Infectious morbidity and white blood cell count associated with grade repetition and school absenteeism.

Aim: Infections can impair cognitive development, but their role on adverse childhood educational outcomes is unknown. We examined the associations of infectious morbidity and inflammatory biomarkers with grade repetition and school absenteeism.

Methods: We followed 2762 Colombian children aged 5-12 years for a school year.

Depression symptoms are associated with demographic characteristics, nutritional status, and social support among young adults in Chile: a latent class analysis.

Background: Depressive disorders are a critical public health concern in Chile. Nonetheless, there is a lack of evidence regarding the identification of depressive symptom clusters. The objective was to identify depressive symptom clusters among Chilean young adults and examine how demographic, and lifestyle factors as well as social support can influence and predict them.

Usefulness of SPISE Index for Screening and Detection of Early Stages of Insulin Resistance among Chilean Young Adults.

Background: As the gold standard test to quantify insulin resistance (IR) involves intravenous insulin loading and repeated blood glucose monitoring, many indexes have been developed for IR assessment for convenience.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the agreement of the Single-Point Insulin Sensitivity Estimator (SPISE) by comparing it with the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in identifying IR.

Method: Data came from the ongoing LIMACHE BIRTH COHORT.

The impact of health policies and the COVID-19 pandemic on exclusive breastfeeding in Chile during 2009-2020.

In 2011, Chile added 12 mandatory extra weeks of maternity leave (ML). In January 2015, a pay-for-performance (P4P) strategy was included in the primary healthcare system, incorporating exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) promotion actions. The COVID-19 pandemic led to healthcare access difficulties and augmented household workloads.

Maternal consumption and perinatal exposure to non-nutritive sweeteners: should we be concerned?

The context for this review is the rapid increase in the use of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs) instead of sugar in foods and beverages, a situation so prevalent in some countries that consumers are finding it increasingly challenging to access foods without NNSs. The benefits of consuming NNSs on obesity and diabetes are now being questioned, and studies have shown that they may exert physiological activities, sometimes independently of sweet taste receptor stimulation. Few studies, limited mainly to North American and European countries, have described the consumption of NNSs by pregnant or lactating women and infants.

Development and Relative Validation of a Food Frequency Questionnaire to Assess Non-Nutritive Sweeteners Intake among Pregnant Women in Santiago, Chile: A Pilot Study.

Studies on the effects of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs) among pregnant women are scarce and have produced mixed results. One of the major challenges is to accurately assess NNS intake, especially in countries that have implemented policies to prevent obesity and where many foods and beverages have been progressively reformulated to partially or totally replace sugar with NNSs. This study aimed to develop and assess the relative validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for use in pregnant women.

Increased Serum Total and Free 25-Hydroxyvitamin D with Daily Intake of Cholecalciferol-Fortified Skim Milk: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Colombian Adolescents.

Background: The efficacy of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) food fortification in low- and middle-income countries near the Equator is unknown.

Objectives: We examined the effects of providing cholecalciferol-fortified skim milk to adolescents and their mothers on serum total 25(OH)D, free 25(OH)D, and vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) concentrations in a randomized controlled trial.

Methods: We randomly assigned 80 Colombian families each with a child aged 12-14.

Socio-economic inequalities in the effect of public policies and the COVID-19 pandemic on exclusive breastfeeding in Chile.

Objective: To assess the impact of the addition of 12 maternity leave (ML) weeks (2011), a pay for performance (P4P) exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) promotion strategy (2015), and the COVID-19 pandemic in EBF inequalities in Chile.

Study Design: Interrupted time-series analyses (ITSAs).

Methods: Aggregated national EBF data by municipality and month were collected from 2009 to 2020.

Low and insufficient birth weights as important factors of developmental stages of type 2 diabetes: Intergenerational Limache Cohort study.

Background & Aims: This study aimed to investigate the association of birth weight with developmental stages of Type 2 Diabetes among Chilean young adults.

Methods: A probabilistic sample of 1947 individuals (22-28 years) that belong to two birth cohorts (cohort 1: participants born in 1974-1978, cohort 2: participants born in 1988-1992). Multivariable logistic regressions were calculated.

Undernutrition and suboptimal growth during the first year are associated with glycemia but not with insulin resistance in adulthood.

This study aimed to assess whether weight, length, and conditional growth during the first year are associated with glycemia and insulin resistance among young adults. A non-concurrent longitudinal design was used in the study. This is a population-based cohort study, composed of people aged from 22 to 28 years.

Involvement of the food industry in nutrition conferences in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Objective: Identify and characterise the food industry's involvement in nutrition and dietetics national and regional events in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Design: Between February and April 2020, we conducted desk-based searches for nutrition and dietetics events held in the region between January 2018 and December 2019. Online freely accessible, publicly available information was collected on the involvement of the food industry through: sponsorship of events; sponsorship of sessions; speakers from the food industry; scholarships, fellowship, grants, awards and other prizes and; exhibition space/booths.

Overuse of Non-caloric Sweeteners in Foods and Beverages in Chile: A Threat to Consumers' Free Choice?

The prevalence of obesity among Chilean adults and children is one of the highest worldwide. To fight the constant increase of non-communicable diseases and the growing sales of sugar-sweetened beverages, the Chilean government recently enacted a new Law of Food Labeling and Advertising imposing the application of front-of-package warning labels in foodstuffs whose composition exceeds limits for critical nutrients including sugar. Accordingly, food companies have been reformulating their products, incorporating non-caloric sweeteners (NCSs) in partial or total replacement of sucrose.

Suppression of high-fat diet-induced obesity-associated liver mitochondrial dysfunction by docosahexaenoic acid and hydroxytyrosol co-administration.

Objective: Obesity-induced by high-fat diet (HFD) is associated with liver steatosis, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, which can be eluded by the co-administration of the lipid metabolism modulator docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and the antioxidant hydroxytyrosol (HT).

Methods: C57BL/6J mice fed a HFD were orally administered either with vehicle, DHA, HT or DHA+HT for 12 weeks. We measured parameters related to insulin resistance, serum lipid levels, liver fatty acid (FA) content and steatosis score, concomitantly with those associated with mitochondrial energy functions modulated by the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1a.

Nutrition status in adult Chilean population: economic, ethnic and sex inequalities in a post-transitional country.

Objective: To assess the relationship between malnutrition, socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnicity in Chilean adult population.

Design: Nationally representative survey (ENS) conducted in 2016-2017. Sociodemographic information, weight, height and hemoglobin (Hb) were measured (2003 ENS).

Iron-induced derangement in hepatic Δ-5 and Δ-6 desaturation capacity and fatty acid profile leading to steatosis: Impact on extrahepatic tissues and prevention by antioxidant-rich extra virgin olive oil.

The administration of iron induces liver oxidative stress and depletion of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs), n-6/n-3 LCPUFA ratio enhancement and fat accumulation, which may be prevented by antioxidant-rich extra virgin olive oil (AR-EVOO) supplementation. Male Wistar rats were subjected to a control diet (50 mg iron/kg diet) or iron-rich diet (IRD; 200 mg/kg diet) with alternate AR-EVOO for 21 days. Liver fatty acid (FA) analysis was performed by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) after lipid extraction and fractionation, besides Δ-5 desaturase (Δ-5 D) and Δ6-D mRNA expression (qPCR) and activity (GLC) measurements.

Determinants of volumetric breast density in Chilean premenopausal women.

Purpose: High mammographic breast density (BD) is a strong risk factor of breast cancer; however, little is known in women under 40 years of age. Recently, dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) has been developed as a low-dose method to measure BD in young populations. Thus, our aims were to describe BD in relation to risk factors in Chilean women under 40 years old and to explore the equivalence of DXA to mammography for the measurement of BD.

Conditional cash transfers and the double burden of malnutrition among children in Colombia: a quasi-experimental study.

Conditional cash-transfer (CCT) programmes have been shown to improve the nutritional and health status of children from poor families. However, CCT programmes may have unintended and not fully known consequences by increasing the risk of overweight and obesity. We examined the impact of Familias en Acción (FA), a large CCT programme in Colombia, on the double burden of malnutrition among pre-school and school-aged children.

The impact of a conditional cash transfer programme on determinants of child health: evidence from Colombia.

Objective: Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes provide income to low-income families in return for fulfilling specific behavioural conditions. CCT have been shown to improve child health, but there are few systematic studies of their impact on multiple determinants of child health. We examined the impact of a CCT programme in Colombia on: (i) use of preventive health services; (ii) food consumption and dietary diversity; (iii) mother's knowledge, attitudes and practices about caregiving practices; (iv) maternal employment; and (v) women's empowerment.

Trends in overweight by educational level in 33 low- and middle-income countries: the role of parity, age at first birth and breastfeeding.

This study examined trends in overweight among women of reproductive age by educational level in 33 low- and middle-income countries, and estimated the contribution of parity, age at first birth and breastfeeding to these trends. We used repeated cross-sectional Demographic Health Surveys of 255,828 women aged 25-49 years interviewed between 1992 and 2009. We applied logistic regression to model overweight (>25 kg m(-2) ) as a function of education, reproductive variables and time period by country and region.

Trends in overweight among women differ by occupational class: results from 33 low- and middle-income countries in the period 1992-2009.

Objective: There has been an increase in overweight among women in low- and middle-income countries but whether these trends differ for women in different occupations is unknown. We examined trends by occupational class among women from 33 low- and middle-income countries in four regions.

Design: Cross-national study with repeated cross-sectional demographic health surveys.

Micronutrient and anthropometric status indicators are associated with physical fitness in Colombian schoolchildren.

Poor physical fitness is associated with increased health-related risks in children. The association of nutritional status indicators and physical fitness in children residing in developing countries is not well characterised. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 1945 children of age 5-12 years in Bogotá, Colombia, to assess whether anthropometric and micronutrient status indicators were associated with performance in the shuttle run and standing long jump tests.

Are vitamin A and iron deficiencies re-emerging in urban Latin America? A survey of schoolchildren in Bogota, Colombia.

Background: In Latin America, the burden of vitamin A and iron deficiencies has been documented primarily in preschool-age children. There are few recent reports on the vitamin A and iron status of school-age children.

Objective: We aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of vitamin A and iron deficiencies in Colombian schoolchildren.

Provision of a school snack is associated with vitamin B-12 status, linear growth, and morbidity in children from Bogota, Colombia.

In 2004, Bogotá's Secretary of Education (SED) initiated a snack program in public primary schools. A midmorning food ration was provided free of charge to children to supplement 30 and 50% of their daily requirements of energy and iron, respectively. The purpose of this study, an observational investigation of 3202 children ages 5-12 y, was to examine whether the snack program improved children's nutritional and health status.