DESENVOLVIMENTO DE PLANILHA COMO FERRAMENTA DE APOIO NO PLANEJAMENTO DIETÉTICO

A tecnologia está cada vez mais presente na área da nutrição. Existem diversos softwares presentes no mercado e muitos são voltados para o uso do profissional nutricionista. Porém, dentro das salas de aula, os programas ainda são pouco utilizados. Nessa linha de pensamento, foi desenvolvido um modelo de planilha de nutrição, que auxiliará o aluno e até mesmo o profissional nutricionista na elaboração de planos alimentares e cálculos antropométricos. A planilha proposta está dividida em cinco setores: “Cardápio” – seleção dos alimentos do plano alimentar, com medidas caseiras e quantidades (g/ml); “Adicionar alimento” – adicionar um alimento não presente no banco de dados; “Cálculo de VET” – cálculo das necessidades calóricas de um indivíduo e distribuição das calorias nas refeições; “Antropometria” – avaliação antropométrica do indivíduo e “Medidas caseiras” – lista com alimentos e suas medidas caseiras. A utilização de planilhas para planejamento alimentar auxilia na prescrição de cardápio e avaliação do indivíduo por parte dos alunos de nutrição e profissionais nutricionistas. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SPREADSHEET AS A SUPPORT TOOL IN DIETARY PLANNING ABSTRACT The use of technology is increasingly present in the nutritional area. There are several software programs on the market, and many of them are designed to be used by professional nutritionists. However, in the classrooms, those programs are still poorly used. In this line of thought, a nutrition spreadsheet model was developed, which will assist the student and even the professional nutritionist in the preparation of food planning and anthropometric calculations. The suggested spreadsheet is divided into five sectors: "Menu" - selection of foods for the food plan, with measurements and quantities (g/ml); "Add food" - to include food not present in the database; "TCV Calculation" - to calculate the caloric needs of an individual and distribute the calories in the meals; "Anthropometry" - anthropometric evaluation of the individual and "Home Measures" - a list with foods and their home measures. The use of food planning worksheets helps in the menu prescription and evaluation of the individual by both nutrition students and nutrition professionals. Descriptors: Nutrition. Food planning. Worksheet. Technology.

School nutrition professionals' experiences with food safety and special diets in school meals during the initial COVID-19 pandemic

Federally funded school meals can help alleviate food insecurity and meals are required to be modified when medically necessary (i.e., food allergies, special diets). The COVID-19 pandemic caused many schools across the USA to close, but schools quickly modified meal serving models. The purpose of this study was to understand how school nutrition professionals were ensuring food safety and providing special diets through these modified serving models. A survey was distributed to a convenience sample (n=504). At the time of the survey, most respondents (68.31%) had been involved in COVID-19 emergency feeding for 3-4 weeks. Results indicated that while most child nutrition professionals did not find food safety easier or more difficult during the initial onset of COVID-19, about 1/3 of respondents were not taking food temperatures during meal service and were not able to obtain the equipment necessary for holding hot foods. Most respondents (60.23%) also indicated that they were not accommodating children with special diets. From a qualitative analysis of open-ended questions relative to special diet accommodation, themes indicated participants had challenges obtaining specialty items, had little time to make accommodations, or had a limited supply from vendors to accommodate these diets. To prevent food insecurity and to maintain health during the pandemic, specific solutions for at-risk populations, like those who experience food allergies, must be considered.

Food Choice Decisions of Collegiate Division I Athletes: A Qualitative Exploratory Study

Limited research has examined athletes’ food and health beliefs and decisions and the congruence of these decisions with recommendations from nutrition professionals. This study aimed to improve understanding of athletes’ food-related beliefs and practices to enable nutrition professionals to more effectively enhance performance while protecting athletes’ health. Division I college athletes (n = 14, 64% female) from a variety of sports were recruited to participate in 20-min semi-structured phone interviews about food and nutrition-related behaviors and cognitions. Data were content analyzed to identify themes and trends. Prominent factors influencing athletes’ food choices were potential benefits to health and performance, availability of foods, and recommendations from sports dietitians. Foods commonly consumed by athletes, including fruits, vegetables, and lean protein, were generally healthy and aligned with sports nutrition recommendations. Athletes avoided energy-dense nutrient-poor foods, such as fast food and fried foods, with the goal of improving performance. Some athletes took supplements (i.e., multivitamin, iron, protein) on the premise that they would improve health and enhance performance or recovery. While athletes’ nutrition behaviors are generally congruent with current recommendations, findings highlighted misconceptions held by athletes related to the benefits of some supplements and the belief that packaged/processed foods were inherently less healthy than other options. Nutrition misconceptions held by athletes and incongruities between athletes’ nutrition knowledge and behaviors suggest that dietitians should aim to dispel misconceptions held by athletes and provide additional guidance and information to support athletes’ current healthful behaviors to ensure these behaviors extend beyond their college athletic career.

Nutrition Care Process Model Approach to Surgical Prehabilitation in Oncology

The nutrition care process is a standardized and systematic method used by nutrition professionals to assess, diagnose, treat, and monitor patients. Using the nutrition care process model, we demonstrate how nutrition prehabilitation can be applied to the pre-surgical oncology patient.

Impact of the year of graduation on the positioning of nutrition professionals regarding the vegetarian diet Impacto do ano de formacilo no posicionamento dos profissionais de nutricao face a dieta vegetariana

The adoption of a vegetarian diet increased over the years. In Portugal, is estimated that 1.2% of the population follows this food pattern. A cross-sectional study was carried out, including a final sample of 74 nutrition professionals to assess their position concerning the vegetarian diet (VD) according to their year of graduation (YG). The results analyses demonstrated that 23 nutrition professionals graduated between 1980 and 2009; and 51 between 2010 and 2019. There were statistically significant differences regarding the possibility of keeping a VD throughout life, since 81.1% of the participants consider it possible, most of them belonging to the group who graduated after 2009. As for supplements, 13% of the nutrition professionals who graduated until 2009 believe it possible to adhere to a VD without resorting to supplements, however, the percentage increases significantly to 39.2% in nutrition professionals trained after 2009. The percentage of nutrition professionals that approved the adherence of athletes to VD increased statistically in recent years, however, most believe this adherence is only possible with the use of supplements. Adherence to VD has increased over the past few years, however, the opinion of nutrition professionals is not unanimous regarding its safety, effectiveness in weight loss, and use of supplementation.