Before the Inca reigned, two empires held sway over the central Andes from anno Domini 600 to 1000: the Wari empire to the north ruled much of Peru, and Tiwanaku to the south reigned in Bolivia. Face-to-face contact came when both colonized the Moquegua Valley sierra in southern Peru. The state-sponsored Wari incursion, described here, entailed large-scale agrarian reclamation to sustain the occupation of two hills and the adjacent high mesa of Cerro Baúl. Monumental buildings were erected atop the mesa to serve an embassy-like delegation of nobles and attendant personnel that endured for centuries. Final evacuation of the Baúl enclave was accompanied by elaborate ceremonies with brewing, drinking, feasting, vessel smashing, and building burning.

Background: Iodine is the key element for thyroid hormone synthesis, and its deficiency, even moderate, is harmful in pregnancy, when needs are increased, because of its potential deleterious effects on fetal brain development. In Portugal, no recent data on iodine intake exists. The objective of this countrywide study was to analyze iodine status in pregnant Portuguese women in order to propose adequate measures to the health authorities. Subjects and methods: Using a fast colorimetric method, urine iodine concentration (UIC) was evaluated in 3631 pregnant women followed in 17 maternity hospitals from hinterland and coastal areas in Continental Portugal and the Portuguese islands of Açores and Madeira. Results: Median UIC value was 84.9 mg/l (range 67.6-124.1) in Continental Portugal, 69.5 mg/l in Madeira, and 50.0 mg/l in Açores. The percentage of satisfactory values (O150 mg/l) was 16.8, ranging from 8.8 to 34.1 in the Continent, and being 8.2 in Madeira and 2.3 in Açores. The percentage of values below 50 mg/l was 23.7, ranging from 14.0 to 37.4 in the Continent, 33.7 in Madeira, and 50.0 in Açores. Conclusions: Our results point to an inadequate iodine intake in pregnant women assisted in most Portuguese maternity hospitals. Considering the potential deleterious effects of inadequate iodine supply in pregnancy, iodine supplementation is strongly recommended in this period of life.

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BackgroundThe association of obesity and dietary patterns has been well documented in scientific literature; however, information on the impact of meal patterns on obesity is scarce. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of adherence to lunch patterns and body mass index (BMI) in a representative sample of individuals aged 20 years or older in Sao Paulo.MethodsData for 933 participants were retrieved from the Health Survey of São Paulo (ISA-Capital 2008), a cross-sectional population-based survey. The usual dietary intake of individuals with at least one 24-h recall was estimated by the Multiple Source Method. The definition of lunch was self-reported by the participant. Five lunch patterns were derived from twenty-two food groups by exploratory factor analysis: Traditional, Western, Sweetened juice, Salad, and Meats. To estimate the effect of lunch patterns on BMI, we used a generalized linear model with link identity and inverse Gaussian distribution. Analyses were adjusted by age, gender, household income per capita, physical activity levels, smoking status, alcohol consumption, total energy intake, and misreporting status.ResultsThe greater adherence to the traditional pattern at the lunch meal was associated with lower BMI, only in insufficiently active individuals (ß = −0.78; 95% CI -1.57; −0.02).ConclusionsThe traditional Brazilian lunch pattern might protect the insufficiently active individuals against obesity.