Effect of a Nutrition Education Intervention on Food Safety Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Mothers of Children under 5 Years in the Peri-Urban Areas of Bobo-Dioulasso: Before and after Study

Background: This study assessed the effect of a nutrition education intervention. This intervention aimed to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of mothers on food safety in the peri-urban areas of Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso. Methods: A total of 243 mothers of children under 5 years in the peri-urban of Bobo-Dioulasso were administered the FAO questionnaire for food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices assessment during two cross-sectional surveys, before and after the intervention, in January and October 2017. The intervention included two components consisting of a theoretical phase (counselling and discussion) and cooking demonstrations implemented for ten months. To account for the before-and-after design of the study, the McNemar’s test was used to assess the effect of the intervention on food safety KAP of mothers of children under 5 years. Results: The mean age of mothers was 29 ± 6.2 years and 50.6% of them were between 20 and 29 years old. One for knowledge (cooking thoroughly with, p-value = 0.0001) and another for attitudes (perceived benefits of reheating leftovers before eating them, p-value = 0.0001), significantly increased after the intervention. In terms of food safety practices, all the indicators (cleaning of dirty surfaces, plates and utensils and storage of perishable foods) significantly increased (all p = 0.0001 Conclusion: This study provided some evidence of an effective nutrition education intervention for improving maternal KAP on food safety for their child’s feeding.

Diarrhea Disease among Children under 5 Years of Age: A Global Systematic Review

Diarrhea diseases remain the second leading cause of death among children under five years globally. Nearly one in every five child deaths, about 1.6 million each year, are due to diarrhea. Further, diarrhea kills more young children than malaria, measles and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) combined. As a result, better understanding of childhood diarrhea occurrence can perhaps help reduce associated morbidity and mortality rates. Therefore, this study conducted a global systematic review on occurrence of childhood diarrhea. The broad objective of this study was to review present and past researches on childhood diarrhea and most importantly for children under 5 years of age. The review focused on understanding the burden of diarrhea, causes of childhood diarrhea and solutions to the disease. A systematic literature review was conducted using the databases of PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Search key terms used were childhood diarrhea, risk factors and intervention practices. Journal articles and related reports were filtered and limited from 2005 to 2020. Sixty-one reports and articles that met inclusion criteria were used in this review. Review found that, childhood diarrhea imposes economic costs on the health system and families. Also, repeated bouts of diarrhea can lead to malnutrition, stunting and delayed brain growth later in life and can lead to stress and tension to the affected households. The dependence on open water sources which are often contaminated with fecal materials was found as the major cause of the rising prevalence of childhood diarrhea. Other important factors were poor hygienic practices and lack of sanitation facilities contribute to the spread of diarrhea diseases. Improvements in the quality of drinking water, sanitation facilities and hygiene practices especially in low and middle income countries have been suggested by many studies as an intervention to reduce childhood diarrhea.

Intestinal parasitic infections among children under five years of age presenting with diarrhoeal diseases to two public health facilities in Hawassa, South Ethiopia

Background:Diarrhoea is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years of age in developing countries,including Ethiopia.It is caused by a wide range of pathogens,including parasites,bacteria and viruses.The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of infection with intestinal parasites(IPs)(and types)among children under 5 years of age with diarrhoeal diseases.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted at Adare Hospital and Millennium Health Centre,both located in Hawassa,South Ethiopia,from June 6 to October 28,2011.Children under 5 years of age with diarrhoea who visited these health facilities during the study period were included in the study.Data relating to demography and risk factors associated with intestinal parasitic infections(IPIs)were gathered using a structured questionnaire.Single,fresh stool specimens were examined for IPs using the direct wet mount examination,followed by Ziehl-Neelsen staining of formol-ether concentrated samples,as per standard procedures.Data were analysed using SPSS Statistics 20 software.Results:A total of 158 children(51.3%male and 48.7%female)participated in the study.Overall,the prevalence of IPs was 26.6%(42/158).Two species of IPs were detected in six children(3.8%).Entamoeba histolytica/dispar/moshkovskii was the predominant parasite identified(11.4%),followed by Giardia duodenalis(7.0%).The multivariable analysis revealed that the age group≥24 months was significantly associated(AOR=0.221,95%CI:0.085–0.576)with prevalence of IPIs.Conclusion:This study found that intestinal parasites are common among children with diarrheal diseases.The most frequently detected species was E.histolytica/dispar/moshkovskii.Health information about how to prevent diarrheal diseases in general and IPIs in particular should be provided to parents of young children.