Perspectives in preschool nutrition

Malnutrition is a grave global public health problem and needs serious attention. The prevalence of malnutrition in under 5 years children in India is high. Hence, there is an urgent need to recognize the nutrition and feeding concerns, the gaps in adequate nutrient intake and bridge them to ensure optimum nutritional care in early childhood. Twenty-eight Pediatricians were selected by purposive sampling from Telangana (n=12) and West Bengal (n=16) to form an advisory board. An advisory board meeting was conducted, which included a presentation on preschool nutrition in an Indian perspective. This was followed by a focused group discussion among the team of experts to gather their views on nutrition concerns of the preschoolers. They gave their opinion on how to address these concerns, role of healthy food drinks, the role of novel nutrients such as prebiotics and docosahexaenoic acid in preschoolers and the importance of nutrition education of mothers by healthcare professionals. Further, the board members pointed out the common micronutrient deficiencies such as iron, Vitamins-A and D, excessive intake of sugar and fat, and indicated a need for micronutrient supplementation, healthy alternatives for sugar and fat, views on healthy food drinks among the preschoolers. The advisory board members were unanimous in their belief that it is essential to create awareness and educate mothers about preschool nutrition and for doctors to include some nutrition counseling time for early childhood nutritional care. This would help to improve the nutritional intake which is essential to ensure optimum growth and development during the preschool age for a healthier future.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of intensive care unit nurses towards nutritional care in critically ill patients: A descriptive cross-sectional study

Introduction: In recent years, there has been a growing concern about the lack of adequate nutrition Knowledge among nurses. Nutrition training in the medical curriculum and for healthcare professionals is contradictory, inadequate, and weak. Nurses are one of the most reliable sources of nutritional information for patients; and yet, little research has been done so far on nurses’ information regarding their important role in nutritional care. Our study is designed to assess the current level of Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nurses in intensive care units (ICUs). Methods: A four-part questionnaire was used in this study. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2019 to July 2020. The sample size consisted of 110 nurses based on the statistical data obtained from the nursing offices of two hospitals of Tabriz University of medical science including all the nurses working in the ICUs. Thereafter, all questionnaires were re-collected and data were finally analyzed. Results: Results showed that from 110 nurses which were included in this study, 73.6% had high Knowledge, 45.5% had moderate practices, and 58.2% had a positive attitude about nutritional support. Age and level of education had a significant correlation with their knowledge (P=0.005 and P=0.001, respectively). Nursing attitude had a significant correlation with age and the level of education (P=0.03 and P=0.003). And also, nursing practice had a significant relationship with age, work experience in the ICU, and the level of education (P=0.001, P=0.001 and P=0.004, P<0.05). Conclusion: Nurses surveyed in this study had a high knowledge, moderate practice and a positive attitude regarding nutritional care in patients admitted to the ICU.

Knowledge of medical students about perioperative nutritional care in Bahia, Brazil: a transversal study

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the medical students’ knowledge about perioperative nutritional care. These students are from public and private academic institutions in the state of Bahia, Brazil. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study to analyze medical students based on an online instrument regarding topics related to perioperative care. For data analysis, absolute and relative frequencies were calculated for categorical variables, and mean and standard deviation were calculated for continuous variables. Fisher's Exact Test and G Test were used to analyze the association. Results: 209 responses were obtained. Regarding the learning on nutritional preparation of the patient submitted to a surgery, 25 (64.9%) students of public institutions and 90 (52.3%) students of private ones reported not knowing or not having been exposed to such knowledge. Regarding the importance of addressing topics related to nutritional therapy (NT), 37 (100%) students from public institutions and 168 (97.7%) from private ones recognize the importance of spreading this knowledge. Unnecessary absolute preoperative fasting, shortening techniques of fasting and bronchoaspiration prevention and reintroduction time of a diet in the postoperative period are unknown to most of the population studied. CONCLUSION: Most students included in this study do not have satisfactory knowledge in NT and for preparing the surgical patient.