The Effect of Socio-Economic & Demographic Determinants on Children's Solid Food-Intake in India: A Study Based on NFHS-4

As nutrition is very critical and its access helps in the improvement of health and creates overall development, it is very vital for the children at their initial stages. In these period of rapid growth, India is still witnessing a huge discrimination regarding the children's solid food intake.<div>This paper seeks to find out the extent of these supplemental food inequality among children aged 6 to 59 months of age using the National Family Health Survey, round 4 data.</div><div>The results are very much evident to show the inequality among female children, along with discontinued breastfeeding. </div>

The Effect of Socio-Economic & Demographic Determinants on Children's Solid Food-Intake in India: A Study Based on NFHS-4

As nutrition is very critical and its access helps in the improvement of health and creates overall development, it is very vital for the children at their initial stages. In these period of rapid growth, India is still witnessing a huge discrimination regarding the children's solid food intake.<div>This paper seeks to find out the extent of these supplemental food inequality among children aged 6 to 59 months of age using the National Family Health Survey, round 4 data.</div><div>The results are very much evident to show the inequality among female children, along with discontinued breastfeeding. </div>

A review on entomophagy: Natural food insects for ethnic and tribal communities of North-East India

Entomophagy insects are local food/ feed in most parts of the North Malay Archipelago. These insects are a standard natural resource that provides food and economical safety to most ethnic groups of Eastern Himalayas. Entomophagy not only supports the nutritional food security, but also provides the family livelihood to the tribal populations during difficult times of the year. Since, edible insects are great source of supplemental food item that would meet the people’s present and future need, they’re preferred by tribal communities as eggs, nymphs, larvae, pupa and adults insects, and eaten as fried, cooked, roasted or are even consumed as raw repeatedly. In India, a complete of 245 species, 50 families and 10 orders of edible insects have been recorded so far as food and it’s mostly practiced in eight North Eastern States of India. Among the edible species of insects, biggest consumption is of coleopteran species with 24.69%, followed by Hemiptera (22.63%), Orthoptera (17.28%), Hymanoptera (13.17%), Odonata (10.70%), Lepidoptera (5.35%), Isoptera (2.88%), Dictyoptera (2.06%) and therefore the least were Diptera (0.41%) and Ephimeroptera (0.82%). Study of edible insect in India evolved the uncharted natural resources of north-east region and medicinal, traditional beliefs of tribal people. This review paper discuss about the common edible insects consumed by different ethnic and tribal communities in North-east India.

Female Scarcity and Natal Dispersal Differences Between Sexes Among Bellbirds (Anthornis melanura)

<p>Sex ratio imbalances in wild bird populations have been a challenge for wildlife managers for decades. Differences between sexes during natal dispersal has long been thought to promote sex ratio imbalances. Natal dispersal distances may differ between sexes because of competition for food and space, or intrasexual competition and aggression. I investigated natal dispersal and intrasexual competition as mechanisms for a sex ratio imbalance in a small, translocated population of a New Zealand honeyeater, the bellbird (Anthornis melanura) in the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary- Zealandia, Wellington, New Zealand. I analysed long term records of population size and structure to document annual variation in sex ratios since the reintroduction of bellbirds to Zealandia. Radio telemetry was used to track the 2008/2009 cohort of bellbirds for five months after fledging to observe movements and distances travelled from their hatching location. Observations at a supplemental food source that was used by both adults and fledglings, were used to study intrasexual competition and aggression. Dispersal distances did not differ between the sexes for any of the measurement types used. Males did however significantly dominate the use of a supplemental food source and were significantly more aggressive around this food source, which is most likely responsible for the lower feeding rate among females. Therefore, I conclude that the sex ratio imbalance in the bellbird population in Zealandia may not result from a difference in natal dispersal, but from males dominating a supplemental food source, raising their population and fitness over that of females.</p>

Female Scarcity and Natal Dispersal Differences Between Sexes Among Bellbirds (Anthornis melanura)

<p>Sex ratio imbalances in wild bird populations have been a challenge for wildlife managers for decades. Differences between sexes during natal dispersal has long been thought to promote sex ratio imbalances. Natal dispersal distances may differ between sexes because of competition for food and space, or intrasexual competition and aggression. I investigated natal dispersal and intrasexual competition as mechanisms for a sex ratio imbalance in a small, translocated population of a New Zealand honeyeater, the bellbird (Anthornis melanura) in the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary- Zealandia, Wellington, New Zealand. I analysed long term records of population size and structure to document annual variation in sex ratios since the reintroduction of bellbirds to Zealandia. Radio telemetry was used to track the 2008/2009 cohort of bellbirds for five months after fledging to observe movements and distances travelled from their hatching location. Observations at a supplemental food source that was used by both adults and fledglings, were used to study intrasexual competition and aggression. Dispersal distances did not differ between the sexes for any of the measurement types used. Males did however significantly dominate the use of a supplemental food source and were significantly more aggressive around this food source, which is most likely responsible for the lower feeding rate among females. Therefore, I conclude that the sex ratio imbalance in the bellbird population in Zealandia may not result from a difference in natal dispersal, but from males dominating a supplemental food source, raising their population and fitness over that of females.</p>

Supplemental Food Production With Plants: A Review of NASA Research

Bioregenerative life-support systems for space have been investigated for 60 years, and plants and other photosynthetic organisms are central to this concept for their ability to produce food and O2, remove CO2, and help recycle wastewater. Many of the studies targeted larger scale systems that might be used for planetary surface missions, with estimates ranging from about 40 to 50 m2 (or more) of crop growing area needed per person. But early space missions will not have these volumes available for crop growth. How can plants be used in the interim, where perhaps &lt;5 m2 of growing area might be available? One option is to grow plants as supplemental, fresh foods. This could improve the quality and diversity of the meals on the International Space Station or on the Lunar surface, and supply important nutrients to the astronauts for missions like Mars transit, and longer duration Martian surface missions. Although plant chambers for supplemental food production would be relatively small, they could provide the bioregenerative research community with platforms for testing different crops in a space environment and serve as a stepping stone to build larger bioregenerative systems for future missions. Here we review some of NASA’s research and development (ground and spaceflight) targeting fresh food production systems for space. We encourage readers to also look into the extensive work by other space agencies and universities around the world on this same topic.

Standardization of protein-enriched cookies made from Tamarind seed flour

Protein-energy malnutrition is one of the major public health problems in India affecting children under 5 years of age. The prevalence of underweight in children under 5 is 42.5% in India, being the highest globally. The need for low-cost supplemental food is vital under such conditions. This study aims to develop low cost and protein-rich value-added products from Tamarind seed flour. The incorporation of Tamarind seed flour (50%) in the development of cookies exhibited a significant level of increase in protein in cookies. The protein content of Control cookies was 5.65% and Tamarind seed flour incorporated cookies was 11.26%. This study depicted that Tamarind seed flour can be used as the replacement of conventionally used cereal flours to develop functional foods to curb protein-energy malnutrition.

First attempt at rehabilitation of Asiatic Black Bear cubs to the wild in Thailand

Returning orphan bear cubs to the wild can benefit bear welfare and conservation but is hindered in Asia by the scarcity of documented experience. We experimented with rehabilitation of two Asiatic Black Bear cubs in Thailand using the assisted method of soft-release. We raised the 5-month old cubs for 11 months with minimal human contact in a remote enclosure in high quality habitat, letting cubs out periodically to walk with caretakers in the forest. The caretakers acted as surrogate mothers, allowing cubs to safely acquire foraging skills and familiarity with the forest. Supplementary feeding resulted in the cubs’ rapid weight gain (average 157g/day), faster than would occur in the wild. Faster growth allowed the cubs to be released sooner, reducing the likelihood of long-term habituation. After three months of rehabilitation, the bear cubs started showing signs of being wary of the caretakers (e.g., cautious when we approached their enclosure) and their focus during walks switched from play to foraging. After seven months they began to spend nights away from their enclosure, thus declining the supplemental food. This sequence and timing of increasing separation and independence from people matched other assisted soft releases in the region. The cubs went missing in month 12, shortly before planned collaring and release. They were seen together 2.5 months later on a fruiting tree and ran away when approached. Assisted soft releases might be a promising option for bear rehabilitation in Asia but more data are needed to evaluate their effectiveness relative to other methods. This method affords direct observations of bears in the wild that can augment our knowledge of bear behavior and ecology.

Provision of astigmatid mites as supplementary food increases the density of the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii in greenhouse crops, but does not support the omnivorous pest, western flower thrips

Astigmatid mites can be used as prey for mass rearing of phytoseiid predators, but also as a supplemental food source to support predator populations in crops. Here we evaluated the potential of six species of astigmatid mites (living or frozen) as alternative food for the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot in greenhouse crops. All prey mites tested were suitable for predator oviposition. In general, oviposition was greater when prey mites were reared on dog food with yeast than when they were reared on wheat bran with yeast. Amongst prey items provided as frozen diet, larvae of Thyreophagus entomophagus (Laboulbene), Acarus siro L. and Lepidoglyphus destructor (Schrank) that had been reared on dog food with yeast, resulted in the highest oviposition rates of A. swirskii. T. entomophagus larvae as frozen diet resulted in the shortest preimaginal developmental time of A. swirskii. On chrysanthemum plants, we found that the greatest increase in predator density occurred when living mites of T. entomophagous were used as a food source. This increase was greater than when predators were fed cattail pollen, a commonly used supplemental food. Effects on predators of providing living A. siro and L. destructor, or frozen larvae of T. entomophagous as food, were comparable with provision of pollen. Use of supplemental food in crops can be a risk if it is also consumed by omnivorous pests such as western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande. However, we showed that both frozen and living mites of T. entomophagous were unsuitable for thrips oviposition. Hence, we believe that provision of prey mite species increases A. swirskii density, supporting biological control of thrips and other pests in greenhouse crops.