Development of the Home Cooking EnviRonment and Equipment Inventory Observation form (Home-CookERITM): An Assessment of Content Validity, Face Validity, and Inter-Rater Agreement

Introduction: Quantifying Home Cooking EnviRonments has applications in nutrition epidemiology, health promotion, and nutrition interventions. This study aimed to develop a tool to quantify household cooking environments and establish its content validity, face validity, and inter-rater agreement. Methods: The Home Cooking EnviRonment and equipment Inventory observation form (Home-CookERI™) was developed as a 24-question (91-item) online survey. Items included domestic spaces and resources for storage, disposal, preparation, and cooking of food or non-alcoholic beverages. Home-CookERITM was piloted to assess content validity, face validity, and usability with six Australian experts (i.e., dietitians, nutrition researchers, chefs, a food technology teacher, and a kitchen designer) and 13 laypersons. Pilot participants provided feedback in a 10 min telephone interview. Home-CookERI™ was modified to an 89-item survey in line with the pilot findings. Inter-rater agreement was examined between two trained raters in 33 unique Australian households. Raters were required to observe each item before recording a response. Home occupants were instructed to only assist with locating items if asked. Raters were blinded to each other’s responses. Inter-rater agreement was calculated by Cohen’s Kappa coefficient (κ) for each item. To optimize κ, similar items were grouped together reducing the number of items to 81. Results: Home-CookERITM had excellent content and face validity with responding participants; all 24 questions were both clear and relevant (X2 (1, n = 19; 19.0, p = 0.392)). Inter-rater agreement for the modified 81-item Home-CookERI™ was almost-perfect to perfect for 46% of kitchen items (n = 37 items, κ = 0.81–1), moderate to substantial for 28% (n = 23, κ = 0.51–0.8), slight to fair for 15% (n = 12, κ = 0.01–0.5), and chance or worse for 11% of items (n = 9, κ ≤ 0.0). Home-CookERITM was further optimized by reduction to a 77-item version, which is now available to researchers. Conclusion: Home-CookERI™ is a comprehensive tool for quantifying Australian household cooking environments. It has excellent face and content validity and moderate to perfect inter-rater agreement for almost three-quarters of included kitchen items. To expand Home-CookERI™ applications, a home occupant self-completion version is planned for validatio

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

Global variations in diabetes mellitus based on fasting glucose and haemogloblin A1c

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but may identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and detected as having diabetes in survey screening had elevated FPG, HbA1c, or both. We developed prediction equations for estimating the probability that a person without previously diagnosed diabetes, and at a specific level of FPG, had elevated HbA1c, and vice versa. The age-standardised proportion of diabetes that was previously undiagnosed, and detected in survey screening, ranged from 30% in the high-income western region to 66% in south Asia. Among those with screen-detected diabetes with either test, the agestandardised proportion who had elevated levels of both FPG and HbA1c was 29-39% across regions; the remainder had discordant elevation of FPG or HbA1c. In most low- and middle-income regions, isolated elevated HbA1c more common than isolated elevated FPG. In these regions, the use of FPG alone may delay diabetes diagnosis and underestimate diabetes prevalence. Our prediction equations help allocate finite resources for measuring HbA1c to reduce the global gap in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance.peer-reviewe

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

peer reviewe

Effectiveness of parent-centred interventions for the prevention and treatment of childhood overweight and obesity in community settings: a systematic review

Background: Worldwide in 2000, 10% of children aged five to 17 years were reported as being overweight with an additional 2-3% being obese. Overweight and obesity in childhood can adversely impact on both physical and psychological health. The rise in the prevalence of childhood obesity is a complex issue but widely recognised contributors include increased energy intake, decreased levels of physical activity and greater time spent in sedentary pursuits. A large number of environmental and cultural factors have also been identified as contributing to the problem. Evidence to support an optimal approach to treating childhood obesity is limited with many studies showing only modest results at best in the long-term. However, the importance of family-based treatment that combines diet, physical activity and behavioral components has been acknowledged in a recent Cochrane Systematic Review. It has also been suggested that interventions offered in the community setting may help overcome barriers to participation, by making programs more accessible and allowing the targeting of specific sub-groups of the population. Objectives: The objective of this review was to identify the effectiveness of parent-centred interventions implemented in the community setting in modifying eating and physical activity behaviors or weight-related outcomes of children. Inclusion criteria: Types of participants: This review considered studies that included free-living children of pre-school, primary and secondary school age and/or their parents/guardians aged >18 years. Types of intervention(s)/phenomena of interest: Intervention programs were required to have a parental component, to target eating and/or exercise behaviors for the prevention or treatment of obesity, and child weight status reported. Types of studies: All intervention studies were included in the review including: randomized controlled trials (RCTs); non-randomized controlled trials, longitudinal studies, cohort (both retrospective and prospective), case control and time series studies which had been conducted in a community setting. Types of outcomes: This review considered studies that included overweight/obesity related outcomes, eating behavior outcomes, physical activity behaviour outcomes, and sedentary behavior outcomes and constructs. Search strategy: A literature search of community-based parent-centred intervention studies to promote nutrition and physical activity for the prevention and treatment and of childhood overweight and obesity was performed in eight electronic databases dating from 1975 to April 2009. Methodological quality: Studies were critically appraised for methodological quality using standardized tools. Data collection: Data was extracted by one reviewer using a standardized data extraction form developed by the researchers and checked for accuracy and consistency by a second reviewer. Data synthesis: Data in relation to setting, methodology, intervention components and effect on weight, dietary intake and physical activity was extracted, and described in a narrative synthesis. Where possible a meta-analysis was undertaken. Results: Of the home-based interventions, five of nine studies reported statistically significant changes in anthropometric outcomes post intervention. Of the 10 studies in the before and after school care setting, seven reported a significant decrease in a weight-related outcome post intervention, with only one reporting an increase. Conclusions: Results from the review support the after-school setting as the most promising for community intervention setting for targeting parents as agents of change within child obesity prevention and treatment programs

Development of the Cook-EdTM Matrix to Guide Food and Cooking Skill Selection in Culinary Education Programs That Target Diet Quality and Health

Culinary education programs are generally designed to improve participants’ food and cooking skills, with or without consideration to influencing diet quality or health. No published methods exist to guide food and cooking skills’ content priorities within culinary education programs that target improved diet quality and health. To address this gap, an international team of cooking and nutrition education experts developed the Cooking Education (Cook-EdTM) matrix. International food-based dietary guidelines were reviewed to determine common food groups. A six-section matrix was drafted including skill focus points for: (1) Kitchen safety, (2) Food safety, (3) General food skills, (4) Food group specific food skills, (5) General cooking skills, (6) Food group specific cooking skills. A modified e-Delphi method with three consultation rounds was used to reach consensus on the Cook-EdTM matrix structure, skill focus points included, and their order. The final Cook-EdTM matrix includes 117 skill focus points. The matrix guides program providers in selecting the most suitable skills to consider for their programs to improve dietary and health outcomes, while considering available resources, participant needs, and sustainable nutrition principles. Users can adapt the Cook-EdTM matrix to regional food-based dietary guidelines and food cultures