Childhood nutrition
Childhood nutritionConsiderable progress has been made over the past decade towards Millennium Development Goal 4. The number of deaths among children younger than 5 years has declined from 12 million in 1990 to 6·9 million in 2011.1 But do the surviving children have an equal chance to realise their human potential, achieve social justice, and contribute… Read more
Steve Lewis from RESULTS reports on events in New York at the UN General Assembly In September I marched with over 300,000 people in New York, protesting against Climate Change and the weak global response so far. But why was I marching on an environment issue when my work with RESULTS is to manage health… Read more
This article reviews the implementation processes for interventions that integrate nutrition and psychosocial stimulation for children under 5 years of age in low- and middle-income countries. We examine the content of these programs, the delivery strategy, intensity and duration, personnel training and supervision, compliance, and fidelity. A systematic search of the Global Health Ovid database… Read more
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether dietary supplementation or psychosocial stimulation given to growth retarded (stunted) children age 9-24 months has long term benefits for their psychosocial functioning in late adolescence. DESIGN:Sixteen year follow-up study of a randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Poor neighbourhoods in Kingston, Jamaica. PARTICIPANTS: Of 129 stunted children identified at age 9-24 months, 103… Read more
Background: Deficiencies of iron, iodine, and vitamin A are prevalent worldwide and can affect the mental development and learning ability of schoolchildren. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of micronutrient-fortified biscuits on the micronutrient status of primary school children. Design: Micronutrient status was assessed in 115 children aged 6–11 y… Read more
The General Assembly, by its resolution 44/25, adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As at 1 July 2009, the Convention had been ratified or acceded to by 193 States. By its resolution 54/263, the Assembly adopted two Optional Protocols to the Convention. As at 1 July 2010, the Optional Protocol on the… Read more
Objective: To estimate the association of improved nutrition in early life with adult intellectual functioning, con- trolling for years of schooling. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Four villages in Guatemala, as well as locations within Guatemala to which cohort members migrated. Participants: Individuals who had participated as children in a nutrition supplementation intervention trial from… Read more
What do we want to know? This review considered the following overarching question and sub-questions. How, why and under what conditions are Early Childhood Development (ECD) interventions in developing-country contexts effective in promoting cognitive development? What types of ECD interventions are effective in promoting cognitive development? What is the minimum amount of intervention needed to… Read more
The Government of India launched the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in 1975 in recognition of the importance of early childhood care as the foundation of human development. The ICDS has expanded over the years and is now one of the world’s largest and unique outreach programmes responding to the challenges of meeting the holistic… Read more
Objectives: To assess the feasibility of integrating early psychosocial stimulation into primary care for undernourished children and to determine the effect on children’s development and mothers’ knowledge and practices of childrearing. Design: Cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting: 18 clinics in three Jamaican parishes. Participants: 139 undernourished children aged 9 to 30 months and their mothers… Read more
The Cali Study involved the random assignment of 301 malnourished children to be exposed to one (CT1, n = 113), two (CT2, n = 64), three (CT3, n = 62) or four (CT4, n = 62) 9-mo periods of a multifocal day care-based intervention (i.e., education, health and nutrition). The ages at which the intervention… Read more