Public health nutrition
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Public health nutrition · Feb 2006
ReviewTowards the advancement of the Mediterranean food cultures.
The Forum on Mediterranean Food Cultures has the purpose to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue to acknowledge the underestimated role of the Mediterranean diet and of the Mediterranean food cultures for an effective sustainable development in the Mediterranean. It is addressed towards the achievement of food security and a broader nutritional well-being in the entire Mediterranean area. The Forum uses a creative approach for the development of community-based programmes to manage the emerging trend of childhood overweight and obesity, as well as to reduce the increasing erosion of the Mediterranean food cultural heritage.
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Public health nutrition · Jun 2005
ReviewPublic health implications of meat production and consumption.
The high level of meat and saturated fat consumption in the USA and other high-income countries exceeds nutritional needs and contributes to high rates of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and some cancers. Affluent citizens in middle- and low-income countries are adopting similar high-meat diets and experiencing increased rates of these same chronic diseases. ⋯ In industrial animal production there are public health concerns surrounding feed formulations that include animal tissues, arsenic and antibiotics as well as occupational health risks and risks for nearby communities. It is of paramount importance for public health professionals to become aware of and involved in how our food is produced.
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Public health nutrition · Apr 2005
Review Meta AnalysisEffect of iron supplementation on mental and motor development in children: systematic review of randomised controlled trials.
To evaluate the effect of iron supplementation on mental and motor development in children through a systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). ⋯ Iron supplementation improves mental development score modestly. This effect is particularly apparent for intelligence tests above 7 years of age and in initially anaemic or iron-deficient anaemic subjects. There is no convincing evidence that iron treatment has an effect on mental development in children below 27 months of age or on motor development.
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To analyse the role of various aspects of the Mediterranean diet in several common epithelial cancers, including digestive and selected non-digestive tract neoplasms. ⋯ A low-risk diet for cancer in the Mediterranean would imply increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables, as well as avoiding increasing the intakes of meat and refined carbohydrates. Further, olive oil and other unsaturated fats, which are also typical aspects of the Mediterranean diet, should be preferred to saturated ones.
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Public health nutrition · May 2004
ReviewProtein/energy ratios of current diets in developed and developing countries compared with a safe protein/energy ratio: implications for recommended protein and amino acid intakes.
Revised estimates of protein and amino acid requirements are under discussion by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organizaion (WHO), and have been proposed in a recent report on Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) from the USA. The nature and magnitude of these requirements are not entirely resolved, and no consideration has been given to the potential influence of metabolic adaptation on dietary requirements. We have examined the implications of these new values, and of the conceptual metabolic framework in which they are used, for defining the nutritional adequacy of protein intakes in developed and developing countries. ⋯ An alternative option would be to re-evaluate the currently proposed values for the requirements for protein and amino acids. We conclude that the choice of values for the adult lysine requirement should be re-evaluated and that serious consideration should be given to the extent to which adaptive mechanisms might enable the metabolic requirement for protein to be met from current intakes. This will entail a better understanding of the relationships between dietary protein and health.