Objective: To investigate association between dietary habits and asthma severity in children.Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Two teaching hospitals in Brazil.Participants: Cases (n=268) were children (3-12yr) with persistent asthma and age-matched controls (n=126) were those with intermittent asthma. Main outcome measures:Dietary habits were determined based on food consumption in the past 12 months classified as frequent (≥3 times per week) or infrequent (never or <3 times per week).Nutritional status was classified into two categories according to WHO Child Growth Standards: obese: >2Z-score of BMI-for-age; non-obese: ≤2Z-score of BMI-for-age.Results: After adjusting for confounding factors, maternal smoking during pregnancy, preterm birth and obesity were significantly associated with persistent asthma, with adjusted ORs (95% CI) of 2.11 (1.08-4.13), 2.61(1.07-6.35) and 2.89 (1.49-5.61), respectively. No significant association was observed between frequency of consumption of specific foods, food groups, or dietary pattern (pro-or contra-Mediterranean diet) and the severity of asthma. Conclusions:This study did not find a significant association between dietary habits and asthma severity in children. Maternal smoking during pregnancy, preterm birth and obesity were independent factors associated with persistent asthma.

Rev. Nutr., Campinas, 23 (5) A B S T R A C T ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the influence of nutritional status on the quality of life of a cohort of cancer patients submitted to chemotherapy. MethodsPatients receiving chemotherapy for the first time in a University Hospital in Pelotas (RS), Brazil, were evaluated prospectively. Their nutritional risk was determined by the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment scores and their quality of life by the World Health Organization's quality of life questionnaire, administered at the beginning and end of the study. ResultsOne hundred and forty-three patients were studied, 76.2% being females. The prevalence of malnutrition at baseline was 14.0%. The present study found that malnourished patients had a poor quality of life. The nutritional risk of 41.6% of the patients increased after chemotherapy. A significant association was found between the presence of symptoms and increased nutritional risk (p<0.001). Additionally, there was a significant negative correlation between physical domain and nutritional risk scores, showing that quality of life increases as nutritional risk decreases.

Obesity measured by BMI and increased abdominal adiposity are significantly associated with risk of persistent asthma but not type of controller medications.

Introdução: A incidencia de desnutrição no câncer varia de 40% a 80%. Seus efeitos negativos incluem maior toxicidade a terapia antineoplásica, complicações pós-operatórias com piora das condições clínicas, podendo ser necessária a interrupção do tratamento. Objetivo: Determinar o estado nutricional de pacientes no início do tratamento quimioterápico e associá-lo à localização do tumor primário e ao estadiamento da doenca. Método: A pesquisa foi transversal e quantitativa. Os dados foram coletados a partir de avaliação nutricional realizada pela Avaliação Subjetiva Global Produzida pelo Paciente e de consulta aos prontuários dos pacientes no primeiro dia de quimioterapia. Resultados: A maioria dos 83 individuos pertencia ao sexo feminino (57,4%) e tinha mais de 50 anos de idade (75,9%). As neoplasias malignas mais prevalentes foram as do trato gastrointestinal (34,9%), e a maioria dos pacientes apresentava doenca em estádios III ou IV (66,3%), sendo a quimioterapia paliativa o tratamento proposto para 42,7% dos individuos. A prevalencia de desnutrição foi de 48% e esteve associada com a ingestão alimentar reduzida ou por sonda enteral, perda de peso, deficit ao exame físico, alterações da capacidade funcional e a sintomas como anorexia e dor (p<0,001). A probabilidade de os portadores de tumores do trato gastrointestinal apresentarem deficit nutricional foi tres vezes maior quando comparado a outros sitios primarios de neoplasia (p=0,0012). Conclusão: A desnutrição identificada em aproximadamente metade dos pacientes esteve associada as neoplasias de trato gastrointestinal e aos estádios III e IV, porém não mostrou-se significativa quando associada a procedimento cirúrgico prévio.