To determine (i) the extent of malnutrition and the risk factors for severe malnutrition in Guinea Bissau, a post-conflict country experiencing long-term consequences of civil war; and (ii) the feasibility and effectiveness of a short-term intervention characterized by outpatient treatment with locally produced food for the treatment of severe malnutrition during the rainy season.

Social, clinical, nutritional information were collected for children reaching the paediatric outpatient clinic of the Hospital ‘Comunità di Sant’Egidio’ in Bissau, Guinea Bissau, from 1 July to 12 August 2003. Severely malnourished children (weight-for-age <−3sd) in poor health status were admitted for daily nutritional and pharmacological treatment until complete recovery. Social and health indicators were analysed to define risk factors of severe malnutrition.

In total, 2642 children were visited (age range: 1 month–17 years). Fever, cough and dermatological problems were the main reasons for access. Social data outlined poor housing conditions: 86·4 % used water from unprotected wells, 97·3 % did not have a bathroom at home, 78·2 % lived in a mud house. Weight-for-age was <−2sd in 23·0 % of the children and <−3sd in 10·3 %; thirty-seven children (1·4 %) were severely malnourished and admitted for day care. All recovered with a weight gain of 4·45 g/kg per d, none died or relapsed after 1 year. Severely malnourished children were mainly infants, part of large families and had illiterate mothers.

Short-term interventions performed in post-conflict countries during seasons of high burden of disease and malnutrition are feasible and successful at low cost; day-care treatment of severe malnutrition with locally produced food is an option that can be tested in other settings.

Explore the level of general nutrition knowledge and demographic influences of knowledge levels in a community sample.

A sample of volunteers, recruited from community centres in two suburbs of differing socio-economic status, in Adelaide, South Australia.

Two hundred and one people, aged 18 years and older, completed a modified and validated version of the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (113 items). The questionnaire was self-administered and completed under supervision.

Basic messages about eating more fruit, vegetables and fibre, and less fatty and salty foods were best understood. Confusion was evident with more detailed nutrition information. For example, 90 % of the people were aware of the recommendations to eat more fruit and vegetables, but 56 % and 62 % knew the recommended number of servings of fruit and vegetables, respectively. Descriptive statistics showed significant demographic variation in nutrition knowledge levels; multiple regression analysis confirmed the significant independent effects of gender, age, highest level of education and employment status on nutrition knowledge level (P < 0·01 level). The model accounted for 40 % of the variance in nutrition knowledge scores.

There is demographic variation in nutrition knowledge levels and a broad lack of awareness of some public health nutrition recommendations. Having a detailed understanding of the deficiencies in community knowledge should allow for future nutrition education programmes to target subgroups of the population or particular areas of nutrition education, to more efficiently improve knowledge and influence dietary behaviour.

To investigate the sociodemographic risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the Mediterranean population of Catalonia, Spain.

Data from the cross-sectional, population-based 2002–2003 Health Survey of Catalonia were analysed. The survey used a structured questionnaire to collect information on demographics, lifestyle and medical history. In a sub-sample of the original survey population anthropometrics and blood pressure were measured and blood samples were taken to determine HDL cholesterol, TAG and fasting glucose.

The analysis included the 1104 individuals aged 18–74 years from this sub-sample who had complete information on all variables necessary to define MetS using the National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria.

MetS prevalence was 28·5 % and 24·8 % according to IDF and ATP III criteria, respectively. MetS was significantly (P = 0·05) more common in males than females. MetS prevalence increased significantly (P<0·001) with age and degree of adiposity and as social class decreased. In general, MetS prevalence decreased as physical activity increased, which was significant (P = 0·0253) when applying ATP III criteria. After taking into account important confounders, MetS prevalence was significantly positively associated with male gender, age, BMI, physical inactivity and lower social class. Smoking status, marital status and working situation were not independently associated with MetS.

Age, sex, degree of adiposity, physical activity and social class are the sociodemographic risk factors independently associated with MetS in this Mediterranean population. Understanding which factors predict MetS is important considering likely increasing MetS trends, and is useful for determining public health strategies.

To analyse the associations of selected sociodemographic and lifestyle factors with the intake of antioxidant nutrients and consumption of their main dietary sources among pregnant women.

A population-based cohort study. Dietary intake during pregnancy was assessed by a self-administered FFQ one to three months after the delivery.

Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Project.

Subjects comprised 3730 women (70·1 % of those invited) who entered the DIPP Nutrition Study after delivering a child at increased genetic risk for type 1 diabetes at the university hospitals in Oulu and Tampere, Finland, 1997–2002.

All sociodemographic and lifestyle factors studied showed significant associations with antioxidant intake in multiple regression models adjusting for all other factors. Older and more educated women tended to have higher intake of most antioxidants. Parity was positively associated with retinol intake and inversely with vitamin C intake. Smokers had lower intakes of most antioxidants. Only the partner’s education was positively associated with high intake of fruits, whereas own education was positively associated with berry consumption. Vegetable consumption was positively associated with partner’s education except for women with academic education, who tended to have high vegetable consumption irrespective of partner’s education.

Young women, smokers and those with a low education are at risk for low antioxidant intake and non-optimal food choices during pregnancy.

The aim of the study was (i) to describe the needs of food-insecure households and their assessment of community programmes, as expressed by households and perceived by stakeholders; and (ii) to examine the similarities and differences between households’ and stakeholders’ perceptions in Quebec City area.

A semi-structured interview and sociodemographic questionnaire with fifty-five households and fifty-nine stakeholders (community workers, managers, donor agencies). The transcriptions were subjected to content analysis and inter-coder reliability measurement.

The respondents’ perceptions converge towards three main categories of needs: needs specific to food security, conditions necessary for achieving food security and related needs. There was agreement on the necessity of better financial resources, although the impact of financial resources alone may be uncertain in the opinion of some stakeholders. Different perceptions of needs and of their fulfilment by community programmes emerge between both groups. Despite households found positive aspects, they complained that quality of food and access were major needs neglected. Their account suggests overall a partial fit between the programmes and food security needs; even a combination of programmes (e.g. collective kitchens, purchasing groups, community gardens) was insufficient to adequately meet these needs. In contrast, most stakeholders perceived that the household’s primary need was a basic amount of food and that the households were satisfied with programmes.

It is urgent to evaluate the overall effect of community programmes on specific aspects of household food insecurity. The results emphasise that community programmes alone cannot bring about social change needed to prevent food insecurity.

To assess the impact of a food-based intervention on blood pressure (BP) in free-living South African men and women aged 50–75 years, with drug-treated mild-to-moderate hypertension.

A double-blind controlled trial was undertaken in eighty drug-treated mild-to-moderate hypertensive subjects randomised to an intervention (n 40) or control (n 40) arm. The intervention was 8-week provision of six food items with a modified cation content (salt replacement (SOLO™), bread, margarine, stock cubes, soup mix and a flavour enhancer) and 500 ml of maas (fermented milk)/d. The control diet provided the same quantities of the targeted foods but of standard commercial composition and 500 ml/d of artificially sweetened cooldrink.

The intervention effect estimated as the contrast of the within-diet group changes in BP from baseline to post-intervention was a significant reduction of 6·2 mmHg (95 % CI 0·9, 11·4) for systolic BP. The largest intervention effect in 24 h BP was for wake systolic BP with a reduction of 5·1 mmHg (95 % CI 0·4, 9·9). For wake diastolic BP the reduction was 2·7 mmHg (95 % CI −0·2, 5·6).

Modification of the cation content of a limited number of commonly consumed foods lowers BP by a clinically significant magnitude in treated South African hypertensive patients of low socio-economic status. The magnitude of BP reduction provides motivation for a public health strategy that could be adopted through lobbying of the food industry by consumer and health agencies.

The prevalence of obesity is increasing in transitional countries, but extensive data on some countries, such as Bulgaria, are still lacking. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, relative to gender and income, among adults in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Cross-sectional survey to collect data on diet, health, BMI and income using a brief questionnaire on diet and income. Data were analysed using analysis of covariance to determine differences within and between income and gender groups.

Sofia, Bulgaria.

Adults living in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria.

For adults 30–60 years of age, 35·1 % were overweight and 6·2 % were obese. The proportion of overweight and obesity was higher among men than women (44·8 % v. 32·4 % and 6·0 % v. 4·7 %, respectively). With respect to income, BMI decreased as income increased. For men, BMI was highest for the lowest and highest income groups, whereas for women lower income was associated with a higher BMI.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity appears to be an emerging problem in some sectors of Bulgarian society, based on our data from the largest urban area of the country. These data provide new information on the divergence in health and disease risk in a country that is still economically challenged and may be facing the nutrition transition.