Urban vegetable production, foundations for a healthy diet and safe food handling

Within the socioeconomic and health context generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, many families suffered a restriction in their job opportunities, which had as a consequence that a greater number of people needed to seek social help in shared neighborhood spaces. With the objective of contributing to give an answer to this problem, in the Facultad de Agronomía – UNCPBA, an interdisciplinary extension project named "Optimization of food production, handling and consumption within the family scope, for a better life quality" was carried out, in the following thematic areas: local horticulture production, healthy eating and food handling hygiene. Training theoretical and practical actions were generated with biosafety protocols, in three social food areas of Azul. In 2021 the afore mentioned was greater in one of the spaces. In each meeting, there was a stimulation to acquire new production and consumption habits, through innovative techniques (nursery, vegetable plots, production of sprouts and microgreens), and to implement good manufacturing practices for general food preparation and for preserved food in particular, in order to diversify the ways of consumption and to encourage the entrepreneur spirit. In general terms, the project provided the acquisition of new skills, the exchange of experiences and the multiplier effect on the participants, their families and society in general. Also, consumer education was included regarding the choice of healthy alternatives and the importance of the correct interpretation of nutritional labeling. The project promoted the resilience of those families and the transformation of consumers into "prosumers" (producers/consumers), with entrepreneur profile, seeking feeding optimization and safety of food. © 2022, Asociacion Argentina de Horticultura - ASAHO. All rights reserved.

Alternative and online weight loss interventions during Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

The problem of obesity is affecting an increasing number of people worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic and the required social distancing, which make it impossible to see a dietitian, present new challenges and require the development of new ways of working with overweight individuals. Based on research and practice, dietetic services are beginning to shift from in-office consultations to a form of online consultation using mobile apps and websites. This literature review aims to critically analyze the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of interventions targeting weight loss in overweight or obese individuals focusing on behavioral and online interventions. The data from the presented studies suggest that the effectiveness of online interventions to control body weight is high enough to be used in nutritional education and in weight reduction or maintenance. The main advantage is a wide access to them for the public.

From PKU Online Lessons for Dietetics Students to the PKU Sandwiches Album

The purpose of the manuscript is to present to academic teachers, doctors and nutritionists how practical online classes with dietetics students can be used to develop ready-made tools at work and for the education of phenylketonuria (PKU) patients and their caregivers/parents. During online classes in 2020, as part of the subject—diet therapy of metabolic blocks, 53 students prepared PKU sandwiches at home. Each PKU sandwich has a calculated nutritional value, and phenylalanine exchanger content, but does not include low-protein bread. The selection of a particular type of PKU bread depends solely on the PKU patient, hence it was deliberately not included in the calculations. The sandwiches, made by students and assessed by academic teachers, will be published with the following title “The PKU Sandwiches Album”. The Album with more than 400 colorful pictures of PKU sandwiches, will be expected to inspire patients and help them add appeal to their diet, enriching it with new tastes, at the same time facilitating the memorizing process of ingredients, thanks to visualization and presented calculations, and motivating them to comply with strict dietary recommendation. The same nutritional calculations and ideas for sandwiches, with the use of different bread, e.g., gluten-free, may be useful in other diseases, such as celiac disease.

An Exploration of Nutritional Education within the Holiday Activities and Food Programme in England.

Nutritional education is a recent, mandatory inclusion within the quality standards framework for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme in England; funded by the Department for Education (DfE). Whilst research has been conducted regarding nutritional education in other contexts, such as schools and community organisations, to the authors' knowledge, no published research has yet explored nutritional education within HAF. The current study therefore aimed to explore the implementation, delivery, and perceived facilitators, barriers and impacts of nutritional education across a number of Local Authorities delivering HAF in England. Purposive sampling (n = 11) was used to recruit HAF leads involved in nutritional education, to participate in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis showed that nutritional education is currently delivered through a variety of modes including face-to-face, online, and take-home methods, all of which require a range of considerations in terms of implementation, delivery, and associated impacts, with some holiday clubs offering no nutritional education. According to participating HAF leads, nutritional education was used as a mechanism to enhance children's and parents' cooking confidence and competence, to improve dietary intake, and to increase understanding of issues such as food sustainability, environmental impacts, and food provenance. Although there are many examples of innovative practice, the findings suggested that COVID guidelines proved challenging for providers to include nutritional education within HAF delivery during 2021. Further, whilst the quality standards framework for nutritional education provides flexibility in terms of implementation and delivery, specific guidance, and monitoring of provision is required to ensure quality assurance and consistency across the HAF programme.