The nutrition of women, children and adolescents

The Global Nutrition Lab includes a portfolio of externally funded research on maternal, child, and adolescent nutrition in low- and middle-income countries.

India

We are currently working with collaborators at the Lata Medical Research Foundation (LMRF) in Nagpur, India and the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) on several projects relating to maternal and child health and nutrition, including 1) anemia during pregnancy; 2) the microbiome, resistome and micronutrient content of human milk and their relationship with infant nutritional status; and 3) an intervention study supporting community health workers in urban slums with M-Health and in-person support to promote maternal and child  nutrition and early childhood development.

Publications from LMRF collaboration:

*Indicates and student co-author

**Indicates equal author contribution

• Dhurde, V.S., Patel, A.B., Locks, L.M., Hibberd, P.L. Anemia prevalence, its determinants and profile of micronutrient status among rural adolescent girls aged 14-19 years of Nagpur district, Maharashtra. Public Health Nutrition,
• Lauer, J.M., Patel, A., Bhaise, S., Dhurde, V., Gugel, A*., Shah, M*., Goghari, A., Hibberd, P.L., Locks, L.M. Maternal anemia during pregnancy and infant birth outcomes: a prospective cohort study in Eastern Maharashtra, India. Current Developments in Nutrition, 2024.
• Locks, L.M., Bhaise, S., Dhurde, V., Gugel, A*., Lauer, J.M., Shah, M*., Goghari, A., Hibberd, P.L., Patel, A. (2024). The prevalence of anemia during pregnancy and its correlates vary by trimester and hemoglobin assessment method in Eastern Maharashtra, India. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 2024.
• Locks, L. M., Shah, M.*, Bhaise, S., Hibberd, P. L., & Patel, A. (2022). Assessing the Diets of Young Children and Adolescents in India: Challenges and Opportunities. In Frontiers in Pediatrics (Vol. 10).

Zambia:

In collaboration with researchers from Swiss TPH, Innovations for Poverty Action & BUSPH, we recently completed a randomized trial of home-installed growth charts and/or small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) for the prevention of stunting in children in three districts in Zambia. The Global Nutrition Lab faculty provided technical input on nutritional assessment and data analysis, and led the biomarker assessment sub-studies and analyses aiming to understand the effect of the interventions on micronutrient status, biomarkers of enteric dysfunction and the child gut microbiome.

Zambia publications:

• Locks, L.M., Chembe, M., Bilima-Mulenga, T., Lauer, J.M., Sizakawe, D., Henderson, S., Rockers, P.C., Parkerson, D., Fink, G. Predictors of stunting and pathway analysis for linear growth among children 2-3 years of age after a trial of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements and home-installed growth charts in three districts in Zambia. Journal of Nutrition,
• Lauer, J.M., Pyykkö, J., Chembe, M., Bilima-Mulenga, T., Sizakawe, D., Chibwe, D., Henderson, S., Parkerson, D., Leppänen, J.M., Fink, G., Locks, L.M.**, Rockers, P.C.** Markers of environmental enteric dysfunction are associated with poor growth and developmental outcomes among young children in Lusaka, Zambia. Journal of Pediatrics, 2024.
• Fink, G., Locks, L. M., Lauer, J.M., Chembe, M., Henderson, S., Sikazwe, D., Bilima-Mulenga, T., Parkerson, D., & Rockers, P. (2024). The Impact of Growth Charts and Small-Quantity Lipid-Based Nutritional Supplements (SQ-LNS) on Child Growth in Zambia: A Four Arm Parallel Open Label Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. BMJ Global Health, 2024.