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Nutrition screening tools may facilitate early nutrition interventions specifically with Hispanic populations that are already at higher risk. There is a paucity of culturally competent and validated nutrition screening tools for 3–5-year-old Hispanic children. The purpose of this study was to develop a Spanish nutrition screening tool for 3–5-year-old children to be used by Spanish-speaking parents in community settings to appropriately address malnutrition risk factors with cultural sensitivity. All phases of the study were conducted in Spanish with native Spanish speakers. Face and content validity were established using focus groups, expert reviews, and pilot testing of the tool with Spanish-speaking parents. Parents of children 3–5 years old whose primary language was Spanish (n = 39) completed the nutrition screening, and a nutritionist completed an in-depth nutrition assessment of these children. Criterion validity was measured by comparing the results of the nutrition screening tool with the in-depth nutrition assessment. The nutrition screening tool had a sensitivity of 91.67% and a specificity of 81.48%. The negative predictive value was 69%, and the positive predictive value was 96%. The nutrition screening tool may be used to identify malnutrition in Hispanic children and needs further validation in larger samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetables are an essential component of a healthy dietary pattern in children; however, their consumption is often insufficient due to lack of preference. To address this, the influence of combining vegetables (mixed peas and carrots—MPACs) with potatoes, a generally liked food, on overall vegetable consumption among children aged 7–13 years was explored. The research involved a cross-over study design with 65 participants who completed five lunchtime meal conditions, each with different combinations of MPACs and potatoes versus a control (MPACs with a wheat roll). The meals were provided in a cafeteria setting, and plate waste was used to measure vegetable consumption. Anthropometric data and other variables were also measured. Notably, self-reported hunger did not significantly differ between conditions. Meal condition was a significant predictor of MPACs (F = 5.20; p = 0.0005), with MPAC consumption highest when combined with shaped potato faces in the same bowl (+8.77 g compared to serving MPACs and shaped potato faces in separate bowls) and lowest when combined with diced potatoes in the same bowl (−2.85 g compared to serving MPACs and diced potatoes in separate bowls). The overall model for MPAC consumption was influenced by age, height z-score, body fat percentage z-score, and condition (likelihood ratio = 49.1; p < 0.0001). Age had the strongest correlation with vegetable consumption (r = 0.38), followed by male gender, height z-score (r = 0.30), and body fat z-score (r = −0.15). The results highlight the positive impact of combining potatoes with vegetables in school meals, particularly when using shaped potato faces. These findings emphasize the potential of potatoes as a valuable vegetable option in promoting healthier eating habits among children. Additionally, future research could explore the impact of different potato combinations and investigate other factors influencing meal consumption in school settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nutrition Screening Tool for Every Preschooler (NutriSTEP®) is a 17-item nutrition-screening tool administered to parents. This study validated the food security question in the NutriSTEP® against the Household Food Security Survey (HFSS) and the Hunger Vital Sign. Parents (n = 55) of Head Start preschoolers answered an online survey that included the NutriSTEP®, the Hunger Vital Sign, and the HFSS. All of the tools identified over 40% of the participants experienced food insecurity. The food security question in the NutriSTEP® had 82.1% sensitivity and 94.1% specificity when compared against the HFSS reference standard. The NutriSTEP® adequately identified children with food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work describes a method to model the optical properties over the (400 750 nm) spectral range of a dense microalgal culture using the chemical and physical properties of the algal cells. The method was based on a specific program called AlgaSim coupled with the adding-doubling method: at the individual cell scale, AlgaSim simulates the spectral properties of one model, three-layer spherical algal cell from its size and chemical composition. As a second step, the adding-doubling method makes it possible to retrieve the total transmittance of the algal medium from the optical properties of the individual algal cells. The method was tested by comparing the simulated total transmittance spectra for dense marine microalgal cultures of Isochrysis galbana (small flagellates) and Phaeodactylum tricornutum (diatoms) to spectra measured using an experimental spectrophotometric setup. Our study revealed that the total transmittance spectra simulated for the quasi-spherical cells of Isochrysis galbana were in good agreement with the measured spectra over the whole spectral range. For Phaeodactylum tricornutum, large differences between simulated and measured spectra were observed over the blue part of the transmittance spectra, probably due to non-spherical shape of the algal cells. Prediction of the algal cell density, mean size and pigment composition from the total transmittance spectra measured on algal samples was also investigated using the reversal of the method. Mean cell size was successfully predicted for both species. The cell density was also successfully predicted for spherical Isochrysis galbana, with a relative error below 7%, but not for elongated Phaeodactylum tricornutum with a relative error up to 26%. The pigments total quantity and composition, the carotenoids:chlorophyll ratio in particular, were also successfully predicted for Isochrysis galbana with a relative error below 8%. However, the pigment predictions and measurements for Phaeodactylum tricornutum showed large discrepancies, with a relative error up to 88%. These results give strong support for the development of a promising tool providing rapid and accurate estimations of biomass and physiological status of a dense microalgal culture based on only light transmittance properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Health-promoting environments advance health and prevent chronic disease. Hospitals have been charged to promote health and wellness to patients, communities, and 5.3 million adults employed in United States health care environments. Methods In this cross-sectional observational study, the Hospital Nutrition Environment Scan (HNES) was used to measure the nutrition environment of hospital cafeterias and evaluate the influence of the LiVe Well Plate health initiative. Twenty-one hospitals in the Intermountain West region were surveyed between October 2013 and May 2014. Six hospitals participated in the LiVe Well Plate health initiative and were compared with 15 hospitals not participating. The LiVe Well Plate health initiative identified and promoted a healthy meal defined as <600 kcal, <700 mg sodium, and <30% fat. Signage with nutrition information and health initiative branding were also posted at point of purchase. Hospital cafeterias were scored on four subcategories: facilitators and barriers, grab-and-go items, menu offerings, and selection options at point of purchase. Results Overall, hospitals scored 35.3±13.7 (range=7 to 63) points of 86 total possible points. Cafeterias in health initiative hospitals had significantly higher mean nutrition composite scores compared with non–health initiative hospitals (49.2 vs 29.7; P <0.001). Conclusions Promoting healthy entrées with nutrition information and branding has a positive influence on the nutrition environment of hospital cafeterias. Additional research is needed to quantify and strategize ways to improve nutrition environments within hospital cafeterias and assess the influence on healthy lifestyle behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of algal mass cultivation, current techniques used for the characterization of algal cells require time-consuming sample preparation and a large amount of costly, standard instrumentation. As the physical and chemical properties of the algal cells strongly affect their optical properties, the optical characterization is seen as a promising method to provide an early diagnosis in the context of mass cultivation monitoring. This article explores the potential of a spectroscopic measurement method coupled with the inversion of the radiative transfer theory for the retrieval of the bulk optical properties of dense algal samples. Total transmittance and total reflectance measurements were performed over the 380-1020 nm range on dense algal samples with a double integrating sphere setup. The bulk absorption and scattering coefficients were thus extracted over the 380-1020 nm range by inverting the radiative transfer theory using inverse-adding-doubling computations. The experimental results are presented and discussed; the configuration of the optical setup remains a critical point. The absorption coefficients obtained for the four samples of this study appear not to be more informative about pigment composition than would be classical methods in analytical spectroscopy; however, there is a real added value in measuring the reduced scattering coefficient, as it appears to be strongly correlated to the size distribution of the algal cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]