{"title":"Influence of care group participation on infant and young child feeding, dietary diversity, WASH behaviours and nutrition outcomes in rural Zimbabwe","authors":"Tonderayi Mathew Matsungo, Faith Kamazizwa, Tafadzwa Mavhudzi, Starlet Makota, Blessing Kamunda, Calvin Matsinde, Dexter Chagwena, Kudzai Mukudoka, Prosper Chopera","doi":"10.1136/bmjnph-2023-000627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2023-000627","url":null,"abstract":"Background The care group approach (CGA) is a community-based nutrition behaviour change strategy centred on ‘peer-to-peer learning’ through women support groups. Objective To assess the impact of the CGA on the adoption of appropriate infant and young child feeding (IYCF), dietary diversity and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practices, and associated nutrition-related outcomes. Methods A retrospective cohort study used a mixed-method approach in selected rural districts in Zimbabwe in June 2022. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on IYCF, diet quality, WASH and child morbidity. Binary logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between exposure and outcome. Significance was at p<0.05. Results A total of 127 exposed and 234 controls were enrolled. There was no significant difference between exposed and controls on the prevalence of; diarrhoea (p = 0.659), cough (p=0.191) and fever (p=0.916). No significant difference was observed in the proportion ever breastfed (p=0.609), Children with Adequate Dietary Diversity Score (p=0.606) across the two groups. However, the proportion of families with adequate Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) (p=0.005) and Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) (p=0.009) were significantly higher in exposed than controls. Knowledge on all promoted behaviours was significantly higher in the exposed than in controls with the exception of exclusive breast feeding. While the practices were significantly higher in exposed compared with controls for: ‘Appropriate complementary feeding for children aged 6–24 months’ (p=0.001), ‘good nutrition for women of reproductive age’ (p=0.001), ‘production and consumption of diverse nutritious food’ (p=0.001) and ‘production and consumption of biofortified crops’ (p=0.001). Conclusions The results showed that CGA potential to increase knowledge and achieve nutrition and health-related behaviour change in low-income settings if integrated into existing community programmes. Interestingly, HDDS and MDD-W were significantly higher in exposed than controls. However, more research is required to obtain conclusive results.","PeriodicalId":36307,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health","volume":"358 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134910599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Measurable and immeasurable spread of knowledge for research impact: a reflection on the validated NutComp tool","authors":"Lauren Ball, Breanna Lepre, Clare Van Dorssen","doi":"10.1136/bmjnph-2023-000723","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2023-000723","url":null,"abstract":"Background Contemporary research now includes effort to generate impact beyond the creation of new knowledge. Methods This report provides an illustrative case study of tactful research planning and dissemination for impact and provides an emerging pathway for others to holistically track reach, spread and uptake, to create a nuanced impact narrative. Results Nutrition Competence Tool (NutComp) is a validated tool that assesses the self-perceived competence of health professionals in providing nutrition care. Since open-access publication in 2015, it has been used by researchers and health professionals in 28 countries across 6 continents. The reach, spread, uptake and impact of NutComp are summarised, including indicators to support impact tracking for knowledge. Conclusion Given the complex phenomenon of research impact, careful planning is required to capture and attribute research impact.","PeriodicalId":36307,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135784344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vanessa Erben, G. Poschet, P. Schrotz-King, H. Brenner
{"title":"Evaluation of different stool extraction methods for metabolomics measurements in human faecal samples","authors":"Vanessa Erben, G. Poschet, P. Schrotz-King, H. Brenner","doi":"10.1101/2020.10.12.20209767","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.12.20209767","url":null,"abstract":"Background Metabolomics analysis of human stool samples is of great interest for a broad range of applications in biomedical research including early detection of colorectal neoplasms. However, due to the complexity of metabolites there is no consensus on how to process samples for stool metabolomics measurements to obtain a broad coverage of hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances. Methods We used frozen stool samples (50 mg) from healthy study participants. Stool samples were processed after thawing using eight different processing protocols and different solvents (solvents such as phosphate-buffered saline, isopropanol, methanol, ethanol, acetonitrile and solvent mixtures with or without following evaporation and concentration steps). Metabolites were measured afterwards using the MxP Quant 500 kit (Biocrates). The best performing protocol was subsequently applied to compare stool samples of participants with different dietary habits. Results In this study, we were able to determine up to 340 metabolites of various chemical classes extracted from stool samples of healthy study participants with eight different protocols. Polar metabolites such as amino acids could be measured with each method while other metabolite classes, particular lipid species (better with isopropanol and ethanol or methanol following a drying step), are more dependent on the solvent or combination of solvents used. Only a small number of triglycerides or acylcarnitines were detected in human faeces. Extraction efficiency was higher for protocols using isopropanol (131 metabolites>limit of detection (LOD)) or those using ethanol or methanol and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) including an evaporation and concentration step (303 and 342 metabolites>LOD, respectively) than for other protocols. We detected significant faecal metabolite differences between vegetarians, semivegetarians and non-vegetarians. Conclusion For the evaluation of metabolites in faecal samples, we found protocols using solvents like isopropanol and those using ethanol or methanol, and MTBE including an evaporation and concentration step to be superior regarding the number of detected metabolites of different chemical classes over others tested in this study.","PeriodicalId":36307,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health","volume":"4 1","pages":"374 - 384"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42214255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}