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Background Fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in children in the United States (US) is very low. Adequate FV consumption is required for proper development during childhood, and dietary habits are established during preschool-age and tend to persist into adulthood. As most U.S. preschool-aged children attend childcare or preschool, this may be an opportune time and setting to conduct interventions to improve FV intake. These interventions should be based in theory and use behavior change techniques (BCTs) to explain mechanisms for expected change. To date, no published reviews have examined the effectiveness of childcare- or preschool-based FV interventions in preschoolers and their use of theoretical frameworks and BCTs. Methods This systematic review was completed adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2012 and 2022 of interventions to improve diet or FV intake in preschoolers (aged 2–5 years) in childcare or preschool-settings. A search of four databases was conducted between in September 2022 using search terms pertaining to the study’s primary aim (FV consumption), age group (preschool-aged), settings (US childcare or preschool settings), and study design (RCT). Additional criteria were objective measures of FV consumption or skin carotenoids, as a proxy for FV intake. Included studies were narratively synthesized based on intervention type, measured effect, and use of theory and BCTs. Results The search resulted in six studies that reported on nine interventions. Overall, six interventions increased FV intake, of which five used nutrition education and one manipulated the feeding environment. Among the three interventions with no measured effect, two manipulated the feeding environment and one used peer modeling. Effective studies used at least three BCTs, though no pattern was observed between use of theory or BCTs and intervention effect. Conclusions While several studies have shown promising results, the limited number of studies identified in this review highlights key gaps in this field: there is a need for studies to test FV interventions in US childcare settings that use objective measures of FV intake, directly compare intervention components and BCTs, are theory-based, and assess long-term behavior change.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015) and Energy-Adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DIITM) scores in women’s cancer survivors and to examine socio-economic (SES) characteristics associated with these two diet indices. In this cross-sectional study, survivors of women’s cancers completed a demographic questionnaire and up to three 24-h dietary recalls. HEI-2015 and E-DII scores were calculated from average intakes. One-way ANOVA was used to examine the association of various demographic factors on HEI-2015 and E-DII scores. Pearson Correlation was used to calculate the correlation between the two scores. The average HEI-2015 score was 55.0 ± 13.5, lower than the national average, and average E-DII was −1.14 ± 2.24, with 29% of women having a more pro-inflammatory and 71% a more anti-inflammatory diet. Diets with higher HEI-2015 scores were associated with more anti-inflammatory diets (r = −0.67, p < 0.001). Those having a graduate degree (F(2,49) = 3.6, p = 0.03) and completing cancer treatment > 4 years ago (F(2,49) = 4.8, p = 0.01) had higher HEI-2015 scores. There were no associations between SES and E-DII scores. The diet quality of women’s cancer survivors is comparatively low, but many achieved an anti-inflammatory diet; a promising avenue for preventing recurrence. There is an urgent need to involve health care professionals in the guidance of women’s cancer survivors to improve diet quality and prevent cancer recurrence.

Despite the known benefits of exercise training in reducing the hyperglycemic state and the harmful effects of Diabetes Mellitus on skeletal muscle health, the optimal exercise intensity to elicit maximal outcomes is still under debate. PURPOSE: To compare the effects of moderate-intensity training (MIT) with those of high intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions on glycemia and changes in GSH antioxidant system in slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscles of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: Male Wistar rats (30 days old) were randomly divided into four groups: control (C), sedentary diabetic (SD), diabetic with HIIT (HIIT) and diabetic with MIT (MIT). Diabetes was induced by a single streptozotocin injection (100 mg/kg body weight), animals with fasting blood glucose levels ≥ 300 mg/dL were considered as diabetic. Exercise training programs were performed on a treadmill (30 minutes daily, 5 days/week) for 8 weeks. At the end of the intervention, extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle (fast-twitch) and soleus (slow-twitch) muscles were dissected and the concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and the GSH/GSSG ratio were determined. RESULTS: Exercise with MIT, but not HIIT, reduces blood glucose levels by 30.18% (p=0.001) compared to DS group. In diabetes, GSH concentrations were significantly lower in both muscles compared to C group. Both MIT and HIIT induced significant changes by increasing the total glutathione levels (GSH+GSSG) in slow (32.33% and 25.37%, respectively) and fast (188.15% and 156.38%, respectively) muscles compared SD group. However, only HIIT increases the GSH/GSSG ratio in slow muscle (107.36%), instead the MIT promoted greater benefits on fast muscles (55.89%) compared to SD group. CONCLUSIONS: Both exercise protocols have positive effects on GSH antioxidant system in slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscles, however, MIT appeared most effective to reduce diabetesrelated hyperglycemia.