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Few people on Prince Edward Island meet the goal of consuming five or more servings of vegetables and fruit a day. The main objective of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of the nutritional benefits and barriers to vegetable and fruit intake among adult women in Prince Edward Island. Participants were 40 women aged 20-49, with or without children at home, who were or were not currently meeting the objective of eating five or more fruit and vegetable servings a day. In-home, one-on-one interviews were used for data collection. Thematic analysis was conducted on the transcribed interviews. Data were examined for trustworthiness in the context of credibility, transferability, and dependability. Most participants identified one or more benefits of eating fruit and vegetables; however, comments tended to be non-specific. The main barriers that participants identified were effort, lack of knowledge, sociopsychological and socioenvironmental factors, and availability. Internal influences, life events, and food rules were identified as encouraging women to include vegetables and fruit in their diets. Given the challenges of effecting meaningful dietary change, dietitians must look for broader dietary behavioural interventions that are sensitive to women's perceptions of benefits and barriers to fruit and vegetable intake.

The benefits of nutrition assessment and support of the high-risk infant are well established. The premature infant remains vulnerable for poor growth and developmental disabilities, thus requiring consistent monitoring, intervention, and follow-up care. The purpose of this study was to determine the registered dietitian’s role in neonatal/perinatal follow-up programs. A survey was sent to the 26 follow-up programs in Canada. The questionnaire response rate was 81%. Registered dietitians were involved in 67% of these programs. Of these dietitians, 43% were assigned to neonatal/perinatal follow-up programs while 57% were involved only by consult. The average time that assigned registered dietitians devoted to programs was 0.35 full-time equivalents. Over 80% of the dietitians did ongoing development, evaluation, and modification of nutrition care plans; 71% screened new patients for nutritional risk, and 100% instructed patient families and developed teaching materials. The study findings will assist program planners who wish to establish a dietitian position in a neonatal/ perinatal follow-up program. For registered dietitians already working in such programs, the results may provide some guidance on role definition and expansion.

Energy requirements of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy appear to be disease-specific and different from the current recommendations for healthy children, varying depending upon functional capacity, degree of mobility, severity of disease, and level of altered metabolism. Feeding problems are prevalent in many of these children, and can result in inadequate energy intake. Wasting of voluntary muscles, a common symptom of cerebral palsy, contributes to reduced resting energy needs; nevertheless, the location of the central nervous system lesion may also influence energy requirements. To guarantee individualized, accurate, and optimal energy recommendations for this population, resting energy expenditure should preferentially be measured by indirect calorimetry. Equations and formulae to predict healthy people's resting energy expenditure are available, but tend to overestimate these children's energy needs. Future studies should address the role of the central nervous system in regulating energy metabolism in this population. When adequately nourished, children and adolescents with cerebral palsy appear more tranquil and require decreased feeding time, which gives caregivers time to develop the child's functional independence and character. Understanding energy requirements of this population will provide caregivers and health professionals with guidelines for providing optimal nutritional status.

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and Dietitians of Canada (DC) that efforts to optimize nutritional status, including medical nutrition therapy, assurance of food and nutrition security, and nutrition education are essential components throughout the continuum of care available to people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

An estimated 60-80% of the world's population is affected by iron deficiency. It is the most common preventable nutritional deficiency in the world, despite global goals for its reduction. Young children are the highest risk group, particularly during their rapid period of growth. Anemia in infants and young children is known to have a negative impact on motor and socioemotional development and cognitive function. A new intervention, microencapsulated ferrous fumarate Sprinkles, has been developed to treat iron deficiency. The development process took the intervention from the idea stage to the research stage to the implementation stage. Multiple micronutrient Sprinkles are a breakthrough in meeting the global challenge to reduce childhood anemia due to iron and other micronutrient deficiencies. The goal of the Sprinkles project is to reduce the global burden of childhood anemia by promoting healthy weaning practices, by advocating home-fortification strategies to increase the micronutrient content of weaning foods, and by making Sprinkles widely available, particularly in developing countries.