A North-South-South Collaborative Action to Prevent Micronutrient Deficiencies in Women and Young Children in South-East Asia: The SMILING Project.

Objectives: SMILING "Sustainable Micronutrient Interventions to Control Deficiencies and Improve Nutritional status and General Health in Asia" (FP7), is a transnational collaboration of research institutions and implementation agencies in five SEA countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Thailand and Vietnam, with European partners, to introduce state-of-the-art knowledge into policy to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition in SEA women of reproductive age (WRA) and young children. Objectives were to: build capacity on problem analysis; identify priority interventions and develop roadmaps for national policies. Methods: SMILING has been built around a consortium that worked on Optifood software to identify nutrient gaps; nutritional problem analysis and potential interventions by reviewing current situation and program, and knowledge on effective interventions and multi-criteria mapping for stakeholder analysis to develop national guidelines. Results: Iron, zinc, vitamin A and iodine deficiency remain common in SEA. Even though the five SEA countries differ in nutritional situation and stages of development, iron intake in young children in all countries was inadequate, as folate intake in WRA, even with theoretical best possible diets. Consequently, interventions including supplementation, food-based strategies and public health measures were appraised through multi-stakeholder analysis. Successful experiences and lessons in implementing nutrition programs in these countries were also critically reviewed. Policy roadmaps by country are being drafted accordingly. Conclusions: SMILING conducted an analysis of nutrition situation in each SEA country. Gaps in intake of several micronutrients cannot be currently solved by dietary solution and e.g. food fortification needs to be considered. Roadmaps for each country policy-makers are being formulated. Funding: European Commission-FP7, GA-2896-16.

Iron Status is Associated with Body Composition in Cambodian Infants and Young Children.

Objectives: Malnutrition in early childhood predisposes to a higher risk for non-communicable diseases such as obesity and cardio-vascular diseases later in life through not fully understood metabolic alterations. Little is known about body composition in early childhood in relation to micronutrient status. Methods: Infants were recruited through the WinFood project which studied the effectiveness of fortified complementary foods (FCF) in improving health and growth. Anthropometry (weight, height, MUAC, skinfolds), body composition (deuterium dilution) and micronutrient status (iron, zinc, vitamin A) were measured at 6 mo and 15 mo of age. Results: From 269 Cambodian infants data on body composition and micronutrient status were available for both time-points. Lean body mass increased with 1.96 ±0.59 kg, whereas percentage body fat decreased from 21.7% to 14.9% over the study period (P<0.001). At 6 and 15 mo of age, body fat was strongly correlated to ponderal growth (WHZ, P<0.01) but not to length growth (HAZ) or gender. Vitamin A and zinc status were not related to fat mass. Iron status at 6 and 15 months of age significantly correlated with body composition, with infants with no iron stores at endpoint having a higher fat mass (14.0% vs 15.5%, P=0.02). Infants without iron deficiency during the study had significant lower fat mass (13.3%) than infants who were iron deficient at both timepoints (16.4%, P<0.01) Conclusions: Iron status, but not vitamin A or zinc status, was related to body composition in Cambodian infants. FCF aimed at improving iron status in early childhood may have long-term health benefits.