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tarynsmith.bsky.social
Taryn Smith, PhD
@tarynsmith.bsky.social
300 followers 320 following 27 posts
Research Associate, University of Liverpool
Maternal & child nutrition | Global nutrition | Child development
Posts Replies Media Videos
tarynsmith.bsky.social
Published in @plosglobalpublichealth.org we find several maternal capabilities for care are integral for the #NurturingCare of children & this varies by context. Interventions promoting nurturing care should aim to strengthen multiple maternal capabilities.
#ECD

journals.plos.org/globalpublic...
Associations between maternal capabilities for care and nurturing care behaviours among mother-child dyads in Malawi and South Africa
Adequate nurturing care behaviours, including feeding practices, health-seeking and psychosocial stimulation, are crucial for the optimal health, growth and development of young children. However, sev...
journals.plos.org
September 24, 2025 at 2:19 PM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
Nearly half of all interventions fail to increase fruit and vegetable intake. Here’s what the successful ones have in common.
www.sagepub.com/explore-our-...

#nutrition #health #foodsystems
Nearly half of all interventions fail to increase fruit and vegetable intake. Here’s what the successful ones have in common.
As we face increasing rates of diet-related diseases globally, understanding what works to improve diets and nutrition remains a priority.
www.sagepub.com
September 16, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
fnbjournal.bsky.social
We are SO excited about this supplement. Out now!
September 12, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
ourworldindata.org
In many countries, more than half of children and pregnant women are anemic
A bar chart showing the prevalence of anemia among high-risk groups in various income levels of countries for the year 2019. Anemia occurs when there is a deficiency of healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin. The chart is divided into four income categories: low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income, and high-income countries. Each category lists three groups: children, pregnant women, and women of reproductive age, with percentages representing the prevalence of anemia in each group. In low-income countries, the percentages are: - Children: 59% - Pregnant women: 42% - Women of reproductive age: 39% In lower-middle-income countries: - Children: 51% - Pregnant women: 46% - Women of reproductive age: 44% For upper-middle-income countries: - Children: 24% - Pregnant women: 25% - Women of reproductive age: 19% In high-income countries: - Children: 14% - Pregnant women: 18% - Women of reproductive age: 15% Data source: WHO via World Bank (2025)
September 8, 2025 at 11:52 AM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
Our supplement on “Interventions on fruit & vegetable intake in low, middle and high-income countries: a global perspective” is now available in @fnbjournal.bsky.social

journals.sagepub.com/toc/fnba/46/...

#nutrition #health #foodsystems
@ifpri.org
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
September 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
jessfanzo.bsky.social
Check out the just-published entire set of papers of the Lancet Haematology Commission: shorturl.at/fgnrg

There is also a shnazzy infographic that summarizes the core paper, “Getting back on track to meet global anemia reduction targets: a Lancet Hematology Commission.” shorturl.at/kj7uu
August 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
gnreport.bsky.social
Newly released estimates from @who.int @unicef.org & #WorldBank show faltering progress in ending childhood #malnutrition

Continued access to robust data like this ensures decision makers are held accountable to sustain & advance progress for millions of children data.unicef.org/resources/jme/
August 5, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
fao.org
How many people faced hunger in 2024?

Latest data is available in #SOFI2025👇

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024: Addressing high food price inflation for food security and nutrition

📙Download YOUR copy of the In Brief report👉 doi.org/10.4060/cd60...
July 28, 2025 at 9:25 PM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
What intervention strategies and approaches most effectively increase fruit and vegetable intakes in high-, middle- and low-income countries? Read our new scoping review in @fnbjournal.bsky.social

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

@ifpri.org
#nutrition #health #foodsystems
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
July 23, 2025 at 4:30 PM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
📢 Just published “Caregiver nutrition and nurturing care: a scoping review”

Does caregiver (maternal) nutrition influence responsive caregiving and engagement in early learning opportunities?

Short answer: yes, it likely does.

🔗 to paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Key findings 👇
Caregiver Nutrition and Nurturing Care: A Scoping Review
Suboptimal caregiver diets, food insecurity, caregiver under- and overnutrition, anaemia and low vitamin B6 status were associated with less responsive caregiving and fewer opportunities for early le....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
🔥JUST PUBLISHED
Few studies have explored maternal psychosocial predictors of complementary feeding & continued breastfeeding.
We report important findings related to intimate partner violence, stimulation in the home & mental health with potential policy & programme implications.
👇 A short 🧵 & 🔗
May 20, 2025 at 8:17 AM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
🚨NEW PAPER🚨 We looked at relationships between maternal thiamine status, breastmilk thiamine & infant thiamine status in Laos. Almost half of mothers had low breastmilk thiamine & this correlated with infant thiamine status. Strategies needed to improve maternal thiamine status.
#nutrition #NutSky
Thiamine Concentration in Human Milk Is Correlated With Maternal and Infant Thiamine Status: A Cross‐Sectional Analysis of the Lao Thiamine Study
Thiamine status of breastfed infants < 6 months of age is correlated with human milk thiamine concentration, which in turn is strongly correlated with maternal thiamine status in northern Lao PDR. Im...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 15, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
drtedros.who.int
Every $1 spent on early childhood nutrition generates a $23 return.

By contrast, where there is malnutrition of any form, disease follows close behind:
-undernutrition is an underlying factor in almost half of deaths in children <5
-over 1 billion adults are living with obesity & diet-related NCDs
March 29, 2025 at 5:02 PM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
Minimum dietary diversity (MDD) is now an official SDG indicator. A big step forward in measuring and improving diet quality and reducing malnutrition globally.
#nutrition
fao.org Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations @fao.org · Mar 10
@FAO.org & @UNICEF.org assumed joint custodianship of a new Sustainable Development Goal indicator regarding Minimum Dietary Diversity.

The quality of a diet is essential to prevent all forms of malnutrition & support health, growth & well-being.

#SDGs #UN56SC

www.fao.org/newsroom/det...
New SDG indicator on Minimum Dietary Diversity adopted by UN Statistical Commission
FAO assumes joint custodianship of indicator seen as key to ending malnutrition
www.fao.org
March 11, 2025 at 8:50 AM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
🚨NEW PAPER🚨 We undertook a mammoth review of interventions evaluating impacts on fruit & veg intake as part of @ifpri.org FRESH project. Our first paper looks at the evidence based & knowledge gaps.

🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

What did we find? A 🧵
#nutrition #health #foodsystems
March 5, 2025 at 4:46 PM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
I would highly recommend this @nihr.bsky.social grant writing masterclass 👇 I found it extremely helpful last year and useful for anyone putting in an NIHR grant (or others) in the near future.
cambridgebrc.bsky.social NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre @cambridgebrc.bsky.social · Mar 4
Applying for a research grant? Want to strengthen your grant application skills? 👉check out this FREE, 3-day masterclass in The Essential Guide to Grant Applications by @nihr.bsky.social @unisouthampton.bsky.social
📅 April 1, 2 & 3rd ⏰ 09.30
bit.ly/41DRdde
@cuhnhs.bsky.social @uniofcam.bsky.social
EGGA2025 Programme - Research Design Service South Central
bit.ly
March 4, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
christinestewart.bsky.social
The shocks to the global nutrition system should be a concern to nutrition scientists and nutrition advocates everywhere. Please read and share our perspective published open access in AJCN today. 👇
February 20, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
juliarobinson.bsky.social
I love browsing through recently published research on @plosglobalpublichealth.org - I learn something (or many somethings!) new every day.

Today we published this very cool study:

Re-thinking “non-response” to wasting treatment: Exploratory analysis from 14 studies

plos.io/4hyo9Jr
Re-thinking “non-response” to wasting treatment: Exploratory analysis from 14 studies
Children who receive therapeutic feeding for wasting treatment but do not reach the anthropometric definitions of recovery (usually within 12–16 weeks) are categorised as ‘non-responders’ and consider...
plos.io
February 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
New paper as part of @ifpri.org FRESH (Fruit & vegetables for sustainable healthy diets) initiative. We looked at diets, F&V intake and nutritional status in the Philippines. FRESH will use an end-to-end approach to improve F&V intakes in LMICs.
#NutSky

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Diets, Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Nutritional Status Among Children, Adolescents and Adults in the Philippines: A Scoping Review
Across all population and sociodemographic groups in the Philippines, diets lacked diversity and intakes of fruit and vegetables were low. Under- and overnutrition are persisting challenges. Rigorous...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 16, 2024 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
thelancet.com
Despite substantial progress, only a few countries are on track to meet multiple global nutrition targets by 2030.

A new study evaluates global, regional, & national progress towards the 2030 targets and forecasts to 2050: tinyurl.com/388ejc7w
World map showing decrease in global nutrition target indicator observed annualised rate of change in prevalence greater than expected based on Socio-demographic Index, 2012 to 2021. Copyright: 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.
December 11, 2024 at 1:31 PM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
This is an important concept particularly in the context of caregiving where there are few tools to measure caregivers time use and particularly tools that measure caregiver's time use specific to child feeding or nutrition related care practices.
#foodstudies #NutSky #nutrition
November 29, 2024 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
altmetric.com
THREAD: Research we should be thankful for.

The chances that we and everyone we know and love would be here today, alive, healthy and thriving without the advances of science and technology are basically zero.

Today we look through the research and scientists to whom we owe everything.

1/19
November 29, 2024 at 2:30 PM
tarynsmith.bsky.social
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are crucial - there’s growing evidence that the next 1,000 days are just as important and an opportunity to sustain and build on gains achieved in the first 1,000 days.
#childdevelopment #nutrition #NutSky

theconversation.com/the-first-1-...
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are crucial – there’s growing evidence that the next 1,000 are just as important
Young children’s development between the ages of 2 and 5 is shaped by a range of influences.
theconversation.com
November 27, 2024 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
christinestewart.bsky.social
Great new article from Our World in Data on anemia trends and what we can do to move them in in a more positive direction.
"While the stagnation at the global level is worrying, these positive developments show that it is a tractable problem that we can tackle with the right interventions."
hannahritchie.bsky.social Hannah Ritchie @hannahritchie.bsky.social · Nov 25
Anemia is a large problem, but one that the world has made very little progress on, in the last few decades.

We know that it's possible to tackle it, though, because some countries *have* seen notable reductions in rates of anemia.

My latest article:
ourworldindata.org/billions-peo...
November 25, 2024 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by Taryn Smith, PhD
christinestewart.bsky.social
Optimist: the cup is half full

Pessimist: the cup is half empty

Nutritionist: But how accurate was the portion size estimation using the cup?
annmlipton.bsky.social Ann M. Lipton @annmlipton.bsky.social · Nov 23
Optimist: The cup is half full.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Law professor: No cups in the park
adamrothman.bsky.social Adam Rothman enjoys a good sandwich @adamrothman.bsky.social · Nov 23
Optimist: The cup is half full.

Pessimist: The cup is half empty.

Historian: The cup, 1789-1914
November 23, 2024 at 2:58 PM