Digital anthropometry (DA) has been recently developed for body composition evaluation and for postural analysis. The aims of this review are to examine the current state of DA technology, as well as to verify the methods for identifying the best technology to be used in the field of DA by evaluating the reliability and accuracy of the available technologies on the market, and lay the groundwork for future technological developments. A literature search was performed and 28 studies met the inclusion criteria. The reliability and accuracy of DA was high in most studies, especially in the assessment of patients with obesity, although they varied according to the technology used; a good correlation was found between DA and conventional anthropometry (CA) and body composition estimates. DA is less time-consuming and less expensive and could be used as a screening tool before more expensive imaging techniques or as an alternative to other less affordable techniques. At present, DA could be useful in clinical practice, but the heterogeneity of the available studies (different devices used, laser technologies, population examined, etc.) necessitates caution in the interpretation of the obtained results. Furthermore, the need to develop integrated technologies for analyzing body composition according to multi-compartmental models is increasingly evident.

Purpose The aim of the study was to examine the effects of meal supervision, provided by health professionals, volunteers or family members, on anthropometric, nutritional, psychological, and behavioural outcomes in patients with eating disorders (EDs). Methods The present systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The last search was conducted in three databases (PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane library). Inclusion criteria considered paediatric and adult patients suffering from EDs, regardless of ethnicity, and treated in different therapeutic settings. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) adapted for cross-sectional studies and Version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool for randomised trials. Results 3282 articles were retrieved, out of which only 6 met the eligibility criteria. A marked heterogeneity in definitions and approaches to supervised mealtime was observed. This variability emerged in the methodologies used in the supervised meal, and in the reference values for the outcome measures that were used, such as the analysis of different parameters. Based on these observations, mealtime assistance provided to patients with EDs shows an overall positive effect on eating behaviour and dysfunctional attitudes. Future research should be prompted to provide a thorough definition of a structured procedure for meal assistance to be potentially and systematically included in the nutritional rehabilitation protocols for patients with EDs. Level of evidence Level IV systematic reviews of uncontrolled trials.

Purpose: This study aimed at investigating whether taste sensitivity is reduced in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and at examining the relationship between sweet taste perception, anthropometric and psychopathological parameters. Methods: In this case–control study, 15 female patients aged 12–24 years with eating disorders—comprising 13 with AN and 2 with atypical anorexia nervosa (aAN)—and 9 age-matched healthy controls underwent the assessment of taste sensitivity using 5 mL of a 17% sucrose solution on a visual analog scale (VAS) ranging from 0 to 100. Anthropometric parameters, bioimpedance measures and questionnaires were collected. Results: Patients with AN exhibited significantly lower VAS scores than controls ( p < 0.05). VAS scores were inversely correlated with BSCL test scores for both the anxiety and depression subscales and the total score (anxiety r _s = − 0.489, p < 0.05; depression r _s = − 0.658, p < 0.01; GSI r _s = − 0.590, p < 0.01), and with the SCL-90 for the same domains (anxiety r _s = − 0.529, p < 0.05; depression r _s = − 0.602, p < 0.01; GSI r _s = − 0.614, p < 0.01). Negative correlations were identified for the EDE-Q subscales of restraint (r _s = − 0.429, p < 0.05), weight concern (r _s = − 0.473, p < 0.05), and body shape concern (r _s = − 0.501, p < 0.05), as well as starvation symptoms on the SSI (r _s = − 0.435, p = 0.030). Conclusion: Our findings suggest a blunted hedonic response to sweet taste in patients with AN, particularly among those with poorer nutritional status and higher anxiety and depression traits. Longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to evaluate prognostic relevance of assessments of taste sensitivity. Level of evidence: Level III (evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies).

Gut microbiota (GM) alterations and related metabolic outputs have been implicated in metabolic syndrome (MetS) and early cardiometabolic risk. However, the associations between GM alterations and MetS, and their relationship with the marked interindividual variability in cardiovascular risk, remain incompletely defined. We conducted a cross-sectional study in individuals with obesity (n = 176) to evaluate associations between GM features and MetS clinical traits using 16S amplicon profiling data. Prevalence of individual MetS traits was 37.4% for hyperglycemia, 23.4% for hypertriglyceridemia, 54.0% for hypertension, and 52.1% for low HDL cholesterol, with 51.1% of participants meeting criteria for MetS overall. Comparative analysis of 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data identified a shared gut microbial signature comprising 45 ASVs across MetS clinical components. Members of Prevotellaceae and Ruminococcaceae were consistently reduced in MetS, whereas Veillonella and Streptococcus were enriched. Reduced microbial alpha diversity was observed in individuals with MetS. PICRUSt2-based functional inference indicated lower representation of pathways related to complex carbohydrate utilization and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolism in MetS-positive individuals. Our results, derived from two independent datasets, indicate that MetS is associated with a depletion of bacterial taxa involved in complex carbohydrate metabolism and SCFA production.