Using Household Consumption Data to Flag Low Nutrient Access.

BACKGROUND: Information on food consumption, dietary diversity, and nutrient inadequacies are key for informing food security and nutrition programming. Household- and individual-level data together provide the most complete information, but individual dietary modules are not always feasible in humanitarian contexts due to cost and time constraints. OBJECTIVE: This article asks to what extent it is possible to use food consumption data which is commonly collected at household level through food security and vulnerability surveys, to assess the household's access to vitamin A and iron. METHODS: The validation analysis uses household food consumption and expenditure surveys from Guatemala, Honduras, Nepal, and Uganda and the adult male equivalent approach for calculating nutrient access. RESULTS: The results show a positive significant correlation between the frequency of consumption and adequacy as estimated from comprehensive household food consumption modules, with correlation in the range of 0.4 to 0.7. Frequency thresholds for distinguishing between adequate and inadequate nutrient access, based on how often foods rich in the relevant nutrient are eaten during 1 week, mostly fulfill standard sensitivity and specificity criteria. CONCLUSIONS: The article concludes that in humanitarian contexts, a frequency-based proxy for nutrient access based on household data commonly collected in emergency assessments and through monitoring systems can be used and can support this particular data gap. As a rule of thumb, a frequency threshold of 7 should be used for vitamin A and of 12 for iron.

Trends and inequalities in the nutritional status of adolescent girls and adult women in sub-Saharan Africa since 2000: a cross-sectional series study.

INTRODUCTION: Evidence on the rate at which the double burden of malnutrition unfolds is limited. We quantified trends and inequalities in the nutritional status of adolescent girls and adult women in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: We analysed 102 Demographic and Health Surveys between 1993 and 2017 from 35 countries. We assessed regional trends through cross-sectional series analyses and ran multilevel linear regression models to estimate the average annual rate of change (AARC) in the prevalence of underweight, anaemia, anaemia during pregnancy, overweight and obesity among women by their age, residence, wealth and education levels. We quantified current absolute inequalities in these indicators and wealth-inequality trends. RESULTS: There was a modest decline in underweight prevalence (AARC=-0.14 percentage points (pp), 95% CI -0.17 to -0.11). Anaemia declined fastest among adult women and the richest pregnant women with an AARC of -0.67 pp (95% CI -1.06 to -0.28) and -0.97 pp (95% CI -1.60 to -0.34), respectively, although it affects all women with no marked disparities. Overweight is increasing rapidly among adult women and women with no education. Capital city residents had a threefold more rapid rise in obesity (AARC=0.47 pp, 95% CI 0.39, 0.55), compared with their rural counterparts. Absolute inequalities suggest that Ethiopia and South Africa have the largest gap in underweight (15.4 pp) and obesity (28.5 pp) respectively, between adult and adolescent women. Regional wealth inequalities in obesity are widening by 0.34 pp annually. CONCLUSION: Underweight persists, while overweight and obesity are rising among adult women, the rich and capital city residents. Adolescent girls do not present adverse nutritional outcomes except anaemia, remaining high among all women. Multifaceted responses with an equity lens are needed to ensure no woman is left behind.

Severe left ventricular hypertrophy 1 year after transplant predicts mortality in cardiac transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a known predictor of morbidity and mortality in patients with essential hypertension. The prevalence and significance of LVH in heart transplant recipients is unknown. METHODS: Transthoracic echocardiograms were performed as part of a routine protocol 1 year after heart transplantation in 141 consecutive patients. Demographic and echocardiographic data were collected using patients' records and center-specific data from the Cardiac Transplant Research Database and analyzed to determine the prevalence and predictors of LVH at 1 year post-transplantation. Patients were divided into three groups based on left ventricular mass (LVM): normal (LVM <150 g); mild-moderate LVH (LVM 150 to 250 g); and severe LVH (LVM >250 g). RESULTS: LVH was common at 1 year after heart transplantation, present in 83% of heart transplant recipients. Univariate predictors of severe LVH were increased body mass index (p < 0.01), pre-transplant diabetes mellitus (p = 0.02) and pre-transplant hypertension (p = 0.01). By multivariate analysis, pre-transplant hypertension was the only independent predictor of severe LVH (hazard ratio [HR] 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1 to 5.4, p = 0.05). Heart transplant recipients with severe LVH had significantly decreased survival, as compared to patients with normal LVM and mild-moderate LVH (p = 0.03). After multivariate analysis adjusting for age, race, gender, pre-transplant hypertension and diabetes, severe LVH remained a strong, independent predictor of mortality (HR 3.6, 95% CI 1.0 to 12.1, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: LVH is common at 1 year after heart transplantation and is a strong, independent predictor of increased mortality. Hypertension before transplantation is an independent predictor of the presence of severe LVH at 1 year after heart transplantation.