo de la nefropatía diabética.