Browsing by Subject "infants"

Infants´ and children´s diet influences normal development and overall health. A balanced diet providing essential nutrients is crucial. Recent research has examined the dietary patterns of children and infants, exploring potential associations between food components and the emergence of illnesses. Notably, investigations into relationships between dietary factors and metabolite have gained prominence. Metabolomics offers a means to investigate individual´s nutrition, health status, illnesses, and the interaction of medications and contaminants. This study aimed to elucidate the connections between diet and the serum metabolic profiles of 1-year-old Finnish children. This master´s thesis used data from Finnish infants (n=439) collected by 3-day food record and questionnaires, in conjunction with metabolite assessments from blood samples collected at the age of 12 months. The investigation particularly focused on cow´s milk products and breast milk. Spearman correlation coefficient served as the primary statistical tool utilising data derived from the DIPP Nutrition study. Infant diets´ primarily comprised various cow´s milk products, milks and infant formulas. Noteworthy findings revealed that distinct lipids and free fatty acids, significantly associated with cow´s milk product consumption and breastfeeding. In the future, this study holds potential for enhancing comprehension of diet-related disease development by employing metabolites as markers to dissect dietary impacts.

Background and aims: Infants under two years of age have significant nutritional demands to promote growth and development, and to prevent malnutrition. However, in low-income countries, complementary feeding practices are often inadequate. In Kenya, there is a low availability of nutrient-dense complementary foods for infants in this age group. Thus, micronutrient deficiencies are widespread among infants and young children. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the gaps in the nutritional intake of infants aged 6-23 months living in Nairobi City County and Chuka Town, Kenya, and to examine if there were any specific dietary patterns associated with those gaps. Further, since earlier studies have demonstrated the high nutritional value and potential of amaranth to improve the diet of Kenyan infants, the suitability of amaranth foods for the improvement of infants’ diets in the study areas will be discussed. Methods: This thesis uses data from the InnoFoodAfrica Food Consumption Survey in Kenya in 2021. Single 24-hour recalls, and background questionnaires were available from 407 infants aged 6-23 months (207 from Nairobi City County and from 200 Chuka Town). Median nutrient intakes and interquartile range were compared to the recommendations by the WHO to define a nutrient gap. Dietary patterns were extracted with principal component analysis. The association between dietary patterns and nutrient gaps was evaluated using logistic regression analysis with age, gender, and infant’s energy intake as confounding variables. Results: Among infants aged 6-23 months assumed nutritional gaps were identified in folate, niacin, thiamin, vitamin B12, calcium, and zinc. Three dietary patterns were extracted based on the dietary data: “high-carbs” (high in cereals, bakery products, sugars) “high-fat” (high in oils, fats, fried potatoes, chips, popcorn), and “healthy” (high in egg dishes, roots and tuber dishes, vegetables, and fruits). Both the “high-carbs” and “healthy” patterns were associated with a higher likelihood of meeting the recommendations for most of the nutrients. The “high-fat” pattern was only associated with the likelihood of meeting the recommendations of vitamin B12 and zinc. Conclusions: In this population of infants from Nairobi City County and Chuka Town, Kenya, assumed nutritional gaps are present in the intake of niacin, thiamin, folate, vitamin B12, calcium and zinc. The “high-fat” pattern, associated with a lower likelihood of meeting the recommended intakes for most nutrients, may be associated with the nutritional gaps. Based on nutrient composition of amaranth flour (analyzed in the InnoFoodAfrica project), amaranth would not be suitable for the preparation of snacks to fill the gaps of the infants’ diets.

Melatonin is a circadian regulatory hormone with neuroprotective properties. We have previously demonstrated the association of genetic variant rs12506228 near the melatonin receptor 1A gene (MTNR1A) with intolerance to shift work. Furthermore, this variant has been connected to Alzheimer’s disease. Because of the previously suggested role of melatonin signalling in foetal neurocognitive and sleep development, we studied here the association of rs12506228 with early development. The study sample comprised 8-month-old infants from the Finnish CHILD-SLEEP birth cohort (n=1301). Parental questionnaires assessed socioemotional, communication and motor development, as well as sleep length and night awakenings. The A allele of rs12506228 showed an association with slower socioemotional (P=0.025) and communication (P=0.0098) development but no direct association with sleep. However, the association of the Finnish seasons with infant sleep length interacted with rs12506228. Taken together, rs12506228 near MTNR1A, which has been previously linked to adult and elderly traits, is shown here to associate with slower early cognitive development. In addition, these results suggest that the darker seasons associate with longer infant sleep time, but only in the absence of the rs12506228 AA genotype. Since the risk allele has been connected to fewer brain MT1 melatonin receptors, these associations may reflect the influence of decreased melatonin signalling in early development.

Suomalaisia vegaaniäitejä ja lapsia ei ole aiemmin tutkittu ravitsemustieteen näkökulmasta. Suomalaisilla suosituksissa (Valtion ravitsemusneuvottelukunta, Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö) lasten ja äitien vegaaniruokavalioon suhtaudutaan varauksellisesti. Pohjois-Amerikassa mm. American Dietetic Association ja American Academy of Pediatrics sen sijaan pitävät vegaaniruokavaliota ravitsemuksellisesti riittävänä myös raskauden ja imetyksen aikana sekä pikkulapsilla. Suomalainen tutkimustieto on tarpeen mm. laadittaessa uusia suosituksia tulevaisuudessa. Tutkimukseen osallistui 14 perhettä. Vegaaniruokavaliota oli noudatettu 11 raskauden ja imetyksen ajan. Syntymästään saakka vegaanilapsia oli 13. Menetelmänä oli kolmeosainen kyselylomake, jonka tutkittavat palauttivat postitse. Raskaus- ja imetysaikaa tarkastellessani käytin vertailuaineistona niitä seitsemää raskautta, jotka eivät täyttäneet vegaaniruokavalion määritelmää, mutta joiden aikana oli syöty tavanomaista sekaruokavaliota kasvispainotteisemmin. Tutkimukseen osallistuneet olivat koulutettuja ja suurin osa asui kaupungissa. Lapset olivat iältään keskimäärin 1 ½-vuotiaita (vaihteluväli pariviikkoisesta 5-vuotiaaseen). Perheet olivat etsineet itse aktiivisesti tietoa ravitsemusasioista ja tietoa oli saatu myös Vegaaniliitosta. Virallinen terveydenhuolto ei ollut juurikaan pystynyt tarjoamaan tietoa: kahdeksan perhettä oli käynyt ravitsemusterapeutin vastaanotolla, mutta vain yksi ilmoitti saaneensa tietoa sitä kautta. Useimmiten perheen ruokavalio oli herättänyt hämmennystä ja epätietoisuutta terveydenhuollossa. Jotkut olivat kokeneet erittäin negatiivista suhtautumista, etenkin lääkärien taholta, mutta myös myönteisiä kokemuksia oli. Vegaaniäitien keskimääräinen painonnousu raskauden aikana oli normaali ja lapset olivat syntyneet normaalipainoisina. Lasten kasvu oli normaalia. Kaikki äidit olivat huolehtineet D- ja B12-saannista. Myös kaikki lapset saivat ko. vitamiinitäydennyksiä lukuun ottamatta yhtä epäselvää tapausta D-vitamiinin suhteen. Vegaaniäidit imettivät pitkään ja olivat lähempänä imetyssuosituksia kuin suomalaiset yleensä. Tämän tutkimuksen perusteella suomalaisissa vegaaniperheissä ollaan tietoisia D- ja B12-vitamiinien tärkeydestä ja ravitsemusasioista yleensä. Sellaisia ongelmia ei noussut esille, etteikö ruokavaliota voisi suositella