Over the past two decades, Rwanda has experienced impressive economic growth, resulting in considerable improvements in living standards and poverty reduction. Despite these gains, progress on reducing the level of stunting in smallholder rural children, particularly boys, continues to be a serious concern. Policies, dietary diversity and socio-economic factors that may influence stunting in rural Rwandan children were evaluated using a logit model with clustered variance-covariance estimators based on village membership of the household. Stunting of rural children was found to be multidimensionally related to the child’s gender, weight and age; the dietary diversity, marriage status and education level of the head of household; mother’s height; presence of a family garden or if they owned livestock; environmental factors such as altitude and soil fertility and location relative to a main road en route to a market; and a policy that promoted food production. Findings suggest that agricultural policies may be subsidizing poor dietary behavior in that the aggregation of production encourages households to sell high quality nutritious food such as fruit and vegetables, for more voluminous amounts of nutritionally substandard goods, hence low dietary diversity. However, it is less clear if rural food markets are capable of supplying diverse and nutritious foods at affordable prices on a consistent basis, resulting in a lack of diversity and hence, low nutrient quality diets. Rwanda’s next round of food security policies should focus on nutrition insecurity with special emphasis on the lack of protein, micronutrients and calories. Multipronged policies and programs focused on income growth, food security, enhanced access to markets and gender-related nutrition risks from inception through 2 years of age in the rural areas are required to improve rural household health outcomes, stunting in particular.

Nutrition is a key for extending quality of life of the elderly. Factors associated with nutritional risk in elders were identified with a modified nutrition screen initiative checklist. High, moderate and low nutritional risk was seen in 31, 46 and 23%, respectively, of 324 elders in six congregate meal sites in northern Florida. High nutritional risk was associated with urban residency, females, being African American, self-reported poor health and irregular visits to medical/health professionals. African American females living in urban areas with limited access to health care are most vulnerable.

Maternal and/or child-feeding behaviors and food choices may be important contributors to childhood obesity. We aimed to compare food patterns and mealtime behaviors and to determine predictors of frequent intake of nutrient-dense and energy-dense foods of low-income African American (AA; n = 199) and non-Hispanic White (NHW; n = 200) mother–toddlers dyads using a cross-sectional study. Energy-dense foods were consumed frequently by AA than NHW mother–toddler dyads. Mealtime TV watching for AA and being single for NHW mothers predicted toddlers' frequency of nutrient-dense food intake. These findings have implications for culturally relevant interventions aimed at obesigenic food behavior in low-income parents of toddlers.

Background: Poor dietary quality is associated with adiposity and other risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in children. In Kuwait, although children’s food choices are a concern, no studies have evaluated dietary quality relative to the risk of CVD in Kuwaiti schoolchildren. This study hypothesized that dietary quality using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is associated with CVD risk factors in children and that there are associated sex differences. Objective: Our main objective was to evaluate the dietary quality of schoolchildren and investigate whether poor HEI scores are associated with CVD risk and if there are sex differences. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of Kuwaiti fifth graders (n = 313; 53% girls; mean age = 10.4 ± 0.4 years) who completed an adapted Block Kids 2004 food frequency questionnaire. Anthropometric, blood pressure, and biochemical data were also measured. HEI-2010 and HEI-2015 scores were calculated. Statistics: A general linear model and logistic regression were applied, controlling for moderate–vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and screen time (ST). Results: The total HEI-2010 and HEI-2015 scores were 58 and 52 points, respectively; a trend analysis indicated that more girls than boys had poor (≤50 points) HEI-2015 scores (p < 0.063). The maximum scores for total vegetables (p < 0.001), dairy (p < 0.034), and fatty acids (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in girls, while the maximum scores for whole grains (p < 0.046) and protein (p < 0.006), but not sodium (p < 0.009), were higher in boys. Obesity was inversely associated with poor total HEI 2010 and HEI 2015 scores (OR: 0.347, 95% CI: 0.234 - 0.516, p < 0.001 and OR: 0.561, 95% CI: 0.391–0.805, p < 0.002, respectively). However, the correlation was lost after adjustment for possible confounding factors. Conclusions: Dietary quality for children overall in this study was low, and there was only a weak association between poor scores and elevated blood pressure and none between scores and obesity. These findings have public health implications and warrant further investigation and attention.

Food marketing has emerged as an environmental factor that shapes children's dietary behaviors. "Advergames," or free online games designed to promote branded products, are an example of evolving food marketing tactics aimed at children. Our primary objective was to classify foods marketed to children (aged 2-11 y) in advergames as those meeting or not meeting nutrition recommendations of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), and the Institute of Medicine (IOM). We document the consistency of classification of those foods across agency guidelines and offer policy recommendations. We used comScore Media Builder Metrix to identify 143 websites that marketed foods (n = 439) to children aged 2 to 11 years through advergames. Foods were classified on the basis of each of the 4 agency criteria. Food nutrient labels provided information on serving size, calories, micronutrients, and macronutrients. The websites advertised 254 meals, 101 snacks, and 84 beverages. Proportions of meals and snacks meeting USDA and FDA recommendations were similarly low, with the exception of saturated fat in meals and sodium content in snacks. Inconsistency in recommendations was evidenced by only a small proportion of meals and fewer snacks meeting the recommendations of all the agencies per their guidelines. Beverage recommendations were also inconsistent across the 3 agencies that provide recommendations (USDA, IOM, and CSPI). Most (65%-95%) beverages advertised in advergames did not meet some of these recommendations. Our findings indicate that a large number of foods with low nutritional value are being marketed to children via advergames. A standardized system of food marketing guidance is needed to better inform the public about healthfulness of foods advertised to children.