Dietary Patterns in Adults from an Adriatic Island of Croatia and Their Associations with Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components

Adriatic islanders have a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) although they have traditionally practiced an active lifestyle and adhered to a Mediterranean diet. We performed a cross-sectional study to identify dietary patterns in a sample of 1442 adults from the island of Hvar, and determined whether MetS and its components: waist-circumference, serum triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, HDL-cholesterol, and blood pressure, were related to an altered pattern of the traditional Mediterranean diet. Dietary intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. MetS was defined using the International Diabetes Federation criteria. Our study showed that dietary patterns in this population have diversified from the traditional diet. Principal component analysis identified three major patterns. The meat, alcohol, and fish pattern (MAFp), sweets, grains, and fats pattern (SGFp), and an olive-oil, vegetables, and fruits pattern (OVFp) explained 30.6% of total dietary variance. The MAFp associated significantly with MetS (p=0.027) and high plasma glucose (p=0.006)

Dietary Patterns in Adults from an Adriatic Island of Croatia and Their Associations with Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components

Adriatic islanders have a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) although they have traditionally practiced an active lifestyle and adhered to a Mediterranean diet. We performed a cross-sectional study to identify dietary patterns in a sample of 1442 adults from the island of Hvar, and determined whether MetS and its components: waist-circumference, serum triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, HDL-cholesterol, and blood pressure, were related to an altered pattern of the traditional Mediterranean diet. Dietary intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. MetS was defined using the International Diabetes Federation criteria. Our study showed that dietary patterns in this population have diversified from the traditional diet. Principal component analysis identified three major patterns. The meat, alcohol, and fish pattern (MAFp), sweets, grains, and fats pattern (SGFp), and an olive-oil, vegetables, and fruits pattern (OVFp) explained 30.6% of total dietary variance. The MAFp associated significantly with MetS (p=0.027) and high plasma glucose (p=0.006)

International surrogacy arrangements - perspectives on international regulation

Although more than 30 years have passed since the birth of the first surrogate baby, surrogacy motherhood as a form of ART is still one of the most controversial issues that reflect moral, ethical, cultural, psychological, medical, economic and legal dilemmas. The juxtaposition of legal solutions at the national level has given rise to discussions on the optimal solutions for regulating model international surrogacy arrangements. Given the current social and political climate, the authors of this paper advocate for the reform of international adoption procedures as opposed to passing a new convention, in a way that respective provisions of international adoption convention should be adapted to capture the effects of international surrogacy arrangements - recognition of legal parentage, provided that it is in the best interests of the child, and that there is a biological link between the child and at least one intended parent