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Background Among food pantry users there is a high prevalence of both smoking and food insecurity, which may be related to one another. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a smoking cessation program carried out in food pantries on the smoking status and the food security status of food pantry users. Methods / design Before starting the cluster randomised controlled trial, stakeholders will be engaged to adapt a behavioural group counselling program for smoking cessation to the needs of the food pantry users in a pre study. Food pantry users and workers as well as other experts, such as smoking cessation trainers, social workers, and psychologists, will be involved, using the world café technique and telephone interviews and a qualitative thematic analysis for data analysis to design the concept of the intervention program will be applied. In the second phase, the impact of the intervention on the smoking status and on food insecurity will be investigated by a cluster randomised controlled trial. A total of 416 food pantry users across 32 clusters (food pantries) in Berlin, Germany, should be recruited and randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the waiting list control group. The intervention will consist of a behavioural group counselling program for smoking cessation, specially tailored for food pantry users, as well as optional nicotine replacement therapy and the implementation of environmental smoking reduction measures in the food pantries. The primary outcomes 6 months after the treatment will be self-reported continuous smoking abstinence, validated by exhaled carbon monoxide (< 10 ppm of carbon monoxide), and increased food security level (the percentage of participants with an improved food security level). Discussion This study will be the first long-term investigation into the effect of a smoking cessation program on smoking status and food insecurity. The results of this study will inform the implementation of smoking cessation programs in food pantries throughout Germany. Trial registration Prospectively registered DRKS00020037 . Registered 29 April 2020

Although food banks are a well-known resource for low-income people struggling to meet their food needs, they have rarely been investigated on a large scale. This study aims to contribute to the actual debate about the potential and limitations of food banks to decrease the prevalence of food insecurity by providing a representative picture of the German food bank system and its users. Publicly accessible data were used to map residents, public welfare recipients, and food banks. In addition, a comprehensive survey was distributed to all 934 “Tafel” food banks. The results show that nearly all residents and welfare recipients have access to at least one food bank located in the districts in which they reside. Differences in the density of food banks exist between eastern and western Germany. Food banks provide mainly healthy fresh food, but they heavily rely on food donations from local retailers and on volunteer labor. Although changes in the number of user households by income seem to mirror trends in the number of welfare recipients, food bank users appear to represent only a fraction of the food-insecure population in Germany. Food banks might have the potential to improve users’ diet and food security, but they are not able to reach all food-insecure residents in Germany.

Aim The present study investigated the association of dietary sodium intake and blood pressure (BP) based on existing data from the German National Health Interview and Examination Survey (GNHIES) and the associated German Nutrition Survey (GeNuS). Subject and methods After exclusion of participants with known hypertension and/or anti-hypertensive medication use, complete data of the GeNuS subsample of the 1998 GNHIES were analysed for 1,539 men and 1,553 women aged 18–79 years. The survey included a health and lifestyle questionnaire, a medical examination and a comprehensive diet history interview. Sodium density (g/1,000 kcal) was examined in quartiles of systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP). Multiple linear regression models were used to investigate associations of sodium density and SBP or DBP. Adjustments were made for sex, age and socio- and health-behavioral risk factors previously found to be related to BP in univariate analysis. Results Participants with a high SBP and DBP (fourth quartile of SBP: ≥ 142 mmHg in men; ≥ 139 mmHg in women) had a significantly higher dietary sodium intake than individuals with a lower BP. In the multiple models, both SBP and DBP were significantly associated with sodium density when adjusted for other factors such as sex, age, body mass index and alcohol consumption. Conclusion An association of dietary sodium intake and BP in the German population could be found. Further research using sodium data collected via 24-h urine samples is urgently needed for evidence-based public health policy reducing risk of BP associated morbidities and mortalities in Germany.

To investigate the prognostic value of B-mode and Power Doppler (PD) ultrasound of the median nerve for the short- and long-term clinical outcomes of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Prospective study of 135 patients with suspected CTS seen 3 times: at baseline, then at short-term (3 months) and long-term (15-36 months) follow-up. At baseline, the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve was measured with ultrasound at 4 levels on the forearm and wrist. PD signals were graded semi-quantitatively (0-3). Clinical outcomes were evaluated at each visit with the Boston Questionnaire (BQ) and the DASH Questionnaire, as well as visual analogue scales for the patient's assessment of pain (painVAS) and physician's global assessment (physVAS). The predictive values of baseline CSA and PD for clinical outcomes were determined with multivariate logistic regression models. Short-term and long-term follow-up data were available for 111 (82.2%) and 105 (77.8%) patients, respectively. There was a final diagnosis of CTS in 84 patients (125 wrists). Regression analysis revealed that the CSA, measured at the carpal tunnel inlet, predicted short-term clinical improvement according to BQ in CTS patients undergoing carpal tunnel surgery (OR 1.8, p = 0.05), but not in patients treated conservatively. Neither CSA nor PD assessments predicted short-term improvement of painVAS, physVAS or DASH, nor was any of the ultrasound parameters useful for the prediction of long-term clinical outcomes. Ultrasound assessment of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel inlet may predict short-term clinical improvement in CTS patients undergoing carpal tunnel release, but long-term outcomes are unrelated to ultrasound findings.