Guiding policy change to reduce diet-related disease in the Pacific

Research was undertaken in Fiji and Tonga to identify the most promising policy interventions to improve diets and non-communicable diseases. The participatory approach combined with modelling enabled evidence-informed decision-making by stakeholders. The framework developed is practical and systematic and is recommended for use in other countries in the region.

Anabolic signalling in skeletal muscle : impact of diet and disease

This thesis examines the role of dietary proteins on the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass in men who may or may not be insulin-resistant. It identified that dairy foods are powerful stimulators of muscle growth however this response is reduced during insulin-resistance.

Benefits and barriers to the consumption of a vegetarian diet in Australia

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine consumers' perceived benefits and barriers to the consumption of a vegetarian diet.

Design: Survey (written questionnaire) that included questions on perceived benefits and barriers to the consumption of a vegetarian diet.

Setting: South Australia.

Subjects: Six hundred and one randomly selected South Australians.

Results: The main perceived barriers to adopting a vegetarian diet were enjoying eating meat and an unwillingness to alter eating habits. This was the case for men, women and all age groups, although there were sex and age differences present in over half of the barrier items. For example, family food preferences were a greater problem for women than for men, while the oldest group was more likely to agree that humans are ‘meant’ to eat meat than the younger groups. The main benefits associated with vegetarian diets were health benefits: increased fruit and vegetable intake, decreased saturated fat intake, weight control. Animal welfare-related benefits and disease prevention were also important. Age and sex differences were apparent, although age differences were more important than sex differences.

Conclusions: The majority of respondents perceived there to be health benefits associated with the consumption of a vegetarian diet, but also, predictably, enjoyed eating meat. Given this, it is likely that interest in plant-based diets that contain some meat is higher than that in no-meat diets. An understanding of the perceived benefits and barriers of consuming a vegetarian diet will allow the implementation of strategies to influence meat and vegetarianism beliefs, dietary behaviour and, hence, public health.

Associations of the SREBP-1c gene polymorphism with gender-specific changes in serum lipids induced by a high-carbohydrate diet in healthy Chinese youth

We investigated the possible association between the sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c gene (SREBP-1c) rs2297508 polymorphism and the changes in lipid profiles in a high-carbohydrate and low-fat (high-CHO/LF) diet in a Chinese population well characterized by a lower incidence of coronary heart disease and a diet featuring higher carbohydrate and lower fat. Fifty-six healthy youth (aged 22.89 ± 1.80 years) were given wash-out diets of 31% fat and 54% carbohydrate for 7 days, followed by the high-CHO/LF diet of 15% fat and 70% carbohydrate for 6 days, without total energy restriction. Fasting blood samples were collected. Serum variables of lipid and glucose metabolism after the wash-out and high-CHO/LF diets, as well as the rs2297508 polymorphism, were analyzed. Compared with the male subjects on the wash-out diet, significantly elevated levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and decreased levels of apolipoprotein B-100 were observed in the male carriers of the C allele after the high-CHO/LF diet. In the female subjects, significantly increased triacylglycerol levels, insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were found in the GG genotype after the high-CHO/LF diet. These results suggest that the C allele of the rs2297508 polymorphism is associated with a retardation of the increases in serum triacylglycerol, serum insulin, and HOMA-IR in females and with the elevated serum HDL-C in males after the high-CHO/LF diet.

The economic feasibility of price discounts to improve diet in Australian Aboriginal remote communities

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of fiscal measures applied in remote community food stores for Aboriginal Australians.

METHODS: Six price discount strategies on fruit, vegetables, diet drinks and water were modelled. Baseline diet was measured as 12 months' actual food sales data in three remote Aboriginal communities. Discount-induced changes in food purchases were based on published price elasticity data while the weight of the daily diet was assumed constant. Dietary change was converted to change in sodium and energy intake, and body mass index (BMI) over a 12-month period. Improved lifetime health outcomes, modelled for the remote population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, were converted to disability adjusted life years (DALYs) saved using a proportional multistate lifetable model populated with diet-related disease risks and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rates of disease.

RESULTS: While dietary change was small, five of the six price discount strategies were estimated as cost-effective, below a $50,000/DALY threshold.

CONCLUSION: Stakeholders are committed to finding ways to reduce important inequalities in health status between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Indigenous Australians. Price discounts offer potential to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Verification of these results by trial-based research coupled with consideration of factors important to all stakeholders is needed.

Study protocol for a systematic review of evidence for lifestyle interventions targeting smoking, sleep, alcohol/other drug use, physical activity, and healthy diet in people with bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND: People with bipolar disorder (BD) have a mortality gap of up to 20 years compared to the general population. Physical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer, cause the majority of excess deaths in psychiatric populations and are the leading causes of mortality in people with BD. However, comparatively little attention has been paid to reducing the risk of physical conditions in psychiatric populations. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are among the potentially modifiable risk factors for a range of commonly comorbid chronic medical conditions, including CVD, diabetes, and obesity. This systematic review will identify and evaluate the available evidence for effective interventions to reduce risk and promote healthy lifestyle behaviors in BD.

METHODS/DESIGN: We will search MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and CINAHL for published research studies (with at least an abstract published in English) that evaluate behavioral or psychosocial interventions to address the following lifestyle factors in people with BD: tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, overweight or obesity, sleep-wake disturbance, and alcohol/other drug use. Primary outcomes for the review will be changes in tobacco use, level of physical activity, diet quality, sleep quality, alcohol use, and illicit drug use. Data on each primary outcome will be synthesized across available studies in that lifestyle area (e.g., tobacco abstinence, cigarettes smoked per day), and panel of research and clinical experts in each of the target lifestyle behaviors and those experienced with clinical and research with individuals with BD will determine how best to represent data related to that primary outcome. Seven members of the systematic review team will extract data, synthesize the evidence, and rate it for quality. Evidence will be synthesized via a narrative description of the behavioral interventions and their effectiveness in improving the healthy lifestyle behaviors in people with BD.

DISCUSSION: The planned review will synthesize and evaluate the available evidence regarding the behavioral or psychosocial treatment of lifestyle-related behaviors in people with BD. From this review, we will identify gaps in our existing knowledge and research evidence about the management of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors in people with BD. We will also identify potential opportunities to address lifestyle behaviors in BD, with a view to reducing the burden of physical ill-health in this population.

Constipation and diet in a community sample of older Australians

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of constipation and laxative use in a sample of people 65 years and over and examine relationships between usual diet and constipation.
Design: A mailed survey using validated instruments to measure bowel habit and laxative use with follow-up interviews to collect dietary data.
Subjects and setting: Three hundred and thirty people aged 65 years and over living at home in Melbourne were randomly selected from the electoral roll of a federal electorate.
Statistical analysis: Descriptive statistics, frequencies and two sample t-tests were used.
Results: Seventy-nine people responded to the mailed bowel survey and 61 were interviewed to collect food intake data. The proportion of constipated people was approximately one quarter (n = 18). Laxative use in the previous 12 months was reported by a fifth of respondents and in these subjects one in four was not constipated. Analysis of the dietary data revealed that the average number of cereal and vegetable serves consumed per day was similar to the national average but less than recommended by nutrition bodies although fruit intake met these recommendations. Constipated subjects consumed fewer serves from the cereals food group than those who were not constipated (2.9 and 3.5 serves respectively, P = 0.03).
Conclusion: Constipation and laxative use appears to be as common in older Australians as in similar populations overseas. Low intake of cereal foods may be a contributing factor.

Cytokine receptor signaling through the Jak-Stat-Socs pathway in disease

The complexity of multicellular organisms is dependent on systems enabling cells to respond to specific stimuli. Cytokines and their receptors are one such system, whose perturbation can lead to a variety of disease states. This review represents an overview of our current understanding of the cytokine receptors, Janus kinases (Jaks), Signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stats) and Suppressors of cytokine signaling (Socs), focussing on their contribution to diseases of an immune or hematologic nature.

The role of the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor (G-CSF-R) in disease

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a key regulator of granulopoiesis via stimulation of a specific cell-surface receptor, the G-CSF-R, found on hematopoietic progenitor cells as well as neutrophilic granulocytes. It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, that mutations of the G-CSF-R has been implicated in several clinical settings that affect granulocytic differentiation, particularly severe congenital neutropenia, myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. However, other studies suggest that signalling via the G-CSF-R is also involved in a range of other malignancies. This review focuses on the molecular mechanisms through which the G-CSF-R contributes to disease.

It's time to determine the cost of a healthy diet in Australia

Economic factors are important determinants of food security. In terms of food access, financial resources determine an individual’s ability to procure food; on the supply side, the cost of food is equally important. The interplay of these two factors, financial resources and cost, is perhaps the most immediate and important determinant of what people do (or do not) put into their shopping trolleys or purchase at the takeaway and ultimately eat – if you cannot afford it you cannot eat it even if you want to!

The influence of age on reproductive success and diet in Australasian gannets (Morus Serrator) breeding at Pope's Eye, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria

The influence of age on reproductive success and diet was examined in ‘old’ (experienced; 12 years and older) and ‘young’ (5–8 years of age) Australasian gannets (Morus serrator) breeding at Pope’s Eye, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria during the 2002–2003 breeding period. Although food availability, as indicated by commercial fish catches, throughout this breeding period was low, there were no significant differences in breeding success or chick growth between groups. Nevertheless, old birds tended to have higher reproductive success, replacing more lost eggs and fledging chicks of a greater mass. However, old birds also laid more eggs that failed to hatch. Five fish species, including jack mackerel (Trachurus declivis), barracouta (Thyrsites atun), redbait (Emmelichthys nitidus), anchovy (Engraulis australis) and red mullet (Upeneichthys vlamingii), were important in the gannet diet during this breeding period. There were no significant differences in dietary parameters, including range of species and size of prey, between old and young gannets, nor were there any differences between those of the chicks and their parents, suggesting that adults do not forage selectively for their chicks. This study showed that even during a period of presumed low food availability, when experienced (older) birds might be expected to have enhanced success, the differences between these and less experienced (younger) birds may not be apparent.

Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases : report of a Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation

This report examines the science base of the relationship between diet and physical activity patterns and the major nutrition-related chronic diseases. Recommendations are made to help prevent death and disability from major nutrition-related chronic diseases.

Suppressors of cytokine signaling : functions in normal biology and roles in disease

Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SaCS) proteins have been identified as key negative regulators of cytokine and growth factor signaling. Therefore, given the diverse roles played by cytokines and growth factors in development and disease, it is not surprising that the sacs proteins themselves possess equally diverse and important functions, such as the control of hematopoiesis, immune function, growth and placental development. Significantly, more recent studies are increaSingly highlighting the crucial roles played by SOCS proteins in disease, particularly their tumor suppressor and anti-infammatory functions. Collectively, this research has served to confirm the importance of this class of proteins and suggests that therapeutic strategies for modulating SOCS proteins might be relevant for a range of diseases.