The technical cooperation project established between the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), through its specialized Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME/PAHO/WHO ), and the Ministry of Health of Brazil, through the General Coordination of Food and Nutrition (CGAN/DEPROS/SAPS), aims to contribute to increasing the visibility, access to, and use of scientific and technical information related to the Decade of Action on Nutrition.
In February 2022, three new products were launched resulting from this cooperation: the Evidence Map on the management and treatment of Malnutrition in the context of Primary Health Care, the Window of Knowledge Food and Nutrition in Public Health, and an infometric study of scientific production in Latin America related to the Decade of Action on Nutrition. These products contribute to the translation of knowledge in the area of nutrition and have great potential to inform and support national food and nutrition policies, as well as strengthen the actions developed in the countries’ health systems.
Evidence Map on the management and treatment of Malnutrition in the context of Primary Health Care
Based on the work of identifying and characterizing evidence from 61 systematic review studies, the map presents a graphic synthesis of evidence on interventions for the management, prevention, and treatment of some forms of malnutrition (malnutrition, obesity, and micronutrient deficiency) within the scope of Primary Health Care (PHC). The studies evaluated the effect of 72 types of interventions distributed in 10 groups: Environmental, Physical Activity, Behavioral, Educational, Pharmacological, Management, Multicomponent, Nutritional, Psychology, and Information and Communication Technologies. These interventions were associated with 52 health outcomes distributed in six groups: Health Care, Body Constitution, Blood Diseases, Physiological Phenomena, Behavior Change and Nutrition.
The associations between interventions and outcomes totaled 311. The Multicomponent intervention group was the most associated, followed by the Nutritional and Behavioral groups. In the outcome group, the Body Constitution group received the most associations, followed by the Behavior Change group.
On the map, associations are represented by means of bubbles of different colors that represent the confidence level of the reported evidence (high, moderate, low or critically low) and the size of the bubble is equivalent to the number of studies that analyzed the association.
The Evidence Map on the management and treatment of Malnutrition in the context of Primary Health Care is available at:https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/bireme/viz/ma-nutricao-aps-pt/evidence-map.
Window of Knowledge Food and Nutrition in Public Health
The Window of Knowledge is an information source for the Virtual Health Library (VHL) that applies a methodology developed by BIREME, with the main objective of highlighting content relevant to a given theme. In general, the contents are selected from the VHL’s collection of information sources and presented in an organized manner and grouped by major topics (categories)[1].
The Food and Nutrition Knowledge Showcase in Public Health contributes to increasing the visibility, access and use of scientific and technical information related to the Decade of Action for Nutrition (2016-2025) and the National Food and Nutrition Policy (PNAN Brazil) , which constitute milestones for the implementation of actions and programs that aim to improve the food, nutrition and health conditions of the Brazilian population.
The Window of Knowledge Food and Nutrition in Public Health is published in the VHL Brasil: https://brasil.bvs.br/vitrinas/post_vitrines/alimentacao-e-nutricao-em-saude-publica (available in Portuguese).
Infometric study of international scientific production related to the Decade of Action on Nutrition
The main objective of an Infometric is to measure the scientific and technical production in a given area from the metadata of the literature indexed in databases.
The project includes 2 infometrics:
– LILACS Infometric – Latin American and Caribbean Literature
– MEDLINE Infometric – International Literature
Both infometrics are generated from the extraction of metadata from bibliographic records identified through search strategies for 9 themes related to the Decade of Action on Nutrition:
Organization of Nutritional Care; Promotion of Adequate and Healthy Food; Food and Nutrition Surveillance; Management of Actions on Food and Nutrition; Participation and Social Control; Qualification of the Workforce; Food Control and Regulation; Research, Innovation, and Knowledge; Cooperation and Articulation for Food and Nutrition Security.
A broad bibliographic search was carried out for each theme, with no limit on publication date, country of publication or language. Based on the search result, the metadata of the studies are exported, processed with the Tableau tool and graphical views are generated by country of publication, by author, by year of publication, by journal, and by other datasets previously defined for the infometrics.
All the graphs and tables that make up the infometrics are interactive, and it is possible to select certain data sets and navigate the tabs of the available worksheets.
LILACS infometry is already processed and available for access at: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/bireme/viz/infometria-lilacs-CGAN-es/Histria1 (available in Portuguese).
Launch of cooperation products
The Window of Knowledge Food and Nutrition in Public Health and the Evidence Map on the management and treatment of Malnutrition within the scope of PHC were launched during the Second International Seminar on Food and Nutrition in Primary Health Care, which took place between the 15th and 17th of February 2022, the result of a partnership between the General Coordination of Food and Nutrition of the Ministry of Health of Brazil (CGAN/DEPROS/SAPS/MS) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).
The event received more than 5,000 entries from 50 countries. In addition to the Vitrine and Mapa, the Matrix for the Organization of Food and Nutrition Care in Primary Health Care[2] and the Recommendations for Strengthening Nutritional Care in Primary Health Care in Brazil[3] were launched. Together, these products will support managers and health professionals in understanding the current epidemiological and nutritional context, and will serve as technical subsidies to strengthen and qualify care within the PHC scope. Furthermore, they will help to increase the confidence of managers and decision makers in the development of effective strategies.
For Verônica Abdala (Manager of Services and Information Sources at BIREME), “it is important to highlight and recognize the collaborative work and exchange of knowledge between the teams of nutritionists, librarians, and managers of CGAN/SAPS/MS and the PAHO/WHO Representation of Brazil, who actively worked to develop the products of this cooperation project”.
[1] Windows of Knowledge – A new concept for highlighting health information on the VHL. BIREME Bulletin n. 31. Available at: https://boletin.bireme.org/en/2019/04/28/knowledge-showcases-a-new-concept-for-highlighting-health-information-on-the-vhl/
[2] Ministry of Health of Brazil. Secretariat of Primary Health Care. Department of Health Promotion. Matrix for the Organization of Food and Nutrition Care in Primary Health Care. Preliminary Version. Brasília: Ministry of Health, 2022. Available at: https://nutricaoaps.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/OS-0052021-Matriz-para-Organizacao-2.pdf (available in Portuguese)
[3] Recommendations for Strengthening Nutritional Care in Primary Health Care in Brazil. Preliminary Version. Brasília: Ministry of Health, 2022. Available at: https://nutricaoaps.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Atencao-Nutricional-VERSAO-PRE.pdf (available in Portuguese)