Food for thought

You may have hear from friends, neighbours or colleagues talk about "brain food". "Brain foods" are foods that either contain certain essential nutrients, or contain energy in a form that the brain can use readily. Brain energy comes from high quality carbohydrates, Essential nutrients include iron, B vitamins, and antioxidants like beta carotene and vitamins C and E.

Nutrition and Cancer Therapy - Part 2

There are things you can do to help with specific problems that you may experience during cancer therapy such as loss of appetite, weight loss, nausea and vomiting, dry or sore mouth and gums.

Guidelines for Young Child Feeding in the Caribbean - Part III

This section is the final of three parts on the revised guidelines for young child feeding by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI). In the previous section, we covered the areas of nutrition of the newborn, feeding of low birthweight infants and those with special requirements, and replacement and complementary feedings. This section deals with the guidelines on vitamin and mineral supplementation, and the management of feeding-related problems in early childhood. The section also discusses nutrition policy issues and nutrition in relation to the promotion of adequate nutrition in early childhood.(Au)

Nutrition and Cancer Therapy - Part 1

Nutrition and cancer are more closely linked than you might think. Eating too much of certain food, like animal fat, cured and smoked foods, and alcohol, and using tobacco can all increase your risk of developing cancer.

Guidelines for young children feeding in the Caribbean - part II

This is the second of a three-part series by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) on revised guidelines for young children feeding in the Caribbean. In Part I, the guidelines dealt with the period before birth. These covered maternal nutrition and guidelines for promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding. This part covers the broad area of breastfeeding, nutrition of the newborn with low birthweight or other special requirements, and replacement feeding for infants who are not breastfed. It also discusses the introduction of complementary foods with emphasis on the continuation of breastfeeding for two years and beyond.(AU)

Guidelines for young child feeding in the Caribbean - Part I

The guidelines for young child feeding have been developed and prepared as a supportive-tool primarily for health personnel involved in the care of infants and children in Caribbean countries. The recommendations address some practical aspects of nutrition before, during and after pregnancy. These are: The benefits of breastfeeding and strategies for its promotion, protection and support; review of infant feeding options for mothers with HIV and other infections; nutrition of the newborn; feeding of low birth weight infants and those with special requirements; replacement feeding for infants who are not breastfed; complementary feeding with emphasis on the continuation of breastfeeding for two years and beyond; guidelines on vitamin and mineral supplementation; management of feeding-related problems in early childhood; policy issues and nutrition education in relation to the promotion of adequate nutrition in early childhood.(Au)

Diabetes education for the adult - position statement

An overview of the challenge in providing diabetes education for the adult induces consideration of: diabetes education components which are relevant; nutrition as the cornerstone of diabetes treatment; and cultural and societal influences on eating behaviours and food choices. In providing nutrition education, current recommendations suggest categorisation of goals of nutrition therapy for type 1 and for type 2 disease. Thereafter, an individualised medical nutrition therapy is advisable. This involves oulining components of the nutrition assessment and personal goals, devising strategies and tools for successful implementation and evaluation. In the final analysis, the question must be asked: "Can we make a difference?"(AU)

Nutrition and athletic performance

Optimal athletic performance requires adequate nutritional support. This mean getting enough food to meet increased energy needs and a wide variety to ensure adequate nutrient intake. The main energy source should be carbohydrate. Dietary guidelines for healthy eating apply to athletes and diabetics alike. This study evaluated the diets of young athletes for nutritional adequacy and determined the effect on their performance. Sample selection was based on convenience and included normal and diabetic athletes, mainly swimmers and footballers. Attitudes and practices were determined by questionnaire and a 24-hour recall provided data on nutrient intake. BMI and body fat were calculated. Results showed that the nutritional factor most likely to be low was energy. in many cases, this correlated with the athlete's perception of performance. Vitamin and mineral intakes were generally adequate but fibre intake tended to be low. This may be related to the sparsity of fruits and vegetables for many. The main sources of carbohydrate were refined cereals and sugars. Carbohydrate intake ranged from 50-60 percent of calories. Fat intake was relatively high and protein substantial. Most had BMIs above average, with a few underweight and two marginally overweight. Performance was related to quality of diet and importance placed on nutrition. Also critical was the level of training and self-esteem score.(AU)

Diets of Jamaican primary school children and access to school feeding programmes - abstract

There is little information on the diets of school children in Jamaica. We observed food consumption and participation in government school feeding programmes in 415 children in grades 2 and 5 in 16 primary schools in rural Jamaica. All items eaten by children at break and lunch were recorded on two days. During break, the majority of children consumed sweets, snacks or syrup drinks and 25 percent of the children had nothing to eat for lunch and 6 percent had a drink only. Mean intakes at lunch were: energy 366 kcals (SD180), protein 10.4 g (SD 7.6) and iron 1.5 mg (SD1.2). The mean energy intake was 17-20 percent of the daily requirement of this age group. Children who brought lunch to school had significantly higher intakes (p<0.05). Girls had higher intakes than boys, and intakes were positively associated with height-for-age (both p<0.05). Approximately 20 percent of the children participated in the school feeding programmes. Poorer children were more likely to participate in the bun and milk programme (Odds Ratio 2.1, 95 percent CI 1.3-3.5) but children with more money for food were more likely to take part in the more costly Cooked Meal Programme (Odds ratio 2.4, 95 percent CI1.3-4.6). Strategies are needed to improve diet selection in school children and ensure access to school feeding among the poorest groups (AU).

Urea kinetics in healthy women during normal pregnancy

Urea kinetics were measured in normal women aged 22-34 years at weeks 16, 24 and 32 on either their habitual protein intake (HABIT) or a controlled intake of 60 g protein/d (CONTROL), using primed-intermittent oral doses of [15N15N] urea and measurement of plateau enrichment in urinary urea over 18 h (ID) or a single oral dose of [15N15N] urea and measurement of enrichment of urea in urine over the following 48 h (SD). The intake of protein during HABIT-ID (80 g/d) was greater than that on HABIT-SD (71 g/d); urea production as a percentage of intake was significantly greater at week 16 for HABIT-ID than HABIT-SD, whereas urea hydrolysis at week 16 was greater for HABIT-SD than HABIT-ID and urea excretion at week 32 was greater for HABIT-ID than HABIT-SD . The combined results for HABIT-ID and HABIT-SD showed a significant reduction in urea production at week 32 compared with week 24. Urea excretion decreased significantly from week 16 to week 24 with no further decrease to week 32 and urea hydrolysis was significantly greater at week 24 than either week 16 or week 32. Compared with HABIT, on CONTROL there was a decrease in urea production at week 16, and urea excretion was significantly reduced at week 16. For all time periods urea production was closely related to the sum of intake plus hydrolysis. Hydrolysis was greatest at week 24 and closely related to urea production. There was a significantly inverse linear relationship overall for hydrolysis as a proportion of production and excretion as proportion of intake. The results show that on HABIT N is more effectively conserved in mid-pregnancy through an increase in urea hydrolysis and salvage, and during late pregnancy through a reduction in urea formation. Lowering protein intake at any stage of pregnancy increased the hydrolysis and salvage of urea. The staging of these changes was later than that in pregnancy in Jamaica.(AU)

Use of food expenditure data to estimate household nutrient accessibility

The nutritional status of at-risk groups is usually monitored using health statistics. This approach has limitations as individuals are identified only after they have been afflicted by morbidity. In Jamaica, national surveys are carried out in which expenditure data on all consumption items are collected. We used these data to monitor food accessibility in at-risk groups. The identification of decreases in accessibility levels relative to requirements would enable timely intervention before there is a deterioration in nutritional status. We analysed the data from the survey of 3861 households conducted by Statistical and Planning Institutes of Jamaica in 1989. Using the food expenditure data, per capita energy and protein accessibility levels were determined. The mean energy and protein accessibility levels for the sample were 2170 Cals and 64 g, respectively. The results showed that the per capita accessibility levels of 20 percent and 9 percent of the households were less than half of requirments for energy and protein, respectively. The situation was worse in rural areas than in urban centres. However, the accessibility levels may have been underestimated as the data did not include meals bought and consumed away from the home, which may be significant to some households. We believe that the use of data from these surveys is a cost-effective way to monitor nutrient accessibility in Jamaica (AU)