Strengthened Data Systems to Mitigate the Double Burden of Malnutrition: The Role of Stable Isotope Technique-Derived Nutrition Indicators.
Indicators reflecting the double burden of malnutrition are rarely measured in nutrition surveys and are needed to strengthen national data systems. Indicators such as body composition reflect both metabolic response to undernutrition and obesity risk and nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases. Stable isotope techniques (SITs) provide accurate data on body composition, exclusive breastfeeding and vitamin A status that are otherwise problematic with routine methods. Integration of SIT-derived nutrition indicators in data systems could improve the design and evaluation of programmes focused on obesity prevention, food fortification and infant and young child feeding practices. The Working Group at the symposium considered "how SIT-derived nutrition indicators may be integrated into surveillance systems to strengthen data availability and capacity at national and regional levels". Practical considerations for the use of SITs include cost, sample size, rigorous training and logistics. It was concluded that SITs are best suited, at present, for use in sub-samples of population surveys and for validating tools that can be scaled-up more easily in population surveys. In the long term, SITs could be applied to larger surveys following potential innovations in more affordable, hand-held devices for analysis of stable isotope enrichment in the field and simpler specimen collection protocols.
['Owino|Victor O|VO|', 'Mouratidou|Theodora|T|']
D015415:Biomarkers D001823:Body Composition D001835:Body Weight D001942:Breast Feeding D003903:Deuterium D003906:Developing Countries D005260:Female D006306:Health Surveys D006801:Humans D008297:Male D044342:Malnutrition D044343:Overnutrition D010103:Oxygen Isotopes D011159:Population Surveillance D012306:Risk D018401:Sample Size
Double burden of malnutrition Stable isotopes Global nutrition targets Nutrition surveillance