Commercial Baby Foods Aimed at Children up to 36 Months: Are They a Matter of Concern?

Proper nutrition in infancy and early childhood is crucial to ensuring optimal child development, growth, and better health outcomes later in life. The nutrient profile model proposed by WHO/Europe aims to assess the nutritional quality and promotional/marketing aspects of commercial baby foods aimed at children up to 36 months. We used commercial data from 191 baby foods collected between March 2021 and July 2021, from eight supermarket chains in the Lisbon Metropolitan area. According to the model specifications and the NOVA classification system, we assessed the nutritional quality and promotion aspects and the degree of processing, respectively. The presence of at least one sugar-contributing ingredient was found in 34.0% of the products; 13.9% of products listed sugars and 15.0% listed fruit juices or concentrates as an ingredient. The claim "No added sugar" was present in 69.6% of products. Only 35.1% of products comply with all the nutritional requirements of the model. Concerning processing classification, 61.8% of products were ultra-processed, and about 57.0% were indicated for children < 12 months. These findings reinforce the importance of implementing measures to ensure that commercial foods for infants are marketed appropriately and to promote foods with a lower degree of processing.

Portugal nutritional transition during the last 4 decades: 1974-2011.

OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in food availability for Portugal during the last 4 decades (1974-2011) and analyze such changes in accordance with the nutritional transition theory. METHODS: Food balance sheets from Portugal from 1974 to 2011 were analyzed for potential trends by linear regression to study the availability of protein, fat, carbohydrate, ethanol, and total energy and the availability of the following food groups: (i) cereals and tubers; (ii) vegetables; (iii) fruit; (iv) milk; (v) meat, fish, and eggs; (vi) fat; (vii) pulses; (viii) alcoholic beverages; and (ix) sugar and sweeteners. A comparison regarding protein, fat, and carbohydrate availability and WHO recommendation was also performed. RESULTS: The data suggest that in Portugal food availability and consumption have changed throughout the analyzed period. The national availability of most food groups increased considerably, which also resulted in an increase in daily energy. The consumption of cereals and tubers, pulses, and alcohol diminished during this time. Energy availability increased by 406 kcal/person/day, a result from an increase in protein and fat. Protein availability was in accordance with WHO recommendations during the 4 decades analyzed, whereas carbohydrate have always been below the recommended level and fat has been above the recommended level since the second decade (1984). CONCLUSION: Portugal has crossed into a nutritional transition over the last 4 decades, revealing characteristics of a pattern of degenerative diseases. The country may experience a new nutritional transition that would involve positive changes of behavior, as observed in other developed countries, driven by community multisectorial strategies.

[Asthma and its differential diagnoses]. / A asma e os seus diagnósticos diferenciais.

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) occurs in immunocompetent patients and belongs to the Aspergillus induced hypersensitivity disorders. It is estimated that ABPA complicates approximately 7-14% of cases of chronic steroid-dependent asthma and the same amount of cases of cystic fibrosis. A diagnosis of ABPA is based on a combination of clinical, biological and radiology criteria. There is a broad spectrum of disease severity. Early detection and aggressively management will impede progressive lung damage to a severe and debilitating disease requiring lung transplantation. The authors describe the case of a 41 year-old female with a history of allergic asthma from childhood. It was a severe, difficult to control asthma treated with systemic corticosteroids for long periods.

[Asthma mimic - a clinical case report]. / Falsa asma - A propósito de um caso clínico.

Most mediastinal goiters are extensions of cervical goiters. Patients are generally female and only occasionally have symptoms. Patients most commonly complain of a mass-like sensation, dyspnoea, dysphagia and cough. The authors describe the case of a 67 year-old female who presented at the emergency room with dyspnoea, anterior cervical discomfort and tightness which had onset a few months prior but which had worsened in the last week. The patient cited a history of bronchial asthma, for which she was under medication, but the true diagnosis was mediastinal goiter.

[Spontaneous hemothorax in a neurofibromatosis type I patient - a case report]. / Hemotórax espontâneo em doente com neurofibromatose tipo I - A propósito de um caso clínico.

Spontaneous hemothorax is a rare and potentially lethal neurofibromatosis' complication. Several pathological mechanisms may explain the associated vasculopathy: a) direct vascular invasion from adjacent tumors such as Shwannoma, neurofibroma or neurofibrosarcoma; b) vascular dysplasia with stenotic or aneurysm formation. Other mechanisms involved may include pleuropulmonar pathologies (necrotizing infections, pulmonary embolism, endometriosis, neoplasms) and blood dyscrasias. The authors describe a case of a 33 years old female, who went to the ER Service complaining with right persistent hemithoracic pain, extending to the ipsilateral shoulder and shoulder blade, without aggravation or relieving factors, since the last 8 days.

[Mediastinal hydatid cyst. Reflections on a case study]. / Quisto hidático do mediastino. A propósito de um caso clínico.

Hydatid cyst is a zoonotic cycle parasitic infection caused by Echinococcus granulosus tapeworm, whose larvae infect man as an intermediate host. It is one of the most serious lung diseases caused by helminths. It is rare to find it in the mediastinum; < 1%. The primitive, or seemingly primitive, location is due to the parasite in the cellular tissue of the mediastinum. The authors report the case of a sixteen year old male, admitted to the E.R. for left posterior chest pain which had spread to the upper left limb.