Greater central adiposity resulting from increased market integration is associated with elevated C-reactive protein levels in older women from the Republic of Vanuatu

Objective: We characterized the relationship between circulating C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and nine anthropometric measures of body fat to identify the best anthropometric predictors of CRP in Ni-Vanuatu women. Sample and Methods: Anthropometric data and blood spot samples were collected from sixty-four Ni-Vanuatu female participants (age = 51 +/-11; 35-78 years) on five islands with varying degrees of market integration, cultural change, and obesity. CRP concentration was determined with a high-sensitivity ELISA (hsCRP) assay and then compared to nine different anthropometric measurements. Results: BMI was significantly correlated with CRP (p=0.047). Among the eight additional anthropometrics, the suprailiac skinfold (p=0.003) and waist-circumference (p=0.009) were better predictors of CRP than BMI. Moreover, our stepwise selection model indicated that the suprailiac skinfold explained ~14% of CRP level variance. Conclusions: The BMI-CRP correlation coefficient for Ni-Vanuatu women falls within the range of previously reported values for East Asian populations with whom they share genetic ancestry. However, the best anthropometric predictors of CRP levels were waist circumference and suprailiac skinfold thickness. These measures capture central adiposity and are more closely associated with elevated CRP level and cardiovascular disease risk than fat distributed elsewhere on the body. Ni-Vanuatu in urban settings with high market integration are at greater risk for obesity, which is associated with elevated CRP levels. However, because nearly all Ni-Vanuatu still retain horticultural knowledge and land ownership, consumption of processed, imported foods is largely determined by degree of market integration and personal choice. Therefore, health interventions focusing on sustainable traditional food practices are feasible.

Potential for Food Self-Sufficiency Improvements through Indoor and Vertical Farming in the Gulf Cooperation Council: Challenges and Opportunities from the Case of Kuwait

The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are considered food secure due to their ability to import sufficient food to meet their populations’ demand, despite considerable environmental limitations to conventional agriculture. However, over-reliance on externally produced food leaves these countries vulnerable to food shortages during crises that disrupt international production and shipping. Advanced Controlled Environment Agriculture technology has the potential to improve food self-sufficiency by multiplying vegetable crop yields while optimizing efficiency of agricultural inputs and minimizing land requirements. This paper demonstrates how approximately 15 km2 of indoor farms or less than 0.1 km2 of vertical farms could reduce or eliminate the need to import six important vegetable crops in the State of Kuwait. If properly contextualized and supported by clear legislation and well-managed regulatory bodies, indoor agriculture initiatives may provide a pathway for GCC countries to reduce their dependence on imported foods and increase resilience to food supply disruption during disasters or conflict. This case study contextualizes the need for improved food self-sufficiency in light of vulnerabilities from regional and global threats, illuminates unique challenges faced by GCC countries considering adoption of the proposed technologies, and summarizes opportunities inherent in the current legal and policy framework.

An Analysis of New Zealand’s Role in Food Insecurity in Fiji

<p>Access to adequate food is a human right. Despite this, globally around three billion people lack access to food sufficient to allow them to live free from hunger and malnutrition. In the Pacific, despite millennia of positive nutrition, they now have some the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in the world, and 75 percent of their population are dying prematurely from non-communicable diseases (NCD’s). One of the main risk factors for NCD’s is an unhealthy diet. A key finding coming out of the Pacific Food Summit in 2010 was that imported foods represent a threat to Pacific food security. New Zealand is a key trader with the Pacific. It has also come under criticism in recent years over its trade of poor quality meat to the Pacific, which it has been argued is contributing to poor health outcomes there. This research seeks to look deeper into the relationship between New Zealand trade and Pacific food insecurity, using Fiji as a case study. A key foundation for this research is the ‘right to food’. The right to adequate food is a fundamental right of all human beings. This is established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and subsequent treaties, to which all signatory countries are bound. Recently, this right is being discussed in an extraterritorial context, meaning states have obligations not only to those within their territory, but across the globe. This places obligations on states to both respect the right to food of citizens globally, and also to protect them against actions taken by those within their territory which would undermine this right. It is against this backdrop, utilising interviews, data and policy analysis, that the trade relationship between New Zealand and Fiji is analysed.</p>

An Analysis of New Zealand’s Role in Food Insecurity in Fiji

<p>Access to adequate food is a human right. Despite this, globally around three billion people lack access to food sufficient to allow them to live free from hunger and malnutrition. In the Pacific, despite millennia of positive nutrition, they now have some the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in the world, and 75 percent of their population are dying prematurely from non-communicable diseases (NCD’s). One of the main risk factors for NCD’s is an unhealthy diet. A key finding coming out of the Pacific Food Summit in 2010 was that imported foods represent a threat to Pacific food security. New Zealand is a key trader with the Pacific. It has also come under criticism in recent years over its trade of poor quality meat to the Pacific, which it has been argued is contributing to poor health outcomes there. This research seeks to look deeper into the relationship between New Zealand trade and Pacific food insecurity, using Fiji as a case study. A key foundation for this research is the ‘right to food’. The right to adequate food is a fundamental right of all human beings. This is established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and subsequent treaties, to which all signatory countries are bound. Recently, this right is being discussed in an extraterritorial context, meaning states have obligations not only to those within their territory, but across the globe. This places obligations on states to both respect the right to food of citizens globally, and also to protect them against actions taken by those within their territory which would undermine this right. It is against this backdrop, utilising interviews, data and policy analysis, that the trade relationship between New Zealand and Fiji is analysed.</p>

A review of antimicrobial resistance in imported foods

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most serious threats to the medical sciences. The food supply is recognized as a potential source of resistant bacteria, leading to the development of surveillance programs targeting primarily poultry, pork and beef. These programs are limited in scope not only in the commodities tested, but also in the organisms targeted (Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter); consequently, neither the breadth of food products available nor the organisms which may harbour clinically relevant and/or mobile resistance genes are identified. Furthermore, there is an inadequate understanding of how the international trade in food products contributes to the global dissemination of resistance. This is despite the recognized role of international travel in dissemination disseminating antimicrobial-resistant organisms (ARO), notably the New Delhi Metallo-betalactamase. An increasing number of studies describing ARO in a variety of imported foods will be summarized in this review.

Dietary habits among men and women in West Greenland: follow-up on the ACCEPT birth cohort

Background In the past decades, the diet in Greenland has been in transition resulting in a lower intake of traditional food and a higher intake of imported western food. This diet transition can affect public health negatively, and thus, continued monitoring of dietary habits is important. The present study aimed to follow up on the dietary habits of pregnant women included in the Greenlandic ACCEPT birth cohort (2013–2015) and the children’s father. Methods The follow-up food intake was assessed in 2019–2020 using food frequency questionnaires for 101 mothers and 76 fathers aged 24–55 years living in Nuuk, Sisimiut, and Ilulissat. Non-parametric statistical methods were used (Mann-Whitney U test/Spearman correlation) to assess the dietary pattern and influencing factors. Results The proportion of traditional and imported food was 14 and 86%, respectively. Intake frequency differed by gender (vegetables, fruits, fast food), the living town (terrestrial animals, vegetables, fruits), and age (fish, meat products, fruits, fast food). Socioeconomic and lifestyle factors significantly correlated with the intake frequency of several traditional and imported foods. Few changes in the mother’s dietary habits from inclusion (during pregnancy) to follow-up (3–5 years later) were found, showing less frequent intake of seabirds and fruits and more frequent meat intake. Conclusion We identified several factors that could affect dietary habits, and the results may be used to target future food recommendation for relevant population groups.

Diet and physical activity in Greenland: Genetic interactions and associations with obesity and diabetes

The Inuit in Greenland have gone through dramatic lifestyle changes during the last half century. More time is spent being sedentary and imported foods replaces traditional foods like seal and whale. The population has also experienced a rapid growth in obesity and metabolic disturbances and diabetes is today common despite being almost unknown few decades ago. In this paper, we describe and discuss the role of lifestyle changes and genetics for Inuit metabolic health. Novelty: • Cardiometabolic disease risk has increased in Greenland. Lifestyle changes and possibly gene-lifestyle interactions play a role.

A cross-border outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly cases confirmed by whole genome sequencing, Czech Republic and Slovakia, 2017 to 2018

In August 2017, an increased incidence of Salmonella Bareilly was detected in the Czech Republic. An investigation was conducted with Slovakia to confirm the outbreak and identify the source. Probable outbreak cases were defined as cases with laboratory-confirmed S. Bareilly reported in either of the national surveillance systems, and/or the Czech and Slovak National Reference Laboratory databases from July 2017. Confirmed cases had the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) outbreak pulsotype or up to 5 alleles difference from outbreak cluster members by core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST). PFGE and whole genome sequencing were used for isolate comparison. The same trawling questionnaire was used in both countries. By the end of October 2018, 325 cases were identified. Among 88 human S. Bareilly isolates analysed by PFGE, 82 (93%) shared an identical pulsotype; cgMLST of 17 S. Bareilly human isolates showed 1–2 allele difference. The trawling questionnaire excluded consumption of unusual or imported foods. In September 2018, an isolate closely related to the outbreak isolates was identified in a powdered egg product. A spray dryer was recognised as the contamination source and the production plant was closed. Using molecular typing methods, we detected a diffuse cross-border outbreak caused by S. Bareilly.