This study assessed diet diversity and consumption of ultra-processed foods and explored its impact on macronutrient intake and risk of micronutrient inadequacy.

Cross-sectional, non-probability snowball sampling.

Nutrient intake was assessed using 24-h dietary recall method and diet diversity through FAO-diet diversity score (DDS). Mann–Whitney U test was used to assess differences in risk of inadequacy across gender. Spearman’s rank correlation assessed associations between energy contributed by ultra-processed food and risk of nutrient inadequacy.

A total of 589 adults (20–40 years) belonging to upper-middle and high-income groups.

The average individual DDS was 4·4 ± 0·6. Most of the participants (>80 %) had intakes less than national recommendations of pulses/eggs/flesh foods, milk/milk products, fruits, vegetables and nuts. Ultra-processed foods contributed to 17 % of total energy intake, 12 % of protein, 17 % of carbohydrate, 29 % of added sugar, 20 % of total fat and 33 % of Na intake. The average risk of nutrient inadequacies for Zn (98 % v. 75 %), folate (67 % v. 22 %) and niacin (83 % v. 44 %) was higher among males than females (P < 0·001). The average risk of nutrient inadequacies for Fe (58 % v. 7 %), vitamin B6 (95 % v. 90 %) and vitamin A (68 % v. 44 %) was higher among females than males (P < 0·001). There was a positive correlation between energy contributed by ultra-processed food and risk of niacin (ρ = 0·136, P = 0·001) and folate (ρ = 0·089, P = 0·049) inadequacy.

Reformulating ultra-processed food to reduce fat, sugar and salt and increase micronutrients and behaviour change communication strategies that promote dietary diversity will improve micronutrient adequacy and diet quality.

Understanding the factors associated with senior food insecurity is key to understanding senior-specific needs to develop targeted interventions and ultimately lower the prevalence and the incidence of food insecurity. We aimed to systematically review published literature and summarise the associated factors of food insecurity in older adults in the USA.

We searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of science, EconLit and JSTOR databases for peer-reviewed articles published in English between January 2005 and September 2019 that assessed food security or its associated factors for US adults aged 60 years and older. After a two-step screening process, twenty articles were retained and included in the review.

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The majority of studies were cross-sectional (70 %), consisted of data from one state (60 %), and had large sample sizes. Food-insecure individuals were more likely to be younger, less educated, Black or African American, female, a current smoker, low income, and self-report fair/poor health, have chronic conditions, and utilise government assistance programmes. Food insecurity was associated with medication non-adherence, poor mental health outcomes and limitations in physical functioning. Results were mixed for overweight/obesity status. There was no discernable pattern related to the consistency of findings by the assessed quality of the included studies.

Food insecurity is a prevalent and pervasive issue for older adults. The numerous correlates identified suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing food and nutrition safety net and medication assistance programmes are warranted, and upstream, systemic-level interventions may be best suited to deal with the correlates of food insecurity.

To assess the effectiveness of outpatient management with ready-to-use and supplementary foods for infants under 6 months (u6m) of age who were unable to be treated as inpatients due to social and economic barriers.

Review of operational acute malnutrition treatment records.

Twenty-one outpatient therapeutic feeding clinics in rural Malawi.

Infants u6m with acute malnutrition treated as outpatients because of barriers to inpatient treatment. The comparison group consisted of acutely malnourished children 6–9 months of age who were being treated at the same time in the same location in the context of two different randomised clinical trials.

A total of 323 infants u6m were treated for acute malnutrition (130 severe and 193 moderate). A total of 357 infants 6–9 months old with acute malnutrition (seventy-four severe and 283 moderate) were included as contemporaneous controls. Among infants u6m with severe acute malnutrition, 98 (75·4 %) achieved nutritional recovery; in comparison, 56 (75·7 %) of those with severe acute malnutrition 6–9 months old recovered. Among infants u6m with moderate acute malnutrition, 157 (81·3 %) recovered; in comparison, 241 (85·2 %) of those aged 6–9 months recovered.

In a rural Malawian population of infants u6m who had generally already stopped exclusive breast-feeding and were now acutely malnourished, treatment with therapeutic or supplementary foods under the community management of acute malnutrition model was safe and effective. In settings where social and financial factors make hospital admission challenging, consideration should be given to lowering the recommended age of ready-to-use therapeutic and supplementary foods to infants u6m.

To examine the associations of pregnant women’s dietary and sedentary behaviours with their children’s birth weight.

Secondary data analysis was conducted using data from a randomised controlled trial, Communicating Healthy Beginnings Advice by Telephone, conducted in Australia. Information on mothers’ socio-demographics, dietary and sedentary behaviours during pregnancy was collected by telephone survey at the third trimester. Birth weight data were extracted from the child’s health record book. Multinomial logistic regression models were built to examine the associations of pregnant women’s dietary and sedentary behaviours with children’s birth weight.

Participating families.

Pregnant women and their children.

A total of 1132 mother–child dyads were included in the analysis. The majority of infants (87 %, n 989) were of normal birth weight (2500 g to <4000 g), 4 % (n 50) had low birth weight (<2500 g) and 8 % (n 93) had macrosomia (≥4000 g). Mothers who ate processed meat during pregnancy were more likely to have macrosomia (adjusted risk ratio (ARR) 1·80, 95 % CI (1·12, 2·89)). The risk of macrosomia decreased as the number of dietary recommendations met by mothers increased (ARR 0·84, 95 % CI (0·71, 0·99)). Children’s birth weight was not associated with mothers’ sedentary time. Children’s low birth weight was not associated with mothers’ dietary and sedentary behaviours during pregnancy.

Maternal consumption of processed meat during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of macrosomia. Increasing number of dietary recommendations met by mothers was associated with a lower risk of macrosomia. The findings suggested encouraging pregnancy women to meet dietary recommendation will benefit children’s birth weight.

To examine how food insecurity in childhood up to adolescence relates to eating habits and weight status in young adulthood.

A longitudinal study design was used to derive trajectories of household food insecurity from age 4·5 to 13 years. Multivariable linear and logistical regression analyses were performed to model associations between being at high risk of food insecurity from age 4·5 to 13 years and both dietary and weight outcomes at age 22 years.

A birth cohort study conducted in the Province of Quebec, Canada.

In total, 698 young adults participating in the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development.

After adjusting for sex, maternal education and immigrant status, household income and type of family, being at high risk (compared with low risk) of food insecurity in childhood up to adolescence was associated with consuming higher quantities of sugar-sweetened beverages (ßadj: 0·64; 95 % CI (0·27, 1·00)), non-whole-grain cereal products (ßadj: 0·32; 95 % CI (0·07, 0·56)) and processed meat (ßadj: 0·14; 95 % CI (0·02, 0·25)), with skipping breakfast (ORadj: 1·97; 95 % CI (1·08, 3·53)), with eating meals prepared out of home (ORadj: 3·38; 95 % CI (1·52, 9·02)), with experiencing food insecurity (ORadj: 3·03; 95 % CI (1·91, 4·76)) and with being obese (ORadj: 2·01; 95 % CI (1·12, 3·64)), once reaching young adulthood.

Growing up in families experiencing food insecurity may negatively influence eating habits and weight status later in life. Our findings reinforce the importance of public health policies and programmes tackling poverty and food insecurity, particularly for families with young children.

Childhood obesity is on the rise in South Africa (SA), and child-directed marketing (CDM) is one of the contributing factors to children’s unhealthy food choices. This study assessed CDM on packaged breakfast cereals available in SA supermarkets and their nutritional quality.

Photographic images were examined in a descriptive quantitative study. A codebook of definitions of CDM was developed for this purpose. REDCap, an online research database, was used for data capturing, and SPSS was used for data analyses including cross-tabulations and one-way ANOVA.

The current study was set in the Western Cape province of SA.

Photographic images of all packaged breakfast cereals sold in major retailers in the Western Cape province of SA in 2019 were studied.

CDM strategies were classified as direct (to the child) or indirect (through the parent). A total of 222 breakfast cereals were studied, of which 96·9 % had a nutritional or health claim, 95·0 % had illustrations, 75·2 % had product and consumption appeals, 10·8 % had characters, 10·8 % consisted of different appeals, 8·6 % alluded to fantasy and 7·7 % had role models. In breakfast cereals with direct CDM, the protein and fibre content was significantly lower than in breakfast cereals without direct CDM. This study found a significantly higher total carbohydrate and total sugar content in breakfast cereals with direct CDM than those without direct CDM.

CDM was highly prevalent in breakfast cereals sold in SA. Regulations to curb the marketing of packaged foods high in nutrients of concern is recommended.

To implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the community participatory program between school and family based on ecological system theory and participatory action research. The intervention covers three levels at the individual, family and school levels and involves educating students and parents by using technology, reducing sedentary behaviours, increasing exercise and changing to healthy food environments at school and at home.

A quasi-experimental design was used in this study.

Public primary school in Thailand.

The participants in the study included 138 school-age children in grades 2–6 with their parents/guardians. The control group consisted of 134 school-age children at a school of the same size with their parents/guardians.

Results show that nutritional status was significantly improved within the experimental group (P value = 0·000) and between groups during follow-up (P value = 0·032). Students’ knowledge about obesity and non-communicable chronic diseases (NCD) prevention, as well as physical activity and exercise behaviours, in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P value = 0·000 and 0·044, respectively). Parents’ perceptions of child obesity and family modelling behaviours in the experimental group were also significantly higher than that in the control group; P value = 0·013 and 0·000, respectively).

The community participation program was found to be successful. Not only students, families and schools improved health behaviours and healthy food environments at home and school, but the students’ long-term nutritional status also improved.

To assess the association of obesogenic environmental characteristics around schools with body adiposity and adipokine concentrations in Brazilian children.

Cross-sectional study. Body adiposity was assessed using the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Concentrations of leptin, adiponectin, retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) and chemerin were measured. Predominantly ultra-processed food (UPF) stores, public physical activity (PA) facilities, green spaces, walkability, traffic accidents and crime were evaluated. The neighbourhood unit was the 400 m (0·25 miles) road network buffer around schools. The association of environmental characteristics with body adiposity and adipokine concentrations was assessed by linear regression models using generalised estimating equations.

Urban schools (n 24), Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Children aged 8 and 9 years (n 378).

A higher density of predominantly UPF stores and a lower percentage of green space were associated with higher total (β: 0·12; 95 % CI 0·06, 0·18 and β: –0·10; 95 % CI –0·16, –0·04, respectively) and android body fat (β: 0·28; 95 % CI 0·13, 0·43 and β: –0·18; 95 % CI –0·32, –0·04, respectively). In addition, the densities of PA facilities and crime were inversely associated with leptin concentrations. Traffic accidents density and percentage of green spaces around schools had, respectively, a positive and an inverse association with concentrations of adiponectin and RBP4.

Obesogenic environmental characteristics around schools were associated with total and android body fat, as well as with pro-inflammatory adipokine concentrations in Brazilian children from a medium-sized city.