bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mycotoxins and Nutritional Deficiencies
Authors: Schoental Regina 
Published: January 2012

Among the many already known mycotoxins, the ones most relevant as health hazards in Great Britain, and in other Countries in the temperate zones, are the secondary metabolites of Fusaria. These common moulds (often pink) can produce in stored high-moisture agricultural products, the oestrogenic, non-steroidal, zearalenone and/or T-2 toxin, and other irritant trichothecenes. Significant levels of such mycotoxins may develop in cereal-grains harvested under very wet weather conditions, or when imported by sea. Fusarium mycotoxins have been recognised as responsible for ‘alimentary toxic aleukia’ an often fatal illness, that followed eating bread made from mouldy millet by starving people in the USSR. They might also have been involved in pellagra, Wernicke's-Korsakoff encephalopathy and certain other disorders in which gastro-intestinal upset is a common feature. Further studies are needed on the possible role of zearalenone, and its oestrogenic derivatives, in abnormalities and tumours of sex, and certain other, organs which are targets for oestrogenic agents.
Diet and Cerebrovascular Disease
Authors: Seely Stephen 
Published: January 2012

Atherosclerosis appears to be the disease of a single type of cell: intimal smooth muscle cells. These are individual cells capable of secreting fibres, their normal function is the repair of injuries. They regulate their intake of low density lipoprotein (LDL) from the plasma by varying the number of LDL receptors appearing on their surface. A control mechanism apparently monitors the quantity of free cholesterol in an intracellular pool and promotes or retards LDL receptor synthesis according to its size. It is assumed that the regulatory mechanism may malfunction under certain conditions in the sense that an adequate store of free cholesterol fails to suppress receptor synthesis. Consequently the cell continues to draw LDL from the plasma regardless of its needs, until it is overloaded with lipids and ultimately dies. The two main forms of atherosclerosis: coronary and cerebrovascular disease appear to be diet-related, but associated with different diets. Coronary disease is correlated with the consumption of foods of animal origin, particularly milk, cerebrovascular disease with the consumption of plant proteins. A possible reason is that the diet contains more than one item with atherogenic properties, some of which are able to pass through the blood/brain barrier, while others are unable to do so. It is suggested that these pathogens are oestrogens and oestrogen mimics in the diet.
Dietary Approaches to the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects
Authors: Laurence K. M. 
Published: January 2012

Two dietary studies are reported on women resident in Glamorgan and Gwent who had had a child with a neural tube defect (NTD). In the first study the contemporaneous inter-pregnancy and pregnancy diets of 415 women were recorded. Blood samples were taken and analysed for folates and vitamin B12. The quality of the diets correlated with the serum and red cell folate concentrations. The diets during the subsequent pregnancy were worse than the inter-pregnancy diet. Half of the women, selected on a geographical basis were advised to improve their diet before and during the next pregnancy. Of these women 174 reported 186 pregnancies in time for a further diet study. Of the women counselled to improve their diet 75% had done so, compared to 10% of those not counselled. There were 8 recurrences of NTD in 186 pregnancies, all the 8 mothers receiving a poor diet during the first 3 months of pregnancy. In the second study the interpregnancy diets of 244 women who had had a child with a NTD were compared to the diets of their own sisters and a group of professional women. The diet of the index cases was worse than that of either control group. 5 mothers who had poor diets during the first 3 months of the pregnancy had a child with a NTD. It is concluded that women on a better diet during the first trimester have a lower risk of NTD recurrence. Dietary counselling can be effective in improving the diet in women at increased risk for NTD. Improvement in the diet of prospective mothers by dietary education at school should not be neglected. The relationship between improvements in diet, folic acid and vitamin supplementation, in the prevention of recurrence of NTD is discussed.
Disturbed Children: The Role of Food and Chemical Sensitivities
Authors: Menzies Ian C. 
Published: January 2012

A wide range of longlasting patterns of symptoms may result from individual sensitivity to substances in the environment such as foods, chemicals, dusts and pollens. Behaviourally disturbed and learning disordered children are common. Their numbers may be increasing and certainly they make great demands on parental understanding and courage as well as on professional judgement and time. A number of case studies are presented which suggest that the difficulties encountered by a significant number of these children have much to do with idiosyncratic responses to foods and additives. This hypothesis requires careful research study at an early date for if validated it will have far reaching implications for the assessment and management of disturbed, delinquent and learning disordered children. Perhaps not enough attention has been paid to the role of biological and environmental factors in the development of children's problems. Certainly recent research has begun to provide support for the concept of environmental (ecologic) illness.
Malnutrition in the Third World
Authors: Aubert Claude 
Published: January 2012

The causes of malnutrition are discussed -lack of money for food; and insufficiency of food production. It is stressed that much agricultural land is employed for purposes other than the production of food. Other causes of malnutrition include changes in local food habits and in food technology. Remedies discussed include increasing yields by organic manuring and mixed cropping; devoting more land to staple food production; changes in food habits and in food technology. Until these problems are addressed in Western societies there is little prospect of suitable solutions amongst the peoples of the Third World. Before discussing remedies, I would like briefly to discuss the causes of malnutrition.
The State of Food Production and Nutrition in the Developing Countries
Authors: Ghebremeskel K. 
Published: January 2012

The genesis of the problem of food production and nutrition of African, Asian and Central and South American countries can be traced back to the beginning of ‘inter-continental trade’ and the emergence of colonialism. Indigenous food patterns and social and economic orders that had evolved to befit the inhabitants and the environment were destroyed. A nutritional framework and an agricultural and economic policy designed to benefit the colonising nations were fostered. At present, millions of people in the developing countries suffer from endemic undernutrition and associated diseases. Famine is always present under the surface claiming families and individual hamlets and breaks through when the semblance of equilibrium between minimal food requirement for survival and supply is disturbed by natural or man-made disaster. Landlessness, an uneven distribution of wealth, overemphasis on cash-crop production, neglect of peasant agriculture in favour of unnecessary expenditure on military hardware and other misguided projects, and crop specialisation are some of the factors responsible for food shortage and undernutrition. Moreover, most of the staple foods of the developing countries are of low energy density and deficient in some essential nutrients. The cycle of undernutrition, hunger, disease and death can only be broken by instituting a well planned, peasant-orientated, integrated development programme based on self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
Tribute to Cleave—Forgotten Prophet
Authors: Yellowlees W.W. 
Published: January 2012

The late Surgeon Captain T.L. Cleave (1906–1983) completed his life-long R N professional service by promotion to the post of Director of Medical Research to the Royal Navy. His voyaging as a medical officer gave him unique understanding of patterns of disease throughout the world. He concluded that many of the degenerative illnesses which during this century have become so common in advanced countries have a simple basic dietary cause—the consumption of ever increasing quantities of refined carbohydrates; human beings were not, in Cleave's opinion, adapted to the use of these artificially concentrated foods. He suggested the term “Saccharine Disease” to denote many diverse manifestations, including dental decay, obesity, diabetes and coronary thrombosis, of one master disease having one simple cause. The neglect of this concept by most authorities today repeats the attitudes of the ‘medical establishment’ towards one of Cleave's distinguished eighteenth century naval predecessors, James Lind, whose advocacy of citrus fruit juice for the prevention of scurvy was greeted with derision.
Use, Problems and Prospects of Soybean in Infant Weaning Practices in Africa
Authors: Igbedioh S.O. 
Published: January 2012

Access to nutritious food by poor people is being increasingly hindered by the failure of the food security system, and diminishing real income value, in most African countries undergoing Structural Adjustment Programme. Hence, nutritional disorders such as protein energy malnutrition, xerophthalmia, anaemia, low birth weight, stunting and wasting are on in the increase. Although soybean is used in quite a number of African countries as a weaning food, there are still problems such as lack of technical know-how for its processing into infant foods, cultural practices which favour the use of cereal rather than legumes for weaning infants and the long cooking time. In spite of this, the prospects for the crop as infant food is becoming brighter, and some ways of achieving this are discussed.
Nutritional Factors for Longevity in Okinawa—Present and Future
Authors: Mimura G. , Murakami K. , Gushiken M. 
Published: January 2012

Several factors, such as environment and heredity, are presumed to be related to longevity. Of these nutrition is believed to function as a regulatory factor. Okinawa prefecture is well known as the leading area for longevity in the world. We therefore examined present and past nutrition records together with the background of all the 88 centenarians (18 male, 70 female) who are living in Okinawa in 1991. Their leading occupation was agriculture, and they were in work until the 8th decade. They took rice or potato as carbohydrate with abundant vegetables and vegetable protein or fish protein. Although they did not take a rich diet it was well balanced, and was assumed to be related to longevity because of the decreased incidence of atherosclerosis; together with a good genetic background, suggested by the accumulation of longevity in their siblings.
Nutrition for the Japanese Elderly
Authors: Shibata H. , Nagai H. , Haga H. , Yasumura S. , Suzuki T. , Suyama Y. 
Published: January 2012

The present paper examines the relationship of nutritional status to further life expectancy and health status in the Japanese elderly based on 3 epidemiological studies. Nutrient intakes in 94 Japanese centenarians investigated between 1972 and 1973 showed a higher proportion of animal protein to total proteins than in contemporary average Japanese. High intakes of milk and fats and oils had favorable effects on 10-year (1976–1986) survivorship in 422 urban residents aged 69–71. The survivors revealed a longitudinal increase in intakes of animal foods such as eggs, milk, fish and meat over the 10 years. Nutrient intakes were compared, based on 24-hour dietary records, between a sample from Okinawa Prefecture where life expectancies at birth and 65 were the longest in Japan, and a sample from Akita Prefecture where the life expectancies were much shorter. Intakes of Ca, Fe, vitamins A, B1, B2, C, and the proportion of energy from proteins and fats were significantly higher in the former than in the latter. Intakes of carbohydrates and NaCl were lower.
Food Policy for Health in Japan
Authors: Fukuba Hiroyasu 
Published: January 2012

In this half century, dietary habits in Japan have greatly changed and there is some confusion about what is healthy. In this report the causes of the confusion are analysed. To establish a healthy and normal dietary life, the recommendations for the public were considered from the various standpoints. There have been great changes in economic and social factors, and in supply and availability. Consumers rate convenience, diversity, good taste, healthiness, and “fashionableness” as important. To create a new food culture, the following three points would become the base; 1. It is necessary for each of us to have a sense of responsibility for our eating habits and our health. 2. We must cooperate with family and friends to work for the creation of an abundant and enjoyable dining table. 3. We have reached the stage in our dining culture where we must think not about what to eat, but how to eat, what conduct we should use when eating, and about our awareness of eating and what we are eating.
Nutrition-Related Diseases and Dietary Change among Third World Immigrants in Northern Europe
Authors: Wandel Margareta 
Published: January 2012

Immigrants from the third world are more prone to acquire nutritional deficiency diseases, such as rickets, osteomalacia and iron deficiency anemia than the rest of the population in the recipient countries. Lately, evidence is also emerging that some immigrant groups are particularly susceptible to diseases related to overputrition, such as coronary heart disease and non-insulin dependent diabetes. The purpose of this review article is to give a holistic view of the nutrition related diseases and disorders among immigrants. It deals with the prevalence of these diseases among immigrants in Northern European countries, and looks into some of the hypotheses, which have been put forward to explain why immigrant groups are more prone to acquire these diseases than the rest of the population. The focus of this part of the paper is the process of dietary change after migration. The practical implications of the findings from the literature review are then discussed.
Aquatic Versus Savanna: Comparative and Paled-Environmental Evidence
Authors: Verhaegen Marc 
Published: January 2012

This paper begins by comparing anatomical and physiological features of humans and other groups of mammals (apes and arboreal mammals, open-country dwellers, fully aquatic mammals, and semi-aquatics), in order to establish the nature of the environment where Homo originated. It concludes that the evidence completely invalidates the savanna theory and strongly favours the semi-aquatic hypothesis. The second part points out that nothing in the fossil record disproves this conclusion, and quotes paleo-environmental evidence concerning the milieu where the ancient hominids fossilised.
Sustaining Nutrition Security in Africa under Changing Socio-Economic
Authors: Igbedioh S.O. 
Published: January 2012

The adoption and implementation of the structural adjustment programme (SAP) in the 1980's by many African countries as a strategy for economic recovery has increased the magnitude of hunger and protein-energy malnutrition, vitamin A deficiency and anaemia. In addition population growth rate has continued to outstrip the food supply at a time when real income value has fallen, thereby diminishing further the access of the poor to nutritious food. Even though Africa's present food supply situation is inadequate and in some cases unsustainable it is reassuring to note that Africa can feed itself provided the potential of doing so is mobilized and sustained. This paper proposes and highlights strategies for the development of a nutrition strategy and nutrition education programmes with emphasis on nutrition programmes which benefit the vulnerables. The paper further proposes that specific policies should be targeted at the poor while instituting food subsidies schemes for those who are most at risk nutritionally.
Old, Poor & Malnourished
Authors: Stitt Sean , O'Connell Ciara , Grant Diane 
Published: January 2012

Objective: To monitor the effects of low, fixed incomes on the dietaries and nutritional wellbeing of elderly people. Methods: A questionnaire gathered data from a ‘high income’ sample (HIS) and a ‘low income’ sample (LIS) on income, eating and shopping patterns and nutritional awareness. A dietary diary provided the data required for a nutritional analysis of the foodstuffs consumed by the sample and inadequacies were identified by comparing nutrient intake to the Dept. of Health's (1991) Dietary Recommended Values (DRVs). Results: The dietaries of the low income sample showed substantial shortfalls from those officially recommended and these are presented as the result, primarily, of income poverty and not the consequence of ignorance or mental decline. The older poor know what healthy eating entails; in most cases, they simply cannot afford and indeed, the dietaries are often inferior to the ‘general poor’, because of the idiosyncracies of their nutritional requirements. Conclusion: The inability of the older poor to purchase a healthy dietary cannot be solved merely by health education or budgeting skills. Primarily, they need more money.
The Validation of a Test to Measure Knowledge about the Fat Content of Food Products
Authors: Steenhuis I.H.M. , Brug J. , Van Assema P. , Imbos Tj. 
Published: January 2012

The objective of the study was to develop and validate a 2l-item nutrition knowledge test to measure people's knowledge of the fat content of food-products. After pretesting and provisional development, the test was administered twice to study test-retest reliability. Furthermore, various sub-populations with expected differences in nutrition knowledge completed the test in order to study the construct validity of the questionnaire. The subpopulations consisted of lay-people (N=81), students of human nutrition and dietetics (N=108), and professional experts (N=79) on human nutrition. The internal consistency and uni-dimensionality of the test were determined by calculating the KR-20 statistic and the log-likelihood ratio statistic for the Rasch model. Pearson's correlation and gross misclassification between T1 and T2 were calculated to assess the test-retest reliability. Analysis of variance was used to test for differences in mean knowledge scores between subpopulations. Test-retest reliability was found to be sufficient (R=.85). The internal consistency was moderate (KR20=.68). According to the Rasch model, two items had to be removed from the test before the log-likelihood ratio statistic of the Rasch model indicated that knowledge about the fat content of food products as assessed by the questionnaire is a uni-dimensional construct. The differences in mean knowledge scores between the subpopulations were significant (p < .01) and in the expected direction (experts > students > lay people). It can be concluded that the test is a reliable and valid instrument to measure knowledge about total fat content in food products and that the Rasch model is a comprehensive method to indicate the reliability of nutritional knowledge tests.
Policy Considerations for a Realistic Approach to Hunger in Nigeria
Authors: Igbedioh S.O. 
Published: January 2012

Hunger is usually caused by a break down in the food security mechanisms of a society and lack of purchasing power. In Nigeria, food shortages have become common since 1972, culminating in the food crises of the 1980s, made worse by the implementation of a macroeconomic economic adjustment policy in 1986. The paper confirms the hunger situation and presents evidence to show that it is of wider significance than hitherto acknowledged. The paper proposes policy options to tackle the situation and these include the development of agriculture to attain self-sufficiency in staple food production which must be backed by political will using a widely accepted framework and well articulated set of programmes and strategies borne out of consensus.
Processes in Ranking Nutrients of Foods in a Food Data Base
Authors: Salam Khan Abdus 
Published: January 2012

Depending on the type of user, it is possible that there are many purposes for retrieval of foods from a computerised nutrient data base. A Dietitian on one occasion may need to come up with a qualified assessment of foods in the process of diet construction so that the process of balancing nutrients for the diet takes less time. On another occasion the dietitian may want to recommend a food for a client which requires knowledge of the standing of that food with respect to one or more of its contents of nutrients. A dietitian is not able to memorise all the foods and their nutrient content. Moreover if the number of foods is many then the dietitian's ability to refer foods according to their standing may become impossible. Ranking foods with respect to their nutrient contents within a reasonable number could be very useful for dietetic purposes. This paper discusses the processes of ranking of foods as high, medium and low only, and proposes guidelines which can be referred to for rejecting inappropriate ranking schemes of foods. The proposed guidelines are based on the results of experiments which are included in this paper.
The Influence of Socioeconomic and Nutritional Status on Menarche in Nigerian School Girls
Authors: Abioye-Kuteyi E.A. , Ojofeitimi E.O. , Aina O.I. , Kio F. , Aluko Y. , Mosuro O. 
Published: January 2012

A study of 352 randomly selected secondary school girls in an urban population in Southern Western Nigeria revealed a mean menarcheal age of 13.94 ± 1.31 years and that 76.8% of girls attained menarche between ages 13 and 15 years. Age-matched pre- and post-menarcheal girls did not differ significantly in biophysical measurements, however, nutritional status was strongly and positively associated with attainment of menarche. School girls from the upper socio-economic class reached menarche 11 months earlier than the lower socio-economic counterparts. A significant finding of this study is that the declaration rate in age at menarche was slowest in girls from high socio-economic households. This deceleration was not influenced by body mass suggesting that socio-economic factors play a unique role in the secular trend widely reported in menarcheal age.
Supply and Demand: A Framework for Explaining Variability in Dietary Intake and its Impact on Data
Authors: Joachim Gloria 
Published: January 2012

Nutrition has an important relationship with health and illness. One difficulty in measuring intake is related to variability. The purpose of this paper is to examine 1) the impact of supply and demand on variability in data collected for dietary studies and 2) the relationship between data and estimates of usual intake. The forces of supply and demand over time generate a consumption curve for each food. Two types of consumption curves are identified. One curve is horizontal and represents staples that are steadily consumed. The other curve exhibits peaks and dips and is unique for each food whose consumption varies with time. The measurement of usual intake is discussed in. light of these two types of curves. Usual intake of foods whose consumption curve is horizontal could be read at any time since consumption does not vary with time. For all other foods, measuring usual consumption presents problems since the data vary with time. This examination indicates that foods whose consumption varies with time have unique properties that must be considered when attempting to calculate consumption. Suggestions are given to enhance measurement of consumption of these foods. Although excellent methodology currently exists for the calculation of intake, attention to the force of supply and demand with only serve to strengthen existing methods.