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There are some concerns about the adequacy of vegetarian diets for pregnant women, infants, and young children because diets that exclude meat and other animal-based products increase the risk of nutrient deficiencies. The aim of the present study was to assess the nutritional knowledge of parents raising 12- to 36-month-old children on vegetarian diets and to evaluate the children's diets based on the recommendations formulated in the model food ration. The study involved a questionnaire survey that was completed by 326 women raising their children on various types of vegetarian diets and 198 women raising their children on an omnivorous diet. Mothers raising children on a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet had the highest nutritional knowledge scores (15.8 points on average), whereas control group mothers and women raising children on a vegan diet had the lowest nutritional knowledge scores (average of 13.6 points). Parents who raised their children on more restrictive vegetarian diets were more aware of the risk of nutritional deficiencies and administered dietary supplements more frequently. A vegetarian diet can be safe for young children, but parents should be educated about the risk of nutritional deficiencies and the principles of healthy nutrition regardless of the administered diet, and effective communication between parents, pediatricians, and dietitians should be the cornerstone of every nutritional strategy in the management of vegetarian children.

Acne is a disorder of sebaceous glands, and it most commonly develops on the face. The role of the diet in triggering and treating acne is controversial and has been widely debated in the literature. A knowledge of the environmental factors that contribute to acne could improve the patient’s physical and emotional well-being, increase the efficacy of treatment, and minimize the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of acne on the daily lives and well-being of people aged 15−30 years, to analyze young people’s knowledge about the influence of various foods and other dietary factors on the prevalence, severity, and treatment of acne, as well as their adherence to an anti-acne diet. The study was conducted between April 2021 and May 2022. A total of 1329 respondents, including 963 women and 366 men, participated in the study. In 99% of men and women respondents, acne breakouts were typically located on the face. An analysis of HADS scores revealed moderate anxiety in 57% of women (F) and 22.5% of men (M) respondents. Acne breakouts located on the face were problematic for 81% of the study population (regardless of sex). More than ¾ of women and 2/3 of men claimed that acne made them feel less attractive. The impact of acne on the participants’ emotional well-being and social life differed between genders. Women experienced psychological discomfort more frequently than men (p = 0.0023). More than 50% of the participants eliminated acne-triggering foods from their diets, and 2/3 of these respondents observed a marked improvement or disappearance of skin breakouts as a result. A significantly higher number of respondents with severe/moderate anxiety were convinced that acne breakouts were affected by diet (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.23−1.87, p < 0.001) and foods with a high glycemic index (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.23−1.94, p < 0.001). Acne affects the patients’ emotional well-being. It can act as a barrier to social interactions and lead to mood disorders of varied severity. Persons with moderate/severe mood disorders associated with anxiety significantly more often recognized the role of dietary factors in acne aggravation, and the severity of mood disorders was directly correlated with more frequent consumption of sweets, sweetened beverages, and foods with a high glycemic index.

The aim of the study was to assess the reproducibility of a short-form, multicomponent dietary questionnaire (SF-FFQ4PolishChildren) in Polish children and adolescents. The study involved 437 children (6-10 years old) and 630 adolescents (11-15 years old) from rural and urban areas of Poland. The self-administered questionnaire was related to nutrition knowledge, dietary habits, active/sedentary lifestyle, self-reported weight and height, and socioeconomic data. The questionnaire was completed with a two-week interval-twice by parents for their children (test and retest for children), twice by adolescents themselves (adolescent's test and retest) and once by adolescents' parents (parent's test). The strength of agreement measured using the kappa statistic was interpreted as follows: 0-0.20 slight, 0.21-0.40 fair, 0.41-0.60 moderate, 0.61-0.80 good, and 0.81-1.00 excellent. Regarding the frequency of consumption of food items and meals, kappa statistics were 0.46-0.81 (the lowest: fruit/mixed fruit and vegetable juices; the highest: Energy drinks) in test-retest for children, 0.30-0.54 (fruit/mixed fruit and vegetable juices; breakfast, respectively) in adolescent's test-retest, 0.27-0.56 (the lowest: Sweets, fruit, dairy products; the highest: Breakfast) in adolescent's test and parent's test. Lower kappa statistics were found for more frequently consumed foods (juices, fruit, vegetables), higher kappa statistics were found for rarely consumed foods (energy drinks, fast food). Across study groups, kappa statistics for diet quality scores were 0.31-0.55 (pro-healthy diet index, pHDI) and 0.26-0.45 (non-healthy diet index, nHDI), for active/sedentary lifestyle items they were 0.31-0.72, for components of the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) they were 0.55-0.93, for BMI categories (based on self-reported weight and height) they were 0.64-0.67, for the nutrition knowledge (NK) of adolescents the kappa was 0.36, for the nutrition knowledge of children's parents it was 0.62. The Spearman's correlations for diet quality scores were 0.52-0.76 (pHDI) and 0.53-0.83 (nHDI), for screen time score they were 0.45-0.78, for physical activity score they were 0.51-0.77, for the FAS score they were 0.90-0.93, and for the NK score they were 0.68-0.80. The questionnaire can be recommended to evaluate dietary and lifestyle behaviors among children and adolescents.

A holistic approach to understanding the relationship between diet, lifestyle and obesity is a better approach than studying single factors. This study presents the clustering of dietary and lifestyle behaviours to determine the association of these dietary-lifestyle patterns (DLPs) with adiposity, nutrition knowledge, gender and sociodemographic factors in teenagers. The research was designed as a cross-sectional study with convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 1549 Polish students aged 11⁻13 years. DLPs were identified with cluster analysis. Logistic regression modelling with adjustment for confounders was applied. Three dietary-lifestyle patterns were identified: Prudent-Active (29.3% of the sample), Fast-food-Sedentary (13.8%) and notPrudent-notFast-food-lowActive (56.9%). Adherence to Prudent-Active pattern (reference: notPrudent-notFast-food-lowActive) was 29% or 49% lower in 12-year-old or 13-year-old teenagers than in 11-year-old teenagers, respectively, and higher by 57% or 2.4 times in the middle or the upper tertile than the bottom tertile of the nutrition knowledge score. To the contrary, adherence to Fast-food-Sedentary (reference: notPrudent-notFast-food-lowActive) was lower by 41% or 58% in the middle or the upper tertile than the bottom tertile of the nutrition knowledge score, respectively. In Prudent-Active, the chance of central obesity (waist-to-height ratio ≥0.5) was lower by 47% and overweight/obesity was lower by 38% or 33% (depending on which standard was used: International Obesity Task Force, 2012: BMI (body mass index)-for-age ≥ 25 kg/m² or Polish standards, 2010: BMI-for-age ≥ 85th percentile) when compared with the notPrudent-notFast-food-lowActive pattern. In Fast-food-Sedentary, the chance of central obesity was 2.22 times higher than the Prudent-Active pattern. The study identified a set of characteristics that decreased the risk of general and central adiposity in teenagers, which includes health-promoting behaviours related to food, meal consumption and lifestyle. Avoiding high-energy dense foods is insufficient to prevent obesity, if physical activity and the consumption frequency of health-promoting foods are low and breakfast and a school meal are frequently skipped. The results highlight the importance of the nutrition knowledge of teenagers in shaping their health-promoting dietary habits and active lifestyle to decrease adiposity risk and negative aspects of lower family affluence which promotes unhealthy behaviours, both related to diet and lifestyle.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to determine the amount and type of fat consumed by early school-age children per day. Dietary fat intake as a percentage of the total calorie intake was also estimated. Methods: The study was conducted in Lublin, the largest city in south-east Poland, between January 2014 and April 2014, on 702 randomly selected children, i.e. 3% of the total population of early school-age children in the research area. The parents were asked to provide information about the type and amount of food consumed by their children daily. A standard food frequency questionnaire was used. Results: Dietary levels of saturated fat were elevated in the analyzed populations and were the source of 13.33% of daily calorie intake. In the studied population, the ratio of saturated to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids was determined at 3.25: 2.95: 1. Dietary intake of α-linolenic acid (ALA) reached 1.057 ± 0.55 g (0.63% of daily calorie intake) on average, and dietary intake of linoleic acid (LA) was determined at 3.86 ± 2.51 g (2.31% of daily calorie intake). Conclusions: The average total calorie intake of children aged 6-11 years was 1445.66 calories per day. Average fat intake was 29.64 % of the total calorie intake. The highest intake of SFAs was found in the youngest age group of 6- to 8-year-olds. The type of food consumed by children affected the amount and type of dietary fat in all age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]