Category: Nutrition / Diet

Almost one-third of U.S. children take some form of dietary supplement, most often multivitamins and multiminerals, according to a study conducted in part by researchers at RTI International and the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health.

A consortium of nutrition experts has urged pregnant American women to increase their consumption of fish above US government levels recommended three years ago.In 2004 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advised that pregnant and nursing mothers, and young children, should limit their consumption of fish low in mercury to 12 ounces (approximately two portions) a week.

American children are drinking too little milk and what they are consuming is too high in fat, according to a Penn State study.”There is a strong correlation between dairy consumption and calcium,” says Sibylle Kranz, assistant professor of nutritional sciences. “While there is calcium in fortified orange juice, for example, it is not as bioavailable as that found in milk.” She notes that people need to take calcium with vitamin D and some protein for optimal use in the body.

New prostate cancer research findings to be presented at Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific RetreatWHAT: The 2007 Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific Retreat will feature new studies by the world’s leading researchers in prostate cancer. Presentations include discoveries expected to lead to new diagnostics and treatments, and the potential to help men avoid developing prostate cancer.

Giving children in Nepal who are zinc-deficient zinc supplementation makes to significant difference to their overall mortality. Toddlers aged 12-35 months receive a very slight, non-statistically significant benefit, according to an article in The Lancet, this week’s issue. Malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiency, is the largest risk factor for child mortality in poor and middle income nations, according to the WHO Global Burden of disease project.

The Royal Institute of Public Health is launching a new qualification to teach people how to prepare healthier food and cater for special diets. Dr Alan Maryon-Davis, Chair of the Royal Institute, says “Ill health associated with poor diet affects many people from all walks of life.

Schools play a powerful role in influencing food choices of children and youth. Dietitians of Canada (DC) therefore supports the development and implementation of consistent national guidelines on food served in the school setting recommended in a report released by the Centre for Science in the Public Interest. DC applauds the work already initiated by many provinces in establishing nutrition guidelines.

A new study in the October issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press, reveals that worms live to an older age when they are unable to process the simple sugar glucose. Glucose is a primary source of energy for the body and can be found in all major dietary carbohydrates as a component of starches and other forms of sugar, including sucrose (table sugar) and lactose.

The decision to halt an HHS public service campaign that promoted breast-feeding “seems to be a matter of politics and economics,” Wendy Orent, author of the book “Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World’s Most Dangerous Disease,” writes in a

The October 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association contains articles and research studies you may find of interest. Below is a summary of some of this month’s articles. A Dietary Quality Comparison of Popular Weight Loss DietsThe Alternate Healthy Eating Index measures and compares factors in a person’s diet that are strongly linked to reducing risk for cardiovascular disease.