Good Nutritional Research Articles

Barriers to Healthy Nutrition and Food Preparation Practices of Rural Families

The increased incidence of obesity is a major concern and intervention efforts to thwart this trend in low income minority populations continue. Good nutritional habits and behavioral practices are important for healthy weight management and maintenance. This project was conducted to gain insight the personal and contextual factors, and barriers, impacting food preparation and consumption in rural families'. Focus groups were conducted with 100 low income parents from rural communities to collect cultural perspectives and to identify barriers to healthy eating and food preparation practices. Statements were extracted and categorized from the focus group transcripts. Analysis of the data resulted in themes including general food purchases, preparation practices, and barriers to good nutrition. Food preparation was based primarily on family history and tradition; example ‘fired fish Fridays’, and ‘family member preferences’. Advertising and children in charge were discussed by most of the participants as being significant barriers to healthy eating. Surprisingly, many of the families dining out decisions were determined by daily specials offered at local fast food restaurants with little thought given to the nutritional value of meals.Funding for this project was made possible by 1P20MD0002295 from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Nutrition in War and Peace

Nutrition in War and Peace

Comparison of a Positive Deviant Inquiry with a Case-Control Study to Identify Factors Associated with Nutritional Status among Afghan Refugee Children in Pakistan

We compared the positive deviance (PD) approach in Save the Children's field guide with a case-control study (CCS) to identify behaviors associated with good nutritional status in Afghan refugee children 6 to 24 months of age in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan. The positive deviance inquiry (PDI), utilizing observations and interviews with mothers, fathers, and secondary caregivers in eight households, identified 12 feeding, caring, and health-seeking behaviors that were not widely practiced. The CCS, using the same selection criteria and content as the PDI with 50 mother-child pairs not in the PDI, yielded six significant associations with good nutritional status. Both the PDI and CCS detected feeding behaviors. The PDI alone identified complex phenomena (active feeding and maternal affect). The CCS alone confirmed the beneficial use of health services. The PD approach was an affordable, participatory, and valid method to identify feeding behaviors and other factors associated with good nutrition in this context.

Comparison of a Positive Deviant Inquiry with a Case-Control Study to Identify Factors Associated with Nutritional Status among Afghan Refugee Children in Pakistan

We compared the positive deviance (PD) approach in Save the Children's field guide with a case-control study (CCS) to identify behaviors associated with good nutritional status in Afghan refugee children 6 to 24 months of age in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan. The positive deviance inquiry (PDI), utilizing observations and interviews with mothers, fathers, and secondary caregivers in eight households, identified 12 feeding, caring, and health-seeking behaviors that were not widely practiced. The CCS, using the same selection criteria and content as the PDI with 50 mother-child pairs not in the PDI, yielded six significant associations with good nutritional status. Both the PDI and CCS detected feeding behaviors. The PDI alone identified complex phenomena (active feeding and maternal affect). The CCS alone confirmed the beneficial use of health services. The PD approach was an affordable, participatory, and valid method to identify feeding behaviors and other factors associated with good nutrition in this context.

The importance of patients' nutritional status in wound healing.

Good nutritional status is essential for wound healing to take place. Ignoring nutritional status may compromise the patient's ability to heal and subsequently prolong the stages of wound healing. Glucose provides the body with its power source for wound healing and this give energy for angiogenesis and the deposition of new tissue. Therefore, it is vital that the body receives adequate amounts of glucose to provide additional energy for wound healing. Fatty acids are essential for cell structure and have an important role in the inflammatory process. Wound healing is dependent on good nutrition and the presence of suitable polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet. Protein deficiency has been demonstrated to contribute to poor healing rates with reduced collagen formation and wound dehiscence. High exudate loss can result in a deficit of as much as 100g of protein in one day. This subsequently needs to be replaced with a high protein diet. Vitamins are also important in wound healing. Vitamin C deficiency contributes to fragile granulation tissue. There is a correlation between low serum albumin and body mass index (BMI) and the development of pressure ulcers. Also, low serum albumin and high Waterlow score have a positive association. The body automatically renews tissue while we are asleep but this does not mean that protein synthesis does not take place during our wakeful hours. Holistic assessment of nutrition and early detection of malnutrition are essential to promote effective wound healing.

Nutritional counseling in German general practices: a holistic approach

There is consensus among all German health professionals, including primary care physicians, that a holistic approach to healthy living begins with good nutrition. In northern Baden, 2100 general practitioners and internists were asked about their nutritional attitudes and preventive counseling in daily practice. Of responding physicians, 75% attributed great importance to prevention in general and 92% to nutrition in particular, 65% were providing special programs such as "How to treat diabetes by myself" or "Reducing hypertension by losing weight." Together with the highest German Committee of Physicians, the Lectures in General Medicine of the University of Heidelberg held a meeting on nutritional counseling in general practice. The 23 participants collected statements and information on the topics of education and counseling, support for improved teaching, and knowledge about nutritional attitudes and food. The Heidelberg agreements are as follows: 1) good nutritional counseling can reduce morbidity of important diseases, 2) nutritional counseling must be improved in general practice, 3) diagnosis-related written cases for systematic counseling should be available, 4) family doctors should cooperate with nutritionists, and 5) for quality assurance, the three-level strategy of primary care should be recommended because of the positive results of the Bruchsal-Oestringen program (reduction of obesity and hypercholesterolemia). General practice can become a place of improved nutritional counseling and education if the use of programs proven to be successful, additional exercise-based community approaches, and quality assurance can be facilitated. The outcome of practice-based studies may encourage primary care physicians to spend more time and training on nutrition guidance.

Nutritional requirements.

GOOD NUTRITIONAL health calls for an ade quate intake of all the nutrients and can only be achieved by consuming a wide variety of foods. Some of our modern 'diseases of affluence' are blamed on excessive intakes of fat and sugar and salt with inadequate dietary fibre, consequently current nut ritional advice is that everyone should change his diet accordingly. Since meat is a major contributor of satu rated fat to the British diet it is being recommended that leaner carcasses should be produced, that less meat should be eaten and replaced by poultry and fish, and that the fat content of meat products should be reduced.