scholarly journals A hidden side of the COVID-19 pandemic in children: the double burden of undernutrition and overnutrition

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Boutaina Zemrani ◽  
Mario Gehri ◽  
Eric Masserey ◽  
Cyril Knob ◽  
Rachel Pellaton

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has deteriorated key determinants of health and caused major upheavals around the world. Children, although less directly affected by the virus, are paying a heavy price through the indirect effects of the crisis, including poor diet, mental health impact, social isolation, addiction to screens and lack of schooling and health care, particularly among vulnerable groups. This paper is aimed at discussing the potential impact of this pandemic on children’s nutrition and lifestyle. Preliminary data from the literature and from our survey show significant disruptions in nutrition and lifestyle habits of children. While undernutrition is expected to worsen in poor countries, obesity rates could increase in middle- and high-income countries especially among precarious groups widening the gap in health and social inequalities.The real impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children extends well beyond that of a viral infection. This crisis has public health implications that could have life-long consequences on children. It requires effective and targeted measures mainly for vulnerable children and households to guarantee children’s basic rights for optimal nutrition, health and development.

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Galabadage Indika Pavithrani Silva Makawita ◽  
Indira Wickramasinghe ◽  
Isuru Wijesekara

Seaweeds are considered as a functional food across many regions of the world and has an increasing consumption trend due to its health benefits. However, there is a concern regarding the amount of heavy metals and metalloids present in seaweeds. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the levels of metals present in specific seaweeds and its potential impact on consumption. Considered metal ions were Arsenic (As), Copper (Cu) Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb) and Mercury (Hg). At the assessment done at four different sites in the coastal regions of Sri Lanka for chlorophytes, rhodophytes and phaeophytes. Concentration of metals were analyzed using the ICPOES. According to the arrived results, concentration of metals varies as Cr > Ni > Cd > Cu > As > Pb = Hg with having zero concentration for Hg and Pb for all varieties and all sites. It was also found that the least amounts of metals were present at Jaffna site in phaeophytes (Sargassum sp.) and chlorophytes (Ulva sp.) When considering the Hazardous Index of the varieties, least was found in Sargassum sp. in Jaffna site. Studies were repeated for 2 seasons and there are significant differences (p < 0.05) between the dry season and wet season in the concentration of heavy metals present. However, since the seaweeds are grown for commercial purposes only in Jaffna area, it is evident that the chlorophyte and phaeophyte varieties claim very low health risk for potential heavy metals and are suitable for consumption purposes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 477-482
Author(s):  
Katharina Ebel

Abstract Climate change affects all regions of the world, particularly poor countries. It results in numerous environmental, social and economic effects, which are expected to intensify in the coming decades. What does this mean for foundations serving a specific purpose? Discussing the activities of SOS Children’s Villages (SOS), the author shows how the investments of the foundation Hermann-Gmeiner-Stiftung in SOS cannot only be limited to the organization’s core duty of caring for vulnerable children and families due to the interrelatedness between caring for children and working to combat the effects of climate change. She thereby shows that the interests of foundations and non-profit-organizations should not be one-dimensional when it comes to supporting causes.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
endang naryono

Covid-19 or the corona virus is a virus that has become a disaster and a global humanitarian disaster began in December 2019 in Wuhan province in China, April 2020 the spread of the corona virus has spread throughout the world making the greatest humanitarian disaster in the history of human civilization after the war world II, Already tens of thousands of people have died, millions of people have been infected with the conona virus from poor countries, developing countries to developed countries overwhelmed by this virus outbreak. Increasingly, the spread follows a series of measurements while patients who recover recover from a series of counts so that this epidemic becomes a very frightening disaster plus there is no drug or vaccine for this corona virus yet found, so that all countries implement strategies to reduce this spread from social distancing, phycal distancing to with a city or country lockdown.


Author(s):  
Maya Sabatello ◽  
Mary Frances Layden

Children with disabilities are among the most vulnerable groups in the world—and a children’s rights approach is key for reversing historical wrongs and for promoting an inclusive future. To establish this argument, this chapter explores the state of affairs and legal protections for upholding the rights of children with disabilities. It critically examines major developments in the international framework that pertain to the rights of children with disabilities, and it considers some of the prime achievements—and challenges—that arise in the implementation of a child-friendly disability rights agenda. The chapter then zooms in on two particularly salient issues for children with disabilities, namely, inclusive education and deinstitutionalization, and highlights the successes and challenges ahead. The final section provides some concluding thoughts about the present and the prospect of upholding the human rights of children with disabilities.


Author(s):  
Mariya Stoilova ◽  
Sonia Livingstone ◽  
Giovanna Mascheroni

Mobile devices play a growing role in the everyday lives of children around the world, prompting important questions about their effects on childhood experiences. Exploring the recent global trends in children’s use of smartphone devices, the authors examine the reconfiguring of children’s communicative practices and cultures of connectivity, documenting the opportunities and risks that smartphone technology affords. Throughout the chapter the authors challenge the notion of “digital childhoods,” drawing on the most reliable research on children and smartphones including findings from Global Kids Online, which suggest that digital divides intersect with existing social inequalities, exacerbating the barriers for less privileged children. This raises further questions about the long-term consequences for children’s development, rights, and future access to opportunities and resources.


Author(s):  
Tim Calkins ◽  
Kara Palamountain ◽  
Aniruddha Chatterjee ◽  
Robert Frantz ◽  
Elizabeth Hart ◽  
...  

It is January 2014, and the case protagonist, David Milestone (senior advisor at the Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact at the U.S. Agency for International Development's Global Health Bureau), is preparing for a meeting of global stakeholders and pharmaceutical manufacturers who are interested in reducing mortality caused by childhood pneumonia and are prepared to donate $10 million to support this effort.Milestone's goal is to propose a strategy to address childhood pneumonia in Uganda, toward which the $10 million donation would go. In addition to effectively and sustainably reducing childhood pneumonia deaths, the plan must align the interests of various stakeholders behind the problem. A successful strategy in Uganda could be a model for interventions elsewhere. The United Nations Commission on Lifesaving Commodities for Women and Children recently identified Uganda as a “pathfinder” country, meaning it could serve as the example for other countries wrestling with the same issues. This is a remarkable opportunity to change the lives of children in Uganda—and all around the world.After reading and analyzing the case, students will be able to: Perform a stakeholder analysis Appreciate the challenges involved in improving public health, especially in developing countries Create a patient journey and use it to identify potential impact points


2021 ◽  
pp. 001139212199001
Author(s):  
Fiorella Mancini

Social distancing and isolation measures in response to COVID-19 have confined individuals to their homes and produced unexpected side-effects and secondary risks. In Latin America, the measures taken by individual governments to mitigate these new daily and experiential risks have varied significantly as have the responses to social isolation in each country. Given these new social circumstances, the purpose of this article is to investigate, from the sociological approach of risk-taking, the relationship between confinement, secondary risks and social inequality. The author argues that secondary risks, despite their broad scope, are deeply structured by social inequalities in contemporary societies, especially in developing countries. To corroborate this hypothesis, a quantitative comparative analysis is performed for the Argentine case. Using data from a web-survey and correspondence analysis (CA), there are three major findings: (1) there are some widespread experiences similarly distributed across all social strata, especially those related to emotional and subjective matters; (2) other risks follow socio-structural inequalities, especially those corresponding to material and cultural aspects of consumption; (3) for specific vulnerable groups, compulsory confinement causes great dilemmas of decision-making between health and well-being.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 2004
Author(s):  
Marzena Jabczyk ◽  
Justyna Nowak ◽  
Bartosz Hudzik ◽  
Barbara Zubelewicz-Szkodzińska

Curcumin is one of the most frequently researched herbal substances; however, it has been reported to have a poor bioavailability and fast metabolism, which has led to doubts about its effectiveness. Curcumin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and has demonstrated favorable health effects. Nevertheless, well-reported in vivo pharmacological activities of curcumin are limited by its poor solubility, bioavailability, and pharmacokinetic profile. The bidirectional interactions between curcumin and gut microbiota play key roles in understanding the ambiguity between the bioavailability and biological activity of curcumin, including its wider health impact.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quan Gao ◽  
Junxi Qian ◽  
Zhenjie Yuan

This article provides a multi-scaled, grounded understanding of how secularization and re-sacralization occur simultaneously in a context of rapid modernization. Recent geographical scholarship in the geography of religion have exhibited deficient reflection over the geo-historical contingencies and complexities of secularization and secularity. This article seeks to re-conceptualize secularization as a multi-scaled, grounded and self-reflective process through an empirical study of the hybrid, contradictory processes of secularization and postsecular religious revival in a ‘gospel village’ in Shenzhen, China. In this rapidly urbanizing village, Christian belief inherited from Western missionary work has gradually lost its hold amidst modernization and urbanization. However, the inflow of rural migrant workers has re-invigorated the church. Christianity has created possibilities for postsecular ethics and resistances, enabling migrant workers to materially, symbolically and emotionally settle in a new socio-economic environment. Also, new situated religiosities arise as theological interpretations are used to negotiate and even legitimize social inequalities and alienation. This article therefore argues that the postsecular turn in human geography needs to consider how the postsecular articulates, and co-evolves with, secular conditions of being in the world. It highlights the hybrid and contested nature of the secularization process, which gives rise not only to disengaged belief and immanent consciousness but also to new aspirations for, and formations of, religiosities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 77-97
Author(s):  
John Bosco Ngendakurio

Abstract This article seeks to reveal the primary barriers to fair economic development based on Kenyans’ perceptions of power and globalization. This search was initially sparked by the seeming disinterest of First World scholars to understand the reasons why poor countries benefit so little from the global market as reflected in a subsequent lack of a wide-ranging existing literature about the subject. The literature suggests that global capitalism is dominated by a powerful small elite, the so-called Transnational Capitalist Class (TCC), but how does this relate to Kenya and Africa in general? We know that the TCC has strong connections to financial capital and wealthy transnational corporations. It also pushes neo-liberalism, which becomes the taken-for-granted everyday language and culture that justifies state policies that result in a further class polarization between the rich and poor. Using Kenya as a case study, this article draws on original qualitative research involving face-to-face interviews with Kenyan residents in different sectors who spoke freely about what they perceive to be Kenya’s place in the world order. My interview results show that, on top of the general lack of economic power in the world order, the main barriers to Africa’s performance are neo-colonial and imperialist practices, poor technology, poor infrastructure, general governance issues, and purchasing power.


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