evidence-based blog of Filippo Dibari

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What should I eat today?

In Over-nutrition, Uncategorized, Under-nutrition on April 1, 2018 at 4:03 pm

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From NutritionFacts.org web site from Dr Greger

 

Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen Checklist

DOCTOR’S NOTE

Whoa, that was quite the departure from our regular videos! Normally, we just show you the science from the primary sources in the peer-reviewed medical literature, but I want NutritionFacts.org to be more than just a reference site. I want it to be a practical guide on translating this mountain of data into day-to-day decisions. So that’s where my Daily Dozen slips into the mix. It’s available for free on iTunes as well as an Android app, thanks to an amazing group of volunteers through our Open Source Initiative.

If this video sounded familiar, it’s the same narration as the video posted months ago, but utilizing the talents of a new animator as an experiment: the video production company Purposeful Films, who heavily discounted their rates in support of our work. It’s more of a playful style, which I thought might be a good match for the content.

If this video inspired you to try eating the Daily Dozen, join our Daily Dozen Challenge! Learn more here.

Here are direct links to the two videos I referenced in the video: How Many Glasses of Water Should We Drink a Day? and How Much Should You Exercise?

For more intro-type videos, check out:

Okay, but how do you actually incorporate those Daily Dozen foods into your diet? Check out my How Not to Die Cookbook (all the proceeds I receive from that and all my books goes to the 501c3 nonprofit that runs this site), and my “In the Kitchen” videos: My New Favorite Dessert and My New Favorite Beverage.

If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here.

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Characteristics and determinants of child malnutrition in Mozambique, 2003–11

In Uncategorized on December 19, 2016 at 1:36 pm

Cardoso, J., Allwright, L. & Salvucci, V. (2016) Characteristics and determinants of child malnutrition in Mozambique, 2003–11. 2016/147. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER.

(download pdf)

Child malnutrition continues to be a serious impediment to development both at the individual and national levels in many developing countries. In Mozambique, despite a high and sustained GDP growth, child malnutrition has been decreasing at a rather slow pace over the past 15 years.

In this study, using the Mozambican Demographic and Health Surveys 2003 and 2011 we find that household wealth, mother’s education, area of residence, and access to safe water and improved sanitation facilities have a strong relation with different measures of chronic child malnutrition.

Also, the relative importance of these variables remained mostly unchanged over time.

We conclude that continued and more focused and effective interventions aimed at directly reducing child malnutrition should be undertaken by all public and private actors involved.

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A conceptual framework for understanding the impacts of agriculture and food system policies on nutrition and health

In Uncategorized on August 4, 2015 at 8:28 am

by Rebecca Kanter, Helen L. Walls, Mehroosh Tak, Francis Roberts, Jeff Waage

Food Security journal  – Volume 7, Issue 4 , pp 767-777

(download from Research Gate)

Abstract

Agriculture and food systems are important determinants of nutrition and consequent public health. However, an understanding of the links among agriculture, food systems, nutrition, public health and the associated policy levers, is relatively under-developed.

A framework conceptualizing these key relationships, relevant to a range of country contexts, would help inform policymakers as to how agriculture and food policy could improve nutrition and public health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

The objectives of this paper are: to present a conceptual framework, relevant to a range of country contexts and focused on the policymaker as the user, which depicts the key relationships among agriculture, the food system, nutrition and public health; and to describe how the framework can be used for understanding the impacts of agriculture and food system policies on nutrition outcomes.

Existing conceptual frameworks, highlighting the relationships among agriculture, the food system, nutrition and public health (n  = 37) were identified, reviewed and categorized, based on the key themes they address.

Building on this analysis and synthesis a conceptual framework was developed that assists in identifying associated policy levers and their effects on elements of the framework. The end product is a conceptual framework that presents key domains linking agriculture and food systems to nutritional outcomes and public health. The framework is relevant to a range of contexts, for example low-, middle- and high-income settings; and to policymakers wishing to examine the potential direct and indirect impacts of agriculture and food system policies.

Nutrition & Post-2015 Agenda

In Uncategorized on June 2, 2015 at 12:14 pm

from UNSCN website

The Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), formed as an outcome of the Rio+20 Conference, concluded its mandate in September 2014 by delivering a report containing a proposal of SDGs to the UN General Assembly for its consideration and further action. A dedicated goal on ending hunger, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture is included in the list of the SDGs proposed by the OWG ( dated 19th July 2014). The supporting targets identified under this goal add up to a comprehensive and transformative agenda, which is expected to guide policy decisions and investments in this domain in the coming 15 years. The Outcome Document – Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals.

Member States mandated the UN Secretary General to produce a Synthesis Report taking into consideration all the inputs available from the multiple streams of work, including the OWG outcomes, which was released beginning of December. Another key input is the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing, which has been delivered to the UN General Assembly in August. It includes options for financing the implementation of the new sustainable development framework.

Post-2015 negotiations started in early 2015. The negotiations will define the Post-2015 Agenda in its various components, for adoption at a High-level Summit in September 2015. They will be complemented, inter alia, by the Third Conference on Financing for Development to be held in July 2015.

A wide range of stakeholders have been participating in global, regional and national consultations on a range of issues, including nutrition, associated to the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Critically, the implementation of the new agenda is expected to involve all stakeholders – starting from governments, but also including civil society, the private sector, development organizations, the entire UN system, research institutions, and more. Consideration of the implications of the new agenda for policy making, policy coherence, and coordination around nutrition in the context of food security and sustainable agriculture but also other SDGs is critical for successful implementation.

The UN system will continue to support the Post-2015 process by providing technical inputs, information and knowledge and by helping to create spaces for the viewpoints of various stakeholders to bring to the attention of decision makers.

‘Nutrition and the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals’

Nutrition needs to figure prominently in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. This technical paper describes the multidirectional linkages between nutrition and the SDGs, argues for much more attention to nutrition among the goals, and encourages dialogue on how to apply best practices at scale to resolve the world’s nutrition challenges as quickly as possible.

technical paper: English,

policy brief: English, French, Spanish,

Targets and Indicators for Nutrition in the Post-2015 SDGs’

This paper discusses targets and related indicators to monitor, report and account for progress towards  improved nutrition in the Sustainable Development Goals. It encourages dialogue on relevant data collection and national information systems needed to provide adequate, timely, high quality and disaggregated data to ensure that progress in nutrition gets measured. The technical paper can be downloaded at the link below.

67th World Health Assembly Side-Event, 2014

Food and Nutrition Security in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

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LSHTM: free online training on “Agriculture, Nutrition and Health”

In Uncategorized on September 3, 2014 at 7:21 pm

from the the web site of the London School Hygiene and Tropical Medicine:

Welcome to Agriculture, Nutrition and Health, a free open-access educational resource, commissioned and supported by Irish Aid. This Master’s-level module has been designed to explore the multi-sectoral links between agriculture, nutrition and health, highlight current evidence and identify potential programmatic solutions.

The module has been written by a team of academics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research in Agriculture and Health. The Institute of Development Studies also kindly contributed to the module.

Please note that these are self-study sessions and that no certification or tutorial support is provided, but there is a brief assessment at the end of each session to test your knowledge.

For further information please click here for the ‘Module Overview’ or email agriculture-health@lshtm.ac.uk.

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Nutrition — Institute for Health and Consumer Protection – JRC-IHCP, European Commission

In Over-nutrition, Uncategorized on August 20, 2014 at 12:19 pm

From the EU-JRC web site

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The European Commission’s Health and Consumer General Directorate (DG SANCO) states on its website that

“in Europe today, 6 of the 7 biggest risk factors for premature death

– blood pressure, cholesterol, Body Mass Index, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake,

physical inactivity and alcohol abuse –

relate to how we eat, drink and move”.

Eating, drinking and physical activity are everyday tasks that are prone to intervention, hence a major challenge is how to promote and implement changes in these activities that will result in a better health population-wide.

In this context, the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP) is providing an expert base of knowledge to tackle nutritional and health issues within the context of EU Health and Consumer Policies.

The Institute’s goal is to provide independent solid scientific advice to European Commission Services, EU Institutions and EU Member States in the field of nutritional science, and particularly in the implementation of the European strategy on nutrition, overweight, and obesity-related health issues.

Scientists at the IHCP are reviewing state-of-the-art scientific developments in nutritional science, and their applicability and relevance for decision making in the areas of public health policy and nutritional recommendations.

Reports on breastfeeding sibling study are vastly overstated

In Uncategorized on August 12, 2014 at 4:32 pm

Breastfeeding Medicine

A recent analysis of breastfeeding’s effects on child health is making headlines that some of the benefits of breastfeeding have been overstated.

The authors examined behavioral assessments of children born between 1978 and 2006. When they compared breastfed children with formula-fed children, they found that the breastfed kids were healthier and smarter, as many other studies have previously reported. However, they then looked at families in which only some of the children had been breastfed, and they found that whether or not siblings were breastfed did not significantly affect their health outcomes. The authors argue that this proves that a child’s family – not infant feeding – is what really determines long-term child health, and breastfeeding doesn’t really matter.

The biggest problem with this conclusion is that the study ignored anything that happened in these families before their children reached the age of 4, disregarding well-established links between ear…

View original post 992 more words

Are you attending the International Nutrition Congress in Granada? …Let’s meet up

In Uncategorized on September 14, 2013 at 5:44 pm

Hi there,

if you are also at the IUNS International Congress of Nutrition in Granada (15th to 20th September), I would love to meet you, to hear about your job and about the way you think the blog can be improved.

Contact me on my working email filippo dot dibari at wfp dot org.

Looking forward

fil

 

PS: find the abstracts of the Conference Sessions clicking here.

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mHealth in Practice: Mobile technology for health promotion in the developing world

In Over-nutrition, Uncategorized, Under-nutrition on April 14, 2013 at 8:21 am

Edited by Jonathan Donner & Patricia Mechael – November 2012

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781780932798

(download the chapters)

There has recently been an explosion of interest around the application of mobile communication technologies to support health initiatives in developing countries (mHealth). As a result, there is a need to promote and share rigorous research for better informed policy, programming, and investment. There are, however, few platforms for the exchange of information and proven practice between practitioners and researchers.

The subtopic of prevention, well-being, and health promotion within mHealth is particularly ripe for deeper exploration. While many reports tout the potential of mobiles to influence behaviour change for health, there is limited knowledge about what works (and what does not work), and about how to evaluate current and future programs. This is a focused edited volume with contributions from leading researchers and practitioners to identify best practices in using mobile technologies to promote healthy behaviours (and reduce unhealthy ones) in resource-constrained settings with a special focus on developing countries.

This topic is inherently interdisciplinary. Though the opportunities to leverage mobile phones for health are new, the challenges confronting researchers and practitioners are well-established and theoretically complex, with roots in decades of work on mediated behaviour change campaigns and theories.

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Development, acceptability, and nutritional characteristics of a low-cost, shelf-stable supplementary food product for vulnerable groups in Kenya

In Uncategorized, Under-nutrition on October 15, 2012 at 8:14 am

 Kunyanga, Catherine; Imungi, Jasper; Okoth, Michael; Vadivel, Vellingiri; Biesalski, Hans Konrad

Food & Nutrition Bulletin, Volume 33, Number 1, March 2012 , pp. 43-52(10)

Abstract:

Background. Food-based approaches have been advocated as the best strategies to curb hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. The use of low-cost, locally available, nutritious foods in the development of supplementary foods has been recommended.

 Objective. To develop low-cost food supplements using different traditionally processed local foods, consisting of cereals, legumes, nuts, fish, and vegetables, to meet the nutrient requirements for vulnerable groups in Kenya.

 Methods. Four food supplements were developed and evaluated by taste panel procedures. The product containing amaranth grain, pigeon pea, sweet potato, groundnuts, and brown sugar was found to be the most acceptable supplement. Evaluation of nutritional composition, shelf-life, and cost analysis of the acceptable supplement was carried out to assess if it could satisfactorily provide more than 50% of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) of the basic nutrients for vulnerable groups.

 Results. The acceptable supplement contained 453.2 kcal energy, 12.7 g crude protein, 54.3 g soluble carbohydrates, 20.8 g crude fat, and 10.1 g crude fiber per 110 g. The micronutrient contents were 93.0 mg calcium, 172.4 mg magnesium, 2.7 mg zinc, 5.7 mg iron, 0.8 mg vitamin B1, 0.2 mg vitamin B2, 7.9 mg niacin, 100 μg folic acid, and 140 μg retinol equivalent per 110 g. The supplement also contained 21% total essential amino acid in addition to appreciable levels of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and α-linolenic fatty acids. The shelf-life study showed that it could be stored in different packaging materials (polythene bags, gunny bags, and kraft paper) at 26°C without deleterious effects on its chemical composition for up to 4 months. Cost analysis of the supplement indicated that the product could be competitively sold at US$0.812/kg (KES 65.50/kg).

 Conclusions. Locally available indigenous foods can be used in the formulation of acceptable, low-cost, shelf-stable, nutritious supplementary foods for vulnerable groups.

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