High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among children aged 1 month to 16 years in Hangzhou, China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency in children is widespread. But the vitamin D status of Chinese children is seldom investigated. The objective of the present study was to survey the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in more than 6,000 children aged 1 month to 16 years in Hangzhou (latitude: 30°N), the capital of Zhejiang Province, southeast China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The children aged 1 month to 16 years who came to the child health care department of our hospital, the children's hospital affiliated to Zhejiang university school of medicine, for health examination were taken blood for 25(OH) D measurement. Serum 25(OH) D levels were determined by direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and categorized as < 25, < 50, and < 75 nmol/L.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 6,008 children aged 1 month to 16 years participated in this cross-sectional study. All the subjects were divided into subgroups according to their age: 0-1y, 2-5y, 6-11y and 12-16y representing infancy, preschool, school age and adolescence stages respectively. The highest mean level of serum 25(OH)D was found in the 0-1y stage (99 nmol/L) and the lowest one was found in 12-16y stage (52 nmol/L). Accordingly, the prevalence of serum 25(OH)D levels of < 75 nmol/L and < 50 nmol/L were at the lowest among infants (33.6% and 5.4% respectively) and rose to the highest among adolescents (89.6% and 46.4% respectively). The mean levels of serum 25(OH)D and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency changed according to seasons. In winter and spring, more than 50% of school age children and adolescents had a 25(OH)D level at < 50 nmol/L. If the threshold is changed to < 75 nmol/L, all of the adolescents (100%) had low 25(OH)D levels in winter and 93.7% school age children as well.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among children in Hangzhou Zhejiang province is high, especially among children aged 6-16 years. We suggest that the recommendation for vitamin D supplementation in Chinese children should be extended to adolescence.</p

Absence of symbolic and sustainable aspects in recommendations for healthy eating: a qualitative analysis of food-based dietary guidelines

ObjectiveWas analyzed the contents of the main messages of food-based dietary guidelines to promote healthy eating, identifying nutritional, symbolic, and sustainable recommendations.MethodsFood-based dietary guidelines from 90 different countries were analyzed. These guidelines were selected from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization database. For data extraction, all messages were exported to the Nvivo software and, after repeated readings, were grouped into predefined categories and corresponding dimensions based on the literature. The categories were created according to the mixed model, that is, they were created before data analysis was performed, but modified if necessary.ResultsWas identified 1,982 messages grouped into the following dimensions: nutritional (n=73.9%); sustainable (3.2%); symbolic (3.3%), and others (19.7%). All food-based dietary guidelines addressed nutritional aspects, and the most frequent recommendation was regarding the consumption of fats, followed by the consumption of salt and vegetables and fruits, cited by at least 75 food-based dietary guidelines. Less than half (n=40) of the food-based dietary guidelines addressed sustainable or symbolic aspects of food and 13 of the food-based dietary guidelines addressed both aspects. However, these messages represented only 6.5% of the total messages in the documents.ConclusionThe recommendations for healthy eating in the food-based dietary guidelines are incipient in terms of sustainable and symbolic issues. Recommendations for adopting healthy diets need to consider the completeness of the food and its various combinations, dietary patterns, and the factors associated with their consumption, as well as the individual's relations with food, environment, and society

Do Foods Products Labeled “Home-made” Contain Fewer Additives? A Brazilian Survey

The objective of this study was to investigate the presence and classes of food additives in packaged foods labeled &lsquo;home-made&rsquo;. Food identification information was collected by photographing food labels (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;5,620); the ingredients lists were subsequently transcribed for analysis. The ingredients list (foods labeled &lsquo;home-made&rsquo; and similar foods) were compared regarding the presence and classes of additives (function) using the chi-square test and regarding the median number of additives using the Mann&ndash;Whitney test. For all tests, p \u27&nbsp;.05 was used as the significance level. We evaluated 65 products labeled &lsquo;home-made&rsquo; and 172 comparable conventional products. Seventy-nine percent (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;188) of all products (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;237) contained additives. There was no significant difference between the percentage of foods with the &lsquo;home-made&rsquo; claim (81%) and those without (78%) regarding the presence of additives (p =&nbsp;.605). No significant difference was observed in the median number of additives (p =&nbsp;.61) and in the number of classes of additives (p =&nbsp;.79) between foods with and without the claim. It can contribute globally to the reflection and the creation of public policies for the elaboration of criteria for the use or prohibition of the use of &ldquo;home-made&rdquo; claims on labels

Gorgonian and black coral assemblages in deep coastal bottoms and continental shelves of the Mediterranean Sea

Coral gardens are increasingly being reported at 40\u2013200 m depth in the Mediterranean Sea. These coral assemblages are composed of gorgonians from shallow coastal rocky bottoms extending their distribution to deeper areas, as well as by gorgonians and black corals with distribution restricted to the continental shelf and upper slope. Gorgonians and black corals are among the main structural species in deep benthic ecosystems, providing shelter and reproductive grounds for a highly diverse associated fauna. Due to their branching morphology and erect position, these deep coral gardens are extremely vulnerable to several fishing activities (bottom trawling, long-lines and trammel net fishing) and should consequently be protected through an ecosystem-based fishery management

Translation of Aviation Safety Principles to Patient Safety in Surgery

The aviation industry functions as a high-reliability organization that has used a variety of practices to maintain an enviable safety record, despite the inherent risks of flying. The inherent risks associated with air transport, the team structure of its aircrews, and the importance of a methodical approach in completing critical tasks, makes it in many ways similar to the perioperative setting. Using simulator training, line-oriented safety audits, check airmen, crew resource management, checklists, incident reporting, root cause analysis, and various communication strategies, the aviation industry has established itself as a leader in safety protocols to ensure high reliability. However, the safety record of surgery as a whole has not been so enviable