Background: Acute infections in children are prevalent and often lead to antibiotic overuse due to the lack of evidence-based alternative approaches. Phytotherapeutic, homeopathic treatments and bee products are frequently sought as alternative or adjunctive therapies. This scoping review aims to map the existing evidence on the efficacy and safety of these interventions in managing acute pediatric infections. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across multiple databases to identify studies assessing the use of phytotherapeutic, homeopathic remedies and bee products in children with acute infections. Gastrointestinal infections were not considered since the use of non-antibiotic treatments (probiotics) in these conditions has been widely addressed. Effectiveness: Phytotherapeutic agents and bee products demonstrated promising results in reducing symptom severity and duration in respiratory infections, whereas homeopathic data were limited and inconsistent. Regarding safety, both interventions were generally well-tolerated, with few adverse events reported. No studies or very limited evidence were available for other acute infections such as urinary, dermatological, osteoarticular and nervous system infections. Conclusions: Phytotherapeutic interventions and bee products, particularly in acute upper respiratory tract and acute bronchitis, show encouraging signals of efficacy and safety in pediatric populations. However, evidence for their use in other frequent childhood infections, such as otitis media, or gastrointestinal infections, is almost entirely lacking. In addition, the available literature on homeopathic remedies is scarce and methodologically inconsistent, preventing any firm conclusions. Well-designed, large-scale clinical trials focusing on these underexplored conditions are needed to clarify the potential role of phytotherapeutics and homeopathy in pediatric infectious diseases.

Background: Acute infections in children are prevalent and often lead to antibiotic overuse due to the lack of evidence-based alternative approaches. Phytotherapeutic and homeopathic treatments are frequently sought as alternative or adjunctive therapies. This scoping review aims to map the existing evidence on the efficacy and safety of these interventions in managing acute pediatric infections. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across multiple databases to identify studies assessing the use of phytotherapeutic and homeopathic remedies in children with acute infections. Gastrointestinal infections were not considered since the use of non-antibiotic treatments (probiotics) in these conditions has been widely addressed. Results: Phytotherapeutic agents demonstrated promising results in reducing symptom severity and duration. Data on homeopathic remedies were limited and inconsistent. Regarding safety, both interventions were generally well-tolerated, with few adverse events reported. No studies or very limited evidence were available for other acute infections such as urinary, dermatological, osteoarticular and nervous system infections. Conclusions: Phytotherapeutic interventions show potential as effective and safe options for managing acute respiratory tract infections. However, the evidence for other infectious conditions and for homeopathic treatments is very limited or inconsistent. Further high-quality, large-scale studies on different types of pediatric infections are needed.

Background/Objectives: Poor nutrition in early life represents a relevant public health issue globally. The current study aimed to characterize eating habits among preschoolers and investigate the relationship with parents’ nutritional status. Methods: A secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study carried out at the Child Dentistry Clinics of the Istituto Stomatologico Italiano, Milan, Italy, including 171 patients aged 12–71 months and their parents, was conducted. Demographic data, anthropometric measurements, and information on children’s eating habits were collected. Results: The duration of exclusive breastfeeding was 5.9 (±6.8) months in 65% of children, and complementary feeding began at a mean (±SD) of 6.2 (±1.7) months in accordance with present recommendations. In contrast, the consumption of fruit juice 3.2 (±2.9) times/week, a protein intake of 3.0 (±0.6) g/kg, and a sugar intake of 20 (±8)% were over guideline limits. Overweight/obese children were introduced to cow’s milk earlier (p = 0.033) and consumed a higher percentage of total fats (p = 0.026) whilst consuming a lower percentage of carbohydrates (p = 0.050). In terms of children with both parents being obese or overweight, they consumed more carbohydrates (p = 0.048). Finally, we found that birth weight correlated positively with maternal BMI (ρ = 0.159; p < 0.05). The number of offspring correlated positively with the weekly frequency of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption before 24 months (ρ = 0.282; p < 0.001) whilst correlating negatively with the age of cow’s milk introduction (ρ = −0.226; p < 0.01). Conclusions: Our findings, according to recommendations, suggest that the prevention of obesity needs to begin in infancy. As parents play a pivotal role in establishing children’s food choices, nutritional education aimed at families is needed.

Fatty acid (FA) profiling is nowadays performed from blood samples according to the research objective. Salivary FAs emerged as an innovative and non-invasive analysis providing information on dietary intake, pathological conditions, and metabolic status. However, evidence on the correlation of circulating with salivary FAs is, to our knowledge, unavailable. This pilot study aims to compare the FA profiles in saliva and blood in healthy adults, evaluating saliva as a potential surrogate matrix. Samples of saliva, plasma, and whole blood were collected from healthy subjects in fasting (T0) and postprandial (T1) conditions. FAs were analyzed using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID). Spearman coefficients and Bland-Altman plots assessed correlation and agreement. The 30 participants were 29.7 ± 5.3 y, BMI 22.3 ± 2.7 kg/m², non-smokers. In fasting conditions, salivary FAs were dominated by palmitic (22.29%, IQR = 6.50%), oleic (21.63%, IQR = 9.54%), stearic (14.40%, IQR = 7.59%), and linoleic acid (8.52%, IQR = 6.42%). Only vaccenic acid showed a significant negative correlation with plasma (P = 0.005). At T1, positive correlations emerged only for total PUFAs between saliva and plasma (P = 0.028) and saliva and whole blood (P = 0.045). Bland-Altman analysis showed limited agreement across matrices, with small-to-moderate mean biases but wide limits of agreement (LoA). Despite the small sample size and exploratory nature of the study, our findings support that salivary FAs may only partially reflect blood FA profiles, with substantial interindividual variability. Larger and more comprehensive studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results and clarify the conditions under which saliva could become a feasible alternative matrix.