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Countries around the world need to place more emphasis on the need for healthy nutrition from infancy, including the school years to adulthood, to aid brain development, says a scientist.
According to Majid Ezzati, co-author of a study that has found Sub-Saharan Africa with six of the top ten countries in the world with low adolescent birth weight, says that such interventions will help children grow taller without gaining excess weight for their height. .
Interventions will be context-specific, but generally they should be policies that increase the availability and reduce the cost of nutritious foods, as this will help children grow without gaining excess weight for their height. “
Majid Ezzati, co-author of a study
“These initiatives include food stamps for nutritious meals for low-income families and free school healthy meal programs, which are particularly threatened during the [COVID-19] pandemic, “says Ezzati, a professor at the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, to SciDev.Net.
According to the study, sub-Saharan Africa has six of the top ten countries in the world with low adolescent birth weight, an indicator that reflects an increased risk of low mental development.
The researchers evaluated the variations in the height and weight of the school-age children to calculate an indicator called the body mass index (BMI), which is used to determine whether their weight is healthy.
According to the researchers, a low BMI affects cognitive development and reduces educational performance and work productivity in adulthood. In contrast, a high BMI increases the risk of disability and premature death in adulthood, with poor educational and mental health outcomes.
The researchers analyzed data from 2,181 population-based studies, measuring height and weight in 65 million school-age children ages 5 to 19 in 200 countries and territories. The researchers also used a statistical approach to estimate trends in BMI from 1985 to 2019.
“The height of children, especially boys, in many sub-Saharan African nations has stagnated or decreased during these decades [1985 to 2019] which is a notable exception to other regions, “says Ezzati.
The Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Niger and Senegal are among the top ten countries with 19-year-olds who have a low BMI in 2019 globally, says the study published in The lancet this month (November 7). The other countries are Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Timor-Leste.
“To our knowledge, this study presents the first comparable estimates of height in school-age children and adolescents for all countries in the world and does so together with estimates of BMI, which together are pathways from nutrition and the environment through childhood and adolescence to lifelong health. “says the study.
Dorothy Mituki Mungiria, a researcher and professor in the Department of Human Nutrition at Egerton University, Kenya, says the study shows that policies and programs must take the life cycle approach. to nutrition, developed in the 1960s.
“The emphasis should be on biological needs in terms of different amounts, types, and varieties of specific nutrients for population groups at specific stages of life: during pregnancy and for the newborn; during early and late childhood ; during adolescence; during adulthood; and for older people, “he says SciDev.Net.
Mungiria says that the policies and programs are primarily aimed at the pregnant mother and the child and no follow-up is done after the mother has delivered the baby.
“Interventions after this period are rare,” he explains, adding that educational institutions must provide nutritious food while avoiding low-cost, nutrient-poor food options.
