Marie-Josee Mozin

Fluoride intake through consumption of tap water and bottled water in Belgium.

There is a tendency to align higher levels of fluoride in natural mineral water with the existing higher levels in tap water. Treatment of natural mineral waters could harm the preservation of their natural character. In this study fluoride intake through bottled and tap water consumption in the Belgian adult population was assessed, taking into account regional differences. A deterministic approach was used whereby consumption quantities of tap water and different brands of bottled water were linked with their respective fluoride concentrations. Data from the national food consumption survey (2004) were used and the Nusser methodology was applied to obtain usual intake estimates. Mean intake of fluoride through total water consumption in Flanders was 1.4±0.7 mg/day (97.5th percentile: 3.1 mg/day), while in the Walloon region it was on average 0.9±0.6 mg/day (97.5th percentile: 2.4 mg/day). The probability of exceeding the UL of 7 mg per day via a normal diet was estimated to be low. Consequently, there is no need to revise the existing norms, but higher fluoride concentrations should be more clearly indicated on the labels. Reliable data about total dietary fluoride intake in children, including intake of fluoride via tooth paste and food supplements, are needed.

Children Intolerant to Cow’s Milk May Suffer from Severe Insomnia

Brief nighttime awakenings are more frequent during the first 2 months of life than at later ages [1,2]. If one exludes the quiet awakenings that most often remain unnoticed by parents, and only consider nighttime crying, 78%–90% of infants sleep through the night at 9 months of age [1–6]. About 10% of children under 1 year of age present persistent settling difficulties and repeated awakenings during the night. The rate of sleep disruption then rises; regular wakings occur in up to 20% of children at 2 years of age [7, 8], and is still reported for 10% -15% of 3- and 4-year-old children [9, 10]. These sleep problems represent a challenge to both parents and pediatrician [2, 3,11–13]. Persistent difficulties in initiating and/or maintaining sleep have been attributed to a variety of causes. Adverse environmental conditions, such as excessive ambient noise or temperature [12, 13], psychological stress in the family [10, 15], mother’s depressed mood [6], inappropriate parental behavior [12, 13], constitutional temperament [2, 4,16-18], delayed effect of neonatal asphyxia [4, 7, 8], influence of breastfeeding [6,19], chronic physical discomfort, due to colics [13, 14], recurrent episodes of upper airway obstruction [20], otitis [12], or gastroesophageal reflux have all been reported as causes for the development of abnormal sleep homeostasis in children.