Diet of two rural population groups of middle-aged men in Italy.

In 1965 a dietary survey with use of the dietary history method was carried out among 1536 middle-aged men from two rural areas of Italy, Crevalcore in the North and Montegiorgio in the Center, in connection with the Seven Countries Study on the epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases. In general the diet, while rather heterogeneous across individuals, was typically Mediterranean, that is rich in cereals, vegetables, fruits and vegetable oils, particularly olive oil and moderate in animal products. Intake of alcoholic beverages, mostly wine, was rather high. There were some differences between the two areas in consumption of some food-items such as milk, meat, fruits, sugar and cakes, pies and cookies. The dietary history method, as used here, was validated concurrently on a subsample by the 3-day weighing method and chemical analyses of 3-day food composites, with satisfactory results.

A nutrition study involving a group of pregnant women in Assisi, Italy. Part 1: Anthropometry, dietary intake and nutrition knowledge, practices and attitudes.

A study was conducted on a group of full term pregnant women in the gynaecology and obstetrics ward of the Assisi Hospital. The study included the anthropometric evaluation and a survey including information on eating habits, life styles, nutrition knowledge, food preferences and aversions during pregnancy, use of oral contraceptives, and cigarette smoking. A subset of 20 pregnant women was examined periodically from the beginning of the 2nd trimester until the end of pregnancy to ascertain anthropometric status and food consumption. In the same hospital the anthropometric measurements of 83 newborns were taken. In some cases there was a relatively small weight gain and therefore gain in body fat during pregnancy (6.3 kg), with obvious effects on the weight of their respective newborns. Eating habits showed notable quantitative and qualitative irrationalities and nutrition knowledge was poor. Oral contraceptives were not widely used.

A nutrition study involving a group of pregnant women in Assisi, Italy. Part 2: Determination of vitamin nutriture.

A study was conducted on the biochemical vitamin status of sixty middle class parturient women ages 20-44 and 33 newborns in the gynaecology and obstetrics ward of the Assisi Hospital, Italy. Maternal venous blood obtained immediately after delivery and mixed venous-arterial cord blood was used to assess respectively the status of the mother and the neonate for vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin and folate. Large percentages of the women were at risk (either marginal or deficient states), for thiamin (30%), riboflavin (42%) and folate (100%). In general, even though the mothers appear to be at risk for three out of the four vitamins studied, there is no indication that the infants are also at risk. Further research must be conducted to clarify the clinical implications of hypovitaminosis in pregnant women.

Food and nutrient consumption of two rural Italian population groups followed for twenty years.

The food and nutrient consumption was examined in two rural population groups of 22 middle age men of Italy in connection with a longitudinal study of coronary heart disease. Most of the data were collected with use of the individual weighing method. In the 20 year interval increases and decreases were observed in the consumption of various foods, reflecting the influence of economic and biological factors. In regard to nutrients, in Crevalcore (Bologna) the original high level of some macronutrients and vitamin A progressively decreased. In Montegiorgio (Marche) the original high level of fat intake - in relation to recommended intake - progressively increased, while energy was throughout close to recommended values. The endemic deficit in riboflavin intake progressively decreased, while that for vitamin A remained practically constant.