The effects of gases from food waste on human health: A systematic review.

Food waste is a routine and increasingly growing global concern that has drawn significant attention from policymakers, climate change activists and health practitioners. Amid the plurality of discourses on food waste-health linkages, however, the health risks from food waste induced emissions have remained under explored. This lack of evidence is partly because of the lack of complete understanding of the effects of food waste emissions from household food waste on human health either directly through physiological mechanisms or indirectly through environmental exposure effects. Thus, this systematic review contributes to the literature by synthesizing available evidence to highlight gaps and offers a comprehensive baseline inventory of food waste emissions and their associated impacts on human health to support public health decision-making. Four database searches: Web of Science, OVID(Medline), EMBASE, and Scopus, were searched from inception to 3 May 2023. Pairs of reviewers screened 2189 potentially eligible studies that addressed food waste emissions from consumers and how the emissions related to human health. Following PRISMA guidelines, 26 articles were eligible for data extraction for the systematic review. Findings indicate that emissions from food waste, such as hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, and volatile organic carbons, can affect human endocrine, respiratory, nervous, and olfactory systems. The severity of the human health effects depends on the gaseous concentration, but range from mild lung irritation to cancer and death. This study recommends emission capture technologies, food diversion programs, and biogas technologies to reduce food waste emissions.

Beyond Purchasing Power: The Association Between Sense of Community Belongingness and Food Insecurity Among Older Adults in Canada.

Food is a basic human need, yet a significant proportion of older Canadian adults are vulnerable to food insecurity. The health risks associated with aging make food insecurity among this subgroup a critical policy issue. In Canada, policy solutions to food insecurity are however skewed toward the provision of income support to vulnerable groups. While these income support programs are timely, little emphasis is placed on social factors such as sense of community belongingness. This is despite evidence that food insecurity is a socially mediated experience that goes beyond the ability to purchase food. Drawing data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (n = 24,546) and using negative log-log regression, we examined the association between sense of community belongingness and food insecurity among older adults. Findings show that older adults with a "very weak" (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40, p < .001) and "somewhat weak" (OR = 1.23, p < .01) sense of community belongingness were significantly more likely to be food insecure compared to those with a "very strong" sense of belongingness. This study contributes to a growing body of the literature that demonstrates the need for an integrated approach to addressing food insecurity - one that goes beyond income support to include consideration of social factors like sense of community belonging.

Alcohol misuse as a social determinant of food insecurity among smallholder farmers.

The availability and affordability of alcohol in smallholder communities have surged the misuse of alcohol. Misusing alcohol has dire health and nutrition consequences in smallholder communities. Alcohol misuse can divert household resources from essential household needs such as food and also hinder local food production. In the context of multiple stressors on smallholder farmers' livelihoods, it is crucial to assess the relationship between alcohol consumption and smallholder farmers' experience of hunger. Therefore, we used data from a cross-sectional survey involving 1100 smallholder farmers in the Upper West region of Ghana to examine the association between alcohol consumption and household food insecurity. Results showed that daily (OR = 3.81; p ≤ 0.001) and weekly/frequent (OR = 2.32; p ≤ 0.001) consumption of alcohol was significantly associated with higher odds of household food insecurity compared to no consumption. The relationship between alcohol and food insecurity was bidirectional. The experience of food insecurity was also significantly associated with higher odds of occasional or frequent alcohol consumption. While alcohol misuse can transition smallholder households into food insecurity, the household heads of food insecure households may resort to alcohol to cope with underlying stressors such as climate change and food insecurity. This calls for policy interventions to mitigate alcohol misuse through regulations, surveillance, economic disincentives and improving the social mechanisms of resilience to climate change and food insecurity in smallholder communities. However, policy approaches must be cautious not to disrupt the livelihoods of vulnerable smallholder farmers.

The Parallel Pandemic: A Systematic Review on the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on OCD among Children and Adolescents.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying social changes severely impacted mental health globally. Children and adolescents may have been vulnerable to adverse mental health outcomes, especially obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), due to their underdeveloped resilience and coping skills stemming from their progressing physical and psychological development. Few studies have explored the parallels between the pandemic and OCD trends in this population. This systematic review aims to identify the impacts of COVID-19 on OCD among children and adolescents. Using the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of eight databases for studies that assessed OCD outcomes independently or as part of other psychiatric diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted. The search was limited to studies on humans and those written in English and published between January 2020 and May 2023. We identified 788 articles, out of which 71 were selected for a full-text review. Twenty-two papers were synthesized from 10 countries for the final analysis. We found that 77% of our studies suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on OCD among children and adolescents. We also found a complex interplay of individual, household, and socio-structural factors associated with the aggravation of OCD. Conversely, a few studies revealed that the pandemic strengthened relationships and resilience. The findings of this study emphasize the need for mental health screening and support for this population, especially during pandemic periods.

Spatial analysis of climatic factors and plasmodium falciparum malaria prevalence among children in Ghana.

Malaria is a major public health problem especially in Africa where 94% of global malaria cases occur. Malaria prevalence and mortalities are disproportionately higher among children. In 2019, children accounted for 67% of malaria deaths globally. Recently, climatic factors have been acknowledged to influence the number and severity of malaria cases. Plasmodium falciparum-the most deadly malaria parasite, accounts for more than 95% of malaria infections among children in Ghana. Using the 2017 Ghana Demographic Health Survey data, we examined the local variation in the prevalence and climatic determinants of child malaria. The findings showed that climatic factors such as temperature, rainfall aridity and Enhanced Vegetation Index are significantly and positively associated with Plasmodium falciparum malaria prevalence among children in Ghana. However, there are local variations in how these climatic factors affect child malaria prevalence. Plasmodium falciparum malaria prevalence was highest among children in the south western, north western and northern Ghana.

Factors impacting antenatal care utilization: a systematic review of 37 fragile and conflict-affected situations.

BACKGROUND: It is estimated that over 930 million people live in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCAS) worldwide. These regions, characterized by violence, civil unrest, and war, are often governed by corrupt administrations who are unwilling to provide their citizens with basic human rights. Individuals living in FCAS face health inequities; however, women are disproportionally affected and face additional barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive services, including antenatal care (ANC). This systematic review aims to identify the factors that impact ANC usage in the 37 countries or regions classified as FCAS in 2020 by The World Bank. METHODS: Using the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of five databases (SCOPUS, Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL) was conducted. Results were limited to human studies, written in English, and published between January 2002 and January 2022. Studies that identified factors affecting utilization of ANC or maternal health services were included for review and critically appraised using the National Institute of Health's Quality Assessment Tools. Findings were summarized using a narrative synthesis approach. RESULTS: The database search yielded 26,527 studies. After title, abstract and full-text review, and exclusion of duplicate articles, 121 studies remained. Twenty-eight of the 37 FCAS were represented in the included studies. The studies highlighted that women in FCAS' are still not meeting the World Health Organization's 2002 recommendation of four ANC visits during pregnancy, a recommendation which has since been increased to eight visits. The most cited factors impacting ANC were socioeconomic status, education, and poor quality of ANC. Despite all studies being conducted in conflict-affected regions, only nine studies explicitly identified conflict as a direct barrier to accessing ANC. CONCLUSION: This review demonstrated that there is a paucity in the literature examining the direct and indirect impacts of conflict on ANC utilization. Specifically, research should be conducted in the nine FCAS that are not currently represented in the literature. To mitigate the barriers that prevent utilization of maternal health services identified in this review, policy makers, women utilizing ANC, and global organizations should attempt to collaborate to enact policy change at the local level.