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Introduction: Adherence to dietary recommendations is an important approach for primary prevention of non-communicable diseases. The aim of the study was to compare energy and selected macronutrients intake with diet between men and women from urban and rural areas who participated in the Polish arm of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study, and to identify the proportion of individuals who did not meet dietary recommendations. Material and methods: The study participants consisted of 1272 women and 753 men, aged 35-70 years from urban (n = 1200) and rural (n = 825) areas of Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Participants' habitual food intake was recorded using country-specific food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Results: Estimated daily energy intake was higher for men than women (2121 vs. 2074 kcal, p < 0.05). Percentage energy provided by carbohydrates was 48%, by fats was 32%, and by protein was 15%. The average energy intake from saturated fatty acids (SFA) was 12.4%, from monounsaturated 10.9%, while from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) 5.0%, and the P/S ratio was 0.44. In the diets of 75% participants, the percentage energy provided by SFA was above 10%. About 1/3 of participants did not meet the recommended amount of fiber. The urban participants consumed less energy, fat and protein, but more carbohydrates than their rural counterpart. Conclusions: The diets that were closer to recommendations were observed among women and people residing urban areas compared to men and people residing rural areas. The studied diets were characterised by excessive percentage of energy from SFA and too low from PUFA.

Although the average dietary intake of antioxidant vitamins among the patients was not insufficient, the use of dietary supplements in different forms was common in our study. The results of other studies concerning the safety of using dietary supplements by cancer patients are not conclusive. Dietary supplementation in oncological patients should always be used after a medical consultation with a doctor and a dietician.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are an early-onset neurodevelopmental disorders. The key symptoms of ASD include social deficits, verbal and non-verbal communication deficits, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities. Dietary patterns have been evidenced to be related to maternal nutritional status that might lead to different metabolic conditions, and maternal metabolic dysfunction has been observed to be associated with ASD. Furthermore growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiota has a role in the pathophysiology of ASD. Differences in composition of the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota in children with ASD compared to unaffected siblings and/or healthy unrelated controls have been reported in various studies. The above-mentioned ASD factors and symptoms can be regulated by proper nutrition. The importance of nutrition and its possible impact on ASD patients is key to integral therapy. According to numerous research studies, various nutritional approaches succeeded in reducing the severity of patients' core ASD symptoms. The numerous options for diet that is used in the ASD therapy, as described in the scientific literature, are related to the problem of choosing an appropriate nutritional treatment. Each nutrition programme needs to be personalised and tailored to an individual patient. The aim of the paper is to review the available literature on dietary interventions in children with ASD and provide up-to-date evidence.