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Many of the world's present day nutritional problems have either taken place in the past, or can be found to exist in similar societies in different parts of the world

Coronary heart disease, which is sometimes called ischaemic heart disease, is the major cause of death in the United Kingdom. Much more is known, and even more talked about, the relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD) and diet than any other type of medical disorders except for the deficiency diseases.

In the broadest sense, the word “drug” has come to mean the same as “medicine”, that is, a substance that is used in medical treatment because it has some action on the functioning of the body or on disease. Food and drugs can interact in several ways and in some instances there is a very hazy borderline between what is a food and what is a drug. Take alcohol for example. When taken in large quantities, it has a marked effect on the higher nerve centres, so alcohol is clearly a drug. Yet being a source of energy, alcohol is also a food. One gram of alcohol supplies 29 kJ and the average adult in the U.K. takes about four per cent of his total energy intake as alcohol. (In France and other wine producing countries, alcohol supplies about 14 per cent of the total adult energy intake.) A variety of effects on nutrition can be caused by alcohol. In social drinkers the commonest is a contribution to obesity. Some wines — not only “tonic wines” — are rich in iron. This is, at first sight, a good thing because iron deficiency is common all over the world. But those who take generous amounts of wine are not necessarily those who are short of iron and a state of iron overload can sometimes occur. Severe alcoholics, whose life becomes so disorganised that they eat very poorly, can have a variety of nutritional deficiencies. The most serious is thiamin deficiency which can occur in those alcoholics who drink heavily and eat very little food over a few weeks. The result is either brain disturbance, Wernicke‐Korsakoff disease, or heart failure. These respond dramatically to large doses of thiamin, provided the condition is recognised quickly. Occasional cases have been reported from British hospitals in recent years.

Many committees have produced tables of recommended dietary intakes. All are careful to stress that their recommendations are amounts sufficient, or more than sufficient, for the nutritional needs of practically all healthy persons in the population but are not a precise statement of nutrient requirements. The recommendations may ‘serve as guides for government officials and others whose duty it is to plan agricultural production and to control imports and exports of food in order to ensure that the food supply will be sufficient to meet the needs of the people’ and ‘may be used as a guide for caterers and dietitians when planning diets for groups of healthy individuals’

This chapter focuses on the increasing use of both assistive technology (AT) and teacher assistants (TAs) to support students with disabilities within the inclusive classroom, and why it is vital that teacher assistants have appropriate training in the area of AT. A description of assistive technology and its role in inclusion of students with special needs is provided along with a description of training in assistive technology that was undertaken with teacher assistants. Implications for training and support of teacher assistants in the area of assistive technology are also discussed.

Because of the increase in diet related diseases, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, diverticular disease, dental caries and obesity, it would be desirable for people to become aware of what they are actually eating rather than what they think they are eating. This pilot study investigated the food habits of three groups of people who have adapted their life style for reasons other than religious beliefs and compared them to an average group of people eating the traditional British diet.

This paper seeks to assess the oral health status and behaviour of a sample of the Mauritian population visiting private dental clinics.

Oral health status was determined using the World Health Organization (Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT) index indicating the prevalence of caries, and factors associated with oral health behaviour were investigated. Cross‐sectional data on oral health behaviour and demographic characteristics were collected through a structured 22‐item self‐designed survey questionnaire administered to a randomly selected sample of 250 Mauritians visiting private dental clinics. The data were statistically analysed to examine associations between oral health variables.

Analyses revealed significant correlations between DMFT scores, age and socioeconomic status. Over 80 per cent of the children below the age of 11 had DMFT scores higher than the acceptable WHO value of 3, and most adults older than 45 years had DMFT scores higher than 7. A large majority (85 per cent) reported using both fluoride toothpaste and tongue scrapers, but none reported using dental floss. Those who brushed teeth only once daily had high DMFT scores. Among males, smokers had significantly higher mean DMFT than non‐smokers. Females demonstrated better rates of good oral health behaviour than males. Respondents from higher socioeconomic classes were between three to five times more likely to visit dental clinics than those from lower classes.

This study reveals the need for intervention programmes to raise awareness of good oral health practices among the Mauritian people.

The results identified the high risk groups and highlighted the need for dental education, taking into consideration socioeconomic status and sociodemographics in order to enable Mauritians to become oral‐hygiene‐conscious and active partners for the management of oral health and prevention of systemic diseases.

The objective of this study is to ascertain the effect of cooking and soaking on the physical characteristics, nutrient composition and sensory evaluation of an indigenous “ofada” rice and a foreign “aroso” rice varieties in Nigeria.

The two rice varieties were freshly purchased in the raw state, soaked in water and cooked. The physical characteristics, such as length, width, weight, colour, purity, breakage, cooking time, dispersability and swelling capacity of the raw rice varieties were determined according to official methods. The raw, soaked and cooked rice varieties were oven‐dried at 60^○C for 4 h and milled to obtain a uniform surface area. The proximate composition and some minerals of the raw, soaked and cooked rice varieties and the sensory evaluation of the cooked rice were determined. Findings–The physical characteristics showed that “ofada” and “aroso” rice varieties were brown and creamy in colour, respectively. There were significant (p<0.01) differences in the purity, breakage, cooking time, swelling capacity and weight of the whole grain, but no difference in the length and width. The raw, cooked and soaked “ofada” rice contain more protein, fat, and fibre, than in “aroso” rice, but with no change in carbohydrate content. There were no significant (p>0.01) differences in the levels of minerals, Ca, Fe, Mg and P, in raw, cooked and soaked “ofada” and “aroso” rice. Sensory evaluation showed that cooked aroso rice was generally preferred, in terms of colour, aroma, taste, texture and overall acceptability.

The methods employed in this study are very simple and the two rice varieties are readily available, acceptable to local tastes and widely consumed in Nigeria. The local or indigenous “ofada” rice is compared favourably with a foreign and imported parboiled “aroso” rice. It is therefore possible for small scale and cottage industries to embark on commercial production and fortification of the local rice varieties in Nigeria.