An overview of the nutritional status of childbearing age women, children and adolescents living in a rural area of Madagascar: preliminary results of the Tany Vao project.

to describe the food consumption, nutrition knowledge and nutritional assessment of childbearing age women and their children, living in rural villages in Madagascar. The results presented are related to the Tany Vao research study. a cross sectional pilot study. the study was carried out in Ampanitosoha village on Nosy Mitsio island in Madagascar. 32 women (14-49 years) and 36 children and adolescents (2-17 years). 70% of the women lacked nutrition knowledge and didn't reach the MDD-W cut-off. The median BMI was 21.1 kg/m2 but 55.2% of the women exceeded the cut-off for WHR, 51.7% for WHtR and 81.2% for MUAC. Almost all had adequate intake of energy, protein and carbohydrates, while 27.6% had excessive fat intake and 75.9% of added sugars. Over half of the women did not meet the micronutrients RDI. For children, the MUAC z-score (MCAZ) was lower for boys than for girls (P-value=0.041). These results underline the importance of increasing women's nutritional knowledge to promote healthy pregnancy and lactation. Moreover, it is fundamental to provide people living in rural areas with sustainable tools to improve dietary diversity and support long term health.