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The position paper of the State Student Council for Everyday Culture and Health at the Pedagogical Universities in Baden-Württemberg demands that the subject Everyday Culture, Nutrition, Social Affairs (AES) be mandatory for all students in secondary level I in the educational plan. The subject should teach students skills for a health-promoting and sustainable everyday life. Currently, AES is only provided as an elective subject starting from 7th grade, which means that not all students have access to this subject. The position paper also argues that a general inclusion of AES in the curriculum would not only benefit the students but also the economy and society. It is pointed out that AES offers relevant educational opportunities for the guiding perspectives of prevention and health promotion, education for sustainable development, and consumer education. Furthermore, it is emphasized that AES can also contribute to raising awareness for gender equality and career orientation in the care sector. The position paper "AES for all" argues that the subject Everyday Culture, Nutrition, Social Affairs (AES) should be mandatory for all students starting from 5th grade. AES lays the foundation for career orientation in the fields of social work, household services, health and care, education and training. A mandatory inclusion of AES could contribute to strengthening career orientation in these areas and alleviate the shortage of teachers. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between vegetable intake, knowledge of recommended vegetable servings and self-assessed achievement of vegetable intake recommendations. Design and setting: Cross-sectional nutritional study in a university setting. Method: Students answered a set of standardised questions. Vegetable intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Knowledge of recommended vegetable servings was determined by asking how many servings of vegetables should be part of the daily diet. Self-assessed achievement of vegetable recommendation was operationalised using the behavioural stages of the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA). Results: Mean vegetable intake was 176 ± 165 g/day for women and 179 ± 153 g/day for men. Overall, 7.3% of women and 9.8% of men achieved the recommended vegetable intake. Recommended vegetable servings were correctly identified by 68.5% of women and 47.1% of men. About 34.1% of women and 23.5% of men believed they could achieve the recommended intake of vegetables. However, of these, only 18.7% and 33.3% actually achieved the recommended intake. These students did not differ with respect to their knowledge of recommended vegetable servings from those who stated they achieved the recommended intake but in fact did not. Conclusion: Our study identified a potential target group who did not know that their vegetable intake was below the recommended level. It may be concluded that students have difficulty correctly estimating amounts of vegetables. From a health promotion perspective, this creates the need for the practice-oriented communication of dietary recommendations.

Background: Evidence suggests that an insufficient fluid intake impairs cognitive performance. Drinking policies at schools--especially drinking during lessons--is a point of controversy. To provide a scientific base for this debate, more empirical evidence is needed on which aspects of fluid intake are crucial for cognitive performance. This study makes a contribution by investigating associations between quantitative and temporal aspects of fluid intake and cognitive performance in everyday school life. Methods: The study comprised 125 children (age: mean = 10.98 years, SD = 0.38). Amount of fluid intake and time span between fluid intake and completion of cognitive tests were determined on basis of self-reports. Cognitive performance was assessed by standardized tests. Results: Quantitative and temporal aspects were associated with cognitive performance: The more fluid the children consumed and the shorter the time span between their last fluid intake and test completion, the better they performed. Conclusions: The amount of fluid intake should be adequate and moreover the time span between intake and cognitive efforts should be as short as possible. Schoolchildren are thus recommended to drink at regular intervals and also during lessons.

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Copyright of Haushalt in Bildung & Forschung is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The book "Food and Nutritional Education in Daycare Centers" by Methfessel, Höhn, Miltner-Jürgensen, and Schneider discusses the topic of food and nutrition in daycare centers. It provides a comprehensive overview of nutritional, developmental, and didactic aspects, as well as practical pedagogical concepts and recommendations for daycare center practice. The book examines the topic from various perspectives and emphasizes the importance of food and nutrition for the physical, psychological, and social development, as well as the education of children. It is a recommended textbook for educational professionals and a foundational work for anyone interested in the topic of food and nutrition. [Extracted from the article]

Body fat mass (FM) adds to the variance in resting energy expenditure (REE). However, the nature and extent of this relationship remains unclear. Using a database of 1306 women and a linear regression model, we systematically analysed the contribution of FM to the total variance in REE at different grades of adiposity (ranges of body %FM). After adjusting for age, the relative contribution of FM on REE variance increased from low ( ≤ 10 %FM) to normal (>10– ≤ 30 %FM) and moderately elevated (>30– ≤ 40 %FM) grades of adiposity but decreased sharply at high (>40– ≤ 50 %FM) and very high (>50 %FM) grades of adiposity according to the ratio between regression coefficients. These data suggest that the specific metabolic rate of fat tissue is reduced at high adiposity. This should be considered when REE is normalized for FM in obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: An environmental intervention with focus on Decision Guidance was implemented in a university canteen. It comprised the offer of a health promoting food option (HPFO), including a health promoting lunch option and health promoting snacks., Design and Methods: Possible changes of food consumption and nutrient intake of student canteen users (substudy A), perception of the HPFO by canteen users (substudy B.1), and possible changes of their satisfaction regarding the canteen (substudy B.2) at least 10 weeks after the start of the intervention were examined. Substudy A used a controlled pretest-posttest-design (paired sample). The students were assigned to intervention group (canteen visits ≥ once/week, n = 27) or control group (canteen visits < once/week, n = 39). Substudy B.1 used a cross-sectional design, and substudy B.2 a pretest-posttest-design (paired sample). Only canteen users (≥once/week) were included (substudy B.1 n = 89, substudy B.2 n = 30)., Results: Food consumption and nutrient intake did not change ( p > 0.05) in the intervention group versus control group (substudy A). In substudy B.1 canteen users were aware of the HPFO, appreciated it highly, and were satisfied with it. In substudy B.2 canteen users were at posttest more satisfied regarding service and health value of offered lunches ( p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Although the HPFO was positively percepted, no effects on the daily diet were observed. The offered proportion of the HPFO should be increased., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether an increase in total homocysteine (tHcy) concentration with increasing age is due to diminishing serum concentrations of pyridoxal-5-phosphate (PLP), vitamin B-12, and folate. The possible influence of different lifestyle factors on tHcy concentration was considered., Methods: Plasma tHcy, serum concentrations of pyridoxal-5-phosphate, vitamin B-12, and folate, intake of coffee and tea, alcohol, and methionine, as well as cigarette smoking, were determined in 252 elderly subjects (60-87 years old) of the longitudinal study on nutrition and health status in an aging population in Giessen (GISELA) and 99 young adults (20-34 years old) of the study on health and nutrition of young adults (GEJE)., Results: Mean plasma tHcy concentrations were significantly higher in elderly than in young female subjects (9.7 +/- 1.9 micromol/L vs. 9.0 +/- 1.6 micromol/L, p < 0.05), but there was no difference between elderly and young men (10.6 +/- 2.1 micromol/L vs. 10.7 +/- 2.6 micromol/L). No differences in tHcy were observed between young and elderly subjects after adjustment for serum concentrations of PLP, vitamin B-12, and folate. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant influence of age only in elderly, but not in younger subjects., Conclusion: Higher tHcy concentrations in the elderly, in comparison to younger women, are due to lower serum concentrations of PLP, vitamin B-12, and folate, whereas within the age group of elderly subjects alone tHcy concentrations increase with age irrespective of serum vitamin concentrations.