Jordan is witnessing an escalating pace of nutrition transition, which may be associated with an increased burden of malnutrition and related non-communicable diseases. This review analyzes the nutrition situation in Jordan by exploring specific nutrition indicators, namely infant and young child feeding, low birthweight, micronutrient deficiencies, anthropometric indicators, and food consumption patterns. Results showed that although most children were ever breastfed and early initiation of breastfeeding had a two-fold increasing trend, rates of exclusive breastfeeding below 6 months of age and continued breastfeeding until two years of age were low. Complementary feeding indicators, particularly minimum diet diversity and minimum acceptable diet standards, were suboptimal. An overall low burden of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children under 5 years and remarkable progress in optimizing iodine status among school-aged children were reported. Conversely, the burden of low birthweight and overweight/obesity exacerbated, coexisting with anemia, vitamin A deficiency, and vitamin D deficiency. Overall, fruit and vegetable consumption were inadequate. The consumption of soft drinks and salt on the other hand was higher than recommended. This review acknowledges the double burden of malnutrition in Jordan and recommends the prioritization and evaluation of interventions towards improving the population’s nutritional status and achieving nutrition targets.

Nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and good practices are essential for preventing malnutrition, ensuring good health, and maintaining life quality. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have been published on the nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) of Jordanian older people. For this reason, our study aimed to assess the KAPs in the Jordanian elderly. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1200 people aged 60 and over. The results revealed that 52.8% of participants had poor knowledge, 52.7% had negative attitude scores, and 72.6% had poor practices. Significant differences were found between the three regions in the KAP prevalence (p < 0.001). The northern region had a higher prevalence of nutritionally poor knowledge (65.6%) compared to 52.5% and 40.4% for the central and southern regions, respectively. Participants from the central region had a higher prevalence of a positive attitude (55.4%), whereas the northern and the southern participants had a higher prevalence of a negative attitude (65.6% and 54.4%, respectively). All regions reported poor practices, yet, significantly, the northern regions had the highest prevalence of poor practices. Participants with a low educational level reported a significantly higher prevalence of poor knowledge, negative attitudes, and poor practices compared to participants with a high educational level. The results obtained underline the importance of taking into account the lack of nutrition-related KAPs among the elderly in Jordan. It is crucial to raise awareness on this issue and to implement the national nutrition strategy, with particular attention paid to the elderly. Concrete measures must be taken to ensure that the nutritional needs of older people are met and to improve their quality of life.

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an emerging respiratory infection with severe impacts on the nutritional status of the worldwide population. This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the food insecurity, dietary diversity, and food-related coping strategies in Jordan during the pandemic using an online, self-administered questionnaire. Among the 740 adults who completed the survey, the prevalence of food security was 84.1%, whereas 2% and 13.9% were moderately and severely food-insecure, respectively. The determinants of food insecurity were educational level, monthly income, marital status, availability of health insurance, and type of residence. In addition, food insecurity was significantly higher among the participants who consumed two or fewer meals per day (p = 0.015). Moreover, an acceptable food consumption score was shown among 76.2% of the participants, and the remaining participants were at borderline (14.1%) or had poor scores (9.7%), with a significant association between food insecurity and food consumption scores (p < 0.001). The food-related coping strategies studied were significantly associated with food insecurity at both levels (p < 0.001) and were more evident in the severely food-insecure group. These findings highlight the adverse effects of COVID-19 restrictions on nutritional status, especially among food-insecure households, which might reduce food accessibility due to economic difficulties.

Narmeen Al-Awwad, Sabika Allehdan, Tareq Al-Jaberi, Ahmad Hushki, Yazan Albtoush, Kamal Bani-Hani, and Reema Fayez Tayyem. Prev Nutr Food Sci 2021;26:30-9. https://doi.org/10.3746/pnf.2021.26.1.30