Search Results (3,144)

Background: Type 2 inflammatory diseases are among the most common chronic inflammatory conditions in childhood and represent a growing global health burden. Increasing evidence suggests that early-life nutritional exposures may influence immune programming and allergic disease development. This Position Paper aims to summarize the current evidence regarding the immunomodulatory role of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), particularly omega-3 long-chain fatty acids, in the prevention of allergic diseases during early life. Methods: A scoping literature review and consensus process were conducted to map biological mechanisms and clinical evidence linking omega-3 PUFAs with allergic disease prevention. This document analyzed experimental, observational, and randomized controlled studies evaluating maternal prenatal/lactational omega-3 exposure. The clinical evidence was qualitatively appraised using study-design-specific Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tools. Particular attention was given to immune modulation, inflammatory pathways, epithelial barrier function, gut microbiota interactions, and the ferroptosis–immune–metabolic axis. Results: Omega-3 PUFAs, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), exert immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects through multiple mechanisms, including specialized pro-resolving mediator production, regulation of T-helper cell responses, cytokine modulation, maintenance of epithelial barrier integrity, and microbiota interaction. Emerging evidence also supports their involvement in oxidative stress and ferroptosis regulation. Current clinical evidence, particularly from higher-quality prenatal randomized trials and evidence syntheses, suggests that adequate maternal omega-3 intake during pregnancy and lactation may reduce the risk of respiratory allergic outcomes, especially wheezing and asthma, in selected offspring. Conclusions: Adequate omega-3 PUFA intake, such as 2 g/die, during critical windows of immune maturation may represent a valuable strategy for the primary prevention of allergic diseases. Current evidence most strongly supports supplementation during pregnancy and lactation, particularly in populations with low dietary omega-3 intake or increased allergic risk. Omega-3 supplementation should be considered within a broader multifactorial preventive approach aimed at promoting immune tolerance and reducing the future burden of allergic diseases. Full article

This review analyses and logically structures modern intelligent sensor technologies in the context of animal husbandry, feed production, and veterinary medicine. The main research discussed in the article focuses on machine learning based on modern neural network models, computer vision, and sensor systems that are transforming the methods for assessing the health, behavior, and nutrition of farm animals. The first part examines modern approaches to quality control and optimization of mineral and vitamin premixes, including visual inspection using visual sensors and neural networks. Key roles are played by precise dosing, component stability (minerals, vitamins), and the transition to more bioefficient organic forms of micronutrients to reduce environmental impact. Improvements in feed and premix production are analyzed, including automation, energy management, and the use of machine learning for non-destructive quality control, defect detection, mixing homogeneity assessment, and vitamin stability prediction. The second part analyzes methods for animal location and behavior detection. This article presents computer vision-based systems, including modifications of YOLO, for automatically tracking and classifying key behavioral patterns (lying down, standing, feeding, and aggression) in cattle and pigs, even in crowded conditions. It also discusses the use of ultra-wideband (UWB) systems and accelerometers combined with machine learning for high-precision positioning and detection of specific behavioral anomalies, such as lameness and playfulness. The third section focuses on the application of machine learning in veterinary diagnostics, including the automated interpretation of medical images (X-ray, ultrasound, and MRI) as sensor data streams for the diagnosis of cardiovascular, oncological, and orthopedic diseases in farm and small animals. Furthermore, the article examines the use of machine learning models for proactive disease diagnosis in farm animals and poultry based on multimodal data and image analysis. Considerable attention is given to methods and tools for radiometric diagnosis of animal diseases at an early stage using microwave sensors, as well as laser therapy and surgery in veterinary medicine. The review concludes that the integration of intelligent systems enables a transition to data-driven livestock management, significantly improving animal welfare and, consequently, the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production. Full article

Objective: Pediatric intestinal pseudo-obstruction (PIPO) is a rare, severe, and heterogeneous gastrointestinal motility disorder associated with intestinal failure, recurrent hospitalizations, and significant morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features, management strategies, and long-term outcomes of children diagnosed with PIPO at a tertiary referral center. Methods: This retrospective single-center study included pediatric patients diagnosed with PIPO between 2011 and 2025. Diagnosis was established according to ESPGHAN consensus criteria. Demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, genetic findings, nutritional support, surgical interventions, intestinal transplantation, and long-term outcomes were retrospectively reviewed. Results: A total of 32 patients with PIPO were included, of whom 56.2% were female and 43.7% had early-onset disease. Genetic testing was performed in 22 of 32 patients; clinically significant variants were identified in 16 (50% of the total cohort), most commonly ACTG2 mutations. Prior abdominal surgery before referral was present in 84.3% of patients. During follow-up, 56% remained parenteral nutrition dependent, five patients underwent intestinal transplantation, and the overall mortality rate was 21.8%. Conclusions: PIPO is a highly heterogeneous disorder associated with substantial morbidity, prolonged nutritional support requirements, repeated surgical interventions, and significant mortality. Early diagnosis, genetic evaluation, multidisciplinary management, and timely referral to specialized intestinal failure and transplantation centres are likely to support more individualised management and may help prevent avoidable complications in affected children. Full article

Background/Objectives: Health literacy (HL) is recognized as an important social determinant of health. It supports healthy behaviors and effective health management throughout one’s life. For children and adolescents, developing HL influences their well-being, development, and ability to make informed health decisions. Nurses are strategically positioned to promote HL from an early age. To our knowledge, no prior synthesis has specifically examined nurse-led HL interventions targeting pediatric populations, highlighting the originality and relevance of this scoping review. The purpose of this review was to map and characterize nursing interventions aimed at improving HL outcomes in children and adolescents. Methods: A scoping review was conducted according to the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, using a three-step search strategy, and reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest with no date restriction, including studies published in Portuguese, English, or Spanish. Studies involving children and adolescents (ages 0–18) in any healthcare or community setting were eligible. Data on intervention characteristics and HL outcomes were extracted and analyzed descriptively, and no critical appraisal of the included sources was conducted. Results: A total of 44 studies were included. Interventions were predominantly school-based and focused on adolescents (n = 26), with a clear gap in early childhood (n = 2). Studies of early childhood primarily used storytelling and reading activities, whereas interventions targeting older children and adolescents more often employed participatory educational strategies, group-based approaches and digital platforms. The most frequently addressed topics were chronic disease management (n = 12), mental health (n = 7), and nutrition (n = 5). HL domains mainly focused on healthcare and health promotion, with fewer studies addressing disease prevention. Most interventions were conducted in school settings (n = 24), highlighting this context over those in primary care, community, and hospital settings. Conclusions: The results revealed nursing interventions used to promote HL, particularly in the management of chronic diseases, mental health and nutrition. However, the existing body of research is still limited. Key gaps include the absence of standardized measurement tools and the scarcity of longitudinal studies evaluating long-term outcomes. These limitations constrain the comparability and generalizability of findings, highlighting the necessity of more rigorous, methodologically robust research to support evidence-based practices. This scoping review comprehensively maps nurse-led interventions that promote HL among children and adolescents, identifying key priorities to guide future research in this area. Full article

Background: Recovery after major head-and-neck reconstruction extends beyond flap survival and wound closure, involving swallowing, psychological adaptation, body image, and overall quality of life. Integrated multidimensional assessments remain limited in routine reconstructive outcomes research. Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize and compare six-month multidimensional recovery—clinical, functional, nutritional, psychological, and body-image outcomes—between microvascular free-flap and regional pedicled-flap reconstruction and to identify factors that stratify risk for persistent functional and psychosocial impairment. Methods: We conducted a single-center prospective cohort study at the “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania, enrolling 87 adults undergoing major reconstructive surgery after ablative treatment of head-and-neck defects (52 microvascular free flaps; 35 regional pedicled flaps). Patients were assessed at baseline and 6 months using the SF-36, WHOQOL-BREF, Body Image Scale (BIS), HADS, PHQ-9, GAD-7, Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS), speech intelligibility, and PEG/tracheostomy dependence. Results: At 6 months, most SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF domains improved with moderate effect sizes (d = 0.3–0.7; all p ≤ 0.009), and body image distress decreased significantly (ΔBIS −2.9 ± 4.6; p < 0.001), whereas social functioning showed no robust gain (p = 0.098; not surviving false-discovery-rate correction). Pedicled reconstruction was associated with higher PEG dependence (37.1% vs. 9.6%; p = 0.005) and worse FOIS (4.7 ± 1.4 vs. 5.6 ± 1.2; p = 0.003). Major complications were linked to blunted or worsening psychological trajectories and a threefold higher rate of clinically significant depression (HADS-D ≥ 11: 66.7% vs. 18.7%; p = 0.001). In a reduced four-predictor multivariable model, pedicled flap (aOR 4.6), adjuvant radiotherapy (aOR 2.8), major complication (aOR 3.3), and lower baseline FOIS (aOR 0.5 per point) were independently associated with PEG dependence (optimism-corrected AUC 0.79). Clustering identified three recovery phenotypes—functional/emotional responders, psychological/body-image responders, and global slow recovery—with significantly different PEG rates (5.9%, 21.4%, 40.0%; p = 0.006). Exploratory mediation analysis suggested that the association between reconstruction technique and mental quality-of-life recovery was partly statistically accounted for by swallowing and body-image improvement. Conclusions: Recovery after major head-and-neck reconstruction is multidimensional and heterogeneous. Baseline swallowing function, reconstruction technique, radiotherapy, and major complications jointly stratify risk for persistent functional and psychosocial impairment, supporting risk-adapted multidisciplinary rehabilitation and early psycho-oncologic screening. Full article

Background/Objectives: Childhood overweight and obesity represent a major global public health challenge, with increasing prevalence and significant long-term metabolic, cardiovascular, and psychosocial consequences. Standard pediatric weight-management strategies based on lifestyle modification often achieve modest and variable results, highlighting the need for more personalized and scalable approaches. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a promising tool to enhance prevention, early risk stratification, and management of pediatric overweight and obesity. Methods: This narrative review was conducted through a structured search of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for English-language studies published up to January 2026. The main search terms included “artificial intelligence”, “machine learning”, and “deep learning”, combined with “child”, “adolescent”, “pediatric”, “childhood obesity”, “pediatric overweight”, “body mass index”, “weight management”, “nutrition”, “diet”, “physical activity”, “lifestyle”, and “behavior change”. After title/abstract and full-text screening according to predefined eligibility criteria, the included studies were qualitatively synthesized and grouped by main application domains. The initial database search identified 412 records. After removal of 96 duplicates, 316 records were screened by title and abstract. Full-text assessment was subsequently performed for 175 potentially eligible articles. Following this evaluation, 51 studies met the eligibility criteria and were retained from the database search. Additional relevant articles were identified through manual screening of reference lists and related reviews, resulting in the final set of studies included in the narrative synthesis. Results: The review identified five main domains of AI application in pediatric weight management: risk assessment and prediction, dietary assessment and nutritional support, physical activity and lifestyle monitoring, behavioral and psychological support, and clinical decision support. Across the included literature, AI-based approaches were most frequently applied to predictive modeling using longitudinal BMI or growth trajectories, birth characteristics, parental BMI, sleep duration, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and family or socioeconomic factors. However, the evidence base was largely composed of observational and predictive-modeling studies, whereas interventional studies, real-world implementation studies, and long-term pediatric weight-outcome data remained limited. Conclusions: This narrative review indicates that AI has potential as a complementary tool within multidisciplinary, family-centered pediatric weight-management pathways, particularly for early risk stratification, personalized monitoring, and behavioral support. However, the findings also highlight that current evidence remains mainly exploratory and predictive rather than interventional. Further longitudinal, real-world, and ethically grounded research is required to confirm effectiveness, safety, clinical usefulness, and equitable implementation in pediatric populations. Full article

Background/Objectives: Functional vulnerability may identify older adults hospitalized with Crohn’s disease flares who are at increased risk for adverse outcomes, but its prognostic significance in this setting remains incompletely defined. We evaluated the association between administratively defined functional vulnerability, identified using administrative diagnostic codes, and short-term clinical outcomes among adults aged ≥65 years hospitalized with Crohn’s disease flares. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the TriNetX US Collaborative Research Network through February 2026. Functional vulnerability was identified using ICD-10-CM codes for frailty, sarcopenia, cachexia, abnormal weight loss, muscle weakness, gait/mobility abnormalities, or reduced mobility within 12 months before or during the index hospitalization. Patients coded only for nonspecific weakness or fatigue were excluded from the functional vulnerability cohort. Patients underwent 1:1 propensity score matching using demographic, comorbidity, Crohn’s disease-related, medication, nutritional, and laboratory variables. The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause mortality. Results: Among 18,420 eligible patients, 2846 met criteria for functional vulnerability, and 15,574 did not. After matching, 2720 patients remained in each cohort. Functional vulnerability was associated with higher 30-day mortality (RR 1.61, 95% CI 1.21–2.14), 90-day mortality (RR 1.40, 95% CI 1.14–1.72), bowel surgery (RR 1.29, 95% CI 1.07–1.56), sepsis (RR 1.41, 95% CI 1.18–1.68), acute kidney injury (RR 1.26, 95% CI 1.10–1.44), ICU admission (RR 1.32, 95% CI 1.13–1.55), TPN use (RR 1.47, 95% CI 1.20–1.79), and 90-day readmission (RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.07–1.29). Functionally vulnerable patients also had longer hospital stays (8.9 vs. 6.7 days; mean difference 2.2 days, 95% CI 1.9–2.5). Conclusions: Administratively defined functional vulnerability identified through diagnostic coding was associated with worse short-term outcomes among older adults hospitalized with Crohn’s disease flares. Although functional vulnerability is a recognized predictor of adverse outcomes across hospitalized populations broadly, these findings quantify its prognostic significance specifically in Crohn’s disease flare hospitalizations and suggest that functional vulnerability may identify a high-risk geriatric IBD phenotype that could benefit from early multidisciplinary assessment, nutritional optimization, rehabilitation planning, and post-discharge care coordination. Full article

Objective: To characterize the structural organization of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) component implementation in gynecologic oncology and determine whether ERAS elements operate as an interconnected perioperative system during early pathway integration. Methods: This study represents a secondary analysis of the prospective multicenter Enhanced Recovery in Gynecologic Oncology (ERGO) cohort, including the first 300 consecutive patients undergoing surgery for gynecologic malignancy across five tertiary institutions. Components with prevalence between 5% and 95% were included in a regularized Ising network model to estimate conditional dependencies between pathway elements. Node-level centrality metrics and global network characteristics were calculated to identify structurally influential ERAS components and to describe the overall implementation architecture. Results: Thirteen central ERAS components met the predefined prevalence criterion (5–95%) and were included in the conditional dependency network. The estimated network demonstrated substantial inter-component connectivity, indicating that ERAS practices were frequently implemented in coordinated patterns rather than as isolated interventions. Centrality analysis identified postoperative laxatives or chewing gum, tranexamic acid administration, perioperative intravenous fluid management, and avoidance of drain placement as highly connected elements within the network. Early nutritional advancement and postoperative bowel stimulation measures also demonstrated relatively central positions within the recovery-related component cluster. Community detection analysis revealed distinct modules of co-adopted ERAS practices spanning multiple perioperative phases. Conclusions: ERAS implementation in gynecologic oncology appears to follow a structured architecture characterized by interconnected perioperative practices rather than independent protocol elements. Understanding these implementation structures may help guide targeted quality-improvement strategies aimed at optimizing ERAS integration in routine clinical practice. Full article

Background: Childhood malnutrition, manifesting as both underweight and obesity, is a global health concern with potential repercussions on neurodevelopment and metabolic health. Objective: To analyze the relationship between nutritional status, metabolic biomarkers, and cognitive performance in school-aged children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 100 children between 6 and 12 years of age from a public elementary school in the municipality of Chiconcuac de Juárez, Mexico. Participants were categorized according to BMI: underweight (UW), normal weight (NW), overweight (OW), and obesity (OB). Anthropometric evaluation, serum biochemical markers, and three surrogate metabolic indices, namely the Triglyceride–Glucose (TyG), Triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL), and TyG-Body Mass Index (TyG-BMI), were calculated. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV). Results: The OB group children showed significantly higher levels of TG, TC and LDL-C, as well as elevated levels of TyG, TG/HDL and TyG-BMI indices (p < 0.05) and lower HDL-C concentration. While no significant differences were found in Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ), the NW group showed significantly higher performance in the PSI compared to all other groups outside the healthy weight range after FDR correction. Spearman’s correlation showed that surrogate metabolic indices exhibited exclusive negative correlations with the PSI in unadjusted bivariate models. Conclusions: The extremes of the nutritional status spectrum (UW and OB) are concurrently associated with early metabolic alterations and latent cardiovascular risk, while concurrently tracking with lower performance in selective fluid cognitive domains within unadjusted models. Furthermore, surrogate metabolic indices were shown to be valuable tools that co-vary with neurocognitive profiles. Full article

The incidence of cancer in young adults has risen worldwide. Women comprise a disproportionate share of young-onset cases, among whom breast cancer predominates. This shift parallels globalization and urbanization, including the wider adoption of Western-pattern diets. Although hereditary syndromes explain a minority of cases, the secular rise underscores the impact of modifiable exposures, particularly diet. Prenatal life, neonatal life, childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood are critical periods during which dietary exposures may shape long-term mammary development. Mammary tissue undergoes rapid proliferation and differentiation during development, creating windows of heightened susceptibility to carcinogenic insults. However, most existing studies emphasize dietary exposures during a single developmental period; the entire span of critical developmental windows plays a formative role in shaping young-onset breast cancer (YoBC) risk, and the mechanisms underlying this life-course shaping remain insufficiently characterized. This review comprehensively synthesizes evidence on how nutrition across sensitive developmental windows shapes the risk of YoBC. We evaluate protective and adverse dietary factors within these stages and examine mechanistic pathways linking early-life nutrition to carcinogenesis, focusing on hormonal regulation, epigenetic programming, chronic inflammation, and the gut microbiome. A structured literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for English-language articles published from 1990 through May 2026, supplemented by hand-searching of relevant reviews and key primary studies. By framing nutrition and breast cancer through a life-course lens, this review provides an integrated foundation for stage-specific prevention strategies and identifies priority directions for future research on early-life dietary determinants of YoBC. Full article

The mammalian brain fundamentally relies on precise lipid homeostasis to maintain structural integrity and complex neural signaling. Emerging evidence positions lipid metabolism reprogramming not merely as a secondary pathological byproduct but as a core initiating driver of age-related neurodegenerative diseases. This review systematically evaluates the mechanisms of cerebral lipid dyshomeostasis during brain aging, highlighting glial cells as the central mediators of this pathological cascade. We comprehensively dissect the age-associated “lipid drift”, emphasizing apolipoprotein E (APOE)-induced cholesterol transport defects and lipid raft pathology, the accumulation of lipid droplets that triggers microglial metabolic stress (LDAMs), and ceramide-driven neuronal apoptosis coupled with the exosome-mediated propagation of pathogenic proteins. Furthermore, we map these aberrant lipid networks to specific pathological signatures in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and demyelinating diseases. Finally, we critically evaluate promising therapeutic interventions, including nutritional strategies, LXR/RXR agonists, and nanotechnology-enabled delivery systems designed to bypass the blood–brain barrier. By integrating high-throughput lipidomics for early diagnostic biomarker discovery, we underscore the translational imperative of restoring cerebral lipid homeostasis as a disease-modifying strategy for neurodegeneration. Full article

Background: Coronary anatomical complexity is commonly used for perioperative risk assessment in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), although it may not fully reflect systemic biological vulnerability. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), a nutritional–immune marker derived from serum albumin and lymphocyte counts, and in-hospital mortality after CABG in relation to coronary anatomical complexity and established surgical risk scores. Methods: In this single-center retrospective cohort study, 324 consecutive patients who underwent isolated CABG between April 2024 and April 2025 were analyzed. The PNI was calculated according to the standard Onodera formula using preoperative serum albumin and total lymphocyte count. Associations with in-hospital mortality were evaluated using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Discriminative performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, while exploratory analyses evaluating the additional prognostic contribution of the PNI beyond surgical risk scores were performed using nested model comparison and reclassification analyses. Internal validation and calibration analyses were also performed. Results: In-hospital mortality occurred in 26 patients. Preoperative and postoperative PNI values were significantly lower in patients who experienced in-hospital mortality. In multivariable analysis, the postoperative PNI remained independently associated with in-hospital mortality, whereas the preoperative PNI lost statistical significance after adjustment for clinical, renal, and surgical risk parameters. Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated modest discriminative ability for the preoperative PNI (AUC: 0.742, 95% CI: 0.661–0.823). Exploratory analyses suggested a modest improvement in model discrimination and risk classification after the addition of the PNI to STS-based models; however, the overall incremental prognostic contribution remained limited. Calibration and internal validation analyses demonstrated acceptable agreement between predicted and observed mortality risk. Conclusions: The postoperative PNI demonstrated a stronger and independent association with in-hospital mortality than the preoperative PNI, suggesting that early postoperative nutritional–immune deterioration may reflect the magnitude of perioperative physiological stress and evolving clinical deterioration after CABG. Although lower preoperative PNI values were associated with mortality in univariable analyses, this association was no longer statistically significant after adjustment for clinical, renal, and surgical risk parameters. These findings indicate that postoperative nutritional–immune status may provide complementary biological information beyond conventional risk models; however, its clinical utility requires confirmation in larger prospective multicenter studies. Full article

Background/Objectives: Patients with unresectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (UR-PDAC) are vulnerable to rapid nutritional deterioration. The clinical relevance of short-term nutritional change during the diagnostic-to-treatment interval (DTI) remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated whether a dynamic change in the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (ΔGNRI) during the DTI is associated with treatment tolerability, treatment continuity, and survival. Methods: This single-center retrospective study included 120 patients with histologically confirmed UR-PDAC who initiated first-line palliative chemotherapy between January 2016 and April 2024. ΔGNRI was defined as the GNRI immediately before chemotherapy minus the GNRI at the initial visit. ΔGNRI was primarily analyzed as a continuous variable, and an exploratory cut-off value of −6.8 was determined by receiver operating characteristic analysis. One-to-one propensity score matching was performed as a sensitivity analysis. Clinically significant adverse events (AEs) were defined as grade ≥3 AEs or AEs requiring treatment modification, hospitalization, or treatment discontinuation. Results: Patients in the GNRI-decreased group had more frequent clinically significant non-hematologic AEs, including gastrointestinal AEs, higher hospitalization rates due to AEs, and more frequent early treatment discontinuation. ΔGNRI remained independently associated with early treatment discontinuation and failure to transition to second-line therapy in multivariable analyses. Patients in the GNRI-decreased group also had significantly shorter times to treatment failure and overall survival. These findings were consistent in propensity score-matched analyses. Conclusions: Dynamic nutritional decline during the DTI was associated with impaired treatment resilience and poor survival outcomes in UR-PDAC. ΔGNRI may help identify patients with emerging nutritional vulnerability before chemotherapy. Full article

Eating behavior and eating habits are shaped from the earliest stages of life through interactions among biological, familial, social, and environmental factors. The aim of this narrative review is to integrate evidence on the early-life determinants of eating behavior and their influence on dietary intake from infancy to adolescence. A narrative review was conducted with a structured search approach prioritized on longitudinal studies, intervention trials, and policy evaluations when available, and using cross-sectional evidence mainly to describe patterns and sociodemographic factors. Synthesizing the current evidence, our framework proposes that breastfeeding, responsive complementary feeding, and self-regulatory parenting are associated with higher responsiveness to internal hunger, satiety cues, and preference for nutrient-dense foods. Conversely, coercive practices, early exposure to highly palatable foods, and the influence of food marketing are linked to dominant hedonic responses and impulsive consumption patterns. Furthermore, family environments characterized by stress or food insecurity, together with high access to low-nutrient foods, may increase vulnerability to poor eating habits and emotional eating during adolescence. Overall, the evidence highlights the need for preventive interventions that integrate parenting support, school food education, digital marketing regulation policies, and the promotion of healthy food environments across multiple sectors. Understanding the biological, psychological, and social factors linking early determinants to dietary intake and eating behaviors across development is essential for promoting a balanced relationship with food and preventing chronic diseases from an early age. Full article

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is an important crop for human nutrition due to its high protein content and capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen. However, crop productivity is frequently compromised by biotic and abiotic stresses, among which wounding represents a highly prevalent challenge. Thus, understanding early molecular and biochemical responses to tissue damage is essential for improving plant stress resilience. We have investigated the effects of mechanical wounding on nucleic acid-degrading activities in the common bean. Mechanical wounding of leaves rapidly induced ribonuclease activity, whereas nuclease activities remained unchanged. Gel activity assays revealed a predominant ribonuclease, which was identified by proteomic analysis as PvRNS2, a member of the S-like RNase T2 family. This wound-induced ribonuclease was inhibited more strongly by nucleoside di- and triphosphate than by the corresponding nucleoside monophosphate. The increase in ribonuclease activity correlated with a rapid and transient induction of PvRNS2 expression, which peaked at 2 h after injury (600-fold increase). A similar transcriptional response was observed in radicles subjected to mechanical damage (55-fold increase), indicating that PvRNS2 responds to wounding in both aerial and subterranean tissues. In contrast, the wound-induced increase in PvRNS2 expression was not associated with a coordinated upregulation of genes encoding enzymes involved in downstream nucleotide degradation. Together, these results identify PvRNS2 as a major contributor to wound-induced RNA turnover in the common bean and support the involvement of RNA metabolism in early responses to mechanical damage. The participation of ribonucleases in the wound response of economically vital legumes remains unexplored. This work addresses this knowledge gap, establishing a new framework for understanding nucleic acid degradation during legume defense. Full article