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Introduction: Pregnancy and lactation represent a complex stage from a nutritional point of view, since energy, protein and micronutrient requirements increase during these stages. The literature describes that a well-planned plant-based diet can be sufficient in energy, macronutrients and micronutrients, with the exception of vitamin B12 and possibly n3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, mainly EPA and DHA. During the last few years, adherence to this diet has increased rapidly in the population, so the main objective of this article is to review the current evidence on the intake and concentrations of vitamin B12, EPA and DHA during pregnancy and lactation in women following a plant-based diet. A literature search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Ovid MedLine using free terms and MESH. Eleven articles were selected in this review. Well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets, with adequate supplementation of vitamin B12, EPA and DHA, are compatible during pregnancy and lactation, being a positive predictor of their content in breast milk. A similar situation was observed in plasma levels in women supplemented with B12. However, it is important to continue with research in this area that considers an adequate dietary anamnesis, integral evaluation of nutritional status, estimation of nutritional requirements and an individualized nutritional plan.

Introduction: Obesity is a major public health challenge. In Spain the prevalence of excess of weight and obesity and is 56 % and 19 %, respectively, and it is linked to numerous preventable chronic diseases. Nutritional epidemiology focused on nutrients has evolved towards the study of dietary patterns that consider synergistic interactions between foods and nutrients. This study aims to investigate the relationship between obesity and its treatment by healthy dietary patterns. The Mediterranean diet and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), based on plant products, whole grains and low levels of salt, sugars and red meat, have been shown to promote weight loss and reduce comorbidities associated with obesity. Although vegetarian and vegan diets are adequate options for disease management and prevention, they require planning to avoid nutritional deficiencies. In conclusion, healthy dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet, DASH and vegetarian options are effective in both the prevention and treatment of obesity, highlighting the importance of considering the synergy between foods and nutrients in the management of this health condition.

Introduction: The number of people following plant-based diets to a greater or lesser degree is increasing, but the more restrictive a diet, the greater the risk of nutritional deficiencies. The childhood stage is a stage of great physical and maturational growth, therefore, nutritional deficiencies at this stage can have serious and sometimes permanent consequences. People who follow restrictive diets of any kind, such as plant-based diets, should receive support from specialized staff to ensure that their diets are varied and balanced, as is desirable in any case.

Introduction: In recent decades, there has been an increasing interest in vegetarian diets. It is therefore interesting to analyse the benefits and risks of these diets. To this end, a review has been done on the benefits and risks of vegetarian diets. Vegetarian diets have been associated with different health benefits. On the contrary, nutritional deficiencies has been observed in those people who follow this type of diet, mainly in those risk groups such as pregnant and lactating women, children, adolescents, and elderly. Vegetarian diets may have some health benefits, however further studies are required.

In recent decades, the vegetarian dietary option has been increasing in the general population, in cluding the pediatric age group. This has led to numerous questions regarding the benefits and risks that may arise from its implementation. Food restriction implies the potential deficiency of several nutrients, establishing some of them as critical for this period of development and rapid growth, so the safety of vegetarian diets has not been fully established worldwide. The main critical nutrients are iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids. The groups most at risk of nutritional deficiencies are infants, adolescents, more restrictive vegetarian options, and those who do not have adequate professional nutritional counseling. Therefore, vegetarian diets should be strictly supervi sed. Scientific societies such as the American, Canadian, Italian, and British nutrition societies recog nize vegetarian diets as healthy in the pediatric age as long as they are supervised by qualified health professionals. However, there are others that do not support it as the French one, while the Spanish one supports it with restrictions in the infant period. The objective of this publication is to describe potential nutritional deficiencies and to provide recommendations to follow a balanced and safe ve getarian diet in the pediatric population according to the available information, paying attention to the limitations that we may have in the implementation of this diet in our population, especially in critical stages such as infants and adolescents.

The prevalence of vegetarianism is rising worldwide and there is no consensus about whether it is adequate during the growth period. The objective of this descriptive review is to find out if vegetarian children and children born from mothers who follow vegetarian diets, grow different from those who follow omnivorous diets. Results. 25 articles published between 1995 and 2020 were included describing prenatal and postnatal growth and pubertal development in vegetarian children and children of vegetarian mothers. Conclusion. The scarcity of longitudinal studies and long-term results, the heterogeneity in the classification and registration of the diets, in addition to methodological deficiencies, do not allow to conclude that the growth of these children is different from children on omnivorous diets. Long-term longitudinal studies are required to help to solve this controversy., Competing Interests: None, (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)

Vitamin B12 deficiency is one of the main complications of vegetarianism. Infants of vegetarian mothers have greater risk of deficiency and irreversible neurological compromise if deficiency is not identified and treated. We describe the case of a 1 month 20 days-old infant who consulted due to paroxysmal episodes of epileptogenic mechanism; laboratory tests identified a deficiency in vitamin B12 as the cause. After confirmation of diagnosis, treatment with intramuscular vitamin B12 was established with full remission of symptoms, good evolution and psychomotor development without alterations. Considering current alimentary trends, it is necessary to include a detailed maternal nutritional anamnesis in regular clinical practice, in order to detect the risk of this vitamin deficiency at an early stage and to prevent it., Competing Interests: None, (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)

Parents who decide to change the usual diet of their children for a more restrictive one should know the risks and advantages of the chosen diet and receive information that helps them to offer their children a sufficient diet. Vegetarian diets can be adopted as long as they are planned by specialists with the inclusion of a wide variety of plant foods and fortified foods with the appropriate supplementation indicated at each stage. The objective of this document is to present the position of the Nutrition Committee of the Argentine Society of Pediatrics and to provide health professionals with adequate information to respond to the concerns of parents and patients who decide to choose a vegetarian diet as a modality of feeding. The challenges to betaken into account are identified, highlighting that without these considerations and proper monitoring these diets cannot be carried out safely in childhood., Competing Interests: None, (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)

Introduction: Introduction: interest in vegetarian diets is rising, however, it remains a very controversial topic, and with many reservations regarding it. Questions like their conceivable nutritional deficiencies, or if they are adequate or healthy, might be widely unknown. Objectives: exploring vegetarian diets, examining the current level of knowledge about them, and analyzing and improving, from a nutritional standpoint, the vegetarian menus of a restaurant with vegetarian options. Methods: this study was designed as an exploratory, crossover, descriptive study. Surveys with 17 items and a food frequency questionnaire were given among the customers of the restaurant. A total of 155 people, aged between 18 and 62, took part in it. A total of 30 menus were analyzed, and some suggestions were made in order to improve them. Results: out of the total sample, 138 people were omnivores, 12 people were vegetarians and two were vegans. More than half of the vegetarians did not know vitamin B12 is the only required supplement by default, and almost 60% of them stated never taking B12 supplements. The vegetarian menus which were analyzed provided a mean of 1,195 kcal, and covered 89% of the requirements of fiber, 212% of vitamin C, ≈30% of both calcium and zinc, 86% of iron, and 38% of B12. Conclusion: a great lack of knowledge regarding several aspects of vegetarian diets was found, even among vegetarian themselves. Informing the general public is essential for both avoiding dangerous nutritional deficiencies (like B12), and attracting more people towards this kind of diets, with all the benefits this would provide. In the vegetarian menus of Foodtopía, adequate levels of nutrients were observed. The main suggestions to improve the menus were: reducing the total calories and the amount of sunflower oil, and increasing the amount of legumes, nuts and seeds.

Background: fibromyalgia is a disease of unknown origin characterized by chronic muscular pain. The lack of knowledge about this disease is one of the main causes that makes complex to make a diagnosis and an appropriate treatment., Objective: the main objective of this study was to know the efficacy of a physiotherapy treatment combined with a lacto-vegetarian dietary-nutritional intervention, on low back pain and body composition in women with fibromyalgia., Methods: twenty-one women were randomly divided into three groups: A (core stabilization exercises + lacto-vegetarian diet), B (placebo + lacto-vegetarian diet) and C (control). The intervention lasted 4 weeks. Pain assessments (EVA scale) and body composition (bioimpedance) were performed at the beginning and at the end of the intervention., Results: group A showed significant changes in pain reduction and body composition at the end of the intervention, increasing muscle mass and decreasing fat mass. In addition, this group significantly improved outcomes compared to groups B and C. The correlations showed a relationship between muscle mass and pain reduction referred to at the end of the study in patients in group A., Conclusions: four-week intervention program combining core stabilization exercises plus lacto-vegetarian diet in patients with fibromyalgia who have low back pain contributes to pain reduction and improved body composition.

Introduction: vegetarian diets have been associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a more favourable lipid profile in vegetarians who follow these diets for a long term period in observational studies, but the short-term effects of vegetarian diets are less known., Objective: our objective was to analyze the short-term effects of a low-fat vegetarian diet on lipid profile and fasting glucose in previously non-vegetarian subjects from a Mediterranean population., Methods: we carried out a nutritional intervention study in 159 volunteers (42 men and 117 women). A whole lacto-vegetarian diet low in fat (20%) was administered. A full daily menu was provided for 15 days under strict interned conditions. Fasting blood samples were obtained before and after dietary intervention and total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides and fasting glucose were determined. Multivariate models for repeated measures were used., Results: after dietary intervention, we detected statistically significant reductions in total cholesterol (-17.54 ± 37.14 mg/dl), LDL-C (-9.33 ± 34.29 mg/dl), HDL-C (-5.32 ± 12.16 mg/dl), and triglycerides (-18.92 ± 50.50 mg/dl). These reductions remained statistically significant after adjustment for sex and age. Significant weight changes were also detected. The additional adjustment for changes in body mass index (BMI) attenued the significance of the decrease in triglycerides (P = 0.067)., Conclusion: a lacto-vegetarian diet low in fat, produces favourable and significant decreases in total cholesterol, LDL-C (independent of weight loss) and triglycerides (mediated by weight loss). This intervention also produced an expected decrease in HDL-C due to its reduced fat content., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Vegetarian diets are those diets mainly based on the consumption of vegetable product, but that also permit consumption of eggs and milk. The American Dietetic Association made a declaration on these vegetarian diets in which they stated that <>. Some studies have shown beneficial results in obesity, cancer, Parkinson disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus and urinary stones, compared with the omnivorous. The possible theoretical benefits in some diseases has been seen in the medical practice (diabetes mellitus, obesity, cardiovascular risk). However more studies are needed in the case of Parkinson's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Glutaric aciduria type I is an autosomal recessive metabolic disease (1 case/30,000) characterized by a progressive dystonic-diakinetic syndrome in children. Pathologic examination reveals striatal degeneration of the caudate and putamen nucleus and biochemical analysis shows glutaryl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency. Values of glutaric and -hydroxyglutaric acids in urine are usually increased. Currently, the disease is considered untreatable since there are usually irreversible lesions in the central nervous system at diagnosis. However, treatment can be provided to pre-symptomatic children and usually to the siblings of patients with this diagnosis. We present the case of a 23-month-old boy, with macrocephaly and minimal neurologic manifestations at diagnosis, which were attributed to his semivegetarian diet. A dietary regimen and vitamin supplementation halted and even improved symptomatic progression of the disease. We conclude that amino and organic acids in urine should be investigated in all children with progressive macrocephaly of unknown etiology to rule out glutaric aciduria type I.

Dietetics is a largely unknown discipline among medical professionals as it is not common for them to receive any training in the matter. Nonetheless, this group very often needs to give dietary counselling and even to draw up diets for patients, more often indeed than nutrition specialists. This paper attempts to review some of the basic concepts of dietetics and study in a general way the relationship between illness and nutritional status without going into too much detail as many of the points mentioned here are referred to more fully in other articles in the same monograph.

The serum levels of cholesterol bound to high density lipoproteins (HDL-C) were determined by the heparin-manganese chloride precipitation method in 306 subjects, 182 male with ages ranging from 11 to 81 years, and 124 female with ages ranging from 7 to 78 years. Twenty six subjects belonged to a lacto-vegetarian community, while the remaining 280 were healthy volunteers, factory workmen sampled during a regular check-up, and either outpatients or inpatients being evaluated for minor illnesses or minor surgery. None of the subjects had arteriosclerosis or a metabolic disease and, with the exception of the lacto-vegetarians, they were all consuming a normal diet. HDL-C concentrations varied very little among the different age groups. Females had HDL-C values slightly superior to those of males. No significant differences were found between smokers and non-smokers, alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers, and regularly exercising and sedentary people. HDL-C concentrations were independent of total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Females under oral contraceptive treatment had lower HDL-C levels than control females, but the differences were not statistically significant. Compared with age and sex-matched controls, the lactovegetarians showed similar HDL-C concentrations.