Factors associated with diet diversity among infants and young children in the Eastern and Southern Africa region.

This study explores common factors associated with not meeting minimum dietary diversity (MDD) among 27,072 children aged 6-23 months in Eastern and Southern Africa using data from nine Demographic and Health Surveys from 2013 to 2016. MDD was defined as consumption of more than or equals to five of eight food groups including breast milk in the past 24 h. Equity gaps were calculated as the difference in MDD prevalence between the top and bottom wealth quintiles. Logistic regression was conducted to identify common factors for not meeting MDD at the household, maternal and child levels across two or more countries to inform regional policies to improve children's diets. Kenya had the highest MDD wealth equity gap (40.4 pts), and South Africa had the smallest (14.4 pts). Equity gaps for flesh foods or eggs (up to 39.8 pp) were larger than for grain or legumes (up to 20 pp). Common risk factors for not reaching MDD included younger child age (6-11 months) (n = 9 countries), no formal maternal occupation (n = 6), not receiving vitamin-A supplementation (n = 3), younger maternal age (n = 3), lower maternal education (n = 3), no media (n = 3) or newspaper (n = 3) exposure, lower household wealth quintile (n = 3), use of nonefficient cooking fuel (n = 2), longer time to get to the water source (n = 2), not listening to the radio (n = 2) and higher birth order (n = 2). Priorities for improving MDD in the region include introducing diverse foods at a young age from 6 months with early nutrition counselling, promoting higher maternal education, increasing food purchasing power and ensuring the support of younger mothers.

Micronutrient gaps during the complementary feeding period in 6 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa: a Comprehensive Nutrient Gap Assessment.

Insufficient quantity and inadequate quality of foods in early life are key causes of all forms of malnutrition. Identification of nutrient and dietary gaps in the diets of infants and young children is essential to inform policies and programs designed to improve child diets. A Comprehensive Nutrient Gap Assessment was used to assess the public health significance of nutrient gaps during the complementary feeding period and to identify evidence gaps in 6 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. Important gaps were identified in iron, vitamin A, zinc, and calcium and, to a lesser extent, vitamin B12 and folate. The best whole-food sources of these micronutrients available in part or all of the countries studied include beef liver, chicken liver, small dried fish, beef, and eggs. Investment is needed in many countries to collect data on micronutrient biomarkers and dietary intake. Strategic actions to improve child diets will require engagement and intervention across relevant systems to accelerate progress on improving the diets of infants and young children.

Affordability of nutritious foods for complementary feeding in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Low intake of diverse complementary foods causes critical nutrient gaps in the diets of young children. Inadequate nutrient intake in the first 2 years of life can lead to poor health, educational, and economic outcomes. In this study, the extent to which food affordability is a barrier to consumption of several nutrients critical for child growth and development was examined in Ethiopia, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Drawing upon data from nutrient gap assessments, household surveys, and food composition tables, current consumption levels were assessed, the cost of purchasing key nutritious foods that could fill likely nutrient gaps was calculated, and these costs were compared with current household food expenditure. Vitamin A is affordable for most households (via dark leafy greens, orange-fleshed vegetables, and liver) but only a few foods (fish, legumes, dairy, dark leafy greens, liver) are affordable sources of iron, animal-source protein, or calcium, and only in some countries. Zinc is ubiquitously unaffordable. For unaffordable nutrients, approaches to reduce prices, enhance household production, or increase household resources for nutritious foods are needed.

Implications of Updating the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Children Indicator for Tracking Progress in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region.

Minimum dietary diversity (MDD), a population-level dietary quality indicator, is commonly used across low- and middle-income countries to characterize diets of children aged 6-23 mo. The WHO and UNICEF recently updated the MDD definition from consumption of ≥4 of 7 food groups in the previous 24 h (MDD-7) to ≥5 of 8 food groups (MDD-8), adding a breastmilk group. The implications of this definition change were examined across 14 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa where improving complementary feeding is a policy priority. A lower MDD-8 score was found compared with MDD-7 across all countries; in 3 countries the difference between indicators was >5 percentage points. Country-level variability is driven by differences in breastfeeding rates and dietary diversity score. As countries transition to the new indicator it is important to actively publicize changes and to promote valid interpretation of MDD trends.

Scale up of nutrition and health programs in Ethiopia and their overlap with reductions in child stunting.

The prevalence of stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa has changed little since 2000, and the number of stunted children has increased. In contrast, Ethiopia is an example where the national stunting prevalence and number of stunted children have decreased consistently. We compare regional differences and temporal patterns in stunting with large-scale program coverage to identify where and when programs may have led to reductions in stunting. Data from three national demographic and health surveys and population statistics illustrate, at the regional level, where and when the prevalence and number of stunted children changed since 2000. Reports from large-scale nutrition and health programs were used to identify ecologic associations between geographic program coverage and reductions in stunting. From 2000 to 2005, the decline in the national stunting prevalence was mainly a result of reductions in Oromiya, SNNP and Tigray. Few nutrition programs had high coverage during this time, and economic growth may have contributed to stunting reduction by increasing household wealth and investments in sanitation. From 2005 to 2011, declines in stunting prevalence in Amhara, SNNP, Somali and Oromiya were largely responsible for national reductions. Numerous programs were implemented at scale and could have plausibly improved stunting. While ecologic relationships suggest that economic growth and large-scale programs may have contributed to the reduction in stunting in Ethiopia, stunting did not decrease in all regions despite increased program coverage expansion of the health system. Additional impact evaluations are needed identify the most effective programs to accelerate the reduction in the prevalence and number of stunted children. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Determinants of stunting reduction in Ethiopia 2000 - 2011.

The prevalence of stunting in Ethiopia declined from 57% in 2000 to 44% in 2011, yet the factors producing this change are not fully understood. Data on 23,999 children 0-59 months of age from three Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 2000, 2005, and 2011 were analyzed to assess the trends in stunting prevalence, mean height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) and the associations between potential factors and HAZ. Associations were determined separately using three separate generalized linear models for children age less than 6 months, 6-23 months, and 24-59 months of age. Significant variables were then analyzed to determine if they showed an overall trend between the 2000 and 2011 surveys. In children < 6 months of age, only mother's height was both a significant predictor of HAZ and showed a progressive, albeit non-significant, increase from 2000 to 2011. In children 6-23 months of age, only mother's use of modern contraception showed substantial changes in a direction consistent with improving HAZ, but improvements in maternal nutrition status were observed from 2000 to 2005. For children 24-59 months of age a consistent and progressive change is seen in child's diarrhea, fever, mother's education, and the occurrence of open defecation. Our analysis demonstrated that factors associated with HAZ vary by child's age and the dominant livelihood practice in the community. Variables that could have contributed to the decline of stunting in Ethiopia in children less than 5 years of age include markers of child health, mother's nutritional status, mother's educational level, and environmental hygiene.

Assessment of the WHO Stunting Framework using Ethiopia as a case study.

Poor linear growth in children <5 years old, or stunting, is a serious public health problem particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a conceptual framework on the Context, Causes and Consequences of Childhood Stunting (the 'WHO framework') that identifies specific and general factors associated with stunting. The framework is based upon a global review of data, and we have applied it to a country-level analysis where health and nutrition policies are made and public health and nutrition data are collected. We reviewed the literature related to sub-optimal linear growth, stunting and birth outcomes in Ethiopia as a case study. We found consistent associations between poor linear growth and indicators of birth size, recent illness (e.g. diarrhoea and fever), maternal height and education. Other factors listed as causes in the framework such as inflammation, exposure to mycotoxins and inadequate feeding during and after illness have not been examined in Ethiopia, and the existing literature suggests that these are clear data gaps. Some factors associated with poor linear growth in Ethiopia are missing in the framework, such as household characteristics (e.g. exposure to indoor smoke). Examination of the factors included in the WHO framework in a country setting helps identifying data gaps helping to target further data collection and research efforts. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.