Maria Buffini

• University College Dublin

Dairy foods offer essential nutrients and bioactive compounds crucial for growth and development ⁽¹⁾ , as such they are an important component of a balanced diet. However, despite their benefits, the consumption of dairy has declined in recent years, especially among adolescents (2–4) . In this regard, this study aims to evaluate the nutritional co...

Adequate nutrition is important for health at all life stages with micronutrients having an important role in long term health, cognition, healthy development and ageing ⁽¹⁾ . The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of inadequate intakes and risk of excessive intakes of micronutrients among adults aged 19-64 years and 65 years and over...

Objective:To identify the main foods determining saturated fatty acid (SFA) intakes and model the impact of food exchanges to improve compliance with dietary fat recommendations in Irish children. Design:Estimated food and nutrient intakes were obtained from a cross-sectional study, the National Children’s Food Survey II. Participants were categori...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1017/jns.2023.23.].

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element which has an important role as a constituent of seleno-proteins involved in various physiological processes. Previous research in Irish adults suggests that intakes of this important nutrient are suboptimal. The aim of the present study was to estimate the current intakes and major food sources of Se by I...

The childhood years represent a period of increased nutrient requirements during which a balanced diet is important to ensure optimal growth and development. The aim of this study was to examine food and nutrient intakes and compliance with recommendations in school-aged children in Ireland and to examine changes over time. Analyses were based on t...

Background Investigations into the main drivers of childhood obesity are vital to implement effective interventions to halt the global rise in levels. The use of a composite score may help to identify children most at risk of overweight/obesity. Objectives To investigate the cumulative impact of factors associated with overweight/obesity risk in c...

Excessive adiposity is associated with several metabolic perturbations including disturbances in iron homeostasis. Increased systemic inflammation in obesity stimulates expression of the iron regulatory hormone hepcidin, which can result in a maldistribution of bodily iron, which may be implicated in metabolic dysfunction. This study aimed to inves...

Objective To examine current dietary fat intakes and compliance in Irish children and to examine changes in intakes from 2005 to 2019. Design Analyses were based on data from the Irish National Children’s Food Survey (NCFS) and the National Children’s Food Survey II (NCFS II), two cross-sectional studies that collected detailed food and beverage i...

Objective The present study aimed to examine the temporal prevalence of overweight and obesity in Irish children through different methodologies and evaluate the change in rates between 1990 and 2019. Design Anthropometric data from three Irish national food consumption surveys were used to examine the change in the prevalence of BMI and waist cir...

Introduction Current dietary recommendations encourage increased fibre and reduced sugar consumption. In the UK, specific targets and benchmarks have been established for the sugar content of some foods but not for fibre. National Food Consumption Surveys provide comprehensive information of all foods consumed by representative population samples....

Excess body fat is associated with the production of pro-inflammatory molecules from dysfunctional adipose tissue resulting in systemic inflammation. Inflammation stimulates expression of the iron regulatory hormone hepcidin, resulting in elevated serum ferritin and iron overload in metabolic tissues. Hepcidin driven iron maldistribution may be imp...

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) have set target maximum daily salt intakes for children (4–6y: 3 g, 7–10y: 5 g, 11–14y: 6g) while the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have set Adequate Intakes (AI) for potassium of 1100mg/d, 1800mg/d and 2700mg/d for children of the same respective age groups. An individual's sodium to potassium (N...

Being physically active is associated with fundamental health benefits and assists with the maintenance of normal weight in children. The current World Health Organizations’ recommendation is for children to accumulate 60 minutes of physical activity (PA) per day to obtain such benefits. Conversely, time spent in sedentary behaviours including watc...

Research suggests that food fussiness (FF) and food neophobia (FN) are two separate constructs. Food fussiness is the tendency to be selective about a large proportion of familiar and unfamiliar foods, while food neophobia is the refusal of novel foods. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the association between parental feeding practice...

Under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 the usage of nutrition and health claims are permitted, however foods that are high in fat, sugars and salt are advised not to use such claims as foods promoted with these claims may influence consumer food choice. The use of nutrient profiles has been proposed as a means of avoiding the potential of such claims m...

Introduction Milk is widely recognised as a nutrient dense food, supporting the growth and development of children. Nevertheless some milk types such as whole milk can consist of high levels of saturated fat, which is recognised for its association with chronic disease risk in adults when intakes are elevated. In Ireland, current dietary guidelines...

PurposeObservational studies link high whole grain intakes to reduced risk of many chronic diseases. This study quantified whole grain intakes in the Irish adult population and examined the major contributing sources. It also investigated potential dietary strategies to improve whole grain intakes. Methods Whole grain intakes were calculated in a n...

Selenium Intakes in Irish Adults - Volume 77 Issue OCE3 - M. Buffini, J. Ryan, A.P. Nugent, J. Walton, A. Flynn, B.A. McNulty

Whole grain Intakes in Irish Pre-school Children - Volume 77 Issue OCE3 - C. Hamrock, M. Buffini, A.P. Nugent, J. Walton, A. Flynn, B.A. McNulty

Dietary Patterns in Irish Children (5–12yrs) and Weight Status - Volume 77 Issue OCE3 - A. O'Donnell, M. Buffini, A.P. Nugent, J. Walton, A. Flynn, B.A. McNulty

Dietary determinants of saturated fat intake in Irish children (5–12 years) - Volume 77 Issue OCE3 - A. O'Connor, M. Buffini, A.P. Nugent, J. Walton, A. Flynn, B.A. McNulty

This research investigated the intakes of six intense sweeteners; acesulfame-K (E950), aspartame (E951), cyclamate (E952), saccharin (E954), sucralose (E955) and steviol glycosides (E960) in the diets of Irish adults, using data from the National Adult Nutrition Survey (NANS). A food label survey which included products currently available on the I...

Aims: To develop a behavioural animal model of faecal continence and assess the effect of retrouterine balloon inflation (RBI) injury. RBI in the rat causes pudendal neuropathy, a risk factor for obstetric related faecal incontinence in humans. Method: Video-tracking healthy rats (n=12) in a cage containing a latrine box was used to monitor thei...

div class="title">Cardiovascular disease risk in Irish adults - Volume 75 Issue OCE3 - M. Buffini, C.B. O'Donovan, A.P. Nugent, J. Walton, A. Flynn, B.A. McNulty

New findings What is the central question of this study? Nitric oxide is known to relax the internal anal sphincter, but its effect on the external anal sphincter is unknown. A topical NO donor (nitroglycerin) is used as an alternative to internal sphincterotomy in the treatment of chronic anal fissures. We investigated the potential effects of nit...

  The rat external anal sphincter (EAS) and external urethral sphincter (EUS) are voluntary muscles of continence that can display similar synchronous electromyographic (EMG) activity patterns. However, the two sphincters are quite different in structure and function. The EUS is a fast twitch muscle and contains fibers expressing type 2B myosin. In...

The external urethral sphincter (EUS) and external anal sphincter (EAS) are the principal voluntary striated muscles that sustain continence of urine and faeces. In light of their common embryological origin, shared tonic sphincteric action and synchronized electrical activity in vivo, it was expected that they would exhibit similar physiological a...

Pudendal nerve injury during childbirth may result in external anal sphincter (EAS) atrophy. Recently, balloon compression of the pelvic side wall has been shown to result in EAS atrophy in an experimental model. The aim of this study was to determine whether other sphincters of continence are similarly affected. Sixteen adult female virgin Wistar...