To investigate the short- and long-term effectiveness and the predictors of weight loss in a mobile phone weight-loss programme among healthy overweight adults.

One hundred and twenty-five healthy, overweight (BMI = 26–36 kg/m2), 25–44-year-old, screened volunteers were randomized to an experimental group (n 62) to use a mobile phone-operated weight-loss programme or to a control group (n 63) with no intervention. Via text messaging, the programme instructed a staggered reduction of food intake and daily weight reporting with immediate tailored feedback. Assessments were at 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months for the experimental group; at 0 and 12 months for the control group. Main outcome variables were changes in body weight and waist circumference.

By 12 months the experimental group had lost significantly more weight than the control group (4·5 (sd 5·0) v. 1·1 (sd 5·8) kg; F(1,80) = 8·0, P = 0·006) and had a greater reduction in waist circumference (6·3 (sd 5·3) v. 2·4 (sd 5·4) cm; F(1,80) = 55·2, P = 0·0001). Early weight loss, self-efficacy, contact frequency, attitudes towards the medium, changes in work and family life and changes made in dietary habits were the strongest predictors of weight loss.

This mobile phone weight-loss programme was effective in short- and long-term weight loss. As a minimum-advice, maximal-contact programme, it offers ideas for future weight-loss programmes.

To study whether the dietary patterns of Finnish pregnant women are associated with their weight gain rate during pregnancy.

A validated 181-item FFQ was applied retrospectively to assess the diet during the eighth month of pregnancy, and maternal height and maternal weight at first and last antenatal visits were recalled. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, parity and smoking of the pregnant women was obtained by a structured questionnaire and from the Finnish Birth Registry. Principal components analysis was used to identify dietary patterns that described the diet of pregnant women based on their food consumption profile.

Finland.

Subjects consisted of 3360 women who had newly delivered in 1997–2002 and whose baby carried human leucocyte antigen-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in two university hospital regions, Oulu and Tampere, in Finland.

Out of seven dietary patterns identified, the ‘fast food’ pattern was positively associated (β = 0·010, se = 0·003, P = 0·004) and the ‘alcohol and butter’ pattern was inversely associated (β = –0·010, se = 0·003, P < 0·0001) with weight gain rate (kg/week) during pregnancy after adjusting for potential dietary, perinatal and sociodemographic confounding factors. Both of the dietary pattern associations demonstrated dose dependency.

Pregnant women should be guided to have a well-planned, balanced, healthy diet during pregnancy in order to avoid rapid gestational weight gain. The association between diet, health and maternal weight gain of the women who consumed alcohol during pregnancy should be studied further.

To assess the nutritional status and risk factors of undernutrition in post-menarcheal girls in rural northern Bangladesh.

Cross-sectional data on anthropometric measurements, dietary intake, work activity, morbidity and socio-economic status were collected from 12- to 19-year-old primigravidae (n 209) and never-pregnant adolescents (n 456) matched on age and time since menarche. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine predictors of stunting, thinness, upper-arm muscle (UAMZ) and fat area Z-scores (UAFZ) among the adolescent girls.

A large proportion of adolescents (49 %) were stunted (height-for-age Z-score <−2) and underweight (40 %; weight-for-age Z-score <−2), but not thin (BMI-for-age <5th percentile; ∼10 %). The mean (sd) UAMZ and UAFZ of the adolescent girls was −0·3 (0·64) and −0·9 (0·40), respectively. Lean mass increased whereas fat mass declined with age. Both stunting and thinness were positively associated with age and time since menarche (P < 0·05). Young age (12–14 years) and literacy were protective against stunting among pregnant adolescents (OR = 0·29, 95 % CI 0·09, 0·88 and OR = 0·50, 95 % CI 0·26, 0·96, respectively). Having symptoms of diarrhoea or dysentery (OR = 7·40, 95 % CI 1·43, 38·29) predicted thinness and was associated with lower UAMZ and UAFZ among never-pregnant girls (both P < 0·05). Performing light-to-moderate activities was protective against thinness among never-pregnant girls (OR = 0·43, 95 % CI 0·22, 0·82), whereas pregnant adolescents who performed high levels of strenuous activities had greater UAMZ (P < 0·05).

Undernutrition was widespread among this post-menarcheal adolescent population. Younger and literate adolescents were less likely to be stunted, whereas thinness and body composition were associated with morbidity and work activity.

Few studies have been conducted to investigate the influence of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) on the long-term prognosis of end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

A retrospective cohort study.

The largest regional hospital renowned for haemodialysis in northern Taiwan.

A total of 702 ESRD patients undergoing haemodialysis between 1993 and 2002 were evaluated.

The rate of overall use of rhEPO, vitamin D3 or Fe therapy was 62 %. The 10-year survival rate in patients with rhEPO supplementation was statistically more favourable than that in patients without rhEPO (hazard ratio (HR) = 0·38, 95 % CI 0·30, 0·47, P < 0·0001). Similar findings were noted for patients receiving vitamin D3 (HR = 0·36, 95 % CI 0·21, 0·64, P = 0.0004) and Fe (HR = 0·45, 95 % CI 0·33, 0·61, P < 0·0001). After adjusting for age, education and aetiology, the administration of rhEPO resulted in statistically significant improvements in long-term survival rate either with (HR = 0·30, 95 % CI 0·22, 0·42) or without (HR = 0·48, 95 % CI 0·38, 0·61) combined use of Fe or vitamin D3.

We demonstrated a reduction in long-term mortality related to supplementation therapy with rhEPO, vitamin D3 and Fe. The findings provide a justification for the administration of combined supplement therapy in patients undergoing haemodialysis.

To assess anaemia prevalence and correlated social and biological determinants among pregnant women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt).

A cross-sectional survey conducted among pregnant women attending/accessing UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) health centres in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in September and October 2006.

Fifty-five UNRWA health centres in the oPt (eighteen in the Gaza Strip and thirty-seven in the West Bank).

A random sample of 1740 pregnant women.

Overall anaemia prevalence was 38·6 % (95 % CI 36·3, 40·9 %). A substantial difference in anaemia prevalence was observed between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (44·9 % v. 31·1 %, respectively), as well as a significant increase in anaemia prevalence in the Gaza Strip compared with an Agency-wide survey conducted in 2004 (44·9 % v. 35·7 %, respectively). Anaemia prevalence was found to increase with age, parity and trimester of gestation.

Anaemia still appears to be a public health problem among pregnant women in spite of UNRWA interventions. The West Bank shows prevalence rates similar to those observed in neighbouring countries, while the Gaza Strip has higher rates. Prevalence rates of anaemia among pregnant Palestinian women are more than two times higher than those observed in Europe.

To investigate the influences of resources and food-related goals on the variety of food choice among older people.

A questionnaire-based survey in eight European countries: Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Spain.

Participants (n 3200) were above 65 years of age and living in their own homes. The samples were quota samples, eight groups of fifty in each country, based on gender, age and living circumstances, reflecting the diversity of each of the national populations based on education, income and urbanization of living environment.

Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that income, health status, access to a car and living arrangement affected the level of dietary variety. The perceived level of different food-related resources impacted the consumption of a varied diet over and above actual resource levels. Food-related goals contributed to variety of food intake that was not accounted for by the amount of material resources possessed or the social and other resources perceived to be possessed.

Older people’s variety of food intake depended on material resources (e.g. monthly income, access to a car, living arrangement, physical and mental health). However, in addition to these variables, the way older people perceived other resources, such as their level of appetite, their food knowledge, their perception of the distance to the shops, access to high-quality products, having better kitchen facilities, access to good service providers and support from friends and neighbours, all contributed to how varied a diet they ate.

To assess dietary iodine intakes among adults and to investigate the relationships of dietary, lifestyle, demographic and geographical characteristics with dietary iodine status. Adequacy of iodine intakes was also assessed.

Cross-sectional study. Linear regression analyses and logistic regression modelling were used to determine correlates of iodine intakes. Usual iodine mean intake was calculated by averaging six 24 h dietary records completed over a 2-year period.

Females aged 35–60 years (n 2962) and males aged 45–60 years (n 2117) living in France and who participated in the SU.VI.MAX study.

Iodine intakes ranged from 30·0 to 446·3 μg/d. The median iodine intake was 150·7 μg/d for males and 131·4 μg/d for females. High-level (97·5th percentile) intakes were 273·4 μg/d for males and 245·0 μg/d for females. Overall, 8·5 % of males and 20·3 % of females had intakes <100 μg/d (P < 0·001). Alcohol drinkers and smokers tended to have lower iodine intakes than abstainers or non-smokers. Regular physical activity and both intermediate and high education levels were associated with a lower risk of iodine intake of <150 μg/d. For both males and females there were significant overall regional differences (P < 0·001) in multivariate-adjusted iodine intakes, with higher adjusted iodine intakes in Brittany and Normandy than in the north-eastern region.

Our data show a borderline low iodine intake in this middle-aged French population. However, differences in iodine intakes may contribute to explaining only a small part of the effects of sex and age on thyroid disease incidence.

To evaluate FFQ estimates of dietary intake of individual antioxidants, fruit and vegetables in comparison to plasma concentrations of each antioxidant, and to determine which individual foods are associated with plasma antioxidant concentrations.

Dietary (α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein/zeaxanthin, lycopene, retinol, and vitamin E) intakes over 12 months were estimated from a 121-item FFQ. Correlation coefficients, corrected for within-person variability in diet and plasma antioxidants, were used to examine associations between antioxidant concentrations in diet and plasma.

Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS).

Men and women (n 3110) who were randomly selected from the MCCS. Participants were aged 36–72 years and were born in Australia, Greece, Italy or the UK.

Correlation coefficients for the carotenoids ranged from 0·28 for lycopene to 0·46 for β-cryptoxanthin. There was no association between dietary and plasma retinol or dietary vitamin E with plasma α- and γ-tocopherol. Individual plasma carotenoid concentrations were associated with intakes of fruit and vegetables.

Our data suggest that the FFQ provides useful information on intakes of each of the carotenoids: α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and lutein/zeaxanthin. There was no association between diet and plasma markers of retinol or vitamin E; this may reflect the importance of factors other than intake in modifying circulating levels of these nutrients.

To describe the food and nutrient intakes of 9-month-old infants.

A survey undertaken as part of a longitudinal study of child growth and development. Infant diet was characterised through a structured interview in which consumption frequency and portion size of foods were obtained. This method was compared with a 4 d diary and had adequate relative validity.

Adelaide, Australia.

Three hundred and forty-one infants for whom dietary data were plausible according to pre-specified criteria.

At 9 months of age, the median body weights for 161 girls and 180 boys were 8·8 and 9·6 kg, respectively. Differences in intakes between boys and girls largely reflected differences in size. Median daily energy intake was 3541 kJ and median contributions of protein, fat and carbohydrate to total energy were 13 %, 36 % and 50 %. Using published Estimated Average Requirements, Zn intake was inadequate for <1 % of children not breast-fed at this age while Fe intake was inadequate for 9 %. Infants who were still breast-fed (35 %) had more diversity in the foods that provided additional energy, compared with those not receiving breast milk, and were less likely to consume nutrient-displacing drinks such as juice or cordial. Cow’s milk was the main drink for 5 % of infants.

In a group of Australian-born children, an important proportion had weaning diets that were low in Fe. Fat intake of many children was below current recommendations and cow’s milk was the main milk source for a small minority.

To examine whether eating while watching television poses a risk for poor nutrition and excess body weight over and above that of time spent watching television.

We analysed data of grade 5 students participating in a comprehensive population-based survey in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. This survey included the Harvard’s Youth Food Frequency Questionnaire, students’ height and weight measurements, and a parent survey. We applied multivariable linear and logistic random effects models to quantify the associations of watching television and eating while watching television with diet quality and body weight.

The province of Nova Scotia, Canada.

Grade 5 students (n 4966).

Eating supper while watching television negatively affected the consumption of fruits and vegetables and overall diet quality. More frequent supper while watching television was associated with more soft drink consumption, a higher percentage energy intake from sugar out of total energy from carbohydrate, a higher percentage energy intake from fat, and a higher percentage energy intake from snack food. These associations appeared independent of time children spent watching television. Both watching television and eating while watching television were positively and independently associated with overweight.

Our observations suggest that both sedentary behaviours from time spent watching television as well as poor nutrition as a result of eating while watching television contribute to overweight in children. They justify current health promotion targeting time spent watching television and call for promotion of family meals as a means to avoid eating in front of the television.

The purposes of the present study were to estimate individual intake from common-plate meals among Bedouin Arabs using a modified 24 h recall questionnaire, and to evaluate reported energy intake (EI) by comparison with estimated energy requirement (EER).

Weighed records were used to develop a method of quantifying intake from common plates. Reported EI and nutrient intakes were obtained from administration of the modified 24 h recall. The relative standard error (RSE) was used to evaluate the reliability of reported nutrient intakes. The FAO/WHO/United Nations University and Oxford equations and reported physical activity levels were used to compute ratios of reported EI to BMR and EER.

Population centres of traditionally semi-nomadic Bedouin Arabs undergoing sedentarization/urbanization in southern Israel.

A convenience sample of 451 adults (aged 19–82 years).

Mean (se) energy intake was 9648 (276) kJ/d (2306 (66) kcal/d) for men and 8230 (172) kJ/d (1967 (41) kcal/d) for women, of which carbohydrates accounted for 63–64 %. The nutrient intakes evaluated had RSE ratios of less than 25 %. EI:EER ratios ranged from 0·86 to 0·89, and from 0·87 to 0·93 among non-dieters who ate the usual amount on the recall day.

The modified 24 h recall produced plausible estimates of energy and nutrient intakes, comparable to those obtained with the 24 h recall in other populations. The modified questionnaire makes an important contribution to facilitating large-scale nutritional surveillance in the Bedouin population, and may serve as a model for modifying dietary instruments to quantify individual intake in other populations that practise common-plate eating.

Measures of diet quality have evolved with a number of scoring indices currently in use. They are increasingly being used to examine epidemiological associations between dietary intake and nutrition-related health outcomes. The present review aims to describe current diet quality tools and their applications, and to examine the relationship between diet quality and morbidity and mortality.

A search was conducted of MEDLINE, Cochrane, EMBASE, CINAHL and ProQuest electronic databases. Inclusion criteria were: English language; published from 2004 on; conducted in adult populations; longitudinal/cohort/case–control or cross-sectional study; included a theoretically defined measure of diet quality.

A total of twenty-five indices of overall diet quality and/or variety were found, with components ranging from nutrients only to adherence to recommended food group servings, to variety within healthful food groups. The majority of studies reviewed had methodological weaknesses but demonstrated that higher dietary quality was consistently inversely related to all-cause mortality, with a protective effect of moderate magnitude. The associations were stronger for men and for all-cause and CVD mortality.

The limitations of both the indices and the studies that use them need to be considered when interpreting and comparing results. However, diet quality indices do appear to be able to quantify risk of some health outcomes, including biomarkers of disease and risk of CVD, some cancers and mortality. Further research is needed to improve the validity of these tools and to adapt them for use in clinical dietetic practice.

To examine the association between dietary patterns (DP) and risk for metabolic syndrome (MetS); and to identify differences in DP by socio-economic, demographic and lifestyle factors.

Dietary intake (from an FFQ), anthropometric/biochemical parameters and sociodemographic/lifestyle information (from a self-reported questionnaire) were evaluated, using a cross-sectional design. Statistical methods included principal component factor analysis, analysis of covariance and linear regression. All analyses were covariate-adjusted.

The Bogalusa Heart Study (1995–1996), USA.

Young adults (19–39 years; n 995; 61 % females/39 % males; 80 % whites/20 % blacks) from a semi-rural southern US community were examined.

The ‘Western Dietary Pattern’ (WDP) consisted of refined grains, French fries, high-fat dairy foods, cheese dishes, red meats, processed meats, eggs, snacks, sweets/desserts, sweetened beverages and condiments. The ‘Prudent Dietary Pattern’ (PDP) consisted of whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, 100 % fruit juices, low-fat dairy products, poultry, clear soups and low-fat salad dressings. The DP explained 31 % of the dietary intake variance. Waist circumference (P = 0·02), triceps skinfold (P = 0·01), plasma insulin (P = 0·03), serum TAG (P = 0·05), and the occurrence of MetS (P = 0·03) were all inversely associated with PDP. Insulin sensitivity (P < 0·0005) was positively associated with PDP. Serum HDL cholesterol (P = 0·05) was inversely associated with WDP. Blacks consumed more servings from WDP than whites (P = 0·02). Females consumed more servings from PDP than males (P = 0·002). Those with >12 years of education consumed more servings from PDP than their counterparts (P < 0·0001). Current smokers consumed more servings from WDP than current non-smokers (P < 0·0001). Physically very active young adults consumed fewer servings from WDP than their sedentary counterparts (P = 0·02).

More studies are warranted to confirm these findings in other populations.

The current paper aims to present the main results of the Italian National Food Consumption Survey INRAN-SCAI 2005–06.

A cross-sectional study was performed. Households were randomly selected after geographical stratification of the national territory. Food consumption was assessed on three consecutive days through individual estimated dietary records.

Italy.

The final study sample comprised 3323 subjects (1501 males and 1822 females) aged 0·1 to 97·7 years belonging to 1329 households: fifty-two infants (0–2·9 years), 193 children (3–9·9 years), 247 teenagers (10–17·9 years), 2313 adults (18–64·9 years) and 518 elderly (65 years and above).

Participation rate was 33 %. The mean ratio of estimated energy intake to estimated BMR was 1·41 in adults. Indicators of mean and high individual consumption are presented for fifteen large categories and fifty-one subcategories of foods and beverages, in the total population and in consumers, by age and sex categories. The overall consumption of fruit and vegetables was 418 g/d. The consumption of red meat was approximately 700 g/week, expressed as raw weight. Some specific aspects of the Italian food consumption pattern were confirmed: a large contribution from bread, pasta and pizza to cereals, from olive oil to fats and from wine to alcoholic beverages.

The database obtained from the survey will be the key reference for Italian food consumption during the coming years and will be utilized for a variety of purposes including the assessment of nutrient intakes and risk analysis.