Medical Sciences Forum, Volume 9, Issue 1

The Northcote area is undergoing major urban regeneration and the diverse community residents there are experiencing significant changes that may affect wellbeing. It is important that the community identifies social and environmental changes they pe...

Gastrointestinal illnesses affect an estimated 40% of persons worldwide. From severe inflammation and cancer to disturbances in gut motility and increased food sensitivity, they encompass a broad spectrum of diseases with a range of underlying mechan...

Good nutrition in early childhood is essential for optimal brain development, growth, learning to eat, and establishing healthy food preferences. Little is known about exposure to food insecurity among young children in Aotearoa New Zealand and the i...

Lowered energy availability (LEA) leading to the female athlete triad or Relative Energy Deficiency in sport are conditions that are becoming increasingly prevalent in athletes. The concept of low energy availability and the accompanied impaired phys...

Objective: To determine four-year outcomes of community-living older adults identified as being at ‘malnutrition risk’ in the 2014 Health, Work and Retirement (HWR) study. Design: A longitudinal analysis of the 2014 and 2018 HWR cohort. S...

Sarcopenia is defined as the age-related decline in muscle mass and function and is associated with adverse health outcomes and the loss of independence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of sarcopenia among older...

Human intestinal microbiota comprises bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeasts and bacteriophages. The human microbiota has a fundamental role in host physiology and pathology. This community starts to develop at birth and continues for two to three years, u...

New Zealand has the second highest overweight and obese child population in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This paper evaluates whether New Zealand’s self-regulatory controls on the advertising of unhealthy f...

Moving towards healthy sustainable diets which replace a proportion of animal with plant-based protein requires effective population-based strategies. A variety of strategies in food service settings can support this. This systematic review aimed to...

As pressure rises in the fight to reduce global warming, increasing scrutiny is falling on food systems. A growing number of individuals are looking to optimise their own diets for the benefit of the environment. To gain a holistic understanding on t...

Nutrition content and health claims are voluntary statements regarding the nutrition content of food or how it relates to health. They are commonly used on food labels and in food advertising. The majority of packaged food products in New Zealand dis...

Perceived insufficient milk supply (PIM) is the most common reason for breastfeeding women to introduce formula before 6 months postpartum. Anecdotal evidence suggests that galactagogues (substances to enhance breast milk supply) are commonly used in...

Our ability to effectively nourish an increasing global population is one of the key challenges facing humanity. The global food system is incredibly complex: it is the world’s largest economic sector; it has multiple inputs and outputs; it is...

Background: Animal protein sources are more efficient in increasing muscle protein synthesis and maintaining muscle mass in older adults, but little is known about when they are consumed across the day in New Zealand (NZ) older adults. Objectives: to...

Food policies can make healthier foods more accessible for the population. In this study, progress on implementing recent policies and commitments of the government and food companies was monitored. Sub-studies were conducted following INFORMAS (Inte...

An optimal nutrient intake is required for the health of both breastfeeding women and their infants. This study aims to assess the nutrient adequacy of breastfeeding women living in New Zealand. A cohort of breastfeeding women residing in the Palmers...

Optimal dietary intakes are essential for the health of both breastfeeding women and their infants. Few recent dietary intake data exist concerning this group in New Zealand. This study aimed to determine the adherence to national dietary recommendat...

Accurate dietary assessment is difficult yet fundamental for deriving meaningful findings from diet-related studies. Commonly used dietary assessment methods such as food diaries, recalls, and questionnaires rely on self-reporting and are often subje...

Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius), a sustainable foodstuff, is perceived as a functional food because it contains biologically active components, e.g., fructooligosaccharides (FOS), inulin, and phenolic compounds that may provide physiological benefit...

In children and other young people, diets high in sodium and low in potassium lead to increases in blood pressure and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. Our primary objective was to assess daily sodium and potassium intakes in chi...

Obesity has become a concern in low- and middle-income countries, such as Indonesia, in recent years. This is an important issue for the country because the detrimental health impacts of obesity on non-communicable diseases are well established. The...

Snacking has increased over recent years and may account for excess energy intake and observed increases in overweight and obesity. Whole nuts are more commonly consumed as snacks than meals. Research suggests that nut consumption increases satiety,...

Climate change is one of the top threats to human health and strategies to mitigate climate change are essential. International research has shown that policies to shift dietary consumption away from foods with high green-house gas (GHG) emissions as...

Food consumed away from home is contributing an increasing proportion of household food budgets in New Zealand (NZ). This study aimed to benchmark the healthiness of the NZ fast-food supply in 2020. Data on the serving size and nutrient content of pr...

Cis- isomers of lycopene have been reported to be more bioavailable than all-trans-lycopene. ‘Moonglow’(MG) is an orange heirloom tomato variety with >90% of its lycopene in the more bioavailable cis-isomeric form, compared to ‘R...

Dietary patterns (DPs) explore one’s whole diet and can be used to investigate associations between dietary intake and obesity. This study investigates the DPs of community-dwelling adults (65–74 years, 36% male) and associations with bod...

Many children do not meet vegetable intake recommendations. However, starting complementary feeding (CF) with vegetables only may improve child vegetable consumption. The aim was to examine whether exposure to a vegetables-only diet during the first...

Emerging evidence suggests that consuming two New Zealand green kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa cv. Hayward) daily for four weeks may improve sleep quality. The subjective and objective acute responses and underlying physiological responses are unknow...

Dietary habits established during childhood and adolescence influence behaviours in adulthood and may impact health later in life. Primary and secondary schools have the unique ability to reach almost all children and young people during the first tw...

The National Healthy Food and Drink Policy (NHFDP) was developed to promote healthy food environments for the New Zealand District Health Board (DHB) staff and visitors. The policy classifies food and drinks as red, amber, or green and sets benchmark...

Many countries and institutions have adopted policies to promote healthier food and drink availability in various settings, including public sector workplaces. However, studies reporting barriers and facilitators experienced by food vendors and cater...

The COVID-19 pandemic altered people’s life dramatically worldwide, with major concerns in different economic, political, scientific, and public health aspects. The impact on the lifestyle behaviour of the young generation was larger than antic...

Apples are a commonly consumed fruit linked with reducing the risk of several chronic diseases, including cancer. Some of the health benefits of apples are related to their secondary metabolites, known as phytochemicals. The type of phytochemicals an...

Our study aimed to model the potential impact of a food reformulation initiative on the sodium intake of New Zealand (NZ) adults. The initiative, HeartSAFE 2020, is led by the NZ Heart Foundation and has set sodium targets for foods in 17 categories....

The annual scientific conference of the Nutrition Society of New Zealand took place virtually on the 2nd and 3rd December 2021 [...]

Sleep deprivation compromises the cognitive performance of military personnel, jeopardising operational safety. Sleep deprivation-related performance deficits coincide with decreased glucose metabolism in associated brain regions, suggesting the pote...

Plant-based diets are recommended for personal health and to protect the environment. Plant-based protein foods available in supermarkets include traditional options, such as canned and dried legumes, and an increasing range of meat analogues such as...

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic, relapsing, remitting functional disorder of the gut, characterised by abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel habits, and associated with poor quality of life and depression. A common disorder in pr...

Vegetarianism appears to be increasing in Western countries. The health benefits of following a vegetarian diet include improved cardiovascular health, lower body mass, and a decreased risk of non-communicable diseases. However, restrictive food sele...

Many of the descriptions of the macronutrient intakes of adolescent vegetarians are close to 20 years old. The aim of this study was to describe the macronutrient intake of vegetarians and non-vegetarian adolescent females and to compare the main foo...

Evidence suggests that many nurses are unable to provide nutritional care in clinical practice. A modification of the nursing curriculum is needed to enable nurses to apply this knowledge more effectively in clinical practice and improve patient outc...

Dietary intervention is key in the management of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). However, the ideal diet to reduce the adverse health outcomes associated with GDM is unknown. The aim of this systematic review is to identify and compare the inter...

To reduce the risk of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S), athletes and their support teams first require sufficient knowledge about the signs and symptoms of RED-S in athletic performance, recovery and overall health. Thus, our study aimed...

Vitamin D deficiency can have serious health implications for infants and young children. In 2012, the Ministry of Health released a Consensus Statement on Vitamin D and Sun Exposure. Following this, a Companion Statement for Pregnancy and Infancy wa...

More than one in five children in New Zealand live in food poverty, meaning that they live without access to sufficient wholesome food for good health. Evidence suggests that Māori mothers are more likely to experience food insecurity due to ine...

Monoamine neurotransmitters such as indolamines including melatonin (5-methoxytryptamine) and serotonin (5hydroxytryptamine) were first identified in mammals and now have been ubiquitously found in plants. Melatonin, known as the sleep hormone, is sy...

Globally, the value sales of baby food pouches increased by 28% in December 2013–2014. Although baby food pouches are an increasingly popular choice for parents, a number of health agencies have raised concerns about their possible long-term he...

Exposure to both poor nutrition and maternal stress during the earliest stages of life—from pre-conception until age two—have been identified as potential risk factors for the development of adult non-communicable disease. A booklet entit...

Many factors affect food choice, including hunger, cost, time, culture, and knowledge. Food choice can also be guided by food and nutrition guidelines, which promote human health and, ideally, planetary health. The Eating and Physical Activity Guidel...

Our current food system is failing to deliver on health and well-being, equity, and food security and Hawke’s Bay has one of the fastest-growing rates of childhood obesity. ‘He wairua tō te kai’ suggests that there is more to f...