Adherence to Dietary Recommendations, Nutrient Intake Adequacy and Diet Quality among Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Patients: Results from the GreeCF Study

Abstract

Nutrition is an important component of cystic fibrosis (CF) therapy, with a high-fat diet being the cornerstone of treatment. However, adherence to the dietary recommendations for CF appears suboptimal and burdensome for most children and adolescents with CF, leading to malnutrition, inadequate growth, compromised lung function and increased risk for respiratory infections. A cross-sectional approach was deployed to examine the degree of adherence to the nutrition recommendations and diet quality among children with CF. A total of 76 children were recruited from Aghia Sophia’s Children Hospital, in Athens, Greece. In their majority, participants attained their ideal body weight, met the recommendations for energy and fat intake, exceeding the goal for saturated fatty acids consumption. Carbohydrate and fiber intake were suboptimal and most participants exhibited low or mediocre adherence to the Mediterranean diet prototype. It appears that despite the optimal adherence to the energy and fat recommendations, there is still room for improvement concerning diet quality and fiber intake.

Assessing the Physiological Effects of Traditional Regional Diets Targeting the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials Implementing Mediterranean, New Nordic, Japanese, Atlantic, Persian and Mexican Dietary Interventions

“…With regard to the fat intake, several studies have associated a higher fats intake, particularly SFA, to greater LDL concentrations, and the development of inflammation, T2DM and dyslipidemia [ 70 ]. Indeed, for many years, even the smallest intake of fat was “demonized” and a high-fat diet was a synonym to a higher CVD-risk diet [ 71 ]. Recently however, evidence from studies of higher hierarchy, including dose-response meta-analyses, has contradicted this narrative, suggesting that SFA intake has either a null effect, or even a positive one on the CV health according to the results of dose-response analyses [ 71 , 72 , 73 ].…”

“…Indeed, for many years, even the smallest intake of fat was “demonized” and a high-fat diet was a synonym to a higher CVD-risk diet [ 71 ]. Recently however, evidence from studies of higher hierarchy, including dose-response meta-analyses, has contradicted this narrative, suggesting that SFA intake has either a null effect, or even a positive one on the CV health according to the results of dose-response analyses [ 71 , 72 , 73 ]. Moreover, according to a recent Cochrane systematic review [ 74 ], cutting down on SFA for a period of four years has little or no effect on non-fatal myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease (CHD) and cancer mortality/incidence, diabetes diagnosis, HDL and serum TG concentrations, or blood pressure, and unclear effects on total myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and CHD events.…”

Effect of malnutrition in infants with cystic fibrosis in India

“…Noncompliance to recommended treatment is a common problem worldwide. [ 19 ] In addition to the common feeding problems of infancy, recurrent hospitalizations, myths about food items like milk and high-fat feed, and financial constraints were documented as barriers to adequate provision of nutrition and pancreatic supplements.…”

Level of Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Weight Status among Adolescent Female Gymnasts: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The score has been translated in the Greek language and used in samples of Greek children/adolescents in a plethora of research items [ 8 , 55 , 56 ].…”