Ethiopian-born and native Israeli school children have different growth patterns

A Scoping Review of the Health of African Immigrant and Refugee Children

Migration is a growing phenomenon around the world, including within the African continent. Many migrants, especially African children, face challenges related to health and social inclusion and can face increased health risks. A systematic scoping review of available literature on the health of African migrant children across the globe was conducted to offer insight into these health risks. The review was conducted over a 15-month period from January 2019 to April 2020, yielding 6602 articles once duplicates were removed. This search included electronic databases, reference lists of articles reviewed, and searches of libraries of relevant organisations. A total of 187 studies met the inclusion criteria, of which 159 were quantitative, 22 were qualitative, and 6 used mixed methods. The findings reveal decreased health in this population in areas of nutrition, infectious diseases, mental health, birth outcomes, sexual and reproductive health, physical and developmental health, parasitic infections, oral health, respiratory health, preventative health, endocrine disorders, health care services, and haematological conditions. The findings offer insights into factors influencing the health of African immigrant and refugee children. Further studies, especially qualitative studies, are needed to determine barriers to service access after migration and to investigate other underexplored and overlooked health concerns of African migrant children, including pneumonia and child maltreatment.

Effects of individual, household and community characteristics on child nutritional status in the slums of urban Bangladesh

Background

Bangladesh urban population is expected to overtake rural population by 2040, and a significant part of the increase will be in slums. Wide disparities between urban slums and the rest of the country can potentially push country indicators off track unless the specific health and nutrition needs of the expanding slum communities are addressed. The study aims at describing the individual, household and community determinants of undernutrition status among children living in major urban strata, viz. City Corporation slums and non-slums, in order to understand the major drivers of childhood undernutrition in urban slum settings.

Methods

Data are derived from Bangladesh Urban Health Survey conducted in 2013. This survey is a large-scale, nationally representative of urban areas, household survey designed specifically to provide health and nutrition status of women and children in urban Bangladesh.

Results

Data showed that 50% of under-5 children in slums are stunted and 43% are underweight, whereas for non-slums these rates are 33 and 26% respectively. In terms of severity, proportion of under-5 children living in slums severely underweight or stunted are nearly double than the children living in non-slums. Logistic analyses indicate that mother’s education, child’s age, and household’s socio-economic status significantly affects stunting and underweight levels among children living in the urban slums. Logistic models also indicate that all individual-level characteristics, except exposure to mass media and mother’s working outside home, significantly affect undernutrition levels among children living on non-slums. Among the household- and community-level characteristics, only household’s socioeconomic status remains significant for the non-slums.

Conclusions

Poor nutritional status is a major concern in slum areas, particularly as this group is expected to grow rapidly in the next few years. The situation calls for specially designed and well targeted interventions that take into account that many of the mothers are poorer and less educated, which affects their ability to provide care to their children.

Adolescent BMI at Northern Israel: From Trends, to Associated Variables and Comorbidities, and to Medical Signatures

The increasing prevalence of abnormal body mass index (BMI), mainly obesity, is becoming a significant public health problem. This cross-sectional study aimed to provide a comprehensive view of secular trends of BMI, and the associated socio-demographic variables and comorbidities among adolescents with abnormal BMI. Individuals of the study population were born mainly between 1970 and 1993, and were examined at 16 to 19 years of age during the years 1987 to 2010, at 1 conscription center in the northern district of Israel.The study population included 113,694 adolescents. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to investigate the associations between BMI categories, socio-demographic variables, and medical conditions.A downward trend in the prevalence of normal BMI among both male and female adolescents was obtained, while trends of overweight and obesity (in both genders) and underweight (only among females) rose. Socio-demographic variables such as religion, education, family-related parameters, residential environment, country of birth, and origin were all associated with different risks for abnormal BMI. Obesity was associated with higher risk for hyperlipidemia, endocrine disorders (only in males), knee disorders, and hypertension type I + II (in both genders). Overweight was associated with knee disorders (only in females). Underweight, exclusively in males, was associated with increased risk for endocrine disorders, proteinuria, and cardiac disorders. Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed the intricate relations between gender, BMI, and medical signatures. It brought to light novel clusters of diseases that were abundant among populations having above-normal BMI or underweight males. Furthermore, above-normal BMI was associated with a lower rate of cardiac anomalies and scoliosis/kyphosis, whereas being underweight was associated with a lower risk for hypertension and flat foot.This study provides a reliable and in-depth view of secular trends in height, weight, and BMI of male and female adolescents. It supports previous associations between abnormal BMI and demographic variables and comorbidities, while uncovering novel associations, mainly regarding medical signatures of each gender-BMI group. This might lead to better monitoring, early detection, prevention, and treatment of various conditions associated to abnormal BMI categories and gender groups.

Nutritional assessment of Ethiopian Beta-Israel children: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Malnutrition is a public health problem of significant importance in developing countries. The main aim of this survey is to assess the nutritional status of children of the Beta-Israel community in Gondar, Ethiopia, with special emphasis on the anthropometric growth patterns of infants under 5 years of age.

METHODS

This is a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 794 preschool children of the Beta-Israel community. The survey comprised socioeconomic and demographic data, evaluation of anthropometric measurements, and clinical evaluation of children for nutrition-related health problems. The clinical variables included assessments for vitamin A, iodine, and iron deficiencies.

RESULTS

Underweight, stunting, and wasting were seen in 14.6%, 37.2%, and 4.5% of the children, respectively. Moreover, severe underweight, severe stunting, and severe wasting were seen in 2.9%, 14.8%, and 0.5% of the children, respectively. Malnutrition affected 41.4% of all the children, with those 12-23 months old suffering the most (66.7%). Multivariate analysis noted that smaller family size and younger age were related to higher occurrence of malnutrition among children. An overall rate of stunting of 37.2% exceeds the urban average rate for Ethiopia (29.8%). All the children had been breastfed at least for some time, and among those older than 6 months, 46.8% were exclusively breastfed for 6 months. Of the infants, 82.9% were breastfed for over 2 years. No correlation existed with pattern or duration of breastfeeding and degree of malnutrition in infants over 6 months.

CONCLUSIONS

The urban Beta-Israel Jewish pediatric population in Gondar, Ethiopia suffers from a high rate of malnutrition manifested primarily by stunting (height for age), reflecting a state of chronic malnutrition after 6 months of life secondary to inadequate sources of complementary feeds for the breastfeeding infant.