Knowledge of exercise recommendations and energy intake from foods and beverages in relation to exercise behaviors within two Hispanic border communities

This research is a secondary analysis of the Qué Sabrosa Vida population-based cross-sectional study of two predominately Mexican American communities located along the Texas-Mexico border in 2000. There were two aims for this research. The first was to determine the relationship between knowledge of exercise and water recommendations, and exercise behavior and water consumption. The second was to determine the relationship between exercise behavior and percentage of energy consumption from beverages. Chi-square analysis revealed the majority of both populations had adequate knowledge about water and exercise recommendations, although significant percentages of the populations (>40%) did not consume water or exercise in adequate amounts. Knowledge was found to be a component of both behaviors, as it was more prevalent in the adults who exercised and consumed water in adequate amounts. Analysis of variance revealed no significant difference between overall beverage calorie percentage and exercise level (all p-values > 0.05); both regions and genders reported ∼18% of total caloric intake from beverages. There was no disproportionate influence of beverage calories on total caloric intake, after controlling for water consumption and independent of exercise behavior. These findings suggest that overall caloric intake, from both foods and beverages, may be the most influential factor to the energy imbalance contributing to the obesity crisis in these Hispanic border populations. ^

The effect of alcohol consumption on mortality among idiosyncratic drug induced liver injury (IDILI) patients

Severe liver injury (SLI) due to drugs is a frequent cause of catastrophic illness and hospitalization. Due to significant morbidity, mortality, and excess medical care costs, this poses a challenge as a public health problem. The role of associated risk factors like alcohol consumption in contributing to the high mortality remains to be studied. This study was conducted to assess the impact of alcohol use on mortality in IDILI patients, while adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and education level. The data from this study indicate only a small excess risk of death among IDILI patients using alcohol, but the difference was not statistically significant. The major contribution of this study to the field of public health is that it excludes a large hazard of alcohol consumption on the mortality among idiosyncratic drug induced liver injury (IDILI) patients. ^

Estimated current patterns of food consumption and perceived changes among patients with lymphoma

Usual food choices during the past year, self-reported changes in consumption of three important food groups, and weight changes or stability were the questions addressed in this cross-sectional survey and retrospective review. The subjects were 141 patients with Hodgkin's disease or other B-cell types of lymphoma within their first three years following completion of initial treatments for lymphoma at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. ^ The previously validated Block-98 Food Frequency Questionnaire was used to estimate usual food choices during the past year. Supplementary questions asked about changes breads and cereals (white or whole grain) and relative amounts of fruits and vegetables compared with before diagnosis and treatment. Over half of the subjects reported consuming more whole grains, fruits, and/or vegetables and almost three quarters of those not reporting such changes had been consuming whole grains before diagnosis and treatment. ^ Various dietary patterns were defined in order to learn whether proportionately more patients who changed in healthy directions fulfilled recognized nutritional guidelines such as 5-A-day fruits and vegetables and Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIB) for selected nutrients. ^ Small sizes of dietary pattern sub-groups limited the power of this study to detect differences in meeting recommended dietary guidelines. Nevertheless, insufficient and excessive intakes were detected among individuals with respect to fruits and vegetables, fats, calcium, selenium, iron, folate, and Vitamin A. The prevalence of inadequate or excess intakes of foods or nutrients even among those who perceived that they had increased or continued to eat whole grains and/or fruits and vegetables is of concern because of recognized effects upon general health and potential cancer related effects. ^ Over half of the subjects were overweight or obese (by BMI category) on their first visit to this cancer center and that proportion increased to almost three-quarters by their last follow-up visits. Men were significantly heavier than women, but no other significant differences in BMI measures were found even after accounting for prescribed steroids and dietary patterns. ^

Genetic variability and the hypothalamic control of energy balance

Background. Obesity is a major health problem throughout the industrialized world. Despite numerous attempts to curtail the rapid growth of obesity, its incidence continues to rise. Therefore, it is crucial to better understand the etiology of obesity beyond the concept of energy balance.^ Aims. The first aim of this study was to first investigate the relationship between eating behaviors and body size. The second goal was to identify genetic variation associated with eating behaviors. Thirdly, this study aimed to examine the joint relationships between eating behavior, body size and genetic variation.^ Methods. This study utilized baseline data ascertained in young adults from the Training Interventions and Genetics of Exercise (TIGER) Study. Variables assessed included eating behavior (Emotional Eating Scale, Eating Attitudes Test-26, and the Block98 Food Frequency Questionnaire), body size (body mass index, waist and hip circumference, waist/hip ratio, and percent body fat), genetic variation in genes implicated related to the hypothalamic control of energy balance, and appropriate covariates (age, gender, race/ethnicity, smoking status, and physical activity. For the genetic association analyses, genotypes were collapsed by minor allele frequency, and haplotypes were estimated for each gene. Additionally, Bayesian networks were constructed in order to determine the relationships between genetic variation, eating behavior and body size.^ Results. We report that the EAT-26 score, Caloric intake, percent fat, fiber intake, HEAT index, and daily servings of vegetables, meats, grains, and fats were significantly associated with at least one body size measure. Multiple SNPs in 17 genes and haplotypes from 12 genes were tested for their association with body size. Variation within both DRD4 and HTR2A was found to be associated with EAT-26 score. In addition, variation in the ghrelin gene (GHRL) was significantly associated with daily Caloric intake. A significant interaction between daily servings of grains and the HEAT index and variation within the leptin receptor gene (LEPR) was shown to influence body size.^ Conclusion. This study has shown that there is a substantial genetic component to eating behavior and that genetic variation interacts with eating behavior to influence body size.^

A critical review: Why isn't "cold pasteurization" being used widespread as a method to prevent food-related illnesses as a result of the consumption of ready-to-eat, fresh fruits, and vegetables

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that foodborne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year. The American public is becoming more health conscious and there has been an increase in the dietary intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. Affluence and demand for convenience has allowed consumers to opt for pre-processed packaged fresh fruits and vegetables. These pre-processed foods are considered Ready-to-Eat. They have many of the advantages of fresh produce without the inconvenience of processing at home. After seeing a decline in food-related illnesses between 1996 and 2004, due to an improvement in meat and poultry safety, tainted produce has tilted the numbers back. This has resulted in none of the Healthy People 2010 targets for food-related illness reduction being reached. Irradiation has been shown to be effective in eliminating many of the foodborne pathogens. The application of irradiation as a food safety treatment has been widely endorsed by many of the major associations involved with food safety and public health. Despite these endorsements there has been very little use of this technology to date for reducing the disease burden associated with the consumption of these products. A review of the available literature since the passage of the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act was conducted on the barriers to implementing irradiation as a food safety process for fresh fruits and vegetables. The impediments to adopting widespread utilization of irradiation food processing as a food safety measure involve a complex array of legislative, regulatory, industry, and consumer issues. The FDA’s approval process limits the expansion of the list of foods approved for the application of irradiation as a food safety process. There is also a lack of capacity within the industry to meet the needs of a geographically dispersed industry.^

THE EFFECT OF CAFFEINE CONSUMPTION ON MORTALITY IN HYPERTENSIVE INDIVIDUALS

The effect of caffeine consumption on mortality was evaluated in a historical cohort study of 10064 hypertensive individuals participating in the Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program (HDFP) from 1973 to 1979. The study cohort was stratified into caffeine consumption groups (none, low, medium and high) based on their total level of caffeine intake from beverages (coffee and tea) and certain medications at the One-year follow-up home visit. Stratification was also made by sex, race, type of care and age. The total relative risks (RRs) when computed across strata for each caffeine consumer group (low, medium and high) were not significantly different when compared to the noncaffeine consumer group for all-cause or cause-specific mortality rates. The point estimates and 95 per cent confidence intervals for relative risks of all-cause mortality when compared to nonconsumers were as follows: Low = 0.82 (0.65-1.03), Medium: = 0.82 (0.62-1.82) and High = 0.90 (0.63-1.28). For all sex, race combinations there was an increase in the per cent of current smokers within each caffeine consumer group as the level of caffeine consumption increased. Cigarette smoking was an important confounder correlated with caffeine consumption and associated with mortality in this cohort. When confounding by cigarette smoking was adjusted for in the analysis, no association was found between the level of caffeine consumption and all-cause or cause-specific mortality. ^

Targeting AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathways During Murine Skin Tumor Promotion and the Impact of Dietary Energy Balance Manipulation

The prevalence of obesity has continued to rise over the last several decades in the United States lending to overall increases in risk for chronic diseases including many types of cancer. In contrast, reduction in energy consumption via calorie restriction (CR) has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of carcinogenesis across a broad range of species and tumor types. Previous data has demonstrated differential signaling through Akt and mTOR via the IGF-1R and other growth factor receptors across the diet-induced obesity (DIO)/CR spectrum. Furthermore, mTORC1 is known to be regulated directly via nutrient availability, supporting its role in the link between epithelial carcinogenesis and diet-induced obesity. In an effort to better understand the importance of mTORC1 in the context of both positive and negative energy balance during epithelial carcinogenesis, we have employed the use of specific pharmacological inhibitors, rapamycin (mTORC1 inhibitor) and metformin (AMPK activator) to target mTORC1 or various components of this pathway during skin tumor promotion. Two-stage skin carcinogenesis studies demonstrated that mTORC1 inhibition via rapamycin, metformin or combination treatments greatly inhibited skin tumor development in normal, overweight and obese mice. Furthermore, mechanisms by which these chemopreventive agents may be exerting their anti-tumor effects were explored. In addition, the effect of these compounds on the epidermal proliferative response was analyzed and drastic decreases in epidermal hyperproliferation and hyperplasia were found. Rapamycin also inhibited dermal inflammatory cell infiltration in a dose-dependent manner. Both compounds also blocked or attenuated TPA-induced signaling through epidermal mTORC1 as well as several downstream targets. In addition, inhibition of this pathway by metformin appeared to be, at least in part, dependent on AMPK activation in the skin. Overall, the data indicate that pharmacological strategies targeting this pathway offset the tumor-enhancing effects of DIO and may serve as possible CR mimetics. They suggest that mTORC1 contributes significantly to the process of skin tumor promotion, specifically during dietary energy balance effects. Exploiting the mechanistic information underlying dietary energy balance responsive pathways will help translate decades of research into effective strategies for prevention of epithelial carcinogenesis.