BACKGROUND Micronutrient malnutrition is a public health problem in many developing countries. Its negative impact on income growth is recognized in principle, but there are widely varying estimates of the related economic cost. OBJECTIVE To discuss available studies that quantify the cost of micronutrient malnutrition, and to develop an alternative framework and apply it to India. METHODS ...

BACKGROUND In 2009, a humanitarian response was launched to address a food security and livelihoods crisis in Karamoja, Uganda. During a polio immunization campaign in mid-August 2009, health workers in Nakapiripit District reported a concern about an increase in mouth sores, or angular stomatitis (AS) and gum ulcerations, among children in one village, and an investigation was launched. OBJE...

BACKGROUND Malnutrition is a widespread problem in elderly people and is associated with cognitive decline. However, interventional studies have produced ambiguous results. For this reason, we wanted to determine the effect of micronutrient supplementation on blood and tissue levels and on general nutritional status in persons with mild or moderate cognitive impairment. METHODS We performed a...

UNLABELLED Introduction: We hypothesized that nutritional deficiency would be common in a cohort of postpartum, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women and their infants. METHODS Weight and height, as well as blood concentrations of retinol, α-tocopherol, ferritin, hemoglobin, and zinc, were measured in mothers after delivery and in their infants at birth and at 6-12 weeks and six m...

OBJECTIVE To examine the workings of the nutrition-related scientific advisory bodies in Europe, paying particular attention to the internal and external contexts within which they operate. DESIGN Desk research based on two data collection strategies: a questionnaire completed by key informants in the field of micronutrient recommendations and a case study that focused on mandatory folic acid...

Early life nutritional exposures, combined with changes in lifestyle in adult life, can result in increased risk of chronic diseases. Although much of the focus on the developmental origins of disease has been on birth size and growth in postnatal life and the availability of energy and protein during these critical developmental periods, micronutrient deficiencies may also play an important ro...

Biofortification, that is, improving the micronutrient content of staple foods through crop breeding, could be a pro-poor, pro-rural, agriculture-based intervention to reduce the health burden of micronutrient malnutrition. While the potential cost-effectiveness of crops biofortified with single micronutrients was shown in previous research, poor people often suffer from multiple micronutrient ...

Optimal feeding, including optimal micronutrient intake, becomes one of the ways to overcome the long-term consequences of undernutrition. Macronutrient and micronutrient intake were important to a rapid growth and development of young children. The study objective was to assess macro and micronutrient intake and its adequacy in children aged 12-23 months. This survey was a cross-sectional stud...

BACKGROUND Studies report frequent micronutrient deficiencies after bariatric surgery, but less is known about micronutrient levels of pregnant women after bariatric surgery. OBJECTIVE To prospectively evaluate micronutrient levels and supplement intake in pregnancy following bariatric surgery. DESIGN A multicenter prospective cohort study including women with restrictive or malabsorptive t...

International research efforts, including those funded by HarvestPlus, a Challenge Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), are focusing on conventional plant breeding to biofortify staple crops such as maize, rice, cassava, beans, wheat, sweet potatoes, and pearl millet to increase the concentrations of micronutrients that are commonly deficient in spec...