Nutrition
December 19, 2019
Dr. Carol Levin and health experts call for action to improve global food supply and protect children’s health against the double burden of malnutrition
Categories: Gut Health and Child Survival, Nutrition
In a new Series in The Lancet, Dr. Carol Levin (Health Economist and Associate Professor, Global Health) and experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) explore how the double burden of malnutrition (DBM), the coexistence of undernutrition and overnutrition, affects a third of low- and middle-income countries. The four paper Series warns of a global nutrition crisis, with countries struggling with high rates of obesity alongside the long-standing challenge of hunger. Malnutrition in all its forms can lead to poor health outcomes, including impaired childhood development and diet-related non-communicable diseases. (more…)
November 21, 2019
Global WACh Research Assistant and DGH Thomas Francis Jr. Fellowship recipient, Hannah Atlas, conducts field research for children’s health in Nepal
Categories: Children, Nutrition, Schools, students
Hannah Atlas (far right) with Department of Community Programs Health Workers from Dhulikhel Hospital in Nepal.
Second-year MPH in Global Health and Global WACh Certificate student, Hannah Atlas, is a very familiar face around Global WACh. Prior to enrolling at UW in the fall of 2018, Hannah worked as a study coordinator for the Toto Bora Trial and ABCD Study led by Drs. Judd Walson and Patty Pavlinac, co-directors of Global WACh’s Gut Health and Child Survival (GHCS) scientific priority area, for 2 years. She also coordinated a small pilot study aimed at assessing the composition of the gut microbiome among HIV-exposed children and worked with Dr. Donna Denno, a technical advisor for GHCS, supporting the coordinating body of the Environmental Enteric Dysfunction Biopsy Consortium. As a graduate student, Hannah has continued working with our investigators on two clinical trials of azithromycin, an oral antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, to reduce mortality and morbidity of discharged hospitalized children under age five.
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June 6, 2019
New NIH R01 will study effect of breast milk and gut microbiome to optimize growth in HIV-exposed uninfected children in Africa
Categories: Awards, Gut Health and Child Survival, Nutrition, Research
Dr. Christine McGrath, PhD, MPH
Dr. Grace Aldrovandi, MD, CM
Congratulations to Principal Investigators, Dr. Christine McGrath (Assistant Professor, Global Health) and Dr. Grace Aldrovandi (Chief, Division of Infectious Disease at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital; Professor, Pediatrics, UCLA Geffen School of Medicine), who received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 award for a new study entitled, “Effects of Human Milk Oligosaccharides and Gut Microbiome on Growth and Morbidity in HIV-Exposed Uninfected Infants.” The study team includes investigators from the Department of Global Health, Drs. Grace John-Stewart (Global WACh Director; Professor), Donna Denno (Professor), Judd Walson (Professor), Barbra Richardson (Adjunct Research Professor) and from the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Dr. Benson Singa (Research Scientist; Affiliated Assistant Professor, Global Health).
Despite the success in global health efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, there is a growing and often overlooked HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) population with a substantially higher risk of growth faltering, infectious morbidity, and mortality compared to HIV-unexposed uninfected (HUU) infants. The mechanisms responsible for poor growth and susceptibility to infection in HEU infants are unclear, but recent evidence suggests disturbances in the infant gut microbiome is a major cause. (more…)
May 14, 2019
DeWorm3 Project launches deworming activities at trial sites to improve nutrition and health
Categories: Gut Health and Child Survival, Nutrition, Research
Over 1.5 billion people, including 835 million children, in the world’s poorest communities, are infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STH), commonly known as intestinal worms, and are in need of deworming medications. A single deworming pill is a safe and effective solution to combat worm infections that interfere with the body’s nutritional intake and impair developmental growth, especially in children. Periodic mass deworming protects a community by removing or reducing the worm burden of infected community members, thereby decreasing the risk of new individuals becoming infected. In 2016, Dr. Judd Walson (Department of Global Health), in collaboration with the Natural History Museum London and the University of Washington, launched the DeWorm3 Project to test the feasibility of interrupting transmission of STH using intensified mass drug administration strategies. DeWorm3 is a cluster randomized trial comparing community-wide deworming efforts of individuals of all ages to standard-of-care deworming of school-age children at schools. Findings from the clinical trial and accompanying implementation science research can support the development of STH program guidelines and innovative delivery strategies. Deworming activities launched in 2018 in trial sites in Benin, India, and Malawi. (more…)
May 7, 2019
New SEEMS-Nutrition project seeks to measure costs and benefits of multi-sectoral food system interventions
The Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multi-sectoral Strategies for Nutrition (SEEMS-Nutrition), a new three-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and directed by Dr. Carol Levin (Health Economist and Associate Professor, Global Health), aims to fill an information gap on costs, cost-effectiveness, and benefits of scaling up food system strategies in resource-constrained areas combating malnutrition.
In the spirit of multi-sectoral collaboration, the SEEMS-Nutrition project is working in partnership with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Helen Keller International (HKI), and Results for Development (R4P). Since launching in November 2018, the team is working hard to prepare the project for success. Their findings will allow program implementers and policymakers to make informed decisions about which nutrition interventions to prioritize to address healthy food systems, dietary intake, and improved nutritional status. Such interventions can help improve maternal and child health outcomes by promoting optimal dietary and feeding practices during critical windows of time when nutritional needs are the greatest. (more…)
June 28, 2016
Global WACh Toto Bora Trial aims to reduce childhood mortality
Categories: Nutrition, Research
Tags: Ethiopia, malnutrition, microbiome, Pediatrics, Tota Bora
Toto Bora, an expression meaning “healthy baby” in Kiswahili, enrolled its first pediatric patient today in a research trial aimed at reducing childhood morbidity and mortality in the months after a hospitalization.
In sub-Saharan Africa, childhood mortality remains unacceptability high. Children who are hospitalized and subsequently discharged are a group of children at particularly high risk, yet few interventions exist for the post-discharge period. A recent trial found that the mass drug administration of azithromycin reduced childhood mortality by half among children in Ethiopia in communities receiving the intervention. The Toto Bora team, led by Drs. Judd Walson, MD, MPH and Patricia Pavlinac, PhD MS, believes that children being discharged from hospital represent an accessible high-risk population in which targeted use of this broad-spectrum antibiotic may have dramatic impact.
In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, children discharged from hospitals in Kisii and Homa Bay counties of Kenya are randomized to a 5-day course of azithromycin or placebo and followed for six months to determine the efficacy of azithromycin in reducing post-discharge morbidity and mortality. Stool, nasopharyngeal swabs, and blood samples are also being collated from children to evaluate the effect of the intervention on enteric and nasopharyngeal infections, malaria, the gut microbiome, and systematic inflammation. The emergence of antibiotic resistance among treated individuals and their primary caregivers will also be assessed and cost-effectiveness analyses performed to inform policy decisions.
The Toto Bora Trial began enrollment on June 28, 2016 and is estimated to be complete data collection in June 2019. Congratulations to this Global WACh team for launching this important study to generate evidence on effective interventions to reduce childhood mortality in Kenya!
Read more about Toto Bora on the clinicaltrials.gov website: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02414399
October 29, 2014
Global WACh’s Technical Symposium on Strengthening the Nutrition Continuum
Categories: Nutrition, Talks and Events
Tags: malnutrition, nutrition
There are 7 billion people in the world and nearly 2 billion are undernourished and 2 billion are overweight or obese. Last week, the team at Global WACh held a fascinating and informative learning symposium at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Experts from The University of Washington, Seattle Children’s Hospital, PATH, and 1,000 Days came together for a full day of discussion and presentation on the global burdens of malnutrition.
There were three main sessions throughout the day: Basic Science and Discovery; Implementation; and National Systems Building, each including impactful presentations with quite a few staggering facts and figures. Throughout the day we were presented with new ideas, innovative techniques for testing, all with a healthy air of hopeful idealism. To see the presentations, you can view the slides on our Nutrition Think Tank webpage. It was wonderful to have a day to discuss what we can do to help ensure healthy, happy, and nourished lives around the world.
Thanks to all of our speakers and to the Gates Foundation for hosting!
October 3, 2014
1,000 Days Joins Global WACh for Discussion of Malnutrition
Categories: Nutrition
Tags: malnutrition, nutrition, thousand days
We were fortunate to have Adrianna Logalbo, director at 1,000 Days, recently join us at our Nutrition Think Tank. She led a powerful discussion on the importance of maternal and early child nutrition, both here at home and within the global community.
There are nearly 1 billion hungry people in the world. More than 2 billion people are undernourished, and more than 2 billion are obese. “If we can make that investment from the very beginning, it sets up a lifetime of better outcomes,” Logalbo said. 1,000 Days is working to improve this global public health challenge through social media, phone apps, television, and simply going out and meeting with people.
1,000 days and their many partners hope to help achieve a world where every woman and child is nourished, empowered, and able to reach their full potential. Logalbo went on to say “Of course, there is a lifecycle happening here, so while we can say the 1,000 days starts at pregnancy it’s very true that the health and nutritional status of the adolescent girl, or the young women going into pregnancy, is critically important.”
You can read more about the impactful work Adrianna Logalbo and 1,000 Days are doing on their website here.
August 6, 2014
Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed Speaks at Global WACh on Acute Malnutrition
Categories: Children, globalwach, Nutrition
Tags: icddrb, malnutrition, nutrition, Tahmeed Ahmed
Last week, over 25 students and faculty gathered to hear UW Affiliate Professor Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed speak on the subject of acute malnutrition in children, from basics to delivery. Dr. Ahmed is the head of the Nutrition and Food Security program at International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh. Under his leadership over the last 25 years, there has been a 50 percent reduction in the fatalities of children admitted with severe acute malnutrition to the icddr,b facilities in Dhaka. Global WACh has recently established a partnership with icddr,b to research new ways to prevent stunted growth in children. You can learn more about Dr. Ahmed and the great team at icddr,b here.
July 30, 2014
Mobile WACh Engages Women in Their Own Maternal Care
Categories: Nutrition
Tags: mHealth, Mobile WACh
Global WACh Associate Director Dr. Jennifer Unger gave a great talk last week about the implementation of mobile phones in the care of pregnant women in Mathare, Kenya. Three hundred women are currently participating in the study, which aims to use SMS text messaging as a means to keep the expectant mothers informed and involved in the health of themselves and their babies.
Text messages from a nurse at the clinic offer tips and general information, as well as answers for any health questions the participants may have. The messaging system also provides appointment reminders and a way to check in to see how they’re feeling. Perhaps most importantly according to the women in the study, the messages offer encouragement and support while allowing them to feel cared for and empowered.
Many countries have some version of mHealth in place, and Dr. Unger stressed the importance of working together and also making the messages culturally appropriate and tailored to each individual community. This particular study is completely free for the participants.
The findings in Mathare, Kenya will lay the foundation for a larger Global WACh study on using mHealth to enhance the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. The results of the Mobile WACh study should be available in the spring, and we’re certainly looking forward to sharing them.
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