1184Combined association of living alone and dietary variety with mental health in older Japanese adults

Background We examined whether dietary variety (DV) might alleviate poor mental health (MH) of living-alone (LA) older adults. Methods Cross-sensational data from 15073 (7566 men; 7507 women) residents aged 65-84 years were assessed using the WHO-Five Well-being Index to determine poor MH (defined by a score ≤ 12) and DV (low and high DV defined by a score ≤ 3 and ≥ 4, respectively). Participants were divided into living together with high DV (G1), living together with low DV (G2), LA with high DV (G3), and LA with low DV (G4). Logistic regression analyses stratified by gender were performed to examine the association of poor MH with LA and DV. Results Prevalence of LA, low DV, and poor MH were 13.6%, 63.3%, and 26.1%, respectively, in men, and 21.2%, 54.6%, and 24.8%, respectively, in women. Compared with the G1, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals) for worse MH were 1.69 (1.49-1.93) for G2, 2.04 (1.50-2.78) for G3, and 3.34 (2.70-4.11) for G4 in men. Corresponding ORs were 1.73 (1.52-1.96), 1.02 (0.83-1.26), and 1.66 (1.36-2.01) in women. Conclusions The association of poor MH with LA was more apparent in older adults with low DV than in those with high DV; however, this association differed with gender. Key message Eating a variety of food may help alleviate the negative effects of living alone on mental health in older adults.

828Dietary Variety and Incident Disabling Dementia in Elderly Japanese Adults

Background Although consuming a variety of foods is an internationally accepted recommendation for a healthy diet, little is known about the association between dietary variety and incident dementia. This study aimed to examine the association between dietary variety and incident disabling dementia in community-dwelling elderly Japanese adults. Methods We conducted a prospective study of 721 participants (age range: 65–97 years) of the 2012–2013 Kusatsu Longitudinal Study. Dietary variety was assessed based on a food frequency questionnaire that encompassed the 10 main food components of Japanese meals: meat, fish/shellfish, eggs, milk, soybean products, green/yellow vegetables, potatoes, fruit, seaweed, and fats/oils). Participants were then categorized into low (0–2 points), middle (3–5 points), and high (6–10 points) groups based on the scores. Data regarding incident disabling dementia were retrieved from the public Long-term Care Insurance database. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results During the median follow-up of 6.5 years, the incidence of disabling dementia was 9.3%. After adjusting for confounders, the multivariate HR for incident disabling dementia was 0.52 (95% CI, 0.27–1.00) for participants in the highest category of the dietary variety score compared to that for those in the lowest category. Conclusions Greater dietary variety is associated with a reduced risk of incident disabling dementia in elderly Japanese adults. Key messages Consuming a variety of foods may be necessary for dementia prevention.

Dietary Variety Relates to Gut Microbiota Diversity and Abundance

Objectives Cumulative evidence indicated dietary intake is associated with gut microbiota. This study aim to investigate the association between Dietary Variety Score (DVS) and the Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ) and gut microbiota in healthy individuals. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed gut microbiota composition and structure using 16S rRNA gene (V4-V5 region) sequencing of 128 participants. Dietary frequency and 24-h dietary consumption was ascertained using an FFQ. Differences in α- and β-diversity and taxonomic relative abundances between the higher and lower DVS and INQs were compared, followed by multivariable analyses. Results The structure of the microbiota significantly differed by dietary variety. A lower score for DVS was associated with significantly lower richness (Shannon index P = 0.0096). The INQ of vitamin E (INQVE), Zinc (INQZn) and vitamin B6 (INQB6) correlated positively with the Shannon index (rho = 0.235, P = 0.008 for INQVE; rho = 0.209, P = 0.019 for INQZn; rho = 0.182, P = 0.040 for INQB6). A cumulative higher score of INQZn, INQB6 and INQVE was associated with significantly higher richness (Shannon index p-trend = 0.001). A lower score for DVS was associated with significantly reduced relative abundance of genus on Alistipes, Megasphaera and Barnesiella but higher Roseburia and Haemophilus. A lower score for INQVE was associated with significantly reduced relative abundance of genus on Coprococcus and Romboutsia. A lower score for INQB6 was associated with significantly reduced relative abundance of genus on Lachnospira, Dorea, Butyricicoccus, and Anaerostipes but higher Lachnoclostridium (the linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) >3). Meanwhile, the abundance of Coprococcus significantly increased with the higher cumulative score of INQVE, INQZn and INQB6 (P < 0.01), and it associated negatively with LDL level (coef = −0.264, P = 0.041). The findings were confirmed by multivariate analysis. Conclusions Lower dietary variety was significantly associated with reduced relative abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria but increased potentially harmful bacteria in the healthy individuals. Funding Sources This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.82,060,593), Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province (No. 2018GXNSFDA050019).

Advances in understanding behavioral needs and improving the welfare of calves and heifers

Management factors affecting dairy calves have broad impacts on behavioral development and implications for long-term welfare, and research in this area is increasingly focused on understanding the behavioral needs of the calf, to refine management and improve understanding of welfare. In this chapter, we summarize recent research addressing behavioral needs of pre-weaned calves and post-weaned heifers, encompassing aspects of social interactions and feeding, rest and comfort, and opportunities for other behavioral expression. In general, evidence suggests welfare and performance benefits of accommodating more natural behavioral expression, including social contact, higher milk intakes fed via a teat, dietary variety, and space and resources to accommodate preferred activities, such as grooming and play. Throughout these sections, consequences of restricting these behaviors includes development of abnormal oral behaviors. Emerging themes of this area of research include consideration of individual differences and implications and approaches to accommodate broader behavioral expression through increasing environmental complexity.

Low Dietary Variety and Diabetes Mellitus Are Associated with Frailty among Community-Dwelling Older Japanese Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

The association between dietary diversity and frailty remains unknown in older people. We evaluated whether a limited dietary variety is associated with frailty in older adults with diabetes mellitus (DM). This cross-sectional investigation included 1357 adults (median age: 77 years, women: 61.3%). DM was determined by self-reporting, the Dietary Variety Score (DVS) was used to evaluate dietary variety, and the revised Japanese version of the Cardiovascular Health Study criteria evaluated frailty. Participants were divided into 4 groups: no DM/high DVS (non-DMHV), no DM/low DVS (non-DMLV), DM/high DVS (DMHV), and DM/low DVS (DMLV). The prevalence of frailty in each group was 3.6%, 6.7%, 6.7%, and 12.2%. After adjusting for covariates, logistic regression analysis revealed the highest odds ratio (OR) of frailty in the DMLV (non-DMLV, OR = 2.18 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25–3.83); DMHV, OR = 1.87 (95% CI: 0.63–5.52); DML, OR = 5.03 (95% CI: 2.05–12.35)). Another logistic regression analysis revealed that a low DVS and DM were independently associated with frailty. Both a low dietary variety and DM were independently related to frailty in older people and the combination increased the prevalence of frailty. These findings suggest that high dietary variety could be important for the prevention of frailty in people with DM.

Strawberries and Cream: The Relationship Between Food Rejection and Thematic Knowledge of Food in Young Children

Establishing healthy dietary habits in childhood is crucial in preventing long-term repercussions, as a lack of dietary variety in childhood leads to enduring impacts on both physical and cognitive health. Poor conceptual knowledge about food has recently been shown to be a driving factor of food rejection. The majority of studies that have investigated the development of food knowledge along with food rejection have mainly focused on one subtype of conceptual knowledge about food, namely taxonomic categories (e.g., vegetables or meat). However, taxonomic categorization is not the only way to understand the food domain. We also heavily rely on other conceptual structures, namely thematic associations, in which objects are grouped because they share spatial-temporal properties or exhibit a complementary relationship (e.g., soft-boiled egg and soldiers). We rely on such thematic associations between food items, which may not fall into the same taxon, to determine the acceptability of food combinations. However, the development of children's ability to master these relations has not been systematically investigated, nor alongside the phenomenon of food rejection. The present research aims to fill this gap by investigating (i) the development of conceptual food knowledge (both taxonomic and thematic) and (ii) the putative relationship between children's food rejection (as measured by the Child Food Rejection Scale) and both thematic and taxonomic food knowledge. A proportional (A:B::C:?) analogy task, with a choice between taxonomic (i.e., bread and pasta) and thematic (i.e., bread and butter) food associates, was conducted on children between 3 and 7-years-old (n = 85). The children were systematically presented with either a thematic or taxonomic food base pair (A:B) and then asked to extend the example type of relation to select the respective thematic or taxonomic match to the target (C:?). Our results revealed, for the first time, that increased levels of food rejection were significantly predictive of poorer food identification and decreased thematic understanding. These findings entitle us to hypothesize that knowledge-based food education programs to foster dietary variety in young children, should not only aim to improve taxonomic understanding of food, but also thematic relations.