Quality Evaluation of Some Commercially Fried Fast Food

Frying process is popular among all classes of people for being a rapid food preparation process and for the unique characteristics of flavor and appearance.  However, the frying oil eventually contains a number of harmful components affect the oil quality and therefore affects the quality of foods. The objective of this work was to determine the quality of 50 fried fast food samples (ten for each), french fries, burgol kuba, under pressured breaded chicken, meat pastry and falafels collected randomly from restaurants. Chemical composition was analyzed for all samples and the oil was extracted. The samples extracted oil were analyzed for level of oxidation by measuring acid value (AV), peroxide value (PV), thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), conjugated dienes and triens and color index. Free radical scavenging activity was also determined by measuring the decrease in the visible absorbance of 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) at 517nm. Our results indicate wide variations in the composition and degree of oxidation of the extracted oils across all samples. Fat content the most important parameter here ranged from 8.25 in falafel to 22.10 % in burgle cuba.Falafel and French fries samples exceed the criteria of PV< 10 mequiv/kg.  All samples complied with the limits of acid value < 2.5 mg/g. Except for meat pastry all samples were in permissible limits of TBARS. The DPPH test showed that all tested samples have free radical-scavenging activity ranged from 72.2 in French fries to 82.6%in Falafel. Falafels samples showed darkening of oil color significantly higher than all samples followed by French fries. The data highlight the need to evaluate the antioxidant activity of food itself not only the oil used for frying and enforcing legal regulations to maintain food quality in fast food restaurants. Keywords: fast food, oil stability, antioxidant activity

Obesity Review in GCC and New Evaluation Strategy

Purpose: This paper aims to review literature in the area of obesity phenomena and solution for identifying existing research themes and future opportunities to better understand the relationship between factors that affect the obesity and Intervention done and make compassion on what is done globally and in GCC. Approach: This paper reviews articles related to obesity factors in GCC such as behavioural and cultural and its effect on behaviours outcomes. This review attempted to identify the main trends in the literature on obesity focussing on environmental, people’s eating habits and their attitude toward western foods, governance and policies, socio-economic and socio-cultural causes. Findings: Risk factors associated with being overweight or obese are similar in GCC and the rest of the world. However, as the literature indicates that high family income associated with obesity, lack of physical activity and time spent in sedentary activities such as TV watching is significantly associated with an increase in the risk of overweight or obesity in GCC. Keywords: obesity/overweight, obesity causes, obesity intervention, obesity rate, obesity socio-behavioural/cultural factors, obesity barriers, actions towards obesity framewor

Examining the impacts of 12 weeks of low to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on depression status in patients with systolic congestive heart failure - A randomized controlled study

OBJECTIVES: Psychiatric depression disorder is common in patients with systolic congestive heart failure (HF), and both conditions share underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. The incidence rate of depression disorder has clearly increased with the increase in HF manifestations in recent decades. Depression disorder is considered an independent predisposing factor for hospitalization, disturbed functional performance, and high rates of morbidity and mortality in HF patients. This randomized controlled study was designed to examine the impacts of low- to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise training on depression status in patients with systolic congestive HF. METHODS: A total of 46 systolic congestive HF patients with depression (40-60 years of age) were randomized to receive twelve weeks of mild- to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise plus standard medical treatment (exercise group) or standard medical treatment without any exercise intervention (control group). Depression status was examined using the validated Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ9) pre- and post-intervention at the end of the study program. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed between the exercise and control groups in demographic data or clinical characteristics (p40.05). Both study groups showed a significant reduction in depression status at the end of the 12-week intervention (po0.05). The comparison between the mean values of the depression scores showed significant differences between the two groups after 6 and 12 weeks of the intervention, indicating a greater reduction in depression scores in the exercise group than in the control group (po0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Twelve weeks of a low- to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise program was safe and effective for reducing depression severity in patients with systolic congestive HF. Low- to moderate-intensity aerobic training should be recommended for cardiac patients, particularly those with HF-related depression

Risk Factors Associated with Mild Cognitive Impairment аmong Apparently Healthy People and the Role of MicroRNAs

BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal ageing and the serious decline of dementia. AIM: To identify risk factors and role of miRNAs associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among employees. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 186 employees aged between 40 and 65 years. Cognitive function was evaluated using ACEIII, MoCA, and Quick cognitive tests. Medical history and lifestyle were assessed. Family 132 & 134 miRNA expressions were assessed by real-time PCR. RESULTS: MCI was detected among 14 / 186 (7.5%). miRNA 132 expression was the only significant miRNAs to detect MCI with low sensitivity and specificity (70%). The logistic analysis revealed that higher miRNA132 expressions, low monthly intake of; vegetables, unroasted nuts, low education and higher ALT levels were predicting factors for MCI with AOR 1.1 (1.01-3.3), 1.2 (1.04-1.43), 0.8 (0.8-0.98), 2.7 (1.9-7.4) and 1.6 (1.1-2.3) respectively. CONCLUSION: MiRNAs expression showed low sensitivity and specificity in detecting MCI; only miRNA 132 might be used. Several modifiable factors seem to reduce the risk of MCI

Pancreatic surgery outcomes: multicentre prospective snapshot study in 67 countries

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic surgery remains associated with high morbidity rates. Although postoperative mortality appears to have improved with specialization, the outcomes reported in the literature reflect the activity of highly specialized centres. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes following pancreatic surgery worldwide. METHODS: This was an international, prospective, multicentre, cross-sectional snapshot study of consecutive patients undergoing pancreatic operations worldwide in a 3-month interval in 2021. The primary outcome was postoperative mortality within 90 days of surgery. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore relationships with Human Development Index (HDI) and other parameters. RESULTS: A total of 4223 patients from 67 countries were analysed. A complication of any severity was detected in 68.7 per cent of patients (2901 of 4223). Major complication rates (Clavien–Dindo grade at least IIIa) were 24, 18, and 27 per cent, and mortality rates were 10, 5, and 5 per cent in low-to-middle-, high-, and very high-HDI countries respectively. The 90-day postoperative mortality rate was 5.4 per cent (229 of 4223) overall, but was significantly higher in the low-to-middle-HDI group (adjusted OR 2.88, 95 per cent c.i. 1.80 to 4.48). The overall failure-to-rescue rate was 21 per cent; however, it was 41 per cent in low-to-middle- compared with 19 per cent in very high-HDI countries. CONCLUSION: Excess mortality in low-to-middle-HDI countries could be attributable to failure to rescue of patients from severe complications. The authors call for a collaborative response from international and regional associations of pancreatic surgeons to address management related to death from postoperative complications to tackle the global disparities in the outcomes of pancreatic surgery (NCT04652271; ISRCTN95140761

Global variation in diabetes diagnosis and prevalence based on fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but these measurements can 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-standardized 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 age-standardized 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 was 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 shortfall in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance

Contributions of mean and shape of blood pressure distribution to worldwide trends and variations in raised blood pressure: A pooled analysis of 1018 population-based measurement studies with 88.6 million participants

© The Author(s) 2018. Background: Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods: We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and prevalence of raised blood pressure by sex and 10-year age group from 20-29 years to 70-79 years in each study, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights, where relevant. We used a linear mixed effect model to quantify the association between (probittransformed) prevalence of raised blood pressure and age-group- and sex-specific mean blood pressure. We calculated the contributions of change in mean SBP and DBP, and of change in the prevalence-mean association, to the change in prevalence of raised blood pressure. Results: In 2005-16, at the same level of population mean SBP and DBP, men and women in South Asia and in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa would have the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure, and men and women in the highincome Asia Pacific and high-income Western regions would have the lowest. In most region-sex-age groups where the prevalence of raised blood pressure declined, one half or more of the decline was due to the decline in mean blood pressure. Where prevalence of raised blood pressure has increased, the change was entirely driven by increasing mean blood pressure, offset partly by the change in the prevalence-mean association. Conclusions: Change in mean blood pressure is the main driver of the worldwide change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure, but change in the high-blood-pressure tail of the distribution has also contributed to the change in prevalence, especially in older age groups

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries(1,2). However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world(3) and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health(4,5). However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol-which is a marker of cardiovascular riskchanged from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million-4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.Peer reviewe

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI <18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For schoolaged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI <2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI >2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit