New tool identifies undernourished girls in Bangladesh
Published: 19 April 2023
Vulnerable teenage girls in fish-producing areas in Bangladesh can still be deficient in essential nutrients found in fish and this can impact their health, according to a study which highlights the importance of a new tool developed by the University of Stirling to identify such girls
Vulnerable teenage girls in fish-producing areas in Bangladesh can still be deficient in essential nutrients found in fish and this can impact their health, according to a study which highlights the importance of a new tool developed by the University of Stirling to identify such girls.
Dr Eleanor Grieve from SHW's Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment (HEHTA) who led the paper, said:
"The identification of particularly at-risk individuals would improve targeting of timely and cost-effective interventions. The use of the metric using a few short questions is cheaper, can be done online, and avoids the complexity and cost of finger prick blood sampling and biomarker measurement based on field samples. Application of the metric could enable the development and implementation of better informed and more integrated policies and practices in relation to aquatic food production systems."
The tool was developed by Professor Dave Little of the University of Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture and was funded through the Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA) programme. IMMANA Phase 1 is funded with UK Aid from the UK government, led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
Three hundred girls were surveyed during dry and wet seasons to capture seasonal variations in fish availability. The observational data enabled researchers to combine risk factors which identify girls who are more likely to have omega deficiency.
It is hoped the cost-effective tool could now be used by development agencies to assess nutritional deficiency in vulnerable groups.
The paper "Adolescent girls in aquaculture ecozones at risk of nutrient deficiency in Bangladesh development and validation of an integrated metric" was published in BMC Public Health.
First published: 19 April 2023