2 research outputs found
Socioeconomic status and dietary patterns in children from around the world : different associations by levels of country human development?
Background: Although 'unhealthy' diet is a well-known risk factor for non-communicable diseases, its relationship with socio-economic status (SES) has not been fully investigated. Moreover, the available research has largely been conducted in countries at high levels of human development. This is the first study to examine relationships among dietary patterns and SES of children from countries spanning a wide range of human development. Methods: This was a multinational cross-sectional study among 9-11 year-old children (n = 6808) from urban/peri-urban sites across 12 countries. Self-reported food frequency questionnaires were used to determine the children's dietary patterns. Principal Components Analysis was employed to create two component scores representing 'unhealthy' and 'healthy' dietary patterns. Multilevel models accounting for clustering at the school and site level were used to examine the relationships among dietary patterns and SES. Results: The mean age of participants in this study (53.7% girls) was 10.4 years. Largest proportions of total variance in dietary patterns occurred at the individual, site, and school levels (individual, school, site: 62.8%; 10.8%; 26.4% for unhealthy diet pattern (UDP) and 88.9%; 3.7%; 7.4%) for healthy diet pattern (HDP) respectively. There were significant negative 'unhealthy' diet-SES gradients in 7 countries and positive 'healthy' diet-SES gradients in 5. Within country diet-SES gradients did not significantly differ by HDI. Compared to participants in the highest SES groups, unhealthy diet pattern scores were significantly higher among those in the lowest within-country SES groups in 8 countries: odds ratios for Australia (2.69; 95% CI: 1.33-5.42), Canada (4.09; 95% CI: 2.02-8.27), Finland (2.82; 95% CI: 1.27-6.22), USA (4.31; 95% CI: 2.20-8.45), Portugal (2.09; 95% CI: 1.06-4.11), South Africa (2.77; 95% CI: 1.22-6.28), India (1.88; 95% CI: 1.12-3.15) and Kenya (3.35; 95% CI: 1.91-5.87). Conclusions: This study provides evidence of diet-SES gradients across all levels of human development and that lower within-country SES is strongly related to unhealthy dietary patterns. Consistency in within-country diet-SES gradients suggest that interventions and public health strategies aimed at improving dietary patterns among children may be similarly employed globally. However, future studies should seek to replicate these findings in more representative samples extended to more rural representation.Peer reviewe
Nanoparticles and Surfaces Presenting Antifungal, Antibacterial and Antiviral Properties
Here, we present new antimicrobial nanoparticles based
on silica
nanoparticles (SNPs) coated with a quaternary ammonium cationic surfactant,
didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB). Depending on the initial
concentration of DDAB, SNPs immobilize between 45 and 275 μg
of DDAB per milligram of nanoparticle. For high concentrations of
DDAB adsorbed to SNP, a bilayer is formed as confirmed by zeta potential
measurements, thermogravimetry, and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier
transform (DRIFT) analyses. Interestingly, these nanoparticles have
lower minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against bacteria and
fungi than soluble surfactant. The electrostatic interaction of the
DDAB with the SNP is strong, since no measurable loss of antimicrobial
activity was observed after suspension in aqueous solution for 60
days. We further show that the antimicrobial activity of the nanoparticle
does not require the leaching of the surfactant from the surface of
the NPs. The SNPs may be immobilized onto surfaces with different
chemistry while maintaining their antimicrobial activity, in this
case extended to a virucidal activity. The versatility, relative facility
in preparation, low cost, and large antimicrobial activity of our
platform makes it attractive as a coating for large surfaces