Relationship between agricultural biodiversity and dietary diversity of children aged 6-36 months in rural areas of northern Ghana
In this study, we investigated the relationship between agricultural biodiversity and dietary diversity of children and whether factors such as economic access may affect this relationship. This paper is based on data collected in a baseline cross-sectional survey in November 2013. The study population comprising 1200 mother-child pairs was selected using a two-stage cluster sampling. […]
Iodine status of pregnant women living in urban Johannesburg, South Africa
Adequate intake of iodine is important during pregnancy because of its essential role in foetal growth and neurodevelopment. Data on iodine status of South African pregnant women are scarce, and the salt reduction policy implemented in 2016 may decrease iodine intake of South Africans. This cross-sectional study assessed the iodine status of pregnant women residing […]
Determinants of anaemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in Nigeria: A cross-sectional study using secondary data from Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2018
Background: Anaemia disproportionately affects women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria. Yet, community-based studies on the prevalence and determinants of anaemia among women of reproductive age are scarce in Nigeria. Design: A cross-sectional community-based survey using a nationally representative sample. Objectives: This study described anaemia prevalence and its associated factors among women of […]
Prevalence and multi-level factors associated with acute malnutrition among children aged 6–59 months from war affected communities of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, 2021: a cross-sectional study
Background: Armed conflicts greatly affect the health, nutrition, and food security of conflict affected settings particularly children. However, no empirical data exist regarding context specific factors contributing towards acute malnutrition in the war-torn Tigray, Ethiopia. Thus, this study aimed to identify individual and community level factors associated with acute malnutrition among children aged 6–59 months from […]
Association of whole blood n-6 fatty acids with stunting in 2-to-6-year-old Northern Ghanaian children: A cross-sectional study
In Northern Ghana, 33% of children are stunted due to economic disparities. Dietary fatty acids (FA) are critical for growth, but whether blood FA levels are adequate in Ghanaian children is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the association between whole blood FAs and growth parameters in Northern Ghanaian children 2–6 years […]
Primary healthcare and school health service utilisation by adolescents and young adults in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Background: Young people aged 10-24 years are a vulnerable group with poor health service access relative to other populations. Recent South African initiatives, the She Conquers campaign, the Integrated School Health Policy and the Adolescent & Youth Health Policy, include a focus on improving the breadth and quality of youth-friendly health service delivery. However, in […]
Application of Intervention Mapping to develop a community-based health promotion pre-pregnancy intervention for adolescent girls in rural South Africa: PROJECT Ntshembo (Hope)
Background: South Africa (SA) is undergoing multiple transitions with an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases and high levels of overweight and obesity in adolescent girls and women. Adolescence is key to addressing trans-generational risk and a window of opportunity to intervene and positively impact on individuals’ health trajectories into adulthood. Using Intervention Mapping (IM), this […]
Sociocultural Factors Affecting Vocabulary Development in Young South African Children
Sociocultural influences on the development of child language skills have been widely studied, but the majority of the research findings were generated in Northern contexts. The current crosslinguistic, multisite study is the first of its kind in South Africa, considering the influence of a range of individual and sociocultural factors on expressive vocabulary size of […]
Individual and community level factors with a significant role in determining child height-for-age Z score in East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis
Background: In Ethiopia, child undernutrition remains to be a major public health challenge and a contributing factor for child mortality and morbidity. To reduce the problem, it is apparent to identify determinants of child undernutrition in specific contexts to deliver appropriately, targeted, effective and sustainable interventions. Methods: An agroecosystem linked cross-sectional survey was conducted in […]
Intimate Partner Violence and Depression Symptom Severity among South African Women during Pregnancy and Postpartum: Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study
Background: Violence against women by intimate partners remains unacceptably common worldwide. The evidence base for the assumed psychological impacts of intimate partner violence (IPV) is derived primarily from studies conducted in high-income countries. A recently published systematic review identified 13 studies linking IPV to incident depression, none of which were conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. To […]
