Background: In Chile, the consumption of legumes at least two times per week is promoted. However, there is a low consumption of legumes. Therefore, our objective is to describe legume consumption in two different seasonal periods. Methods: Serial cross-sectional study: surveys were distributed during summer and winter using different digital platforms. Frequency of consumption, purchase access, and preparation type were investigated. Results: In total, 3280 adults were surveyed in summer and 3339 in winter. The mean age was 33 years. Totals of 97.7% and 97.5% of the population reported consuming legumes in both periods; consumption increased to 3 times per week during winter. In both periods, the main reason for their preference is that they are delicious and nutritious, followed by their use as a meat substitute; the main barriers to their consumption in both periods are that they are expensive (29% in summer and 27.8% in winter) and difficult to prepare. Conclusion: A good consumption of legumes was observed, but with a higher frequency of consumption during winter, with an intake of ≥1 per day; additionally, differences were found in purchases according to season, although no differences were found in the method of preparation.
Los Cuestionarios de Frecuencia de Consumo de Alimentos son herramientas de investigación ampliamente utilizadas a nivel poblacional para evaluar la ingesta alimentaria, especialmente en niños. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron construir y determinar la validez relativa del Cuestionario de Frecuencia de Consumo de Alimentos (CFCA) para la evaluación de la ingesta entre niños ecuatorianos en edad escolar. Fueron incluidos 100 niños entre 6 y 8 años de edad de zonas costeras rurales del Ecuador. Las madres completaron 1 CFCA y 2 Recordatorios de 24 horas (R24h, estándar oro). Se utilizaron correlaciones de Pearson, Kappa ponderado y el método de Bland Altman para evaluar su validez. Se aplicaron modelos de regresión lineal incluyendo el R24h como variable dependiente y CFCA como variable independiente para derivar factores de calibración. Los coeficientes de Pearson oscilaron entre -0,03 y 0,24. Los valores de Kappa variaron entre -0,05 y 0,24, los gráficos de Bland-Altman se encuentran entre los límites cerca de la línea media y los factores de calibración oscilaron entre -0,01 a 0,16. Después de aplicar los factores de calibración, las ingestas medias de energía, macro y micro nutrientes fueron similares a las obtenidas en el R24h. El CFCA fue considerado apropiado para evaluar consumo de energía y nutrientes, sin embargo, debido a su concordancia débil a moderada este debe ser corregido mediante los valores de calibración. Asimismo, este CFCA es una herramienta útil para la evaluación de la dieta y la relación entre la dieta y la enfermedad en este grupo poblacional.
2 February 2024 in The Lancet Regional Health - Americas
Background: Early childhood growth trajectories can influence the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood. Improvements in environmental sanitation may affect child development in low-resource settings. Objective: to examine the associations among socioeconomic factors with nutrition indicators, and trajectories of anthropometric indicators across three epidemiological cohorts that reflect different phases of environmental sanitation implementation. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted in Salvador, Brazil, from 1997 to 2013. A total of 1429 children were recruited across three epidemiological cohorts, corresponding to the phases of a sanitation program: pre-intervention (n = 299), intervention (n = 1007), and post-intervention (n = 123). Height-for-age (HAZ) and BMI-for-age (BAZ) z-scores were assessed at four time points. Multilevel linear models were used to adjust for socioeconomic factors. Results: A total of 992 children (68.7%) completed follow-up. Post-intervention children showed improved HAZ trajectories, with sex-specific patterns that varied across cohorts. Birth weight is positively associated with HAZ across all cohorts (0.34–0.49 kg increase per z-score). Household overcrowding (>2 persons/room) is consistently associated with lower HAZ (−0.34 to −0.63 z-score reduction). Children who were never exclusively breastfed in the post-intervention phase had a higher BAZ (0.76 z-score increase). Caesarean delivery is associated with higher BAZ in the pre-intervention (0.23) and intervention (0.27) cohorts. Conclusions: Children born in later time periods showed better growth trajectories, which may reflect the combined effects of sanitation improvements, economic development, and other societal changes in Brazil during this period. Further research using experimental or quasi-experimental designs is needed to isolate the specific contribution of sanitation to child growth.
4 July 2023 in Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition