Background: Excessive weight gain during pregnancy and subsequent postpartum weight retention may contribute to the epidemic of obesity among women of childbearing age. Preventing excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) to optimize maternal, fetal and infant wellbeing is therefore of great importance. A number of dietary interventions in this area has been conducted with inconsistent results, which has made it difficult to identify effective strategies to prevent excessive weight gain during pregnancy among normal weight, overweight and obese women. The primary objective of this review was to evaluate the effect of dietary interventions for reducing GWG. The secondary objective was to examine the impact of these interventions on different child and maternal health outcomes.Method: The PUBMED, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and the LILACS databases were searched for relevant articles. All published randomized controlled trials (RCT) and quasi-randomized controlled trials (QCT), with concurrent controls, on dietary interventions during pregnancy were considered. Results were presented using relative risk (RR) for categorical data and weighted mean difference (WMD) for continuous data. Data were primarily analyzed with a fixed-effect model and a random-effects model was used in the presence of heterogeneity. No date and language restrictions were applied.Results: In total, 13 studies were included in this review and 10 trials contributed data on total GWG. Dietary intervention significantly reduced total GWG (n = 1434; WMD = -1.92 kg; 95% CI = -3.65/-0.19; p = 0.03), weight retention at six months postpartum (n = 443; WMD = -1.90 kg; 95% CI = -2.69/-1.12; p < 0.0001) and incidence of cesarean section (n = 609; RR = 0.75; 95% CI = 0.60/0.94; p = 0.013). However, dietary intervention had no significant effect on weight retention at six weeks postpartum, birth weight, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and preterm birth.Conclusion: Dietary advice during pregnancy appears effective in decreasing total GWG and long-term postpartum weight retention, but so far there is limited evidence for further benefits on infant and maternal health.

The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on glycaemic control and other metabolic parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes is still evolving. Aim: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to examine the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on glycaemic control and lipid profile in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: The PRISMA framework was the method used to conduct the systematic review and meta-analysis, and the search strategy was based on the population, intervention, control and outcome (PICO) model. The Health Sciences Research databases was accessed via EBSCO-host, and EMBASE were searched for relevant articles. Searches were conducted from inception of the databases until 17 September 2021. Results: The results identified three distinct areas: glycaemic control, lipid parameters and body mass index. It was found that COVID-19 lockdown led to a significant (p < 0.01) increase in the levels of glycated haemoglobin (%) compared with pre-COVID group (gp) with a mean difference of 0.34 (95% CI: 0.30, 0.38). Eleven studies contributed to the data for glycated haemoglobin analysis with a total of 16,895 participants (post-COVID-19 lockdown gp, n = 8417; pre-COVID gp, n = 8478). The meta-analysis of fasting plasma glucose (mg/dL) also showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase in levels of post-COVID-19 lockdown gp compared with pre-COVID gp, with a mean difference of 7.19 (95% CI: 5.28, 9.10). Six studies contributed to fasting plasma glucose analysis involving a total of 2327 participants (post-COVID-19 lockdown, n = 1159; pre-COVID gp, n = 1168). The body mass index (BMI) (kg/m²) analysis also demonstrated that post-COVID-19 lockdown gp had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher BMI than the pre-COVID gp with a mean difference of 1.13 (95% CI: 0.99; 1.28), involving six studies and a total of 2363 participants (post-COVID-19 lockdown gp, n = 1186; pre-COVID gp, n = 1177). There were significantly (p < 0.05) lower levels of total cholesterol (mmol/L), triglyceride (mmol/L) and LDL cholesterol (mmol/L), and higher levels of HDL cholesterol (mg/dL) in the post-COVID-19 lockdown gp compared with pre-COVID gp, although these results were not consistent following sensitivity analysis. Conclusion: The findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis have demonstrated that COVID-19 lockdown resulted in a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the levels of glycated haemoglobin, fasting glucose and body mass index in patients with type 2 diabetes. In contrast, the effect of the lockdown on lipid parameters, including total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL cholesterol was not consistent.

This cross-sectional study investigates whether calcium intakes from dairy and non-dairy sources, and absolute intakes of various dairy products, are associated with periodontitis. The calcium intake (mg/day) of 135 older Danish adults was estimated by a diet history interview and divided into dairy and non-dairy calcium. Dairy food intake (g/day) was classified into four groups: milk, cheese, fermented foods and other foods. Periodontitis was defined as the number of teeth with attachment loss ≥3 mm. Intakes of total dairy calcium (Incidence-rate ratio (IRR) = 0.97; p = 0.021), calcium from milk (IRR = 0.97; p = 0.025) and fermented foods (IRR = 0.96; p = 0.03) were inversely and significantly associated with periodontitis after adjustment for age, gender, education, sucrose intake, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, vitamin D intake, heart disease, visits to the dentist, use of dental floss and bleeding on probing, but non-dairy calcium, calcium from cheese and other types of dairy food intakes were not. Total dairy foods (IRR = 0.96; p = 0.003), milk (IRR = 0.96; p = 0.028) and fermented foods intakes (IRR = 0.97; p = 0.029) were associated with reduced risk of periodontitis, but cheese and other dairy foods intakes were not. These results suggest that dairy calcium, particularly from milk and fermented products, may protect against periodontitis. Prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.