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Childhood obesity is one of the main public health concerns in Europe. The aim was to identify possible risk factors associated with overweight/obesity in Spanish preschool and school-age children. The sample (1075 (50.7% girls) children aged 3 to 12) is part of the project 'Alimentando el Cambio' whose objective is to promote healthy lifestyles in schools. Child height and weight were measured, and parents filled out questionnaires related to the children's lifestyle. There was a positive and significant association between sweetened beverage consumption and body mass index (BMI) z-score in both sexes and age groups. There was a negative and significant association between BMI z-score and dairy products in girls of both age groups. There was also a protective effect of regular nut consumption on overweight/obesity in girls 6–12 y. Night-time sleep during weekdays showed a negative association with BMI z-score for older boys and girls. A positive and significant association was found between total screen time and BMI z-score during weekdays. Regarding emotional well-being and self-esteem, having girls 6–12 y laughing and feeling happy and good about themselves in the last week was a protective factor against overweight/obesity. Childhood obesity prevention efforts may benefit from targeting these key risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Eating breakfast is a healthy habit that should be encouraged since childhood. When it provides nutritional quality, it is an important daily meal. The consumption of dairy products, cereals, and fruits at breakfast is associated with healthier dietary patterns, with a beneficial impact on the overall quality of the diet. In Spain, as in many other countries, the proportion of children who eat breakfast daily is very high, decreasing somewhat in adolescence. However, the quality of breakfast leaves room for improvement, with a low proportion of children/adolescents with high nutritional quality breakfasts. Children/adolescents who eat breakfast regularly have a higher intake of various nutrients (especially vitamins and minerals) than those who do not eat breakfast. Although the evidence is not entirely conclusive, numerous studies have shown various benefits when comparing the population that eats breakfast regularly versus those who do not, such as cardiometabolic risk parameters (obesity, diabetes, blood pressure and lipid profile) and cognitive functions. Breakfast should be included in healthy eating plans, since it allows incorporating foods that are difficult to consume in other meals and may contribute to reducing the risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases. In order to promote the intake of a healthy breakfast, it is essential to act on the sociodemographic and cultural factors that influence compliance and quality, such as age, nutritional education (mainly parents and children/adolescents, but also other family members, school mates, friends...), carrying it out as a family, adapting it to the tastes of each population and balancing quality and costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Insufficient and unhealthy total fluid intake (TFI), especially in early stages of life, may have negative health impact [1]. Understanding how fluid consumption may differ throughout the day or as a function of location could help drive policy initiatives to encourage healthier drinking habits, especially in young population groups, so this study assesses current patterns of fluid consumption in children and adolescents in Spain, including drinking occasions and locations and to compare TFI with the adequate intake of water from fluids recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) [2]. Methods: Our analyses were based on a Spanish cross-sectional study assessing TFI from all sources of fluid consumption according to occasions of the day and location, using a validated liquid intake 7-day record (Liq.In7), details of which can be found elsewhere [3]. Data collection occurred in spring 2018. A sample of 146 (63% boys) children (4–9 years old) and adolescents (10–17 years old) was included (Table 1). Parents reported such information in case children were younger than 16 years. The header categories of fluid consumption were water, milk and derivatives, hot beverages, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), fruit juices, artificial non-nutritive sweetened beverages, alcoholic beverages, and others. Regarding occasions, the analyzed categories were main meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), snacks (mid-morning, mid-afternoon, after-dinner) and outside meals. Considered occasions were home, school/university/work, and other. Results: A high proportion of children and adolescents did not meet EFSA-derived reference values for fluid intake (73% and 72%, respectively) (Fig. 1). Forty percent of children and around 50% of adolescents consumed at least one serving of SSB per day, while about 20% consumed only one or less serving of water per day. Consumption during main meals was most important for both children and adolescents (representing 50% and 54% of TFI, respectively) and was mainly driven by water (62%). The consumption at home in children (70% of TFI) was made of water (47%). In the same way, at school, water was contributing to half of the intake. However, adolescent girls at school drink more SSB (41%) than water (34%), being the highest consumed fluid. At other locations, adolescent boys also drink more SSBs (51%) than either water (29%) or milk and derivatives (10%). Conclusion: Drinking habits of Spanish young populations are far away from current recommendations because a low fluid intake, specifically water, and a high proportion of SSB consumption in children and adolescents. Interventions that assure achieving EFSA TFI recommendations are of special importance for children and adolescents, with, according our results, a special focus in male adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Water is an essential nutrient for life and the most abundant component in the human body. However, its dietary recommendations or clinical management guidelines do not receive as much attention as they deserve. In addition, there are some obstacles to establishing optimal values, both for the amount of water the body must contain and for water ingestion. Water intake and elimination depend on unsteady factors that are difficult to measure and, at the same time, compensated by the body's ability to regulate homeostasis. Since scientific evidence is lacking for establishing recommendations, "adequate intakes" (to maintain an adequate hydration state) have been estimated using data on water intake from groups of healthy people. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) also considers desirable the use of urine osmolarity to estimate the adequacy of water intake in adults. Clinical studies have generally shown the benefits of adequate hydration and the damage caused by water imbalance, whether quantitative (dehydration and overhydration) or qualitative (extracellular and intracellular water). Unfortunately, these studies are few and often have poor cross-sectional, case-control, or prospective designs, and use small samples or indirect methods to assess hydration status. This article presents up-to-date information on subjects such as: 1) compliance with water consumption recommendations and suggestions for improvement; 2) techniques available to measure hydration status and their clinical applications; 3) effects of hydration/dehydration on physical or cognitive activities and chronic diseases; and 4) existing Spanish regulations on the quality and salubrity of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the effect of lamb consumption (Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), Ternasco de Aragón) on health indicators including body composition and cardiovascular risk indicators of healthy young Spanish students living in the area of Aragón, Spain. Methodology: A randomized-controlled and cross-over trial (two periods of 8 weeks duration) assessing changes on body composition (body mass index and skinfold thicknesses) and cardiovascular risk indicators of 50 participants randomly assigned to follow a normocaloric diet with lamb (Ternasco de Aragón) or chicken. Body composition and serum cardiovascular risk profiles were measured both at baseline and follow-up. Results: Healthy men (n = 22) and women (n = 28), aged 19.43 ± 0.85 years were studied. Suprailiac skinfold thickness and waist circumference significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the lamb-consumption group compared to the chicken based diet group. No significant changes were observed in the rest of the variables in either group. Tryacilglicerol and insulin serum concentrations significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the lamb-consumption group compared to the chicken based diet group. Conclusions: The results suggest that regular consumption of lamb (Ternasco de Aragón) can be integrated into a healthy, varied and well-balanced diet, as body composition and cardiovascular risk profile changes are similar or even healthier to those observed following chicken consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Introduction: insufficient and/or unhealthy total fluid intake (TFI), especially in the early stages of life, may have a negative impact on health. Objective: to assess the current patterns of fluid consumption in children and adolescents in Spain, including drinking occasions and locations (e.g., at home or at school), and to compare TFI with adequate intake (AI) of water from fluids as recommended by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA). Methodology: a Spanish cross-sectional study was performed assessing TFI from all sources of fluid consumption according to drinking occasions during the day and location, using a validated liquid intake 7-day record (Liq.in7). Data collection occurred between April and May, 2018. A sample of 146 (63 % boys) children (4-9 years old) and adolescents (10-17 years old) was included. Parents reported such information when children were under 16 years. Results: a high proportion of children and adolescents did not meet EFSA-derived reference values for fluid intake (73 % and 72 %, respectively). Forty percent of children and about 50 % of adolescents consumed at least one serving of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) per day, while about 20 % consumed only one or less servings of water per day. Consumption during the main meals was most important for both children and adolescents (representing 50 % and 54 % of TFI, respectively), and was mainly driven by water (62 %). Consumption at home in children (70 % of TFI) was made of water (47 %). In the same way, at school, water contributed to half intake. However, adolescent girls at school drink more SSBs (41 %) than water (34 %), the former being the most consumed fluid. At other locations, adolescent boys also drink more SSBs (51 %) than either water (29 %) or milk and derivatives (10 %). Conclusion: the drinking habits of Spanish young populations are far removed from current recommendations because of a low fluid intake, specifically water, and a high proportion of SSB consumption in children and adolescents. Interventions to ensure that EFSA TFI recommendations are met are of special importance for children and adolescents, with - according to our results - a special focus on male adolescents.

Introduction: Eating breakfast is a healthy habit that should be encouraged since childhood. When it provides nutritional quality, it is an important daily meal. The consumption of dairy products, cereals, and fruits at breakfast is associated with healthier dietary patterns, with a beneficial impact on the overall quality of the diet. In Spain, as in many other countries, the proportion of children who eat breakfast daily is very high, decreasing somewhat in adolescence. However, the quality of breakfast leaves room for improvement, with a low proportion of children/adolescents with high nutritional quality breakfasts. Children/adolescents who eat breakfast regularly have a higher intake of various nutrients (especially vitamins and minerals) than those who do not eat breakfast. Although the evidence is not entirely conclusive, numerous studies have shown various benefits when comparing the population that eats breakfast regularly versus those who do not, such as cardiometabolic risk parameters (obesity, diabetes, blood pressure and lipid profile) and cognitive functions. Breakfast should be included in healthy eating plans, since it allows incorporating foods that are difficult to consume in other meals and may contribute to reducing the risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases. In order to promote the intake of a healthy breakfast, it is essential to act on the sociodemographic and cultural factors that influence compliance and quality, such as age, nutritional education (mainly parents and children/adolescents, but also other family members, school mates, friends...), carrying it out as a family, adapting it to the tastes of each population and balancing quality and costs.

Objective: To check whether secular changes exist in growth pattern of caucasic children from the North of Spain up to 2 years of age compared with 25-30 years ago population growth curves., Material and Methods: Longitudinal study of a representative cohort of caucasic infants born a term in Aragon (n=1.099). Standard deviation scores (z-scores) for weight, length and body mass index (BMI) have been calculated by two available 25-30 years ago population growth curves (Sobradillo et al. and Ferrández et al.)., Results: At all ages, weight, length and BMI mean z-scores significantly vary depending on the growth standard curve used (p≤0.001). At birth, weight z-score is -0.36 (95%CI:-0.42;-0.30) according to Sobradillo et al. and -0.26 (95%CI:-0.29;0.33) according to Ferrández et al. These differences decreased progressively becoming minimum at 2 years (mean weight z-score -0.08 and -0.05; respectively). At this age, length mean z-score is +0.54 (95%CI:0.48;0.61) according to Sobradillo et al. and +0.19 (95%CI:0.12;0.25) according to Ferrández et al. Mean BMI z-scores of our sample showed lower values than selected standards., Conclusions: Current birth weight of caucasic infants from Northern Spain is lower than in the previous generation. At 2 years of age there is a trend of increasing length, with a similar weight, resulting in lower BMI values., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2013. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Milk products contain proteins of high biologic value and digestibility; they also contain fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, specially calcium and phosphorus. Diversification of milk products consumption allows a high consumptiom of the above mentioned products, optimizing nutrient intake. In Spain, food consumption of milk products lower than the recommended amounts was observed in 20 to 40 % of the children and 30 to 45 % of the adults. Milk products represent 44 to 70 % of calcium intake in the Spanish population. Milk products consumption is positively associated with a high bone mineral density. More than 35 % of children and adults in Spain had calcium intakes below the national recommendations. Yogur contains less lactose than regular milk and fermenting milk bacteries express functioning lactase. Yogur intake is recommended to improve lactose digestion in individuals having lactose maldigestion. It seems reasonable to recommend yogur to improve calcium absorption, at least in post-menopausal women, and also for decreasing incidence and duration of infectious gastrointestinal disorders in children. Fermented milk products consumption, before, during and after medical eradication of Helicobacter Pylori, increases 5 to 10 % the effect of the specific drug therapy. Its consumption before, during and after antibiotic treatment, could also reduce the risk of diarrhea associated with the use of the above mentioned drugs. The Spanish Federation of Nutrition, Feeding and Dietetic Societies (FESNAD) recommend the following consumption of milk and milk products: Adults, 2-3 portions/day; school-age children, 2-3 portions/day; adolescents, 3-4 portions/day; pregnant and lactating women and during menopause, 3-4 portions/day; elderly, 2-4 portions/day. Considering yogur and fermented milk consumption show some advantages when compared with other milk products, we can recommend yogur within a daily and varied consumption of milk products., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2013. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)