Poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with increased likelihood of metabolic syndrome components in children: the Healthy Growth Study.

Objective: To examine the associations between the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) with obesity, insulin resistance (IR), metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in schoolchildren.

Design: The Healthy Growth Study was a large epidemiological cross-sectional study.

Setting: School children who were enrolled in primary schools in four counties covering the northern, southern, western and central part of Greece were invited to participate.

Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is associated with visceral fat in children.

Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption has been associated with visceral fat partitioning in adults; however, the underlying mechanisms in childhood remain unclear and warrant exploration. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between SSB consumption and body fat in children aged 9-13 years and the potential modifying effect of children's sex and serum cortisol levels. A sample of 2665 Greek schoolchildren participated in the 'Healthy Growth Study', and anthropometric, body composition, dietary intake and serum cortisol data were assessed.

Effectiveness of quadrivalent influenza vaccine in pregnant women and infants, 2018-2019.

Influenza is associated with an increased risk for serious illness, hospitalization and/or death in pregnant women and young infants. We prospectively studied the effectiveness of a quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (QIV) in pregnant women and their infants during the 2018-2019 influenza season. A QIV was offered to pregnant women cared in a maternity hospital in Athens.

Early Human-Milk Metabolome in Cases of Intrauterine Growth-Restricted and Macrosomic Infants.

Background: Abnormal fetal growth is associated with short-term and long-term metabolic dysregulation and susceptibility to obesity-related disorders. Maternal milk, the ideal source of infantile nutrition, protects from metabolic diseases in adulthood. By applying nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics, this study investigated the metabolic profile of early human milk/colostrum (EHM/C) at the extremes of fetal-growth conditions, which could affect its nutritional value.

Perinatal lipocalin-2 profile at the extremes of fetal growth.

Background: Lipocalin-2 (LCN-2) has been identified as an osteoblast-secreted hormone regulating immunity, inflammation and metabolic homeostasis and has emerged as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for acute kidney injury in neonates. We investigated the impact of fetal growth on antepartum maternal serum, cord serum and breast milk LCN-2 concentrations and the associations of the latter with perinatal parameters.

Methods: Maternal serum, cord serum and breast milk LCN-2 concentrations were measured by ELISA in samples from 80 mothers who delivered 40 appropriate (AGA), 20 large for gestational age (LGA) and 20 intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) neonates, classified by customized weight centiles.