Explore the vast range of titles available.

Deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals-also termed hidden hunger-are pervasive and hold negative consequences for the cognitive and physical development of children. This analysis evaluates the change in hidden hunger over time in the form of one composite indicator-the Hidden Hunger Index (HHI)-using an unweighted average of prevalence estimates from the Nutrition Impact Model Study for anemia due to iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, and stunting (used as a proxy indicator for zinc deficiency). Net changes from 1995-2011 and population weighted regional means for various time periods are measured. Globally, hidden hunger improved (-6.7 net change in HHI) from 1995-2011. Africa was the only region to see a deterioration in hidden hunger (+1.9) over the studied time period; East Asia and the Pacific performed exceptionally well (-13.0), while other regions improved only slightly. Improvements in HHI were mostly due to reductions in zinc and vitamin A deficiencies, while anemia due to iron deficiency persisted and even increased. This analysis is critical for informing and tracking the impact of policy and programmatic efforts to reduce micronutrient deficiencies, to advance the global nutrition agenda, and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, there remains an unmet need to invest in gathering frequent, nationally representative, high-quality micronutrient data as we renew our efforts to scale up nutrition, and as we enter the post-2015 development agenda. Preparation of this manuscript was funded by Sight and Life. There was no funding involved in the study design, data collection, analysis, or decision to publish.

＂The effect of chemical preservation of eggs upon the stability of their vitamin contents＂, published in 1926 by Ernest Tso, was the first paper from China to appear in a Biochemical Society journal. Using a deprivation-and-supplementation strategy in rats, Tso showed that the originally rich vitamin B content of ‘thousand-year eggs＇ （also known as ‘pidan＇） was completely destroyed by chemical preservation, but vitamin A and antirachitic substances were largely unaffected by the process. This classical article signaled a new era in nutritional science, deepening our knowledge of the relationship between vitamins and diseases.

Carl Arthur Scheunert (1879-1957) was a German scientist who supervised several studies with prisoners that were designed to assess the optimal vitamin and nutrient supply, and were conducted by his associate Karl-Heinz Wagner (1911-2007) from 1938 to 1943. This contribution describes the aims, results and conclusions of Scheunert's research 1923 to 1945 in comparison with the national and international vitamin research and its consequences for public health measures. Conditions and results of the human experiments are reconstructed and compared with similar studies performed in other countries. Burden as well as health risks for the study participants are assessed. In addition, it is discussed whether general rules for human experimentation were followed (e.g. informed consent and minimizing of health risks). Although the available documents support the conclusion that no deaths or lasting injuries were caused, the experiments violated ethical standards, in particular because of the conditions in the Waldheim prison including progressive deterioration of nutrition and health.

The , in partnership with Africa Rural Connect, a program of the National Peace Corps Association, supporting returned Peace Corps volunteers and the Peace Corps community, conducted the first contest in the 27-year history of our magazine. Readers and followers of WPJ and the Peace Corps were invited to submit their solutions to the critical problem of food security in Africa. The finalists were reviewed by a panel of five judges, and the winning entries are published here. Four runners-up are published on our website:

Background: The concept of vitamins has evolved over the past century from compounds preventing classical deficiency diseases to nutrients recognized for supporting long-term health. Despite their central role in science and public health, existing definitions often fail to clearly characterize and distinguish vitamins from other bioactive compounds and do not capture the complexity of their nutritional requirements. Method: This article reviews the historical origins and current definitions of vitamins. Results: We identify the limitations of existing definitions and present a contemporary, physiologically informed definition as a discussion proposal. Our proposal no longer relies solely on the prevention of classical hypo- or avitaminoses. Conclusions: By incorporating the concept of conditional essentiality, this framework also tries to clarify the distinction between classical vitamins and other bioactive substances, reflecting variable dietary requirements under different conditions.

Vitamin A is essential for normal growth, reproduction, immunity, and vision. The characterization of vitamin A spanned a period of about 130 years. During this long, incremental process, there is no single event that can be called the ‘discovery’ of vitamin A. The physiologist François Magendie conducted nutritional deprivation experiments with dogs in 1816 that resulted in corneal ulcers and high mortality – a finding similar to the common clinical situation in poorly fed, abandoned infants in Paris. In the 1880s, Nicolai Lunin showed that there was an unknown substance in milk that was essential for nutrition. Carl Socin suggested that an unknown substance for growth in egg yolk was fat soluble. Frederick Gowland Hopkins proposed in 1906 that there were ‘unsuspected dietetic factors’ that were necessary for life. In 1911, Wilhelm Stepp demonstrated that this essential substance in milk was fat soluble. The following year, Hopkins showed that there were ‘accessory factors’ present in ‘astonishingly small amounts’ in milk that supported life. Contrary to the dogma that all fats had similar nutritional value, in 1913, Elmer McCollum and Marguerite Davis at Wisconsin and Thomas Osborne and Lafayette Mendel at Yale showed butter and egg yolk were not equivalent to lard and olive oil in supporting the growth and survival of rats. The growth-supporting ‘accessory factor’ became known as ‘fat-soluble A’ in 1918 and then ‘vitamin A’ in 1920. Paul Karrer described the chemical structure of vitamin A in 1932. Harry Holmes and Ruth Corbet isolated and crystallized vitamin A in 1937. Methods for the synthesis of vitamin A came with the work of David Adriaan van Dorp and Jozef Ferdinand Arens in 1946 and Otto Isler and colleagues in 1947. Further work on the role of vitamin A in immunity and child survival continued until through the 1990s.

Stolz and Daniel call for a revitalization of research on vitamins.

In many countries across the world at different times, a diet made up exclusively of maize led to the development of B3 avitaminosis, or pellagra. Caused by extremely limited nutrition, B3 avitaminosis is a deficiency disease due to insufficient intake of niacin and tryptophan. From the late eighteenth century up to the time of the First World War, pellagra was endemic in Northern Italy, particularly in the Véneto. The \"sickness of the poor\" and the turmoil it caused affected a single social class whose diet consisted entirely of cornmeal polenta: farm workers, especially day labourers, a particularly underprivileged occupational category. This multidisciplinary analysis, based on various types of documentary sources, retraces the epidemiological, social, political and demographic mechanisms that led to the spread of pellagra, primarily among women farm workers of reproductive age in the Véneto and Lombardy regions. Observation of the demographic impact of the disease on the female peasant population leads to a discussion of possible effects on the birth and fertility rates of the populations of these two regions in the late nineteenth century. Dans de nombreux pays du monde, à différentes époques, la consommation de maïs comme unique denrée alimentaire a développé la pellagre. Maladie causée par une extrême pauvreté nutritionnelle, l'avitaminose B3 est une maladie de carence due à la déficience en niacine et en tryptophane. Depuis la fin du XVlll e siècle, en Italie du Nord et particulièrement en Vénétie, la pellagre demeure endémique jusqu'aux années autour de la première guerre mondiale. Le bouleversement causé par le \"mal de la misère\" n'affecte qu'une seule classe sociale, celle dont l'alimentation est totalement fondée sur la consommation de polenta de maïs : les agriculteurs, notamment les journaliers, catégorie professionnelle particulièrement défavorisée. Fondée sur des sources documentaires d'origines diverses et entreprise dans une perspective pluridisciplinaire, cette analyse retrace les mécanismes épidémiologiques, sociaux, politiques et démographiques qui ont mené à la diffusion de la pellagre principalement parmi les agricultrices vénètes et lombardes d'âge fertile. L'observation de l'impact démographique de la maladie sur la population paysanne féminine engage une discussion à propos des éventuelles conséquences sur la natalité et la fécondité des populations de ces deux régions à la fin du XlX e siècle. En numerosos países del mundo, en diferentes épocas, el consumo del maíz como alimento exclusivo ha provocado la pelagra. Enfermedad causada por una pobreza nutricional extrema, la avitaminosis B3 es una enfermedad por carencia debida a la deficiencia en niacina y en triptófano. Desde finales del siglo XVlll, en Italia del Norte y particularmente en Venecia, la pelagra subsiste en forma endémica hasta la Primera Guerra mundial. La convulsión causada por le \"mal de la miseria\" afecta a una sola clase social, cuya alimentación está exclusivamente fundada en el consumo de la polenta de maíz: los campesinos, y sobre todo los jornaleros, categoría particularmente desfavorecida. Basado en fuentes documentales de origen diverso y conducido con un espíritu pluridisciplinario, este análisis reconstituye los mecanismos epidemiológicos, sociales, políticos y demográficos que han llevado a la propagación de la pelagra, principalmente entre los campesinos venecianos y lombardos de edad reproductiva. La observación del impacto demográfico de la enfermedad en la populación campesina femenina lleva a una discusión sobre las eventuales consecuencias en la natalidad y la fecundidad de la población de estas dos regiones a finales del siglo XlX.

Scientific bodies around the world regularly review and recommend the daily vitamin and mineral intake levels (now expressed as Dietary Reference Intakes), taking into account age, sex, physiologic status (e.g., pregnancy) and concurrent disease states. Recommended intake levels are summarized in the purple pages of the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties.7 Consumption of doses at or near the recommended levels (as is often, but not necessarily, the case for multivitamins8) is unlikely to cause harm, and some vita-mins, such as thiamine and riboflavin, are relatively benign even at doses several times their recommended levels. However, high doses of some vitamins, especially when taken regularly, can be toxic (Table 1). What to do: Regular screening enquiries about the use and dose of vitamin and mineral supplements may help to optimize a patient's nutrient intake and avoid potential harm from inappropriate use of supplements (e.g., intake of beta carotene by smokers may increase the risk of lung cancer1). The European Union recently moved to adopt strict labelling standards for vitamin and mineral supplements, including having manufacturers list the percentage of a person's daily intake that is represented by one dose of the product, as well as toxicity warnings when they are appropriate.10 It is unknown whether Canada will adopt similar standards.