Nutritional status of lactating mothers and their children 6-23 months of age in pre- and post-harvest seasons in two agro-ecological zones of rural Ethiopia

The objective of this study was to assess seasonal variation in nutritional status and feeding practices among lactating mothers and their children 6-23 months of age in two different agro-ecological zones of rural Ethiopia (lowland zone and midland zone). Food availability and access are strongly affected by seasonality in Ethiopia. However, there are few published data on the effects of seasonal food fluctuations on nutritional status and dietary diversity patterns of mothers and children in rural Ethiopia. A longitudinal study was conducted among 216 mothers in two agro-ecological zones of rural Ethiopia during pre and post-harvest seasons. Data were collected on many parameters including anthropometry, blood levels of haemoglobin and ferritin and zinc, urinary iodine levels, questionnaire data regarding demographic and household parameters and health issues, and infant and young child feeding practices, 24 h food recall to determine dietary diversity scores, and household use of iodized salt. Chi-square and multivariable regression models were used to identify independent predictors of nutritional status. A wide variety of results were generated including the following highlights. It was found that 95.4% of children were breastfed, of whom 59.7% were initially breastfed within one hour of birth, 22.2% received pre-lacteal feeds, and 50.9% of children received complementary feedings by 6 months of age. Iron deficiency was found in 44.4% of children and 19.8% of mothers. Low Zinc status was found in 72.2% of children and 67.3% of mothers. Of the study subjects, 52.5% of the children and 19.1% of the mothers were anaemic, and 29.6% of children and 10.5% of mothers had iron deficiency anaemia. Among the mothers with low serum iron status, 81.2% and 56.2% of their children had low serum zinc and iron, respectively. Similarly, among the low serum zinc status mothers, 75.2% and 45.3% of their children had low serum in zinc and iron, respectively. There was a strong correlation between the micronutrient status of the mothers and the children for ferritin, zinc and haemoglobin (P <0.001). There was also statistically significant difference between agro-ecological zones for micronutrient deficiencies among the mothers (p<0.001) but not for their children. The majority (97.6%) of mothers in the lowland zone were deficient in at least one micronutrient biomarker (zinc or ferritin or haemoglobin). Deficiencies in one, two, or all three biomarkers of micronutrient status were observed in 48.1%, 16.7% and 9.9% of mothers and 35.8%, 29.0%, and 23.5%, of children, respectively. Additionally, about 42.6% of mothers had low levels of urinary iodine and 35.2% of lactating mothers had goitre. Total goitre prevalence rates and urinary iodine levels of lactating mothers were not significantly different across agro-ecological zones. Adequately iodised salt was available in 36.6% of households. The prevalence of anaemia increased from post-harvest (21.8%) to pre-harvest seasons (40.9%) among lactating mothers. Increases were from 8.6% to 34.4% in midland and from 34.2% to 46.3% in lowland agro-ecological zones. Fifteen percent of mothers were anaemic during both seasons. Predictors of anaemia were high parity of mother and low dietary diversity. The proportion of stunted and underweight children increased from 39.8% and 27% in post-harvest season to 46.0% and 31.8% in pre-harvest season, respectively. However, wasting in children decreased from 11.6% to 8.5%. Major variations in stunting and underweight were noted in midland compared to lowland agroecological zones. Anthropometric measurements in mothers indicated high levels of undernutrition. The prevalence of undernutrition in mothers (BMI <18.5kg/m2) increased from 41.7 to 54.7% between post- and pre-harvest seasons. The seasonal effect was generally higher in the midland community for all forms of malnutrition. Parity, number of children under five years and regional variation were predictors of low BMI among lactating mothers. There were differences in minimum meal frequency, minimum acceptable diet and dietary diversity in children in pre-harvest and post-harvest seasons and these parameters were poor in both seasons. Dietary diversity among mothers was higher in lowland zone but was poor in both zones across the seasons. In conclusion, malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are very prevalent among lactating mothers and their children 6-23 months old in the study areas. There are significant seasonal variations in malnutrition and dietary diversity, in addition to significant differences between lowland and midland agro-ecological zones. These findings suggest a need to design effective preventive public health nutrition programs to address both the mothers’ and children���s needs particularly in the preharvest season.

Understandings of transnational families in debates on Migration and development

International migration sets in motion a range of significant transnational processes that connect countries and people. How migration interacts with development and how policies might promote and enhance such interactions have, since the turn of the millennium, gained attention on the international agenda. The recognition that transnational practices connect migrants and their families across sending and receiving societies forms part of this debate. The ways in which policy debate employs and understands transnational family ties nevertheless remain underexplored. This article sets out to discern the understandings of the family in two (often intermingled) debates concerned with transnational interactions: The largely state and policydriven discourse on the potential benefits of migration on economic development, and the largely academic transnational family literature focusing on issues of care and the micro-politics of gender and generation. Emphasizing the relation between diverse migration-development dynamics and specific family positions, we ask whether an analytical point of departure in respective transnational motherhood, fatherhood or childhood is linked to emphasizing certain outcomes. We conclude by sketching important strands of inclusions and exclusions of family matters in policy discourse and suggest ways to better integrate a transnational family perspective in global migration-development policy.

Perspectives on gender, migration and transnational work: joint work of social reproduction and care in Southern Europe

This paper presents the "state of the art" and some of the main issues discussed in relation to the topic of transnational migration and reproductive work in southern Europe. We start doing a genealogy of the complex theoretical development leading to the consolidation of the research program, linking consideration of gender with transnational migration and transformation of work and ways of survival, thus making the production aspects as reproductive, in a context of globalization. The analysis of the process of multiscale reconfiguration of social reproduction and care, with particular attention to its present global dimension is presented, pointing to the turning point of this line of research that would have taken place with the beginning of this century, with the rise notions such as "global care chains" (Hochschild, 2001), or "care drain" (Ehrenreich and Hochschild, 2013). Also, the role of this new agency, now composed in many cases women who migrate to other countries or continents, precisely to address these reproductive activities, is recognized. Finally, reference is made to some of the new conceptual and theoretical developments in this area.

The Electoral Rise of Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe: Ideological Parameters and Social Motivations

Populist radical right parties have become major political actors in Europe. This paper analyses the path and the different phases that have led them from the fringes of public debate to their present signifi cance, which is based on their capacity to attract electoral support and infl uence the political agendas in their respective countries. Besides, an analysis of the core ideological beliefs of these parties, and of the topics on which their mobilization capacity rests, is provided, as well as of the type of voters that are attracted by them. Finally, the authors discuss the meaning and impact of the growing popularity of the ideas and proposals put forward by the populist radical right parties.

Psychiatric Nurses’ Practice with Parents who have Mental Illness, their Children and Families, within Adult Mental Health Services in Ireland

Introduction: While it is recommended that mental health professionals engage in family focused practice (FFP), there is limited understanding regarding psychiatric nurses’ practice with parents who have mental illness, their children and families in adult mental health services.

Methods: This study utilized a mixed methods approach to measure the extent of psychiatric nurses’ family focused practice and factors that predicted it. It also sought to explore the nature and scope of high scoring psychiatric nurses’ FFP and factors that affected their capacity to engage in FFP. Three hundred and forty three psychiatric nurses in 12 mental health services throughout Ireland completed the Family Focused Mental Health Practice Questionnaire (FFMHPQ). Fourteen nurses who achieved high scores on the FFMHPQ also participated in semi-structured interviews.

Results: Whilst the majority of nurses were not family focused a substantial minority were. High scoring nurses’ practice was complex and multifaceted, comprising various family focused activities, principles and processes. Nurses’ capacity to engage in FFP was determined by their knowledge and skills, working in community settings and own parenting experience.

Impact of oral diseases and disorders on oral health-related quality of life of preschool children

BACKGROUND The presence of oral diseases and disorders can produce an impact on the quality of life of preschool children and their parents, affecting their oral health and well-being. However, socioeconomic factors could confound this association, but it has not been yet tested at this age. OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of early childhood caries (ECC), traumatic dental injuries (TDI) and malocclusions on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of children between 2 and 5 years of age adjusted by socioeconomic factors. METHODS Parents of 260 children answered the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) (six domains) on their perception of the children's OHRQoL and socioeconomic conditions. Two calibrated dentists (κ>0.8) examined the severity of ECC according to dmft index, and children were categorized into: 0=caries free; 1-5=low severity; ≥6=high severity. TDI and malocclusions were examined according to Andreasen & Andreasen (1994) classification and for the presence or absence of three anterior malocclusion traits (AMT), respectively. OHRQoL was measured through ECOHIS domain and total scores, and poisson regression was used to associate the different factors with the outcome. RESULTS In each domain and overall ECOHIS scores, the severity of ECC showed a negative impact on OHRQoL (P<0.001). TDI and AMT did not show a negative impact on OHRQoL nor in each domain (P>0.05). The increase in the child's age, higher household crowding, lower family income and mother working out of home were significantly associated with OHRQoL (P<0.05). The multivariate adjusted model showed that the high severity of ECC (RR=3.81; 95% CI=2.66, 5.46; P<0.001) was associated with greater negative impact on OHRQoL, while high family income was a protective factor for OHRQoL (RR=0.93; 95% CI=0.87, 0.99; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS The severity of ECC and a lower family income had a negative impact on the OHRQoL of preschool children and their parents.

The Development and Evaluation of a School-Based Programme to Promote and the Enhance Well-Being of Primary School Children

The current study was carried out to evaluate the impact of a well-being curriculum based on existing knowledge of themes within PP, which contribute to well-being. The Positive Well-Being Curriculum consists of twelve ninety minute sessions delivered weekly during a school term. The twelve well-being sessions fit into four domains: positive experience, positive emotions, positive relationships, achievement and meaning (Seligman, 2007). The objectives of the study were to test the practical implications of running a well-being curriculum, to develop a range of activities within each domain and to evaluate the impact on student well-being with regard to life satisfaction, positive affectivity and subjective happiness. A pilot was carried out as preparation for the main mixed method intervention study, which was conducted in two London primary schools. Pre and post data was collected using standardised measures, focus groups and one to one interviews. Findings from the pilot demonstrated a significant increase in well-being as demonstrated by increases in: life satisfaction, positive affect and subjective happiness. Additional information was gathered which informed the content and implementation of the curriculum in the main study. The experience of taking part in the study as evidenced through qualitative and quantitative results, indicate that the Positive Well-being Curriculum was perceived by participating teachers and children to contribute positively to the well-being of the children. These findings would be of interest to educational psychologists as there is an increasing interest by schools to include creative and validated resources to support and enhance the well-being of all children. A number of useful insights were developed about the usefulness of the curriculum for children in a variety of educational settings.

Peer Relationships in School-Age Children with Autism: Concurrent and Longitudinal Predictors

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Crime and Punishment.

The study of Victorian crime and punishment is a rich area of research that has attracted the interest not only of literary scholars but also of social historians, legal historians, and criminologists. Related scholarship therefore often situates itself at the intersection of traditional disciplinary boundaries, facilitating interdisciplinary conversation. Crime and punishment was a pressing issue for the Victorians and provoked a wealth of responses from contemporaneous commentators in literature, culture, and science. As a new phase of industrialization brought immense wealth for some and abject poverty for others, Victorian urban centers in particular were afflicted by crime. Without an effective system of social welfare in place, social inequality and deprivation drove women, men, and children into petty crime and more serious offenses, resulting in severe punishment ranging from incarceration via penal transportation to hanging. Public executions, not abolished until 1868, attracted huge crowds of spectators, including authors such as Charles Dickens and William Thackeray, who wrote about these experiences. A forerunner of the popular press, street literature conveyed and illustrated these events for a broad audience. Execution broadsides of famous cases, printing the alleged last lamentations of convicts on the scaffold in verse, are estimated to have sold by the million. As the legal system was undergoing reform (comprising changes in legal evidence procedure, divorce law, women’s property rights, and punishment for sexual offenses, for example), sensational trials caused furor and stimulated commentary in literature and the media. Crime and punishment was discussed in a range of literary and popular genres, poetry, and reformist writing. The “Newgate School” of fiction was accused of glamorizing crime, and the popular penny dreadfuls were feared to corrupt public morals. Sensational fiction in the 1860s, which often drew on real-life criminal cases and newspaper reports, depicted the supposedly respectable middle-class family home as a center of transgression. Similarly, detective fiction typically focused on crime in the world of the middle classes. For the student new to the subject of crime and punishment, this area’s interdisciplinary nature can pose an initial challenge.

Heritage Language Maintenance and Biliteracy Development for Immigrants' Children: A Study of Chinese Immigrants' Family Language Policy and Biliteracy Practices

This study reports on research that examines the family language policy (FLP) and biliteracy practices of middle-class Chinese immigrant families in a metropolitan area in the southwest of the U.S. by exploring language practices pattern among family members, language and literacy environment at home, parents’ language management, parents’ language attitudes and ideologies, and biliteracy practices. In this study, I employed mixed methods, including survey and interviews, to investigate Chinese immigrant parents’ FLP, biliteracy practices, their life stories, and their experience of raising and nurturing children in an English-dominant society. Survey questionnaires were distributed to 55 Chinese immigrant parents and interviews were conducted with five families, including mothers and children. One finding from this study is that the language practices pattern at home shows the trend of language shift among the Chinese immigrants’ children. Children prefer speaking English with parents, siblings, and peers, and home literacy environment for children manifests an English-dominant trend. Chinese immigrant parents’ language attitudes and ideologies are largely influenced by English-only ideology. The priority for learning English surpasses the importance of Chinese learning, which is demonstrated by the English-dominant home literacy practices and an English-dominant language policy. Parents invest more in English literacy activities and materials for children, and very few parents implement Chinese-only policy for their children. A second finding from this study is that a multitude of factors from different sources shape and influence Chinese immigrants’ FLP and biliteracy practices. The factors consist of family-related factors, social factors, linguistic factors, and individual factors. A third finding from this study is that a wide variety of strategies are adopted by Chinese immigrant families, which have raised quite balanced bilingual children, to help children maintain Chinese heritage language (HL) and develop both English and Chinese literacy. The close examination and comparison of different families with English monolingual children, with children who have limited knowledge of HL, and with quite balanced bilingual children, this study discovers that immigrant parents, especially mothers, play a fundamental and irreplaceable role in their children���s HL maintenance and biliteracy development and it recommends to immigrant parents in how to implement the findings of this study to nurture their children to become bilingual and biliterate. Due to the limited number and restricted area and group of participant sampling, the results of this study may not be generalized to other groups in different contexts.

Do Children's Health Resources Differ According to Preschool Physical Activity Programmes and Parental Behaviour? A Mixed Methods Study

Preschool can have positive effects on the development of a healthy lifestyle. The present study analysed to what extent different conditions, structures and behavioural models in preschool and family-children's central social microsystems-can lead to differences in children's health resources. Using a cross-sectional mixed methods approach, contrast analyses of "preschools with systematic physical activity programmes" versus "preschools without physical activity programmes" were conducted to assess the extent to which children's physical activity, quality of life and social behaviour differ between preschools with systematic and preschools without physical activity programmes. Differences in children's physical activity according to parental behaviour were likewise assessed. Data on child-related outcomes and parent-related factors were collected via parent questionnaires and child interviews. A qualitative focused ethnographic study was performed to obtain deeper insight into the quantitative survey data. Two hundred and twenty seven (227) children were interviewed at 21 preschools with systematic physical activity programmes, and 190 at 25 preschools without physical activity programmes. There was no significant difference in children's physical activity levels between the two preschool types (p = 0.709). However, the qualitative data showed differences in the design and quality of programmes to promote children's physical activity. Data triangulation revealed a strong influence of parental behaviour. The triangulation of methods provided comprehensive insight into the nature and extent of physical activity programmes in preschools and made it possible to capture the associations between systematic physical activity promotion and children's health resources in a differential manner.

Experiences of care and adjustment to change in caregivers of children with autoimmune encephalitis: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Background: Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) occurs in response to an antibody-mediated central nervous system disease and can lead to significant neurodisability. Prior research on family adjustment has described a reciprocal relationship between caregiver functioning, distress and clinical outcome in parents and children with encephalitis. There has been no previous research exploring the experiences of caregivers with a child with AE. Aims: To explore the perspectives of parents and/or caregivers with a child diagnosed with AE regarding (i) their own adjustment from hospital admission to post-discharge, and (ii) their experiences of care and service provision. Methods: A purposive sampling approach was used. Five parents of children with AE participated in a semi-structured interview exploring their experiences of caring for their child and service provision during acute care and post-discharge. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the transcripts. Main findings and conclusions: Four shared super-ordinate themes with related subthemes emerged: (a) uncertainty, (b) managing our recovery, (c) changes in my child, (d) experiences of service provision. Participants reported emotional distress, often underpinned by recurrent experiences of uncertainty, and ‘loss’ of the previous child, and mediated by coping strategies and social support. While an overall positive experience of inpatient services was reported, parents often perceived post-discharge services as lacking in co-ordination, communication and formal follow-up, resulting in unmet support needs. Implications and recommendations for services, practitioners and future research are discussed.

Association of ABO blood group and Plasmodium falciparum malaria among Children in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

The ABO and Rhesus blood group systems are very important clinical tools that are commonly used in blood transfusion and their associations with various disease conditions have been widely reported. This study investigated the distribution of these blood group systems and assessed the association of malaria infection with the ABO blood groups among children in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Blood specimens from deep finger pricks of 730 children aged between 0-2 years were examined for malaria parasites using Field stains method. ABO and Rhesus blood group antigens tests were also performed using standard tile protocols. Of all the children admitted into the study, 445 were sick while 285 were apparently healthy. The prevalence of malaria parasites was significantly higher (P = 0.00047) among the sick children (69.8%) than the apparently healthy children (30.2%). The most prevalent blood group was O (55.7%) and the Rhesus D antigen was positive for 98.4% of all the children. The prevalence of blood group B among the sick children was significantly lower (P = 0.00373) than the other blood group types. There is no association between malaria infection and ABO blood groups but the prevalence of higher malaria parasite density was significantly greater (P = 0.0404) in children with blood group A (7.7%). In conclusion, blood group O was the most prevalent blood group in the study and children with blood group A appeared to be more susceptible to higher level of malaria parasitemia.

Psychological Aspects in Children and Adolescents With Major Thalassemia: A Case-Control Study

Background: Thalassemia is an inherited blood disease. It is a serious public health problem throughout the Mediterranean region, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, as well as in Southeast Asia. Objectives: Thalassemia is an inherited blood disease. It is a serious public health problem. In this study we assessed psychological aspects in Iranian children and adolescents with thalassemia major. Patients and Methods: In this case-control study sixty healthy subjects aged 7-18 years and Sixty Patients with confirmed diagnosis of major thalassemia were enrolled. After obtaining informed consent from parents of all participating thalassemia patients and healthycontrols, we assessed psychological aspects and quality of life by Pediatric Quality of LifeTM (PedsQL™), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ), State and Trait Anxiety, Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Results: The results of this study indicate that there are significant changes in depression, anxiety, QOL and behavioral screening between children with thalassemia major compared with healthy subjects by means of both parents and children reports. According to the results, children with thalassemia major have more psychological problems than healthy ones. Patients with thalassemia have a lower QOL than their peers (P = 0.001), the rate of depression is higher in this group (P = 0.015), Also behavioral problems in these children are more than healthy subjects (P = 0.009). Conclusions: We recommend appropriate treatment and counseling procedures in addition to specific treatment of thalassemia. According to the results we suggest to establish pediatric psychiatric clinics beside thalassemic clinics to cure psychological aspects of the disease.