Background: Nutritional status in childhood is associated with a number of short- and long-term health effects. The rising prevalence of childhood obesity highlights the necessity of understanding dietary patterns in children. The study provides an assessment of energy and macronutrient intake and food categories’ contribution to energy intake in Croatian primary school children, according to BMI status. Methods: To assess dietary habits, results of the National Food Consumption Survey on Infants and Children based on EU Menu methodology (OC/EFSA/DATA/2016/02 CT3) were used. The sample included 476 children, aged 6 to under 10 years. Results: Results indicated that one in four children was overweight or obese (27.7%). In total, the mean energy intake was 1598.4 ± 380.3 kcal/day, with 30.7% of the children above the recommended energy intake. Cereals, cereal products, and potato food category were the primary sources of energy, which is in line with the recommendations, with protein and fat intakes exceeding recommended levels. Substantial contribution of sweets and low contribution of fruits and vegetables were observed across all BMI categories, with the difference in energy contribution of fruits (p = 0.041) and vegetables (p = 0.033). The meat, poultry, fish, and eggs category were the contributors to energy intake from protein and fat, in the majority of BMI groups. Conclusions: In the obese group, higher energy intake from certain food subgroups was recorded, stressing the need for a more detailed dietary assessment. The study’s cross-sectional design limits causal inferences, indicating a need for future longitudinal research to better understand the dynamics of dietary patterns and BMI status in primary school children.

Microplastics (MPs) are a ubiquitous marine pollutant, and their presence in bivalves is receiving increasing attention due to the associated risks to human health. The steps of pretreatment, detection, and quantification in the analysis of MPs depend on the type of polymer. Research on MPs is challenging because of the varying characteristics of these materials, such as the size, shape, and polymer type. Consequently, there are no standardized methods for their collection, separation, identification, or quantification. This review specifically examines the available bivalve digestion steps, focusing on efficient and time-reducing methods, such as the microwave-assisted (MAW) procedure and its advantages. Recent achievements in the application of pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC-MS) are presented for the profiling of polymer mass-related microplastics data in marine bivalves. Here, we provide an overview of the abundance, properties, and polymer types of MPs in bivalve species, highlighting the polymer mass fractions. To date, the available mass-based concentrations have revealed nine types of MPs—polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyamide 66 (PA66), polycarbonate (PC), and polyamide 6 (PA6)—with PE, PP, and PVC being the most common. The total MP levels in bivalves were at ppm levels, ranging from 0.26 µg/g to 36.4 µg/g wet weight. The risk of human ingestion of MPs was assessed through the consumption of bivalves as seafood. The overall potential human health risk value (H) for marine bivalves was classified within the moderate to high hazard category.

Children with food allergies are at higher risk for severe anaphylactic reactions and for key nutrient deficiency. In order to address these concerns, enable early detection, and improve the monitoring of children with food allergies, an innovative IT platform will be developed by IT experts (IN2 Ltd. Zagreb, Croatia, part of Constellation Software Inc. (Toronto, ON, Canada)) and Srebrnjak Children’s Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia (SCH) for the effective implementation of personalized balanced nutrition in preschool institutions in Croatia. Additionally, the data obtained through this research, including epidemiological data on allergic diseases, clinical data (diagnostic allergy tests and others), anthropometry, and physical activity status, will be used to create a national Allergy registry. Other than being a tool for personalized and balanced nutrition for children, especially those with special dietary requirements (including food allergy and intolerance), the IT platform developed in this study will enable the continuous monitoring of these children as a part of their clinical management plan and earlier detection of food allergies, intolerance, and other conditions, even outside of the healthcare system. This research also aims at optimizing current and developing novel personalized therapeutic regimes, detecting novel early biomarkers in children with food allergies and intolerances, and involving all key stakeholders (caregivers, preschool institutions, etc.) in the shared-care approach in the management of food allergies in children.

Background: Food-related reactions can significantly impact children’s dietary choices, health, and nutritional status. This study evaluated adherence to the Mediterranean diet and explored its associations with regional and family socioeconomic status among Croatian children whose parents reported adverse food-related reactions. Methods: The cross-sectional study analyzed data on 193 children aged 2–9 years with parent-reported food-related reactions, collected from the Croatian National Food Consumption Survey, which included 1820 children aged 3 months to 9 years, based on the EU Menu methodology (OC/EFSA/DATA/2016/02 CT3). Parents completed standardized questionnaires on food-related reactions, lifestyle, dietary patterns, and socioeconomic indicators. Regional differences were assessed, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet was evaluated using the KIDMED index. Results: This survey found an 11% prevalence of parent-reported adverse food-related reactions among children aged 2 to 9 years. Milk, eggs, and tree nuts were the most commonly reported allergens. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was moderate (36%) to low (41%; p = 0.011), with higher KIDMED scores associated with greater fruit, vegetable, legume, fish, and olive oil intake and lower adherence associated with more ultra-processed foods and obesity. Children from coastal and urban areas had better diet quality and socioeconomic indicators. Maternal education was strongly associated with Mediterranean diet adherence (OR = 1.88, p < 0.001), while maternal employment and household income showed no significant relationship. Conclusions: The findings highlight significant nutritional challenges among Croatian children with adverse food-related reactions, driven by regional and socioeconomic disparities. An adherence to a low Mediterranean diet indicates a need for a personalized approach to the diet management of children with food-related reactions. Addressing these through targeted, equitable public health strategies may improve outcomes for affected children.

Background/Objectives: In Croatia, national data on adolescents’ dietary habits are limited, resulting in a lack of evidence-based food-based dietary guidelines and public health interventions. This study aims to conduct an in-depth evaluation of dietary habits in a national sample of Croatian adolescents stratified by region, sex and age, from the National food consumption survey on adolescents and adults (NIPNOD 2018–2023). Methods: This cross-sectional study included 258 adolescents (50.4% boys; aged 10 to < 18) from the NIPNOD 2018–2023 survey (OC/EFSA/DATA/2017/01), conducted according to the EU Menu methodology. For analysis, the sample was divided into two age groups (10–13 and 14–17 years). To assess dietary intake, two 24 h recalls were analyzed using NutriCro^® v. 3.0 software. Dietary intake was compared with European Food Safety Authority dietary reference values (DRV). The contribution of 14 food groups to daily energy intake was analyzed. Diet quality was assessed using the Diet Quality Index for Adolescents (DQI-A). Results: The mean daily energy intake was 1820 ± 529 kcal, consisting of 45.5 ± 7.0% carbohydrates, 37.8 ± 6.3% fats, and 15.1 ± 3.1% protein. The observed two-day mean intake suggested that 51.6% of adolescents had carbohydrate intake within the EFSA DRV range, while 5.4% and 32.2% had protein and fat intake within the EFSA DRVs, respectively. The main contributors to daily energy intake were grains and grain products (31.5%), meat, poultry, fish, and eggs (18.1%), and cakes, confectionery, sweets, and sugar (14.9%). Frequent breakfast skipping and snack consumption were common, particularly among older adolescents. Adolescents had moderate overall diet quality (57.4 ± 11.6% DQI-A), with no differences between age groups. Conclusions: Analysis of the dietary habits of adolescents in Croatia indicates that most have inadequate macronutrient intake, irregular meal frequency, and moderate overall diet quality. These results highlight the need to develop public health strategies and interventions to improve dietary habits among adolescents in Croatia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only had an enormous impact on human health but has also led to sudden changes in lifestyle due to physical distance and isolation at home, with social and economic consequences, and has disrupted every aspect of people’s everyday life. With the spread of the virus to certain geographical regions, households' behaviour under its influence has changed significantly. For example, a pandemic proclamation has dramatically increased the purchase of food in households' attempts to store their supplies as well as paying more attention to food hygiene than before. As most countries in the world were closed, almost all food was consumed in households. The aim of this study was to answer the food safety question: Has COVID-19 lockdown changed consumer behaviour with food handling and food waste? Based on the results of an online survey of 1024 Croatian consumers on their behaviour when buying, preparing, and throwing food during lockdown, it can be concluded that COVID-19 lockdown positively influenced food households' behaviour since food waste during lockdown has been reduced. Most of the respondents stated that they threw away less than 10% of the food during the lockdown than they normally waste. They tended not to waste food and took measures to prevent it from happening. They only wasted food that was spoiled. When wasting food, respondents pointed out that they felt terrible, because they thought that all food should be used, especially in times of uncertainty caused by lockdown. Moreover, they did not overeat and gain weight, but rather waste excess food.