Preschoolers' and Mothers Dietary Practices and Compliance with the 24-h Movement Guidelines: Results of Oman's National Nutrition Survey

Association of Maternal Feeding Style with Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Saudi Preschoolers: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

Parental feeding style (PFS) remarkably influences fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption in preschoolers. This study aimed to determine the association between PFS and preschoolers' F&V consumption, as influenced by socioeconomic factors. A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted among 1418 mothers of children aged 3-5 years in Saudi Arabia. Multinomial logistic regression model analysis was performed to assess the association between PFS and children's daily F&V intake using the Parental Feeding Style Questionnaire. The influence of socioeconomic factors on this association was also evaluated. For mothers with university degrees, encouragement, emotional, and instrumental feeding enhanced their children's intake of F&Vs, fruits, and vegetables, respectively. Children from families earning SAR >10,000 monthly had increased F&V intake with encouragement feeding and increased fruit intake with emotional feeding. However, F&V intake was reduced in children of working mothers with controlling feeding styles. Breastfeeding for <6 months was associated with increased F&V intake through emotional feeding. The most prevalent feeding style was encouragement, followed by emotional, with control and instrumental styles being less common. This study provides strong evidence on the association between PFS and daily F&V intake in Saudi preschoolers. Interventional and longitudinal studies on PFS are required to confirm these findings.

Nutrition Profile for Countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region with Different Income Levels: An Analytical Review

The World Health Organization's (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is suffering from a double burden of malnutrition in which undernutrition coexists with rising rates of overweight and obesity. Although the countries of the EMR vary greatly in terms of income level, living conditions and health challenges, the nutrition status is often discussed only by using either regional or country-specific estimates. This analytical review studies the nutrition situation of the EMR during the past 20 years by dividing the region into four groups based on their income level-the low-income group (Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen), the lower-middle-income group (Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, and Tunisia), the upper-middle-income group (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya) and the high-income group (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates)-and by comparing and describing the estimates of the most important nutrition indicators, including stunting, wasting, overweight, obesity, anaemia, and early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding. The findings reveal that the trends of stunting and wasting were decreasing in all EMR income groups, while the percentages of overweight and obesity predominantly increased in all age groups across the income groups, with the only exception in the low-income group where a decreasing trend among children under five years existed. The income level was directly associated with the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among other age groups except children under five, while an inverse association was observed regarding stunting and anaemia. Upper-middle-income country group showed the highest prevalence rate of overweight among children under five. Most countries of the EMR revealed below-desired rates of early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding. Changes in dietary patterns, nutrition transition, global and local crises, and nutrition policies are among the major explanatory factors for the findings. The scarcity of updated data remains a challenge in the region. Countries need support in filling the data gaps and implementing recommended policies and programmes to address the double burden of malnutrition.

Young Children Feeding Practices: An Update from the Sultanate of Oman

Despite proven benefits, most countries fail to meet international targets for appropriate complementary and Breast Feeding (BF) practices. This study assessed feeding practices of children under two years of age and correlated them with family parameters in Oman, a high income country in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

METHODS

Data from this study originated from the latest Oman National Nutrition Survey (ONNS). Assessment of children and their mothers' socioeconomic, anthropometric, and nutritional variables was conducted at the household level. Evaluated feeding practices included age appropriate BF, diet diversity, and minimum acceptable diet (MAD).

RESULTS

Pairs of mothers and infants (n = 1344) were assessed. Early BF, exclusive BF at 6 months, infant formula, and iron rich meals were provided to 81, 29, 44, and 84% of children, respectively. Age appropriate BF and MAD were found in 58% and 35% of children, respectively. Low maternal education, younger age, low household income, and governorate negatively affected diet acceptability.

CONCLUSION

Omani children successfully received early BF postpartum and consumed iron rich meals. Yet, rates of exclusive BF rates at six months and MAD for children under two were low. Comprehensive strategies should be placed to assess and influence children feeding practices in the Sultanate.