To assess knowledge of nutrition and physical activity; examine associations of knowledge with sociodemographic and anthropometric parameters; and evaluate the relationship between knowledge and practice in adults.

In a cross-sectional design, 720 adults were selected using random sampling. Data on anthropometry, body fat, diet, physical activity, and nutrition and physical activity knowledge were collected using standardized questionnaires. Tertiles were used to categorize nutrition knowledge (NK) and physical activity knowledge (PK).

Subjects selected through routine health checks from hospitals, housing societies and residential areas.

A total of 720 adults (361 men) aged 35–50 years participated.

Mean age was 42·7 (sd 9·4) years and mean BMI was 25·8 (sd 5·0) kg/m2. Mean energy intake was 64 %, protein was 68 % and fat was 144 % of the RDA. Mean NK and PK scores were 10·2 (sd 2·9) and 6·5 (sd 1·7), respectively, and were similar across genders (P>0·05). Individuals with higher education exhibited significantly higher NK and PK. Individuals with high fat had significantly higher NK and PK (P<0·05) than participants with normal fat percentage. Overweight and obese individuals had significantly higher PK (P<0·05). Multivariate regression modelling indicated that NK was positively associated with dietary intakes of leafy vegetables, salads and sprouts but negatively associated with fruit intake. BMI, television and reading time were positively associated with PK, even after adjusting for sociodemographic status.

There is a need for increased efforts towards developing health education programmes focusing on transforming nutrition and physical activity knowledge into practice and adherence to guidelines.

To examine level of participation and satisfaction with the Healthy Savings Program (HSP), a programme that provides price discounts on healthier foods.

For Study 1, a survey was distributed to a random sample of adults who were invited to participate in a version of the HSP that provided a discount for the purchase of fresh produce and discounts on other healthier foods. In Study 2, interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of adults invited to participate in a version of the HSP that provided price discounts on specific products only (no fresh produce discount).

The HSP is provided to all employer-based insurance plan members of a large health plan. Employers can choose to enhance the version of the HSP that their employees receive by paying for a weekly discount on fresh produce.

Employees in employer groups that received the enhanced HSP (Study 1) and employees in an employer group (Study 2) that received the standard HSP.

Among survey respondents in Study 1, 69·3 % reported using the HSP card. Most were satisfied with the fresh produce discount and ease of use of the HSP card. Satisfaction was lower for selection of participating stores, amounts of discounts and selection of discounted products. In Study 2, barriers to the use of the HSP card cited included the limited number of participating stores and the limited selection of discounted products.

Satisfaction with some elements of the HSP was high while other elements may need improvement to increase programme use.

The goals of the present study were to: (i) describe the implementation of a programme to improve the restaurant food environment in a rural community; and (ii) describe how practices changed in community restaurants.

The intervention included a baseline assessment of all community restaurants (n 32) and a report on how they could increase the availability and promotion of healthful options. The assessment focused on sixteen healthy practices (HP) derived from the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Restaurants. Restaurants were invited to participate at gold, silver or bronze levels based on the number of HP attained. Participating restaurants received dietitian consultation, staff training and promotion of the restaurant. All community restaurants were reassessed 1·5 years after baseline.

The restaurant programme was part of the Heart of New Ulm Project, a community-based CVD prevention programme in a rural community.

All community restaurants (n 32) were included in the study.

Over one-third (38 %) of community restaurants participated in the programme. At baseline, 22 % achieved at least a bronze level. This increased to 38 % at follow-up with most of the improvement among participating restaurants that were independently owned. Across all restaurants in the community, the HP showing the most improvement included availability of non-fried vegetables (63–84 %), fruits (41–53 %), smaller portions and whole grains.

Findings demonstrate successes and challenges of improving healthful food availability and promotion in a community-wide restaurant programme.

Americans consume Na in excess of daily recommendations. Most dietary Na comes from packaged foods, and bread is a major contributor. In the UK, national Na reduction strategies contributed to lower Na levels in packaged foods and lower population Na intake. Similar initiatives are emerging in the USA and require surveillance to assess effectiveness. We aimed to examine Na levels in bread products in the USA and compare levels with similar UK products.

Na data for bread products were obtained from the US Label Insight Open Data Initiative (n 4466) and the FoodSwitch UK database (n 1651). Mean, median and range of Na content, and proportion of products meeting Na targets established by the National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI) and the UK Department of Health (DH) were calculated overall, by bread type and by country.

Mean (sd) Na content in bread was 455 (170) mg/100 g in the USA and 406 (179) mg/100 g in the UK. In both countries, savoury bread had the highest mean Na (USA=584 mg/100 g, UK=543 mg/100 g) and fruit bread the lowest mean Na (USA=345 mg/100 g, UK=277 mg/100 g). Na content of US bread products was 12 % higher than in the UK, with 21 % of US bread products and 31 % of UK bread products meeting the NSRI and DH targets, respectively.

US bread products have, on average, 12 % more Na than similar products in the UK. Variation in Na content within product categories, and between countries, suggests the feasibility of manufacturing products with lower Na to lower dietary Na intake.

To evaluate the nutrient quality of breads and breakfast cereals identified using the wholegrain definition of ≤10:1 carbohydrate:fibre ratio.

Following a cross-sectional study design, nutritional information was systematically gathered from food labels of breads and breakfast cereals that met the ≤10:1 carbohydrate:fibre criterion. The median nutrient content was compared with the UK Food Standards Agency’s nutrient profiling standards and the associations between carbohydrate:fibre ratio and other nutrients were analysed. Subgroup analyses were undertaken for products with and without fruit, nuts and/or seeds.

Products from four major supermarket stores in the UK.

Breads (n 162) and breakfast cereals (n 266).

Breads which met the ≤10:1 criterion typically contained medium fat, low saturated fat, low sugar and medium Na. Breakfast cereals typically contained medium fat, low saturated fat, high sugar and low Na. In both groups, as the carbohydrate:fibre ratio decreased, fat content increased (bread: P=0·029, r=−0·171; breakfast cereal: P=0·033, r=−0·131) and, in breakfast cereals, as the ratio increased, sugar content increased (P<0·0005, r=0·381). Breakfast cereals with fruit, nuts and/or seeds contained, per 100 g, more energy (P=0·002), fat, saturated fat and sugar (all P<0·0005), while seeded breads had more energy, fat and saturated fat (all P<0·0005).

Overall, breads and breakfast cereals meeting the ≤10:1 criterion have good nutritional quality, suggesting that the criterion could be useful in public health and/or food labelling. The utility of applying the ≤10:1 criterion to products containing fruit, nuts and/or seeds is less clear and requires further research.

Adolescents’ snacking habits are driven by both explicit reflective and implicit hedonic processes. Hedonic pathways and differences in sensitivity to food rewards in addition to reflective determinants should be considered. The present study evaluated the feasibility and impact of a mobile phone-delivered intervention, incorporating explicit reflective and implicit rewarding strategies, on adolescents’ snack intake.

Adolescents (n 988; mean age 14·9 (sd 0·70) years, 59·4 % boys) completed a non-randomized clustered controlled trial. Adolescents (n 416) in the intervention schools (n 3) were provided with the intervention application for four weeks, while adolescents (n 572) in the control schools (n 3) followed the regular curriculum. Outcomes were differences in healthy snacking ratio and key determinants (awareness, intention, attitude, self-efficacy, habits and knowledge). Process evaluation data were collected via questionnaires and through log data of the app.

No significant positive intervention effects on the healthy snack ratio (b=−3·52 (se 1·82), P>0·05) or targeted determinants were observed. Only 268 adolescents started using the app, of whom only fifty-five (20·5 %) still logged in after four weeks. Within the group of users, higher exposure to the app was not significantly associated with positive intervention effects. App satisfaction ratings were low in both high and low user groups. Moderation analyses revealed small positive intervention effects on the healthy snack ratio in high compared with low reward-sensitive boys (b=1·38 (se 0·59), P<0·05).

The intervention was not able to improve adolescents’ snack choices, due to low reach and exposure. Future interventions should consider multicomponent interventions, teacher engagement, exhaustive participatory app content development and tailoring.

To estimate the impact of reducing saturated fat, trans-fat, salt and added sugar from processed culinary ingredients and ultra-processed foods in the Brazilian diet on preventing cardiovascular deaths by 2030.

A modelling study.

Data were obtained from the Brazilian Household Budget Survey 2008/2009. All food items purchased were categorized into food groups according to the NOVA classification. We estimated the energy and nutrient profile of foods then used the IMPACT Food Policy model to estimate the reduction in deaths from CVD up to 2030 in three scenarios. In Scenario A, we assumed that the intakes of saturated fat, trans-fat, salt and added sugar from ultra-processed foods and processed culinary ingredients were reduced by a quarter. In Scenario B, we assumed a reduction of 50 % of the same nutrients in ultra-processed foods and processed culinary ingredients. In Scenario C, we reduced the same nutrients in ultra-processed foods by 75 % and in processed culinary ingredients by 50 %.

Approximately 390 400 CVD deaths might be expected in 2030 if current mortality patterns persist. Under Scenarios A, B and C, CVD mortality can be reduced by 5·5, 11·0 and 29·0 %, respectively. The main impact is on stroke with a reduction of approximately 6·0, 12·6 and 32·0 %, respectively.

Substantial potential exists for reducing the CVD burden through overall improvements of the Brazilian diet. This might require reducing the penetration of ultra-processed foods by means of regulatory policies, as well as improving the access to and promotion of fresh and minimally processed foods.

The current short communication aimed to provide a new conceptualisation of the policy drivers of inequities in healthy eating and to make a call to action to begin populating this framework with evidence of actions that can be taken to reduce the inequities in healthy eating.

The Healthy and Equitable Eating (HE2) Framework derives from a systems-based analytical approach involving expert workshops.

Australia.

Academics, government officials and non-government organisations in Australia.

The HE2 Framework extends previous conceptualisations of policy responses to healthy eating to include the social determinants of healthy eating and its social distribution, encompassing policy areas including housing, social protection, employment, education, transport, urban planning, plus the food system and environment.

As the burden of non-communicable diseases continues to grow globally, it is important that governments, practitioners and researchers focus attention on the development and implementation of policies beyond the food system and environment that can address the social determinants of inequities in healthy eating.

How food is produced and consumed has consequences for ecosystems, such as resource use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission among others. The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) was proposed as a sustainable dietary model, due to its nutritional, environmental, economic and sociocultural dimensions. However, further evidence is needed. Thus, our objective was to evaluate the impact on resource (land, water and energy) use and GHG emission of better adherence to the MedDiet in a Mediterranean Spanish cohort.

We analysed the dietary pattern of participants through a validated FFQ. The outcomes were land use, water and energy consumption and GHG emission according to MedDiet adherence. The specific environmental footprints of food item production and processing were obtained from different available life-cycle assessments.

Spanish university graduates.

Participants (n 20 363) in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) cohort.

Better adherence to the MedDiet was associated with lower land use (−0·71 (95 % CI −0·76, −0·66) m2/d), water consumption (−58·88 (95 % CI −90·12, −27·64) litres/d), energy consumption (−0·86 (95 % CI −1·01, −0·70) MJ/d) and GHG emission (−0·73 (95 % CI −0·78, −0·69) kg CO2e/d). A statistically significant linear trend (P<0·05) was observed in all these analyses.

In this Mediterranean cohort, better adherence to the MedDiet was an eco-friendly option according to resource consumption and GHG emission.

To examine the impact of a nutrition-sensitive social protection intervention on mothers’ knowledge of Fe deficiency, awareness of multiple-micronutrient powders (MMP) and the consumption of MMP and other Fe supplements by their children aged 6–59 months.

Two randomized controlled trials with treatment arms including cash transfers, food transfers, cash and food transfers, cash and nutrition behaviour change communication (BCC), and food and nutrition BCC were implemented over two years. Both included a control group that received no transfer or BCC. Transfer recipients were mothers living in poor households with at least one child aged less than 2 years at baseline. Probit models were used to analyse endline data.

Rural areas in north-west and south Bangladesh.

Mothers (n 4840) and children 6–59 months (n 4840).

A transfer accompanied by nutrition BCC increased the share of mothers with knowledge of Fe deficiency (11·9 and 9·2 percentage points for North and South, respectively, P≤0·01), maternal awareness of MMP (29·0 and 22·2 percentage points, P≤0·01), the likelihood that their children 6–59 months had ever consumed MMP (32 and 11·9 percentage points, P≤0·01), consumed MMP in the preceding week (16·9 and 3·9 percentage points, P≤0·01) and consumed either MMP or an Fe supplement in the preceding week (22·3 and 7·1 percentage points, P≤0·01). Improvements were statistically significant relative to groups that received a transfer only.

Nutrition-sensitive social protection (transfers with BCC added) may be a promising way to advance progress on micronutrient deficiencies.

With obesity being a major public health epidemic, dietitians are charged with the difficult task to assist clients in modifying their behaviours. Since there are inconsistent data about dietitians’ beliefs, attitudes and practices concerning obesity and little is known concerning differences in public and private practice, we conducted the present study to address those gaps.

Semi-structured interviews analysed according to thematic analysis procedures.

Public primary-care and private settings.

Seventeen Portuguese registered dietitians working in public primary-care (n 10) and private settings (n 7).

Regardless of work context, ‘persistence of efforts’ emerged as the main characteristic of dietitians’ action. Besides holding negative attitudes towards obese patients, their practices are not negatively influenced. They perceive themselves as active agents in promoting lifestyle changes, offering as many management strategies as possible to empower patients, feeling positive about the accomplishment of a successful weight loss, believing in their own efficacy and competency in helping patients. However, differences in reimbursement, work environment, perceived barriers, patient characteristics and availability of resources seem to contribute to differences in persistence according to the setting in which dietitians are working, evidenced by an increase of efforts and engagement in private practice and a decrease in public primary-care practice.

Portuguese dietitians present a positive mindset and actions about obesity treatment outcomes; however, education in behaviour change strategies should be improved. The public health system requires reorganization to enhance effective obesity management delivery. Motivation driving dietitians’ work in private settings should be addressed.

To develop a descriptive account of parents’ experiences of written feedback from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), based on primary data collected from semi-structured focus groups.

Four focus groups were held with a purposive sample of parents who had recently received written weight feedback from the NCMP in one local authority in England. Thematic data analysis was undertaken to develop a narrative of emergent themes regarding parents’ experiences and the social influences shaping this.

The population of interest was parents of 4- and 5-year-olds who had recently received written feedback from the NCMP. Eighteen parents participated and represented the full spectrum of categories provided in NCMP feedback (under-, healthy, over- and very overweight).

Participants often rejected overweight feedback as lacking in credibility and considered NCMP communication to be targeting parents other than themselves. Family and peers collaborated in the dismissal of overweight feedback, further legitimising participants’ decision to disregard their child’s overweight categorisation.

Our study provides an insight into parents’ experiences of NCMP feedback, including how they relate to and understand that experience within a social context. By doing so, it makes a unique contribution to the existing body of evidence. Recommendations for practice based on the findings include further efforts to raise parents’ and communities’ awareness of childhood obesity, risks associated with childhood excess weight and obesity prevalence as a mainstream issue.

Public health messages to reduce Hg exposure for pregnant women have focused exclusively on advice on fish consumption to limit Hg exposure, with little account being taken of the positive contribution of fish to nutritional quality. The aim of the present review was to compare and contrast the content and presentation of national guidelines on fish consumption in pregnancy, and comment on their evidence base and impact on consumption.

We searched for national and international guidelines on fish consumption in pregnancy using Internet search strategies. The detailed content and style of presentation of the guidelines were compared. The evidence base for the guidelines, and evidence for the impact of the guidelines on fish consumption levels, were assessed.

We identified nineteen national guidelines and three international guidelines. There was great variation in the content, complexity and presentation style. The guidelines were based largely on the Hg content of fish with far less consideration being given to the positive beneficial effects of nutrients provided by fish. The complexity of the guidelines may lead to pregnant women reducing their fish intake, or not eating fish at all.

Guidelines on fish consumption in pregnancy should take the beneficial effects of fish into account. Guidelines need to be clear and memorable, and appropriately disseminated, to achieve impact. Guidelines could include visual rather than narrative content. Use of technology, for example apps, could enable women to record their fish consumption in real time and log compliance with guidance over a week or other time period.

The main aim of the present study was to examine the association between the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®) and academic performance in children.

School-based cross-sectional study. The DII was calculated based on dietary information obtained from a single 24h dietary recall. Academic performance was assessed by school records provided by the administrative services (i.e. Maths and Language).

Porto area (Portugal).

A total of 524 children (277 girls) aged 11·56 (sd 0·86) years.

The DII was associated with academic indicators (standardized β values ranging from −0·121 to −0·087; all P<0·05). Significant differences were found between quartiles of the DII (P<0·05); children in the fourth quartile had significantly lower scores in all academic indicators compared with children in the first quartile (score differences ranging from −0·377 to −0·292) after adjustment for potential confounders.

The inflammatory potential of diet may negatively influence academic performance. Children should avoid the consumption of a pro-inflammatory diet and adhere to a more anti-inflammatory diet to achieve academic benefits.