Alive & Thrive – Reducing stunting through improved feeding and handwashing

Handwashing with soap before handling a child’s food is critical to child health and nutrition. Alive & Thrive, the Institute of Public Health Nutrition, and the Department of Public Health Engineering launched a campaign in Bangladesh linking handwashing and adequate, appropriate, and safe complementary feeding. 

Materials include a summary of the handwashing initiative, an advocacy brief, TV spot, poster, job aid, and reminder sticker.

View campaign materials

Source: Sanitation Updates

Study Links Vitamin D Deficiency to Global Epidemic of Sleep Disorders

Vitamin D is known as the "Sunshine Vitamin" because spending time outdoors in the sun is known to increase vitamin D in the body via the skin.  Our ancestors spent a considerable amount of their time outdoors, but for the first time in history, large amounts of the world population spend most of their time inside their offices and homes.  Researchers at the East Texas Medical Center and the University of North Carolina have discovered that vitamin D helps to regulate the sleep-wake cycle.  They've found a definite link between vitamin D deficiency and the current global epidemic of sleep disorders. Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) is one of the deepest levels of sleep.  It is the level in which dreaming occurs, and its related to good memory and learning.  A disruption of REM sleep or an absence of it, is one form of insomnia.  Other sleep disorders include sleep apnea - which involves interrupted or obstructed breathing or snoring during the night; insomnia from hormone fluctuations such as with menstruation or menopause; restless leg syndrome; and periodic limb movement disorder, a condition where the person moves their limbs involuntarily during sleep. The results of the clinical trial of vitamin D supplementation was published in a recent issue of the journal "Medical Hypothesis".  The researchers followed 1500 patients over a 2 year period.  A consistent level of vitamin D3 was maintained in their blood over many months.  This produced normal sleep in most of the participants, regardless of their type of sleep disorder, which suggests that many types of insomnia may share the same cause.  During the research, the authors discovered the presence of high concentrations of vitamin D "receiving sites" or "receptors" in those areas of the brain that are related to the onset and maintenance of sleep. Calcium is also directly related to our cycles of sleep.  In one study, published in the European Neurology Journal, researchers found that calcium levels in the body are higher during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase.  This study concluded that disturbances in sleep, especially the absence of REM deep sleep or disturbed REM sleep, are related to a calcium deficiency. Restoration to the normal course of sleep was achieved following the normalization of the blood calcium level.  As a note, calcium works best when its balanced with magnesium in a two to one ratio (with twice as much calcium as magnesium). Natural insomnia remedies containing vitamin D and calcium can be helpful with both falling asleep and staying asleep during the night.  One remedy that's designed for many forms of insomnia is Sleep Minerals II from http://www.NutritionBreakthroughs.com.  This sleep aid contains highly absorbable forms of vitamin D3, calcium, and magnesium, the best ingredients for sleeplessness and insomnia, as well as for heart health, restless legs syndrome, bone strength, menopause insomnia and teenage insomnia. The formula is delivered in a softgel form with healthy carrier oils, making it more rapidly absorbable than tablets or capsules and providing a deeper, longer-lasting sleep. Anita L. of New Caney, Texas says: "I was having hot flashes every 30 minutes to an hour through the night and was so miserable.  After about two weeks of taking the Sleep Minerals, I noticed an incredible difference with my sleep.  I have much less interruption from flashes, I'm sleeping much better, and I'm a lot more comfortable." Doctor P. P. of Houston, Texas says: “I had developed sleeping problems and took two different sleep medications over the course of several weeks.  When I discontinued them, the insomnia came back even worse. I literally got about 20 hours of sleep in 6 weeks time. Sleep Minerals II was just what I needed. I’ve been taking it for a couple weeks and getting many hours of sleep a night. As a doctor I would definitely avoid prescribing sleeping drugs — I would recommend Sleep Minerals II.” The authors of the vitamin D study noted that sleeping disorders have played a role in the development of medical conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression, and chronic pain -- all of which have become widespread similarly to insomnia. The authors suggest further research be done on the management of vitamin D levels in a variety of medical conditions related to sleep. For more information on Sleep Minerals II, visit http://www.nutritionbreakthroughs.com/html/sleep_remedy_for_insomnia_help.html

Sleep Better -- News and Research on Melatonin-Rich Foods

With the National Sleep Foundation reporting that six out of ten Americans suffer with insomnia several nights a week and that 25% of the U.S. population uses sleeping drugs (known as “hypnotics”) in an effort to get some sleep, an increasing number people these days are looking for natural sleep remedies. In recent research studies, it was discovered that both walnuts and tart cherries contain significant levels of the natural sleep hormone melatonin, and may therefore be natural, food-based ways to get a better night’s sleep.

Russel Reiter, Ph.D., a professor of cellular biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center says, “Relatively few foods have been examined for their melatonin content.  Our studies demonstrate that walnuts contain melatonin, that it is absorbed when it is eaten, and that it improves our ability to resist cellular stress caused by toxic molecules.  Walnuts also contain large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to inhibit certain types of cancer and to keep the heart healthy.”

Melatonin has been used as a sleep remedy.  It is a naturally occurring hormone produced by the pineal gland, located in the center of the brain. At night or in the dark, the pineal gland releases melatonin to regulate the sleep cycle. The body produces less melatonin with advancing age.  While supplements of melatonin do not require a prescription, it is a potent hormone.  If too much is taken, it can make it more difficult to wake up and may result in daytime grogginess.

In addition, the National Institutes of Health web site writes that other possible side effects of melatonin supplements may include stomach cramps, headache, irritability, depression, decreased libido, and reduced fertility in men and women.  It is best used under the supervision of a doctor.  Nutritionists recommend that melatonin is consumed as part of a whole food that naturally contains it.

In another study done at the University Of Texas Health Science Center, researchers discovered that the tart “Montmorency” cherry also contains a significant level of melatonin. Cherries are available in powdered supplement form and this can be taken in the evening to improve the quality of sleep.  Other ways cherries can be eaten include dried cherries, frozen cherries and cherry juice. You can add dried cherries to yogurt, granola, salads and baked foods. Cherry juice should be diluted with water or sparkling water as it is high in natural sugars. 

The brain can also be assisted in its melatonin production by taking calcium supplements.  William Sears, M.D. writes: "Calcium helps the brain use the amino acid tryptophan to manufacture the sleep-inducing substance melatonin. This explains why dairy products, which contain both tryptophan and calcium, are one of the top sleep-inducing foods."  It's important to note that a balanced ratio of twice as much calcium to magnesium is beneficial to overall health, and that these two minerals should be taken together for best results.

Digestibility and absorption are important factors in selecting the best forms of calcium and magnesium to use. For example, Sleep Minerals II from www.NutritionBreakthroughs.com is a natural sleep remedy that contains powerful, easily-assimilated forms of calcium and magnesium, combined with vitamin D and zinc.  The ingredients are formulated in a softgel with healthy oils, making them more quickly absorbable than tablets or capsules and providing a deeper, longer-lasting sleep.

Valerie H. of California says; “I had such bad menopause insomnia, it took me hours to fall asleep. I also had crawling and tingling feelings in my legs at night.  I got the Sleep Minerals II and after a few days of taking it, it started to work really well. I fall asleep now within 20 minutes and no more restless legs.”

So, if insomnia and sleeplessness have troubled you, be sure to keep your cupboard stocked with natural sleep remedies and use them well to make insomnia a thing of the past.

For more information on Sleep Minerals II, visit

http://www.nutritionbreakthroughs.com/html/sleep_remedy_for_insomnia_help.html

Restrict Wild Mushroom

Source: Kantipur daily, 7 July 2012

Mushroom claimed life

Source: Kantipur Daily, 5th July 2012

Two-thirds of all children suffering from malnutrition are South Asians.

Around 336 million people are chronically hungry in South Asia, with one-third of all child deaths linked to malnutrition.

Issues such as the one mentioned above, were discussed by participants at the South Asian Regional Knowledge Forum on Tuesday to encourage the world community to provide innovative ideas and timely intervention to save the lives of around one billion children suffering from chronic hunger.

The two-day event titled ‘sharing lessons from community experiences and improving infant and young child nutrition’ was held in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and was jointly organised by the World Bank, UN children’s fund and South Asia Food and Nutrition Security Initiatives (Safansi).

Participants from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal highlighted how despite economic growth in the region, two thirds of all children suffering from malnutrition were South Asians. Akhtar Rashid, who was representing the government of Punjab, said that a mobile phone service had been launched in the province to mobilise the community and create awareness about breastfeeding.

“We have selected a few villages where SMS service has been started. The social mobilisers identify people on the field before sending them text messages,” said Rashid, adding that the service had proved to be a great success.

South Asia has the highest rate of malnutrition, making it the single largest cause of child mortality in the region. Underweight children account for over 33% in Afghanistan, 41% in Bangladesh, 43% in India, 39% in Nepal, 31% in Pakistan and 22% in Sri Lanka.

The host country, Nepal, received a Millennium Development Goal award on its commitment and progress towards attaining the maternal mortality rate (MMR), set by the United Nations.

“We have reduced the MMR from 415 deaths in 2000 to 229 deaths in 2010 per 100,000 live births,” said National Planning Commission chief Atma Ram Pandey.

Source: The Express Tribune

Visionary food

Besides getting fit and worry about staying healthy, have you thought about your eyes?

Your eyes are definitely a very important part of your body and you need to maintain excellent eyesight for years to come! If you are young it may be tempting to tell yourself that you won’t be old for a while — why worry about it now? However, the truth is starting now and applying the right tips will maintain your eyes for years to come. Your eyes most certainly deserve it.

So applying a few fundamental rules as well as discovering the right kind of food to eat to take care of your eyes is important. Only you have control of your diet and what food your body is taking in. So choose wisely and start eating the pertinent foods that will keep your eyesight excellent for years to come. Here are 10 foods that will help improve your eyes —

Spinach: Protect your eyes from eye diseases by eating spinach. Spinach contains a caratenoid, which is called lutein. This protects your eyes from macular degeneration and getting cataracts when you are older.

Garlic: Continue to improve your eyesight by implementing garlic. Garlic contains sulphur, which will make your lens resilient and stronger over time.

Apricots: Start eating more apricots because they have lots of vitamin A, which helps restore your eyes after they’ve been affected by free radicals. You’ll also find caretenoids in apricots, which will help improve your vision.

Carrots: You’ve probably heard a lot about carrots and the reason why they are great for your eyes! Containing a lot of vitamin A and the antioxidant beta carotene, carrots are excellent for your eye health. They also help prevent blindness!

Eggs: This is another type of food that’s very good for your eyes. Eggs have great vitamins and they also contain sulphur, lecithin, amino acids, and more. These all will help prevent eye problems such as cataracts later in life.

Soy: Do you like soy milk? If you do you’re in luck because soy contains vitamin E, natural anti-inflammatory agents, and other great vitamins. Besides, soy milk soy can be found in other products such as beans, yogurt, and other food items too.

Dark chocolate: If you have a sweet tooth you are in luck! There’s one delicious dessert that will help your eyes. Dark chocolate contains flavanoids and this will help protect the blood vessels in your eyes. So help your lens and cornea stay in great shape by occasionally eating dark chocolate. You can eat it guilt free knowing you’re doing your eyes good!

So now that you have a great list of food items that will help your eyesight and overall eye health, head to the grocery store and stock up on these key food items.Your eye health is very important because you need to see well without having problems. 

So take your eyesight seriously and start eating foods that will help improve your eyes. — Agencies

Source: The Himalaya Times

केक र कुकीले स्मरणशक्ति घटाउँछ

वैज्ञानिकहरुका अनुसार केक, कुकी, जाम तथा जेली लगायतका फास्टफूड बढि खाने मानिसको स्मरण शक्ति कमजोर बन्दै जान्छ ।

कुकी तथा केक लगायतका खाद्य पदार्थले मानिसको मस्तिष्कको काम गर्ने तरिकालाई प्रभावित पार्ने अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरुको भनाइ छ । यस्ता खाद्यपदार्थ खाने मानिसको स्मरण शक्ति कम हुँदै जान्छ । तथापि फ्याट्टी अम्ल हुने खानाहरुले भने स्मरणशक्ति तेज बन्ने बताइन्छ ।

अमेरिकाको लस एन्जल्सका वैज्ञानिकहरुले मुसामा गरेको अध्ययनले यस्तो देखाएको हो । अनुसन्धानको क्रममा कुकी, केक लगायतका फास्टफूड खुवाइएका मुसाहरु पज्जल पार गर्न असफल भएको पाइयो भने सामान्य खाना दिइएका मुसाहरुले त्यस्तो पज्जल पार गरे ।

मुसाको मस्तिष्क मानिसको सँग धेरै मेल खाने भएकाले यो सिद्धान्त मानिसमा पनि लागु हुने वैज्ञानिकहरुको भनाइ छ ।

Source: Online Khabar

School health nutrition for all

SIMONE GALIMBERTI

The quest for an inclusive and accessible education can be effectively translated into reality if along the existing initiatives like scholarship for disadvantaged groups, multi lingual education, special provisions for differently 

able children, the local schools are turned into hubs for health and hygiene promotion. 

The latter option could be seen as a true game changer in the education and health sector thanks to the School Health and Nutrition, SHN model. The concept is simple, new and “Fresh” in the sense that is based on the internationally accepted model of “Focusing Resources for Effective School Health”. Imagine if certain basic health services, like vision, hearing and height screenings are offered at school level, think if a local teacher with the support of the local child club can monitor the hygiene status of the students, considers the benefits of offering simple oral health services to all students.All these could be done through periodic checkups, awareness making activities and involvement of the communities. We are not talking about schools replacing local health posts but rather extending the services of national health system through local schools.

The good thing is that this scenario is not a far dream but it is actually a reality in Nepal. Still we are very far from extending and scaling it up to all the student population of the country. Indeed the “National Strategy on SHN” approved by the Government in 2006 is facing a midlife crisis: no more in its initial stage, it has not been incorporated neither mainstreamed into the national education system yet. 

Unfortunately the School Sector Reform Plan does not even mention SHN but it was heartening to know that the Department of Education very recently requested the Ministry of Education to formally include SHN in the School Sector Reform Plan. 

Now we have a huge opportunity offered by the “Multisectoral Nutrition Plan” recently finalized by the National Planning Commission. This ambitious plan brings on the same board different stakeholders engaged in the nutrition sector and, if fully applied end mainstreamed, offers a fantastic platform for fighting malnutrition at all the levels.

It is still to be seen how SHN that offers interventions also beyond the nutritional sector can be fully incorporated and mainstreamed in this plan but the evidence is strong for suggesting flexibility in finding venues for incorporating the School Health and Nutrition Strategy into Multisectoral Nutrition Plan.

Water and sanitation components are vital too. Without adequate WASH infrastructures and conducive habits, the concept of child friendly school will remain unrealized, hampering the efforts of the Government and donor communities in improving the quality of learning at school level. In few words, SHN is a soft approach but so holistic, integrated and comprehensive that the health indicators of the nation can be improved because of it.

Malnutrition can be reduced, infections can be prevented, and hygiene can be drastically enhanced because of sustainable and doable SHN approach.

It is sustainable because it integrates already existing services being provided by the Ministry of Health and Population with the overall efforts of the Ministry of Education to provide inclusive and quality education for all. It is doable because the schools and local communities can be put in charge of the program and do the work. Technical health personnel can play an important role, but we should not forget how much the communities can do with a little guidance and help.

What they simply need is some technical knowledge that can be easily transferred through accessible trainings and a bit of more cooperation between education and health authorities at local level.On positive note, a “Minimum Package of Interventions on SHN” has been developed by the National Network on School Health and Nutrition. The Minimum Package goes side by side with the “National Joint Action Plan on SHN” that offers a fantastic opportunity to scale up in gradual and sustainable manner the program at national level. This plan, although incomplete as it does not properly address the early childhood development for example, needs to be fully disseminated and better mainstreamed. 

Interestingly, the Plan foresees the establishment of a new section within the Department of Education for SHN and WASH related matter. This new institutional set up will facilitate the implementation of health and hygiene related activities while ensuring better technical cooperation from the Ministry of Health and Population.

Coordination is the most indispensible element for successful implementation of SHN. Both Ministries of Education and Health and Population have fruitful cooperation at central level. Many of the SHN activities are already being implemented by the Ministry of Health and Population like distribution of de-worming tablets, iron folic supplementation tablets, first aid kits. Encouragingly mid day meals are distributed in 35 districts. The final goal would be to have health posts establishing a working relationship with the local schools for effective implementation of SHN activities.Let’s empower and equip our schools to become agents of change also in the promotion of health and hygiene. It is value for money and it makes sense.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Climate Conversations - Malnutrition increases on the horizon in south Asia

A woman pulls a goat as she wades out of the flood waters in the Badin district of Pakistan's Sindh province on September 22, 2011. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

By Saleem Shaikh and Sughra Tunio

Malnutrition is worsening in developing countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and India because of the impacts of climate change - particularly on water resources, a key input for producing food for more than a billion people in the region.

Climate change and rising temperatures have now badly disturbed food production patterns and have deepened food insecurity.  Malnutrition is particularly increasing in the countries where large populations are dependent on rain-fed subsistence farming.

Climate change, growing use of food crops as a source of fuel and soaring food prices are three major challenges that threaten efforts to overcome food insecurity and malnutrition according to ‘Impact of Climate Change and Bioenergy on Nutrition’ a joint report by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

According to the report, food security has four dimensions: food availability, access to food, stability of supply and access, and the safety and health of food.

Besides climate change and rising demand for bioenergy, other factors can hamper efforts to reduce malnutrition, including widespread land degradation and scarcity of fresh water resources, and structural shifts in the food and agricultural systems.

CUT CLIMATE CHANGE TO CUT HUNGER

That means some not-very-obvious ways of cutting malnutrition could have a big effect. That’s things like cutting emissions of greenhouse gases through improved transport, adopting better food producing techniques and making the choice to use greener energy.

Global population is expected to gallop up by 37 percent by 2050, to 9.2 billion. Global economic and food experts at the World Bank and FAO predict that economic growth of 6 percent per year in developing countries during the next few years, combined with rapid urbanization, will drive demand for food to new heights just as food production contracts.

They warn of substantial risks to food production from the spread of plant pests, animal diseases and invasive species across international borders – something climate change could worsen.

Subsistence farmers in developing countries, dependent on agriculture, will be particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Other groups similarly at risk of worsening food security include pastoralists, indigenous people, coastal communities and artisanal fishermen.

Changing weather patterns linked to climate change will cause more intense and longer droughts, and the frequency of heavy precipitation events is increasing over most of the world’s land areas. There is likelihood that heat waves and future tropical cyclones will become more intense.

Droughts and water scarcity can reduce the diversity of diets and bring down overall food consumption, worsening malnutrition. Flooding, sea level rise and worsening storm surges could expose more people to diarrhoea and other diseases, lowering their capacity to use food efficiently.

Adapting to the coming pressures will be crucial. Adaptation actions could include extension or intensification of existing risk management or simply efforts to produce more food.

Just as important will be making infrastructure climate change-resilient and building capacity to adapt broadly into communities and institutions.

Source: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/blogs/climate-conversations/malnutrition-increases-on-the-horizon-in-south-asia