Beatriz de Mateo Silleras

Specific bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) is more accurate than classic BIVA to detect changes in body composition and in nutritional status in institutionalised elderly with dementia

BACKGROUND A new analytical variation of bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA), called specific BIVA, has shown to be more accurate in detecting changes in fat mass than classic BIVA. OBJECTIVE To compare classic and specific BIVA in order to identify which is more strongly associated with psycho-functional and nutritional indicators in a group of institutionalised elderly patients with dementia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Cross-sectional study. Fifty-four patients (34 women, 20 men) with dementia in moderately severe to very severe stages and aged 60-95years underwent geriatric nutritional assessment, including body mass index calculations, the Mini Nutritional Assessment, the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, and whole body composition analysis. RESULTS With specific BIVA (unlike with classic BIVA), significant differences were found between women with moderately severe and very severe dementia. In the BIVA conducted for body mass index, the confidence ellipses produced with the classic BIVA approach were highly overlapping; but with specific BIVA, significant differences were observed between the women in different nutritional categories (malnutrition, risk of malnutrition, normal weight and obesity). On the other hand, both approaches distinguished malnourished women from those who were at risk of malnutrition, according to the Mini Nutritional Assessment; and men with a moderate-high risk of malnutrition from men with no risk, on the basis of the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index. CONCLUSION Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that specific BIVA is more effective than classic BIVA in identifying bioelectrical changes associated with psycho-functional and nutritional indicators in institutionalised elderly with dementia.

Bioimpedance vector analysis and conventional bioimpedance to assess body composition in older adults with dementia

OBJECTIVE Although dementia and nutritional status have been shown to be strongly associated, differences in body composition (BC) among older people with dementia have not yet been firmly established. The aim of this study was to assess BC through conventional and vector bioimpedance analysis (BIA and BIVA, respectively) in a sample of institutionalized older men with and without dementia, in order to detect dementia-related BC changes. METHODS Forty-one institutionalized men ages ≥ 65 y (23 without dementia [CG] and 18 with dementia [DG]) were measured with BIA and interpreted with BIVA and predictive equations. RESULTS Age (74.4 and 75.7 y) and body mass index (22.5 and 23.6 kg/m(2)) were similar for DG and CG, respectively. Resistance and ratio of resistance to height did not differ significantly between the two groups. Reactance and ratio of reactance to height were 21.2% and 20.4% lower in DG than in CG. Phase angle was significantly lower in DG (mean = 4.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.6°-4.3°) than in CG (mean = 4.7; 95% CI, 4.3°-5.1°). Mean fat mass index (6 and 7 kg/m(2)), and mean fat-free mass index (16.4 and 16.6 kg/m(2)) were similar in both groups. BIVA showed a significant downward migration of the ellipse in DG with respect to CG (T(2) = 15.1; P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Conventional BIA showed no significant differences in BC between DG and CG, although reactance and ratio of reactance to height were about 21% lower in DG. Nevertheless, a body cell mass depletion and an increase in the ratio of extracellular to intracellular water were identified in DG using BIVA. BIVA reflects dementia-related changes in BC better than BIA.

Is an integral nutritional approach to eating disorders feasible in primary care

Patients with eating disorders (ED) show alterations in both their behaviour and their intake of food, frequently presenting nutritional and somatic affectations. Besides the classical forms such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa, there has recently been an increase in atypical or incomplete forms of ED, such as binge eating. Primary care (PC) services form the central and closest nucleus of health care for the individual and the family, where ED occur and leave their mark. This allows PC to provide an integral response at all levels of care for ED. Primary prevention at school, in the family and community is fundamental to avoiding its inception. Secondary prevention is based on early diagnosis and treatment of ED and favours a better prognosis of the illness. Tertiary prevention tries to reduce the serious consequences with rehabilitation measures to alleviate complications and avoid risk to life. Due to its complexity, these patients are afforded the attention of multidisciplinary teams of specialists with experience in treating this condition. In consultation with the team, the general practitioner should adopt a leading role at all levels of attention, as he/she is the link between the team, the family and the patient. This requires both regulated, specific training in the disease and the allocation of resources to carry it through. Putting into practice all these plans would allow us to give a positive answer to the question posed in the title of the present article.

Diseño y aplicación de un cuestionario de calidad dietética de los menús escolares

The school canteen provides a substantial proportion of the daily nutritional intake for many children. There are nutritional standards for school meals, however, it is still difficult to assess the dietary quality.To design a questionnaire for assessing the dietary quality of school meals, quickly and easily.A dietary questionnaire (COMES) was designed on the basis of the current recommendations. COMES consist of 15 items related to the food-frequency and to other characteristics of school meals. Then, a longitudinal prospective study was performed in order to analyze, with COMES, 36 school meals of 4 catering companies from Castilla y Leon during the academic years 2006-2007 to 2010-2011. Differences in dietary quality menus according to the management system of catering companies (in situ vs. transported) were analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney and the Kruskal-Wallis tests. The significance was reached at p <0,05.The frequency intake of meat, dairy and prepared products was higher to the recommended in 97,2%, 94,4% and 27,8% of the analyzed menus, respectively. By contrast, the frequency intake of fish, fruit, legume, and vegetable garnishes were lower to the recommended in 83,3%, 94,4%, 91,7% and 75% of menus, respectively. Nevertheless, recommendations established by our consensus document for school meals are complied for all food groups, except for dairy and fruits. The variety of foods and culinary techniques were appropriate. No significant differences were found in the COMES score according to the management system (p=0,87), although catering system provides higher dietary quality.A new tool to assess quickly and easily the nutritional quality of school meals has been proposed. The assessment of the frequency intake of the most problematic foods for schoolchildren with this scale is much more demanding than the current recommendations. Even so, menus analyzed showed an acceptable quality in terms of variety of foods and culinary techniques, although milk frequency in the menus was excessive at the expense of fresh fruit. On the other hand, the transported system (i.e. catering, both hot and cold-holding) provides menus more consistent with the dietary recommendations.INTRODUCTION The school canteen provides a substantial proportion of the daily nutritional intake for many children. There are nutritional standards for school meals, however, it is still difficult to assess the dietary quality. AIMS To design a questionnaire for assessing the dietary quality of school meals, quickly and easily. METHODS A dietary questionnaire (COMES) was designed on the basis of the current recommendations. COMES consist of 15 items related to the food-frequency and to other characteristics of school meals. Then, a longitudinal prospective study was performed in order to analyze, with COMES, 36 school meals of 4 catering companies from Castilla y León during the academic years 2006-2007 to 2010-2011. Differences in dietary quality menus according to the management system of catering companies (in situ vs. transported) were analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney and the Kruskal-Wallis tests. The significance was reached at p <0,05. RESULTS The frequency intake of meat, dairy and prepared products was higher to the recommended in 97,2%, 94,4% and 27,8% of the analyzed menus, respectively. By contrast, the frequency intake of fish, fruit, legume, and vegetable garnishes were lower to the recommended in 83,3%, 94,4%, 91,7% and 75% of menus, respectively. Nevertheless, recommendations established by our consensus document for school meals are complied for all food groups, except for dairy and fruits. The variety of foods and culinary techniques were appropriate. No significant differences were found in the COMES score according to the management system (p=0,87), although catering system provides higher dietary quality. CONCLUSIONS A new tool to assess quickly and easily the nutritional quality of school meals has been proposed. The assessment of the frequency intake of the most problematic foods for schoolchildren with this scale is much more demanding than the current recommendations. Even so, menus analyzed showed an acceptable quality in terms of variety of foods and culinary techniques, although milk frequency in the menus was excessive at the expense of fresh fruit. On the other hand, the transported system (i.e. catering, both hot and cold-holding) provides menus more consistent with the dietary recommendations.

Efecto de la realimentación en la composición corporal de mujeres con anorexia nerviosa restrictiva: antropometría frente a impedancia bioeléctrica

OBJECTIVE To assess the body composition in a group of malnourished patients with anorexia nervosa as compared to healthy controls, before and after nutritional support, by means of anthropometry and bioimpedance. METHODS Prospective observational study. Complete anthropometry was performed as well as bioimpedance analysis in 12 women (24.5 years) with restrictive anorexia nervosa at hospital admission and weekly thereafter during re-feeding. The control group was formed by 24 healthy women (21 years). The Students t test, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Students t test for repeated measurements, and the Wilcoxons test were applied. The level of agreement between anthropometry and BIA was calculated by the interclass correlation coefficient and the Bland-Altman s test. RESULTS The patients had significant improvements in all indexes of body composition throughout their hospital staying although their values at discharge still were lower than those of the control subjects. The average weight gain was 5.22 kg (SD: 1.42), of which 51.4% was fat mass, preferentially centrally distributed. In the control subjects, the BIA equation that correlated the best with anthropometrics was Sun s equation (CCI = 0.896); in the patients, the level of agreement was weaker, both at hospital admission and at hospital discharge. CONCLUSIONS Re-feeding produces weight gain, essentially at the expense of fat mass, which is centrally distributed; the nutritional status is not reestablished. The level of agreement between anthropometry and bioimpedance for studying body composition is acceptable, especially in healthy subjects. In those cases with severe changes in body composition and/or water balance, anthropometry is recommended when vectorial BIA or some other gold standard method are not available for the analysis of body composition.

Body mass index and waist circumference are not good surrogate indicators of adiposity in psychogeriatric patients

to assess the utility of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) as surrogate indicators of adiposity with respect to the total body fat estimated with bioimpedance analysis in psychogeriatric patients.

Design and implementation of a questionnaire to evaluate the dietary quality of school meals

The school canteen provides a substantial proportion of the daily nutritional intake for many children. There are nutritional standards for school meals, however, it is still difficult to assess the dietary quality.To design a questionnaire for assessing the dietary quality of school meals, quickly and easily.A dietary questionnaire (COMES) was designed on the basis of the current recommendations. COMES consist of 15 items related to the food-frequency and to other characteristics of school meals. Then, a longitudinal prospective study was performed in order to analyze, with COMES, 36 school meals of 4 catering companies from Castilla y Leon during the academic years 2006-2007 to 2010-2011. Differences in dietary quality menus according to the management system of catering companies (in situ vs. transported) were analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney and the Kruskal-Wallis tests. The significance was reached at p <0,05.The frequency intake of meat, dairy and prepared products was higher to the recommended in 97,2%, 94,4% and 27,8% of the analyzed menus, respectively. By contrast, the frequency intake of fish, fruit, legume, and vegetable garnishes were lower to the recommended in 83,3%, 94,4%, 91,7% and 75% of menus, respectively. Nevertheless, recommendations established by our consensus document for school meals are complied for all food groups, except for dairy and fruits. The variety of foods and culinary techniques were appropriate. No significant differences were found in the COMES score according to the management system (p=0,87), although catering system provides higher dietary quality.A new tool to assess quickly and easily the nutritional quality of school meals has been proposed. The assessment of the frequency intake of the most problematic foods for schoolchildren with this scale is much more demanding than the current recommendations. Even so, menus analyzed showed an acceptable quality in terms of variety of foods and culinary techniques, although milk frequency in the menus was excessive at the expense of fresh fruit. On the other hand, the transported system (i.e. catering, both hot and cold-holding) provides menus more consistent with the dietary recommendations.INTRODUCTION The school canteen provides a substantial proportion of the daily nutritional intake for many children. There are nutritional standards for school meals, however, it is still difficult to assess the dietary quality. AIMS To design a questionnaire for assessing the dietary quality of school meals, quickly and easily. METHODS A dietary questionnaire (COMES) was designed on the basis of the current recommendations. COMES consist of 15 items related to the food-frequency and to other characteristics of school meals. Then, a longitudinal prospective study was performed in order to analyze, with COMES, 36 school meals of 4 catering companies from Castilla y León during the academic years 2006-2007 to 2010-2011. Differences in dietary quality menus according to the management system of catering companies (in situ vs. transported) were analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney and the Kruskal-Wallis tests. The significance was reached at p <0,05. RESULTS The frequency intake of meat, dairy and prepared products was higher to the recommended in 97,2%, 94,4% and 27,8% of the analyzed menus, respectively. By contrast, the frequency intake of fish, fruit, legume, and vegetable garnishes were lower to the recommended in 83,3%, 94,4%, 91,7% and 75% of menus, respectively. Nevertheless, recommendations established by our consensus document for school meals are complied for all food groups, except for dairy and fruits. The variety of foods and culinary techniques were appropriate. No significant differences were found in the COMES score according to the management system (p=0,87), although catering system provides higher dietary quality. CONCLUSIONS A new tool to assess quickly and easily the nutritional quality of school meals has been proposed. The assessment of the frequency intake of the most problematic foods for schoolchildren with this scale is much more demanding than the current recommendations. Even so, menus analyzed showed an acceptable quality in terms of variety of foods and culinary techniques, although milk frequency in the menus was excessive at the expense of fresh fruit. On the other hand, the transported system (i.e. catering, both hot and cold-holding) provides menus more consistent with the dietary recommendations.

The Importance of Nutritional Assessment in Institutionalized Elderly with Dementia: Malnutrition, Early Detection

Malnutrition is a highly prevalent geriatric syndrome in the elderly with dementia, especially in institutionalized patients and in subjects in advanced stages of the illness. In order to both diagnose and treat it correctly, it is necessary to make a two-phase nutritional assessment: first, nutritional screening and, second, a complete nutritional assessment, which will be carried out when risk of malnutrition or malnutrition itself is detected by the former. Nutritional screening should be systematically included in the comprehensive nutritional assessment. It also should be periodically repeated as part of the follow-up of geriatric patients, both institutionalized individuals and outpatients. Comprehensive nutritional assessment is the basis for nutritional diagnosis and also the starting point for dietary and nutritional interventions adapted to patient needs. This type of assessment must include a clinical and nutritional history, a physical examination focused on the detection of signs and symptoms of nutritional alterations, an anthropometric and body composition assessment, as well as laboratory tests and suitable complementary examinations in each case. No single nutritional measure is considered a gold standard to make nutritional diagnoses, so all the parameters of the nutritional assessment should be interpreted jointly.