Periconception diet does not vary by duration of US residence for Mexican immigrant women

Food and Migration: Dietary Acculturation among Migrants to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a large migrant workforce particularly from North Africa, other Gulf states and South Asia. Migration influences food behavior; however, the change is not often health conducive. This study aimed to investigate the dietary acculturation among 880 migrants and their families in a large University in the Kingdoms’ capital city, Riyadh.

The influence of social media on child feeding practices and beliefs among Hispanic mothers: A mixed methods study

OBJECTIVES

(1) To identify factors that influence child feeding practices and beliefs among Hispanic mothers in a low-income community; (2) to describe the use of social media, other internet websites, and text messaging among Hispanic mothers; and (3) to explore mothers' perceptions of social media and/or text messaging interventions to prevent childhood obesity.

METHODS

Mixed methods descriptive study with a sequential explanatory design. Hispanic mothers (N = 66) from Detroit, Michigan with children between 6 and 36 months of age completed surveys regarding their child feeding practices, the source (s) influencing these practices, and their use of social media, internet, and text messaging. During qualitative interviews (N = 19), we explored mothers' use of social media and internet websites to find child health information as well as mothers' perspectives on social media/internet/text messaging interventions to promote child health.

RESULTS

Most survey respondents were between the ages of 20 and 39 years. One-third of mothers breastfed their child for >6 months; 68% did not introduce solids until their child was older than 6 months. The majority (96%) owned a cellphone; 75% used social media at least once daily. Few mothers indicated that social media and other internet websites influenced their child feeding decisions. During qualitative interviews (N = 19), almost all mothers expressed interest in social media and/or text messaging as a tool to communicate information regarding child health and feeding.

CONCLUSIONS

Hispanic mothers had high rates of social media use and most desired social media/internet/text messaging interventions to promote child health.

Global inequities in dietary calcium intake during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Evidence shows that adequate calcium intake during pregnancy reduces the risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. In most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) the daily calcium intake is well below recommendations. Mapping calcium intake during pregnancy worldwide and identifying populations with low calcium intake will provide the evidence base for more targeted actions to improve calcium intake.

OBJECTIVE

To assess dietary calcium intake during pregnancy worldwide.

SEARCH STRATEGY

MEDLINE and EMBASE (from July 2004 to November 2017).

SELECTION CRITERIA

Cross-sectional, cohort, and intervention studies reporting calcium intake during pregnancy.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Five reviewers working in pairs independently performed screening, extraction, and quality assessment. We reported summary measures of calcium intake and calculated the weighted arithmetic mean for high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs independently, and for geographic regions, among studies reporting country of recruitment, mean intake, and total number of participants. When available, inadequate intakes were reported.

MAIN RESULTS

From 1880 citations 105 works met the inclusion criteria, providing data for 73 958 women in 37 countries. The mean calcium intake was 948.3 mg/day (95% CI 872.1-1024.4 mg/day) for HICs and 647.6 mg/day (95% CI 568.7-726.5 mg/day) for LMICs. Calcium intakes below 800 mg/day were reported in five (29%) countries from HICs and in 14 (82%) countries from LMICs.

CONCLUSION

These results are consistent with a lack of improvement in calcium dietary intake during pregnancy and confirm the gap between HICs and LMICs, with alarmingly low intakes recorded for pregnant women in LMICs. From the public health perspective, in the absence of specific local data, calcium supplementation of pregnant women in these countries should be universal.

TWEETABLE ABSTRACT

Despite dietary recommendations, women in LMICs face pregnancy with diets low in calcium.

Healthy foods prepared at home: Diet and support as protective strategies during pregnancy for Hispanic women

Birth outcomes tend to be better among Hispanics than among other ethnic groups, even when matched for poverty and education, and foreign-born Latinas compared to their US-born counterparts. These patterns suggest that sociocultural factors exhibited by recent immigrants have the potential to protect birth outcomes against the instability of minority and low socioeconomic status. To discover potential sociocultural factors, a pilot qualitative study was carried out in Tucson, Arizona, with 18 Hispanic mothers. The two most prevalent factors reported were (1) a healthy diet prepared at home from minimally processed ingredients, and (2) constant and comprehensive social support. When comparing responses related to diet by interview language preference, a proxy for acculturation, there was very little difference between participants who interviewed in Spanish and those who interviewed in English. This result may be explained by greater maternal social support and higher education levels among those who interviewed in English.

Mediators and Moderators of the Effectiveness of a Community Health Worker Intervention That Improved Dietary Outcomes in Pregnant Latino Women

BACKGROUND

Pregnancy is an opportune time to initiate diabetes prevention strategies for minority and underserved women, using culturally tailored interventions delivered by community health workers. A community-partnered randomized controlled trial (RCT) with pregnant Latino women resulted in significantly improved vegetable, fiber, added sugar, and total fat consumption compared to a minimal intervention group. However, studying RCT intervention effects alone does not explain the mechanisms by which the intervention was successful or help identify which participants may have benefitted most.

PURPOSE

To improve the development and targeting of future community health worker interventions for high-risk pregnant women, we examined baseline characteristics (moderators) and potential mechanisms (mediators) associated with these dietary changes.

METHOD

Secondary analysis of data for 220 Latina RCT participants was conducted. A linear regression with effects for intervention group, moderator, and interaction between intervention group and moderator was used to test each hypothesized moderator of dietary changes. Sobel-Goodman mediation test was used to assess mediating effects on dietary outcomes.

RESULTS

Results varied by dietary outcome. Improvements in vegetable consumption were greatest for women who reported high spousal support at baseline. Women younger than age 30 were more likely to reduce added sugar consumption than older women. Participants who reported higher baseline perceived control were more likely to reduce fat consumption. No examined mediators were significantly associated with intervention effects.

CONCLUSION

Future interventions with pregnant Latinas may benefit from tailoring dietary goals to consider age, level of spousal support, and perceived control to eat healthy.