Search results

This paper aims to examine impacts of the poverty alleviation relocation (PAR) program on diet quality of low-income households in China. We explore the impact mechanism of relocation on diet quality and the heterogeneous effects of different relocation modes.

A fixed effects model is constructed using panel data of 1126 low-income households collected over three years in eight provinces of China. The PAR program provides a natural experiment which dramatically changes the living conditions surrounding farmers. We are able to identify the causal effects of relocation on diet quality free from selection bias.

The empirical results show that the PAR program improves diet quality of low-income households and that better market access and increasing incomes induced by relocation play an important role in this improvement. Improved market access significantly reduces the over-consumption of staple foods, whereas higher income significantly reduces the intake divergences of non-staple foods. The impacts of different relocation modes on diet quality are highly heterogeneous.

Our findings indicate that the PAR program benefits diet quality of low-income households through greater market access and increases in total household income. Market improvements and food subsidies are conducive to improving the diet quality of the low income.

Despite widespread evidences of healthy diets being associated with household environments and income, selection bias remains. This paper utilizes an exogenous program to explore the causal impacts of market access and family income on diet quality and to separate their different effects.

This study aims to determine the association between dietary quality and growth of the aboriginal primary school children in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.

The cross-sectional study was carried out in Negeri Sembilan. A total of 194 school-aged aboriginal children participated in the study. The dietary intake and socioeconomic status data were collected from the parents using an interviewer-administrated structured questionnaire comprised of sociodemographic questions and three days of dietary recall. The Malaysian Healthy Eating Index was used to determine the diet quality of children. WHO Anthro Plus software was used to determine the z-score of weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ) and body mass index (BMI)-for-age (BAZ).

Among all children, 15, 9 and 5% of them were stunted, underweight and thin, respectively. On the other hand, 16 and 12% of the children were overweight and obese, respectively. The aboriginal children were at risk of poor diet quality (37.19 ± 12.07) and had high dietary protein and fat intake than national recommended nutrient intake. The children achieved micronutrients intake, except for calcium. There was no significant association between total diet quality scores with growth indices among the aboriginal children. There is significant negative correlation between dietary vitamin A intake with HAZ (r = −0.168, p < 0.05) and WAZ (r = −0.219, p < 0.05) z-score of the aboriginal children.

Although there was a reduction in under-nutrition among the aborigines, an increasing over-nutrition status among aborigines should be considered, especially in terms of poor dietary quality and intake.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) suffer from many health problems including poor sleep. This paper aims to evaluate the relationship between diet quality indices (DQIs) and sleep quality in COPD.

The current cross-sectional study was carried on 121 COPD patients. Subjective quality of sleep was determined by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and categorized into “poor” and “good” sleep quality. Dietary history was assessed by the DQIs. Disease status was categorized according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Guidelines.

In total, 103 men and 18 women with a mean age of 66.1 ±10.9 were studied. The subjects were categorized into four groups based on GOLD; 3.3% of subjects were at Stage 1, 38% in Stage 2, 38% in Stage 3 and 20.7% in Stage 4. In total, 38% of subjects were good, and 62% were bad sleepers according to PSQI score. There was no significant relationship between the severity of COPD and PSQI score. We observed a significant inverse relation between PSQI total score and Mediterranean diet (MED) scale, Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2010 and HEI-2005 (p = 0.024, 0.037 and 0.024, respectively) in males.

This study showed a high prevalence of poor quality of sleep and sleep disturbances among COPD patients. There was an inverse association between PSQI and sleep disorders and DQIs scores in COPD patients. Regardless of the severity of airflow obstruction, poor diet quality may constitute a risk factor for sleep quality.

The purpose of this is study is to evaluate the diet quality in nine local government areas drawn from three states of the south-east geo-political zone of Nigeria.

A multi-stage sampling procedure yielded 1,200 women of childbearing age (15-49 years), who responded to a multi-pass 24-hour diet recall questionnaire at the household. Diet quality (DQ) was assessed using the “diet quality index international” (DQI-I) tool with a scale of 0-100.

Mean age of respondents was 28 ± 5.6 years and body mass index was 26.81 ± 4.8 kg/m². Majorities (96 per cent) were married, 53.2 per cent had complete secondary and 18 per cent post-secondary education, 41.7 per cent were traders, 14.3 per cent civil servants and 25.8 per cent were unemployed. Main staple foods included root and tubers, cereals, legumes and vegetables. The total DQ in the South-east was 58.8 ± 8.1 with a low “variety” (9.5 ± 3.0), poor “adequacy” (22.3 ± 4.7), good “moderation” (25.0 ± 3.8) and “overall balance” (2.0 ± 1.8).The total DQ in Imo, Enugu and Anambra were 58.6 ± 8.3, 58.8 ± 8.0 and 59.0 ± 8.1, respectively (P > 0.05).

The study was limited to three states in South-east Nigeria; it does not give a holistic view of the DQ of women of childbearing age in Nigeria.

The total DQ-I score revealed average overall DQ (59/100) for South-east. However, distinct patterns of low consumption of fruits and vegetables were identified. The need for national (and cross-continental) comparison of DQ using the DQI-I tool is hereby advocated.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of a worksite nutritional intervention on the dietary quality of adult workers from the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

A 6-month controlled community trial was performed involving 236 workers from São Paulo, Brazil. The intervention was implemented through interactive software that sends recommendations about diet and physical activity by e-mail. Data were collected for all participants using a 24-hour dietary recall and also for a sub-sample containing 25.4 per cent of the participants. Diet quality was assessed by the diet quality index adjusted (DQIa) comprising 10 components (grains and tubers; vegetables; fruits; milk and dairy products; meat and eggs; beans and legumes; total fat; saturated fat; sodium; and variety), scored from 0 (inadequate consumption) to 10 (recommended consumption). Intragroup impact of the intervention was assessed according to variation in total DQIa, its components and energy consumption. Impact adjusted between groups was also determined.

The intervention yielded improvements in DQIa and for the components cereals and tubers, vegetables, milk and dairy products and total fat. The workers who had a worst diet quality before the study were more susceptible to the intervention, which improved significantly the diet quality, with an adjusted impact of +6.4 points.

Few behavioral interventions have been performed using technologies, like e-mail, to encourage a healthy lifestyle. This study shows the importance of the counseling to promote a higher-quality diet, which can result in control of the obesity.

This paper aims to evaluate the association between carbohydrate quality index (CQI) and nutrient adequacy in Iranian adults.

A total of 268 men and women with ages ranged from 18 to 70 years were evaluated in a cross-sectional study. The CQI was calculated by adding together the three components, namely, the ratio of solid to total carbohydrate, dietary fiber and glycemic index. The scores of three components were summed to calculate the CQI, with a higher score indicating a higher dietary carbohydrate quality. The odds ratios (ORs) of nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR), defined as the ratio of intake of a nutrient to the age- and gender-specific recommended dietary allowance, for the intake of energy and 10 nutrients across quartiles of the CQI were calculated by logistic regression analysis and expressed with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

CQI ranged between 3 to 15 (mean ± SD: 9 ± 1.9). Being in top versus bottom quartile of the CQI was associated with a higher NAR of folic acid (OR: 3.20, 95% CI: 1.06–9.62; P-trend: <0.001), vitamin A (OR: 3.66; 95% CI: 1.46–9.17; P-trend: <0.001), magnesium (OR: 5.94; 95% CI; 1.71–20.53; P-trend: <0.001), vitamin C (OR: 7.85; 95% CI; 2.99–20.59; P-trend: <0.001).

A higher CQI was associated with greater micronutrient consumption adequacy in Iranian adults. The results suggest that increasing the consumption of total fiber and solid carbohydrates and decreasing the glycemic index of the diet and liquid carbohydrates can improve micronutrient intake adequacy.

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a subjective multi-dimensional concept referring to an individual’s perception of health and well-being in domains related to physical, mental, emotional and social functioning. The current study aims at investigating possible associations between dietary quality, disordered eating attitudes and HRQOL in Greek adolescents.

A total of 400 students (198 boys; 202 girls), 14-17 years old, were recruited from five high schools in the area of Kallithea in Athens, Greece. Standard anthropometric measurements were taken, and obesity classification was conducted using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-off points. Students completed the KIDMED index, which evaluates the degree of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) as a diet quality index, the EAT-26 questionnaire, which assesses disordered eating attitudes and the KIDSCREEN-27 questionnaire for children and adolescents assessing perceived HRQOL.

Disordered eating attitudes are significantly negatively correlated with the total score of HRQOL (p < 0.01) and with the subcategories: psychological well-being (p < 0.01), parents and autonomy (p < 0.01) and school environment (p < 0.001), whereas adherence to the MedDiet was positively correlated with all the components and total score of HRQOL. Linear regression analysis revealed that adherence to the MedDiet (p < 0.05), total number of meals/day (p < 0.01) and number of meals with the family (p < 0.05) were significant predictors of HRQOL in adolescents.

The convenient sampling of 400 students was conducted from five schools, from one municipality of Athens, Greece.

Adherence to the MedDiet positively affects important components of HRQOL in adolescents, whereas disordered eating attitudes has a negative effect. Identifying adolescents with low HRQOL is highly important because it could result in an early detection of individualised healthcare needs and possible non-diagnosed ill-health problems.

This study aims to assess the association of Healthy Eating Index (HEI) with levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS) and lipid profile in normoglycemic and elevated FBS patients.

This case-control study was conducted on 144 participants, namely, 72 normoglycemic subjects (FBS < 100 mg/dl) and 72 high-glycemic patients (FBS ≥ 100 mg/dl) aged 20–60 years of age, who were selected from the nutrition and diet clinics in Tehran city. The dietary intake was collected by using a validated food frequency questionnaire to determine the HEI score.

The mean±SD age and body mass index of participants were 47.1 ± 12.7 years and 29.6 ± 6.0 kg/m², respectively. The median (interquartile range) of HEI scores in the normoglycemic group and the high-glycemia group were 19.34 (15.24–24.31) and 16.53 (13.35–24.07), respectively. In the overall population, the findings of the multi-variable linear regression model indicated a positive association between the HEI score and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) (ß = 0.34; 95%CI: 0.05–0.64, P = 0.01). However, there is no significant association between HEI and HDL-C in normoglycemic (ß = 0.19; 95%CI: −0.31, 0.69, P = 0.45) and hyperglycemic subjects (ß = 0.28; 95%CI: −0.10–0.66, P = 0.15). Furthermore, the association of HEI with levels of FBS, triglycerides (TGs) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) was not significant in any of the analyzed groups, including the total population, normoglycemic individuals and hyperglycemic subjects.

This study was the first study to assess the role of HEI and its components with levels of FBS and lipid profile in normoglycemic and hyperglycemic individuals in Iran. The findings suggested that higher adherence to HEI may be associated with an increase in the HDL-C level. However, HEI could not predict FBS, TGs and LDL-C levels in the adult population.

The study aims to explore the effect of socio-economic status (SES) on energy balance behaviours and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), in Greek adolescents.

391 students, 14-16 years old, have been recruited from two public high schools located in low SES areas of Athens and two private high schools from higher SES areas. Students completed a specifically designed energy balance behaviours questionnaire together with the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents and the KIDMED index.

Adolescents of low SES reported lower adherence to the MD (p<0.05), higher consumption of soft drinks (p<0.001), lower breakfast consumption (p<0.001), fewer meals per day consumed with parents (p<0.05), lower physical activity levels (p<0.01) and more TV viewing hours (p<0.01) compared to adolescents of higher SES.

Family annual income, an indicator of family SES, has not been recorded, since this was considered a sensitive and difficult information to be obtained by the adolescents.

This study was conducted during a period of Greek economic recession and was designed to investigate the effect of lower SES on diet quality and unhealthy behaviours in the youth. Understanding and limiting possible health inequalities in Greece, due to the economic crisis, is of paramount importance.

The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is an expression of different Mediterranean food cultures and lifestyles. It is characterized by high consumption of olive oil, vegetables, legumes, whole grain products, fruits and nuts. This paper aims to emphasize on the evolution of human diet from earliest human ancestors to current civilization, the effect of MD on human health and the role of globalization to shift traditional diet, particularly MD to processed foods.

Different published papers were collected from the internet by using the following phrases: evolution of human diet, human ancestors, the effect of globalization on a regional diet, Mediterranean diet, healthy food, food pyramid, evolution of human diet and effect of globalization on diet. Finally, the papers were read and summarized as a review paper.

MD has been accepted worldwide owing to its health impact such as prevention and control of type 2 diabetes, anti-inflammatory effects and decrease in the risk of cardiovascular diseases and incidence of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. However, in conjunction with this discordance between our ancient, genetically determined biology and the nutritional, cultural and activity patterns of contemporary Western populations, many of the so-called diseases of civilization have emerged. Particularly, the food staples and food-processing procedures introduced during the Neolithic and Industrial periods have fundamentally altered nutritional characteristics of ancestral hominin diets. MD is currently under the risk of extinction for a result of the effects of globalization.

The review paper focuses on the evolution of human diet as an effect of globalization on the regional diet with emphasis on the MD. It specifically focuses on the link between diet and earliest human ancestors, about MD and its health benefit, diet pyramid and effect of globalization on regional diet.