Background: Exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age is the global recommendation of the World Health Organization because of its established benefits. Previous studies show that exclusive breastfeeding can protect infants during infancy but effects of breastfeeding beyond infancy are inconclusive. This study aims to identify if exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age is protective for pneumonia up to 5 years of age. Methods: Systematic literature search was conducted on the following electronic databases: Pubmed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SciHub, Herdin, Google Scholar, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews to identify all relevant studies assessing the effect of exclusive breastfeeding on development of pneumonia in children from birth to 5 years of age. Fixed effects meta-analysis was performed to generate pooled effect estimates (odds ratio) on the probability of developing pneumonia up to 5 years of age in exclusively breastfed compared to non-exclusively breastfed infants. Results: Five studies were included in the analysis. Exclusive breastfeeding from birth to 6 months has a protective effect against pneumonia in children up to 5 years of age. The probability of developing pneumonia in children until 5 years of age was significantly lower in those who were exclusively breastfed compared to those who were not exclusively breastfed (OR=0.86; 95%CI=0.77-0.95, pvalue=0.003) by 23%. Systematic review showed benefit of exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding for longer protection against developing pneumonia. Conclusion Exclusive breastfeeding from birth to 6 months is associated with statistically significant reduction in the incidence of pneumonia up to 5 years of age. Results highlighted the importance of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age as an intervention in reducing pneumonia morbidity up to 5 years of age, thereby supporting the global recommendation of breastfeeding.
Breast Feeding ; Pneumonia

Objective: Games promoting nutrition education are helpful tools to improve nutrition knowledge. Healthy Foodie is an interactive web-based nutrition game for Filipino children. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Healthy Foodie on the nutrition knowledge of children aged 7 to 10 years old. Methodology: This study had 2 phases. In Phase 1, we developed and validated the Healthy Foodie nutrition game application and Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire involving 46 participants. The Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire was divided into 2 15-item questionnaires: Part 1 pertained to Food Group Knowledge and Part 2 on Food Frequency Knowledge. Phase 2 was the implementation of the game and questionnaire. This was a randomized controlled trial conducted in two elementary schools in Manila, involving 360 participants divided equally into control and experimental groups. Results: For Phase 1, internal consistency of the questionnaire using the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 was 0.75 for part 1 and 0.70 for Part 2. In Phase 2, comparing the adjusted posttest mean Food Group Knowledge scores, there was statistically higher score (F=111.84, p=0.0001) in the experimental group (11.57±0.20) compared to the control (8.51±0.20). In the adjusted posttest mean Food Frequency Knowledge scores, there was a statistically higher score (F=56.12, p=0.0001) in the experimental group (10.70±0.15) compared to the control (9.07±0.15). Conclusion A nutrition game-based intervention such as Healthy Foodie is effective as a reinforcement intervention to previous standard nutrition education of school-aged children
Health Education ; Video Games

Background: Apart from its role in bone health, recent developments have shown that vitamin D also has anti-inflammatory properties, and therefore may have a role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children. Objectives: To determine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the disease activity of pediatric patients with IBD. Design: Random-effects meta-analysis Data Sources: : Studies were searched at Cochrane Library, PubMed, EBSCO Host, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Wiley Online. Review Methods: Experimental studies measuring the effect of vitamin D on the disease activity of pediatric patients with IBD were included. The proportion of disease activity, measured as remission rate or inactivity using Pediatric Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (PCDAI) or Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI), and the mean and standard deviation of mean serum vitamin D [25(OH)D] level, change in 25(OH)D, and different inflammatory markers [erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP)] were extracted or estimated and recorded in an abstraction form. Standardized mean difference and odds ratio were used as summary effect measures and estimated using Stata/Multiprocessor. Results: The serum 25(OH)D (SMD = 1.75, z = 2.33, p = 0.001) and change in 25(OH)D (SMD = 3.37, z = 2.34, p = 0.019) was significantly higher among those who received a high dose of vitamin D. However, a significantly high heterogeneity was estimated (I2 >50%). For the disease activity of IBD, the standard mean difference of mean ESR (SMD = –1.10, z = 5.35, p = 0.001) was significantly lower with high-dose vitamin D. The likelihood of remission rate using the Pediatric Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (PCDAI) or Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI), and standardized mean difference of CRP were not significantly different among those who received high-dose and low-dose vitamin D. Conclusion Cognizant of the functions of vitamin D in enhancing intestinal flora balance, regulating immunologic response, and improving intestinal mucosal barrier, vitamin D can be recommended as a supplementary treatment for IBD among the pediatric population. Nevertheless, there is still insufficient evidence for the cut-off level of adequate levels of serum 25(OH)D among pediatric patients with IBD, thus necessitating further studies.
Vitamin D Deficiency