The present investigation was carried out in the rural community La Rinconada, located in the canton Ibarra of the province of Imbabura. The field work was developed during 12 months. Previous activities were developed to the rehearsal like socialization of the program; training in areas of: poscosecha of grains, alfalfa cultivation and systems of growth of guinea pigs. The rehearsal lasted 70 days and it was developed in the property of three families of the community. The formulation of diets balanced based on grains of waste of corn, wheat and barley for the growth and increment of weight of guinea pigs, it was the main objective from the investigation. The rehearsal was carried out with 84 weaned male guinea pigs of the improved Creole type, acquired in a farm of guinea pigs, of the province of the Carchi. It was used, experimental design of complete blocks at random (DBCA) with a factorial arrangement A x B + 1 and three repetitions. The factor A it was conformed by three formulations of balanced. The balanced 1 (B1) had as protein source the soy cake, the balanced 2 (B2) had as protein source the bean and the balanced 3 (B3) had as protein source the pea. The factor B it was conformed by two forage types : alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), forage 1 (F1) and the mixture forager pastures and boil of the community forage (F2). The witness treatment T7, was the traditional feeding of guinea pigs, in the community. Was used: kitchen waste, crop waste and boil and pastures of the community. The treatments were seven : T1 (Balanced 1 + alfalfa), T2 (Balanced 1 + pastures and boil of the community), T3 (Balanced 2 + alfalfa), T4 (Balanced 2 + pastures and boil of the community), T5 (Balanced 3 + alfalfa), T6 (Balanced 3 + pastures and boil of the community) and T7 witness treatment (traditional feeding). The evaluated variables were consumption of dry matter, increase of biweekly weight, nutritious conversion, mortality and production costs. The experimental unit was conformed by four weaned male guinea pigs. Of the obtained results it concludes that the Balanced 1 and Balanced 3 were the best. The mixture foragers, pastures and boil of the community presented superior results to those of the alfalfa . The treatment witness (traditional feeding of the community) it is not advisable, the guinea pigs didn't reach characteristic of weight and commercialization or for reproduction. For the results of increment of weight, nutritious conversion, production costs and access to the matters cousins, are recommended to use the diet of the treatment T6 (Balanced 3 + pastures and boil of the community) in the feeding of guinea pigs, in the rural sector of the Andean region of the Ecuador.

This investigation was conducted in the rural community of Cuambo, located in the northeast of Imbabura province, in the Mira river basin of Salina parish, at 1530 meters above sea level and with an average temperature of 19 C. The principal objective of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of four levels of substitution of fish meal for earthworm meal in broiler chicken diets. The fieldwork occurred in two stages over the course of 20 months: A. Creation of the feed: This step lasted from the installation of an earthworm culturing area through the cultivation, harvest, and drying of the worms until obtaining the flour and then the feed with the respective formulas and acquisition of primary materials. B. Cultivation of broiler chickens: This was carried out in a community member's house adapted to function like a chicken coop that had been previously prepared to receive the chicks. The study lasted 7 weeks. A completely random design (CRD) was used with five treatments and five repetitions per treatment, with five chickens per experimental unit. ANOVA, Tukey analysis at 5%, and orthogonal polynomial analysis were used to evaluate the data. The factor under study was the percentage of earthworm flour in a basic diet. The treatments were as follows: T0: Control (Pronaca commercial feed) T1: 100% earthworm meal T2: 75% earthworm meal T3: 50% earthworm meal T4: 25% earthworm meal Analyzed variables: Weekly weight gain, Weekly food conversion, Accumulated food conversion, Total food consumption, Efficiency index, Yield, Organoleptic analysis, Economic analysis. From the results obtained, we conclude that treatment 0 (T0) is the best because it gave the best results in weight gain, food conversion, efficiency index, yield, and cost of production. In the organoleptic analysis T4 received the most points for appearance and flavor; T3 received the most for color, smell, and texture. The treatment with greatest acceptability was T4, with the most points. In production costs, the least expensive was T1, but it is not recommended for use because the chickens had poor results in the studied variables.

In many countries, the health and the development of a great number of people are compromised by the insufficient distribution of micro-nutrients. The deficiency of iron is one of the things that to a large extent contributes to the high rates of death and maternal and childhood mortality, affecting also a great percentage of school aged children. Bolivia, along with the majority of underdeveloped countries, presents high prevalence of anemia in the students. Recent studies confirm that anemia nutrients are a problem of public health of great magnitude to rural and urban level (Fernández et al, 1994). Before this situation the project to UNITE - UMSA through a diagnosis carried out in Viacha (Prov. Ingavi - La Paz) in 1996 on the eating situation and nutrition of families determined that the food sources of iron consumption dropped, for which one of the recommendations of said study was to carry out interventions such as to supplement and to fortify food with iron. In that context, the need to distribute a school breakfast constituted by a food (api or flour of purple corn) fortified with iron has been seen and to measure the effect that has the consumption of that food on the nutritional state of iron in the students. The api is a food that can be fortified with iron, apart from having a good contribution of energy, it is accessible economically to the population of the altiplano Bolivian and is preferred for the children. The distribution of the api fortified with iron would be able to reduce the prevalence of anemia in the students of the rural area. The present study, will measure the effect of the consumption of api fortified with iron on the iron deficiency anemia of the students of the rural area of the region altiplánica Irpa Small, province Ingavi of the department of La Paz.

In Guatemala, nutritional problems are directly related to the difficulty to purchase food fit for human consumption due to low family incomes as well as low nutritional education. This situation motivated the realization of the present study whose main objective was to apply the dietary guidelines for Guatemala in three rural communities of Chiquimula. All three communities were previously aided by Benson Institute efforts to promote changes in eating behavior. The sample was comprised of mothers from the El Pinalito, El Guayabo, and Maraxco communities of the department of Chiquimula. There were eight mothers, four literate and four illiterate, from each community. The study was conducted in three phases. In the first, the access to, availability of, and consumption of food were determined through individual interviews with the mothers being studied. Phase two consisted of determining family diet characteristics through an initial interview with the mothers studied. These data, along with those from the first phase, served to identify foods to include in the graph of dietary guidelines (graph of the family food pot) of each community. This phase also included the development of a training plan on the Dietary Guidelines, which was aimed at the mothers being studied. In the third phase, a training plan was developed taking the data from phase two into account. Seven days after the training, a behavioral test was conducted to determine the feasibility of implementing the seven recommendations of the dietary guidelines. This was done through a final interview with the mothers in the study. The results indicate that families in these communities have a daily consumption of soft drinks and candy that negatively influences their quality of food intake and nutrition. In addition, it was found that the typical food for these families are ticucos (bean tamales), a food resource available to this population. However, the graph of the family pot from each community reflects a monotonous diet which agrees with results from other studies. From the behavioral test results obtained, it was apparent that two to three mothers from each of the three communities had problems following the second recommendation regarding the consumption of vegetables and herbs. Five mothers from both the El Guayabo and Maraxco communities also had problems following the third recommendation which was about fruit consumption. Lastly, one mother from Maraxco could not follow recommendations five or six regarding consumption of milk and consumption of meat, respectively. The inability to follow the second recommendation may be due to the fact that not all members of a family may like herbs and vegetables. Furthermore, the other recommendations that weren’t able to be followed may be due to the fact that the items are not easily accessible due to high prices, low family incomes, low local production, and poor seasonality. At the end of the study, the number of samples from the El Pinalito and El Guayabo villages decreased, affecting the comparison between the three communities. However, the community that adopted the majority of eating behaviors in relation to the dietary guidelines for Guatemala was El Pinalito, followed by El Guayabo, and lastly Maraxco. It was also found that it was more difficult for those with lower education to adopt good eating habits due to their inability to understand the importance of doing so. The same thing happened with the older mothers being studied which may be due to the fact that they have a harder time making changes. It was most difficult for the older illiterate mothers to adopt the changes in eating behavior, compared to the younger literate mothers.

Inflammation is a complex physiological response normally initiated by the innate immune system, often as a response to exposure to otherwise harmful stimuli. While generally useful in humans as a protective response to foreign matter, chronically elevated quantities of associated inflammatory factors C-reactive protein, TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-1beta have been linked in literature with decreased overall lifespan and well-being in humans via inflammatory processes. It is possible that by lowering these associated factors, increased well-being and lifespan may be experienced by the general population. One common health supplement with such promise is fish oil, which, through compounds eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, has been observed to decrease levels of secreted inflammatory markers in cell culture. In addition, molecular pathways have since been discovered which demonstrate possible means for which this physiological response may occur. However, despite the promise of such health benefits, studies attempting to discern the impact EPA/DHA supplementation has on inflammatory markers within humans have since emerged with mixed results. The aim of this study is to provide a meta-analysis across a number of studies to determine whether or not an impact exists through EPA/DHA supplementation in healthy populations, and if one exists, to what degree the respective inflammatory factors may be lowered.

Food insecurity is prevalent in the United States. Although older adults experience food insecurity at lower-than-average rates, this population is vulnerable to the nutrition and health related implications. Food insecurity is tied to both a diminishment of diet quantity and quality, and is associated with incidence of chronic disease, loss of functional status, and quality of life. This survey seeks to fill a gap in research by looking into the prevalence of food insecurity among older adults in Northeast Tennessee, associations between food insecurity and self-rated health, and associations between food insecurity and geographical limitations.

Home availability of both healthful and unhealthful foods may influence consumption among rural adolescent populations. In conjunction, the availability of food in an individual’s local food environment has the potential to significantly impact what is procured for the home and eaten away from the home. The purpose of this study was to determine how in-store food availability and parental purchases influences home availability and, ultimately, dietary intake among adolescents. This study measured perceived home availability, using the University of Minnesota Project EAT Survey, and dietary intake, using the NHANES Dietary Screener Questionnaire, of (n=28) adolescent participants in two Kentucky counties during 2013. Availability of food in local stores was measured using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores (NEM-S). The results of multiple linear regression analysis suggest that overall store availability does not significantly impact parental purchases. However, in-store availability of specific unhealthy food categories, such as snacks, junk food, candy, and pop, was associated with increased parental purchases of similar unwholesome items and a greater predicted intake of sugar. Therefore, it may be beneficial to develop interventions aimed at decreasing the availability of unhealthy food items in stores in order to improve diet quality among rural adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the amount and variety of fruit and vegetable intake increased among community-dwelling older adults participating in Kentucky’s congregate meal site program following a series of educational nutrition lessons. A convenience sample (n=35) of community-dwelling older adults at two intervention (n=19) and two control (n=16) senior centers in central Kentucky participated in this quasi-experimental pre-post pilot study. Following the intervention there was a trend towards increased self-reported intake in the variety of fruit and vegetables among the intervention group (range:0.03±3.31 to 1.32±2.75 servings per week); a significant increase in the number of days participants incorporated at least 4.5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day intake; significant increases in the incorporation of fruits and vegetables in evening meal, and all meals (p≤0.05); and phytochemical knowledge (p≤0.05). Actual fruit and vegetable intake at the congregate meal increased post-intervention among the intervention group only (p≤0.05) as measured by plate waste. The mean Phytochemical Index score was 25.4, with participants consuming 79% of the phytochemical- rich component to their meal. These results indicate that theory-based educational nutrition lessons among older adults is linked to favorable trends towards increased fruit and vegetable consumption and phytochemical knowledge.

Prior research has shown that pediatric cancer survivors face a multitude of longterm effects from treatment of their disease. Many of these conditions can be treated or managed through proper nutrition, however patients of the DanceBlue Kentucky Children's Hospital Hematology/Oncology Clinic do not see a registered dietitian. This study looked at food and drink consumption of the past 30 days by the patient using the NHANES Dietary Screener Questionnaire to see if they met nutrition recommendations as outlined by the 2015‐2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Results from the study found that off‐treatment pediatric cancer survivors (n=21) failed to meet dietary recommendations in fruit and vegetable, whole grain, and dairy intake. It was also shown that participants exceeded their limit of added sugars. From these findings it was concluded that pediatric cancer survivors in the DanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospital Hematology/Oncology Clinic would benefit from nutrition counseling and education provided by a Registered Dietitian.

Obesity has been recognized as an increasing issue within our country. Obesity contributes to many health related issues, including type 2 diabetes mellitus. Portion size is a factor that has generated clinical research interest. The aim of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between management of diabetes measured by hemoglobin A1c and portion size selection for type 2 diabetics. In this study, subjects selected portion sizes of four different foods. Data were compared to recent A1c levels. Due to the small sample size, nonparametric statistical analysis was used. The relationship of grain portion weight selection and A1c was significant (Spearman R = .900, p = .037). This finding has potential for future investigation and patient education.