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br Maternal and Child Nutrition
Maternal and Child Nutrition Series noted the emergence of overweight and obesity in low-income and middle-income countries while also documenting the unfinished agenda in undernutrition, sometimes in the same countries and populations. Furthermore, the Series reported analyses of data from Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh, which emphasised inequalities in nutritional status by wealth and urban versus rural location. In Mariachiara Di Cesare and colleagues describe the methods and results of the 2011 Pakistan National Nutrition Survey (NNS)—a multistage, district-specific, nationally representative survey of nutritional status and its association with socioeconomic status and geographical location in women and young children in Pakistan. The NNS is a large survey with a high response rate that Di Cesare and colleagues have analysed with appropriate statistical methods. These methods weight the prevalence estimates to account for the complex survey methods and reduce the variance of district specific estimates with a Bayesian approach that borrows data from surrounding districts.
A unique contribution of this nucleoside analog study to the scientific literature is the district-specific estimation that can be of value to programme planners and could help target interventions to individuals most in need, if and when this strategy is appropriate. A related contribution is the description of inequities in nutritional status and the extent to which socioeconomic factors explain these inequities. Findings from this study add to those of Maternal and Child Nutrition Series by also documenting the emergence of overweight and obesity in women and the geographical and socioeconomic variation in these disorders. Similarly, the study documents overweight and obesity in children, especially in those in higher socioeconomic circumstances. By contrast, some households had overweight and obese mothers with underweight or stunted children. This double nutritional burden is a more complex problem to address than is obesity or underweight alone and needs a distinct set of behavioural messages and interventions. Although such trends in nutritional status have been documented in middle-income countries for some time, these concerns have been more recently reported in India, Bangladesh, and others. Di Cesare and colleagues\' study now provides nationally representative data from Pakistan showing a similar double burden of both overnutrition and undernutrition.
Sometimes great changes result from small actions. Technical advances might grab headlines, but changes to administrative processes can potentially have an equally important effect on how public health actions are carried out on the ground. In the past six decades, the World Bank\'s increasingly diverse portfolio has grown to include more than US$1 billion in annual commitments for health, nutrition, and population activities—about a quarter of all its . That is why it is so essential that the global community pays attention to the discussion and any proposed decisions about safeguards against any unintended social and environmental effects of World Bank policies and investments.
In the 1980s, stakeholders became concerned with the unintended consequences of World Bank investments on lives and livelihoods, such as displacement of populations or damage to habitats during building projects. A set of safeguarding policies was developed to help planners consider these concerns and manage risks during the planning process. In 2010, the World Bank\'s Independent Evaluation Group recommended an update of these safeguards to enhance their effectiveness, consistency, and relevance. In response, the World Bank began a multiphased review and consultation process. The proposed new Environmental and Social Framework, which would become the new safeguards standard, is being reviewed by stakeholders worldwide.
On Nov 28, 2014, the Chinese Government introduced its first national tobacco control guideline, which prohibits smoking in all indoor and many outdoor public places, and shows a new commitment by the Government to reduce the health problems caused by smoking. However, the social and health issues related to alcohol use and misuse, such as liver and cardiovascular diseases, mental disorders, cancers, violence, and transport and unintentional injuries, have been largely neglected.