Introduction to Issue #2 of World Nutrition for 2020

Understandably, COVID-19 is on everyone’s minds around the world; in a sense, we’re all in the same boat for the first time. Three submissions to this issue of World Nutrition relate to the virus. In his quarterly Good Questions series of editorials, Deputy Editor George Kent asks, “Where are governments’ plans for dealing with food system disruptions, in the US and throughout the world?” Many certainly fumbled their response to the rise in hunger and simultaneous farmer surpluses in the early stages of lockdown (as well as other responses to the virus). Must we fear that worse wastage and hunger are yet to come?


Introduction to Issue #2 of World Nutrition for 2020
By Ted Greiner, Editor-in-Chief Understandably, COVID-19 is on everyone's minds around the world; in a sense, we're all in the same boat for the first time. Three submissions to this issue of World Nutrition relate to the virus. In his quarterly Good Questions series of editorials, Deputy Editor George Kent asks, "Where are governments' plans for dealing with food system disruptions, in the US and throughout the world?" Many certainly fumbled their response to the rise in hunger and simultaneous farmer surpluses in the early stages of lockdown (as well as other responses to the virus). Must we fear that worse wastage and hunger are yet to come?
In this series, George is asking for reader responses. This issue provides one in a letter from Minchin in response to the Good Questions article from our previous issue. She focuses on the now highly relevant issue of immune factors in breast milk and the ways in which the infant formula industry has added minor relevant factors to their products and used marketing approaches to fool authorities and parents into believing that these have similar effects to those in breast milk-although they are in this sense in no way comparable and there is no independent research to support their claims about these additives.
The third COVID-relevant submission is a commentary by R Rana et al. It provides useful guidelines for how nutrition services specifically targeting women who are pregnant or with babies under six months old in an Ethiopian refugee camp need to be modified to take into account the need to protect them and program personnel from COVID infection.
In a literature review, Ncube-Murakwani et al. discuss critical factors for the success of another programmatic approach to reducing malnutrition in a developing country context, the Care Group approach in Zimbabwe.
Two papers examine different aspects of the causation of malnutrition in low-income settings. In original research, Dembele et al. examine the gender gap in nutritional stunting among young children in Burkina Faso and its interactions with inadequate diets. In another research paper, R Rana estimates the prevalence and predictors of undernutrition among children under two years in Narmada district of Gujarat state, India.
A commentary by Rahman and Ireen relates to interesting research on the microbiota of malnourished children and early efforts to achieve more rapid recovery by assisting in the development of a more normal microbiota by the use of microbiota-directed complementary foods. The commentary points out that groundwater iron may interfere with this type of intervention.
Rahman and Ireen have also submitted a detailed scientific letter in response to a 2019 research article in World Nutrition by MM Rana and Schellenberg. They point out that groundwater iron needs to be taken into account in examining side effects from iron supplementation such as diarrhea.
Chikwere presents original research from Kumasi, Ghana comparing energy and nutrient intakes among patients with type 2 diabetes by gender and age groups. Amevinya et al. herein publish research examining the food advertising on the campus of Ghana's largest university in Legon, revealing, among other things, that sweetened drinks are the most heavily advertised item.
Finally, Thompson et al. present research on the development and testing of a screening tool for revealing which members of rural Appalachian communities in the US are at risk of nutrition problems related to food insecurity, poor diet, and NCDs.
World Nutrition announces with deep regrets the death this month of Arne Oshaug, former Professor in Public Health Nutrition at the Oslo Metropolitan University (Oslo Met) in Norway. The September issue will carry an obituary by close colleagues as well as tributes from others the world over who knew Arne as an important actor in the fields of public health nutrition and nutrition as a human right, as a collaborator, and as a friend.
The cover photo for this issue is from the New York Times.