Harmonising Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) for South East Asia for Accurate Dietary Data Interpretation

South East Asia (SEA) is an ethnically diverse region but still share some similarities with regards to food intake1. Each country within SEA can be considered as food heaven with its diversity of dietary choices and creativity in food preparations. Within SEA, each individual country is also unique due to its culture, tradition and food choice. Additionally, cross country immigration for economic purpose also demand healthcare providers of host country some additional tasks for evidence-based dietary advice as their training were mostly focused at local foods. For researchers on regional dietary intake huge challenge appears when comparison between countries are made with regards to dietary intake. It raises two pertinent questions. Is it correct to compare food date collected using unstandardized dietary intake tool? Is it possible to harmonise the dietary data and produce a FFQ as a standard tool

Vitamin D and immunity: reality or phantasy?

Vitamin D has been attracting a lot of attention from researchers, pharmaceutical industries and public mainly because of its potential extra-skeletal effects in health and in various diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and autoimmune diseases. Historically, vitamin D was associated with diseases such as rickets in children and osteoporosis is adults. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, vitamin D gained a special focus related to its immune modulating abilit

The role of vitamin D during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia

Presentation will discuss important points related to vitamin D during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia

Healthy eating to maintain a healthy immune system in pandemic

COVID-19, caused by the coronavirus, is primarily spread during close contact such as touching and by fluid droplets produced through cough, sneeze or talk. During this pandemic, good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle is extremely important, especially in ensuring good immune defence

The first 1000 days of life, an opportunity that must be taken for the future generations

The “developmental origins of health and disease” (DOHaD) is a concept that has proven the link between the state of maternal health and risk from disease in later childhood and adult life with the environmental conditions of the early life. Hence, the first 1000 days is reported as a critical period of opportunity for interventions to prevent stunting and other associated pathologies at later life

Adiponectin concentrations among patients with diabetes in a multi ethnic population of Malaysia

Objectives: To determine whether adiponectin concentrations differ between Malays, Chinese and Indians with type 2 diabetes and to investigate if adiponectin is associated with dietary intake and physical activity in these ethnics. Methods: A total of 210 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients (Malays, Chinese and Indians) were recruited from Sg Bakap Hospital in Penang, Malaysia. Data on demographic background, clinical, anthropometric, dietary intake, and physical activity were obtained. Serum adiponectin and standard laboratory test were performed according to standard procedure. Objectives: To determine whether adiponectin concentrations differ between Malays, Chinese and Indians with type 2 diabetes and to investigate if adiponectin is associated with dietary intake and physical activity in these ethnics. Methods: A total of 210 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients (Malays, Chinese and Indians) were recruited from Sg Bakap Hospital in Penang, Malaysia. Data on demographic background, clinical, anthropometric, dietary intake, and physical activity were obtained. Serum adiponectin and standard laboratory test were performed according to standard procedure

Confectioneries and condiments intake were associated with decreased birth Weight in the Universiti Sains Malaysia birth cohort study

Introduction: Maternal nutrition is one of the important element in determining fetal growth and subsequent heal/h. Improvement in socio-economy status is one of the factors that increase the diversity of food intake during pregnancy. However. unheal/hy food consumption during pregnancy may affect mother's health and also the growth of the fetal thus leading to the development of chronic disease during adulthood. Objective: The objective of this study is to investtgate the association of maternal food groups intake with birth size at term. Methods: A total of 108 pregnant women at late pregnancy, aged 19-40 years were recruited from the antenatal cliniC of Universiti SBins Malaysia Hospital. These subjects were recruited from the ongoing Universiti Sains Malaysia Birth Cohort Study. EthiCal approval was obtained from The Universiti Sains Malaysia Human Research EthiCs Committee. Nutrients and foods intake were examined using a validated and focally adapted semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Maternal medical history and anthropometry was recorded accordingly. Birth weight. birth length and head circumference were measured using the standard protocol. Data 1vere analyzed using multiple linear regression method by controlling for possible confounders. Results: Among all food groups, organ meats and fruits were associated with increased birth weight (p<0.05 and p<0.01), respectively and birth length (p<0.05 and p<O 05), respectively. Fruits and green leafy vegetables were associated with increased head circumference (p<O 01 and p<0.05). respectively. In contrast, confectioneries and condiments intake were associated with decreased birth weight (p<0.05 and p<0.001). respec/tvely. Conclusions: These findings suggest/he beneficial effects of nulnent dense foods on fetal growth, whereas highly processed food exerts detrimental effects on fetal growth. Such an effect may have tong term health consequences to an individual's fife

Effect of ethnicity, dietary intake and physical activity on plasma adiponectin concentrations among Malaysian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: The Malaysian Health and morbidity Survey (2006) reported the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among the Indian population compared to the Malay and Chinese populations. Many studies have supported the important role of adiponectin in insulin-sensitizing, which is associated with T2DM. These studies have raised a research question whether the variation in prevalence is related to the adiponectin concentrations or the lifestyle factors. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine whether the adiponectin concentrations differ between the Malay, Chinese and the Indian populations with T2DM. It is to investigate the association of adiponectin concentrations with ethnicity, dietary intake and physical activity too. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 210 T2DM patients with mean (SD) age of 56.73 (10.23) years were recruited from Penang, Malaysia. Data on demographic background, medical history, anthropometry (weight, height, visceral fat, percentage of body fat and waist circumference), dietary intake (3 days 24 hours diet recall) and physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) were obtained accordingly. Plasma adiponectin and routine laboratory tests (fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglyceride) were performed according to standard procedure. Results: After adjustment for physical activity and dietary intakes, the Indian population had significantly lower adiponectin concentrations (P = 0.003) when compared with the Malay and the Chinese populations, The Indian population also had significantly higher value of HbA1c (P = 0.017) and significantly lower HDL (P = 0.013). Plasma adiponectin concentrations was significantly associated with ethnicity (P = 0.011), dietary carbohydrate (P = 0.003) and physical activity total MET score (P = 0.026), after medical history, age, sex, total cholesterol and visceral fat adjusted. However, dietary carbohydrate and physical activity did not show significantly difference among the various ethnic groups. Conclusions: In conclusion, lower concentration of adiponectin in the Indian population when compared with the Malay and the Chinese populations is not associated with lifestyle factors. The possibility of adiponectin gene polymorphism should be discussed further

Early life secondhand smoke exposure assessed by hair nicotine biomarker may reduce children's neurodevelopment at 2 years of age

Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) can affect fetal brain development as well as subsequent neurodevelopment. This study aimed to determine the association between prenatal and postnatal SHS exposure with children's neurodevelopment at 2 years of age. Among 107 mother-child pairs from a Malaysia prospective cohort, prenatal and postnatal SHS exposure was determined based on maternal and child hair nicotine concentrations. Multiple linear regressions were used to determine the association between prenatal and postnatal levels of nicotine in maternal and children's' hair with children's neurodevelopment. After adjustment for confounders, prenatal nicotine concentration levels were negatively associated with communication (β = − 2.059; p = 0.015) and fine motor skills (β = − 2.120; p = 0.002) while postnatal nicotine concentration levels were inversely associated with fine motors (β = − 0.124; p = 0.004) and problem solving skills (β = − 0.117; p = 0.013). In conclusion, this study suggests that early life exposure to SHS may affect children's neurodevelopment

Association of serum adiponectin levels with metabolic syndrome risk factors in Malay adults

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum adiponectin and metabolic syndrome in adults living in rural Malaysia Methods: A total of 299 Malay adults (men=124; women = 175) with a mean age 48.8 (11.7) years were recruited. Measurements for waist circumference and blood pressure were taken before drawing an overnight fasting blood samples. Biochemical tests for triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, glucose and serum adiponectin concentration were measured. Results: Our results show that the adiponectin level in the subjects with metabolic syndrome was significantly lower than those without metabolic syndrome (p < 0.05). Among the metabolic syndrome risk factors, adiponectin level was significantly associated with hypertriglyceridemia and reduced HDL cholesterol (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The outcome from this study which highlights the association of hypoadiponectinemia with risk factors of metabolic syndrome in Malay adults, suggests that the reduced level of adiponectin may play a pivotal role in the development of metabolic syndrome in this ethnic group