Folate and cobalamin status in relation to diet in healthy 2-y-old children.

Background: Limited data exist on sources of folate and cobalamin in the toddler diet.

Objective: We examined the influence of diet on folate and cobalamin status in healthy toddlers in an unfortified population.

Design: Dietary intake was assessed in 178 children, aged 24 mo, by using 7-d food records and related to serum folate and cobalamin status in 155 children.

Nutritient intake of young children with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder resulting in obesity. The diets for young children with PWS must balance the importance of preventing development of obesity with the need to supply sufficient energy and essential nutrients.

Objective: To investigate the nutritional intake for children with PWS 2, 3, and 4 years of age and compare it with Nordic Nutritional Recommendations (NNR) and intake of healthy controls.

Maternal folate and cobalamin status predicts vitamin status in newborns and 6-month-old infants.

Our aim in this longitudinal study was to determine predictors of folate and cobalamin status in infancy. Data were collected from 364 mother-infant pairs with blood measurements from pregnancy ( approximately 18 wk; n = 149), newborns (cord serum; n = 361), and 6-mo-old partially or exclusively breast-fed children (n = 221). Serum/plasma folate, cobalamin, holotranscobalamin (holoTC), holohaptocorrin (holoHC), methylmalonic acid (MMA) and total homocysteine (tHcy) at birth and 6 mo were related to maternal vitamin status, parity, lifestyle variables, and anthropometry.

Food balance sheet and household budget survey dietary data and mortality patterns in Europe.

Worldwide dietary data for nutrition monitoring and surveillance are commonly derived from food balance sheets (FBS) and household budget surveys (HBS). We have compared food supply from FBS and food availability data from HBS among eighteen European countries and have estimated the extent to which they correlate, focusing on food groups which are comparably captured by FBS and HBS and for which there is epidemiological evidence that they can have a noticeable impact on population mortality. Spearman's correlation coefficient was +0.

Folate and cobalamin status in relation to breastfeeding and weaning in healthy infants.

Background: Folate and cobalamin status changes markedly during infancy.

Objective: We aimed to examine the influence of breastfeeding on folate and cobalamin status in healthy infants.

Design: In a longitudinal study, we measured serum folate, cobalamin, holotranscobalamin, holohaptocorrin, methylmalonic acid, and homocysteine at birth and at ages 6, 12, and 24 mo (n = 361, 262, 244, and 224, respectively).

Intake of dairy fat and dairy products, and risk of myocardial infarction: a case-control study.

The role of dairy fat in the aetiology of myocardial infarction (MI) is controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between intake of dairy fat and dairy products, and risk of a first acute MI. A total of 111 MI patients with a first acute MI and 107 population controls (men and women, age 45 75 years) were studied.

[Five a day--ten years later].

Background: Measures aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable consumption were implemented in the 1990ies. Official recommendations were published in 1996. The objective of this paper is to describe fruit and vegetable intake before and after introduction of the official recommendation.

Micronutrient status in children with cerebral palsy.

Aim: To investigate micronutrient status in a group of children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Methods: Thirty-six children with CP, aged 1.5-17 years, completed a 4-day food diary, underwent anthropometric measurements and delivered blood for analysis of micronutrient concentrations.

Dietary patterns and their socio-demographic determinants in 10 European countries: data from the DAFNE databank.

Objective: To describe the dietary patterns of 10 European countries and their socio-demographic determinants, using the comparable between-countries DAFNE data.

Design: Analysis of standardized and postharmonized data collected through the national household budget surveys.

Setting: Nationally representative surveys undertaken in 10 European countries, generally in the second half of the 1990s.

Dietary intake and nutritional indicators are transiently compromised during radiotherapy for rectal cancer.

Objective: Patients with rectal cancer receive curative radiotherapy towards the pelvis for 5 weeks. Little is known about the impact of radiotherapy on dietary intake and nutritional status. The objective was to examine whether curative radiotherapy for rectal cancer promoted altered intake of energy and nutrients, and change in nutritional indicators.

Relations between high ponderal index at birth, feeding practices and body mass index in infancy.

Objective: We compared feeding practices between infants of high ponderal index (PI) at birth (PI above the 90th percentile) and normal PI at birth (PI between 10th and 90th percentiles), and examined how birth size and infant feeding practices were related to body mass index (BMI) at 12 months.

Design: In a cohort of 3000 infants invited to participate in a national Norwegian dietary survey, 1825 participated both at 6 and 12 months of age, and the present study included those born full term and with a PI (weight/length3) at birth > or =10th percentile (n=1441). Data on feeding practices were collected by food-frequency questionnaires, and anthropometrical data were measured by health-care personnel.

Validation of a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire used among 2-year-old Norwegian children.

Objectives: An adequate diet is of profound importance in infancy and early childhood. To ensure an optimal diet, knowledge about actual intake must be obtained. The aims of this study were to assess the validity of a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) applied in a large nation-wide survey among 2-year-old children and to examine the validity of the SFFQ in relation to different background parameters.

Breast-feeding at 12 months of age and dietary habits among breast-fed and non-breast-fed infants.

Objective: To analyse factors associated with breast-feeding and use of sweetened drinks at 12 months, and to compare dietary habits among breast-fed and non-breast-fed infants.

Design: Data were collected by a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire filled in by the parents.

Setting: National dietary survey in Norway.

Six carotenoids in plasma used to assess recommended intake of fruits and vegetables in a controlled feeding study.

Background: There is a need for objective and universally applicable biomarkers for the intake of foods believed to affect human health.

Objective: The purpose of this feeding study was to test whether plasma concentrations of carotenoids could be used to distinguish recommended consumption of mixed fruits and vegetables (five a day) from the current national intake of fruits and vegetables (two a day).

Design: A strict crossover design was chosen to correct for observed interindividual variations in carotenoid response.

High caffeine consumption in the third trimester of pregnancy: gender-specific effects on fetal growth.

It has been suggested that a high caffeine intake in pregnancy may be a risk factor for fetal growth retardation. We have tested this hypothesis in a population-based case-control study. Caffeine intake among 111 mothers of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants (56 boys, 55 girls) was compared with the intake among 747 mothers of non-SGA infants (368 boys, 379 girls).

Validation of a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire used among 12-month-old Norwegian infants.

Objective: To assess the validity of a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) used in a large nation-wide dietary survey among 12-month-old Norwegian infants.

Methods: The SFFQ was administered to the parents about 1 week before the infants turned 12-month-old. The participants filled in the SFFQ and 1-2 weeks later they kept weighed food records for a total of 7 days.

Vegetable and fruit: the evidence in their favour and the public health perspective.

There is strong evidence that the intake of vegetables and fruits reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is inversely associated with several forms of cancer. In contrast, information concerning specific macro- or micronutrients in relation to chronic diseases is limited and largely inconclusive. The beneficial role of vegetable and fruit consumption can also be inferred by considering the health effects of two dietary patterns, the Mediterranean and Japanese ones, in both of which the consumption of plant foods holds a prominent position.

Infant feeding practices and associated factors in the first six months of life: the Norwegian infant nutrition survey.

Aim: To describe and evaluate infant feeding practices during the first 6 mo of life in relation to recommendations, and to study infant feeding practices in relation to maternal and infant characteristics.

Methods: Data from 2383 Norwegian infants aged 6 mo were collected by a self-administered semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire measuring feeding practices at 6 mo and feeding practices retrospectively at < or = 5.5 mo of age.

Methodology for rendering household budget and individual nutrition surveys comparable, at the level of the dietary information collected.

Objective: To describe the methodology applied in order to render comparable, at the level of the dietary information collected, the household budget survey (HBS) and individual nutrition survey (INS) data from four European countries (Belgium, Greece, Norway and the United Kingdom).

Setting: In Belgium, data from the HBS of 1987-88 were compared with data from the Belgian Interuniversity Research on Nutrition and Health collected from 1980 to 1985. In Greece, data from the HBS undertaken in 1993-94 in the greater Athens area were compared with data collected around 1994 in the same region, in the context of the Greek segment of the European Prospective Investigation on Cancer and Nutrition study.

Current diet and colorectal adenomas: a case-control study including different sets of traditionally chosen control groups.

High intake of fat and a low intake of foods rich in antioxidants and fibre are suggested to be associated with risk of colorectal adenomas. Inconsistency may, however, be due to dietary assessment problems or differences in the identification of cases and controls. We have compared 87 adenoma cases aged 50-76 years with 35 healthy controls and 35 'hospital' controls.

Levels of ochratoxin A in blood from Norwegian and Swedish blood donors and their possible correlation with food consumption.

Blood levels of ochratoxin A were determined in 406 Scandinavian blood donors (206 from Oslo, Norway, and 200 from Visby on the island of Gotland, Sweden), using an HPLC method. In connection with the blood collection, the subjects were asked to fill in a food questionnaire to obtain individual dietary information relevant to ochratoxin A exposure. The mean plasma level of ochratoxin A was 0.

Results from two repeated 5 day dietary records with a 1 y interval among patients with colorectal polyps.

Background: Dietary factors are known to be associated with initiation and development of colorectal cancer (CRC), and also with CRC's major precursor, the colorectal polyp. In long-term intervention studies on colorectal polyps, dietary changes may therefore affect potential effects of the study intervention.

Objective: To examine potential dietary changes among polyp-patients randomly selected from a 3 y intervention study after 1 y.

Fruit and vegetable availability among ten European countries: how does it compare with the 'five-a-day' recommendation? DAFNE I and II projects of the European Commission.

Recasting the role of fruit and vegetables (F&V) in the diet, and planning national and international campaigns to enhance their consumption are major public health service objectives. The present study seeks to describe F&V availability patterns in ten European countries and examine compliance with current recommendations. The mean and median F&V availability (g/person per d) was estimated based on household budget survey data retrieved from the Data Food Networking (DAFNE) databank.

Smoking and colorectal adenomas: a case-control study.

A positive association between tobacco and colorectal adenomas has been suggested. Smoking is, however, also associated with 'poor' dietary habits, which in turn may be related to risk of adenomas. It is therefore of interest to study the relationship between smoking, diet and risk of colorectal adenomas in follow-up studies.

Household budget survey nutritional data in relation to mortality from coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer and female breast cancer in European countries. DAFNE I and II projects of the European Commission. Data Food Networking.

Objective: We have undertaken a study to examine whether Household Budget Survey (HBS)-derived nutritional patterns are related to mortality from diseases with strong nutritional components, namely coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer and cancer of the female breast.

Design: Ecological correlation study. In the context of the Data Food Networking projects of the European Union, raw data from the national HBS of 10 European countries were provided.