EWHETA (Eat Well for a HEalthy Third Age) Project: novel foods to improve the nutrition in the elderly people.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of mortality. However, by treating modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and following a healthy diet as the Mediterranean diet, we have opportunity to prevent CVD. In the EWHETA (Eat Well for a HEalthy Third Age) Project, our goal has been to develop novel foods ("Mediterranean Lasagne", MLs) in versions all nutritionally complete and well balanced in terms of calories, whole carbohydrates, fibers, source of vegetable proteins, and vegetable fats. MLs can be easy prepared at home (inexpensively) and used as fresh food or can be pre-prepared and used in residences for elderly people or in health care residencies. The project has saw the alliance between nutritionists and food and sensor scientists and the active involvement of older people in tasting the novel foods to achieve the final tasty versions of the MLs. We think that the nutritional components of these novel foods and its well-accepted taste, insert in a healthy diet and life style (fundamental aspects at every age), and could contribute to improve diet in the elderly people and prevent malnutrition.

[Respiratory function and cardiovascular risk factors. Research Group for the Integrated Community Control of Chronic-degenerative diseases in the Health District of Sezze -- Di.S.Co. -- Observational strategy to assess the community health status]. / Funzionalità respiratoria e fattori di rischio cardiovascolare. Gruppo di Ricerca Controllo Communitario Integrato nelle Malattie Cronico-degenerative nel Distretto Sanitario di Sezze--Di.S.Co.--Strategie osservazionali per la valutazione della salute nella comunità.

Within the Project Community Control of Chronic Diseases in the Health District of Sezze-Di.S.Co.-2940 men, aged 20-69 were examined between 1984 and 1987, and a pulmonary function test was performed together with the measurement of a number of cardiovascular risk factors. Blood tests, blood pressure, anthropometric measurements, ECG, spirometry and a questionnaire on life-style and diseases were available. The aim of this paper was to describe pulmonary function tests and to study their association with cardiovascular risk factors. Vital capacity (CV) and forced expiratory volume in one second (VEMS), adjusted by height were inversely related with age. Main cardiovascular risk factors were analysed in tertiles of CV and VEMS: fasting blood glucose, serum cholesterol, uric acid, haematocrit, diastolic blood pressure, number of cigarettes per day decreased going from the first to the third tertile, whilst HLD-cholesterol and alcohol consumption increased. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed an inverse relation of CV and VEMS with age, fasting blood glucose, number of cigarettes smoked per day, uric acid, heart rate, skinfold thickness whilst alcohol consumption and weight were inversely related. The models explained between 52% (VC) to 57% (VEMS) of the variance.

[The finalization of the information output]. / La finalizzazione del prodotto informativo.

A biological specimen bank, as a support to prospective studies on etiology of chronic diseases can be considered the final product of our research and the central point of an information system in which many participants are involved. After a brief consideration of some problems related to the criteria and the methodologies evaluation of scientific results and about their transfer to the users, the afferent and efferent informative flows are analysed using the bank as a central processing unit. The aim is to realize an interactive bidirectional communication process involving both the observer and the observed.