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Vrkatić A, Grujičić M, Jovičić-Bata J, Novaković B. Nutritional Knowledge, Confidence, Attitudes towards Nutritional Care and Nutrition Counselling Practice among General Practitioners. Healthcare (Basel) 2022; 10:2222. [PMID: 36360563 PMCID: PMC9691229 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare10112222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 10/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2022] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
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 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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Vrkatić
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Maja Grujičić
- Department of General Education Subjects, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Jelena Jovičić-Bata
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Budimka Novaković
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
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Savin M, Vrkatić A, Dedić D, Vlaški T, Vorgučin I, Bjelanović J, Jevtic M. Additives in Children's Nutrition-A Review of Current Events. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19:13452. [PMID: 36294032 PMCID: PMC9603407 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192013452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2022] [Revised: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Additives are defined as substances added to food with the aim of preserving and improving safety, freshness, taste, texture, or appearance. While indirect additives can be found in traces in food and come from materials used for packaging, storage, and technological processing of food, direct additives are added to food with a special purpose (canning). The use of additives is justified if it is in accordance with legal regulations and does not pose a health or danger to consumers in the prescribed concentration. However, due to the specificity of the child's metabolic system, there is a greater risk that the negative effects of the additive will manifest. Considering the importance of the potential negative impact of additives on children's health and the increased interest in the control and monitoring of additives in food for children, we have reviewed the latest available literature available through PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Expert data were taken from publicly available documents published from January 2010 to April 2022 by internationally recognized professional organizations. It was found that the most frequently present additives in the food consumed by children are bisphenols, phthalates, perfluoroalkyl chemicals, perchlorates, pesticides, nitrates and nitrites, artificial food colors, monosodium glutamate, and aspartame. Increasing literacy about the presence and potential risk through continuous education of parents and young people as well as active monitoring of newly registered additives and harmonization of existing legal regulations by competent authorities can significantly prevent the unwanted effects of additives on children's health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marijana Savin
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
- Institute for Child and Youth Health Care of Vojvodina, Hajduk Veljkova 10, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Aleksandra Vrkatić
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Danijela Dedić
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
- Emergency Service, Community Health Center Šid, Alekse Šantića 1, 22239 Šid, Serbia
| | - Tomislav Vlaški
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Ivana Vorgučin
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
- Institute for Child and Youth Health Care of Vojvodina, Hajduk Veljkova 10, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Jelena Bjelanović
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
- Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, Futoška 121, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Marija Jevtic
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
- Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, Futoška 121, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
- Research Center on Environmental Health and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
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Ilić M, Grujičić M, Novaković B, Vrkatić A, Lozanov-Crvenković Z. Cigarette Smoking among Medical Students from the Western Balkan. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19:3055. [PMID: 35270751 PMCID: PMC8910248 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19053055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
University student's smoking is a significant public health problem. It is estimated that, globally, every fifth medical student is a smoker. So far, no research dealing with cigarette smoking among medical students has been conducted in the countries of the Western Balkans. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and risk factors of cigarette smoking among Western Balkans medical students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2452 students from 14 medical faculties in the Western Balkans (Republic of Slovenia, Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia and Republic of Serbia). The data were gathered through an online survey. There were significantly more non-smokers than smokers among medical students. Only gender and parents smoking status were statistically significantly associated with students smoking status. The smokers were more often male students, who lived in urban areas prior their studies, and whose parents were both smokers. With the aim of monitoring and enhancing student population health, it is necessary for public health activists and health officials to continually survey the students' smoking status in order to recognize the smoking influencing factors, and form and take on appropriate activities to improve the prevention of cigarette smoking among students, as well as motivate those who smoke to give up smoking, which would contribute to improving the health of the student population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miloš Ilić
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia; (B.N.); (A.V.)
| | - Maja Grujičić
- Department of General Education Subjects, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia;
| | - Budimka Novaković
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia; (B.N.); (A.V.)
| | - Aleksandra Vrkatić
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia; (B.N.); (A.V.)
| | - Zagorka Lozanov-Crvenković
- Department of Mathematics and Informatics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia;
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