Pesticides play an essential role in modern agriculture, yet increasing evidence links their widespread use to neurotoxic effects that contribute to both neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. In recent years, new classes of pesticides such as neonicotinoids and pyrethroids have garnered attention due to their potential to disrupt neurodevelopment, even at low exposure levels. Furthermore, emerging evidence underscores the involvement of the gut–brain axis, neuroinflammation, and epigenetic modulation in pesticide-induced neuropathology. This review aims to synthesize these latest advancements while highlighting underexplored mechanisms, thereby offering a comprehensive and current perspective on pesticide-related neurotoxicity. Data from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) indicate that several food products include residues of pesticides recognized for their neurotoxic properties. Although environmental exposure levels are lower than those in occupational contexts, the magnitude and persistence of food-based exposure demand thorough evaluation. This review integrates evidence coming from epidemiological, in vivo and in vitro investigations, emphasizing the correlations between pesticide exposure and conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and cognitive deficits in children. Neurodevelopmental toxicity is especially alarming since symptoms may manifest subtly and with a delayed onset after early-life exposure, indicating the significant neurotoxic potential of pesticide residues and emphasizing the need for their careful evaluation in food safety assessments. Improved regulatory procedures and public health efforts are essential to reducing long-term brain damage.

The developmental origins of adult disease theory support the concept that undernourished fetuses are at risk of developing metabolic syndrome due to the energy-saving ‘Thrifty Phenotype’. This metabolic plasticity represents an evolutionary adaptation that allows individuals to resist the intense pressure caused by cyclically recurring periods of nutritional deprivation. A comprehensive review was conducted following an extensive literature search in the PubMed/Medline and EMBASE databases concerning reports on fetal/intrauterine growth restriction and its metabolic-related long-term outcomes. We only included articles written in English that were published before 1 July 2024. There are several underlying mechanisms and metabolic and endocrine adjustments shaped by the perinatal environment, and they all contribute to progression towards adult disease. From in utero malnutrition or other insults during the fetal period to fetal programing and postnatal catch-up growth, it is difficult to identify the exact moment when this adaptative phenomenon meant to assure fetal survival and to set children on their own physiological growth curves lose its beneficial effect, establishing the trajectory to obesity, insulin resistance, and other hallmarks of metabolic syndrome. With clinical correspondence to an altered body mass, composition, and eating behaviors, it is evident that the metabolic complications linked to FGR are intricate and arise from disturbances in several pathways and organs, but the underlying processes responsible for the long-term consequences are just starting to be understood. The lack of continuity in perinatal-to-pediatric FGR research sets the challenge of exploring new directions in future scientific opportunities. These will hopefully represent a cornerstone in the management of FGR-related metabolic disorders in children, preventing these disorders from evolving into adult disease.

The increased consumption of fruit and vegetables is essential for moving towards a healthier and more sustainable diet. Vegetarian diets are gaining in popularity due to their environmental and health implications; however, there is a need for additional research investigating pesticide residues in these foods. It is increasingly recognized that the global food system must prioritize nutritional quality, health, and environmental impact over quantity. Food contaminants, including pesticides, mycotoxins, and heavy metals, pose a substantial threat to food safety due to their persistent nature and harmful effects. We conducted a literature search utilizing four distinct databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, NIH, ScienceDirect) and several combinations of keywords (pesticides, food, vegetarian diet, toxicity, sustainable, removal). Consequently, we selected recent and relevant studies for the proposed topic. We have incorporated articles that discuss pesticide residues in food items, particularly in plant-based products. This study rigorously analyzes the harmful environmental impacts of pesticides and ultimately provides sustainable solutions for their elimination or reduction, along with environmentally sound alternatives to pesticide use. This study concludes that the transition towards sustainable agriculture and food production is essential for reducing pesticide residues in food, thereby protecting human health, wildlife populations, and the environment. This paper argues for the urgent need to transform global food systems to prioritize health and sustainability.

Despite the early recognition of obesity as an epidemic with global implications, research on its pathogenesis and therapeutic approach is still on the rise. The literature of the 21st century records an excess weight found in up to 1/3 of children. Both the determining factors and its systemic effects are multiple and variable. Regarding its involvement in the potentiation of cardio-vascular, pulmonary, digestive, metabolic, neuro-psychic or even dermatological diseases, the information is already broadly outlined. The connection between the underlying disease and the associated comorbidities seems to be partially attributable to oxidative stress. In addition to these, and in the light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the role played by oxidative stress in the induction, maintenance and potentiation of chronic inflammation among overweight children and adolescents becomes a topic of interest again. Thus, this review’s purpose is to update general data on obesity, with an emphasis on the physiopathological mechanisms that underlie it and involve oxidative stress. At the same time, we briefly present the latest principles of pathology diagnosis and management. Among these, we will mainly emphasize the impact played by endogenous and exogenous antioxidants in the evolutionary course of pediatric obesity. In order to achieve our objectives, we will refer to the most recent studies published in the specialized literature.

The increasing use of pesticides in agricultural products raises concerns over food safety. Furthermore, uncontrolled pesticide usage on food products can lead to residual levels that exceed the maximum residue limits (MRLs) and are potentially harmful to human health. Long-term consumption of food contaminated with pesticides can contribute to the buildup of toxic substances in the body, which has negative health effects. Advanced analytical techniques are essential to ensure the accurate and effective monitoring of pesticide residues. To ensure adherence to legal requirements, it is essential to employ rapid and accurate methods for detecting these contaminants. This review outlines current advancements (2020–2025) in the assessment of pesticide residues in diverse food matrices, including sample preparation procedures and detection methods. This review provides a standardized comparative analysis of analytical methods for detecting pesticide residues, emphasizing their advantages and limitations, sensitivity, costs, and applicability to complex food matrices, while evaluating its findings through the One Health approach, linking residue evaluation to cumulative exposure and regulatory standards. This study provides practical guidelines for laboratories and regulators while delineating research requirements for more environmentally friendly, rapid, and sensitive residue analysis in accordance with One Health-oriented risk assessment.

Within the pediatric population, bronchial asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic respiratory system diseases. The number of exacerbations, severity, and duration of symptoms all have a significant impact on children’s life quality. In the last decades, the prevention and management strategies of this pathology have focused on maintaining or even increasing the pulmonary function to maximum levels in early childhood, as it has been demonstrated that functional deficits at this level occurring before school age cause pathological manifestations later, in adulthood. The epithelium of the airways and implicitly that of the lung is the first barrier against the lesions caused by pro-oxidative factors. Both oxidative and antioxidative factors can be of endogenous origin (produced by the body) or exogenous (from the environment or diet). Good functioning of antioxidant defense mechanisms from the molecular level to the tissue level, and a balance between pro-oxidative factors and anti- oxidative factors, influence the occurrence of compensatory mechanisms at the level of the respiratory epithelium, causing the delay of local responses to the stress induced by chronic inflammation (bronchial remodeling, thickening of airway smooth muscles, bronchoconstriction, bronchial hyper-reactivity). These mechanisms underlie the pathophysiological changes in asthma. Numerous studies carried out among the pediatric population inclusively have demonstrated the effectiveness of antioxidants in the prophylaxis, slowing down and preventing the progression of this pathology. This review complements the scientific articles, aiming at emphasizing the complexity of oxidative physio-pathological pathways and their importance in the occurrence, development, and therapeutic response in asthma, providing a good understanding of the relationship between oxidative and antioxidative factors, and being a source of future therapeutic strategies.