Nutrition
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Multicenter Study
Changes in dietary habits and eating practices in adolescents living in urban South Africa: the birth to twenty cohort.
To assess changes in the dietary habits and eating practices of a longitudinal cohort of adolescents over a 5-y period living in Soweto and Johannesburg. ⋯ Poor eating habits in all three environments were found; the participants' propensity for foods that were energy dense and micronutrient poor was high. This study also found that dietary patterns are well established by 13 y of age.
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Review
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children now: lifestyle changes and pharmacologic treatments.
Over the past decade, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become one of most common chronic liver diseases in children. A greater understanding about the risk factors and molecular pathogenesis of NAFLD suggests that lifestyle interventions aiming to decrease obesity/body mass index and metabolic derangement are the first line of treatments adopted in children affected by this disease. However, because these therapeutic options are often at the beginning misjudged by the patients and their parents, the use of pharmacologic agents may help to protect the liver and other organs from further irreversible tissue damage. ⋯ On this basis, insulin sensitizers, antioxidants, cytoprotective agents, and dietary supplementations have been evaluated in pediatric clinical trials. In this review, we discuss the efficacy of the dietary approaches, possibly coupled with regular exercise, on decreasing the metabolic and histologic damage in pediatric NAFLD. We also emphasize several advantages of the pharmacologic treatments adopted or adoptable in combination with lifestyle interventions in children with NAFLD.
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Case Reports
The significance of folate deficiency in alcoholic and nutritional neuropathies: analysis of a case.
To elucidate the significance of folate deficiency in alcoholic and nutritional neuropathies. ⋯ This case study indicates that folate deficiency should be monitored closely in patients with chronic alcoholism and associated malnutrition. Additionally, folate deficiency should be considered as a differential diagnosis of neuropathy.
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Aronia melanocarpa fruits (Rosaceae) are one of the richest plant sources of phenolic substances, and it has been shown to have various biological activities. Berries of A. melanocarpa (chokeberry) have been supposed to be beneficial for the prevention of cardiovascular events. In this study the influence of aronia extract on the clot formation (using human plasma and purified fibrinogen) and the fibrin lysis during the model of hyperhomocysteinemia was investigated. ⋯ In the comparative studies, the extract from berries of A. melanocarpa and reseveratrol had similar protective properties. It gives hopes for development of diet supplements, which may be preventing thrombosis in pathological states where plasma procoagulant activity and oxidative stress are observed e.g. in hyperhomocysteinemia.
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Multicenter Study
The BASA-ROT table: an arithmetic-hypothetical concept for easy BMI-, age-, and sex-adjusted bedside estimation of energy expenditure.
The rule of thumb (ROT) method is used to estimate energy expenditure (EE) at bedside. ROTs are fixed numbers of calories given daily per kilogram of body weight. Textbooks nevertheless indicate that age and body mass index (BMI) affect EE. This should also affect ROTs. We thus scrutinized the impact of BMI, age, and sex on ROTs, compared the results to the often used 25 kcal/kg ROT, and calculated a BMI-, age-, and sex-adjusted ROT table containing calories per kilogram in the basal state. ⋯ We found that both BMI and age significantly impacted ROT estimates. Thus, using one single fixed ROT for all patients independent of age and BMI does not seem appropriate. We consequently suggest a calculated table of BMI-, age-, and sex-adjusted ROTs where the results of resting EE were multiplied with 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 and separately listed in the table to account for activity/stress factors.