Purpose: In the last decades we have seen an increase in sedentary behaviors and a decrease in physical activity in children when compared to past generations. This lifestyle is commonly associated with the development of clustering risk factors that define metabolic syndrome (MetS). Knowing that motor competence (MC) development can influence lifelong physical activity habits, it is reasonable to assume that children’s MC will directly link to clustered cardiometabolic health outcomes. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of MC in MetS risk factors. Methods: Seventy children with a mean age of 7.49 (SD = 1.28) years were evaluated on motor competence (MCA—Motor Competence Assessment instrument), cardiovascular fitness (PACER test), upper body strength (UBS; handgrip), and the components of MetS, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, abdominal obesity, low concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high fasting blood glucose. The composite value of MetS was calculated according to Burns et al. ( 2017 Burns, R. D. , Brusseau, T. A. , Fu, Y. , & Hannon, J. C. (2017). Gross motor skills and cardiometabolic risk in children: A mediation analysis. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 49(4), 746–751. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001147 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ). Multiple standard regressions were performed to explore the effect of different variables on MetS. Motor competence and health-related fitness (cardiovascular fitness and relative upper body strength) were used as independent variables (predictors) and MetS as dependent variable. Results: Overall, the results showed that motor competence (β = −.072; p < .05) is a significant predictor and this model explained 7,1% of the variance in MetS. Conclusion: Although more studies are needed, our results indicate that MC seems to have a positive role in children’s health markers.

Background: Preventing childhood obesity is a public health challenge of the twenty-first century and it must be a priority. Governments play a major role in creating and supporting a healthy school environment and should prioritise actions to improve children’s health. Sintra Grows Healthy aims to promote healthy lifestyles to prevent childhood obesity and improve children’s health-related quality of life and social and emotional skills, through the development of a school evidence-based and sustainable model. Methods: This protocol describes a quasi-experimental design and community-based participatory research. The participants included in the study are the school community of Portuguese public primary schools from the municipality of Sintra. Data will be collected on demographic and socio-economic characterization, nutritional status, eating habits and behaviours, physical activity, sedentary behaviours and sleep, health-related quality of life, and social and emotional skills. Discussion: There is evidence to support interventions in school settings as strategies for obesity prevention. Up-to-date homogeneous and community-based interventions for preventing childhood obesity are lacking, therefore Sintra Grows Healthy intends to fill this gap. Furthermore, Sintra Grows Healthy aims to contribute with relevant scientific findings that will allow the development of better strategies for policymakers and society to manage this major public health problem.

Background: Nutritional status assessment (NSA) can be challenging in children with cerebral palsy (CP). There are high omission rates in national surveillance reports of weight and height information. Alternative methods are used to assess nutritional status that may be unknown to the healthcare professionals (HCP) who report these children. Caregivers experience challenges when dealing with feeding problems (FP) common in CP. Our aim was to assess the difficulties in NSA which are causing this underreport and to create solutions for registers and caregivers. Methods: An online questionnaire was created for registers. Three meetings with HCP and caregivers were held to discuss problems and solutions regarding NSA and intervention. Results: HCP mentioned difficulty in NSA due to a lack of time, collaboration with others, equipment, and childrens’ motor impairment. Caregivers experienced difficulty in preparing nutritious meals with adapted textures. The creation of educational tools and other strategies were suggested. A toolkit for HCP was created with the weight and height assessment methods described and other for caregivers to deal with common FP. Conclusions: There are several difficulties experienced by HCP that might be overcome with educational tools, such as a toolkit. This will facilitate nutritional assessment and intervention and hopefully reduce underreporting.

It is crucial to ensure an adequate nutritional support for young soccer players under high physical stress situations, including match days and high training load days. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the dietary intake of young male soccer players from a Portuguese first league soccer club, both on match day and on the highest training load day of the week. All players recorded their ingestion at these moments for 3 consecutive weeks, by completing a food diary and making a photographic record. On match day, the intake of carbohydrates (5.2 ± 0.6 g.kg-1. d-1), proteins (2.1 ± 0.2 g.kg-1. d-1), and fats (1.0 ± 0.2 g.kg-1. d-1) represented 55.1 ± 5.0 %, 22.3 ± 1.52 %, and 23.9 ± 5.1%, respectively, of the average daily energy intake. Regarding the highest training load day, the intake of carbohydrates (5.2 ± 0.9 g.kg-1. d-1), proteins (2.0 ± 0.3 g.kg-1. d-1), and fats (1.0 ± 0.3 g.kg-1. d-1) represented 54.8 ± 5.3 %, 21.8 ± 1.8 %, and 24.6 ± 4.6 %, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between intakes during match day and on the highest training load day, for all the variables analyzed, except for percentage of fat intake (Energy intake p = 0.873; Protein p = 0.335; Carbohydrates p = 0.814; Fat p=0,000). The results obtained are in line with previous research and reveal that energy and carbohydrate intake are below the recommendations for this population.

Introduction: Food and cooking skills (FCSks) are defined as a complex, interrelated, and person-centred set of skills, necessary to provide and prepare safe, nutritious, and culturally acceptable meals for all members of the household. Recent studies have associated higher FCSk with healthier eating habits and better health. This study aimed to validate a Portuguese version of a tool to assess and describe FCSk in young adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study used an online anonymous questionnaire that was disseminated to students from three Portuguese Higher Education Institutes. The questionnaire validation included Cronbach alpha and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The Mann-Whitney test was used for evaluating sample differences and Pearson correlation for association among variables. Results: Internal consistency reliability was 0.89 for cooking skills (CSks) and 0.87 for food skills (FSks). A moderate positive correlation was found between CSks and FSks confidence (r = 0.658, p < 0.01). CFA presented a good adjustment model for most of the fit indices, indicating the adequacy of the questionnaire. The CSks score was 74.1 ± 21.2 (moderate) and the food Skills was 94.2 ± 20.8 (high). Cook pulses, steaming food, and planning meals ahead scored the lowest value, while boiling or simmering food, chopping, peeling vegetables, and reading the best-before date scored the highest value. No difference was found among sex (pCSk = 0.576; pFSk = 0.158), age (pCSk = 0.566; pFSk = 0.130), body mass index classes (pCSk = 0.903; pFSk = 0.320), or course (pCSk = 0.169; pFSk = 0.126). The greatest interest in gastronomy and frequency of meal preparation is associated with higher FCSk (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This research validated a Portuguese version of a tool to assess FCSk among young adults. Internal consistency reliability was adequate. Confirmatory factor analysis returned good psychometric properties for the questionnaire. Authors identified lower FCSk competencies in cooking pulses and vegetables, which are healthy and sustainable foods. This may compromise the adoption of healthy eating behaviours, so promoting FCSk in young adults may pose a strategy for nutrition and public health in reducing diet-related diseases. This tool may be used to identify opportunities for intervention in public health nutrition.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between whey protein supplementation, body composition, and muscle strength in resistance-trained individuals. Forty-nine healthy males, aged 18 to 35 years and were engaged in resistance training for at least 1 year, were assigned into 2 groups according to whey protein intake (whey – n = 26, age: 30.7 ± 7.4 years, body mass: 75.8 ± 9.0 kg; without whey: n = 23, age: 31.0 ± 7.4 years, body mass: 77.9 ± 9.3 kg). Using a cross-sectional design, a morning assessment of body fat mass (FM) (by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and strength (using 1-repetition maximum for bench press and back squat) was performed. Nutritional assessment was performed by 3-day food records. Regarding nutritional habits, differences between total energy intake (kcal) and estimated energy requirements (kcal) were observed. Results, from raw data or controlling for energy intake, estimated energy requirements, or achieved percentage of energy requirements, showed that whey protein supplementation was inversely correlated with whole-body FM (R = –0.367 (p = 0.010); R = –0.317 (p = 0.049); R = –0.380 (p = 0.011); R = –0.321 (p = 0.047), respectively), trunk FM (R = –0.396 (p = 0.005), R = –0.367 (p = 0.022), R = –0.423 (p = 0.004), R = –0.369 (p = 0.021), respectively) and android FM (R = –0.381 (p = 0.007), R = –0.332 (p = 0.039), R = –0.383 (p = 0.010), R = –0.336 (p = 0.036), respectively). No correlations were found between muscle strength outcomes and whey protein supplementation. The present data suggest that whey protein ingestion has a positive association with whole-body and regional (trunk and android) FM.