Background The social isolation enforced as a result of the new coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic may impact families’ lifestyle and eating habits. The present study aimed to assess the behaviour and dietary patterns of Brazilian children and adolescents during the social isolation imposed by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods The present study was conducted using an online, anonymous cross‐sectional survey with 589 children and 720 adolescents from Brazil during a nationwide social isolation policy. The Mann–Whitney U‐test or the Kruskal–Wallis with the Dunn post‐hoc method and a radar chart were used to compare the weekly consumption of each food by age group and isolation status. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Analyses were conducted using R statistical software, version 4.0.2 (R Foundation for Statisitical Computing). Results We found that isolated families showed breakfast eating habits and the consumption of raw salad, vegetables, beans and soft drinks. Lower‐class isolated families and those from the Northeast region consumed fruits, juices, vegetables and beans less frequently. Compared to children, adolescents were less isolated (p = 0.016), less active (p < 0.001), exposed to longer screen time (p < 0.001), showed an inadequate sleeping pattern (p = 0.002) and were from lower‐class families (p < 0.001). Conclusions Social isolation affected the eating habits of children and adolescents. Non‐isolated families presented a lower consumption of healthy food, especially those among the lower class, from Northeast Brazil, as well as adolescents.

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These findings demonstrate the importance of establishing an early diagnosis of the lipid profile, mainly if it is already associated to another risk factor, such as obesity.

Background The first 2 years of life represent a critical phase for growth and development, with the quality of the diet at this stage having repercussions throughout adulthood. The present study aimed to develop an Index for Measuring the Quality of Complementary Feeding (IMQCF) for infants, as well as to evaluate diet quality and its effects on the nutritional status of preterm infants. Methods This cross‐sectional study was conducted at a Brazilian University Hospital. The data were extracted by care protocol of outpatient preterm infants at 2 years of corrected age (CA). Dietary data were collected from 24‐h recalls. The diet quality was assessed by the IMQCF composed of nine items based on a Brazilian Food Guide for children aged <2 years. Response options were scored 0–100, with scores closer to 100 representing a better quality diet. Association with growth indicators (Z‐scores for weight‐ and length‐for‐age (WAZ and LAZ) were evaluated via tests of mean difference and multiple linear regression. Results The median complementary feeding (CF) score was 72.2 (61.1–77.8) A shorter breastfeeding duration or infant formula use and the early introduction of wheat‐based foods, ultra‐processed foods and cow’s milk in the preterm’s diet were the main factors interfering in the adequacy of diet. There was an association between the quality of the diet score and WAZ (0.44; 95% confidence interval = 0.03–0.85; P = 0.03). Conclusions The introduction of poor quality food in the first 2 years of life interfered with the CF quality of preterm infants and can affect nutritional status at 2 years of CA, possibly in the long term.

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The present study investigated the LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C)-lowering effects of psyllium in Brazilian dyslipidaemic children and adolescents. A total of fifty-one individuals (6 -19 years) with mild-to-moderate hypercholesterolaemia were evaluated by conducting a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel clinical trial. Over an 8-week trial period, the participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups (control: n 25 and psyllium: n 26) using a computer-generated random number sequence. Fasting blood samples, dietary records and anthropometric data were collected. Both groups were treated with the National Cholesterol Education Program Step 2 diet for 6 weeks before randomisation. After this run-in period, a daily supplement of 7·0 g psyllium was given to the intervention group, while an equivalent amount of cellulose was given to the control group. Statistically significant changes between the control and intervention groups over time were observed for total cholesterol (7·7 %; 20·39 mmol/l; P ¼ 0·003) and LDL-C (10·7 %; 20·36 mmol/l; P ¼ 0·01). None of the participants reported any aversion to the smell, taste, appearance or texture of psyllium. No serious adverse effects were reported during the study. In addition to causing a significant reduction in LDL-C concentrations, psyllium therapy was found to be both safe and acceptable for the treatment of hypercholesterolaemic children and adolescents.Key words: Dyslipidaemia: Psyllium: Children: Adolescents Atherosclerotic CVD is a leading cause of morbidity and premature mortality in Western countries and hypercholesterolaemia is recognised as a major cardiovascular risk factor (1) . Available data indicate that 28 -40 % of Brazilian children and adolescents are dyslipidaemic (2,3) .According to current Brazilian and American guidelines (4,5) , the best way to reduce LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations is to follow a low-fat diet supplemented with water-soluble fibres and plant stanols and sterols, combined with weight control and exercise (6) . Alternative dietary therapies have been proposed and efforts have been made to enhance the efficacy of conventional dietary therapy (low-fat diet) to reduce serum cholesterol concentrations through the inclusion of specific foods or food components with known cholesterol-lowering properties (4,6) .A recent systematic review (7) has demonstrated the cholesterol-lowering capacity of the soluble dietary fibre extracted from psyllium husk in adults. Psyllium has been found to lead to reductions ranging from 2·78 to 2 22·8 % in the serum LDL-C concentrations of children and adolescents (8 -10) . The wide range of effects observed in these studies may be related to the quality of the dietary intervention or to the different methods of randomisation, blinding, dietary intake assessment and laboratory measurement.Psyllium is one of the richest known sources of soluble mucilaginous dietary fibre. It is derived from the seed husk of Plantago ovata (11) and is considered a useful supplement to dietary...

Determinantes do grau de aceitabilidade da dieta hospitalar: ferramentas para a prática clínica?Determinants of acceptability degree of the hospital diet: tools for clinical practice?Resumo O propósito do estudo foi investigar o grau de aceitabilidade da dieta hospitalar em pacientes internados em um hospital público universitário na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Trata-se de estudo transversal, no qual aspectos quantitativos e ambientais relacionados a dieta, tempo médio de internação e qualidade de atendimento foram investigados. Os resultados revelaram que a avaliação da aceitação da dieta hospitalar foi considerada de boa a ótima na maioria dos casos e que 88,7% dos pacientes ingeriram mais da metade do conteúdo total da refeição oferecida. Nas pequenas refeições, as dietas com restrição de nutrientes, incluindo a hipossódica, apresentaram maior grau de aceitação entre seus usuários do que as dietas básicas e com sal. A temperatura inadequada da dieta servida foi o fator que mais contribuiu negativamente para a aceitação alimentar, seguido da falta de intervalo entre o jantar e a ceia. A aceitação da dieta também foi inversamente proporcional ao tempo de internação. Conclui-se que a avaliação da dieta hospitalar deve ser realizada de forma contínua e abrangente, para que os fatores que influenciam na satisfação do usuário possam ser detectados e modificados antes que comprometam seu estado nutricional e fisiopatológico.Palavras-chave: Dieta. Desnutrição. Pacientes internados.

Introdução: O comprometimento do estado nutricional é bastante comum entre pacientes hospitalizados, e a detecção precoce permite ajustar a dieta hospitalar para necessidades energéticas e protéicas desses pacientes. Objetivos: Investigar a adequação da dieta hospitalar e sua relação com o estado nutricional de pacientes internados em um Hospital Universitário. Métodos: Participaram deste estudo descritivo, prospectivo e transversal, 1568 pacientes. Foram investigados aspectos relacionados ao diagnóstico clínico, estado nutricional, requerimento energético, qualidade da dieta e adequação nutricional. Resultados: Pode-se constatar a partir das variáveis analisadas, que o diagnóstico clínico, o estado nutricional, o tipo de dieta prescrita, a aceitação e a adequação nutricional da dieta, diferiram por gênero (p≤0,001). Duas extremidades do desvio nutricional foram encontradas entre os pacientes: desnutrição (20,3%) e excesso de peso (35,0%). A dieta hospitalar foi avaliada como ‘boa a excelente’ em 85,7% dos casos. Pacientes com baixo peso apresentaram maior aceitação da dieta hospitalar em comparação com pacientes com sobrepeso [OR = 3,19; p<0,001 (café da manhã e lanches); OR = 2,2; p= 0,02 (almoço e jantar)]. Também foi observado que pacientes do sexo feminino e afetados por doenças do aparelho geniturinário foi o grupo com o menor grau de aceitação da dieta e os do sexo masculino afetados por doenças infecciosas e do aparelho circulatório apresentaram maior proporção de comprometimento nutricional, respectivamente. Conclusões: A dieta hospitalar fornecida atendeu a maioria da sua clientela, porém ainda precisa de ajustes dietéticos para os pacientes que recebem dieta hipossódica e para os que apresentam alta demanda energética.                                                    Descritores: Estado nutricional; Dieta; Pacientes hospitalizados.