Abscess infections and malnutrition - a cross-sectional study of polydrug addicts in Oslo, Norway

Injection drug use and malnutrition are widespread among polydrug addicts in Oslo, Norway, but little is known about the frequency of abscess infections and possible relations to malnutrition. Objectives. To assess the prevalence of abscess infections, and differences in nutritional status between drug addicts with or without abscess infections. Design. A cross-sectional study of 195 polydrug addicts encompassing interview of demographics, dietary recall, anthropometric measurements and biochemical analyses. All respondents were under the influence of illicit drugs and were not participating in any drug treatment or rehabilitation program at the time of investigation. Results. Abscess infections were reported by 25% of the respondents, 19% of the men and 33% of the women (p = 0.025). Underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2) was significantly more prevalent in the abscess infected than in the non-abscess-infected group (p = 0.001). The abscess-infected addicts reported fewer meals, lower intakes of fruits and vegetables, lower energy percentage (E%) from protein and higher E% from sugar. They also had lower total intakes of vitamins D, B1, B6, B12, folic acid and vitamin C than the non-abscess-infected group. The two groups differed significantly with respect to S-C-peptide (p = 0.042) and B-HbA1c (p = 0.012), and the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia (P-tHCY > 15 μmol/L) was 73% in the abscess-infected group and 41% in the non-abscess-infected group (p = 0.001). The concentrations of S-25-hydroxy-vitamin D3 was very low. Conclusion. The prevalence of abscess infections was 25% among the examined polydrug addicts. Dietary, anthropometric and biochemical assessment indicated a relation between abscess infections and malnutritio

Changes in dietary pattern in 15 year old adolescents following a 4 month dietary intervention with school breakfast – a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Few studies on impact of meals served in school have been published. However, implications of school meals are an actual issue of both public and political concern in several countries. The objective of this study was to evaluate if breakfast served in a lower secondary school could improve dietary habits and school performance among the students. METHODS: All students in 10th grade in a lower secondary school, consisting of two school classes, were invited to participate in a controlled study. The students in one class were offered a free breakfast at the beginning of each school day for 4 months, while the students in the second class were controls. Both classes were educated in the importance of healthy eating, and a data program enabling them to evaluate dietary intake was introduced. The students answered two questionnaires, one on school performance and one short food frequency questionnaire, four weeks before study start and one week after. Body weight and height were measured by the school nurse at the beginning and end of the study. Because of few students in each group, non-parametrical statistic analyses were used. RESULTS: All students in the intervention group had breakfast at school during the intervention. One week after the intervention the students in the class who received breakfast had returned to their normal breakfast pattern. In the control group the frequency of a lunch intake had increase, as compared to before study start (p < 0.01). An improved food pattern was seen among the male students in the intervention group, as measured by a healthy eating index after the intervention (p < 0.01). Body Mass Index increased statistically significant in both males and females in the control group (p < 0,01 for males and p < 0.05 for females), but not in the intervention group. Improvement in school performance following school breakfast was not found, but the males in the intervention group reported a significant increase in school contentment (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In a lower secondary school class served breakfast for 4 months, dietary intake changed to a more healthy profile and weight gain was reduce

Effect of dietary interventions during weaning period on parental practice and lipoproteins and vitamin D status in two-year-old children

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Maternal cell phone use in early pregnancy and child's language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years: the Norwegian mother and child cohort study (MoBa)

BACKGROUND: Cell phone use during pregnancy is a public health concern. We investigated the association between maternal cell phone use in pregnancy and child's language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years. METHODS: This prospective study includes 45,389 mother-child pairs, participants of the MoBa, recruited at mid-pregnancy from 1999 to 2008. Maternal frequency of cell phone use in early pregnancy and child language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years, were assessed by questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to estimate the associations. RESULTS: No cell phone use in early pregnancy was reported by 9.8% of women, while 39%, 46.9% and 4.3% of the women were categorized as low, medium and high cell phone users. Children of cell phone user mothers had 17% (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.89) lower adjusted risk of having low sentence complexity at 3 years, compared to children of non-users. The risk was 13%, 22% and 29% lower by low, medium and high maternal cell phone use. Additionally, children of cell phone users had lower risk of low motor skills score at 3 years, compared to children of non-users, but this association was not found at 5 years. We found no association between maternal cell phone use and low communication skills. CONCLUSIONS: We reported a decreased risk of low language and motor skills at three years in relation to prenatal cell phone use, which might be explained by enhanced maternal-child interaction among cell phone users. No evidence of adverse neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal cell phone use was reported

Development of a New Nordic Diet score and its association with gestational weight gain and fetal growth - A study performed in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa)

Objective: To construct a diet score for assessing degree of adherence to a healthy and environmentally friendly New Nordic Diet (NND) and to investigate its association with adequacy of gestational weight gain and fetal growth in a large prospective birth cohort. Design: Main exposure was NND adherence, categorized as low, medium or high adherence. Main outcomes were adequacy of gestational weight gain, described as inadequate, optimal or excessive according to the 2009 Institute of Medicine guidelines, and fetal growth, categorized as being small, appropriate or large for gestational age. Associations of NND adherence with gestational weight gain and fetal growth were estimated with multinomial logistic regression in crude and adjusted models. Setting: Norway. Subjects: Women (n 66 597) from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Results: Higher NND adherence implied higher energy and nutrient intakes, higher nutrient density and a healthier macronutrient distribution. Normal-weight women with high as compared with low NND adherence had lower adjusted odds of excessive gestational weight gain (OR=0·93; 95% CI 0·87, 0·99; P=0·024). High as compared with low NND adherence was associated with reduced odds of the infant being born small for gestational age (OR=0·92; 95% CI 0·86, 0·99; P = 0·025) and with higher odds of the baby being born large for gestational age (OR = 1·07; 95 % CI 1·00, 1·15; P = 0·048). Conclusions: The NND score captures diet quality. Adherence to a regional diet including a large representation of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, potatoes, fish, game, milk and drinking water during pregnancy may facilitate optimal gestational weight gain in normal-weight women and improve fetal growth in general.publishedVersio

Vurdering av Initial Report D-Tagatose

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Associations of pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain with pregnancy outcome and postpartum weight retention: a prospective observational cohort study

BACKGROUND: Excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) is associated with pregnancy complications, and Norwegian Health Authorities have adopted the GWG recommendations of the US Institute of Medicine and National Research Council (IOM). The aim of this study was to evaluate if a GWG outside the IOM recommendation in a Norwegian population is associated with increased risk of pregnancy complications like hypertension, low and high birth weight, preeclampsia, emergency caesarean delivery, and maternal post-partum weight retention (PPWR) at 6 and 18 months. METHODS: This study was performed in 56 101 pregnant women included in the prospective national Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) in the years 1999 to 2008. Women who delivered a singleton live born child during gestational week 37 to 42 were included. Maternal prepregnant and postpartum weight was collected from questionnaires at 17(th) week of gestation and 6 and 18 months postpartum. RESULTS: A weight gain less than the IOM recommendations (GWG < IOM rec.) increased the risk for giving birth to a low weight baby among normal weight nulliparous women. A weight gain higher than the IOM recommendations (GWG > IOM rec.) significantly increased the risk of pregnancy hypertension, a high birth weight baby, preeclampsia and emergency cesarean delivery in both nulliparous and parous normal weight women. Similar results were found for overweight women except for no increased risk for gestational hypertension in parous women with GWG > IOM rec. Seventy-four percent of the overweight nulliparous women and 66% of the obese women had a GWG > IOM rec. A GWG > IOM rec. resulted in increased risk of PPWR > 2 kg in all weight classes, but most women attained their prepregnant weight class by 18 months post-partum. CONCLUSIONS: For prepregnant normal weight and overweight women a GWG > IOM rec. increased the risk for unfavorable birth outcomes in both nulliparous and parous women. A GWG > IOM rec. increased the risk of a PPWR > 2 kg at 18 months in all weight classes. This large study supports the Norwegian Health authorities’ recommendations for normal weight and overweight women to comply with the IOM rec

Assessment of dietary intake of molybdenum in relation to tolerable upper intake level. Opinion of the Panel on Nutrition, Dietetic Products, Novel Food and Allergy of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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