Diet can be a complementary treatment for Hashimoto’s disease by affecting thyroid function and anti-inflammatory properties. It is still unclear which dietary strategy would be the most beneficial. The aim of this systematic review is to examine all the data currently available in the literature on the effects of nutritional intervention on biochemical parameters (anti-thyroid antibody and thyroid hormones levels) and characteristic symptoms in the course of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. This systematic review was prepared based on PRISMA guidelines. Articles in PubMed and Scopus databases published up to November 2022 were searched. As a result of the selection, out of 1350 publications, 9 were included for further analysis. The nutritional interventions included the following: elimination of gluten (3 articles) or lactose (1 article), energy restriction with or without excluding selected foods (n = 2), consumption of Nigella sativa (n = 2), or dietary iodine restriction (n = 1). The intervention duration ranged from 21 days to 12 months and included individuals with various thyroid function. Of the nine studies, three studies were female only. An improvement was observed during an energy deficit and after the elimination of selected ingredients (e.g., gluten, lactose, or goitrogens), as well as after the intervention of Nigella sativa. These interventions improved antibody levels against peroxidase (anti-TPO), (thyrotropin) TSH, and free thyroxine (fT4). No improvement was seen on the iodine-restricted diet. Varied outcomes of analyzed dietary interventions may be due to the heterogeneous thyroid condition, high variability between patients, and differences in habitual intake of critical nutrients (e.g., iodine, selenium, and iron) in different populations. Therefore, there is a great need for further experimental studies to determine whether any nutritional interventions are beneficial in Hashimoto’s disease.

Excessive body mass is a health problem among children and adolescents that contributes to the occurrence of lipid disorders and abnormal blood pressure. Effective treatment of excessive body mass in children is essential for the health of population in the future. The aim of the study was to identify universal components of lifestyle interventions in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity leading to weight loss and improvement of selected cardiometabolic parameters. The review included studies from the PubMed and Google Scholar databases published in 2010–2019, which were analyzed for eligibility criteria including age of the participants, BMI defined as overweight or obese, nutritional intervention and the assessment of BMI and/or BMI z-score and at least one lipid profile parameter. Eighteen studies were included in the review, presenting the results of 23 intervention programs in which a total of 1587 children and adolescents participated. All interventions, except one, were multi-component. Data analysis suggests a relationship between a decrease in BMI and/or BMI z-score with diet and physical activity, the involvement of a dietician/nutrition specialist and physician in the treatment team and a longer duration of intervention. Moreover, it seems that a decrease in BMI is mostly associated with decreases in total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and blood pressure. No change in BMI and/or BMI z-score is associated with no change in blood pressure. Our data can be used by public health authorities to design effective weight loss programs for children and adolescents.

Screen time (ST) not only affects physical activity but can also be associated with dietary behaviors. Both of these factors determine the health and development of adolescents. The aims of the study were: 1. to analyze the relationship between ST and nutritional behaviors among adolescents; 2. to examine this association in relation to body weight status. Data on the ST duration and nutritional behaviors were collected using a questionnaire. Body mass status was assessed based on weight and height measurements. A total of 14,044 students aged 13–19 years old from 207 schools participated in the study. A significant relationship between ST and gender, age and type of school was observed, but not body weight status. The average ST duration increased with age (from 2.6 h among 13 years old to 3.2 h among 19 years old), and was significantly higher among boys in all age categories (2.7 h vs. 2.5 h in the youngest age group, and 3.5 h vs. 3.0 h in the oldest age group, respectively). The chance for meeting the recommendation for ST in a group of girls (regardless of age) was almost 50% higher compared to boys. Meeting ST recommendation (≤2 h) was associated with a greater odds ratio for favorable nutritional behaviors in the whole group, with exception of drinking milk or milk beverages, and significantly reduced the odds ratio of adverse dietary behaviors (drinking sweet beverages, consumption of sweets and fast food) in the whole group and by gender. More research is needed to clarify the possible cause-and-effect relationships between ST and dietary behaviors.

Background: Recognition of the dominant dietary behaviors with respect to gender and specific age groups can be helpful in the development of targeted and effective nutritional education. The purpose of the study was to analyze the prevalence of the selected eating behaviors (favorable: Consuming breakfasts, fruit, vegetables, milk and milk beverages, whole grain bread and fish; adverse: Regular consumption of sweets, sugared soft drinks and fast-foods) among Polish adolescents. Methods: Data on the nutritional behaviors were collected using a questionnaire. Body mass status was assessed based on weight and height measurements. Results: 14,044 students aged 13–19 years old from 207 schools participated in the study. Significant differences were found in the nutritional behaviors depending on age, gender and nutritional status. Favorable nutritional behaviors corresponded with each other, the same relationship was observed for adverse behaviors. The frequency of the majority of healthy eating behaviors decreased with age, whereas the incidence of adverse dietary behaviors increased with age. Underweight adolescents more often consumed sugared soft drinks, sweets and fast food compared to their peers with normal and excessive body mass. Conclusions: A significant proportion of adolescents showed unhealthy nutritional behaviors. Showing changes in the incidence of nutritional behaviors depending on age, gender and body weight status, we provide data that can inform the development of dietary interventions tailored to promote specific food groups among adolescents on different stages of development to improve their diet quality.

While food insecurity (FI) has been extensively studied in many countries, there have been few empirical contributions in Poland to date. The main objective of our research was to identify the socio-demographic factors affecting the risk of FI in Poland within 2014–2019. Moreover, we aimed to examine the effects of the family-oriented social program “Family 500+” by comparing the situation in various types of households with children a few years before and after the program was launched. The analysis was based on the set of eight-item FI indicators adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization using the Gallup World Poll nationally representative survey data. Based on our results the most vulnerable groups in the context of FI were identified. We confirmed the importance of education, gender, age, marital status, household composition, status of employment and income in preventing FI. The effectiveness of the support program in reducing FI was demonstrated as households with at least three children experienced significant improvement in the FI status during the studied years. These findings should be especially important in the context of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on FI. As FI can affect the quality and quantity of food choices it is associated with a poorer health status, which increases the risk of infection, including COVID-19, and worsens recovery prognosis. Planning an efficient response to the pandemic requires a comprehension of the increased risk of exposure experienced by people, especially those who are food insecure.

The aims of the study were to determine the socio-demographic factors that may affect body weight dissatisfaction and to analyze the relationship between eating habits and dissatisfaction with body weight among a national random sample of Polish adolescents aged 13–19 years. Data on gender, age, level of education, body weight status, screen time, body weight satisfaction and selected nutritional behaviors were collected using a questionnaire. Body mass status was assessed based on weight and height measurements. A total of 14,044 students from 207 schools participated in the study. A significant effect of gender, age, level of education, body weight status and screen time status on the participants’ dissatisfaction with the body weight was observed. The greater prevalence of body weight satisfaction was observed among boys, younger subjects, secondary school students, adolescents with normal body weight status and those with screen time up to 2 h. Whereas girls, older study participants (17–19 years old), overweight/obese adolescents and subjects with screen time over 4 h were more often dissatisfied with body weight. Furthermore, it has been shown that participants dissatisfied with their body weight less often met dietary recommendations. These findings can help dietitians, nutritionists and healthcare professionals to provide age-specific and gender-specific nutrition strategies to promote healthy lifestyle among school-going adolescents.