Modern approaches and some principles of complementary feeding in the first year of life

Early life feeding habits may potentially alter future metabolism and health in adulthood. The period of the first complementary feeding is the time when children introduce new food different from breast milk and forms a new diet model for their family. This period is important in the transition of the baby from breastfeeding to adult food and is necessary both to provide nutrients for body growth and mental and social development. The timing of supplementation and model of complementary feeding changed over time. Recent literature data show the growing interest and concern of the scientific community about the impact of terms and methods of supplementation on the onset of some diseases, such as iron deficiency anemia, obesity, allergic diseases, celiac disease, diabetes, and others. Nutritional preferences formed in early childhood impact health and eating patterns in adulthood.

Adult food choices in association with the local retail food environment and food access in resource-poor communities: a scoping review protocol

IntroductionThe local retail food environment influences dietary patterns and food choices, as suggested in the literature. The lack of access to healthy food within this environment may result in unhealthy food choices which may lead to obesity and the development of non-communicable diseases. Evidence suggests that resource-poor communities may have unhealthy food environments, therefore, preventing residents from making healthy food choices. A systematic scoping review will be conducted to provide an overview of the evidence on adult food choices in association with the local retail food environment and food access in resource-poor communities.Methods and analysisThis protocol for the scoping review was developed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines and the framework process by Arksey and O’Malley. Observational studies, published from July 2005 to January 2021, will be searched and screened. Keywords and medical subject headings (MeSH) terms will be used to search several multidisciplinary databases. Two independent reviewers will screen identified articles using the selection criteria and extract data using the PRISMA-ScR checklist. Descriptive numerical and thematic analysis will be performed to evaluate and categorise quantitative and qualitative data.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval will not be required for the review, as data from published studies will be used. The results of this scoping review will form part of a PhD thesis that will be submitted to the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. The review findings will also be presented at conferences and published in a peer-reviewed journal.Open science framework registration numberhttps://osf.io/shf93.

Adaptation and Validation of the Food Neophobia Scale: The Case of Hungary

Food neophobia is the fear or loathing of novel food, which may result in the rejection of the unfamiliar food item. The most frequently used and most reliable tool to measure adult food neophobia is the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS), which has been translated into several languages, making it possible to compare food neophobia levels around the world. The main objective of this research has been the adaptation and validation of the FNS in Hungary. In order to achieve the research objectives, a questionnaire survey was conducted on a representative sample of 500 adults; and, primarily, multivariate statistical tools were used. We found that despite the Hungarian population’s strong neophobic tendency, neophobia and neophilia are present at the same time. We identified two distinctive factors in the course of the exploratory factor analysis (“Willingness and trust” and “Rejection and particularity”), which distinctly separate the negatively and positively worded (reversed) FNS items. Based on these factors, four clusters were identified. Those belonging in the group of adventurous open-minded individuals constitute an ideal target group for the manufacturers of novel food items as well as products with unusual flavors, especially if those products also have health-enhancing and eco-friendly qualities.

Complementary Feeding in Italy: From Tradition to Innovation

Complementary feeding (CF) is a pivotal phase of the individual’s growth, during which children develops their future dietary habits. To date, only few studies investigated and compared weaning modalities between different geographical areas. The aim of this article is to describe the current Italian practice for CF in healthy term infants among different areas (North, Center, South) of Italy. Two different multiple-choice questionnaires were produced and sent to 665 Italian primary care pediatricians (PCP) and 2023 families with children under 1 year of age. As emerged from our investigation, in Italy CF is usually started between the 5th and 6th month of life. The preferred approach (chosen by 77% of families) involves the use of home-cooked liquid or semi-liquid ailments, or industrial baby foods. A new CF modality is emerging, consisting of traditional complementary foods with adult food tastings (10% of families). Approximately 91% of pediatricians give written dietary suggestions, and 83% of families follow their advice. We found significantly divergent weaning habits among different areas of Italy. PCP have a key role in guiding parents during the introduction of new foods in their infant's diet and should take this as an opportunity to educate the whole family to healthy dietary habits.

The Prevalence of Hyperpalatable Baby Foods and Exposure During Infancy: A Preliminary Investigation

Objective: To characterize the prevalence of hyperpalatable foods (HPF) among baby foods in the U.S. and examine the prevalence of HPF exposure and consumption from both baby food and adult food sources among infants aged 9–15 months.Methods: A U.S. baby food database as well as baby foods from three 24-h dietary recalls of 147 infants were used to identify baby foods as HPF per previous publication. HPF exposure was defined as intake of any HPF during the 3-day measurement period. To determine the extent of HFP consumption, % kilocalorie (kcal) intake from HPF was characterized.Results: Only 12% of baby foods were HPF; however, nearly all participants (>90%) consumed HPF, primarily through exposure to adult foods. Younger infants (<12 months) consumed 38% [standard deviation (SD) = 23.6%] of their daily food kcal from HPF and older infants (≥12 months) consumed 52% (SD = 16.4%) of daily food kilocalorie from HPF. Most younger infants (68%) and older infants (88%) had repeated exposure to the same HPF across the measurement period.Conclusions: The prevalence of HPF among baby foods in the U.S. is low. However, almost all infants were exposed to HPF, and HPF comprised a substantial percentage of daily food kilocalorie in infants' diets. Findings highlight the transition to solid food consumption during complimentary feeding period is a critical time for early HPF exposure.

Development & validation of the Greek version of the adult food security survey module

BACKGROUND: Food insecurity seems to be positively correlated with increased risk of malnutrition and poor health. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to develop and validate the Greek version of Adult Food Security Survey Module (AFSSM). METHODS: The AFSSM was translated to the Greek language forward and backward twice and subsequently was administered to 94 healthy adult individuals living in Greece. The participants had to complete the tool twice, within a period of 15 days. Fifty of the above participants also took part in a specifically designed structured interview, designed to assess food insecurity, for comparison purposes with the tested tool. Socioeconomic and anthropometric characteristics were also assessed. RESULTS: There was a significant positive correlation between the Greek AFSSM (AFSSM-Gr) and the results of the specifically designed structured interview, assessing food insecurity (r = 0.376, p < 0.01). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability for the Greek AFSSM was good (α= 0.763). There was also a significant negative correlation between the age of the participants and the score of the AFSSM-Gr (r = –0.307, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The AFSSM-Gr can be considered as a useful tool for assessing Food Insecurity.

Differential effects of larval and adult nutrition on female survival, fecundity, and size of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti

Background: The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is the principal vector of medically-important infectious viruses that cause severe illness such as dengue fever, yellow fever and Zika. The transmission potential of mosquitoes for these arboviruses is largely shaped by their life history traits, such as size, survival and fecundity. These life history traits, to some degree, depend on environmental conditions, such as larval and adult nutrition (e.g., nectar availability). Both these types of nutrition are known to affect the energetic reserves and life history traits of adults, but whether and how nutrition obtained during larval and adult stages have an interactive influence on mosquito life history traits remains largely unknown. Results: Here, we experimentally manipulated both larval and adult diets to create four nutritional levels, that is, a high amount of larval food plus poor (weak concentration of sucrose) adult food: HL+PA, high larval plus good (normal sucrose concentration) adult food: HL+GA, low larval plus poor adult food: LL+PA and low larval plus good adult food: LL+GA. We then compared the size, survival and fecundity of female mosquitoes reared from these nutritional regimes. We found that larval and adult nutrition affected size and survival, respectively, without interactions, while both larval and adult nutrition synergistically influenced fecundity. There was a positive relationship between size and fecundity. In addition, this positive relationship was not affected by nutrition. Conclusions: These findings highlight how larval and adult nutrition differentially influence female mosquito life history traits, suggesting that studies evaluating nutritional effects on vectorial capacity traits should account for environmental variation across life stages.