On May 16 and 17 2024, ciTechCare researchers and undergraduate students of the bachelor degree in Dietetics and Nutrition of the School of Health Sciences of Polytechnic of Leiria (ESSLei) attended the Congress of Food and Nutrition, which took place at the Lisbon Congress Center.
The research team, composed by Ana Rodrigues, Joana Vieira and Mariana Maria – students of ESSLei and Cátia Braga-Pontes, Cidália Pereira and Carla Guimarães – researchers at ciTechCare, awarded the 2nd prize in the category ‘best poster’ with the paper ‘Nutritional profile of processed foods based on cereals for infants and young children’.
The main goal of the awarded study was to assess the adequacy of the nutritional profile of processed cereal-based foods for infants and young children available in Portugal, according to the WHO Nutritional and Promotional Profile Model revised in 2022, as well as the presence/suitability of the “no added sugar” nutrition claim. The research team concluded that half of the analyzed products in the study do not have an adequate nutritional profile and that the presence of the nutritional claim “without added sugar”, in 74.1% of the products, contradicts the WHO recommendation, which advocates the absence of this type of affirmation in food intended for infants and young children between 6 and 36 months.
Researchers Marisa Gaspar, Cidália Pereira, Carla Guimarães and the research fellow Rita Novo presented several posters
In a universe of 145 posters, ciTechCare was represented at the event, through 9 works, presented by ESSLei undergraduate students, researchers Marisa Gaspar, Cidália Pereira and Carla Guimarães and a research fellow – Rita Novo.
The poster entitled ‘From ‘rocha’ pear fruits to innovative gummy formulations: texture and sensory properties optimization by using factorial planning’ was presented by Marisa Gaspar, PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology. Cidália Pereira, PhD in Metabolism – Clinic and Experimentation, explained the poster ‘Nutritional intervention of Portuguese nutritionists in the treatment of adults with obesity: preliminary results’. Carla Guimarães, PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering presented the poster ‘Impact of the disease phase on adherence to the Mediterranean diet in adults with inflammatory bowel disease’ and was also speaker in the panel on inflammatory bowel disease. Rita Novo, master research fellow also exhibited the poster ‘Assessment of the effectiveness of pedagogical tools on vegetable consumption among preschool children: results of the veggies4myheart project’.
Rui Jorge, Sara Dias, Maria Guarino, Marlene Lages, Rafael Pinheiro, Luís Luís and Vânia Ribeiro, also were co-authors in some other posters presented by undergraduated students from the ESSLei, namely, Gabriela Silvestre, Márcia Martins and Ana Rodrigues. In total, ciTechCare was represented in 9 posters, in a universe of 145.
The central theme of this edition was “Nutrition: a science for inclusion” where it was intended to address the current challenges, related to changes in demographic and social patterns and inequalities in access to food, as a result of the aging population and increasingly accentuated migratory currents, but also caused by the political, social and economic instability in Portugal. The Congress of Food and Nutrition counted on more the 1650 participants.
This work was funded by Portuguese national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. FCT/UI/05704/2020