Active Image-Assisted Food Records in Comparison to Regular Food Records: A Validation Study against Doubly Labeled Water in 12-Month-Old Infants.

Overreporting of dietary intake in infants is a problem when using food records (FR), distorting possible relationships between diet and health outcomes. Image-assisted dietary assessment may improve the accuracy, but to date, evaluation in the pediatric setting is limited. The aim of the study was to compare macronutrient and energy intake by using an active image-assisted five-day FR against a regular five-day FR, and to validate image-assistance with total energy expenditure (TEE), was measured using doubly labeled water. Participants in this validation study were 22 healthy infants randomly selected from the control group of a larger, randomized intervention trial. The parents reported the infants' dietary intake, and supplied images of main course meals taken from standardized flat-surfaced plates before and after eating episodes. Energy and nutrient intakes were calculated separately using regular FR and image-assisted FRs. The mean (± standard deviations) energy intake (EI) was 3902 ± 476 kJ/day from the regular FR, and 3905 ± 476 kJ/day from the FR using active image-assistance. The mean EI from main-course meals when image-assistance was used did not differ (1.7 ± 55 kJ, p = 0.89) compared to regular FRs nor did the intake of macronutrients. Compared to TEE, image-assisted FR overestimated EI by 10%. Without validation, commercially available software to aid in the volume estimations, food item identification, and automation of the image processing, image-assisted methods remain a more costly and burdensome alternative to regular FRs in infants. The image-assisted method did, however, identify leftovers better than did regular FR, where such information is usually not readily available

Effects on Metabolic Health after a 1-Year-Lifestyle Intervention in Overweight and Obese Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective. To evaluate the effect of a family-based intervention on anthropometric and metabolic markers in overweight and obese children. Methods. Overweight or obese 8–12 years olds (n = 93) were randomized into intervention or control groups. The intervention group participated in a program aiming for lifestyle changes regarding food habits and physical activity. Anthropometric measures and venous blood samples were collected from all children at baseline and after 1 year. Results. BMI z-scores decreased in both groups, 0.22 (P = 0.002) and 0.23 (P = 0.003) in intervention and control group, respectively, during the 1-year study, but there was no difference in BMI between the groups at 1-year measurement (P = 0.338). After 1 year, there was a significant difference in waist circumference, waist/hip ratio, and apolipoprotein B/A1 ratio between intervention and control group. Conclusions. The intervention had limited effects on anthropometrics and metabolic markers, which emphasizes the need of preventing childhood overweight and obesity

Effects on Metabolic Health after a 1-Year-Lifestyle Intervention in Overweight and Obese Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective. To evaluate the effect of a family-based intervention on anthropometric and metabolic markers in overweight and obese children. Methods. Overweight or obese 8-12 years olds (n = 93) were randomized into intervention or control groups. The intervention group participated in a program aiming for lifestyle changes regarding food habits and physical activity. Anthropometric measures and venous blood samples were collected from all children at baseline and after 1 year. Results. BMI z-scores decreased in both groups, 0.22 (P = 0.002) and 0.23 (P = 0.003) in intervention and control group, respectively, during the 1-year study, but there was no difference in BMI between the groups at 1-year measurement (P = 0.338). After 1 year, there was a significant difference in waist circumference, waist/hip ratio, and apolipoprotein B/A1 ratio between intervention and control group. Conclusions. The intervention had limited effects on anthropometrics and metabolic markers, which emphasizes the need of preventing childhood overweight and obesity

Acceptance of a Nordic, Protein-Reduced Diet for Young Children during Complementary Feeding—A Randomized Controlled Trial

Early life is critical for developing healthy eating patterns. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a Nordic, protein-reduced complementary diet (ND) compared to a diet following the current Swedish dietary guidelines on eating patterns and food acceptance. At 4–6 months (mo) of age infants were randomized to a Nordic group (NG, n = 41) or a Conventional group (CG, n = 40), and followed until 18 mo of age. Daily intake of fruits and vegetables (mean ± sd) at 12 mo was significantly higher in the NG compared to the CG: 341 ± 108 g/day vs. 220 ± 76 g/day (p < 0.001), respectively. From 12 to 18 mo, fruit and vegetable intake decreased, but the NG still consumed 32% more compared to the CG: 254 ± 99 g/day vs. 193 ± 67 g/day (p = 0.004). To assess food acceptance, both groups were tested with home exposure meals at 12 and 18 mo. No group differences in acceptance were found. We find that a ND with parental education initiates healthy eating patterns during infancy, but that the exposure meal used in the present study was insufficient to detect major differences in food acceptance. This is most likely explained by the preparation of the meal. Nordic produce offers high environmental sustainability and favorable taste composition to establish healthy food preferences during this sensitive period of early life

Acceptance of a Nordic, Protein-Reduced Diet for Young Children during Complementary Feeding—A Randomized Controlled Trial

Early life is critical for developing healthy eating patterns. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a Nordic, protein-reduced complementary diet (ND) compared to a diet following the current Swedish dietary guidelines on eating patterns and food acceptance. At 4–6 months (mo) of age infants were randomized to a Nordic group (NG, n = 41) or a Conventional group (CG, n = 40), and followed until 18 mo of age. Daily intake of fruits and vegetables (mean ± sd) at 12 mo was significantly higher in the NG compared to the CG: 341 ± 108 g/day vs. 220 ± 76 g/day (p < 0.001), respectively. From 12 to 18 mo, fruit and vegetable intake decreased, but the NG still consumed 32% more compared to the CG: 254 ± 99 g/day vs. 193 ± 67 g/day (p = 0.004). To assess food acceptance, both groups were tested with home exposure meals at 12 and 18 mo. No group differences in acceptance were found. We find that a ND with parental education initiates healthy eating patterns during infancy, but that the exposure meal used in the present study was insufficient to detect major differences in food acceptance. This is most likely explained by the preparation of the meal. Nordic produce offers high environmental sustainability and favorable taste composition to establish healthy food preferences during this sensitive period of early life

Acceptance of a Nordic, Protein-Reduced Diet for Young Children during Complementary Feeding—A Randomized Controlled Trial

Early life is critical for developing healthy eating patterns. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a Nordic, protein-reduced complementary diet (ND) compared to a diet following the current Swedish dietary guidelines on eating patterns and food acceptance. At 4-6 months (mo) of age infants were randomized to a Nordic group (NG, n = 41) or a Conventional group (CG, n = 40), and followed until 18 mo of age. Daily intake of fruits and vegetables (mean +/- sd) at 12 mo was significantly higher in the NG compared to the CG: 341 +/- 108 g/day vs. 220 +/- 76 g/day (p < 0.001), respectively. From 12 to 18 mo, fruit and vegetable intake decreased, but the NG still consumed 32% more compared to the CG: 254 +/- 99 g/day vs. 193 +/- 67 g/day (p = 0.004). To assess food acceptance, both groups were tested with home exposure meals at 12 and 18 mo. No group differences in acceptance were found. We find that a ND with parental education initiates healthy eating patterns during infancy, but that the exposure meal used in the present study was insufficient to detect major differences in food acceptance. This is most likely explained by the preparation of the meal. Nordic produce offers high environmental sustainability and favorable taste composition to establish healthy food preferences during this sensitive period of early life

Importance of plasticity and local adaptation for coping with changing salinity in coastal areas: a test case with barnacles in the Baltic Sea

Background:Salinity plays an important role in shaping coastal marine communities. Near-future climate predictions indicate that salinity will decrease in many shallow coastal areas due to increased precipitation; however, few studies have addressed this issue. The ability of ecosystems to cope with future changes will depend on species’ capacities to acclimatise or adapt to new environmental conditions. Here, we investigated the effects of a strong salinity gradient (the Baltic Sea system – Baltic, Kattegat, Skagerrak) on plasticity and adaptations in the euryhaline barnacle Balanus improvisus. We used a common-garden approach, where multiple batches of newly settled barnacles from each of three different geographical areas along the Skagerrak-Baltic salinity gradient were exposed to corresponding native salinities (6, 15 and 30 PSU), and phenotypic traits including mortality, growth, shell strength, condition index and reproductive maturity were recorded.ResultsWe found that B. improvisus was highly euryhaline, but had highest growth and reproductive maturity at intermediate salinities. We also found that low salinity had negative effects on other fitness-related traits including initial growth and shell strength, although mortality was also lowest in low salinity. Overall, differences between populations in most measured traits were weak, indicating little local adaptation to salinity. Nonetheless, we observed some population-specific responses – notably that populations from high salinity grew stronger shells in their native salinity compared to the other populations, possibly indicating adaptation to differences in local predation pressure.ConclusionsOur study shows that B. improvisus is an example of a true brackish-water species, and that plastic responses are more likely than evolutionary tracking in coping with future changes in coastal salinity

Individual participant data (IPD)-level meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials to estimate the vitamin D dietary requirements in dark-skinned individuals resident at high latitude

Context and purpose There is an urgent need to develop vitamin D dietary recommendations for dark-skinned populations resident at high latitude. Using data from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with vitamin D3-supplements/fortified foods, we undertook an individual participant data-level meta-regression (IPD) analysis of the response of wintertime serum 25-hydroxyvitamin (25(OH)D) to total vitamin D intake among dark-skinned children and adults residing at ≥ 40° N and derived dietary requirement values for vitamin D. Methods IPD analysis using data from 677 dark-skinned participants (of Black or South Asian descent; ages 5–86 years) in 10 RCTs with vitamin D supplements/fortified foods identified via a systematic review and predefined eligibility criteria. Outcome measures were vitamin D intake estimates across a range of 25(OH)D thresholds. Results To maintain serum 25(OH)D concentrations ≥ 25 and 30 nmol/L in 97.5% of individuals, 23.9 and 27.3 µg/day of vitamin D, respectively, were required among South Asian and 24.1 and 33.2 µg/day, respectively, among Black participants. Overall, our age-stratified intake estimates did not exceed age-specific Tolerable Upper Intake Levels for vitamin D. The vitamin D intake required by dark-skinned individuals to maintain 97.5% of winter 25(OH)D concentrations ≥ 50 nmol/L was 66.8 µg/day. This intake predicted that the upper 2.5% of individuals could potentially achieve serum 25(OH)D concentrations ≥ 158 nmol/L, which has been linked to potential adverse effects in older adults in supplementation studies. Conclusions Our IPD-derived vitamin D intakes required to maintain 97.5% of winter 25(OH)D concentrations ≥ 25, 30 and 50 nmol/L are substantially higher than the equivalent estimates for White individuals. These requirement estimates are also higher than those currently recommended internationally by several agencies, which are based predominantly on data from Whites and derived from standard meta-regression based on aggregate data. Much more work is needed in dark-skinned populations both in the dose–response relationship and risk characterisation for health outcomes.Peer reviewe

Iron and zinc in infancy : results from experimental trials in Sweden and Indonesiaa

Background: Iron and zinc are difficult to provide in sufficient amounts in complementary foods to infants world-wide, resulting in high prevalence of both iron and zinc deficiency. These deficiency states cause anemia, delayed neurodevelopment, impaired growth, and increased susceptibility to infections such as diarrhea and respiratory infections. Design: Two different intervention strategies; reduction of a possible inhibitor of iron and zinc absorption, i.e. phytate, or supplementation with iron and zinc, were applied to two different populations in order to improve iron and zinc nutrition: In a high-income population (Umeå, Sweden), the amount of phytate in commonly consumed infant cereals was reduced. Healthy, term infants (n=300) were at 6 mo of age randomized to phytate-reduced infant cereals, conventional infant cereals, or infant formula and porridge. In a low income population (Purworejo, Indonesia), daily iron and zinc supplementation was given. Healthy, term infants (n=680) were at 6 mo randomized to supplementation with iron, zinc, a combination of iron and zinc, or placebo. Blood samples, anthropometrical measurements, and data on infant neurodevelopment and morbidity were collected. Also, in the Swedish study, detailed information on the dietary intake was recorded. Results: In the Swedish study, the reduction of phytate had little effect on iron and zinc status, growth, development or incidence of diarrhea or respiratory infections, possibly due to the presence of high contents of ascorbic acid, which may counteract the negative effects of phytate. In the Indonesian study, significant negative interaction between iron and zinc was evident for several of the outcomes; Hb and serum ferritin improved more in the iron only group compared to placebo or the combined iron and zinc group. Further, supplementation with iron alone improved infant psychomotor development and knee-heel length, whereas supplementation with zinc alone improved weight and knee-heel length compared to placebo. Combined iron and zinc supplementation did decrease the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia and low serum zinc, but had no other positive effects. Vomiting was more common in the combined group. Analyses of dietary intake from the Swedish study showed that dietary iron intake in the 6-11 mo period was significantly associated with Hb, but not serum ferritin at 9 and 12 mo, whereas the opposite was true in the 12-17 mo period, i.e. dietary iron intake was significantly associated with serum ferritin, but not Hb at 18 mo. Conclusions: The phytate content of commercial infant cereals does not seem to contribute to poor iron and zinc status of Swedish infants as feared. However, the current definitions of iron and zinc deficiency in infancy may overestimate the problem, and a change in the recommended cutoffs is suggested. These studies also indicate that dietary iron is preferably channeled towards erythropoiesis during infancy, but to an increasing amount channeled towards storage in early childhood. This suggests that in evaluating dietary programs, Hb may be superior in monitoring response to dietary iron in infancy, whereas S-Ft may respond better later in childhood. However, as shown in this study, increasing Hb may not necessarily be an indicator of iron deficiency, as more dietary iron increased Hb regardless of iron status. In the low-income setting combined supplementation with iron and zinc resulted in significant negative interaction. Thus, it is not possible to recommend routine iron-zinc supplementation at the molar concentration and mode used in this study. It is imperative that further research efforts are focused at finding cost-effective strategies to prevent iron and zinc deficiency in low-income populations