Downloadable Resources - Child Health

Factors Associated With Child Stunting, Wasting, and Underweight in 35 Low- and Middle-Income Countries

In this cross-sectional study of 299 353 children aged 12 to 59 months in 35 low- and middle-income countries, household socioeconomic status and parental nutritional status were the leading factors associated with child undernutrition in pooled analyses and in most country-specific analyses. Environmental conditions, health behaviors, disease prevalence, and maternal reproductive care were less frequently associated with child undernutrition, with substantial heterogeneity among countries.

REPORT ON TRAINING FOR INTERGROWTH-21ST

Early initiation of breastfeeding: The best start for every newborn

Daily co-trimoxazole prophylaxis to prevent mortality in children with complicated severe acute malnutrition: a multicentre, double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial

Children with complicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) have a greatly increased risk of mortality from infections while in hospital and after discharge. In HIV-infected children, mortality and admission to hospital are prevented by daily co-trimoxazole prophylaxis, despite locally reported bacterial resistance to co-trimoxazole. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of daily co-trimoxazole prophylaxis on survival in children without HIV being treated for complicated SAM. This study suggest that daily co-trimoxazole prophylaxis did not reduce mortality in children with complicated SAM without HIV. Other strategies need to be tested in clinical trials to reduce deaths in this population.

Association between maternal age at childbirth and child and adult outcomes in the off spring: a prospective study in fi ve low-income and middle-income countries (COHORTS collaboration)

The study aimes to assess both child and adult outcomes in five LMICs. Children of young mothers in LMICs are disadvantaged at birth and in childhood nutrition and schooling. Efforts to prevent early childbearing should be strengthened. After adjustment for confounders, children of older mothers have advantages in nutritional status and schooling. Extremes of maternal age could be associated with disturbed off spring glucose metabolism.        

The Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Program (ECHO): an ecologically-based intervention delivered by home visitors for newborns and their mothers

The goals of the Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Program (ECHO) are to examine the 12-month efficacy of a primary obesity prevention program targeting the first year of life that is delivered by home visitors and that engages mothers as agents of change to modify their own behavior and their infant’s behavior through education and skill-building around nutrition, physical activity, and wellness, and then “echoes” her training with linkages to neighborhood programs and resources. ECHO will provide important information about whether an enhanced behavior change curriculum integrated into an existing home visitation program, focused on the mother as the agent of change and linked to neighborhood resources is effective in changing energy balance behaviors in the infant and in the mother. If effective, the intervention could be widely disseminated to prevent obesity in young children.        

Associations between objectively assessed and questionnaire-based sedentary behaviour with BMI-defined obesity among general population children and adolescents living in England

The objective of this study was to examine associations between a range of objectively measured and questionnaire-based SB indicators with obesity and body mass index (BMI) to assess whether these associations were independent of physical activity. TV time (but not non-TV sitting or objectively-measured SB) was consistently associated with higher levels of obesity and BMI SD score, even after adjusting for MVPA and other potential confounders. Weaker associations were observed for total sitting time.        

Has the prevalence of stunting in South African children changed in 40 years? A systematic review

The objective of this systematic review is to investigate the changes in the prevalence of stunting, a chronic form of undernutrition, in South Africa over 40 years, and to derive lessons from the South African experience, a country in an advanced process of transition in sub-Saharan Africa.        

WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative: body mass index and level of overweight among 6–9-year-old children from school year 2007/2008 to school year 2009/2010

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has established the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) to monitor changes in overweight in primary-school children. The aims of this paper are to present the anthropometric results of COSI Round 2 (2009/2010) and to explore changes in body mass index (BMI) and overweight among children within and across nine countries from school years 2007/2008 to 2009/2010. Changes in BMI and prevalence of overweight over a two-year period varied significantly among European countries. It may be that countries with higher prevalence of overweight in COSI Round 1 have implemented interventions to try to remedy this situation.

The association between obesity and blood pressure in Thai public school children

The prevalence of obesity has substantially increased in the past 3 decades in both developed and developing countries and may lead to an increase in high blood pressure (BP) at an early age. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity and its association with blood pressure among primary school children in central Thailand. Obesity among school children was positively associated with higher BP. Prevention of childhood obesity should be strengthened to prevent the risk of early high BP including cardiovascular risk factors.