: Addiction affects the economy of countries worldwide. Nutrition plays an important role in helping persons who use drugs (PWUDs) to regain their physical and mental health, thereby increasing the probability of recovery. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of implementing the nutrition care process on PWUDs management 120 days after its implementation. Following a quasi-experimental design with pre and post-test evaluations, 268 PWUDs admitted to 8 drug treatment, and rehabilitation centers in the Philippines were recruited. Developed nutrition management guidelines containing the nutrition care process and cycle menu of calculated diet for PWUDs were provided for implementation in the rehabilitation regimen. Body mass index was used to assess nutritional status, dietary diversity score (DDS) to measure diet quality, WHO quality of life-BREF to assess the quality of life (QoL), Kessler-10 Psychological Distress Scale to determine psychological distress, and Beck’s depression inventory to assess stress level. The results indicated a 92% reduction in underweight during the study period. Participants with high DDS significantly increased from 38.43 to 91.04%. All domains of the QoL were improved, the level of severe depression was significantly decreased (6.72 to 4.48%), and decrease in the proportion of participants experiencing moderate (18.3 to 12.7%) and severe psychological distress (4.48 to 3.73%) was observed. There was no significant association between DDS and the three psychological parameters. The implementation of the nutrition care process and the recovery diets is feasible and could improve the nutritional status, QoL, and stress level of PWUDs.

The rising prevalence of overweight is a result of multi-faceted factors at the individual and environmental levels. This study aims to identify the predictors of overweight and obesity among children aged 0 to 60 months old in the Philippines. The respondents were 13,021 children who participated in the 2013 National Nutrition Survey (NNS): 2,392 infants (0 to < 12 months); 4,732 toddlers (12 to < 36 months); and 5,897 pre-schoolers (46 to 60 months). In this study, individual factors are birth information, feeding practices, nutritional status, and macronutrient intake while environmental factors include socio-demographic characteristics and government program participation like vitamin A supplementation and deworming. A face-to-face interview was conducted using structured pre-tested questionnaires. Weight and height were measured using standard techniques. Chi-square test for association and Odds Ratio (OR) at 5% level of significance were used to determine the factors associated with overweight/ obesity among children. The predictor of overweight/obesity among infants is nutritional status while among toddlers and pre-schoolers the common predictors are urbanity, wealth quintile, mother's working status, type of delivery, birth size, and household type. Additionally, other predictor among toddlers is Vitamin A supplementation while among pre-schoolers are family size, deworming, and nutritional status. Overweight and obesity among infants is predicted by individual factor while among toddlers and pre-schoolers, the factors are dominated by environmental factors. Identification of these drivers of overweight and obesity during childhood will aid program planners and policy makers in crafting appropriate nutrition interventions per targeted physiological groups.

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Background: People who used drugs (PWUDs) use excessive alcohol and illicit drugs that pose a serious threat to families, society, and the nation’s health and socioeconomic status. They are also vulnerable to vitamin and mineral deficiencies that may threaten their physical and mental health and weaken their immune system. Nutrition plays an important role in the rehabilitation of PWUDs; hence, it must be integrated into the recovery programs in treatment and rehabilitation centers (TRCs). Objectives: This study was done to assess and benchmark the nutrition care processes offered to PWUDs in selected government-owned and private TRCs in the Philippines. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 19 TRCs coming from both government (n = 9) and private (n = 10) rehabilitation centers as samples from Regions I, III, IV-A, VI, XI, and National Capital Region. A total of 45 key personnel from the selected TRCs were interviewed. The information gathered by interview of the director and other key personnel on the nutrition care processes and programs offered in the center, ocular observation on dietary facilities, as well as document reviews of existing hospital policies and services. Results: Nutrition services, such as anthropometric measurements (weight and height) were only conducted in 17 TRCs, while dietary assessment (plate waste) was done only in four TRCs. None of the TRCs were able to provide nutrition counseling or education for the PWUDs. Most TRCs (57.9%) did not have their own Registered Nutritionist Dietitians (RND), and the majority (78.9%) provided uncalculated diet to PWUDs. The mean cost of meals per day was higher in the private TRCs (USD 0.96) than the governmental TRCs (USD 0.8). In terms of facilities, most of the TRCs had no dietary rooms (68.4%), and some of the governmental TRCs had no appropriate dining areas (33.3%). Conclusions: TRCs do not follow the nutritional care process in the management of PWUDs, even in some TRCs with RNDs, because they lack the environment and infrastructure to do this. These services are vital for the holistic management of PWUDs for improved quality of life. A viable recommendation is to develop a Nutrition Management Guidelines to be integrated into the manual of operations of the department of health for TRCs.