The impact of endometriosis on dietary choices and activities of everyday life: a cross-sectional study

IntroductionEndometriosis is characterized by ectopic endometrial tissue and severe pain; frequently, women afflicted by this condition resort to non-medical interventions, such as dietary modifications. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of endometriosis on dietary patterns and quality of life.MethodsAn online survey was conducted among Italian women with endometriosis to gather self-reported demographic, clinical, dietary habit, and daily life data post-diagnosis.ResultsA total of 4,078 participants were included. Following an endometriosis diagnosis, 66% reported changes in eating habits, and 92% experienced a decline in daily life. Respondents chose dietary interventions: gluten-free (15%), anti-inflammatory (8%), Mediterranean (7.1%), or ketogenic (4%) diets, to improve health and reduce symptoms. The study revealed a shift in eating habits, with increased consumption of vegetables, fruits (10%), cereals, legumes (6.6%), and fish (4.5%), while reducing dairy products (18.4%), soy-containing foods (6.7%), and high saturated fats (8%). Eating habit changes correlated with endometriosis stages and worsened daily life. Educational level, endometriosis stages, years of symptoms, and eating habit changes linked to changes in daily life.ConclusionOur findings emphasize the importance of monitoring eating behaviors to prevent unhealthy habits and malnutrition in women with endometriosis. Further studies are needed to evaluate how different diets impact symptoms and enhance daily life for these individuals

Una misurazione “euristica” dell’alfabetizzazione alimentare. Evidenze da uno studio preliminare

Sulla scia del più diffuso concetto di health literacy, l’alfabetizzazione alimentare (food literacy) sta lentamente guadagnando proseliti sia in ambito accademico che pratico. In termini generali, per alfabetizzazione alimentare si intende la capacità dell’individuo di ottenere, interpretare, comprendere e utilizzare le informazioni nutrizionali di base, allo scopo di realizzare scelte alimentari appropriate sul profilo individuale e su quello sociale. Sino a oggi, la gran parte della letteratura ha concentrato l’attenzione sulla concettualizzazione dell’alfabetizzazione alimentare, indagando in profondità i costrutti su cui essa poggia. All’opposto, pochi sforzi sono stati indirizzati alla misurazione del livello di alfabetizzazione alimentare individuale, così come all’indagine dei suoi determinanti sociodemografici e delle sue potenziali ripercussioni sulle condizioni di salute individuale e collettiva. Il presente studio - traendo spunto dagli strumenti di misurazione dell’health literacy individuale - propone un approccio euristico per la rilevazione delle competenze di alfabetizzazione alimentare in Italia. Lo strumento di rilevazione, testato su un campione di convenienza di 79 individui reclutati in diverse province italiane, presenta una discreta attendibilità e potrebbe costituire un riferimento ai fini della costruzione di più solidi e consistenti approcci di misurazione dell’alfabetizzazione alimentare. Quantunque non generalizzabili, i risultati del presente studio sono in linea con le evidenze in tema di health literacy, rimarcando la prevalenza di basse competenze di alfabetizzazione alimentare nella popolazione indagata. I casi di bassa alfabetizzazione si riscontrano prevalentemente tra gli individui con bassi livelli di istruzione e coloro che appartengono alle fasce svantaggiate della popolazione

Una misurazione “euristica” dell’alfabetizzazione alimentare. Evidenze da uno studio preliminare

Sulla scia del più diffuso concetto di health literacy, l’alfabetizzazione alimentare (food literacy) sta lentamente guadagnando proseliti sia in ambito accademico che pratico. In termini generali, per alfabetizzazione alimentare si intende la capacità dell’individuo di ottenere, interpretare, comprendere e utilizzare le informazioni nutrizionali di base, allo scopo di realizzare scelte alimentari appropriate sul profilo individuale e su quello sociale. Sino a oggi, la gran parte della letteratura ha concentrato l’attenzione sulla concettualizzazione dell’alfabetizzazione alimentare, indagando in profondità i costrutti su cui essa poggia. All’opposto, pochi sforzi sono stati indirizzati alla misurazione del livello di alfabetizzazione alimentare individuale, così come all’indagine dei suoi determinanti socio-demografici e delle sue potenziali ripercussioni sulle condizioni di salute individuale e collettiva. Il presente studio – traendo spunto dagli strumenti di misurazione dell’health literacy individuale – propone un approccio euristico per la rilevazione delle competenze di alfabetizzazione alimentare in Italia. Lo strumento di rilevazione, testato su un campione di convenienza di 79 individui reclutati in diverse province italiane, presenta una discreta attendibilità e potrebbe costituire un riferimento ai fini della costruzione di più solidi e consistenti approcci di misurazione dell’alfabetizzazione alimentare. Quantunque non generalizzabili, i risultati del presente studio sono in linea con le evidenze in tema di health literacy, rimarcando la prevalenza di basse competenze di alfabetizzazione alimentare nella popolazione indagata. I casi di bassa alfabetizzazione si riscontrano prevalentemente tra gli individui con bassi livelli di istruzione e coloro che appartengono alle fasce svantaggiate della popolazion

Telenutrition: Changes in Professional Practice and in the Nutritional Assessments of Italian Dietitian Nutritionists in the COVID-19 Era

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about various restrictions around the world, and its impact on healthcare has been enormous: RDNs have had to shift from in-person interactions with clients to telenutrition consultations, encountering obstacles. We designed the first survey to investigate the changes in RDN practices related to telenutrition provision after the onset of the pandemic through an online survey in Italy. Four hundred and thirty-six responses were analyzed. Before the pandemic, only 16% of Italian RDNs provided telenutrition; this percentage increased significantly up to 63% (p < 0.001). Among patients, the lack of interest in accessing telenutrition (30.9%) and the Internet (16.7%) were the most frequently reported barriers. Among RDNs, one of the main obstacles was their inability to conduct nutritional evaluation or monitoring activities (24.4%). Our survey indicated that increased adoption of telenutrition can be a valid, safe alternative to face-to-face visits. Telenutrition was mainly used by young RDNs (20–39 years) with fewer years of professional experience (0–20 years) and master’s degrees. Remote nutrition can enable RDNs to maintain normal workloads and provide patients with uninterrupted access to nutritional healthcare. It is important that RDNs using telemedicine resources possess the ability to provide high-quality, efficient, and secure services using evidence-based guidance

Corrigendum to “Crafting and applying a tool to assess food literacy: Findings from a pilot study” [Trends in Food Science & Technology 67 (2017) 173–182](S0924224416304447)(10.1016/j.tifs.2017.07.002)

The authors regret their omission of their abstract and highlights in their article online and in print. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. Abstract Background: Food literacy could be depicted as the set of functional, interactive and critical skills which are required to navigate the food system properly. Scholars have widely investigated the conceptual attributes of food literacy, arguing that it consists of the ability to plan and manage food, select and choice food, and prepare and consume food. However, to the authors' knowledge, still little is known on the assessment of food literacy skills. Recent developments suggest that inadequate food literacy could be depicted as a silent epidemic, affecting a large part of the world population. From this point of view, there is a desperate need for reliable measurement tools aimed at assessing food literacy skills. Scope and approach: Drawing on the European Health Literacy Survey, this review suggests a self-reporting assessment tool aimed at measuring individual food literacy skills. A concept-validation approach was used to design the survey. It was tested on a convenience sample of 158 Italian citizens. A correlation analysis allowed to shed light on the correlates of food literacy skills. Findings and conclusions: A large part of the sample revealed problematic food literacy skills. In particular, most of respondents were found to live with inadequate ability to plan, manage, select and consume food. People living with primary education and those belonging to the lower social classes of the population were more likely to show limited food literacy. Problematic food literacy was also found to be related with poor health status and overweight. Highlights • Food literacy concerns the ability to obtain and use food-related information.• Limited food literacy negatively affects healthy food behaviors.• Limited food literacy could be considered a silent epidemic.• Education and social status are significant correlates of limited food literacy.• Limited food literacy is associated with poor health status and overweight

Crafting and applying a tool to assess food literacy: Findings from a pilot study

Background: Food literacy could be depicted as the set of functional, interactive and critical skills which are required to navigate the food system. Scholars have widely investigated the conceptual attributes of food literacy, arguing that it consists of the ability to: 1) plan and manage food, 2) select and chooce food, and 3) prepare and consume food. However, to the authors’ knowledge, still little is known about the assessment of food literacy. Recent developments suggest that inadequate food literacy could be depicted as a silent epidemic, which affects a large part of the world population. From this point of view, there is a strong need for reliable measures aimed at assessing food literacy. Scope and approach: Drawing on the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU), this study suggests a self-reporting assessment tool aimed at measuring individual food literacy. A concept-validation approach was used to design the survey. It was tested on a convenience sample of 158 Italian citizens. A correlation analysis allowed to shed light on the main correlates of food literacy. Findings and conclusions: A large part of the sample revealed problematic food literacy. Indeed, most of respondents were found to live with inadequate ability to plan, manage, select and consume food. People living with primary education and those belonging to the lower social classes of the population were more likely to show limited food literacy. Problematic food literacy was also found to be related with poor health status and overweigh

Towards a framework for the measurement of food literacy

Purpose: Although the concepts of food literacy are widely discussed in the literature, its measurement is challenging, and scientific efforts are scarce. Based on literature research on food literacy concepts and measurements, the aim of this study was to explore/define a framework including the core attributes of a food literacy measure. Methods: Towards a framework for the measurement of food literacy, several steps were undertaken. First, Literature on the conceptualization of food literacy was reviewed and food literacy definitions, domains and characteristics in and a systematic reviews were extracted and core concepts of food literacy were defined. Moreover, tools used to measure the effectiveness of food literacy interventions were explored and key components were collected. This was followed by the generation of a questionnaire item pool from validated tools identified in systematic reviews. Subsequently, step one and two were discussed with PI’s of international research groups (in Canada, Australia, Italia, Netherlands) currently working on the development of food literacy measures, and their experiences and methodology in their efforts were discussed. Outcomes from each stage of content validation strengthened the conceptualisation of a measurement framework and contributed to the final framework and recommendations . Analysis and synthesis of findings these steps were discussed by the international research team and has been used as input for the food literacy measurement framework. Results: The proposed framework recommends a comprehensive measure for food literacy should reflect the following five attributes: (1) have a theoretical and conceptual framework to guide questionnaire development; (2) apply the European health literacy framework across the four domains of food literacy; (3) emphasise the measurement of knowledge, skills and behaviour rather than intention or confidence; (4) consider contextual factors, and; (5) measure against diet quality. The framework describes consensus points that address key considerations and complexities associated with developing a measure for food literacy. Conclusions: The consensus points established through this study will inform the development and testing of a comprehensive, content-valid international measure for food literacy

Longitudinal Nutritional Intakes in Italian Pregnant Women in Comparison with National Nutritional Guidelines

Background: Nutritional quality during pregnancy is crucial for mother and child health and their short/long-term outcomes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the adherence to nutritional recommendations in Italy during the three pregnancy trimesters in Normal Weight (NW) and Over Weight (OW) women. Methods: Data from a multicenter randomized controlled trial included 176 women (NW = 133; OW = 43) with healthy singleton pregnancies enrolled within 13 + 6 weeks of gestation. Dietary intake was assessed every trimester by a Food Frequency Questionnaire. Results: OW and NW had similar gestational weight gain. However, as Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommend lower gestational weight gain (GWG) for OW, they exceeded the suggested range. In both groups, caloric intake during the three trimesters never met recommendations. Protein intake in first and second trimester was higher than recommendations, as was sugars percentage. Dietary fiber intake was lower in OW. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, calcium, iron and folic acid requirements were never satisfied, while sodium intake exceeded recommendations. Conclusions: NW and OW women in Italy do not adhere to nutritional recommendations during pregnancy, with lower caloric intake, protein and sugars excess and inadequacies in micronutrients intake. Pregnant women in Italy should be provided with an adequate counseling and educational intervention as well as supplementation when indicated