The document addresses the pressing issues of global malnutrition and the urgent need to build workforce capacity in public health nutrition, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. It highlights the dual burden of malnutrition, characterized by the coexistence of undernutrition and overnu...trition. While maternal and child undernutrition remain critical concerns, there is a growing prevalence of chronic diseases linked to overnutrition, even in resource-limited settings.
A significant gap exists in the availability of trained nutrition professionals. Many countries lack sufficient numbers of nutritionists, particularly at the undergraduate level, and existing training programs often focus on curative rather than preventive approaches. This leaves health workers inadequately prepared to address complex public health nutrition challenges.
To address these issues, the document recommends increasing the number of trained nutritionists, incorporating updated nutrition training into medical and nursing curricula, and developing competency frameworks and hybrid training programs. Accreditation systems for nutrition professionals are also proposed to ensure standardized and effective training.
Sustainability remains a challenge, with the need for long-term financing and better integration of nutrition programs into health systems. The document calls for systemic approaches to strengthen workforce capacity, enabling countries to effectively tackle the underlying causes of malnutrition.
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Vitamin A deficiency is a risk factor for blindness and for mortality from measles and diarrhoea in children aged 6–59 months. We aimed to estimate trends in the prevalence of vitamin A defi ciency between 1991 and 2013 and its mortality burden in low-income and middle-income countries.
Afr J Thoracic Crit Care Med 2021;27(4):Published online 22 October 2021. https://doi.org/10.7196/AJTCCM.2021.v27i4.173
Model Chapter for textbooks for medical students and allied health professionals
DHS WORKING PAPERS 2016 No. 126 | DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEYS
Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) programs targeted at children aged 6–59 months are implemented in many countries. By improving immune function, vitamin A (VA) reduces mortality associated with measles, diarrhea, and other illnesses. There is currently a debate regarding the relevance of VAS, but a...midst the debate, researchers acknowledge that the majority of nationally-representative data on VA status is outdated. To address this data gap and contribute to the debate, we examined data from 82 countries implementing VAS programs, identified other VA programs, and assessed the recentness of national VA deficiency (VAD) data.
Article published in: Nutrients, 2017, 9, 190
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9030190
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This publication provides directions for a logical, evidence informed approach to selecting, developing, implementing and monitoring population-based interventions within the context of the double-burden of malnutrition in South-East Asia. The focus of this guide is on processed or ultra-processed p...re-packaged foods.
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The aim of the present paper is to review capacity building in public health nutrition (PHN), the need for which has been stressed for many years by a range of academics, national and international organisations. Although great strides have been made worldwide in the science of nutrition, there rema...in many problems of undernutrition and increasingly of obesity and related chronic diseases. The main emphasis in capacity building has been on the nutrition and health workforce, but the causes of these health problems are multifactorial and require collaboration across sectors in their solution. This means that PHN capacity building has to go beyond basic nutrition and beyond the immediate health workforce to policy makers in other sectors. The present paper provides examples of capacity building activities by various organisations, including universities, industry and international agencies. Examples of web-based courses are given including an introduction to the e-Nutrition Academy. The scope is international but with a special focus on Africa. In conclusion, there remains a great need for capacity building in PHN but the advent of the internet has revolutionised the possibilities.
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