The Role of Nutrition in Healthcare

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 22619

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor

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Guest Editor
1. Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne 3000, Australia
2. School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia
Interests: dietary interventions; anti-inflammatory diets; inflammation; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; metabolic disorders; nutrigenomics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Poor nutrition is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Nutrition is a modifiable risk factor for acute and chronic disease that is influenced by each of the determinants of health, including health services. Nutrition plays an important role in health promotion, disease prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. As such, it should be considered at all levels of healthcare. The practical implementation of high-quality nutrition services in healthcare may be influenced by a number of factors, including policy, resources and evidence-based guidelines.

The scope of this Special Issue is to publish research exploring the association between nutrition and disease, studies evaluating nutrition as a treatment for disease, and studies describing and evaluating the practical implementation of nutrition strategies at all levels of healthcare. We welcome original research articles reporting results from observational and experimental studies, as well as reviews and meta-analyses.

Prof. Dr. George Moschonis
Dr. Anj Reddy
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nutrition
  • diet
  • dietary patterns
  • prevention
  • treatment
  • malnutrition
  • chronic disease
  • diet therapy
  • medical nutrition therapy
  • health promotion
  • primary healthcare
  • secondary healthcare
  • tertiary healthcare

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 1111 KiB  
Article
Impact of Vitamin D Deficiency on Mental Health in University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
by Mansour Almuqbil, Moneer E. Almadani, Salem Ahmad Albraiki, Ali Musharraf Alamri, Ahmed Alshehri, Adel Alghamdi, Sultan Alshehri and Syed Mohammed Basheeruddin Asdaq
Healthcare 2023, 11(14), 2097; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11142097 - 23 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3821
Abstract
Students pursuing a university education are vulnerable to psychological burdens such as depression, anxiety, and stress. The frequency of vitamin D deficiency, on the other hand, is extensively recognized worldwide, and vitamin D regulates various neurological pathways in the brain that control psychological [...] Read more.
Students pursuing a university education are vulnerable to psychological burdens such as depression, anxiety, and stress. The frequency of vitamin D deficiency, on the other hand, is extensively recognized worldwide, and vitamin D regulates various neurological pathways in the brain that control psychological function. Therefore, the goal of this cross-sectional study was to determine the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and psychological burden among university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During March–May 2021 in Riyadh, a cross-sectional comparative study survey was delivered to university students. The DASS-21 scale was used to determine the severity of the psychological burden. Both univariate and binomial regression analyses were conducted to analyze the level of significance and influence of several factors on the development of psychological burden. The data were analyzed with SPSS-IBM, and a p value of <0.05 was considered significant. Of the 480 students recruited for the study, 287 (59.79%) had a vitamin D deficiency. Significantly (p = 0.048), a high proportion of the vitamin D-deficient students attained a low or moderate GPA compared to the control cohort. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among the vitamin D-deficient students was 60.35%, 6.31%, and 75.08%, respectively, which was significantly (p < 0.05) different from the control group. The odds of developing depression (OR = 4.96; CI 2.22–6.78; p < 0.001), anxiety (OR = 3.87; CI 2.55–6.59; p < 0.001), and stress (OR = 4.77; CI 3.21–9.33; p < 0.001) were significantly higher in the vitamin D-deficient group. The research shows a strong association between psychological stress and vitamin D deficiency. To promote the mental health and psychological wellbeing of university students, it is critical to create awareness about the adequate consumption of vitamin D. Additionally, university students should be made aware of the likelihood of a loss in academic achievement owing to vitamin D deficiency, as well as the cascade effect of psychological burden. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Nutrition in Healthcare)
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10 pages, 290 KiB  
Article
Phase Angle and Nutritional Status: The Impact on Survival and Health-Related Quality of Life in Locally Advanced Uterine Cervical Cancer
by Faviola González-Barba, Luz-Ma.-Adriana Balderas-Peña, Benjamín Trujillo-Hernández, Luz-María Cervantes-González, Javier-Andrés González-Rodríguez, Leonardo-Xicotencatl Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Adriana Alvarado-Zermeño, Aldo-Antonio Alcaraz-Wong, Eduardo Gómez-Sánchez, Gabriela-Guadalupe Carrillo-Núñez, Mario Salazar-Páramo, Arnulfo-Hernán Nava-Zavala, Benjamín Rubio-Jurado, Mario-Alberto Mireles-Ramírez, Brenda-Eugenia Martínez-Herrera and Daniel Sat-Muñoz
Healthcare 2023, 11(2), 246; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11020246 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2208
Abstract
The phase angle, an indicator of muscle mass status and membrane cell integrity, has been associated with low survival, poorer clinical outcomes, and worse quality of life among cancer patients, but information on women with uterine cervical cancer (UCCa) is scarce. In this [...] Read more.
The phase angle, an indicator of muscle mass status and membrane cell integrity, has been associated with low survival, poorer clinical outcomes, and worse quality of life among cancer patients, but information on women with uterine cervical cancer (UCCa) is scarce. In this prospective study, we used a bioelectrical impedance analyzer to obtain the PA of 65 women with UCCa. We compared the health-related quality of life and inflammatory and nutritional indicators between low PA and normal PA. The mean age was 52 ± 13. The low PA and normal PA groups differed in terms of the C-reactive protein (15.8 ± 19.6 versus 6.82 ± 5.02, p = 0.022), glucose (125.39 ± 88.19 versus 88.78 ± 23.08, p = 0.021), albumin (3.9 ± 0.39 versus 4.37 ± 0.30, p = 0.000), EORTC QLQ-C30 loss of appetite symptom scale score (33.33 (0.0–100.00) versus 0.0 (0.0–0.0), p = 0.005), and EORTC QLQ-CX24 menopausal symptoms scale score (0.0 (0.0–33.33) versus 0.0 (0.0–100.0), p = 0.03). The main finding of the present study is the interaction between PA and obesity as critical cofactors in the UCCa adeno and adenosquamous histologic variants, to a greater extent than cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Nutrition in Healthcare)
11 pages, 291 KiB  
Article
Health-Related Quality of Life in Relation to Fruit and Vegetable Intake among Polish Pharmacists
by Magdalena Kurnik-Łucka, Dominika Grońska, Marcin Wojnarski, Paweł Pasieka, Elżbieta Rząsa-Duran and Krzysztof Gil
Healthcare 2022, 10(5), 930; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050930 - 18 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1829
Abstract
A direct association between health-related quality of life (HQoL) and nutrition remains unclear, although lifestyle habits are known to impact on human health. Thus, the aim of this study was to estimate an association between dietary habits, such as vegetable and fruit consumption, [...] Read more.
A direct association between health-related quality of life (HQoL) and nutrition remains unclear, although lifestyle habits are known to impact on human health. Thus, the aim of this study was to estimate an association between dietary habits, such as vegetable and fruit consumption, in particular, and HQoL. SF-36 (RAND-SF-36) and the Dietary Habits and Nutrition Beliefs Questionnaire (KomPAN) were addressed to Polish pharmacists with a valid professional license. After the preliminary verification, 667 pharmacists were included into the study, and altogether, 11 questions from the KomPAN questionnaire and all RAND-SF-36 multiple choice questions were processed for statistical analysis. All HQoL scores, excluding physical functioning and role-physical, were significantly higher in the group declaring fruit consumption ≥1 time per day (p < 0.005), while physical functioning (p = 0.008) and general health (p = 0.03) were significantly higher in the group declaring vegetable consumption ≥1 time per day. Thus, there is indeed a positive association between vegetable and fruit consumption and HQoL. Increased fruit intake could certainly impact on the health-related quality of life of Polish pharmacists, primarily in terms of mental functioning, while increased vegetable intake could impact in terms of physical functioning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Nutrition in Healthcare)

Review

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20 pages, 289 KiB  
Review
The Role of Flaxseed in Improving Human Health
by Wioletta Nowak and Małgorzata Jeziorek
Healthcare 2023, 11(3), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11030395 - 30 Jan 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 8873
Abstract
Flaxseed contains high amounts of biologically active components such as α-linolenic acid, lignans, and dietary fiber. Due to its numerous nutritional properties, flaxseed has been classified as a “superfood”, that is, a food of natural origin with various bioactive components and many health-promoting [...] Read more.
Flaxseed contains high amounts of biologically active components such as α-linolenic acid, lignans, and dietary fiber. Due to its numerous nutritional properties, flaxseed has been classified as a “superfood”, that is, a food of natural origin with various bioactive components and many health-promoting benefits. Flaxseed consumption can be an important factor in the prevention of diseases, particularly related to nutrition. The regular consumption of flaxseed may help to improve lipid profile and lower blood pressure, fasting glucose, and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR). Moreover, flaxseed is characterized by anticancer and antioxidant properties and can significantly reduce the intensity of symptoms associated with menopause, constipation, and mental fatigue, improve skin condition, and accelerate wound healing. In addition to its bioactive compounds, flaxseed also contains antinutrients such as cyanogenic glycosides (CGs), cadmium, trypsin inhibitors, and phytic acid that can reduce the bioavailability of essential nutrients and/or limit its health-promoting effects. Three common forms of flaxseed available for human consumption include whole flaxseed, ground flaxseed, and flaxseed oil. The bioavailability of ALA and lignans is also dependent on the form of flaxseed consumed. To ensure high bioavailability of its bioactive components, flaxseed should be consumed in the ground form. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Nutrition in Healthcare)
20 pages, 687 KiB  
Review
Nutritional Knowledge, Confidence, Attitudes towards Nutritional Care and Nutrition Counselling Practice among General Practitioners
by Aleksandra Vrkatić, Maja Grujičić, Jelena Jovičić-Bata and Budimka Novaković
Healthcare 2022, 10(11), 2222; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10112222 - 07 Nov 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3898
Abstract
Nutritional care represents any practice provided by a health professional, aimed to improve the patient’s health outcomes by influencing patient’s dietary habits. Clearly, dietitians are the ones supposed to provide top-quality nutrition care, but their services are often inaccessible to many for various [...] Read more.
Nutritional care represents any practice provided by a health professional, aimed to improve the patient’s health outcomes by influencing patient’s dietary habits. Clearly, dietitians are the ones supposed to provide top-quality nutrition care, but their services are often inaccessible to many for various reasons. This obliges general practitioners (GPs) in primary health care to provide nutritional counselling to their patients to a certain extent. Preconditions to successful nutritional counselling are GPs with adequate nutritional knowledge, positive attitudes towards nutrition and nutritional care, self-confident and competent in nutritional counselling. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarise currently available information on nutritional knowledge, confidence and attitudes towards nutritional care and nutrition counselling practice of GPs, as well as barriers towards provision of nutritional counselling. GPs do not consistently obtain satisfying results in nutrition knowledge assessments and their self-confidence in nutrition counselling skills varies. Studies suggest that nutritional counselling practice still has not met its full potential, and GPs frequently report various barriers that impair nutritional counselling practice. Thus, health policies that help overcome barriers and create stimulating environment for GPs to implement nutrition counselling strategies efficiently are the key to improving quality and quantity of nutritional counselling. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Nutrition in Healthcare)
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