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Worldwide dietary and lifestyle factors associated with diabetes prevalence and total cholesterol levels: an ecological analysis.
Get PDFThe worldwide epidemiology of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia is changing rapidly as a result of the diffusion of Westernised nutritional and lifestyle patterns. We conducted an ecological analysis to identify dietary, lifestyle and socio-economic factors associated with global distribution of diabetes prevalence and total cholesterol levels.
Country-specific prevalence estimates of diabetes prevalence and total cholesterol levels were obtained from freely available electronic databases maintained and updated by established international organisations such asas the World Health Organisation (WHO),
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Bank. Data on diabetes prevalence and cholesterol concentrations were then matched to year- and country-specific food and energy availability for consumption and to year-specific information on physical inactivity, urbanisation, gross domestic product (GDP), life expectancy, and smoking. Cluster analysis was used to derive typical dietary patterns of global food consumption and their association with diabetes prevalence and total cholesterol levels was evaluated. Socio-demographic and dietary predictors of diabetes prevalence and total cholesterol levels were identified using multiple regression models.
Physical inactivity and eggs consumption emerged as predictors of diabetes and total cholesterol levels in fully-adjusted multiple regression models, respectively. Three dietary
patterns (agricultural, transitional and westernised) were identified by the cluster analysis. A significant increase in diabetes prevalence and total cholesterol levels was observed as countries move from an agricultural to a westernised dietary pattern. Prevention of physical inactivity is a global priority as closely linked to worldwide diabetes burden. The role of global consumption of eggs as a worldwide predictor of total
cholesterol levels is a novel finding which requires further validation in epidemiological studies conducted in developed and developing countries
The long-term effects of antenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation in Nepal
Full text linkThe PhD thesis investigates the long-term effects of antenatal multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation. A growing body of evidence suggests that changes in early-life environment can have lasting effects on health and disease. To investigate this, we followed up children from a double-blind randomised controlled trial of MMN in pregnancy. The trial found that the intervention group were a mean 77 g heavier at birth and 204 g at 2.5 years, with a 2.5 mmHg lower mean blood pressure. The project described in the thesis set out to investigate the role of antenatal MMN intervention in the programming of future health and disease risk factors in mid-childhood. It sought to determine whether the differences in anthropometry previously present were sustained into mid-childhood and if this was due to an increase in lean mass or fat mass. It also looked at whether antenatal MMN supplementation resulted in an improvement in lung function in the children. Finally, two secondary analyses were conducted to investigate the association between socioeconomic status and growth, and air pollution and asthma. We measured anthropometry, body composition using bioelectrical impedance (with population specific isotope calibration), blood pressure, kidney dimensions by ultrasound and lung function. Data were also collected on potential confounders: socieconomic status, food security and personal air pollution exposure estimates. We assessed 841 children (422 controls, 419 intervention) at a mean age 8.5 years. Other than maternal education and residence, children lost to follow-up were no different. The unadjusted differences (intervention minus control), were 0.05 z-scores (95% CI -0.09, 0.19) for weight-for-age, 0.02 z-scores (95% CI -0.10, 0.15) for height, -0.08 z scores (95% CI - 0.19, 0.04) for forced expiratory volume in the first second, and -0.05 (95% CI -0.17, 0.06) for forced vital capacity. There was no difference in blood pressure, body circumferences, lean mass, skinfold thicknesses or kidney measurements. The adjusted differences were similar for all outcomes. When considered together, just over half the children had low weight-for-age, and approximately one-third had stunting and low body mass index. Only 1.4% of the children were overweight and mean fat mass proportion was 14.5%. When lung function was expressed in relation to predicted values for Caucasian children, FEV1 was 14% lower and FVC 12% lower. Our measures of socioeconomic status produced a multidimensional poverty index score of 0.155 and approximately one in ten households were considered food insecure in the previous year. The air pollution data showed a mean 24 hour time-weighted average of 168 μg/m3. We found an overall low prevalence of asthma, with air pollution associated with cough at night in boys only (odds ratio 1.15 per 10 μg/m3 increase in air pollution; 95% CI 1.05, 1.26). Socioeconomic status was associated with the growth of children when families owned more expensive assets and appeared to have the greatest effect on skeletal growth in early life. Differences in phenotype, body composition and lung function between children born to mothers who received antenatal MMN supplements and children whose mothers received iron and folate were not apparent at 8.5 years. While generally poor, households were comparable to those in more affluent regions of the country and were relatively food secure. The air pollution data showed that the children were exposed to levels much higher than national and international recommendations
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Evaluation of air-displacement plethysmography in children aged 5-7 years using a three-component model of body composition
No full textThe aim of the present study was to evaluate air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) in children aged 5-7 years. Body-composition measurements were obtained by ADP, H-2 dilution and anthropometry in twenty-eight children. Calculation of body volume by ADP was undertaken using adult and children's equations for predicting lung volume and surface area. Fat-free mass (FFM) was calculated using a three-component model. Measured FFM hydration was then compared with values from the reference child. Differences between measured and reference hydration were back-extrapolated, to calculate the error in ADP that would account for any disagreement. Propagation of error was used to distinguish the contributions of methodological precision and biological variability to total hydration variability. The use of children's equations influenced the results for lung volume but not surface area. The mean difference between measured and reference hydration was 0.6 (SD 1.7) % (P<0.10), equivalent to an error in body volume of 0.04 (So 0.20) litres (P<0.30), and in percentage fat of 0.4 (SD 1.9) (P<0.28). The limits of agreement in individuals could be attributed to methodological precision and biological variability in hydration. It is concluded that accuracy of ADP was high for the whole group, with a mean bias of <0.5% fat using the three-component model, and after taking into account biological variability in hydration, the limits of agreement were around 2 % fat in individuals. Paediatric rather than adult equations for lung volume estimation should be used
The Significance of Socially Transmitted Information for Nutrition and Health in the Great Ape Clade
No full textVariations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Prediction of total body water in infants and children
No full textBackground: In paediatric clinical practice treatment is often adjusted in relation to body size, for example the calculation of pharmacological and dialysis dosages. In addition to use of body weight, for some purposes total body water (TBW) and surface area are estimated from anthropometry using equations developed several decades previously. Whether such equations remain valid in contemporary populations is not known.Methods: Total body water was measured using deuterium dilution in 672 subjects (265 infants aged < 1 year; 407 children and adolescents aged 1-19 years) during the period 1990-2003. TBW was predicted (a) using published equations, and (b) directly from data on age, sex, weight, and height.Results: Previously published equations, based on data obtained before 1970, significantly overestimated TBW, with average biases ranging from 4% to 11%. For all equations, the overestimation of TBW was greatest in infancy. New equations were generated. The best equation, incorporating log weight, log height, age, and sex, had a standard error of the estimate of 7.8%.Conclusions: Secular trends in the nutritional status of infants and children are altering the relation between age or weight and TBW. Equations developed in previous decades significantly overestimate TBW in all age groups, especially infancy; however, the relation between TBW and weight may continue to change. This scenario is predicted to apply more generally to many aspects of paediatric clinical practice in which dosages are calculated on the basis of anthropometric data collected in previous decades
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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