Public Health Nutrition: 22(1), 1–2 doi:10.

1017/S1368980018003646

In this Issue

Challenges in child and adolescent nutrition

In this issue, we feature articles on nutrition in children report on the ToyBox intervention in kindergartens across
and adolescents from around the word, encompassing six European countries that aimed to improve fruit and
both undernutrition in India(1), Bangladesh(2), Iran(3) and vegetable consumption and reduce intake of unhealthy
Turkey(4) and overnutrition in Brazil(5,6). One article(7) snacks via a family-based intervention. The intervention
reports on the prevalence of anaemia and stunting in improved some of the family-related determinants but not
193 065 children aged 6–59 months in forty-three low- and the actual snacking habits of the pre-school children.
middle-income countries using data from Demographic Another short intervention in US elementary schools
and Health Surveys during the period 2005–2015. Overall, improved nutrition knowledge and preference for fruit
21.5 % of children surveyed were both anaemic and and vegetables(12). Oddo et al.(13) review the literature on
stunted, and the prevalence of these co-morbidities was nutrition interventions for adolescents in Indonesia and,
associated with residence in rural areas, less educated although there was limited information, recommended
mothers and poorer households. This is consistent with iron–folic acid supplements, anti-helminths and nutrition
the findings from India and Bangladesh reported here, education delivered through schools, along with further
illustrating the sort of important risk factors that could be work on this topic. For Canadian street-involved youth
addressed to improve childhood undernutrition. who used illicit drugs, food insecurity was common and
New prevalence thresholds for wasting, overweight and was associated with depression(14).
stunting from the WHO–UNICEF Technical Expert Advi- These papers show the great variety of ways in which
sory Group on Nutrition Monitoring are presented in this nutrition in children and adolescents can be studied and
issue by de Onis et al.(8). The new thresholds are based on the ongoing challenges to ensure all children receive
the normative WHO Child Growth Standards and for the optimal nutrition.
first time include thresholds for over- as well as under-
nutrition; and they should be used in future studies. From Allison Hodge
Brazil, on the other hand, Filgueiras et al.(5) report on Editor-in-Chief
assessment of android fat in children aged 4–9 years using Email [email protected]
anthropometric methods (waist circumference, waist-to-
height ratio, conicity index). For the 30 % of the sample
who were overweight, about 30 % also had excess android References
fat by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and the
anthropometric measures showed good agreement with 1. Meshram II, Mallikharjun Rao K, Balakrishna N et al. (2019)
DXA in identifying android fat. These simple anthropo- Infant and young child feeding practices, sociodemographic
metric measures could be useful in population surveys. 2 factors and their association with nutritional status of
children aged <3 years in India: findings of the National
Staying in Brazil, another article by Filgueiras et al.(6) Nutrition Monitoring Bureau survey, 2011–2012. Public
describes the association of body adiposity indices with Health Nutr 22, 104–114.
DXA-derived body fat in children and adolescents aged 8– 2. Mistry SK, Hossain MB, Khanam F et al. (2019) Individual-,
19 years. Although sensitivity, specificity and area under maternal- and household-level factors associated with
stunting among children aged 0–23 months in Bangladesh.
the curve suggested some value in the adiposity indices, Public Health Nutr 22, 85–94.
Bland–Altman plots indicated that for lower levels of body 3. Fatemi MJ, Fararouei M, Moravej H et al. (2019) Stunting and its
fat the indices overestimated body fat, while at higher associated factors among 6–7-year-old children in southern Iran:
levels, the indices underestimated body fat relative a nested case–control study. Public Health Nutr 22, 55–62.
4. Comba A, Demir E & Eren NB (2019) Nutritional status and
to DXA. related factors of school children in Çorum, Turkey. Public
Other articles in this issue look at fussiness in food Health Nutr 22, 122–131.
selection in Irish children, which may put them at risk of 5. Filgueiras MS, Vieira SA, Fonseca PCA et al. (2019) Waist
inadequate nutrient intakes in the context of a 20 % pre- circumference, waist-to-height ratio and conicity index to
evaluate android fat excess in Brazilian children. Public
valence of childhood overweight and obesity(9), and Health Nutr 22, 140–146.
consumption of non-core foods by UK adolescents(10). 6. Filgueiras MS, Cecon RS, Faria ER et al. (2019) Agreement of
The likelihood of eating non-core foods was increased body adiposity index (BAI) and paediatric body adiposity
index (BAIp) in determining body fat in Brazilian children
when adolescents consumed food out of home, especially
and adolescents. Public Health Nutr 22, 132–139.
in eateries, leading the authors to conclude that targeting 7. Tran TD, Biggs B-A, Holton S et al. (2019) Co-morbid
such eating occasions may be useful. Lambrinou et al.(11) anaemia and stunting among children of pre-school age in

© The Author 2018

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018003646 Published online by Cambridge University Press

 2 In this Issue
low- and middle-income countries: a syndemic. Public family-involved intervention on pre-schoolers’ snacking
Health Nutr 22, 35–43. behaviour: the ToyBox-study. Public Health Nutr 22,
8. de Onis M, Borghi E, Arimond M et al. (2019) Prevalence 157–163.
thresholds for wasting, overweight and stunting in children 12. Schmitt SA, Bryant LM, Korucu I et al. (2019) The
under 5 years. Public Health Nutr 22, 175–179. effects of a nutrition education curriculum on improving
9. Rahill S, Kennedy A, Walton J et al. (2019) The factors young children’s fruit and vegetable preferences and
associated with food fussiness in Irish school-aged children. nutrition and health knowledge. Public Health Nutr 22,
Public Health Nutr 22, 164–174. 28–34.
10. Toumpakari Z, Tilling K, Haase AM et al. (2019) High-risk 13. Oddo VM, Roshita A & Rah JH (2019) Potential interventions
environments for eating foods surplus to requirements: a targeting adolescent nutrition in Indonesia: a
multilevel analysis of adolescents’ non-core food intake in literature review. Public Health Nutr 22, 15–27.
the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS). Public 14. Goldman-Hasbun J, Nosova E, DeBeck K et al. (2019) Food
Health Nutr 22, 74–84. insufficiency is associated with depression among street-
11. Lambrinou C-P, van Stralen MM, Androutsos O et al. (2019) involved youth in a Canadian setting. Public Health Nutr
Mediators of the effectiveness of a kindergarten-based, 22, 104–114.

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018003646 Published online by Cambridge University Press