The last review of the literature on nutrition in Polish children covered the years 1980-1995. From that time living conditions in Poland have changed due to political and economic changes. Attitudes toward eating and healthy life-style have also changed. Therefore, it is necessary to summarise current knowledge about what Polish preschool children eat. The aim of this article was to present the areas of research on nutrition in Polish preschool children based on the review of the literature, and to present and summarise the results of the studies on the assessment of preschool menus. The review of the literature showed two main areas of research on nutrition in Polish preschool children: the assessment of meals planned and served to children at preschools, and the assessment of food behaviour and daily food and nutrient intake in preschool children. Studies on energy and nutrient content of preschool menus should be carried out regularly in order to improve nutrition of children during their stay at preschool and vegetarian menus should be studied to fill the gap in the literature. The methodology of assessing preschool meals should be the same in order to provide the possibility to compare both the results and the conclusions. Preschool menus should be adjusted to the needs of 3-year-old children and 4-6-year-old children separately. The nation-wide education programme for preschool staff should be worked out and implemented in order to teach the preschool staff about the current nutrition recommendations for children, as well as the nutritional needs of 3-year-old children and 4-6-year-old children.
The aim of this paper was to study comparatively the amount, chemical composition and energy content of litter from forest and grassland ecosystems along a transect in Central Siberia, running from the north (68°N, Forest tundra) to the south (50°N, Dry steppes); it is about 2 000 km. In the boreal forests litter standing crop ranges from 15 to 78 t·ha⁻¹ d.w., in subboreal birch stands – it is about 17 t·ha⁻¹ d.w. and in grasslands – the litter standing crop decreases southward along the transect from 6 to 1.5 t·ha⁻¹ d.w. All kinds of litter are rich in reduced compounds and have negative oxidation degree. Nevertheless oxidation degree increased from North to South in both ecosystem groups: from –0.6 to –0.3 in the boreal forests and from –0.5 to –0.2 in the subboreal ecosystems. The chemical composition of litter is specific and differs from both initial substrates, i.e. phytomass and products of humification. The litter contains as many carbon as fulvic acids, as many oxygen as humic acids and much more hydrogen than both acids together. Energy content values of litter were estimated to be lower than that of humic acids and higher than energy contents of fulvic acids. The transformation of litter organic substances seems to be shifted to the formation of fulvic acids. The content of minerals in litter changed in both series (forest and grassland) in the following order Si> Ca> F> Al> S> Mg> K> P> Na.
Food and nutrient goals for Polish population for the year 2000 formulated by the research workers from the National Food and Nutrition Institute and consulted with other nutrition specialists are presented. The concepts used in their preparation are described and the description of former Polish experiences in the formulation and implementations prospective food and nutrient patterns is included as well. The food goals for the year 2000 assume significant decrease of the consumption of visible fats and sugar. Taking into account the feasibility of the recommendations, very moderate increase in meat and milk consumption was suggested and more considerable one in case of fish. According to recommended food pattern the importance of fruit in the diet should grow very significantly. Implementation of the specified food goals will ensure the decrease of the energy content of the diet in relation to its current level and the reduction in the proportion of calories derived from fat.
Utilizing the results of the Household budget surveys covering the period of August 1989 — December 1990 and referring to the employees households the effect of the „marketisation" of food economy on the expenditure on food and food consumption was examined. It was shown that „marketisation", which began on August 1 1989 resulted in a dramatic increase in the expenditure on food in the households of employees. The expenditure was growing both in absolute and relative terms leading to an increase in the proportion of food expenditure in total expenditure. Although the of employees households were paying more and more for food they were at the same time forced to decrease its consumption, which resulted in a significant reduction in the energy and nutrient content of the household diet.
The objective of research was to verify, whether succesion of nudal beech forests affects energy, ash and Ct contents of top layers of cambisols and aboveground part of dominant herb species Dryopteris filix-mas. The forest stands, from the juvenile stemwood to the stand of primeval forest character, were located in Slovenské stredohorie Mts (Western Carpathians). It has been found out that the successional stages of beech stands significantly affected soil characteristics of the ecotope, in the case of Dryopteris filix-mas species significant difference was observed only for the energy content. Approximately 7.5% less energy was accumulated in humus subhorizons Oof of mature beech stands (110, 200 years) compared with the juvenile stemwoods. On the other hand, in Aoq horizons markedly more energy (by 35–66%) was accumulated in the soils of mature beech phytocoenoses. The influence of stand succession differentiated ash content in Aoq horizons too. Significant difference (7.6%) was found between 85 and 200-year-old beech stand. Within studied parameters only accumulation of Ct in top soil layers was not significantly affected by stand succession. The relation between energy and ash accumulation in top soil layers of studied beech stands showed significant correlations between the variables (P <0.01). Approximately 62% of energy variability in humus subhorizons Ool of the studied stands was affected by the ash content (lower was the ash content – higher was the energy content). In Aoq soil horizons this dependence was 50% (higher was the ash content – lower was the energy content).
The objective of this study was to compare the content of selected complete dry feed labels for adult, healthy dogs and cats, emphasizing the accordance with the relevant EU requirements which have recently came into force. Additionally, simple calculations of the energy content were made to enhance the characteristics of the products available to the customer. The level of accordance reached in average 87% and 82% in dog and cat food respectively. It should be stated that the improvement of the labels content, as compared with 2011, was not significant. The key elements of the label information were either not improved or decreased (the statement of the necessity of constant access to water or daily dosage per animal). All evaluated products were typical maintenance foods, but their energy density was quite differentiated which may have some deleterious nutritional consequences associated with their long time supply.