Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a scoping review on the health challenges of families experiencing homelessness. There is a bi-directional relationship between health and homelessness in that poor health can increase the risk of housing loss, and experiencing homelessness is bad for one’s health. The experience of homelessness differs between populations and this review focuses on families as one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population. While research has been integrated on the causes of homelessness for families, this same integration has not been conducted looking at health challenges of families experiencing homelessness. Design/methodology/approach A scoping review methodology is utilized in the paper. As the goal of this work is to ultimately develop interventions for a Canadian context, primacy is given to Canadian sources, but other relevant literature is also included. Findings A clear distinction is seen in the literature between health challenges of children of homeless families and health challenges of parents. These themes are explored separately, and preliminary recommendations are made for potential points of intervention as personal, program and policy levels. Originality/value This review of current evidence is an important first step in building a foundation for interventions to improve health outcomes for those experiencing housing loss.

Methotrexate (MTX) is a potent drug for the treatment of various diseases globally amidst being a chemotherapeutic and immunosuppressant agent. However, hepatotoxicity induced by MTX could be life-threatening if left untreated. Folate supplementation is concurrently applied to reduce the adverse effects of MTX, albeit efficacy compromise. Therefore, there is the need to understand the process for the prevention and treatment strategies for MTX induced hepatotoxicity (MIH). In recent times, preliminary preclinical and clinical findings indicate the potential of natural phytobioactive compounds for MIH prevention and treatment. This mini review therefore summarizes proposed mechanisms of MIH and recent advances in the prevention and treatment prospects of natural phytobioactive compounds on MIH.

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Background: Overweight/obesity is increasingly becoming a major public health problem in Nigeria despite the persistence of underweight burden. A major contributor of this is the urban sprawl experienced in the country with approximately half of the Nigerian population living in urban areas. Evidence suggests that similar socio-demographic factors could have different influences on an individual’s nutrition status by virtue of their residential setting. Yet, little is known about this phenomenon in the Nigerian context. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the following objectives: 1) to determine whether the anticipated increase in overweight/obesity prevalence is subsequently paralleled by substantial decrease in undernutrition in the last decade; and 2) to examine both the individual and household predictors’ overweight/obesity among women of reproductive age in rural and urban Nigeria. Methods: We used data acquired from the 2008, 2013 and 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Our outcome was defined using standard Body Mass Index (BMI) categories calculated from height and weight measurements of the study participants. The national and stratified (urban/rural) prevalence estimates of underweight (BMI <18.5 Kg/m 2 ), overweight (BMI 25 - 29.9 Kg/m 2 ), and obese (BMI ≥ 30 Kg/m 2 ) were computed for each survey. Afterwards, the underweight subjects were excluded from the study. Two-level (individual and household) logistic regression models were applied to examine the influence of individual and household characteristics on women’s overweight/obese status. Results: Findings show a steady increase in both the prevalence of overweight and obesity from 16.1% and 6.1% in 2008 to 18.2% and 10.0% in 2018, respectively, while underweight prevalence was averagely 12% across each survey. Regardless of the residential setting, age, marital status, education, occupation, household wealth and survey year were consistently associated with increased risk of overweight/obesity, whereas breastfeeding showed a protective association with overweight/obesity. Having multiple children and living in female-headed homes were unique risk factors for overweight/obesity among urban women while ethnicity, media exposure and state of residence were unique risk factors for overweight/obesity among rural women. Conclusion: Public health interventions aimed at lowering the risk of overweight/obesity should embrace the differences in risk factors that exists between rural and urban dwellers.