Daily Menu Research Articles

Nutrition - risk factor in the patogenesis of modern diseases

Maintaining an alkaline acid balance is a perfect system for ensuring normal functioning of all biochemical processes in the body. PH balanced diet is essential for maintaining good health. Excessive consumption of acid - forming foods leads to autotoxication the body and is the basis for the development of multiple pathological processes. Objective : The study aims to establish the food presenting in the daily menu of the Bulgarians in the context of nutrition as a risk factor to health and a resource of disease prevention. Materials and Methods: The study used sociological and statistical methods. A direct anonymous questionnaire was conducted in the month of February 2016, which was completed by 60 people from the towns of Varna and Plovdiv. The data were processed with SPSS v.17.0. Results and discussion: A large proportion (94.90%) of respondents believe that food is a crucial factor for their health, but only 11.70% recognize its role as a `medicine` for the body. A total of 86.70 percent of respondents prefer the consumption of meat (pork and chicken) to raw fruits and vegetables. Alarming is the fact that the menu of 48.30% of respondents contains sausages and processed meats, and dairy products in 80%. Conclusion : In the menu of Bulgarians, the acid food is dominant, which is a precondition for the development of diseases such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis and many others.

Development, features and application of DIET ASSESS & PLAN (DAP) software in supporting public health nutrition research in Central Eastern European Countries (CEEC)

In order to meet growing public health nutrition challenges in Central Eastern European Countries (CEEC) and Balkan countries, development of a Research Infrastructure (RI) and availability of an effective nutrition surveillance system are a prerequisite. The building block of this RI is an innovative tool called DIET ASSESS & PLAN (DAP), which is a platform for standardized and harmonized food consumption collection, comprehensive dietary intake assessment and nutrition planning. Its unique structure enables application of national food composition databases (FCDBs) from the European food composition exchange platform (28 national FCDBs) developed by EuroFIR (http://www.eurofir.org/) and in addition allows communication with other tools. DAP is used for daily menu and/or long-term diet planning in diverse public sector settings, foods design/reformulation, food labelling, nutrient intake assessment and calculation of the dietary diversity indicator, Minimum Dietary Diversity-Women (MDD-W). As a validated tool in different national and international projects, DAP represents an important RI in public health nutrition epidemiology in the CEEC region.

POLA KONSUMSI FAST FOOD DAN SERAT SEBAGAI FAKTOR YANG BERHUBUNGAN DENGAN GIZI LEBIH PADA REMAJA DI KOTA SEMARANG

Aspects of the life and values ​​of oriental been much influenced by western culture and not the exception in the changing pattern of food consumption. Study in Semarang showed association between nutritional knowledge with the frequency of eating fast food in high school I. Of the 46 samples studied, 80.4% had good knowledge of nutrition and 41.3% of them frequently consume fast food with a frequency of 3-5 times in one month. The tendency of urban communities who like fast food because of its modern than traditional Indonesian food. Additionally fiber which is required for binding of cholesterol that comes from fast food to prevent it from flowing through the blood vessels in the amount consumed <25 grams per day. Respondents involved in this study were young at the age of 15 and 16 years of some 65 people. They are composed of 44.6% male and 55.4% female. Most respondents were teenagers underwight (46.2%) who have a BMI below 18.5 kg / m2. It also can be said most respondents are malnourished (58.5%), which consists of underweight, overweight, obese I and II obese compared with normal adolescents (41.5%). That is to say that a troubled teen with food consumption. Most respondents frequently consume fast food (95.4%). The chi square showed that fast food was not associated with overweight (p = 0.47). Since most adolescents consume fast food, either underweight, normal or obese. Most respondents do not consume enough fiber in the daily menu. Such a pattern is not appropriate and will be bad for the body.

Helping consumers with a front-of-pack label: Numbers or colors?: Experimental comparison between Guideline Daily Amount and Traffic Light in a diet-building exercise

This paper contributes to the debate on front-of-pack nutritional labels. Because of their dissimilar formats, Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) and Traffic Light (TL) may trigger different responses among consumers. While GDA is comprehensive and cognitively demanding, information is coarser and more salient in TL. We implement an incentivized laboratory experiment to assess the relative performance of GDA and TL labeling schemes in assisting consumers to build a healthy daily menu. Participants must compose a daily menu, choosing from a finite set of products, and are paid a fixed cash amount only if the menu satisfies pre-determined nutritional goals. Goals correspond to achieving the Guideline Daily Amount values of 1 (kcal), 4 (kcal, fat, sugar, salt) or 7 (kcal, fat, sugar, salt, fiber, vitamin C and calcium) different nutritional attributes. Three different labels, GDA, TL and a combined GDATL are provided. Results show that GDA performs better than TL when subjects do not face time constraints. When time is limited however, TL and GDA have identical efficacy with 4 nutritional goals, and TL even outperforms GDA with 7 nutritional goals.

Clinical survey done to find out the acceptability of modified and innovative neutropenic diet among hospitalized patients suffering with neutropenic and immune suppressed conditions

Background: Traditional neutropenic diets are normally quite monotous, unpalatable and unpleasant. Therefore following study was done to analyse and find out various methods and strategies to prevent food borne illnesses or infection in such patients. In following study the conventional neutropenic diet is modified in terms of content, preparation and service. Main approach towards patient was to maintain patient’s nutritional status, to enhance their appetite, to break monotony of diet . Methods: In the present case report, case studies of 25 patients were included who were provided safe and hygienic diet from the kitchen and were counselled by the dietetic department. They were also categorized as immune suppressed patients. At every step we checked the quality as well as the hygiene of food provided to the patients. Results: In the above study majority of the patients were quite active and supportive with the innovations and modifications done in their daily meal plan. With severe mucositis and lack of appetite still the tried to eat seeing the presentation and changes in daily menu. Through this study integrated approach and wholesomeness of quality has been emphasised in order to give the quality dietary services to the admitted patients . Conclusions: The relevance of the study in such areas is quite important and needed. The methodological step involved right from the procurement of the raw food till delivery of food to the patients is the most preferred form in order to achieve their satisfaction index. Therefore, such practice is on-going process.

English

Amongst scientific communities, use of dietary therapies, natural antioxidants from fruits & vegetables and herbs & spices has been rising. Epidemiological studies have exposed that frequent inclusion of natural antioxidants in daily menu is responsible to prevent lifestyle related malfunctions. However, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is an innate phenomenon that damages the integrity of biomolecules in case if balance between free radicals and antioxidants get devastated (Lim and Han, 2016). Polyphenols are the dominant group of phytoceutics present in plant based edibles such as fruits & vegetables, cereal and spices (Sardar et al., 2012). The active ingredients in these edibles are associated with health boosting and diseases preventive agents (Suleria et al., 2015). In this context, spices are worth considering for their antioxidant potential as corroborated by various efficacy studies with special reference to cinnamon, turmeric, cloves and anise (Kochhar, 2008; Suleria et al., 2013). Moreover, there are strong evidences supporting the presence of phytoceutics in spices and their positive health impact besides serving as culinary ingredients (Srinivasan, 2005; Aggarwal et al., 2009; Kunwar et al., 2011). Basically, spices are seasonings with aromatic properties and often incorporated in the traditional culinary (Suleria et al., 2015). Amongst, turmeric is one of the important herbs i.e. widely used as spice, culinary additive, medicine, condiment, dye and cosmetic (Lal, 2012). Turmeric (Curcuma longa), botanically belongs to Zingiberaceae family and extensively cultivated in China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other tropical regions of South Asia. In Pakistan, it is grown in Kasoor, Lahore, Okara, Bannu and Mirpurkhas; however, its per hectare production is low due to poor agricultural practices (Kiran et al., 2013). Turmeric rhizome have plethora of secondary metabolites. The principal bioactive moieties of turmeric rhizome are curcuminoids; complex of three analogues, curcumin I, II & III depending on structural configuration and essential oil. The compositional analysis showed variations from 3-5% in curcuminoids in addition to vitamin C, E and β-carotene (Balasasirekha and Lakshmi, 2012). Phytotherapies based on turmeric bioactives tends to improve the health of the individuals through the scavenging free radicals. Chemical analysis elucidated that α, β-unsaturated carbonyl groups of turmeric polyphenols i.e. curcumin are involved in neutralizing nucleophiles. As curcumin exhibits diketone structure, it tends to tautomerize between ketonic and enolic forms that are important for antioxidant potential (Manjunatha and Srinivasan, 2007; Kelkel et al., 2010). The antioxidant power of curcumin was attributed to its functional Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 53(3), xxx-xxx; 2016 ISSN (Print) 0552-9034, ISSN (Online) 2076-0906 DOI:10.21162/PAKJAS/16.5361 http://www.pakjas.com.pk

SHORT TERM EFFECTS ON LIPID PROFILE AND GLYCAEMIA OF A LOW-FAT VEGETARIAN DIET

vegetarian diets have been associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a more favourable lipid profile in vegetarians who follow these diets for a long term period in observational studies, but the short-term effects of vegetarian diets are less known. our objective was to analyze the short-term effects of a low-fat vegetarian diet on lipid profile and fasting glucose in previously non-vegetarian subjects from a Mediterranean population. we carried out a nutritional intervention study in 159 volunteers (42 men and 117 women). A whole lacto-vegetarian diet low in fat (20%) was administered. A full daily menu was provided for 15 days under strict interned conditions. Fasting blood samples were obtained before and after dietary intervention and total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides and fasting glucose were determined. Multivariate models for repeated measures were used. after dietary intervention, we detected statistically significant reductions in total cholesterol (-17.54 ± 37.14 mg/dl), LDL-C (-9.33 ± 34.29 mg/dl), HDL-C (-5.32 ± 12.16 mg/dl), and triglycerides (-18.92 ± 50.50 mg/dl). These reductions remained statistically significant after adjustment for sex and age. Significant weight changes were also detected. The additional adjustment for changes in body mass index (BMI) attenued the significance of the decrease in triglycerides (P = 0.067). a lacto-vegetarian diet low in fat, produces favourable and significant decreases in total cholesterol, LDL-C (independent of weight loss) and triglycerides (mediated by weight loss). This intervention also produced an expected decrease in HDL-C due to its reduced fat content.

Aspectos relacionados à alimentação em Instituições de Longa Permanência para Idosos em Minas Gerais

A inadequação nutricional em Instituições de Longa Permanência para Idosos tem sido crescentemente reconhecida como um campo de pesquisas prioritário em todo o mundo. O presente estudo, transversal e ecológico, caracteriza tais instituições de Minas Gerais, com foco nas diferenças segundo sua natureza, filantrópica ou privada, no que se refere à abordagem da questão alimentar. As análises descritivas (medianas, proporções e medidas de dispersão) foram realizadas com dados de Pesquisa da Fundação João Pinheiro. Dentre as 135 Instituições de Longa Permanência para Idosos, houve diferenças entre proporções, acima de 10% para as variáveis: a possibilidade de comer fora do horário, a definição prévia do cardápio semanal, a definição do cardápio diário pela nutricionista, a existência de nutricionistas contratados ou cedidos, se era servida alguma fruta no café da manhã, se era servido algum biscoito no café da manhã, se era servido algo mais no café da manhã e se era servido algo mais no almoço além de arroz, carne, legumes e verduras. Em todas essas situações, a proporção foi maior entre as Instituições de Longa Permanência para Idosos privadas. Os achados também sugerem baixo consumo de frutas nas instituições. Finalmente, conclui-se que as Instituições de Longa Permanência para Idosos filantrópicas estão em desvantagem em comparação às privadas.

The quality of nourishment in the population across the regions of the Republic of Serbia from 2011 to 2013

Objective. People who care about their health pay special attention of food choices, method of food preparation, as well as the amounts of food because such a diet provides a good health. The optimal diet involves intake of precise amounts of all food groups. The recommended ratio of foods in the diet is based on evidence and is available as a nutritional guide. The consequences of malnutrition are abnormal growth and development, as well as the occurrence of the disease. The objective of this paper is to point to quality of nutrition in different regions of Serbia from aspect of food groups ratio in the structure of daily meals, based on comparisons of identified and recommended average daily recommendation of each food group per capita. Methods. Relevant data were collected from The Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, analyzed by descriptive and statistical methods, and compared with recommendations given by food pyramid. The study includes years 2011, 2012 and 2013. Results. Diet quality in Serbia is unsatisfactory when it comes to distribution of certain foods in the daily meal, primarily a group of fat, sugar and sweets in significant excess, while fruits and vegetables are in deficit presence on the menu in population of Republic of Serbia. Conclusion. Based on these results, there is a clear need for population education about proper nutrition and changes in eating habits, in order to ensure increased intake of fruit and vegetables, and reducing the use of 'empty calories', solid fat and dried products in the daily menu. That would indirectly influence the reduction of disease induced by improper diet.

Calories on menus in Ireland – who's counting?

Calorie menu labelling (CML) can encourage people to purchase fewer calories. More males than females are affected by overweight and obesity in Ireland but males tend to regard calorie information as being ‘just for women’. This study describes the calorie content of foods purchased by males and females in a hospital staff/ visitor canteen serving breakfast and lunch, before and after the implementation of CML. Calories per portion of food served for breakfast (fixed daily menu) and lunch (variable daily menu, three week menu cycle), were calculated using MenuCal. Consumer food choices were recorded for both meals on five days (Monday-Friday) of the same menu cycle, pre-, and six weeks post-, CML implementation. The variation in calories purchased preand postCML was analysed according to gender, meal, day, service counter (hot [kcals tended to be higher] vs. cold) and food group as defined in Ireland’s healthy eating guidelines. Data was collected for 999 customers pre-, and 1005 customers post-, CML. Immediately following implementation of CML, and before impact was evaluated, the portion of baked potato on offer was reduced by a third due to customer demand. Evaluation of customer purchasing behaviour showed a significant decrease in median calories purchased after CML was implemented (599kcal vs. 530kcal, p < 0·05). As shown in the table this decrease was more evident in males.

Food Waste in a School Nutrition Program After Implementation of New Lunch Program Guidelines

To assess the amount of food waste by meal components according to the new National School Lunch Program guidelines among pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. For 5 consecutive school days in 1 elementary school, the research team collected school lunch trays and separated meal components into bins relative to each food or beverage appearing on the school's daily menu. Bins were weighed in grams and converted to ounces and cups at the end of each lunch period. The researchers examined 304 meals from 1 pre-kindergarten class and 5 kindergarten classes. Of 4,988 oz of food and beverages served, 2,261 oz (45.3%) were wasted during 1 full school week, totaling 141 lb. The greatest amount of food waste was generated from vegetables, the main entree, and milk, respectively. Strategies to reduce food waste in school lunch should be researched and implemented.

Dietary intake and nutritional status of children and adolescents with HIV‐infection (LB295)

Introduction: HIV‐infection is more severe in children and adolescents due to their growth and development.Objective: To evaluate the dietary intake and nutritional status of children and adolescents with HIV‐infection.Methods: This cross‐sectional study was performed with 12 children and adolescents with HIV‐infection living in na institution located in São Paulo, Brazil. The variables studied were dietary intake, by qualitative analysis of the daily menu offered by the institution, and nutritional status, obtained by the measurement of height and weight to subsequent classification according to the World Health Organization growth curves.Results: 50% of subjects were male and 50% were female. The menu offered by institution had low offer of fruits and high offer of sugars. Regarding nutritional staus, 83.3% of participants were categorized as eutrophic.Conclusion: The menu offered, despite the great offer of sugar, was adequate with respect to most of the food groups. The most children and adolescents showed eutrophic.

Inside the California food revolution: thirty years that changed our culinary consciousness

Preface Introduction 1. Thirty Years of Food Revolution: A Historical Overview 2. One Revolution, Two Ways: Northern versus Southern California 3. Defying Kitchen Convention: Self-Taught Chefs and Iconoclasts 4. Women Chefs and Innovation: The New Collaborative Kitchen 5. New Flavors: Upscale Ethnic, Eclectic, and Fusion Food 6. New Menus: The Daily Menu and the Story behind the Food 7. Restaurants Reimagined: Transformations in the Kitchen and Dining Room 8. A New World of Fresh Produce: Reviving the Farm-to-Table Connection 9. Custom Foods: Chefs Partner with Purveyors and Artisans 10. Merging the Worlds of Wine and Food: Common Cause Afterword: The Continuing Evolution of California Cuisine Acknowledgments Sources Index

Hindadest Tallinnas 15. sajandil [Prices in Tallinn during the fifteenth century

Although the Western historiography on prices and wages started in the nineteenth century already and is literally massive, very little has been made in that respect what concerns medieval Livonia. At the same time, the archive resources of Tallinn are rich and of great importance. The present paper is based mainly on the account book of Tallinn Black Heads preserved in State Archives of Hamburg which contains entries from 1418 to 1517. Various expenses for serving altars in St Catharine church which belonged to the confraternity of the Dominicans are listed annually. That gives us an opportunity to study the price dynamics for meat, fish, green peas and wax during almost the whole century. For a shorter period, the prices for beer and some other commodities also occur in the account book. Thus, what we have here is an daily menu of monks except bread. In order to complement the data additional prices for beer and rye from other sources are included. Speaking about prices the nominal and real ones have to be distinguished. Nominal prices are expressed in local currency – Riga schillings or marks whereas real prices have been reckoned in dividing the nominal prices to that of silver at the given year. It reveals that all the nominal prices rose very rapidly in the beginning of the fifteenth century. It can partly be explained by the quick debasement of the Riga mark in the late fourteenth – early fifteenth century as well as by the unsuccessful monetary reform of 1420s. In following years, the prices stabilized or were increasing only moderately, although the debasement continued. Real prices behaved a little bit differently. They rose remarkably in the 1420–40s, fell again and then, during the last decades of the fifteenth century, stabilized on the relatively low level of the early fifteenth century. The described dynamics seems to indicate certain demographic and monetary processes in Livonia. Presumably, it was the depopulation of peasants that initially brought along the decrease of the production in countryside and the corresponding increase of prices in towns. Subsequently, due to the pan-European silver famine in the mid-fifteenth century the real prices turned downwards. Livonia left the silver crises behind in 1480s, i.e. more or less simultaneously with the other Western countries. However, some economic inertia seems to have kept the prices relatively low also for some time hereafter. It means that the cost of living in Livonia which was tempestuously increasing during the initial decades of the fifteenth century decreased in the second half of the century at the same rate at least. Whether and to what extent it reflected the real living standard of the people is hard to say at the moment since there is too limited data about the wages in our disposal yet. Keywords: Middle Ages, Livonia, prices, wages, monetary history. Ivar Leimus (b. 1953) is a Senior Researcher in Estonian History Museum. Correspondence: Estonian History Museum, Pirita tee 56, 10127 Tallinn, Estonia. Email: ivar@ajaloomuuseum.ee

Deep Sections, a Guiding Path for Accurate Diagnosis in Histopathology - A Retrospective Study

Background: The role of pathologists is challenging, as it requires a creative mind to visualize three dimensional aspects of various tissue specimens which becomes their daily menu. Also, training the histotechnologists becomes part & parcel of their life as their skills in pampering the tissues decides the fate of the biopsy. Thus, this study emphasizes the signifi cance of deeper sections & training the technicians. Aim: To determine the number of cases for which deeper sections were required & to emphasize the importance of deep sections over superfi cial sections. Materials and Methods: A total of 250 cases were retrieved and reviewed from the fi les of our department of oral pathology MSRDC dated back from August 2011 to May 2013. The superfi cial and deeper sections of individual selected cases were analysed by two observers. Results: Of 250 cases evaluated, 25 (10%) cases were requested for deeper sections. Of 25 cases, 11/25 (44%) cases required deeper sections as superfi cial sections were undiagnostic, 13/25 (52%) cases also mandated deeper sections as superfi cial sections mislead the diagnosis and only 1/25 (4%) case exclusively revealed additional features on deeper sectioning. Conclusion: Deeper sections in some cases provide an array for accurate diagnosis. Though it is a little time consuming, if not in all cases, a few cases which require deeper sections should be considered without a second thought, as it can lead to a more appropriate diagnosis.

Selected dietary habits of academic youth – students of Sanok high school

Introduction. Nutrition and diet are significant elements of health behaviour determining health status. Dietary habits result from social and economical conditions, which are responsible for specific health behaviour and the choice of a particular dietary model. Normal health status is determined by 24-hour meal plan as well as quality and quantity of nutritional components. The Committee on Human Nutrition of Polish Academy of Science, the Institute of Food and Nutrition, and Polish Society of Nutritional Sciences elaborated dietary recommendations for general population in Poland. When acting according to these guidelines, the organism is provided with all necessary nutritional components and the most frequent dietary mistakes of young Poles can be avoided. Aim. Assessment of selected dietary habits of Grodek State Vocational High School in Sanok. Material and methods. The study included 194 students of Higher State Vocational School. The participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous. A survey questionnaire, developed by the author, assessed 24-hour plan of meals and their quality as well as students’ compliance with the principles of rational nutrition. Outcomes were analysed statistically using the chi-square test of independence. Conclusions. The majority of respondents had at least three or four meals a day. More than half of the study group declared they had breakfast every day, and for most students it was the most important meal in their daily menu. Every second student living in the city or country had a two-course dinner whereas significantly smaller number of rural inhabitants participating in the study declared so. The most frequent dietary mistakes included consuming sweets between meals, frequent drinking of coffee, excessive consumption of meat, especially by men, and a rare consumption of fish. Results. The determination of dietary mistakes among students allows correcting them by adequate preventive actions.

Impact of Transfer of Health and Nutrition Technologies on Empowerment of Rural Women in Developing Countries

The concept of consuming balanced diet is one of the several practices that the trainee households adopted. A special word of mention should be made all the wo men realized the need to consume greens in their diet. Foods rich in carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals are included in their daily menu stated by 94 per cent. Eighty eight per cent of them b ecame aware of nutritional deficiencies and adopted the respective remed ial measures followed by selection of low cost fruits and vegetables which are h ighly nutritional in value. Though various methods of cooking food are practiced by the selected wo men trainees 83 per cent adopted proper cooking methods to conserve nutrients. It was realized fro m the Table 1, that 67 per cent of them consume milk and milk products. Sixty six per cent of them have started preparing simple nutrit ious recipes for their fa mily followed by 60 per cent of them include ragi and kambu like millets in their daily food. Proper treat ment for diarrhoea was practised by 95 per cent of the women trainees. Supplementation at the age of 4-6 months is needed to promote adequate growth in children. Eighty seven per cent of the wo men trainees stated tha t they prepared supplementary food like ku zhandaiamudu-malted rag i, wheat, green gram dhal, ground nut and jiggery in the proportion of 3:2:1:2. It was absorbed from the table that 80 per cent of them adopting increased requirements of nutrients during pre gnant and lactating time fo llo wed by the importance of oral rehydration salt/therapy when the child suffers fro m diarrhea. Though the wo men trainees are aware of preparing ORS, they do not adopt it since their children are grown up.

Application of the Nutrition Tools under a Study in Order to Develop a Menu to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

: Eating is the basis for life and a permanent acting factor that determines metabolic process development and the food is the source and controller for the exchange process. Food is achieved by daily consumption of varying amounts of aliments or food products. A diet (menu) is a set of dishes which are obtained by grouping in a certain order the food consumed at one meal or one day. Planning diet is a scientific tool to make an “intelligent” diet addressed to various healthy or unhealthy people.&#x0D; The daily menu provides the necessary food for 24 hours, by categories of consumers, according to the body's physiological requirements. This study’s main aim was to detect improper eating habits or nutritional problems of individuals in order to planned (designing) and develop a menu to ensure a balanced and healthy diet. Initially we assessed the volunteers’ health by questionnaire, medical test and anthropometric data. Then with the help of nutritional programs we have developed for each volunteer a planned menu, ensuring the requirements for variety, seasonality and the strength of satiation, including scientific parameters (as GI, and inflammation factor).&#x0D; This study was conducted for one month, during which each volunteer was req

Potential effects of nutrient profiles on nutrient intakes in the Netherlands, Greece, Spain, USA, Israel, China and South-Africa.

IntroductionNutrient profiling is defined as the science of categorising foods based on their nutrient composition. The Choices Programme is a nutrient profile system with criteria that determine whether foods are eligible to carry a “healthier option” stamp. The Daily Menu Method which has been developed to evaluate these criteria is described here. This method simulates the change in calculated nutrient intakes which would be the result of consumers changing their diets in favour of food products that comply with the criteria.MethodsAverage intakes of energy, trans fatty acids (TFA), saturated fatty acids (SAFA), sodium, added sugar and fibre were derived from dietary intake studies and food consumption surveys of 7 countries: The Netherlands, Greece, Spain, the USA, Israel, China and South Africa. For each of the key nutrients, these average intakes were translated into three Typical Daily Menus per country. Average intakes based on these three menus were compared with average intakes from three Choices Daily Menus. To compose the Choices Menus, foods from the Typical Menus that did not comply with the Choices criteria were replaced with foods that did comply and are available on the market.ResultsComparison of intakes from the Choices Menus with the survey data showed that calculated intakes of energy, SAFA, TFA, sodium and added sugar were reduced. Fibre intakes were increased. The size of the effect differed per country.ConclusionThe Daily Menu Method is a useful means to predict the potential effects of nutrient profiles such as the Choices criteria, on daily nutrient intakes. The method can be applied internationally and confirms that the criteria of the Choices Programme are in line with the aim of the programme: to improve nutrient intakes in the direction of the recommendations.

Household Feeding Patterns and Feeding Habits: Effects on the Health of Ibibio Households in Uyo Urban, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Food is one of the basic needs of man, and has a strong positive relationship with health. This article examines the impact of food consumption patterns and habits on the health of Ibibio households in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. Employing a stratified random sampling framework, the study administered 368 questionnaires to respondents from both low-income and high-income households on equal proportion, and was complimented with four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Results indicate that the majority of households consumed foods classified under condiments/spices, stem/roots, vegetables, fat/oil, seafood, and poultry/meat on daily basis. Foods such as cereals, fruits, and bulbs were not common in their daily menu. Some respondents, especially from the low-income households, had to skip and/or forego meals for the benefit of the younger ones. The Linear Estimation System (LES) revealed deficiency in the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and blamed this on income poverty and lack of knowledge on the nutritional values of food. To obtain good health, there are prescribed food items that must be eaten in a scientifically required mix. The study therefore recommends nutritional and health education and the creation of awareness on the nutritional values of locally produced food items that would enhance nutritional and health status of the citizenry and food security.