Fruits and vegetables and cervical cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the association of fruits and vegetables intake with the occurrence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and invasive cancer. MEDLINE, LILACS, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases and gray literature on Google Scholar were searched before December 17, 2018. Odds ratio (OR) or relative risk (RR) estimates for the highest vs. the lowest intake of intake and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from the included studies were pooled using fixed and random-effects models. We found 18 studies: 17 case-control studies (n = 9,014 cases, n = 29,088 controls) and one cohort study (n = 299,651). No association was observed for CIN. The pooled adjusted ORs (95% CI) for cervical cancer were 0.61 (95% CI 0.52-0.73) for vegetables and 0.80 (95% CI 0.70-0.93) for fruits. However, no association was observed when the pooled effect was estimated among studies that adjusted for human papillomavirus (HPV). Consumption of vegetables and fruits was not associated with incidence of cervical cancer among studies that controlled for HPV infection. The level of evidence is limited because only one cohort study was included in the analysis.

Comparison between general obesity and abdominal adiposity to estimate cardiovascular disease prevalence in individuals with chronic kidney disease: results from NHANES 2005-2016.

Abdominal obesity, regardless of overall obesity, is associated with metabolic abnormalities and with direct impact on cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to compare body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) to estimate cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevalence in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The data analyzed is from 2005-2016 cycles of the NHANES. A total of 2,825 participants with CKD were included in this study, and most of them had a high BMI, 66.1%, to be exact (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m² if age <65 or >27.0 if age ≥ 65). The prevalence rates of high WC (≥102 cm for men or ≥88 cm for women) and high WHtR (WHtR>0.5) in the study population were 70.0% and 91.0%, respectively. The results of this study suggest that BMI is a good indicator of the risk of CVDs in individuals with CKD. In addition, the results show that WC and WHtR are associated with CVDs in non-overweight individuals of both sexes. These results indicate that the assessment of abdominal fat is essential even in non-overweight patients because the risk of CVDs cannot be identified in this subpopulation using only BMI.

Factors associated with anemia in young children in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Anemia is recognized as a major public health problem in childhood, especially in children under 24 months of age. Despite improvements in public health strategies to prevent and control anemia in Brazilian young children in the last decade, few studies have assessed the predictors for this condition in primary health care. Thus, this study aimed to assess the associated factors of anemia in young children who visited primary public health care facilities in Brazil. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 520 children aged 11 to 15 months who visited the primary health care in four Brazilian cities. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin concentration < 110 g/L in venous blood samples. Multilevel Poisson regression models were used to describe the associations between anemia and independent variables. RESULTS: The frequency of anemia was 23.1%. A higher frequency was observed in children who live with more than one other child younger than 5 years in the house (Prevalence Ratio [PR] 1.47; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.01-2.14), who started to receive fruits and vegetables after 8 months of age (PR 1.92; 95% CI 1.19-3.10), who were stunted (PR 2.44; 95% CI 1.32-4.50), who were hospitalized at least once in their life (PR 1.55; 95% CI 1.03-2.33) and who were in the lower tertile of serum folate concentration (PR 2.24; 95% CI 1.30-3.85). CONCLUSIONS: Inadequate complementary feeding practices and morbidity were the main predictors for anemia in early childhood in this population. Improvements in current strategies to promote healthy complementary feeding along with better control of morbidities are recommended to reduce anemia in Brazilian young children.

Vitamin A status and associated factors in infants attending at Primary Health Care in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the nutritional status of vitamin A and associated factors in children assisted in Primary Care Health in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study with a sample of 228 children 12 to 16 months of age. The nutritional status of vitamin A was assessed by serum retinol concentration, determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Multiple linear regression models with hierarchical selection of independent variables were used to evaluate the correlation with serum retinol as the dependent variable. RESULTS: The vitamin A deficiency (retinol < 0,7 µmol/L) was observed in 14,0% of the children. Maternal schooling and hemoglobin concentration were positively correlated with serum retinol concentration, while C-reactive protein showed a negative correlation (R2 = 0,1648). CONCLUSION: The vitamin A deficiency in one-year-old children attended in Basic Health Units in Goiânia configures itself as a moderate public health problem. Actions to promote maternal education, morbidity control and prevention of other micronutrient deficiencies are important for prevention and control of the vitamin A deficiency in this population.