Body Composition, Nutritional Intake Assessment, and Perceptions about Diet for Health and Performance: An Exploratory Study for Senior Futsal Players.

This study aims to assess the body composition and nutritional intake of senior male futsal players from the II Futsal Division-Azores Series and explore their individual viewpoints regarding the benefits and barriers of healthy eating and performance. Two groups were identified: those who only completed the sociodemographic questionnaire and the anthropometric data (Group 1, n = 48), and those who additionally had their food intake assessed using three 24-h dietary recalls and were interviewed (Group 2, n = 20). Although most of the players have a healthy body composition, those from Group 2 had a significantly higher Body Mass Index, showing that they are under "pre-obesity", and have a higher percentage of body fat compared to the players from Group 1. Findings from the nutritional intake assessment revealed that players from Group 2 met dietary recommendations for protein, but not for energy and carbohydrate, and they slightly exceeded recommendations for fat. Findings from the interviews revealed that most of these players reported low levels of satisfaction with their sport performance, explained by their deviation from a healthy eating practice in their daily lives. They recognized the need to alter their diets, identifying food items that should be taken and avoided.

Analysis of scientific production aligned with the Food and Nutrition Security Strategy of Portuguese-Speaking African Institutions: a systematic scoping review / Análise da produção científica alinhada com a Estratégia de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional das Instituições Africanas de Língua Portuguesa: uma revisão sistemática de escopo

ABSTRACT This systematic scoping review aimed to map and characterize the scientific production of researchers from Portuguese-speaking African institutions that align with the Food and Nutrition Security Strategy of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries. The literature search was conducted using six electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Virtual Health Library, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Scopus, and Web of Science), with no restrictions on the year of publication nor language. Through the search strategy, 10,061 records were identified, of which 502 documents and 654 researchers were selected by Food and Nutrition Security specialists along three axes: 1) Policy governance; 2) Access to food; 3) Availability of food. Institutional researchers from Mozambique (66.9%), Guinea-Bissau (15.9%), and Angola (11.4%) presented the most publications and international collaborations. Researchers from Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, and Equatorial Guinea institutions added only 5.8% of the total production. A greater number of publications (61%) was related to axis two of the Food and Nutrition Security Strategy of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries. The most studied themes were sustainable development, child malnutrition, and agricultural production for the first, second, and third axis, respectively. In general, scientific publications have shown limitations in their approaches due to the challenge imposed by the complexity of the food system. However, there has been a quantitative evolution in publications in the last decade, with a greater participation of researchers from Portuguese-speaking African institutions.

RESUMO Esta revisão sistemática de escopo teve como objetivo mapear e caracterizar a produção científica de pesquisadores de instituições africanas de língua portuguesa que se alinham com a Estratégia de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa. A busca das literaturas foi realizada em seis bases de dados eletrônicas (PubMed, EMBASE, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Scopus e Web of Science), sem restrição quanto ao ano de publicação e ao idioma. Por meio da estratégia de busca, foram identificados 10.061 registros, dos quais 502 documentos e 654 pesquisadores foram selecionados por especialistas em Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional em três eixos: 1) Governança de políticas; 2) Acesso à alimentação; 3) Disponibilidade de alimentos. Pesquisadores de intuições de Moçambique (66,9%), Guiné-Bissau (15,9%) e Angola (11,4%) foram os que apresentaram o maior número de publicações e colaborações internacionais. No entanto, os pesquisadores das instituições de Cabo Verde, São Tomé e Príncipe e Guiné Equatorial somaram apenas 5,8% da produção total. Foi observado maior número de publicações (61%) relacionadas com o eixo dois da Estratégia de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa. As temáticas mais estudadas foram desenvolvimento sustentável, desnutrição infantil e produção agrícola para o primeiro, segundo e terceiro eixo, respectivamente. De forma geral, as publicações científicas mostraram limitações em suas abordagens frente ao desafio imposto pela complexidade do sistema alimentar. Todavia, foi houve uma evolução quantitativa nas publicações na última década; além disso, maior participação de pesquisadores de instituições africanas de língua portuguesa pode ser vislumbrada.

Conceptualization of Rice with Low Glycaemic Index: Perspectives from the Major European Consumers.

Rice and cereal consumption has become a concern for consumers due to usually high glycaemic indexes (GI), which is a critical issue for a balanced and healthy diet. Therefore, the development of new products with low GI is an important target of the industry, particularly in countries with high consumption. This study assesses consumers' perceptions about "rice" and "rice with low GI" and evaluates the effect of consumers' rice consumption profiles through the application of a free word association technique in a structured self-administered electronic questionnaire with 256 Portuguese consumers (the European market with the highest per capita consumption of rice by far). The frequency of rice consumption was evaluated, and the consumption profile was determined through a hierarchical cluster analysis, with 9% identified as daily consumers. The response words were categorized by the triangulation technique, and the association between the word categories and dimensions, sociodemographic characteristics, and consumption profile were determined. Respondents most frequently associated "rice" with rice dishes, its sensory attributes, and nutrition, highlighting the satisfaction of nutritional and hedonic needs. Consumers revealed positive expectations in relation to the functionality of "rice with low GI". The consumers' rice consumption profiles, sex, age, and educational levels influenced their perception towards "rice" and "rice with low GI". This study provides important insights for the industry to develop a consumer-oriented, low GI rice product.

The Role of Local Seasonal Foods in Enhancing Sustainable Food Consumption: A Systematic Literature Review.

This article aims to review the current literature pertaining to the effects of eating local seasonal food on sustainable consumption. To this end, we examined definitions of seasonal and local food, the methodological approaches adopted to study the impact of seasonal consumption on sustainability, and sustainability dimensions investigated in journal articles. Highlighting what seasonal and local means, it is crucial to evaluate the effect of the consumption of these foods on sustainability. A systematic review of the literature was conducted using Scopus and Clarivate's Web of Science database in line with the recommendations from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Our findings suggest that the concept of local seasonality provides relevant information to the study of sustainable consumption. However, for better use of this concept, it is crucial to define what is local. At this point, regulation of labels based on geographic proximity or political boundaries proves pertinent.