Nutrition during pregnancy: How maternal life style factors affect the risk of macrosomia

Summary Background: A too low or a too high birth weight has been linked to adverse health risks in both a short and long term perspective. In Norway the prevalence of macrosomic infants(>4000g and 4500g) has increased in the last years. Identifying factors that affect birth weight: are of crucial interest in order to prevent problems pertaining to infants that are born too large. In this study maternal energy intake, energy-adjusted intake of macronutrients and intake of fiber, were examined to identify possible associations with birth weight. Maternal diet was also described. Design: Cohort study Setting: Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical Centre, Oslo, Norway. Subjects: A total of 553 pregnant women and their infants. The subjects were followed through pregnancy and delivery during the period of 2002-2005. Methods: The pregnant women's dietary intake during both the second and third trimester of pregnancy was ascertained in gestational week 14-16 and 30-32 by using a food frequency questionnaire. Results: A large proportion of the pregnant women had intakes of macronutrients and fiber that were not within the recommended ranges: 66% had too low intake of fiber, 30% too much added sugar, 85% too much saturated fat and 42% too little intake of omega-3 fatty acids in week 14-16. This trend shows a significant deterioration as the pregnant women proceed from the second to week 30-32: they eat more saturated fat, more added sugar and less fiber. High intake of protein in week 14-16 is associated with reduced risk of giving birth to a macrosomic infant (OR=0,5). In univariate analyses, intake of added sugar and omega-3 fatty acids was associated with birth weight. Conclusion: High intakes of protein have a significant preventive effect on the risk of delivering a macrosomic infant. However, the effects of high protein diets during pregnancy have shown adverse health effects, and should not be promoted. Many pregnant women eat an unbalanced diet, not within the recommended guidelines. Much can possibly be achieved by promoting the already existing recommendations. Especially inactive and overweight pregnant women should be paid special attention. Sammendrag Bakgrunn: En for lav eller for høy fødselsvekt har blitt knyttet opp mot økt risiko for ugunstig helse, både på lang og kort sikt i forhold til barn som er normalvektige ved fødsel. I Norge har prevalensen av makrosomiske barn (>4000g and 4500g) økt over de siste årene. På grunn av denne uheldige utviklingen med for mange store barn, er det av stor interesse å avdekke hvilke faktorer som påvirker fødselsvekten. I denne studien ble mors energiinntak, energijustert inntak av makronæringsstoffer samt inntak av fiber undersøkt for å finne mulige sammenhenger med fødselsvekt. Mødrenes kosthold ble også beskrevet. Design: Kohort Sted: Avdeling for Obstetrikk og Gynekologi, Rikshospitalet Radiumhospitalet Medisinsk senter, Oslo, Norge i tidsperioden 2002-2005. Studieobjekter: Totalt 553 gravide kvinner og deres barn. Mødrene ble fulgt gjennom svangerskapet og fødsel. Metode: De gravide kvinnenes matinntak ble registrert både i tidlig andre trimester (uke 14-16) og sent i tredje trimester (uke 30-32) ved bruk av FFQ (matfrekvensspørreskjema). Resultater: En stor andel av kvinnene i "Store barn og komplikasjoner” (STORK) hadde et inntak av makronæringsstoffer og fiber som ikke lå innenfor de anbefalte grenser: følgende hadde 66% for lavt fiberinntak, 30% for høyt sukkerinntak, 85% for høyt mettet fettinntak og 42% for lavt inntak av omega-3 fettsyrer i andre trimester. Denne negative trend ble ytterligere forverret når kvinnene går fra uke 14-16 til uke 30-32 i svangerskapet: de spiser mer mettet fett, mer tilsatt sukker og mindre fiber. Et høyt inntak av protein i uke 14-16 er assosiert med en redusert risiko for å føde et makrosomisk barn (OR=0,5). Sukkerinntaket og inntak av omega-3 fettsyrer var assosiert med fødselsvekt i univariatanalyser. Konklusjon: Et høyt inntak av protein i gravides kost gir en signifikant lavere risiko for å føde et makrosomisk barn. Imidlertid har høyproteindietter under graviditeten vist å kunne ha en skadelig effekt og bør derfor ikke anbefales. Mange gravide spiser en ubalansert kost, som ikke er i overensstemmelse med de anbefalte retningslinjer. Mye kan sannsynligvis oppnås ved å promotere de allerede eksisterende anbefalinger, og spesielt inaktive og overvektige gravide bør få spesiell oppfølging

Food literacy competencies in youth – a mini-review

IntroductionYoung people’s transition into adulthood is an opportunity in the life course to establish adequate eating behaviors, hence exploring food literacy competencies in this period of life is especially important. Food literacy has recently gained increased attention in adults, adolescents, and younger children, but less is published about youth. This paper aims to summarize what tools have been used to measure food literacy and the sub-competence nutrition literacy in youth aged 16–24 years in the previous 5 years.MethodsA mini-literature review was conducted in MEDLINE and EMBASE via Ovid, in September 2022. Study eligible criteria; had to be an original article, using a tool to quantitatively assess food literacy and/or nutrition literacy, including participants between 16–24 years, full text available in English, published between 2017–2022.ResultsA total of 958 articles were identified, of which 385 duplicates were removed. Thus, 573 articles were screened by title/abstract. Finally, nine articles were eligible for data extraction of which four proposed a tool to measure food literacy and five proposed a tool to measure nutrition literacy.Discussion and conclusionAlthough four studies claimed to measure food literacy, none of these used tools comprehensive enough to measure all aspects of food literacy, and only one was validated in young people. This study shows that only few tools exist for the measurement of food literacy in youth, and those available are scant. Further work is needed to develop a food literacy tool for youth

Process Evaluation of an eHealth Intervention (Food4toddlers) to Improve Toddlers' Diet : Randomized Controlled Trial

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Effect of a Parent-Focused eHealth Intervention on Children's Fruit, Vegetable, and Discretionary Food Intake (Food4toddlers) : Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: In Western countries, children’s diets are often low in fruits and vegetables and high in discretionary foods. Diet in early life tends to track through childhood and youth and even into adulthood. Interventions should, therefore, be delivered in periods when habitual traits are established, as in toddlerhood when children adapt to their family’s diet. Objective: In this study, we assessed the effect of the Food4toddlers eHealth intervention, which aimed to enhance toddlers’ diets by shaping their food and eating environment. Methods: The Food4toddlers randomized controlled trial was conducted in Norway in 2017-2018. Parent-child dyads were recruited through social media. In total, 298 parents completed an online questionnaire at baseline (mean child age 10.9 months, SD 1.2). Postintervention questionnaires were completed immediately after the intervention (ie, follow-up 1; mean child age 17.8 months, SD 1.3) and 6 months after the intervention (ie, follow-up 2; mean child age 24.2 months, SD 1.9). The intervention was guided by social cognitive theory, which targets the linked relationship between the person, the behavior, and the environment. The intervention group (148/298, 49.7%) got access to the Food4toddlers website for 6 months from baseline. The website included information on diet and on how to create a healthy food and eating environment as well as activities, recipes, and collaboration opportunities. To assess intervention effects on child diet from baseline to follow-up 1 and from baseline to follow-up 2, we used generalized estimating equations and a time × group interaction term. Between-group differences in changes over time for frequency and variety of fruits and vegetables and frequency of discretionary foods were assessed. Results: At follow-up 1, a significant time × group interaction was observed for the frequency of vegetable intake (P=.02). The difference between groups in the change from baseline to follow-up 1 was 0.46 vegetable items per day (95% CI 0.06-0.86) in favor of the intervention group. No other significant between-group differences in dietary changes from baseline to follow-up 1 or follow-up 2 were observed. However, there is a clear time trend showing that the intake of discretionary foods increases by time from less than 1 item per week at baseline to more than 4 items per week at 2 years of age (P<.001), regardless of group. Conclusions: A positive intervention effect was observed for the frequency of vegetable intake at follow-up 1 but not at follow-up 2. No other between-group effects on diet were observed. eHealth interventions of longer duration, including reminders after the main content of the intervention has been delivered, may be needed to obtain long-terms effects, along with tailoring in a digital or a personal form.publishedVersio

Effectiveness of a digital dietary intervention program targeting young adults before parenthood: protocol for the PREPARED randomised controlled trial

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Food and chemical substances relevant for monitoring. Report from the Scientific Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment.

Source at https://vkm.no/At request from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), VKM has identified food groups and food items consumed by the Norwegian population that are relevant for monitoring regarding content of one or more undesirable chemical substances (Figure 1). Undesirable chemical substances were defined as chemical substances in food that may constitute a potential health risk. VKM has created a knowledge base (an Excel file) as a tool for planning and prioritising monitoring of foods and undesirable chemical substances. The substance groups included in the knowledge base are flavourings, food additives, metals and metalloids, natural toxins, persistent organic pollutants, process-induced contaminants, substances in food contact materials, substances in food supplements, and trace elements. More than 40 different substances were included

Food and chemical substances relevant for monitoring - Scientific Opinion of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

Source at https://vkm.no/</a

Food and chemical substances relevant for monitoring - Scientific Opinion of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

At request from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), VKM has identified food groups and food items consumed by the Norwegian population that are relevant for monitoring regarding content of one or more undesirable chemical substances (Figure 1). Undesirable chemical substances were defined as chemical substances in food that may constitute a potential health risk.publishedVersionPaid open acces

Food and chemical substances relevant for monitoring. Report from the Scientific Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment.

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Variability in energy expenditure is much greater in males than females

publishedVersionPaid open acces