The role of very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets (VLCKD) in the long-term management of obesity is not well established. The present meta-analysis aimed to investigate whether individuals assigned to a VLCKD (i.e. a diet with no more than 50 g carbohydrates/d) achieve better long-term body weight and cardiovascular risk factor management when compared with individuals assigned to a conventional low-fat diet (LFD; i.e. a restricted-energy diet with less than 30 % of energy from fat). Through August 2012, MEDLINE, CENTRAL, ScienceDirect, Scopus, LILACS, SciELO, ClinicalTrials.gov and grey literature databases were searched, using no date or language restrictions, for randomised controlled trials that assigned adults to a VLCKD or a LFD, with 12 months or more of follow-up. The primary outcome was body weight. The secondary outcomes were TAG, HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glucose, insulin, HbA_1c and C-reactive protein levels. A total of thirteen studies met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. In the overall analysis, five outcomes revealed significant results. Individuals assigned to a VLCKD showed decreased body weight (weighted mean difference − 0·91 (95 % CI − 1·65, − 0·17) kg, 1415 patients), TAG (weighted mean difference − 0·18 (95 % CI − 0·27, − 0·08) mmol/l, 1258 patients) and diastolic blood pressure (weighted mean difference − 1·43 (95 % CI − 2·49, − 0·37) mmHg, 1298 patients) while increased HDL-C (weighted mean difference 0·09 (95 % CI 0·06, 0·12) mmol/l, 1257 patients) and LDL-C (weighted mean difference 0·12 (95 % CI 0·04, 0·2) mmol/l, 1255 patients). Individuals assigned to a VLCKD achieve a greater weight loss than those assigned to a LFD in the long term; hence, a VLCKD may be an alternative tool against obesity.

To identify, using a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies, which risk factors are significantly associated with neonatal mortality in Brazil, and to build a comprehensive national analysis on neonatal mortality. This review included observational studies on neonatal mortality, performed between 2000 and 2018 in Brazilian cities. The MEDLINE, Elsevier, Cochrane, LILACS, SciELO, and OpenGrey databases were used. For the qualitative analysis, the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used. For the quantitative analysis, the natural logarithms of the risk measures and their confidence intervals were used, as well as the DerSimonian and Laird method as a random effects model, and the Mantel-Haenszel model for heterogeneity estimation. A confidence level of 95% was considered. The qualitative analysis resulted in six studies of low and four studies of intermediate-low bias risk. The following exposure factors were significant: absence of partner, maternal age ≥35 years, male gender, multiple gestation, inadequate and absent prenatal care, presence of complications during pregnancy, congenital malformation in the assessed pregnancy, Apgar<7 at the fifth minute, low and very low birth weight, gestational age≤37 weeks, and caesarean delivery. The most significant risk factors presented in this study are modifiable, allowing aiming at a real reduction in neonatal deaths, which remain high in the country.