Food Systems Transformation for Child Health and Well-Being: The Essential Role of Dairy.

Malnutrition, in all its forms, during the critical stages of child growth and development can have lifelong impacts on health and well-being. While most forms of malnutrition can be prevented with simple dietary interventions, both undernutrition and overnutrition remain persistent and burdensome challenges for large portions of the global population, especially for young children who are dependent on others for nourishment. In addition to dietary factors, children's health also faces the growing challenges of climate change, environmental degradation, pollution, and infectious disease. Food production and consumption practices both sit at the nexus of these issues, and both must be significantly transformed if we are to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Food sources (i.e., animal-source foods vs. plant-source foods), food production practices, the effects of food processing, the impacts of a more globalized food system, and food loss and waste have all been receiving growing attention in health and sustainability research and policy discussions. Much of this work points to recommendations to reduce resource-intensive animal-source foods, heavily processed foods, and foods associated with excessive waste and pollution, while simultaneously increasing plant-source options. However, some of these recommendations require a little more nuance when considered in the context of issues such as global child health. All types of foods can play significant roles in providing essential nutrition for children across the globe, and for improving the well-being and livelihoods of their families and communities. Dairy foods provide a prime example of this need for nuance, as both dairy production practices and consumption patterns vary greatly throughout the world, as do their impacts on child health and food system sustainability. The objective of this narrative review is to highlight the role of dairy in supporting child health in the context of food system sustainability. When considering child health within this context it is recommended to take a holistic approach that considers all four domains of sustainability (health, economics, society, and the environment) to better weigh trade-offs, optimize outcomes, and avoid unintended consequences. To ensure that children have access to nutritious and safe foods within sustainable food systems, special consideration of their needs must be included within the broader food systems transformation narrative.

High-Quality Carbohydrates and Physical Performance: Expert Panel Report.

While all experts agreed that protein needs for performance are likely greater than believed in past generations, particularly for strength training athletes, and that dietary fat could sustain an active person through lower-intensity training bouts, current research still points to carbohydrate as an indispensable energy source for high-intensity performance.

Effects of consumption of sucromalt, a slowly digestible carbohydrate, on mental and physical energy questionnaire responses.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether consumption of the low-glycemic index (GI) carbohydrate sucromalt improves healthy adults' perceptions of mental and physical energy and fatigue compared to dextrose (glucose), a high GI control. METHODS: In this double-blind, randomized, cross-over study, subjects (n = 44 healthy adults) consumed a standardized dinner, and following an overnight fast, ingested 75 g of either sucromalt or glucose in solution at 7:30 AM the next day. Subjects completed validated questionnaires that assessed mental and physical energy, and fatigue, hunger, and sleepiness at baseline and hourly until 12:30 PM for a total of five post-consumption time points. Within-subject differences adjusted for baseline for individual questions and composite scores (Mental Energy State, Mental Fatigue State, Physical Energy State, and Physical Fatigue State) were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: Mental Energy State, Physical Energy State, and Physical Fatigue State results favored sucromalt compared to glucose, with significant differences emerging particularly after 4-5 hours (P < 0.050). A trend toward a delay in Mental Fatigue State was also observed with sucromalt compared to glucose (P < 0.100). Minimal differences in ratings of hunger and sleepiness were observed between the beverages. DISCUSSION: Sucromalt may help attenuate the perceived decline in mental and physical energy and rise in mental and physical fatigue that can occur 4-5 hours after ingestion of a high GI beverage. Trials examining effects of sucromalt on cognitive and physical performance are of future interest.

The importance of promoting a whole grain foods message.

Despite mention in the Dietary Guidelines for Healthy Americans and in Healthy People 2010, the lack of a coordinated campaign promoting whole grain foods and their health benefits may be contributing to low consumption. Fiber consumption in the U.S. likewise falls below recommended levels, in part, as a result of suboptimal intake of whole grain foods. Research findings suggest that whole grain is related to reduced disease risk, and that whole grain foods have relevant biological activity in humans. This necessitates a call to action to help Americans increase whole grain consumption as a strategy for health. The establishment of a whole grain coalition could promote increased consumption by developing consumer messages: partnering with health professionals: advocating whole grains to government agencies; seeking funding for scientific research and market research; and educating consumers, as well as health professionals, food manufacturers and millers, about the value and benefit of whole grains.