Exploring culturally acceptable, nutritious, affordable, and low climatic impact diet for Japanese diets: Proof of concept of applying a new modelling approach using Data Envelopment Analysis

A future sustainable dietary pattern for Japanese is yet undefined. This study aimed to explore more sustainable Japanese diets, that are nutritious, affordable, and with low greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and particular emphasis on cultural acceptability. A newly developed Data Envelopment Analysis diet model was applied to 4-d dietary record data among 184 healthy Japanese men and 185 women volunteers aged 21–69 y. Alternative diets were calculated as the linear combinations of observed diets. Firstly, for each individual, four modelled diets were calculated that maximised cultural acceptability (i.e. minimize dietary change from observed diet), maximised nutritional quality assessed by the Nutrient-Rich Food Index (NRF), minimized monetary diet costs, or minimized diet-related GHGE. The final modelled diet combined all four indicators. In the first four models, the largest improvement was obtained for each targeted indicator separately, while relatively small improvements or unwanted changes were observed for other indicator. When all indicators were aimed to optimize, the NRF score and diet-related GHGE was improved by 8–13% with the lower monetary cost than observed diets, although the percentage improvement was a bit smaller than the separate models. The final modelled diets demanded increased intakes for whole grains, fruits, milk/cream/yoghurt, legumes/nuts, and decreased intakes for red and processed meat, sugar/confectionaries, alcoholic and sweetened beverages, and seasonings in both sexes. In conclusion, more sustainable dietary patterns considering several indicators are possible for Japanese while total improvement is moderate due to trade-offs between indicators and methodological limitation of DEA diet model.

Front-of-Pack Labeling in Chile: Effects on Employment, Real Wages, and Firms’ Profits after Three Years of Its Implementation

This study evaluates the impact of Chile’s innovative law on Food Labeling and Advertising, enacted in June 2016, on employment and real wages and profit margins for the food and beverage manufacturing sectors in the 2016–2019 period, using unique company-specific monthly data from Chile’s tax collection agency (measuring aggregate employment, real wages, average size of firms, and gross profit margins of the food and beverage manufacturing sector). Interrupted-time series analyses (ITSA) on administrative data from tax-paying firms was used and compared to synthetic control groups of sectors not affected by the regulations. ITSA results show no effect on aggregate employment nor on the average size of the firms, while they show negligible effects on real wages and gross margin of profits (as proportion of total sales), after the first two stages of the implementation (36 months), despite significant decreases in consumption in certain categories (sugar-sweetened beverages, breakfast cereals, etc.). Despite the large declines found in purchases of unhealthy foods, employment did not change and impacts on other economic outcomes were small. Though Chile’s law, is peculiar there is no reason to believe that if similar regulations were adopted elsewhere, they would have different results.

Changes in Total Energy, Nutrients and Food Group Intake among Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Results of the DONALD Study

The COVID-19 pandemic may have changed the habitual lifestyles of children and adolescents, in particular, due to the closure of kindergartens and schools. To investigate the impact of the pandemic on nutrients and food intake of children and adolescents in Germany, we analyzed repeated 3-day weighed dietary records from 108 participants (3–18 years; females: n = 45, males: n = 63) of the Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) study. Polynomial mixed-effects regression models were used to identify prospective changes in dietary intake (total energy (TEI), carbohydrates, fat, protein, free sugar, ultra-processed foods, fruits and vegetables, sugar sweetened beverages and juices) before and during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the current analysis, we have chosen the first months of the pandemic (March 2020–August 2020), as this was the period with the most restrictions in Germany so far (kindergarten, school and restaurant closures; contact and outdoor activity restrictions). No significant changes in either the selected nutrients or food groups were observed. However, children and adolescents recorded a significantly lower TEI during the pandemic (β = −109.65, p = 0.0062). Results remained significant after the exclusion of participants with under-reported records (β = −95.77, p = 0.0063). While macronutrient intake did not change, descriptive data indicate a non-significant decrease in sugar sweetened beverages and ultra-processed foods intake. We suggest that children and adolescents from high socioeconomic families may have adapted lifestyle changes during the pandemic.

Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened or Artificially Sweetened Beverages and Semen Quality in Young Men: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Existing literature suggests that frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks may be associated with lower semen quality. Studies performed in mice suggest a dose-response relationship between intake of saccharin or aspartame, two artificial sweeteners, and sperm and testis function. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on data from The Fetal Programming of Semen Quality (FEPOS) Cohort, including 1047 young men (mean age = 19 years) was performed. Each male participant completed an online questionnaire on health, health behavior and diet, and provided a semen sample. The associations between consumption of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages (moderate ≥ 3 days/week; infrequent < 3 days/week) and semen quality were analyzed using a multivariable, negative, binomial regression model. Results: Sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverage consumption was not strongly associated with either semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count or total motility in young men. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm was 11% lower (0.89 (95% CI 0.76, 1.04)) for moderate (≥3 days/week) consumption of artificially sweetened beverages relative to infrequent (<3 days/week). Conclusion: Consumption of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages, at the levels present in this study had limited effect on the measured markers of semen quality in young men.

Quality of Beverage Intake and Cardiometabolic and Kidney Outcomes: Insights From the STANISLAS Cohort

Background and Aims: Beverages are an important aspect of diet, and their quality can possibly affect health. The Healthy Beverage Index (HBI) has been developed to take into account these effects. This study aimed to highlight the relationships between health and beverage quality by assessing the association of the HBI and its components with kidney and cardiometabolic (CM) outcomes in an initially healthy population-based familial cohort.Methods: This study included 1,271 participants from the STANISLAS cohort. The HBI, which includes 10 components of habitual beverage consumption, was calculated. Associations of the HBI and its components with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), albuminuria, hypertriglyceridemic waist (HTG waist), metabolic syndrome (MetS), carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), and left ventricular mass (LV mass) were analyzed using multivariable linear or logistic regression models.Results: The median HBI score was 89.7 (78.6–95) out of 100 points. While the overall HBI score was not significantly associated with any of the studied outcomes, individual HBI components were found differently associated with the outcomes. cfPWV and cIMT were lower in participants who did not meet the full-fat milk criteria (p = 0.03 and 0.001, respectively). In men, higher cfPWV was observed for the “low Fat milk” (p = 0.06) and “alcohol” (p = 0.03) non-adherence criteria. Odds of HTG waist were higher with the non-adherence to sugar-sweetened beverages criteria (p &lt; 0.001). eGFR was marginally higher with non-adherence to the coffee/tea criteria (p = 0.047).Conclusions: In this initially healthy population, HBI components were differently associated with kidney and cardiometabolic outcomes, despite a good overall HBI score. Our results highlight specific impacts of different beverage types and suggest that beverages could have an impact on kidney and cardiometabolic health.

The Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is associated with a lower risk of heart failure: A cohort study

Aims Trials demonstrate that following the DASH diet lowers blood pressure, which may prevent development of heart failure (HF). We investigated the association between long-term adherence to the DASH diet and food substitutions within the DASH diet on the risk of HF. Methods Men and women aged 45-83 years without previous HF, ischemic heart disease or cancer at baseline in 1998 from the Cohort of Swedish Men (n = 41,118) and the Swedish Mammography Cohort (n = 35,004) were studied. The DASH diet emphasizes intake of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes and low-fat dairy and deemphasizes red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages and sodium. DASH diet scores were calculated based on diet assessed by food frequency questionnaires in late 1997 and 2009. Incidence of HF was ascertained using the Swedish Patient Register. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results During the median 22 years of follow-up (1998-2019) 12,164 participants developed HF. Those with the greatest adherence to the DASH diet had a lower risk of HF compared to those with the lowest adherence (HR 0.85, 95% CI 0.80, 0.91 for baseline diet and HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.78, 0.89 for long-term diet, comparing quintiles). Replacing 1 serving/day of red and processed meat with emphasized DASH diet foods was associated with an 8-12% lower risk of HF. Conclusion Long-term adherence to the DASH diet and relevant food substitutions within the DASH diet were associated with a lower risk of HF.

Energy, nutrients and food sources in snacks for adolescents and young adults

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate associations between snacking and energy, nutrients and food source, and to identify the contribution of snacking across age, sex, weight status and lifestyle behaviors among adolescents and young adults. Methods: A sub-sample was calculated from the population-based cross-sectional study 2015-Health Survey of São Paulo (ISA-Capital). The survey “ISA-Nutrição” used a sample of non-institutionalized individuals aged >15 years. For this study, only adolescents (12-18 years old; n=418) and young adults (19-29 years old; n=218) were included. Snacks were identified, and their contribution to energy, nutrients, and food sources were calculated. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used. Results: Participants experienced an average of 2.9±0.6 snacking occasions per day. Young adults consumed more energy from morning and night snacks, and adolescents, from afternoon snacks. The top three food sources on snacking contributed to 30.5% of energy: cookies (11.8%), sugar sweetened beverages (9.4%), sweets and other desserts (9.3%). Although results were non-significant, being a female (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.93; 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 0.36-1.49), meeting the physical activity recommendations (OR 0.75; 95%CI 0.25-1.25), and scoring higher for the healthy eating index (OR 0.88; 95%C 0.24-1.52) were all factors related to increased intake of snacks. Alternatively, overweight individuals (OR -0.54; 95%CI -1.00 to -0.08) consumed less snacks. Conclusions: Improving the quality of snacks should be considered in behavior-change strategies.

Changes in food habits amongst Norwegian adolescents in 2016 and 2019 according to gender and socioeconomic status

Background: Monitoring dietary habits is important in order to identify risk groups and as a basis for targeted public health initiatives. Objective: To study trends in consumption of selected foods and beverages from 2016 to 2019 amongst Norwegian adolescents according to gender and parental education. Design: Repeated cross-sectional study amongst 25,996 adolescents, aged 14–17 years old. Consumption of selected food and beverages was measured by an online food frequency questionnaire and general linear models were applied to estimate changes in dietary habits. Results: Between 2016 and 2019, we observed a reduced frequency of consumption of vegetables (from 4.7 to 4.4 times/week), fruit and berries (from 4.4 to 4.2 times/week), whole-grain bread (from 5.1 to 4.2 times/week), and fish (from 2.3 to 1.6 times/week). During this time period, we also observed a reduced frequency of consumption of salty snacks (from 2.1 to 1.9 times/week), sweets (from 2.3 to 2.0 times/week), sugar-sweetened beverages (from 2.8 to 2.6 times/week), and artificially sweetened beverages (from 2.2 to 1.5 times/week). In girls, there was a decrease in the reported frequency of consumption of fruit and berries (−4%, vs. no change in boys). The decrease in consumption frequency of whole-grain bread was larger in girls than in boys (−19% vs. −14%). Further, a 17% decrease in consumption of sweets was observed amongst adolescents with no or only one parent having college/university education compared to a 13% decrease in adolescents whose both parents had college/university education. Conclusion: Our results showed a decrease in frequency of consumption of selected healthy and unhealthy food and beverages amongst adolescents between 2016 and 2019. The gender gap in consumption of fruit and berries and whole-grain bread seemed to decrease during this time period, and the socio-economic gap in consumption of sweets seemed to disappear.

Like parent, like child: a cross-sectional study of intra-household consumption patterns of non-alcoholic beverages among British households with children

Objective: Most research investigating sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and health, conducted at the individual or household level, ignores potentially important intra-household dynamics. We analysed self-reported consumption relationships between children and adults, and between children of different ages, as well as the associations between intra-household consumption, body mass index and socio-demographic characteristics. Design: A cross-sectional analysis of survey data from Kantar Fast Moving Consumer Goods panellists in September 2017. Setting: Great Britain Participants: Random sample of 603 households with children under 18 who regularly purchase non-alcoholic beverages. Results: Low or no-sugar/diet beverages dominate consumption across all age categories, particularly children under 12 years. SSB consumption increased as children became older. Children’s reported consumption of SSBs and low or no-sugar/diet beverages was positively associated with consumption by adults; a child in adolescence had over nine times the odds of consuming SSBs (adjusted OR 9.55, 95% CI 5.38, 17.00, p<0.001), and eight times the odds of consuming low or no-sugar/diet drinks (adjusted OR 8.12, 95% CI 4.71, 13.97, p<0.001), if adults did so. In households with multiple children, consumption patterns of older siblings were associated with those of the younger; notably a perfect correlation between children 0-6 years consuming SSBs if siblings 13-18 years did so, and children 7-12 years had 22 times the odds of consuming SSBs if siblings 13-18 years did so (OR 22.33, 95% CI 8.60, 58.01, p<0.001). Conclusions: Multiple policies, targeting children as well as adults, such as fiscal levers and advertisement restrictions, are needed to reduce and prevent consumption of SSBs.