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Background: In pregnancy, maternal vitamin D deficiency has been associated with adverse birth outcomes worldwide and has become a major public health concern. However, the linkage between maternal prenatal vitamin D status and post-natal linear growth, particularly in infancy, is inconclusive and ambiguous. Objective: This study aims to systematically identify, appraise, and synthesize available evidence regarding the effect of maternal vitamin D supplementation on infants’ linear growth at one year. Methods: A systematic electronic search of Medline and Embase databases was undertaken from the OVID platform. The risk of bias in the selected studies was assessed using the risk of bias (RoB) tool introduced and recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. Results: A quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis) was determined using RevMan. After screening, only two studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria, comprising a total of 93 infants: (296 from mothers receiving vitamin D and 297 from mothers receiving placebo). One RCT found a 0.8 cm gain in length whereas the second RCT found infants to be 0.23 cm shorter compared to their placebo counterparts. A meta-analysis also could not detect a significant difference in length. However, the pooled result favored infants (0.19 cm taller) born to mothers receiving prenatal vitamin D. Conclusion: The quality of overall evidence for the outcome ‘infant length at 1 year’-as assessed using the GRADE approach was low. Maternal high-dose vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy increases linear growth in infants at 12 months of age, but, this increase is very small and not statistically significant.

This study aims to find out how WASH practices may be responsible for the development of diarrheal disease and poor physical growth of under-five children in rural Noakahli, Bangladesh. A case study was conducted among 110 households who had children aged between 0 and 59 months chosen by simple random method at Noakhali district, Bangladesh. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was employed to find the association. About 40.1% of children had diarrhea within 1 week prior to the study and 38.9% had skin problems of different kinds. A significant association between wasting and hand washing before feeding the baby (p < 0.006) was found; stunting and family income also showed association (p < 0.003). Bathing the baby regularly, cleaning toilets, and cleanliness of the baby was found to be strongly associated; not cleaning toilets was associated with a very high risk of getting diarrhea (AOR: 16.397 (1.075–250.013)). Moreover, the unavailability of soaps in toilets increased the risk of diarrheal diseases (COR: 3.933 (1.258–12.296)) in the study population. Malnutrition is highly prevalent in children living in the study area and needs to be addressed by considering the factors which affect this rate.

Background and objective Diversified agricultural production is considered a means to enhance food diversity at the household level, particularly in developing countries where subsistence farming is common. Given the importance of a diversified diet for human health and the persistent malnutrition problem in Bangladesh, a pressing issue is how different crops and livestock production affect household food diversification, and this study sought to answer that question. Methods Using a multistage sampling procedure, data were collected from 190 small farm holder households from Hatiya (a coastal rural sub-district of Noakhali, Bangladesh). Farm production diversity (FPD) is measured using the household biodiversity index (HBI), a simple count of all crops and livestock produced on the farm. The household dietary diversity score (HDDS) is calculated, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidelines, by counting 12 food groups consumed by the households in the last 24 h preceding the survey. Results On average, households consumed 6.49 food groups during the reference day, according to the household biodiversity index (HBI). The generalized Poisson log-linear regression results indicated that farm production diversity had a positive association with HDDS; one group of farm production increased the household dietary diversity (HDD) by 0.084 unit [β: 0.084, 95% CI: 0.064, 0.106; Exp (B): 1.087], an 8.7% increase in dietary diversity. Total land size, less time to reach the district market, and improved irrigation process affect dietary diversity in bivariate analysis. Farmer's reliance on production diversity reduces when the market is more accessible and improved irrigation is used for production. Conclusion Smallholder farm households in Bangladesh could benefit from context-specific, food-based nutrition-sensitive agriculture policies that focus on triangulation of diversified production, greater market access, and updated agricultural technology utilization., Highlights • In subsistence farming, diverse agricultural production can play a vital role in ensuring diversified food consumption. • In this study, a generalized Poisson regression estimator was used for modeling count data with under-dispersion. • Study findings indicated that higher farm production diversity (FPD) was associated with higher dietary diversity. • Farmer's reliance on FPD reduces when the market is more accessible and improved irrigation is used for production. • Nutrition-sensitive agricultural practices aimed at subsistence farmers could help to achieve food diversity., Production diversity; Household dietary diversity; Smallholder farm households; Market access; Agriculture technology; Bangladesh.

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Salmonella is one of the etiological agents of intestinal illness as well as typhoid and paratyphoid feverthroughout the world. While food is known to be a common vehicle for the transmission of typhoidalSalmonella serovars, non-typhoidal Salmonella are mainly known as foodborne pathogens. But recentstudies found water as vehicle for transmission of Salmonella serovars. And several studies have showedthe role of contaminated water in Salmonella foodborne illness. So, this paper provides a brief review ofthe last twenty years of peer reviewed publications on the prevalence of Salmonella in environmental water,and relationship between contaminated water and Salmonella foodborne infections. Salmonella representzoonotic bacteria that are distributed throughout the world. Data relating to Salmonella prevalence in waterindicated a mixed human and animal origin of Salmonella contribution to water contamination. This studyhas also emphasized on the role of these contaminated water in occurring Salmonella foodborne diseasesand its implication on global public health problem.

Recent studies have started to pay attention on several factors on the eating habits of children with the increasing concern of childhood nutritional status. Research has shown that eating habits for children are increasingly affected by advances in science and technology, changes in lifestyle, dietary transformation, and vice versa. Children are more likely to eat available and easily accessible foods, and they generally tend to eat huge quantity whilst larger portions are given. The objectives of this study were to illustrate the contribution of at-home and away-from-home food intake to the diet and nutrition of children as well as their scenario of intake by children and comparative nutritional quality. By following proper criteria, applicable secondary data, and records from extraordinary electronic databases have been included in this paper for accomplishing the review article. According to the aforementioned literature, the majority of children's daily energy demands are provided by the food taken at home and this form of food also contributes to most children's macro-nutrient and micro-nutrient requirements. Yet, away-from-home food intake is rising every day around the world. Away-from-home foods have been reported to be of lower nutritional quality and greater portion sizes compared with other home-made foods. The results of the study suggest that out-of-home foods tend to have high energy density; other findings of the study indicate that out-of-home foods can be a source of staple foods as well as snack-type foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. As the children's eating behavior changes smoothly, an appropriate study should be carried on food taken at home and away from home to cover the correct diet and nutrition for the children.

Under five child mortality is one of the serious public health issues in all over the world especially in South Asian region. Significant achievements have been made in last ten decades to reduce child mortality globally, but South Asian region still has one of the highest child mortalities in the world (51 deaths per 1000 live births). Out of ten child deaths, three occur in South Asian region. Various risk factors influence this high mortality rate, however, some of the risk factors show similarities and other varies time to time across countries in the South Asian region. Parents literacy, occupation, household wealth, health care accessibility and utilization, poverty and inadequate food intake, poor access to information, mother’s age and several socio-cultural factors contributes mostly to the high number of mortalities in young children. However, it is imperative to study the country specific reasons and useful comparison of contexts might be useful to address the immediate, underlying and basic causes of child malnutrition. There, this paper aimed to study the difference in under five child mortality in different South Asian countries and determine whether the associated risk factors are similar or different across those eight countries. For increasing the under-five child survival and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, South Asian regional countries needs to give serious efforts on maternal and child health sector as it affects national development. Country specific strategies and interventions should be based on most prevalent risk factors.

Here, we present the proteome profiling of low-molecular weight (50 kDa) proteins of seven different lentil cultivars developed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute. A total of 2873 peptides corresponding to 180 unique proteins were identified wherein24% of them were described lentil allergens. Comparative relative quantitation showed differences in protein abundance of major allergen proteins such as Len c 1.0101, Len c 1.0102, and lipid transfer proteins (LTPs), indicating qualitative and quantitative variations in allergen proteins in lentil cultivars. In this report, for the first-time, the amino acid sequence of LTPs in lentil has been confirmed by high resolution mass spectrometry. In addition, ideal peptides of Len c 1.0101, Len c 1.0102, and LTPs allergens were further determined with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) analysis. Therefore, this data could provide a great resource for further development of targeted, proteomics-based assays for quantification of lentil allergens.