Israel Ríos-Castillo

• PhD
• Nutrition Officer at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe) are essential minerals for normal growth and development. Although previous studies have shown that Ca inhibits acute Fe absorption, there is no evidence of the possible long- or medium-term effects of Ca supplementation on Fe bioavailability. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of 34 d of Ca supplementation...

Background: Iron (Fe) deficiency anemia is the primary nutritional deficiency in Cuba, with limited documentation on serum zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) deficiencies. This study performs a comparative assessment of the presence of anemia, Fe storage deficits, and serum Zn and Cu levels in women of reproductive age across various Cuban provinces. Materi...

Changes in dietary patterns towards Western diets, along with unhealthy lifestyles, are causing a rapid increase in the rates of overweight, obesity, and non-communicable chronic diseases in the Peruvian population. Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) are supportive tools for public policies aimed at promoting healthier eating habits. This study a...

Highlights • Randomized experiment of front-of-package nutrition labeling systems effectiveness. • Latin American consumers from Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Panama. • Warning labels most effectively communicated high contents of critical ingredients. • Multiple traffic lights and warning labels had the highest acceptance. • Warning la...

School-age children (5-9 years) can benefit from educational interventions focused on healthy eating and physical activity to improve their quality of life. This work aims to review the evidence on food and nutrition education (FNE) in Spanish-speaking countries for the prevention of overweight and obesity in school-age children. There is a wide va...

Las personas que practican entrenamiento de fuerza (EF) con pesas y el CrossFit son subgrupos de la población con estructuras y entrenamientos similares, ambos parecen ser adecuados para aquellos que deseen una mejor calidad de vida y hábitos alimentarios saludables. Sin embargo, la desinformación y la intrusión profesional en los gimnasios son prá...

La malnutrición es un grave problemas de salud pública en Panamá. En bomberos, es detonante de problemas cardiovasculares que causan discapacidad y muerte prematura. Analizar estado nutricional, sueño, actividad física y factores asociados a malnutrición en bomberos de Panamá. Se realizó estudio observacional analítico de una encuesta transversal,...

Objective To assess the effect of different front-of-package (FOPL) schemes on the objective understanding of the nutritional content and intention to purchase products, in Panama. Design Single-blinded multi-arm parallel-group randomised controlled trial. Setting Supermarkets across Panama. Participants were exposed to two-dimensional images of...

La malnutrición por exceso y las enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles (ENT) alcanzan cifras pandémicas. Promover una alimentación saludable es clave para detener el aumento de la obesidad y prevenir las ENT. Las canastas básicas de alimentos con enfoque nutricional (CBAN) pueden complementar las políticas de combate a la obesidad y ENT en favor d...

Objective To understand the association of food insecurity with sociodemographic factors in a sample population in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This was a multicenter cross-sectional study conducted in 10 countries in Latin America using an online survey through various digital platforms from October 14, 2020 to February 15,...

El objetivo de esta actualización de postura es describir los principales escenarios en los que se presentan los conflictos de intereses (CDI), así como los lineamientos para orientar la conducta de la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Nutrición (SLAN) y sus miembros, en el marco de las relaciones con actores comerciales. El contenido del presente docume...

Malnutrition and non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) have reached pandemic level. Promoting a healthy diet is key to curbing the rise of obesity and preventing NCDs. Basic food baskets with a nutritional focus (BFBNF) can complement policies aimed at combating obesity and NCDs in favor of healthy diets. The objective of this work is to review...

La malnutrición por exceso y las enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles (ENT) alcanzan cifras pandémicas. Promover una alimentación saludable es clave para detener el aumento de la obesidad y prevenir las ENT. Las canastas básicas de alimentos con enfoque nutricional (CBAN) pueden complementar las políticas de combate a la obesidad y ENT en favor d...

Objective: Explore the association between compliance with recommended consumption (5-a-day) of fruits and vegetables (F&V) with sociodemographic factors of university students of Latin America. Subjects: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study in which 4,880 university students from 10 Latin American countries completed a self-administer...

Objective: To associate breakfast consumption frequency with self-reported nutritional status and dietary patterns of Latin American university students by human development. Material and methods: This was a cross-sectional, multicenter observational study. University students from 11 Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa R...

La región latinoamericana ha sido pionera en la implementación del etiquetado frontal de advertencia nutricional (EFAN), mismo que ha demostrado su eficacia y efectividad para identificar correctamente cuando un producto contiene cantidades excesivas de nutrientes asociados a Enfermedades no transmisibles (ENT). Sin embargo, ningún país del Sistema...

Background Water security is necessary for good health, nutrition, and wellbeing, but experiences with water have not typically been measured. Given that measurement of experiences with food access, use, acceptability, and reliability (stability) has greatly expanded our ability to promote food security, there is an urgent need to similarly improve...

Introduction Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the fifth most common cancer globally. Diagnosis at early stages are critical to reduce mortality and improve functional and esthetic outcomes associated with HNC. Metabolomics is a promising approach for discovery of biomarkers and metabolic pathways for risk assessment and early detection of HNC. Object...

Malnutrition is a public health problem in Panama. In firefighters, malnutrition has serious health implications. We aim to evaluate the nutritional status, eating habits, and cardiovascular risk of units of the Fire Department of the West Panama Region in Panama. A descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out from March to December 2022....

Background: Weight changes in adults have strong repercussions on people's health status. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these changes could be more evident due to the mandatory confinement, as well as eating habits and lifestyle. In this study, changes in diet and body weight in Mexican population at the beginning of COVID-19 lockdown period (week...

The paper determines the prioritization of household food purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic confinement in Latin America. This is a multicenter, cross-sectional study. An online questionnaire including sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and food purchasing prioritization information was sent through digital platforms. A total of 6,357 individual...

Introducción: La literatura sobre el impacto de la educación alimentaria y nutricional de estudiantes universitarios en las prácticas alimentarias es heterogénea. Estudios han informado de que la educación alimentaria y nutricional puede cambiar los hábitos alimentarios y las elecciones alimentarias mientras que otros no encontraron asociación. Ob...

Being overweight or obese is a public health problem. This work evaluated a food and nutrition education (FNE) intervention to reduce overweight status among schoolchildren in four schools in the West Panama Province. This was a quasi-experimental before-and-after study that implemented a 34-week FNE intervention through workshops with didactic mat...

Objective: We estimated the association between the consumption of select ultra-processed food (UPF), homemade fried food and overweight/obesity in Latin American university undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study. 4539 university students (73.6% female, mean age 22.5 ± 4.4)...

Introducción: El sobrepeso y la obesidad son problemas de salud pública de nivel mundial. Si bien existe información respecto al consumo de alcohol en estudiantes universitarios durante la pandemia, pocos autores han señalado la asociación entre este hábito y el exceso de peso en esta población. El objetivo fue determinar la asociación entre el con...

This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency in women of reproductive age and the association with inflammation, global overweight, adiposity, and menorrhagia. A sample design of women of reproductive age from the Eastern, Central, and Havana Regions was carried out. Biochemical determinations of hemoglobin, serum ferrit...

La investigación tuvo como objetivo el determinar la ingesta dietética de ácidos grasos Omega 3, 6 y 9 en adultos de Panamá. Se trata de un estudio descriptivo y transversal en 316 personas de ambos sexos, entre los 18 y 50 años. Se aplicó un cuestionario de frecuencia de consumo semi-cuantitativo de alimentos en línea por dos meses. Los datos soci...

Background: Deterioration in the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and healthy eating behavior due to the effect of COVID-19 lockdown has been reported. The aim of this study was to associate eating habits and HRQoL with physical activity behavior in Latin American university students during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Measured 4,859 universit...

Being overweight or obese is a public health problem. This work evaluated a food and nutrition education (EAN) intervention against overweight schoolchildren in four schools in the West Panama Province. A quasi-experimental before-and-after study that implemented a 34-week EAN intervention through workshops with didactic material to 403 children be...

This article aims to systematically review the available evidence concerning the relationship between basal metabolism (BM), body composition (BC), and physical activity (PA) with central obesity. The search strategy was carried out using Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, and SciELO following the PRISMA guidelines. The STROBE checklist and th...

School-aged children may benefit from education interventions focused on healthy eating and physical activity to improve their quality of life. This article aims to review scientific evidence on food and nutrition education (FNE) in Spanish-speaking countries for the prevention of overweight and obesity in school-aged children (6-12 y). Articles we...

Objectives SARS-CoV-2, a newly identified coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has challenged health services and profoundly impacted people's lifestyles. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption patterns and body weight in adults from 12 Ibero-Americ...

Objetivo: Caracterizar el perfil alimentario de las Personas Mayores de Iberoamérica en tiempos de pandemia por COVID 19. Material y métodos: Estudio multicéntrico en 12 países de Iberoamérica, se aplicó una encuesta en línea que incluyó preguntas sociodemográficas y un cuestionario de Ingesta de Alimentos que incluyo la frecuencia de consumo para...

Background and objectives The confinement by COVID-19 has affected the food chain and environments, which added to factors such as anxiety, frustration, fear and stress have modified the quality of the diet in the population around the world. The purpose of this study was to explore diet quality during the COVID-19 pandemic in 11 Latin American cou...

El objetivo de la presente revisión narrativa es analizar la literatura relacionada el estrés y sus fuentes generadoras en la aviación. Así como conocer las medidas que se están implementando en el área para disminuir los errores humanos en los accidentes aéreos. El estrés laboral es un problema de salud pública creciente en los países en vías de d...

Introduction: Short sleep, physical inactivity, and being locked up are risk factors for weight gain. Objective: We evaluated weight gain according to sex, age, hours of sleep and physical activity in university students from 10 Latin American countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Cross-sectional and multicenter study (n = 4880). Results...

This study aimed to compare the diet quality of different dietary patterns among college students from Latin American countries, including vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional, observational, multicenter study was conducted including a non- probabilistic sample of university students from 10 countries....

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the relationship between symptoms of anxiety and/or anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure) and diet quality during confinement due to COVID-19 in rural populations in Latin America. Methods: This was a multicentric, cross-sectional study. An online survey was applied, which included the Beck Anxiety Inve...

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the relationship between symptoms of anxiety and/or anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure) and diet quality during confinement due to COVID-19 in rural populations in Latin America. Methods: This was a multicentric, cross-sectional study. An online survey was applied, which included the Beck Anxiety Inven...

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the relationship between symptoms of anxiety and/or anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure) and diet quality during confinement due to COVID-19 in rural populations in Latin America. Methods: This was a multicentric, cross-sectional study. An online survey was applied, which included the Beck Anxiety Inven...

Background: School-aged children may benefit from education interventions focused on healthy eating and physical activity to improve their quality of life. Objective: To review the available scientific evidence on food and nutrition education (FNE) in Spanish-speaking countries for the prevention of excess weight in school-aged children (6-12 y). M...

Overweight in schoolchildren in Panama is a growing public health problem. Interventions of food and nutrition education (FNE) that involve teachers are key to promoting healthy diets from schools. The study aimed to validate the contents of a didactic guide for teachers on FNE byprimary-level teachers. Mixed study with educational intervention of...

RESUMEN Objetivo: evaluar el estado nutricional, nivel de sarcopenia y los factores de riesgos sociodemográficos, comorbilidad y de funcionalidad asociados en personas adultas mayores de 65 años, que asistan a las instalaciones de atención primaria de salud de la península de Azuero en Panamá. Metodología: Estudio analítico y transversal en persona...

• In Ibero-American, the anxiety and anhedonia are related to the consumption of food. • The anxiety is related to the consumption of palatable foods during confinement. • The different type of foods had a different probability of increasing serving size. • An increase in average body weight was observed during confinement for COVID-19.

Objetivo: Evaluar el consumo de bebidas azucaradas (BA) durante el confinamiento por la pandemia por Covid-19 y su relación con factores sociodemográficos y dietéticos. Material y Métodos: Estudio multicéntrico. Fueron invitados a participar residentes en 12 países (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, España, Guatemala, México, Perú,...

Background Due to the nature of effective school food and nutrition education (SFNE) and the recent emphasis on it, FAO has developed a tool to assist member countries assess capacities, strengths, and gaps for developing and implementing successful SFNE programs at national and/or subnational level. Objective To describe the process used for appl...

Background: SARS-CoV-2, a newly identified coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has challenged health services and profoundly impacted people's lifestyle. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption patterns and body weight in adults from 12 Ibero-Americ...

Esta es la versión revisada por pares aceptada para publicación. Introducción: La alteración del patrón de sueño, la alimentación y el estado nutricional en los agentes de seguridad con turnos rotativos era un tema no estudiado en la Ciudad de Panamá. El objetivo fue evaluar el patrón de sueño, estado nutricional y la ingesta dietética en agentes...

The dual burden of malnutrition is characterized by the coexistence of malnutrition with overweight, obesity or chronic non-communicable diseases related to diet throughout the life cycle. As a result of the economic model of development, urbanization, demographic change and increased consumption of highly processed foods, there has been a signific...

Antecedentes: El exceso de peso en escolares de Panamá es una creciente preocupación de salud pública. Objetivo: Evaluar el efecto de una intervención de educación alimentaria y nutricional (EAN) contra el exceso de peso en escuelas públicas de distritos de mayor pobreza en Panamá. Materiales y métodos: Estudio cuasi experimental con mediciones p...

Introduction: Overweight in school-age children is a public health problem in Panama. The research objective is to elaborate a methodological alternative of food and nutrition education for the prevention of overweight in school-age children (7-13 years) of Panama. Is a Quasi-experimental research pretest -posttest, prospective and non-controlled t...

Antecedentes: En Panamá se desconoce el consumo de licopeno en la dieta usual de población masculina adulta. Varios estudios reportan la relación entre el consumo de licopeno y el cáncer de próstata. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la ingesta de licopeno en varones adultos que acuden a dos Centros de Salud de la Provincia de Panamá. En u...

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Spanish questionnaire to assess nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors (KAPB) for use among school-aged children aged (6 - 10 years) in Panama. Methods: The questionnaire development and construct validation consisted of a four-stage process-first,...

Los programas de optimización de uso de antimi-crobianos (PROA) se enfocan en el uso apropiado de antimicrobianos para ofrecer mejores resultados clínicos y menores riesgos de eventos adversos. Objetivos: Comparar consumo y costos de antimicrobianos antes y después de instauración de un programa de regulación de antimicrobianos y describir la propo...

Introducción: Los programas de optimización de uso de antimicrobianos (PROA) se enfocan en el uso apropiado de antimicrobianos para ofrecer mejores resultados clínicos y menores riesgos de eventos adversos. Objetivos: Comparar consumo y costos de antimicrobianos antes y después de instauración de un programa de regulación de antimicrobianos y desc...

Overweight in school-age children represents a growing public health problem in Panama. The objective is to develop and validate an intervention program in food and nutrition education (FNE) against overweight and obesity in school-age children in Panama from the perspective of an intersectoral public policy in health and education. The interventio...

El Objetivo del estudio es determinar conocimiento, actitud y práctica del personal de salud de las regiones de salud de Panamá Norte y San Miguelito respecto a los mensajes clave de las guías alimentarias basadas en alimentos (GABA) para Panamá. Métodos: Estudio descriptivo, transversal con 87 funcionarios de atención primaria de Panamá Norte y Sa...

Background Given the growing problem of overweight among school-aged children in Panama, understanding their food related knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and behaviors (KAPB) through valid, reliable and culturally appropriate instruments is critical in addressing in a more comprehensive way the obesity epidemic. Objective To describe the develop...

This is a study to prevent and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school-age children in Panama which is a growing problem. The study seeks to develop, validate and evaluate a comprehensive intervention program in food and nutrition education (FNE) at public schools under the perspective of an intersectoral public health and educati...

Resumen Fundamentos: América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) se encuentran actualmente en una transición epidemiológica, el sobrepeso y la obesidad se han incrementado rápidamente. El objetivo fue analizar experiencias nacionales para fomento del bienestar nutricional en ALC. Métodos: estudio descriptivo de fuentes secundarias y a través de entrevistas a...

El sobrepeso y obesidad son graves problemas de salud pública en Panamá. Por tanto, el objetivo del trabajo fue evaluar el estado nutricional, hábitos alimentarios y actividad física de 75 policías en dos zonas policiales, Panamá Norte y San Miguelito. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo y transversal de marzo-septiembre 2017. Información socio demog...

Objetivo(s). Validar los mensajes clave que se utilizarán en las Guías Alimentarias Basadas en Alimentos (GABAs) para los menores de 2 años en Panamá. Material y Métodos. Durante septiembre a diciembre del 2016, a través de sesiones participativas, un grupo de expertos identificaron los principales problemas de alimentación, salud y nutrición en lo...

Objetivo: Determinar el estado nutricional y nivel de inseguridad alimentaria en los hogares de niños en edad escolar (6-11 años) de distritos priorizados por nivel de pobreza en Panamá Material y Métodos. Se trata de un estudio observacional, descriptivo y transversal en 520 estudiantes de seis escuelas públicas del país seleccionadas por alto niv...

Objetivo(s). Determinar conocimiento, actitud y práctica del personal de salud de las Regiones de salud de Panamá Norte y San Miguelito respecto a los ocho mensajes clave de las Guías Alimentarias Basadas en Alimentos (GABA) mayores de dos años para Panamá como una forma de monitorear la efectividad de la difusión de las guías. Material y Métodos....

Background: The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is currently in an epidemiological transition, overweight and obesity have increased rapidly. The objective was to analyze national experiences that fostering nutritional well-being in LAC. Methods: This is a descriptive study including in-depth interview to identify interventions to fost...

Introduction and objective: Malnutrition in hospitalized older adults has a multi-causal origin. The aim was to evaluate the nutritional status and risk factors for malnutrition in the geriatric ward of the Irma De Lourdes Tzanetatos Hospital (ILTH) in Panama. Methodology: Observational, analytical and cross-sectional study in 94 patients admitted...

Antecedentes: la deficiencia de vitamina A persiste como problema de salud pública en el área campesina e indígena de Panamá. Objetivo: determinar la aceptabilidad y preferencia de las amas de casa por cuatro recetas con camote biofortificado en comunidades indígenas y campesinas. Materiales y métodos: estudio piloto descriptivo y transversal en...

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Current Developments in Nutrition Background The macular pigments of the eye increase with a diet rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which are phytochemicals and important for visual health. Objective To determine the dietary consumption of lutein and zeaxanthin in adults working at the Universidad de Panamá (University o...

Introduction Micronutrient deficiencies are one of the most important public health issues worldwide and iron (Fe) deficiency anemia is the most prevalent micronutrient deficiency. Iron deficiency often coexists with calcium deficiency and iron and calcium supplementation often overlap. This has led to investigations into the interaction between th...

Antecedentes: El sobrepeso infantil es un problema de salud pública en Panamá. Objetivo: Determinar estado nutricional, consumo de azúcar y grasa en niños preescolares de centros de orientación infantil (COIF) institucionales de Panamá. Métodos: Estudio transversal con 100 niños preescolares en 3 COIF institucionales en Distrito de Panamá. Datos...

Legumes play a key role in food and nutritional security (FNS) for millions of people around the world, with an estimated 50 million family farmers producing, consuming and marketing (low-scale) legumes in a traditional way. At its 68th session in 2013, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 2016 as the International Year of Legumes. T...

The UN Decade of Action on Nutrition calls on the global community to integrate and scale up best practices from existing nutrition efforts to ensure food and nutrition security for all. As part of these efforts, FAO in collaboration with Humanitas Global conducted a research study to identify current progress, best practices and policy implication...

Food insecurity is an important risk factor for overweight and obesity among low-income populations in high income countries, but has not been well-studied among people living with HIV (PLHIV), particularly in resource-poor settings. To explore the association between food insecurity and overweight and obesity among PLHIV in the Dominican Republic,...

In Latin America and the Caribbean, anemia has been a public health problem that affects mainly women of childbearing age and children under 6 years of age. However, the current prevalence of anemia in this region is unknown. To examine the latest available prevalence data on anemia in Latin America and the Caribbean. A systematic review was conduc...

Aim: To determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practice on HIV nutrition-care in Panamanian nutritionists. Methods: A cross-sectional study was made among 49 nutritionists who were enrolled in health centers. Knowledge was measured according to MoH HIV Nutrition-Care Guide 2011; attitude and practice were obtained using a Likert scale. Indi...

Background: Overweight is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is of increasing concern among people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy. Objective: To estimate overweight prevalence among Panamanian HIV-infected adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2013 to March 2014 in 2 HIV care centers in La Cho...

Antecedentes: La malnutrición en los hospitales es un problema de salud pública a nivel mundial, su prevalencia se ha reportado en un rango de 30% a 50%1. Según el Estudio Latinoamericano de Nutrición (2003), la desnutrición hospitalaria se presentó en 50.2%, del cual 11.2% correspondió a desnutrición severa. En Panamá, la desnutrición moderada fue...

Calcium (Ca) plays a crucial role in the regulation of metabolic processes, especially neuromuscular function and bone health. In Chile, calcium intake in women of childbearing age does not meet the dietary requirement. Objective: To determine whether standard and virtual nutritional counseling increases the dietary calcium intake in Chilean women...

Calcium (Ca) plays a crucial role in the regulation of metabolic processes, especially neuromuscular function and bone health. In Chile, calcium intake in women of childbearing age does not meet the dietary requirement. Objective: To determine whether standard and virtual nutritional counseling increases the dietary calcium intake in Chilean women...

Food fortification is the most effective and sustainable strategy to combat iron deficiency anemia (IDA). The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of a precooked corn-based cereal (Nutricrema®) fortified with ferrous gluconate stabilized with glycine or ferrous bisglycinate chelate on iron status in of preschool children. A prospective, doub...

Food fortification is the most effective and sustainable strategy to combat iron deficiency anemia (IDA). The objective of this was to evaluate the effectiveness of a precooked corn-based cereal (Nutricrema®) fortified with ferrous gluconate stabilized with glycine or ferrous bisglycinate chelate on iron status in of preschool children. A prospecti...

Objective: To evaluate the nutritional status of children and adolescents with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM type 1) treated as outpatients in the Omar Torrijos Herrera Hospital of the Panama Social Security System. Methods: this is an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. We recruited 108 subjects with DM type 1 (53% female, 7±4 years)...

Objective: To determine the prevalence of anemia and iron status among Chilean women of childbearing age between 1981 and 2010. Materials and methods: Calculation of the prevalence of anemia and iron status was based on multiple cross-sectional iron absorption studies performed in 888 women during this period of time. All studies included measur...