European journal of clinical nutrition
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To identify if the nutritional status and improvements in Vietnam during the 1990s applied equally to the key vulnerable population groups (poor, rural, and ethnic minority) as it did to the nonpoor-largely in the urban areas. ⋯ Although the key vulnerable groups-rural, poor, and minority populations-showed improvements in diet, there still remains an inequity between these groups and the nonpoor of the population. In particular, the vulnerable groups consumed less of their daily consumption from the desirable high-quality proteins of animal foods and fats, and more from cereals and other starches-lagging the better-off populations in desired composition.
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During the 9th month (Ramadan) of the Islamic calendar (Hijra) many millions of adult Muslims all over the world fast during the daylight hours. Since Hijra is a lunar calendar, Ramadan occurs at different times in the seasonal year over a 33-year cycle. Fasting during Ramadan is partial because the abstention from food, fluid, tobacco and caffeine is from sunrise to sunset. ⋯ A small body mass loss is a frequent, but not universal, outcome of Ramadan. During the daylight hours of Ramadan fasting, practising Muslims are undoubtedly dehydrating, but it is not clear whether they are chronically hypohydrated during the month of Ramadan. No detrimental effects on health have as yet been directly attributed to negative water balance at the levels that may be produced during Ramadan.
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To describe the nutritional profiles of the food consumption patterns identified in an elderly Italian rural population. ⋯ National Research Council (Italy) - Invecchiamento Project no. 95.01048.PF40.
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This study examined household food insecurity of urban low-income families in Korea and the associations of the food insecurity with children's dietary intake and body size. ⋯ This work was funded by a grant of the 2001 Korea Health Promotion Research Program, the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea.
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Sialic acids are a family of nine-carbon acidic monosaccharides that occur naturally at the end of sugar chains attached to the surfaces of cells and soluble proteins. In the human body, the highest concentration of sialic acid (as N-acetylneuraminic acid) occurs in the brain where it participates as an integral part of ganglioside structure in synaptogenesis and neural transmission. ⋯ An important question is whether the sialic acid in human milk is a conditional nutrient and confers developmental advantages on breast-fed infants compared to those fed infant formula. In this review, we critically discuss the current state of knowledge of the biology and role of sialic acid in human milk and nervous tissue, and the link between sialic acid, breastfeeding and learning behaviour.