» Listings for 2017

1. The challenge of nutritional management in people with kidney disease

   Posted on 9:00am Wednesday 18th Oct 2017

   Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive disease in which kidney function is lost over a period of years. It has a number of consequences including cardiovascular diseases, osteodystrophy, pericarditis and anaemia. It is most commonly caused by diabetes or untreated high blood pressure, but can also arise due to inflammatory disorders. The progression of CKD is classified as stages 1-5, with stage 1 representing the very early phase with mild impairment of glomerular filtration rate, and stage 5 representing full renal failure.

2. Battling obesity- is pregnancy a teachable moment?

   Posted on 12:00pm Wednesday 2nd Aug 2017

   The rising prevalence of obesity and the impact of excessive body fatness on risk of Type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers are well-documented and are rightly a focus for public health interventions. With obesity rates increasing in adults and children, all developed countries are reporting high levels of obesity among women of childbearing age. This has important consequences for maternal and foetal health during pregnancy and potentially for the longer-term health of the children of obese women.

3. Does diet impact on academic performance?

   Posted on 2:40am Thursday 4th May 2017

   Over the last two decades there have been many claims that what children eat has a major impact upon their performance at school, with many studies claiming that breakfast, in particular, is a strong contributor to concentration and learning during the school day. There is also a well-recognised phenomenon called the ‘post-prandial dip’, which is a drop off in physical and cognitive performance following a lunchtime meal.

4. The ‘5-a-day’ message: knowledge and action

   Posted on 11:00am Monday 6th Feb 2017

   
   The positive relationship between consumption of fruit and vegetables and human health is very well established. Increasing intake of vegetables, in particular, reduces the risk of many types of cancer, partly through displacement of cancer-risk factors (e.g. meat) and maintenance of healthy weight, but also through the delivery of anti-cancer agents such as the isothiocyanates that I discussed in my Christmas blog about sprouts. In the light of these positive effects, the World Health Organization has set a minimum daily target of 400g of fruit and vegetables in the diet for all countries. In the UK, this has become the driver for the ‘5-a-day’ public health message. This sets the goal of consuming five 80g portions of fruit or vegetables, which can be in raw form, cooked from fresh, frozen or canned, and eaten either on their own, or as elements of more complex composite foods which use them as ingredients.