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Objective: To investigate food insecurity (FI) prevalence in two favelas in Brazil in the early weeks of the social distancing policy, from 27 March 2020 to 1 June 2020. Design: A cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire to elicit information on socio-economic and demographic characteristics, the types of stores visited to buy food, and FI screening. The FI experience was evaluated according to the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Factors associated with moderate or severe FI were investigated using the logistic regression model. Setting: São Paulo city, Brazil. Participants: Totally, 909 householders. Results: Eighty-eight per cent of the households included young women working as cleaners or kitchen assistants and in sales services. One-fifth of the participants were involved in the federal cash transfer programme, called Bolsa Família. There were 92 % households with children. The most frequent experience reported was uncertainty about food acquisition or receiving more (89 %), eating less than one should (64 %), not being able to eat healthy and nutritious food (46 %), and skipping a meal (39 %). Forty-seven per cent of the participants experienced moderate or severe FI. Factors associated with moderate and severe FI were low income, being a Bolsa Família recipient, having a low level of education and living in a household without children. Conclusions: Half of the participants experienced moderate or severe FI, and almost 10 % experienced hunger. Our data suggest that families with children were at a lower risk of moderate to severe FI. It is possible that nationally established social programmes such as Bolsa Família were protecting those families.

Cervical cancer is a leading cancer among women in developing countries. Infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types has been recognized as a necessary cause of this disease. Serum carotenoids and tocopherols have also been associated with risk for cervical neoplasia, but results from previous studies were not consistent. We evaluated the association of serum total carotene and tocopherols, and dietary intakes with the risk of newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grades 1, 2, 3 and invasive cancer in a hospital-based case-control study in São Paulo, Brazil. The investigation included 453 controls and 4 groups of cases (CIN1, n 5 140; CIN2, n 5 126; CIN3, n 5 231; invasive cancer, n 5108) recruited from two major public clinics between 2003 and 2005. Increasing concentrations of serum lycopene were negatively associated with CIN1, CIN3 and cancer, with odds ratios (OR) (95% CI) for the highest compared to the lowest tertile of 0.53 (0.27-1.00, p for trend 5 0.05), 0.48 (0.22-1.04, p for trend 5 0.05) and 0.18 (0.06-0.52, p for trend 5 0.002), respectively, after adjusting for confounding variables and HPV status. Increasing concentrations of serum a-and c-tocopherols, and higher dietary intakes of dark green and deep yellow vegetables/fruit were associated with nearly 50% decreased risk of CIN3. These results support the evidence that a healthy and balanced diet leading to provide high serum levels of antioxidants may reduce cervical neoplasia risk in low-income women.Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. Disease occurrence varies widely by geographic region, with the highest rates in Latin American countries and the Caribbean, sub-Sahara Africa and parts of Asia. 1 Infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types is considered a necessary cause in the development of cervical cancer, and cofactors are tobacco smoking, long-term oral contraceptive use and high parity. [2][3][4][5][6][7] The aforementioned associations notwithstanding, the results on the relationship of nutritional factors to cervical neoplasia have not been consistent across different studies. Only a few investigations have used large numbers of subjects but were conducted mostly in developed countries. An important limitation is the absence of valid information on HPV status and distribution of types, which varies by country. 8 Thus, it has been suggested that most of the observations to date must be accepted only tentatively. 9 The study of the relationship of nutritional factors with cervical neoplasia is complicated by its multifactorial etiology, with many of the identified risk factors being correlated with nutritional and socioeconomic status. 10 Dietary components may be involved in the etiology of this disease since socioeconomic differences in risk persist after adjustment for known factors which suggests that dietary inadequacy consequent to poverty may help explain the high incidence rates in developing countries. 11 Previous case-con...

Background: To identify modifiable risk factors that contribute to cancer holds important public health relevance for setting up prevention strategies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the proportion of cancer cases and deaths attributable to alcohol consumption, high body mass index (BMI), low fruits and vegetables consumption, lack of physical activity, tobacco smoking, and passive smoking in Chile in 2018. Methods: We retrieved data from a national representative survey to describe the distribution of six lifestyle risk factors. Relative risks of each risk factor-cancer pair were obtained from published meta-analysis and pooled cohort studies. Cancer cases and deaths were obtained from the GLOBOCAN 2018. Results: Nearly 30% of all cancer cases (15,097 out of 50,320 cases) and 36% of all cancer deaths (10,155 out of 28,010 deaths) in Chile in 2018 were attributable to lifestyle risk factors. Smoking and high BMI accounted for most of the cancer cases (9232 and 4394, respectively) and deaths (6868 and 2572). The cancer burden of other lifestyle risk factors varied by sex. In men, the proportion of all cancer cases attributed to alcohol were 3.7% compare to 2.0% for women. Cancers cases and deaths of the larynx, lung, oral/cavity, esophagus and bladder could be at least halved if lifestyle risk factors were eliminated. Conclusion: Smoking and high BMI were the leading causes of preventable cancer cases and deaths within the six lifestyles factors considered. Cancer prevention strategies should consider evidence-based interventions and public policies to encourage the adoption of a healthier lifestyle.

Smoking has been positively and fruit and vegetable intake has been negatively associated with cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women worldwide. However, a lower consumption of fruits and reduced serum carotenoids have been observed among smokers. It is not known whether the smoking effect on the risk of cervical neoplasia is modified by a low intake of fruits and vegetables. The present study examined the combined effects of tobacco smoking and diet using a validated FFQ and serum carotenoid and tocopherol levels on cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3) risk in a hospital-based case -control study conducted in São Paulo, Brazil, between 2003 and 2005. The sample comprised 231 incident, histologically confirmed cases of CIN3 and 453 controls. A low intake (#39 g) of dark-green and deep-yellow vegetables and fruits without tobacco smoking had a lesser effect on CIN3 (OR 1·14; 95 % CI 0·49, 2·65) than among smokers with higher intake ($40 g; OR 1·83; 95 % CI 0·73, 4·62) after adjusting for confounders. The OR for the joint exposure of tobacco smoking and low intake of vegetables and fruits was greater (3·86; 95 % CI 1·74, 8·57; P for trend, 0·001) compared with non-smokers with higher intake after adjusting for confounding variables and human papillomavirus status. Similar results were observed for total fruit, serum total carotene (including b-, a-and g-carotene) and tocopherols. These findings suggest that the effect of nutritional factors on CIN3 is modified by smoking.

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Objective: To investigate food insecurity prevalence in two favelas in Brazil in the early weeks from physical distancing policy, between March 27, 2020 to June 1, 2020. Design: A cross-sectional study using online questionnaire to elicit information on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, the types of stores visited to buy food and food insecurity screening. Experience of food insecurity was collected according to the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Factors associated with moderate or severe food insecurity were investigated using the logistic regression model. Setting: Sao Paulo city, Brazil. Participants: 909 householders. Results: 88% of the households included young women working as cleaners or kitchen assistants and in sales services. One-fifth of the participants were recieving federal cash transfer programme, called Bolsa Familia. There were 92% households with children. The most frequent experience reported was uncertainty about food acquisition or receiving more (89%), to eat less than one should (64%), not being able to eat healthy and nutritious food (46%), and skipping a meal (39%). 47% of the participants experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. Factors associated with moderate and severe food insecurity were low income, being Bolsa Familia recipient, a low level of education, and households without children. Conclusions: Half of the participants experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, and close to ten per cent was hungry. Our data suggest that families with children were at lower risk of moderate to severe food insecurity. It is possible that nationally established social programs like Bolsa Familia were protecting those families.

GRS, poverty, low intake of animal-derived foods, geohelminth infection, vitamin A and folate status were important factors associated with vitamin B12 status of children in our study.