Giovanna Turconi

Eating Habits and Behaviors, Physical Activity, Nutritional and Food Safety Knowledge and Beliefs in an Adolescent Italian Population

Objective: The present study evaluates eating habits and behaviors, and nutritional and food safety knowledge of a group of Italian adolescents. Design: A dietary questionnaire previously constructed and tested was self-administered during school time. Each section was evaluated using a separate score. Setting: The study was carried out as a part of a nutritional surveillance project in the Aosta Valley Region, Northern Italy. Subjects: Five hundred and thirty-two adolescent subjects, aged 15.4 ± 0.7 years, attending the second year of secondary schools participated in the study. Measures: We evaluated eating habits, physical activity, meaning of healthy and unhealthy dietary habits and food, self-efficacy, barriers affecting healthy food choices, nutritional and food safety, weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI). Results: Only 37.0% of the sample have satisfactory eating habits; 18.5% have a very active lifestyle; only 8.6% have quite good nutritional knowledge, 2.4% have satisfactory food safety knowledge, although 43.7% have good hygiene practices. Conclusions: The results point out unhealthy behaviors influencing adolescents’ eating habits and suggest which of these must be considered in order to develop tailored nutrition interventions, improving adolescents’ consciousness aimed at adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Dietary exposure estimates of twenty-one trace elements from a Total Diet Study carried out in Pavia, Northern Italy

The significant role of trace elements in human health is well documented. Trace elements are those compounds that need to be present in the human diet to maintain normal physiological functions. However, some microelements may become harmful at high levels of exposure, or, on the other hand, may give rise to malnutrition, when their exposure is too low. The aim of the present study was to provide a reliable estimate of the dietary exposure of twenty-one trace elements in a Northern Italian area. For this purpose, trace element analyses were undertaken on total diet samples collected from a university cafeteria in Pavia, Northern Italy. The average daily exposure for the adult people was calculated on the basis of food consumption frequency, portion size and trace element levels in foodstuffs. The mean exposure values satisfy the Italian RDA for all the essential trace elements, except for Fe exposure in females, and are well below the Provisional Tolerable Daily Intake for all the toxic compounds, showing that the probability of dietary exposure to health risks is overall small. As far as Fe exposure is concerned, a potential risk of anaemia in the female adult population should be considered, then studies aimed at evaluating the Fe nutritional status of adult Italian women should be addressed. In conclusion, while not excluding the possibility that the daily exposure determined in the present study may not be representative of the population as a whole, this study provides a good estimate of the Italian adult consumer exposure to twenty-one trace elements.

Nutrition knowledge and other determinants of food intake and lifestyle habits in children and young adolescents living in a rural area of Sicily, South Italy.

OBJECTIVE The study aimed to test the reliability of a nutrition questionnaire and to assess potential associations between nutrition knowledge, food consumption and lifestyle behaviours, controlling for sociodemographic factors. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Comprehensive school in the municipality of Butera, a rural area of Sicily, South Italy. SUBJECTS The survey was conducted between March and May 2010 on 445 students (4-16 years). RESULTS All constructs of the questionnaire had statistically significant Cronbachs a and Pearsons correlation coefficients, showing good internal consistency and temporal stability. After controlling for covariates, nutrition knowledge was positively associated with pasta/rice, fish, vegetable and fruit intakes, and negatively with sweets, snacks, fried foods and sugary drinks consumption. Moreover, students whose parents were in the highest educational and occupational categories reported eating significantly more fruits and vegetables and less meat, sweets, snacks, fried foods and sugary drinks. Students with higher nutrition knowledge scores were less likely to have two or more snacks daily and to spend more than 3 h in sedentary activities daily (OR=0.89, 95% CI 0.83, 0.97 and OR=0.92, 95% CI 0.86, 0.99, respectively). High parental education was associated with less frequent snacking and more frequent weekly physical activity, compared with lower categories, whereas high parental occupational category was associated with daily breakfast. CONCLUSIONS Improving nutrition knowledge in children and young adolescents may translate into educating them in good dietary habits. Moreover, nutrition intervention programmes should also involve parents to improve dietary quality and nutritional habits of the entire family.

Prevalence rate of Metabolic Syndrome in a group of light and heavy smokers.

BackgroundSmoking is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It iswidely accepted as a major risk factor for metabolic and cardiovasculardisease. Smoking reduces insulin sensitivity or induces insulin resistanceand enhances cardiovascular risk factors such as elevated plasmatriglycerides, decreases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and causeshyperglycemia. Several studies show that smoking is associated withmetabolic abnormalities and increases the risk of Metabolic Syndrome. Theaim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndromein a group of light and heavy smokers, wishing to give up smoking.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study all the enrolled subjects voluntary joined thesmoking cessation program held by the Respiratory Pathophysiology Unit ofSan Matteo Hospital, Pavia, Northern Italy.All the subjects enrolled were former smokers from at least 10 years and hadno cancer or psychiatric disorders, nor history of diabetes or CVD orcoronary artery disease and were not on any medication.ResultsThe subjects smoke 32.3 ± 16.5 mean Pack Years. Theprevalence of the metabolic syndrome is 52.1%: 57.3% and 44.9% for males andfemales respectively. Analysing the smoking habit influence on the IDFcriteria for the metabolic syndrome diagnosis we found that all thevariables show an increasing trend from light to heavy smokers, except forHDL cholesterol. A statistical significant correlation among Pack Years andwaist circumference (R = 0.48, p < 0.0001),Systolic Blood Pressure (R = 0.18, p < 0.05),fasting plasma glucose (R = 0.19, p < 0.005) andHDL cholesterol (R = −0.26, p = 0.0005) hasbeen observed.ConclusionsCurrently smoking subjects are at high risk of developing the metabolicsyndrome.Therapeutic lifestyle changes, including smoking cessation are a desirablePublic health goal and should successfully be implemented in clinicalpractice at any age.

Nutritional status, dietary habits, nutritional knowledge and self‐care assessment in a group of older adults attending community centres in Pavia, Northern Italy

BACKGROUND The population of industrialised countries is ageing as a consequence of an increase in life expectancy. As a result of the increasing ageing process, the assessment of nutritional status and dietary habits, as well as the assessment of self-care, is needed to plan selected actions aimed at improving the quality of life in the third and fourth life spans. METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out on a randomly selected sample of 200 healthy older adults (≥65 years old), attending community centres for older people in Pavia, Northern Italy. Ninety-two percent of the recruited subjects participated in the survey. Anthropometric measurements and the Mini Nutritional Assessment were performed. Dietary habits, nutritional knowledge and self-care were investigated using a questionnaire administered by two dietitians. RESULTS The majority of subjects were low socio-economic status and overweight [mean (SD) body mass index = 28.4 (4.3) kg/m(2) ], 12% were malnourished according to their Mini Nutritional Assessment score and the majority of the arm muscle circumference measurements were below the 10th percentile, predicting accelerated loss of lean mass, even in the healthy independently living older adults. Only 30% of the sample had adequate dietary habits, whereas the ability to self-care was good for the whole sample. CONCLUSIONS The unhealthy and unbalanced diet, frequently too rich in sugar and fats and low in protein intake, might explain being overweight and the loss of lean mass in the study subjects.

Lutein concentration in human milk during early lactation and its relationship with dietary lutein intake

OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to estimate the lutein concentration in human milk during early lactation and its relationship with dietary lutein intake measured through the administration of a short FFQ. DESIGN A cross-sectional study in which an FFQ was administered twice: on day 3 (T0) and day 30 (T1) postpartum; meanwhile two breast milk samples were collected. Maternal plasma samples were obtained at T0. The comparison of dietary lutein intakes and likewise lutein concentrations in breast milk at T0 and T1 were analysed with Students t test. Pearsons correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between dietary lutein intake and lutein concentration in milk and plasma, respectively, as well as the correlation between breast milk and plasma lutein concentrations at T0. SETTING Pavia, northern Italy. SUBJECTS Twenty-one pregnant women, age range 24-42 years, were recruited during their last trimester on a voluntary basis. RESULTS Both breast milk and plasma lutein concentrations were significantly correlated with dietary lutein intake (r = 0.86, P = 0.0001 and r = 0.94, P = 0.0001, respectively). There was a clear significant correlation between milk and plasma lutein concentrations (r = 0.87, P = 0.0001). Mature milk lutein concentration, although significantly reduced at T1 (P < 0.01), maintained a fairly high correlation with dietary lutein intake (r = 0.82, P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Even though milk lutein concentration decreased during early lactation, it remained significantly correlated with daily lutein intake. Therefore, while awaiting further research, dietary recommendations advising intake of fresh fruit and vegetables rich in lutein, throughout the whole duration of pregnancy and lactation, are extremely useful.

Assessment of dietary intake of polychlorinated biphenyls from a total diet study conducted in Pavia, Northern Italy

The diet is considered to be the main source of body burden of polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) in the general population. The most cost-effective and reliable way to estimate the dietary intake is based on total diet studies (TDSs). The aim of the present study was to provide a reliable estimate of recent average dietary intakes of PCBs in Northern Italy. Congener-specific analysis of PCBs was undertaken on total diet samples collected at the cafeteria of the University of Pavia. The average daily intake for total PCBs was calculated to be 0.26 µg/person day−1. The major contributor to PCB intake was accounted for by pooled samples of bread, cereals and potatoes, followed by the protein composite, and fruit and vegetables. Although diverse dietary habits and differences in sampling and analytical procedures make comparison between different studies difficult, the daily intake of PCBs in Northern Italy can be located in the lower part of the range for values reported in the literature.

Health nutrition practice in Italy

The increasing need for nutrition professionals is driven by growing public interest in nutrition and the potential of nutrition to prevent and treat a variety of diet-related conditions. Health promotion units and health services face great challenges in trying to address current and future population health issues. This review describes the present state of health nutrition practice in Italy, exploring the nature, role, and utility of training for nutrition professionals to meet the increasing burden of nutrition-related diseases. Evidence suggests that the public health nutrition workforce and infrastructures lack the necessary capacity to respond to national population needs regarding food and nutrition at many levels. This situation is aggravated by the growing prevalence of nutrition-related diseases as well as by the lack of adequate academic nutrition training. The public health nutrition infrastructures need to be enhanced, as do the education and training systems. Roles and functions in health nutrition practice need to be defined and discipline-specific competencies should be integrated.

Overweight and blood pressure: results from the examination of a selected group of adolescents in northern Italy.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to investigate blood pressure (BP) levels and their relationship with different indices of body fat in a group of adolescents, in order to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension and plan preventive and corrective strategies. DESIGN Cross-sectional study in primary care. SETTING All high schools in the Aosta Valley region, northern Italy. SUBJECTS Five hundred and thirty-two adolescents of both sexes, aged 15.4 (standard deviation 0.7) years. The following parameters were measured: body weight, body height, body mass index (BMI), four skinfold thicknesses, body fat mass, waist and hip circumferences and BP. RESULTS BMI data indicated a high prevalence of overweight subjects in both sexes, but higher in males, while the prevalence rate of obese adolescents was lower. Of the total, 11.8 % of subjects suffered from systolic hypertension, while 6.9 % suffered from diastolic hypertension. In linear correlation analysis, BMI and all adiposity indices, except waist:hip ratio, were found to be significantly associated (P ranging between 0.05 and 0.001) with both systolic BP and diastolic BP in both sexes, with r ranging between 0.152 and 0.359. Multiple regression analysis with the stepwise method showed BMI and body fat mass to have the strongest association (P < 0.001) with BP, with r ranging between 0.275 and 0.359. CONCLUSION Unless reversed, these conditions are worrying and predict the possible development of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. There is a pressing need to develop a comprehensive medical and nutrition plan, together with preventive and corrective strategies, in school programmes.

Dietary attitudes and diseases of comfort

ABSTRACTThis article reviews Western dietary attitudes and lifestyle choices by identifying the environmental, social and personal factors that determine said attitudes and choices. Environmental factors exert a major influence on, and complicate, dietary behavior, primarily by facilitating the consumption of meals away from home and by minimizing time dedicated to meal preparation and consumption. Social factors, from mass media to advertising and cultural traditions, also influence food intake, to an extent that is still underestimated. Ignorance of the real influence of environment and society on food choices could well blind consumers to the real significance of such choices. Accordingly, this review discusses differing aspects of emerging dietary trends and/or philosophies, and underlines their potentially harmful influence on health. Western countries are increasingly witnessing a dichotomy between the findings of nutritional science and the choices that dietary trends propose and impose. Coinciding with the obesity epidemic and the spread of other food-related diseases, this dichotomy calls for the development of effective preventive strategies.