Optimizing Delivery of Therapeutic Growth Factors for Bone and Cartilage Regeneration.

Bone- and cartilage-related diseases, such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, affect millions of people worldwide, impairing their quality of life and increasing mortality. Osteoporosis significantly increases the bone fracture risk of the spine, hip, and wrist. For successful fracture treatment and to facilitate proper healing in the most complicated cases, one of the most promising methods is to deliver a therapeutic protein to accelerate bone regeneration. Similarly, in the setting of osteoarthritis, where degraded cartilage does not regenerate, therapeutic proteins hold great promise to promote new cartilage formation. For both osteoporosis and osteoarthritis treatments, targeted delivery of therapeutic growth factors, with the aid of hydrogels, to bone and cartilage is a key to advance the field of regenerative medicine. In this review article, we propose five important aspects of therapeutic growth factor delivery for bone and cartilage regeneration: (1) protection of protein growth factors from physical and enzymatic degradation, (2) targeted growth factor delivery, (3) controlling GF release kinetics, (4) long-term stability of regenerated tissues, and (5) osteoimmunomodulatory effects of therapeutic growth factors and carriers/scaffolds.

Perceived challenges and strategies to achieve Canada's Food Guide recommendation to "Cook more often": Findings from parents of young children.

Unhealthy diets are detrimental to health, but home meal preparation is associated with better diet quality. Among a sample of parents of children aged 2-12, this study aimed to 1) explore perceived challenges and strategies to meeting the 2019 Canada's Food Guide recommendation of "Cook more often". From October 2019 to January 2020, 8 focus groups were conducted with 40 parents (73% mothers; 78% white) from Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A hybrid thematic approach with inductive and deductive data analysis was used. Reported challenges included time constraints, picky eating, lacking cooking skills, high price of some fresh ingredients, school restrictions on meals at school, and the influence of children's peers on food choices, mainly unhealthy snacks. Reported strategies to mitigate some challenges included planning and preparing meals ahead of time, using technology or services to make meal planning and grocery shopping more convenient, using devices and kitchen instruments, such as Crockpot®, to make cooking faster, receiving help from spouse or child(ren), and acknowledging that foods perceived as less healthful in moderation can be included in meal preparation. These findings can help inform interventions and educational campaigns to support cooking among families with young children.

Perceptions of the 2019 Canada's Food Guide: a qualitative study with parents from Southwestern Ontario.

In January 2019, Health Canada released a revised Canada's Food Guide (CFG). This study aimed to understand the perceptions of the 2019 CFG among Canadian parents with children aged 2-12 years. From October 2019-January 2020, 8 focus groups with parents from Southwestern Ontario were conducted using a semi-structured interview script focused on understanding perceptions of the 2019 CFG. A hybrid thematic approach with inductive and deductive analyses was used. Forty parents (72.5% mothers, 77.5% white) with diverse levels of education and income participated. Most parents were aware of the 2019 CFG. Positive perceptions of the 2019 CFG were that the guide was visually appealing and less biased from the food industry compared with previous guides. Parents also reported that the focus on eating behaviours could support healthy eating among their families. Negative perceptions included insufficient information about plant-based proteins, removal of milk and alternatives food group, and lack of representation of various cultures in the guide. Challenges to following the CFG recommendations, including time constraints and limited knowledge regarding how to identify and prepare plant-based proteins, were discussed. Parent perceptions of the CFG can help inform public health policies and behavioural-change strategies designed to support adherence to the 2019 CFG recommendations. Novelty: Awareness of the 2019 Canada's Food Guide (CFG) was high. Parents identified that the 2019 CFG was visually appealing and less biased from the food industry. Concerns about the recommendations of plant-based proteins, "exclusion" of dairies, and lack of cultural representation.

Adherence to Food-Based Dietary Guidelines: A Systemic Review of High-Income and Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Research comparing the adherence to food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) across countries with different socio-economic status is lacking, which may be a concern for developing nutrition policies. The aim was to report on the adherence to FBDGs in high-income (HIC) and low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC). A systematic review with searches in six databases was performed up to June 2020. English language articles were included if they investigated a population of healthy children and adults (7-65 years), using an observational or experimental design evaluating adherence to national FBDGs. Findings indicate that almost 40% of populations in both HIC and LMIC do not adhere to their national FBDGs. Fruit and vegetables (FV) were most adhered to and the prevalence of adhering FV guidelines was between 7% to 67.3%. HIC have higher consumption of discretionary foods, while results were mixed for LMIC. Grains and dairy were consumed below recommendations in both HIC and LMIC. Consumption of animal proteins (>30%), particularly red meat, exceeded the recommendations. Individuals from HIC and LMIC may be falling short of at least one dietary recommendation from their country's guidelines. Future health policies, behavioral-change strategies, and dietary guidelines may consider these results in their development.