Search results

This study aims to identify the dietary patterns of two groups of subjects (with and without COVID-19), and to assess the relationship of findings with the prognosis of COVID-19 and metabolic risk parameters.

This study included 100 individuals in the age range of 19–65 years. The medical history, and data on biochemical, hematological and inflammatory indicators were retrieved from the files. A questionnaire for the 24-h food record and the food intake frequency was administered in face-to-face interviews, and dietary patterns of subjects were assessed.

In individuals with COVID-19, the hip circumference, the waist-hip ratio and the body fat percentage were significantly higher (p < 0.05), and the muscle mass percentage was significantly lower (p < 0.05). Mediterranean diet adherence screener (MEDAS), dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) and healthy eating ındex-2015 (HEI-2015) scores were low in the two groups. A linear correlation of DASH scores was found with the muscle mass percentage (p = 0.046) and a significant inverse correlation of with the body fat percentage (p = 0.006). HEI-2015 scores were significantly and negatively correlated with body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference and neck circumference (p < 0.05). Every one-unit increase in MEDAS, DASH and HEI-2015 scores caused reductions in C-reactive protein levels at different magnitudes. Troponin-I was significantly and negatively correlated with fruit intake (p = 0.044), a component of a Mediterranean diet and with HEI-2015 total scores (p = 0.032).

The limitation of this study includes the small sample size and the lack of dietary interventions. Another limitation is the use of the food recall method for the assessment of dietary patterns. This way assessments were performed based on participants’ memory and statements.

Following a healthy diet pattern can help reduce the metabolic risks of COVİD-19 disease.

Despite these limitations, this study is valuable because, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study demonstrating the association of dietary patterns with disease prognosis and metabolic risks concerning COVID-19. This study suggests that dietary patterns during the COVID-19 process may be associated with several metabolic risks and inflammatory biomarkers.

This study aims to compare commonly used dietary assessment methods in non-obese young adults.

This study was carried out on 22 females and 21 males, who were aged between 20 and 25, with no chronic diseases and were not obese or on any diet. The data was collected face to face. In this study, the authors evaluated the consistency of nonconsecutive three-day 24-h recall method (3 × 24HR), which was chosen as a reference for the determination of food consumption, with one-day 24-h recall method (1 × 24HR), three-day food record method (3 × FR) and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), which has been frequently used in food consumption research. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) and Bland–Altman graphs were performed in the statistical analyses to determine the association between dietary assessment methods.

When the data obtained from the food consumption records were evaluated according to reference method, it was found that the PCC was at moderate and higher level (mean r = 0.513 for 1 × 24HR; r = 0.564 for 3 × FR; and r = 0.452 for FFQ), and the mean ICC was 0.456 for 1 × 24HR, 0.557 for 3 × FR and 0.377 for FFQ. In addition, it was determined that energy and macronutrient values analyzed with Bland–Altman method were consistent with the reference method and that the other methods could also be used instead of the reference method. Under and over reporting was detected in all methods. The method with the highest accurate reporting was 3 × 24HR (72.1%) according to Goldberg standard. In FFQ method, accurate reporting is higher in males (p = 0.01); in other methods, it was determined that there was no significant difference by gender.

In this study, the consistency of the reference, 3 × 24HR method, with the other three methods was determined to be at a moderate and higher level and that they could replace each other according to characteristics of the participants.

There is some evidence that suggest a higher dietary total antioxidant capacity (DTAC) is associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Considering the conflicting results in this field, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive summary of studies on the association of DTAC and components of MetS.

A systematic review of articles indexed in PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar, published from inception to September 2018, with defined keywords, was done. Duplicate or irrelevant reports were screened out and data were extracted through critical analysis. Finally, among the 353 articles, 19 articles met the inclusion criteria.

The included cohort studies revealed that higher DTAC was associated with reduced risk of MetS. Also, the association between DTAC and mortality risk of MetS was insignificant in these studies. The case–control studies showed high DTAC is inversely associated with MetS, its components and complications. The randomized controlled trials found that changes in DTAC were negatively correlated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and there was a positive association between DTAC and subjects’ weight and body mass index. Finally, results from the cross-sectional studies were inconsistence in this regard.

The assessed relationship between MetS or its components with DTAC is inconsistent in the included studies. Different sample size, dietary assessment tools, DTAC index values and geographical location may justify the observed inconsistencies. It seems that further studies are needed to reveal more confident and reliable findings.

Nutrition is a widely known determinant of health and well-being of individuals. Adequate nutrition is dependent on food availability and optimal dietary intake. Rural communities are known to be disadvantaged in comparison with their urban counterparts This study therefore assessed food security and dietary diversity among adults in a rural community in Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Data for the cross-sectional study were collected using a semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire and a 24-h dietary recall. Data were analyzed with SPSS 20. The relevant descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated. Participation was fully voluntary.

The mean age of respondents was 46.7 ± 19.0 years. Only 43.6 per cent of the respondents were food secure; 43.4 per cent were severely food insecure; 30.3 per cent were moderately food insecure, while 26.3 per cent were mildly food insecure. Low dietary diversity was reported among 55.2 per cent of respondents; 41.0 per cent had medium dietary diversity, while 3.8 per cent had high dietary diversity.

This study was entirely quantitative and facility-based, so could not explore some themes to a greater depth. It however adds to the body of knowledge on dietary diversity and food security among patients accessing primary care services at Ode-Remo and its health implications.

Food security among respondents was low and dietary diversity was sub-optimal, a risk factor for both hidden hunger and multi-nutrient under-nutrition. Dietary diversity was significantly different between food secure and food insecure respondents. Community-directed efforts at improving residents’ food security status and dietary diversification efforts will be most appropriate and sustainable, thereby promoting self-reliance and wellbeing.

The purpose of this paper is to present a first proposal of a healthy dietary diversity index to evaluate meals in self-service restaurants.

This was a cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study in a Brazilian buffet-style restaurant. The study group was selected by systematic sampling and consisted of 678 individuals aged 16-81 years, who were regular diners at a selected restaurant during lunchtime. Photographs were used to assess food choices and a sociodemographic questionnaire was administered to the subjects. A healthy dietary diversity model was created following WHO recommendations and the Brazilian Food Guide. A consensus workshop was conducted with experts to discuss and classify certain dishes as more or less healthy (high/low energy density). The model attributed negative (−3.0-0.0) and positive (0.0-12.0) scores to different food groups. Higher scores meant greater diversity on the plate, and therefore a greater chance of a healthy meal (=9.0), while a lower score reflected a higher variety of energy-dense foods, such as fried dishes (=6.0).

Most diner’s plates (65.3 per cent) obtained low diversity score indexes (=6) and were considered inadequate, represented the dishes where intake should be controlled from a nutritional viewpoint (over caloric meal). There was a significant association between healthy diversity scores (=9.0) and low variety of high energy density dishes on the plates.

This method of assessing the healthy dietary diversity of a main meal could be tested as an innovative model for investigating the food choices of individuals who eat away from home.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. However, the role of dietary patterns as a potential risk factor for COVID-19 has not been well established, especially in studies with large samples. Therefore, this study aims to identify and evaluate the association between major dietary patterns and COVID-19 among adults from Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, the authors included 9,189 participants aged 20–70 who participated in the Yazd Health Study (YaHS) and Taghzieh Mardom-e-Yazd study (TAMIZ). They used factor analysis to extract dietary patterns based on a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Then, they assessed the relationship between these dietary patterns and the odds of COVID-19.

This study identified two major dietary patterns: “high protein and high fiber” and “transitional”. Participants in the highest tertile of the “high protein and high fiber” dietary pattern, which included vegetables, fruits, dairy and various kinds of meats such as red meat, fish and poultry, had a lower odds of COVID-19 compared with those in the lowest tertile. However, the “transitional” dietary pattern did not affect the risk of COVID-19.

In conclusion, a “high protein, high fiber” diet may lower the odds of COVID-19. This study suggests that dietary patterns may influence the severity and spread of future similar pandemics.

Studies investigating the association between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and body mass index (BMI) have led to inconsistent findings. Therefore, to decisively conclude, this paper aims to clarify the relationship between DII and obesity by performing meta-analysis.

PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched up to July 2017 using key words selected from Medical Subject Headings and other related keywords to identify all relevant articles. In total, 22 articles were entered into the meta-analysis; 22 studies compared the mean of BMI among subjects with highest versus the lowest DII and 4 studies had data on the hazard risk (HR) or odds ratio (OR) for obesity.

A meta-analysis on included studies indicated a significant association on either mean differences (MD) in BMI (MD = 0.811; 95 per cent CI: 0.365-1.256; p: 0.0001) or obesity OR (OR: 1.310; 95 per cent CI: 1.144-1.500; p = 0.000) by comparing the highest and lowest DII categories. Between-study heterogeneity was high (Cochrane Q test, p < 0.001, I² = 98.1 per cent, df = 21, τ² = 0.9273), and only dietary assessment methods could explain the source of heterogeneity in which 24-h dietary recalls were homogeny (I² = 8.4 per cent, df = 2, p = 0.335).

The results of the present meta-analysis suggest that adherence to high DII score increased BMI and obesity. More prospective studies in different populations are needed to better clarify this relation.

Dietary patterns have been used to explore the association between dietary factors and risk of pancreatic cancer (PC) and renal cancer (RC); however, the association remains unclear. The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively review these associations.

Pertinent studies published prior to March 2016 were systematically searched and retrieved through PubMed and Scopus databases. Adjusted risk estimates were derived by comparing the highest with the lowest categories of dietary pattern scores and were combined by using the fixed-effects model when no substantial heterogeneity was observed; otherwise, the random-effects model was used.

A total of nine studies, five for PC (including 2,059 cases and 41,774 participants/controls) and four for RC (with 1,327 cases and 53,007 participants/controls), were included in this meta-analysis. A decreased risk of PC was shown for the highest compared with the lowest categories of the healthy dietary pattern (OR = 0.72, 95 per cent CI = 0.51-0.94, random effects (p-value for heterogeneity = 0.004)), whereas no significant association with Western dietary was observed (OR = 1.16, 95 per cent CI = 0.87-1.44, fixed effects). In the overall analysis, a significant association was found between the healthy dietary pattern and reduced risk of RC (OR = 0.59, 95 per cent CI = 0.48-0.71, fixed effects (p-value for heterogeneity = 0.459)), whereas the Western pattern was positively associated with risk of RC (OR = 1.42, 95 per cent CI = 1.14-1.69, fixed effects). For both cancers, the reduced risk associated with the healthy pattern was restricted to case-control, but not cohort, studies. Furthermore, drinking pattern was significantly related to reduced risk of RC (OR = 0.68, 95 per cent CI = 0.42-0.94).

To the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first English document to summarize systematically the findings from observational studies in response to this question whether a posteriori dietary patterns are associated with susceptibility to the risk of renal and ovarian cancers.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of empirically derived dietary patterns with hypertension and hyperlipidemia among a large sample of Iranian industrial employees.

This cross-sectional study was done under the framework of Epidemiological Survey of Chronic Diseases on Manufacturing Employees. Major dietary patterns were derived based on a validated short form of food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) using exploratory factor analysis. Self-administered validated questionnaires were used to collect data on socio-demographic and job-related variables of participants. Multivariable logistic regression was applied for association analyses.

Higher levels of Western dietary pattern increased significantly the risk of hypertension (odds ratio [OR] = 1.85, 95% CI [1.36-2.53], P trend <0.001) and hyperlipidemia (OR = 1.45, 95% CI [1.16-1.81], p = 0.001) even after controlling for confounding variables. The traditional dietary pattern was marginally associated with a significant increase in risk of hyperlipidemia ( = 1.14, 95% CI [0.92-1.41], p = 0.084) in the fully adjusted model. However, higher levels of healthy dietary pattern were significantly associated with a decreased risk of hyperlipidemia in the final model (OR 0.80, 95% CI [0.64-0.90], p = 0.025).

To the authors’ knowledge, an association analysis between dietary patterns and major cardiovascular disease risk in workforce population over the world is scarce and has not yet been conducted among Iranian industrial employees. This study’s findings are especially relevant for the industrial workforce population because they are at high risk of other job-related risks that increase the CVD risk.

Discusses practical issues about dietary survey methods for use with free‐living individuals. Reviews prospective and retrospective methods indicating that no single method is flawless. Likely sources of error include bias as a result of sampling and response; changes in diet; variation with time; frequency of consumption; reporting food weight and matching foods with those in tables of food composition. Concludes that the choice of method will depend on the purpose of the investigation, and factors such as interest in food requirements, association between diet and disease and the need to know about the intake of individuals or groups of people will be highly relevant.