24,469 research outputs found
TV and Inactivity Are Separate Contributors to Metabolic Risk Factors in Children
No full textInterventions against childhood obesity will need to target both excess TV viewing and physical inactivity "separately, yet together," say Prentice and Jebb
Changes in eating behaviour traits during weight loss and their relationship to changes in diet and body weight
No full textStearidonic acid as a supplemental source of ?-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids to enhance status for improved human health
No full textThere is substantial evidence to show that consumption and increased blood levels of the very long-chain (VLC) ?-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (?-3 PUFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are associated with health benefits. The consumption of oily fish is an effective way of increasing EPA and DHA intake and status, but intake in most Western countries remains below the levels recommended for optimal health. The reasons for this include not liking the taste, a concern about sustainability of fish supplies, or potential chemical and heavy metal contamination. Alternative dietary sources of ?-3 fatty acids to enhance EPA and DHA status in the body would therefore be beneficial. There are many non-fish food sources of the essential plant-derived ?-3 fatty acid ?-linolenic acid, but conversion from this to longer-chain EPA and especially to DHA is poor. Stearidonic acid (SDA) is an intermediate fatty acid in the biosynthetic pathway from ?-linolenic acid to VLC ?-3 PUFAs and the conversion from SDA is more efficient than from ?-linolenic acid. However, there are few food sources rich in SDA. Oil crops naturally rich in SDA or enriched through genetic modification may offer an alternative supplemental oil to boost the population status of VLC ?-3 PUFAs. This review discusses the currently available evidence that increased SDA consumption can increase red blood cell EPA content, although this is less than the effect of supplementation directly with EPA. There is now a need for trials specifically designed to assess whether an increased SDA consumption would translate into improved human health outcomes
Factors that determine energy compensation: a systematic review of preload studies
No full textInsufficient energy compensation after a preload (meal, snack, or beverage) has been associated with excess energy intake, but experimental studies have used heterogeneous methodologies, making energy compensation difficult to predict. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the relative contributions of two key variables, preload physical form and intermeal interval (IMI), to differences in energy compensation. Forty-eight publications were included, from which percent energy compensation (%EC) data were extracted for 253 interventions (121 liquid, 69 semisolid, 20 solid, and 43 composite preloads). Energy compensation ranged from -370% (over-consumption, mostly of liquids) to 450% (overcompensation). A meta-regression analysis of studies reporting positive energy compensation showed that IMI (as the predominant factor) together with preload physical form and energy contributed significantly to %EC differences, accounting for 50% of the variance, independently from gender and BMI. Energy compensation was maximized when the preload was in semisolid/solid form and the IMI was 30-120 min. These results may assist in the interpretation of studies assessing the relative efficacy of interventions to enhance satiety, including functional foods and weight management products. (C) 2013 International Life Sciences Institut
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
The Public Health Responsibility Deal Food Network
No full textThe UK Department of Health's Responsibility Deal represents a new approach to public private partnerships to improve public health. This paper focuses on the Food Network and actions to improve the nation's diet. It summarises the pledges developed so far and early indicators of progress. It also signposts areas for future work and processes for monitoring and evaluation. © 2012 The Author. Journal compilation © 2012 British Nutrition Foundation
Language Change and SA-OT: The case of sentential negation
No full textSimulated Annealing for Optimality Theory (SA-OT) updates Optimality Theory by adding a model of performance to a theory of linguistic competence. Our aim is to show that SA-OT can contribute to language change simulations. Performance "errors" are considered to be one of the causes of variation and change. We have chosen to model the evolution of sentential negation (SN). The descriptive background adopts Jespersen's Cycle, according to which the evolution of sentential negation follows three main stages (1. pre-verbal, 2. discontinuous, and 3. post-verbal). Therefore, we advance a novel model for SN, based on SA-OT. It reproduces the three pure and the two observed mixed stages, whereas it correctly predicts the lack of an intermediate stage between 3 and 1. The success of the approach corroborates the computational, performance-based approach to the data. Finally, we employ the iterated learning paradigm to reproduce historical changes in a "simulated corpus study". This enterprise turns out to be more difficult than one would naively believe.Appeared open access as: Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands Journal (CLIN), vol. 1 (2011), pp. 21-40, and is available at http://www.clinjournal.org/sites/default/files/Lopopolo.pdfA. Lopopolo and Biró, T., “Language Change and SA-OT. The case of sentential negation”, Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands Journal, vol. 1, pp. 21-40, 2011.Peer Reviewe
The impact of nutritional labels and socioeconomic status on energy intake. An experimental field study.
No full textThere is some evidence for paradoxical effects of nutritional labelling on energy intake particularly amongst restrained eaters and those with a higher body mass index (BMI) resulting in greater consumption of energy from foods with a positive health message (e.g. "low-fat") compared with the same foods, unlabelled. This study aimed to investigate, in a UK general population sample, the likelihood of paradoxical effects of nutritional labelling on energy intake. Participants (n = 287) attended a London cinema and were offered a large tub of salted or toffee popcorn. Participants were randomised to receive their selected flavour with one of three labels: a green low-fat label, a red high-fat label or no label. Participants watched two film clips while completing measures of demographic characteristics, emotional state and taste of the popcorn. Following the experiment, popcorn consumption was measured. There were no main effects of nutritional labelling on consumption. Contrary to predictions neither BMI nor weight concern moderated the effect of label on consumption. There was a three-way interaction between low-fat label, weight concern and socioeconomic status (SES) such that weight-concerned participants of higher SES who saw a low-fat label consumed more than weight unconcerned participants of similar SES (t = -2.7, P = .04). By contrast, weight-concerned participants of lower SES seeing either type of label, consumed less than those seeing no label (t = -2.04, P = .04). Nutritional labelling may have different effects in different socioeconomic groups. Further studies are required to understand fully the possible contribution of food labelling to health inequalities
The relationship between appetitive traits, dietary intake and weight gain in the Gemini cohort
No full textThis thesis uses data from the Gemini twin birth cohort to explore interrelationships between appetite, dietary intake, consumption patterns and weight during early childhood. Specifically it aims to: (i) describe the dietary intake of young children; (ii) explore associations between appetite, eating patterns, and dietary intake; (iii) identify associations between eating patterns and weight gain; (iv) examine the mediation of the appetite-weight relationship by eating patterns; and (v) assess the continuity and stability of appetite and eating patterns from early to middle childhood. Chapter 4 describes the dietary intake of children aged 21 months in relation to UK public health nutrition recommendations. At a population level, young children are exceeding recommended intakes of energy and protein but not meeting recommended intakes of Vitamin D or iron. Chapter 5 explored the role of appetite in dietary intake during the complementary feeding period. Children with lower appetitive avidity consumed more milk, and had lower food intake, than those with more avid appetites. Mothers reported supplementing their child’s diet with formula milk due to ‘picky’ eating. Chapter 6 explored the role of appetite in how children eat and drink. Food Responsiveness was associated with higher ‘meal frequency’, and Satiety Responsiveness was associated with larger ‘meal size’. Chapter 7 established that larger meals, but not more frequent eating, were associated with weight status at aged two, and weight gain from two to five years. These associations were replicated cross-sectionally in a nationally representative sample. Chapter 8 demonstrated that meal size partially mediated the relationship between Satiety Responsiveness and weight. Findings from Chapter 9 suggested that appetite and eating patterns track moderately from early to mid-childhood. Overall this thesis identifies behavioural pathways through which individual differences in appetite may result in weight gain
Interventions to accelerate change towards a healthier diet
No full textPoor diets are a significant contributor to non-communicable diseases and obesity. Despite years of health promotion, change in dietary habits is slow and there is growing recognition of the need to provide greater support to individuals and to complement individual efforts with changes in the food environment to shift the default towards healthier diets. The present paper summarises opportunities for intervention at the individual and population level. It discusses the role of voluntary or mandatory approaches to drive change in the food industry and the need for improved methods to monitor and evaluate progress. It concludes with a call to action from all stakeholders to accelerate change towards a healthier diet
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