The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational programme on healthy alimentation, carried out in day-care centres and aimed at the parents of children from 1 to 2 years of age, regarding the acquisition of healthy eating habits among themselves and their children.

We performed a multicentre, multidisciplinary, randomized controlled study in a community setting.

The EniM study (nutritional intervention study among children from Mataró) was performed in twelve day-care centres in Mataró (Spain). Centres were randomized into a control group (CG) and an intervention group (IG). IG received four or five educational workshops on diet, CG did not have workshops.

Children, not exclusively breast-fed, from 1 to 2 years of age, in the participating day-care centres and the persons responsible for their alimentation (mother or father).

Thirty-five per cent of the IG did not attend the minimum of three workshops and were excluded. The CG included seventy-four children and seventy-two parents and the IG seventy-five children and sixty-seven parents. Both groups were comparable at baseline. Basal adherence to the Mediterranean diet was 56·4 % in parents (Gerber index) and 7·7 points in children (Kidmed test). At 8 months, Mediterranean diet adherence had improved in the IG by 5·8 points in the Gerber index (P=0·01) and 0·6 points in the Kidmed test (P=0·02) compared with the CG.

This educational intervention performed in parents at the key period of incorporation of a 1–2-year-old child to the family table showed significant increases in adherence of the parents to the Mediterranean diet, suggesting future improvement in different indicators of health and an expected influence on the diet of their children.

To investigate biomarkers of nutrition associated with chronic disease absence for an Aboriginal cohort.

Screening for nutritional biomarkers was completed at baseline (1995). Evidence of chronic disease (diabetes, CVD, chronic kidney disease or hypertension) was sought from primary health-care clinics, hospitals and death records over 10 years of follow-up. Principal components analysis was used to group baseline nutritional biomarkers and logistic regression modelling used to investigate associations between the principal components and chronic disease absence.

Three Central Australian Aboriginal communities.

Aboriginal people (n 444, 286 of whom were without chronic disease at baseline) aged 15–82 years.

Principal components analysis grouped twelve nutritional biomarkers into four components: ‘lipids’; ‘adiposity’; ‘dietary quality’; and ‘habitus with inverse quality diet’. For the 286 individuals free of chronic disease at baseline, lower adiposity, lower lipids and better dietary quality components were each associated with the absence at follow-up of most chronic diseases examined, with the exception of chronic kidney disease. Low ‘adiposity’ component was associated with absence of diabetes, hypertension and CVD at follow-up. Low ‘lipid’ component was associated with absence of hypertension and CVD, and high ‘dietary quality’ component was associated with absence of CVD at follow-up.

Lowering or maintenance of the factors related to ‘adiposity’ and ‘lipids’ to healthy thresholds and increasing access to a healthy diet appear useful targets for chronic disease prevention for Aboriginal people in Central Australia.

The present study aimed to: (i) examine associations between food store patronage and diet and weight-related outcomes; and (ii) explore consumer motivations for visiting different types of food store.

A stratified probability sample of residents completed household and individual-level surveys in 2009/2010 on food purchasing patterns and motivations, dietary intake, waist circumference (WC), weight and height. Diet quality was calculated using the Healthy Eating Index for Canada from a subset of participants (n 1362). Generalized estimating equations were created in 2015 to examine how frequency of patronizing different types of food store was associated with diet quality, intake of fruits and vegetable, mean intake of energy (kcal) sodium and saturated fat, WC and BMI.

Three mid-sized urban municipalities in Ontario, Canada.

A representative sample of residents (n 4574).

Participants who shopped frequently at food co-ops had significantly better diet quality (β=5·3; 99 % CI 0·3, 10·2) than those who did not. BMI and WC were significantly lower among those who frequently shopped at specialty shops (BMI, β=−2·1; 99 % CI −3·0, −1·1; WC, β=−4·8; 99 % CI −7·0, −2·5) and farmers’ markets (BMI, β=−1·4; 99 % CI −2·3, −0·5; WC, β=−3·8; 99 % CI −6·0, −1·6) compared with those who did not. Relative importance of reasons for food outlet selection differed by large (price, food quality) v. small (proximity, convenient hours) shopping trip and by outlet type.

Findings contribute to our understanding of food store selection and have implications for potentially relevant retail food intervention settings.

It is generally thought that causes of undernutrition are multifactorial, butthere are limited quantitative studies performed. We therefore examined awide range of potential factors associated with undernutrition incommunity-dwelling older adults.

Cross-sectional study.

Community-dwelling older adults (≥65 years) receiving home care in theNetherlands.

Data on potential factors associated with (risk of) undernutrition werecollected among 300 older adults. Nutritional status was assessed by theSNAQ65+ instrument. Undernutrition was defined asmid-upper arm circumference <25 cm or unintentional weight loss of≥4 kg in 6 months. Being at risk of undernutrition was defined ashaving poor appetite and inability to walk up and down stairs of fifteensteps, without resting.

Of all participants, ninety-two (31·7 %) were undernourishedand twenty-four (8·0 %) were at risk of undernutrition. Basedon multivariate logistic regression analyses, the statistically significantfactors associated with (risk of) undernutrition(P<0·05) were: unable to go outside(OR=5·39), intestinal problems (OR=2·88),smoking (OR=2·56), osteoporosis (OR=2·46),eating fewer than three snacks daily (OR=2·61), dependency inactivities of daily living (OR=1·21), physical inactivity(OR=2·01), nausea (OR=2·50) and cancer(OR=2·84); a borderline significant factor was depressionsymptoms (OR=1·83,P=0·053).

The study suggests that (risk of) undernutrition is a multifactorial problemand that associated factors can be found in several domains. These findingsmay support the development of intervention trials for the prevention andtreatment of undernutrition in community-dwelling older adults.

Little is known about the practices for stocking and procuring healthy food in non-traditional food retailers (e.g. gas-marts, pharmacies). The present study aimed to: (i) compare availability of healthy food items across small food store types; and (ii) examine owner/manager perceptions and stocking practices for healthy food across store types.

Descriptive analyses were conducted among corner/small grocery stores, gas-marts, pharmacies and dollar stores. Data from store inventories were used to examine availability of twelve healthy food types and an overall healthy food supply score. Interviews with managers assessed stocking practices and profitability.

Small stores in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN, USA, not participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

One hundred and nineteen small food retailers and seventy-one store managers.

Availability of specific items varied across store type. Only corner/small grocery stores commonly sold fresh vegetables (63 % v. 8 % of gas-marts, 0 % of dollar stores and 23 % of pharmacies). More than half of managers stocking produce relied on cash-and-carry practices to stock fresh fruit (53 %) and vegetables (55 %), instead of direct store delivery. Most healthy foods were perceived by managers to have at least average profitability.

Interventions to improve healthy food offerings in small stores should consider the diverse environments, stocking practices and supply mechanisms of small stores, particularly non-traditional food retailers. Improvements may require technical support, customer engagement and innovative distribution practices.