Nutrients and non-nutrients intake, status and related impact in different target populations

The assessment of nutritional status includes, in addition to anthropometrics, biochemical and clinical data, also those related to food consumption/intake and related circulating levels of specific nutrients/non-nutrients to use as indicators of nutrition-related status and issues. Together with them, the adoption of different lifestyles (e.g., smoking habits, physical activity, dietary patterns) can positively and/or negatively impact on nutritional status. This information is often limited but they are extremely important not only to highlight possible nutritional deficiency but also to better define and address people towards specific nutritional needs (e.g., also in terms of foods and diets). All of this takes on particular importance when referring to target population such as vulnerable subjects, older individuals and subjects with specific dietary patterns and/or with altered functional/metabolic conditions. Thus, there is a need to provide an overview of the actual situation of the nutritional status (including nutrients and non-nutrients) of specific target groups within the Italian population, and to cover eventual gaps through further elaborations of existing data or collection of new data from ongoing/ex-novo observational and/or interventional studies.

The research will involve different activities as reported below.

• Analysis of existing data on food consumption, lifestyle (e.g., adherence to sustainable dietary patterns) and biochemical parameters (with particular reference to nutrient/non-nutrient intake and biomarkers) obtained from previous human intervention studies performed in specific target groups (e.g., adults and older subjects).
   
• Exploitation of new ONFOODS cohorts (e.g., adults and older subjects with different dietary patterns and functional/metabolic conditions) living in Milan and surrounding area to further assess nutritional status (in terms of nutrient/non-nutrient intake and biomarkers) also following specific dietary/foods intervention (to collect further missing data) in collaboration with Spoke 4 and 6.

• Collection of data (and missing data) on food consumption (to identify actual food intake and behaviour) and biochemical parameters (with particular reference to nutrient/non-nutrients) in specific target groups and definition/creation of a network for data sharing and elaboration.
   
• Development of shared protocols and questionnaires for the definition of the nutritional status (in terms of nutrient/non-nutrients), eating behaviour (e.g., adherence to specific dietary patterns, consumption of specific foods including the evaluation of foods now classified as ultra-processed foods), in the target groups of population enrolled within the ONFOODS cohorts (e.g., older subjects, healthy adults or with risk factors) (in collaboration with Spoke 4).
   
• Collection of data on nutrient/non-nutrient intake, nutritional status, eating behavior and of different biological samples collected within the ONFOODS cohorts (collaboration with Spoke 4).