Influence of family meals on obesity and dietary behaviors among adolescents in India

The study objectives were to (i) Describe the frequency and priority of family meals, (ii) Compare the family mealtime environment by gender and SES, (iii) Examine the association between family meals and weight status among adolescents living in New Delhi, India, (iv) Examine the association between family meals and eating patterns (healthy/unhealthy) among adolescent boys and girls living in New Delhi, India. Survey and anthropometric data were collected from 8th and 10th grade students (n=1818) from four Government (public) schools and four private schools who participated in the HRIDAY study. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate if the distributions of outcomes and exposure varied by gender and SES groups. Logistic regression models were used to obtain the association of weight status (underweight / normal weight Vs overweight / obese) with frequency of family meals as the main exposure. Overall the prevalence of obesity was more among the mid- high SES group and in boys. Over half of the participants had 7 or more family meals in the past week. There was no statistically significant association seen between family meals and weight status. Majority of the participants believed that eating healthy food and maintaining a healthy weight was important and eating at least one family meal was important. Majority of the participants who ate more than 3 or more family meals eat healthy food and also ate fast food. Intervention strategies should focus on the high risk group. Private schools are appropriate settings for interventions. Eating with families should be encouraged and future research should examine family meal patterns.^

The assessment of the level of knowledge about dietary fibre among the portuguese population

The aim of this work was to assess the degree of knowledge about dietary fibre (DF), as influenced by factors such as age, gender, level of education and living environment. For this, a descriptive cross- sectional study was undertaken by means of a questionnaire and the total number of respondents was 382. The results revealed that the participants had a not satisfying global level of knowledge (3.59 ± 0.64, on a scale from 1 to 5). The overall knowledge was found lower for young adults aged 19 to 30 years, when compared to adults aged over 31 and up to 65 years, being this difference statistically significant (p=0.030). However, no statistical significant differences were found between genders, levels of education or living environments. The low level of knowledge demonstrated by the enquired alerts for the need to plan some additional actions to further inform the Portuguese population about dietary fibre.

Wading through the quagmire: Making sense of dietary supplement utilization

Since the 1980s, numerous studies conducted in the United States have attempted to estimate the prevalence of supplement use among the population (e.g., the National Health and Nutrition Survey and the National Health Interview Surveys). Despite these efforts, the true extent of supplement use is unclear. The literature pertaining to the prevalence of supplement use refers to a confusing array of ambiguous terms. Forming accurate conclusions about supplement use is confounded by differences in terminology and methodology between studies. Direct comparisons between studies are therefore inherently problematic. The emphasis in future investigations should be on standardizing the study design; recording data on daily, weekly, or even monthly use in order to establish the safety and efficacy of supplement use; and adopting a consistent, uniform definition of the term supplement.

Disease prevalence among dogs and cats in the United States and Australia and proportions of dogs and cats that receive therapeutic diets or dietary supplements

Objective-To estimate disease prevalence among dogs and cats in the United States and Australia and proportions of dogs and cats that receive therapeutic diets or dietary supplements. Design-Telephone survey. Sample Population-Dog and cat owners located in 5 geographic areas. Procedures-A telephone survey was administered to dog and cat owners. Results-Of 18,194 telephone calls that were made, 1,104 (6%) were to individuals who owned at least I dog or cat and agreed to participate. Information was collected for 635 dogs and 469 cats. Only 14 (1%) respondents indicated that their pet was unhealthy, but 176 (16%) indicated that their pets had 1 or more diseases. The most common diseases were musculoskeletal, dental, and gastrointestinal tract or hepatic disease. Many owners (n = 356) reported their pets were overweight or obese, but only 3 reported obesity as a health problem in their pets. Owners of 28 (2.5%) animals reported that they were feeding a therapeutic diet, with the most common being diets for animals with renal disease (n = 5), reduced-calorie diets (5), and reduced-fat diets (4). Owners of 107 of 1,076 (9.9%) animals reported administering dietary supplements to their pets. Multivitamins (n = 53 animals), chondroprotective agents (22), and fatty acids (13) were the most common dietary supplements used. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Results suggest that most dogs and cats reported by their owners to have a health problem were not being fed a therapeutic diet. In addition, the rate of dietary supplement use was lower than that reported for people.

Exploring attitudes towards dietary modification and nutritional supplementation in people with and without age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause for visual impairment and blindness registration in the developed world. Due to the large amounts of conflicting AMD research on the role of nutrition and antioxidant intake, it is difficult for patients and practitioners to determine which measures can be taken to slow down the disease progression. The aim of this research was to determine the beliefs and knowledge that patients with AMD have about nutrition, to identify whether their condition is preventing them from eating a healthy diet, and to discover what their diet consists of. For the initial study, 158 participants with AMD (mean age 79 ± 7.8 years) and 50 participants without AMD (mean age 67 ± 8 years) were recruited from the Macular Society helpline, or from optometric practice. Participants had a 25 minute telephone interview where a 36-question survey was completed. The survey elicited demographic information, and questions covered the knowledge that participants had on nutrition and their current diet. The results from this survey uncovered three major findings: 1) 100% of AMD participants felt that they do not have enough information and support from eye-care practitioners regarding nutrition, 2) AMD patients are confused over, and display a lack of knowledge of, which foods are beneficial for eye health and when and what nutritional supplements to take, evidenced by 65% of participants not taking the correct dosage 3) AMD patients are not eating enough nutrients that would be beneficial for their condition - consuming an average of 1.4mg of lutein and zeaxanthin rather than the recommended 10mg. A clinical decision-making aid was created as an intervention based upon these findings. The aim of the aid was to help eye-care practitioners give the correct nutritional advice to their patients. Founded on the AREDS 2 inclusion and exclusion criteria, practitioners are able to identify which patients could benefit from a nutritional supplement, and which patients could benefit from dietary modification. An evaluation of the aid with 72 qualified eye-care practitioners exhibited a statistically significant increase in confidence after using the aid for two weeks. An evaluation using 51 student optometrists showed a statistically significant increase in confidence and a statistically significant increase in appropriate management of patients after using the aid. This project has elicited findings that are significant for AMD patient education. It is hoped that through these studies, patients will receive consistent advice about the risk factors for AMD, the link between AMD and nutrition, and the importance of maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet.

National survey of the Portuguese elderly nutritional status : study protocol

Acknowledgements We acknowledge the IAN-AF team (in particular to Duarte Torres, Milton Severo and Andreia Oliveira) for the community sampling and their support on dietary assessment methodology and critical discussion along the elaboration of the present protocol. Funding This project (136SI5) was granted by the Public Health Initiatives Programme (PT06), financed by EEA Grants Financial Mechanism 2009-2014.

The Health Behaviours in School Children (HBSC) survey 2014

The Health Behaviours in School Children (HBSC) survey 2014 shows that overall health levels are good. There are encouraging findings on consumption of fruit and vegetables, teeth cleaning, and a drop in smoking levels and consumption of sweets and soft drinks.  However, many children said they find it easy to get cigarettes, too many children are going to bed hungry, and there are concerns about levels of cyber bullying. A total of 13,611 pupils were surveyed with questions on topics like general health, food and dietary behaviour, exercise and physical activity, self-care, smoking, use of alcohol and other substances, bullying including cyber bullying, and sexual health behaviours.

The importance of improving diet in "Securing Scotland's Health" : progress towards the Scottish dietary goals

Background: In 2013, the Revised Dietary Goals for Scotland (SDGs) were published to “indicate the direction of travel, and assist policy development to reduce the burden of obesity and diet-related disease in Scotland”. They include recommendations for foods (fruit and vegetables, oily fish and red meat) and nutrients (energy, energy density, total fat, saturated fat, trans fatty acids, sugar, salt and fibre). Progress towards the SDGs is monitored using a combination of surveys, principally the secondary analysis of the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCFS). Objective: To obtain estimates of food consumption and nutrient intake for Scotland using LCFS data from 2001 to 2013. Results: For SDGs measured using LCFS data there was little progress towards meeting the goals between 2001 and 2013. This was apparent even amongst least deprived households. Despite evidence of progress for fruit and vegetables up to 2010, consumption subsequently dropped; and there was no change in oil rich fish consumption. Mean total red meat consumption meets the SDG and a significant reduction was found between 2001 and 2013, which was partly accounted for by a fall in red meat products such as sausages and burgers. Energy density increased significantly over time despite a dip in 2012. Saturated fat, total fat and sugar intakes remained considerably higher than the SDGs. Overall there were small but significant decreases in the percentage of food energy from saturated fat and sugars, although intakes appear to have risen since 2011. There was no change in fibre intake. Conclusion: The results presented support work by Food Standards Scotland and the Scottish Government to facilitate improvements to the diet to help prevent obesity. Whilst some very small improvements were observed however, new approaches are required to encourage the population towards a healthier diet to secure Scotland’s health in the future. Funded by Food Standards Scotland, Project Number FS424018. Data provided by DEFRA, Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics, ONS and the UK Data Archive.

The importance of improving diet in 'Securing Scotland's Health': exploring differences in dietary intake between Scotland and England

Background: Various factors have been investigated to account for the higher premature death rates in Scotland compared to England. Higher levels of deprivation in Scotland provide a partial explanation for these differences but recent work comparing areas of the UK with similar deprivation profiles and low life expectancy has shown that this is not the only reason. One hypothesis yet to be tested adequately is differences in diet and nutrition. Objective: To conduct a comparative analysis of dietary intake between Scotland and England using pooled food purchase data from the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCFS) from 2001 to 2012 and to assess differences in equivalised income quintiles (controlling for survey year, age of household reference person, and age household reference person left full-time education). Results: Lower intakes of fruit and vegetables, oil rich fish, fibre, vitamin A, folate, vitamin C and vitamin D and higher intakes of red and processed meat, whole milk, butter, savoury snacks, confectionary, soft drinks, saturated fat and NMES (added sugar and sugar in fruit juice), sodium and alcohol were found for Scotland compared to England. Differences between Scotland and England were higher for those on lower incomes for dietary components known to be related to health outcomes. For example fruit consumption was 14g/day lower for the lowest income quintile compared to 4 g/day lower in the highest quintile for Scotland versus England. Conclusions: A poorer diet in Scotland compared to England, particularly among disadvantaged groups, is likely to be one of the reasons for excess mortality. The current evidence on the continued poor diet in Scotland, particularly in disadvantaged groups, should not be ignored. Identifying effective, culturally appropriate approaches to improve diet across the population and notably in the most deprived areas needs further investment. Funded by NHS Health Scotland. Data provided by DEFRA, ONS and the UK Data Archive.

Dietary restraint and subjective well-being in university students in Chile

Objective: To characterize university students typologies according to chronic food restriction, satisfaction with life and food consumption. Materials and method: A questionnaire was applied on a non-probability sample of 369 male and female students from five Chilean universities. The questionnaire included: Revised Restraint Scale (RRS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Satisfaction with Food-related Life (SWFL) and the Health-related Quality of Life Index. The survey included food and drink consumption habits, weight and approximate height and sociodemographic variables. Results: Two factors in the RRS were detected by exploratory factor analysis: Preoccupation with Diet (PD) and Weight fluctuations (WF). A confirmatory factor analysis validated the bifactor structure of the RRS with an acceptable adjustment kindness. The cluster analysis allowed a distinction of four typologies with a significant variation in PD, WF, SWLS and SWFL scoring, number of days with mental health problems, frequency of alcoholic drinks consumption, restraint on the consumption of certain foods, drinks and spices, consumption frequency of fruit out of the main meals and types. Typologies did not differ on their body mass index. Conclusions: Both, students preoccupied with diet and those who are not, experience higher levels of satisfaction with life and with food. Lower levels of global life satisfaction and satisfaction with food are related with the fluctuations in weight.

Knowledge about dietary fibre: a fibre study framework

The objective of this work was to study the degree of knowledge about dietary fibre (DF), as influenced by factors such as gender, level of education, living environment or country. For this, a descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6010 participants from 10 countries in different continents (Europe, Africa and America). The results showed that the participants revealed on average a positive but still low global level of knowledge, which alerts for the need to take some actions to further inform the population about DF and its role as a component of a healthy diet. The results also indicated differences between genders, levels of education, living environments and countries. The highest level of knowledge was revealed by the participants from female gender, with higher education and living in urban areas. Concerning the country, the best informed were the participants from Romania, followed by those from Portugal and Turkey while the least informed were from Egypt.

Knowledge about dietary fibres (KADF): development and validation of an evaluation instrument through structural equation modelling (SEM)

Objectives: Because there is scientific evidence that an appropriate intake of dietary fibre should be part of a healthy diet, given its importance in promoting health, the present study aimed to develop and validate an instrument to evaluate the knowledge of the general population about dietary fibres. Study design: The present study was a cross sectional study. Methods: The methodological study of psychometric validation was conducted with 6010 participants, residing in ten countries from 3 continents. The instrument is a questionnaire of self-response, aimed at collecting information on knowledge about food fibres. For exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was chosen the analysis of the main components using varimax orthogonal rotation and eigenvalues greater than 1. In confirmatory factor analysis by structural equation modelling (SEM) was considered the covariance matrix and adopted the Maximum Likelihood Estimation algorithm for parameter estimation. Results: Exploratory factor analysis retained two factors. The first was called Dietary Fibre and Promotion of Health (DFPH) and included 7 questions that explained 33.94 % of total variance ( = 0.852). The second was named Sources of Dietary Fibre (SDF) and included 4 questions that explained 22.46% of total variance ( = 0.786). The model was tested by SEM giving a final solution with four questions in each factor. This model showed a very good fit in practically all the indexes considered, except for the ratio 2/df. The values of average variance extracted (0.458 and 0.483) demonstrate the existence of convergent validity; the results also prove the existence of discriminant validity of the factors (r2 = 0.028) and finally good internal consistency was confirmed by the values of composite reliability (0.854 and 0.787). Conclusions: This study allowed validating the KADF scale, increasing the degree of confidence in the information obtained through this instrument in this and in future studies.

Knowledge about sources of dietary fibres and health effects using a validated scale: a cross-country study

Objectives Dietary fibre (DF) is one of the components of diet that strongly contributes to health improvements, particularly on the gastrointestinal system. Hence, this work intended to evaluate the relations between some sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, level of education, living environment or country on the levels of knowledge about dietary fibre (KADF), its sources and its effects on human health, using a validated scale. Study design The present study was a cross-sectional study. Methods A methodological study was conducted with 6010 participants, residing in 10 countries from different continents (Europe, America, Africa). The instrument was a questionnaire of self-response, aimed at collecting information on knowledge about food fibres. The instrument was used to validate a scale (KADF) which model was used in the present work to identify the best predictors of knowledge. The statistical tools used were as follows: basic descriptive statistics, decision trees, inferential analysis (t-test for independent samples with Levene test and one-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons post hoc tests). Results The results showed that the best predictor for the three types of knowledge evaluated (about DF, about its sources and about its effects on human health) was always the country, meaning that the social, cultural and/or political conditions greatly determine the level of knowledge. On the other hand, the tests also showed that statistically significant differences were encountered regarding the three types of knowledge for all sociodemographic variables evaluated: age, gender, level of education, living environment and country. Conclusions The results showed that to improve the level of knowledge the actions planned should not be delineated in general as to reach all sectors of the populations, and that in addressing different people, different methodologies must be designed so as to provide an effective health education.

THE ASSOCIATION OF DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES AND DIETARY HABITS ON BODY MASS INDEX OF FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION IN SOUTH KOREA

The Republic of Korea (Korea) has been composed of a single ethnic group and, until very recently, has had little or no experience with large-volume of immigrants. The country, once known for its large-scale emigration, has emerged as a popular destination. As the foreign-born populations continue to grow, they experience dietary pattern changes. Dietary changes of immigrants are often associated with weight increase and consequently the risk of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes. This study examined the association of demographic variables and dietary habits on Body Mass Index (BMI) of foreign nationals living in Korea, based on a cross-sectional sample of 193 foreign-born men (120) and women (73). A web-based survey program, Zoho survey, was used to capture self-reported region of origin, socio-demographic variables, weight, height, frequency of physical activity, and food frequencies. For the entire sample (n=193), the World Health Organization (WHO) classification and the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity cut-off points of BMI were used. The average BMI was 24.6 (SD=3.6) kg/m2. Significant associations were observed between BMI and age (χ² (8, N=193) =26.22, p<.01), gender (χ² (2, N=193) =11.45, p<.01), and religious affiliation (χ² (4, N=191) =9.53, p<.05). On average, participants had meat and carbonated drinks 2.2 times a week; high calorie foods 1.5 times a week; and, dairy products 2.4 times a week. A significant correlation (r=.14, p<.05) between BMI and eating meat was also observed. This study showed that the BMI varied with age, gender and religion. Frequent consumption of meat was associated with a significant increase in BMI. This increase in BMI could be associated with the dietary changes experienced by the newcomers or absence of more familiar products. Consequently, as the volume of immigrants continues to increase in Korea, it is imperative to consider designing and implementing public health policies specifically in relation to a healthy diet that can impact the prevalence of preventable chronic diseases. Thus, health education among foreign-born population in Korea should focus on reducing the intake of meat and high energy foods.

PREVALENCE OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA AND DIETARY IRON INTAKE AMONG INFANTS AGED SIX TO NINE MONTHS IN KEIYO SOUTH SUB COUNTY, KENYA

The increased prevalence of iron deficiency among infants can be attributed to the consumption of an iron deficient diet or a diet that interferes with iron absorption at the critical time of infancy, among other factors. The gradual shift from breast milk to other foods and liquids is a transition period which greatly contributes to iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). The purpose of this research was to assess iron deficiency anaemia among infants aged six to nine months in Keiyo South Sub County. The specific objectives of this study were: to establish the prevalence of infants with iron deficiency anaemia and dietary iron intake among infants aged 6 to 9 months. The cross sectional study design was adopted in this survey. This study was conducted in three health facilities in Keiyo South Sub County. The infants were selected by use of a two stage cluster sampling procedure. Systematic random sampling was then used to select a total of 244 mothers and their infants. Eighty two (82) infants were selected from Kamwosor sub-district hospital and eighty one (81) from both Nyaru and Chepkorio health facilities. Interview schedules, 24-hour dietary recall and food frequency questionnaires were used for collection of dietary iron intake. Biochemical tests were carried out by use of the Hemo-control photochrometer at the health facilities. Infants whose hemoglobin levels were less than 11g/dl were considered anaemic. Further, peripheral blood smears were conducted to ascertain the type of nutritional anaemia. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software version 17, 2009. Dietary iron intake was analyzed using the NutriSurvey 2007 computer software. Results indicated that the mean hemoglobin values were 11.3± 0.84 g/dl. Twenty one percent (21.7%) of the infants had anaemia and further 100% of peripheral blood smears indicated iron deficiency anaemia. Dietary iron intake was a predictor of iron deficiency anaemia in this study (t=-3.138; p=0.01). Iron deficiency anaemia was evident among infants in Keiyo South Sub County. The Ministry of Health should formulate and implement policies on screening for anaemia and ensure intensive nutrition education on iron rich diets during child welfare clinics.