Context: Population-based cohort studies have been pivotal in establishing a number of nutrition-health interactions, especially in high-income settings. Less research is available from low- and middle-income countries due to the lack of detailed longitudinal data.Objective: To describe the use of prospectively collected longitudinal data from the rural West Kiang region of The Gambia to explore nutrition-health interactions in a rural sub-Saharan African context.Methods: Demographic records initiated in 1947, coupled with data on maternal and child health, have been used to explore nutrition-health relationships.Results: An analysis of the longitudinal demographic data demonstrated a highly significant association between season of birth and infection-related adult mortality in this context. Additionally, using routine data on childhood anthropometry, it has been shown that, despite a significant decline in child undernutrition, rates remain unacceptably high, likely reflecting the very high socio-economic threshold required to eliminate undernutrition.Conclusion: The foresight to establish demographic data collection over seventy years ago has supported a wealth of novel research within a traditional African context. The availability of detailed clinical records on maternal and child health is helping to unravel the factors driving child undernutrition in rural Africa, and to identify targets for interventions to improve health in this context.

中文翻译：

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使用纵向数据了解冈比亚农村地区的营养与健康互动。

背景：基于人群的队列研究对于建立许多营养与健康的相互作用至关重要，尤其是在高收入人群中。由于缺乏详细的纵向数据，低收入和中等收入国家的研究较少。目的：描述使用冈比亚西部农村地区的前瞻性收集的纵向数据来探索农村地区的营养与健康互动方法：1947年开始的人口统计学记录，以及有关母婴健康的数据，已被用于探索营养与健康之间的关系。结果：对纵向人口统计学数据的分析表明，不同季节之间的高度相关性在这种情况下，与出生和感染相关的成人死亡率。另外，使用关于儿童人体测量学的常规数据，已表明，尽管儿童营养不良率显着下降，但发病率仍然高得令人无法接受，这可能反映出消除营养不良所需的很高的社会经济门槛。结论：建立人口统计学数据的远见卓识七十年前，在非洲传统背景下支持了许多新颖的研究。有关母婴健康的详细临床记录的提供，有助于弄清非洲农村地区造成儿童营养不良的因素，并确定在这种情况下改善健康的干预措施的目标。结论：七十多年前建立人口统计数据的远见卓识支持了非洲传统背景下的大量新颖研究。有关母婴健康的详细临床记录的提供，有助于弄清非洲农村地区造成儿童营养不良的因素，并确定在这种情况下改善健康的干预措施的目标。结论：七十多年前建立人口统计数据的远见卓识支持了非洲传统背景下的大量新颖研究。有关母婴健康的详细临床记录的提供，有助于弄清非洲农村地区造成儿童营养不良的因素，并确定在这种情况下改善健康的干预措施的目标。