Impact of perceived healthiness of food on food choices and intake

Healthy eating is an important determinant of health, but adherence to dietary guidelines remains a public health concern. Identifying factors that impact dietary habits is therefore important to facilitate healthy eating. One widely used strategy to help consumers make healthier food choices is nutrition information, such as labeling and claims. Despite the intention of these strategies to improve decision making, they can also be misunderstood or misinterpreted by consumers. The aim of this review is to explore food perceptions by examining how cognitive factors influence perceived healthiness of food, and the impact of perceived healthiness of food on food choices and intake. Overall findings of this review suggest that cognitive factors, such as type of food and branding, significantly contribute to judgmental bias and have an impact on perceived healthiness while not consistently or systematically influencing choice and intake

Évaluation d'une intervention visant l'amélioration des connaissances en nutrition et des pratiques alimentaires recommandées par les entraîneurs

Les entraineurs représentent une source d’information et d’influence importante pour les jeunes athlètes quant aux choix et aux comportements alimentaires. Cependant, la plupart des entraineurs n’ont pas de formation en nutrition et leurs connaissances sont insuffisantes pour encadrer adéquatement les athlètes à ce sujet. La majorité des entraineurs ont l’intention de recommander l’hydratation, alors qu’un peu moins de la moitié ont l’intention de recommander les glucides ou les protéines aux athlètes. La norme subjective et la perception de contrôle (PC) représentent des déterminants clés de leur intention de recommander ces pratiques alimentaires. Ces données ont permis l’élaboration d’une intervention visant l’amélioration des pratiques alimentaires recommandées par les entraineurs. Les résultats suggèrent qu’une intervention basée sur la théorie du comportement planifié combinée à un algorithme favorisant la prise de décision éclairée quant aux recommandations de nutrition sportive semble efficace pour maintenir les connaissances et améliorer les pratiques alimentaires recommandées par les entraineurs.Coaches are a major source of nutrition information and influence for young athletes. Yet, most coaches do not have specific or formal training in nutrition and their knowledge is insufficient to properly guide their athletes on this topic. These observations show that the majority of coaches have the intention to recommend hydration, whereas less than half have the intention to recommend carbohydrates or proteins to their athletes. Subjective norm and perceived behavioral control (PBC) represent key determinants of coaches’ intention to recommend these sports nutrition practices. These data led us to the development of an intervention aimed at improving coaches’ advice regarding sports nutrition. The results suggest that a theory-based intervention combined with decision-making algorithm on sports nutrition recommendations appears to be effective in maintaining coaches’ knowledge in sports nutrition over time, and in having coaches providing better sports nutrition advice to athletes

Rôle des comportements alimentaires dans certains facteurs de risque d'obésité

L'obésité représente un enjeu de santé publique important. Au Canada, près de 60 % de la population se retrouve en situation de surpoids ou d'obésité. Cette condition engendre des conséquences importantes sur la santé. En dépit des efforts investis, la prévention et le traitement de l'obésité demeurent peu efficaces. Des interventions ciblées selon des caractéristiques précises présentées par des groupes d'individus ainsi qu'une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes par lesquels différents facteurs de risque d'obésité influencent le poids corporel sont susceptibles d'améliorer l'efficacité des interventions. De nombreux facteurs environnementaux, génétiques, physiologiques et comportementaux sont à l'origine de l'obésité. De plus, l'obésité résulte de l'interaction complexe de ces facteurs. Par exemple, des facteurs génétiques sont impliqués dans la variabilité interindividuelle observée dans l'influence de l'environnement sur le poids corporel. Quelques études ont également démontré que l'effet des gènes sur le poids corporel était expliqué par des comportements alimentaires. Ces derniers représentent des déterminants importants de l'obésité. Toutefois, l'effet médiateur de seulement quelques comportements alimentaires dans la susceptibilité génétique à l'obésité a été investigué. D'autres caractéristiques comme la distribution retardée de la prise alimentaire et la faible sensibilité des signaux de satiétés ont également des facteurs de risque d'obésité. Les mécanismes par lesquels ces facteurs influencent le poids sont méconnus. Toutefois, quelques études suggèrent qu'ils sont aussi associés aux comportements alimentaires. Les associations entre ces trois facteurs de risque individuel d'obésité et les comportements alimentaires ont été peu étudiées jusqu'à présent. L'objectif général de ce projet de doctorat est d'étudier le rôle des comportements alimentaires dans trois facteurs de risque d'obésité, soit la susceptibilité génétique à l'obésité, la distribution retardée de la prise alimentaire et la faible sensibilité des signaux de satiété, et ce, en contexte de susceptibilité à l'obésité ou en contexte de perte de poids. Ce projet visait d'abord à évaluer les associations entre ces facteurs de risque et les comportements alimentaires, puis à évaluer le potentiel de médiation des comportements alimentaires dans l'association entre ces facteurs et l'obésité ou l'apport énergétique. Les associations entre deux de ces facteurs, soit la distribution retardée de la prise alimentaire et la faible sensibilité des signaux de satiété, et la perte de poids ont également été étudiées. Finalement, ce projet visait à valider la version française du Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ) qui évalue des comportements alimentaires liés à l'appétit. La majorité des objectifs ont été répondus au moyen de données de l'Étude des familles de Québec (n=951) ou de la cohorte WeLIS qui regroupe quatre études sur la perte de poids (n=305). Une étude distincte a été réalisée pour la validation du questionnaire AEBQ (n=227). Une revue de la littérature a d'abord permis de souligner la ressemblance familiale dans les comportements alimentaires et que plusieurs gènes liés à l'obésité étaient associés à ces derniers. Ce projet a ensuite permis de documenter l'effet médiateur de la désinhibition et de la susceptibilité à la faim dans la susceptibilité génétique à l'obésité. En lien avec la distribution retardée de la prise alimentaire, les résultats indiquent que l'évaluation de ce facteur avant l'intervention ne permet pas d'identifier de faibles répondeurs à la perte de poids. Toutefois, ce facteur est associé à l'apport énergétique, et cette association est médiée par la désinhibition et la susceptibilité à la faim. Les résultats ont également démontré que les individus ayant une faible sensibilité des signaux de satiété ne sont pas résistants à la perte de poids basée sur une restriction énergétique, mais que ce type d'intervention engendre des changements moins optimaux dans certains de leurs comportements alimentaires. L'association entre la faible sensibilité des signaux de satiété et l'apport énergétique est également médiée par la susceptibilité à la faim et les envies alimentaires impérieuses. Finalement, ce projet a confirmé la validité de la version française du AEBQ auprès des Québécois. En conclusion, ces travaux mettent en lumière le rôle important des comportements alimentaires dans différents facteurs de risque d'obésité. Les résultats suggèrent que cibler ces comportements alimentaires pourrait être une avenue potentielle pour diminuer la susceptibilité à la surconsommation et à l'obésité associée à ces facteurs. Finalement, ce projet suggère que des recommandations portant sur le moment des prises alimentaires sont pertinentes dans une perspective de prévention et de traitement de l'obésité.Obesity is an important public health issue. In Canada, nearly 60 % of the population is living with overweight or obesity. This condition yields important health consequences. Despite many efforts, obesity prevention and treatment remain ineffective. Interventions targeting specific characteristics common to groups of individuals combined with a better understanding of mechanisms by which different risk factors for obesity impact body weight could improve the efficacy of interventions. Causes for obesity include a complex interplay between environmental, genetic, physiological, and behavioural factors. For instance, genetic factors play an important role in the interindividual variability in body weight observed in response to the environment. Moreover, few studies have shown that genes impact body weight partly through eating behaviour traits which represent important determinants of obesity. However, only a few eating behaviour traits have been tested as mediators of the genetic susceptibility to obesity. Other characteristics such as the timing of food intake and low satiety responsiveness also represent risk factors for obesity. The mechanisms by which these risk factors influence body weight remain to be fully understood. Few studies suggest that these factors are also associated with eating behaviour traits. To date, the associations between these three individual risk factors for obesity and eating behaviour traits have been scarcely studied. The overall objective of this thesis is to investigate the role of eating behaviour traits in three obesity risk factors, namely, genetic susceptibility to obesity, timing of food intake and low satiety responsiveness, either in a context of susceptibility to obesity or weight loss. This thesis first aims to assess the associations between these risk factors and eating behaviour traits, and to investigate whether eating behaviour traits mediate the associations between these risk factors and obesity or energy intake. Second, the associations between two of these risk factors, namely timing of food intake and low satiety responsiveness, and weight loss are also investigated. Lastly, this thesis aims to validate the French version of the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ), which assesses eating behaviours related to appetite. Most of the objectives were achieved with the use of data from the Quebec Family Study (n=951) or the WeLIS cohort, which includes four weight loss studies (n=305). A separate study was carried out to validate the AEBQ (n=227). In a literature review, this project first highlighted the familial resemblance in eating behaviour traits and that several obesity-related genes were associated with these traits. This project also found that genetic susceptibility to obesity was mediated by disinhibition and susceptibility to hunger. With regard to the timing of food intake, the results of this thesis suggest that a late distribution of food intake, assessed prior to a weight loss intervention, does not permit the characterization of low weight loss responders. However, a late distribution of food intake was positively associated with energy intake, and this association was mediated by disinhibition and susceptibility to hunger. The results of this thesis also showed that individuals with low satiety responsiveness were not resistant to weight loss based on an energy-restricted diet, but that this type of intervention leads to less optimal changes in some of their eating behaviour traits. The association between low satiety responsiveness and energy intake was also mediated by susceptibility to hunger and food cravings. Finally, this thesis indicated that the AEBQ is a valid tool to assess eating behaviours in the French-speaking adult population from the province of Quebec. In conclusion, this thesis highlights the important role of eating behaviour traits in several risk factors for obesity. These results suggest that targeting these eating behaviour traits could be a potential avenue to decrease the susceptibility to overeating and obesity associated with these risk factors. This project also suggests that the inclusion of recommendations about the timing of food intake is relevant from the perspective of obesity prevention and treatment

Associations among eating behaviour traits, diet quality and food labelling : a mediation model

Objective: To assess the associations among eating behaviour traits, food label use and diet quality and to evaluate if the association between eating behaviour traits and diet quality is mediated by food label use. Design: Eating behaviour traits were assessed using the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ), the Restraint Scale and the Intuitive Eating Scale, whereas food label use was measured with the Label Reading Survey. Diet quality (Canadian Healthy Eating Index) was assessed with an FFQ. Setting: Cross-sectional study. Participants: Adults (n 385; mean (sd): BMI = 26·0 (4·9) kg/m2, age = 41·1 (15·0) years) involved in two previous experimental studies. Results: When controlling for potential covariates, general food label use (β = 1·18 (se 0·26), P < 0·0001) was the main determinant of diet quality, explaining 6·7 % of its variance. General food label use partly mediated the association between TFEQ-cognitive restraint and diet quality; the indirect effect (βindirect (se); 95 % CI) was stronger in men (0·32 (0·10); 0·15, 0·55) than women (0·16 (0·05); 0·08, 0·27). General food label use also partly mediated the negative association between unconditional permission to eat and diet quality; the indirect effect (βindirect (se); 95 % CI) was also stronger in men (−1·88 (0·55); −3·11, −0·96) than women (−1·03 (0·33); −1·81, −0·49). Conclusions: General food label use was the main determinant of diet quality and partly mediated the association between eating behaviour traits and diet quality. The stronger mediating effect observed in men suggests they rely more on food labelling when attempting to restrained themselves, which translates into better diet quality

Generative Learning of Continuous Data by Tensor Networks

Beyond their origin in modeling many-body quantum systems, tensor networks have emerged as a promising class of models for solving machine learning problems, notably in unsupervised generative learning. While possessing many desirable features arising from their quantum-inspired nature, tensor network generative models have previously been largely restricted to binary or categorical data, limiting their utility in real-world modeling problems. We overcome this by introducing a new family of tensor network generative models for continuous data, which are capable of learning from distributions containing continuous random variables. We develop our method in the setting of matrix product states, first deriving a universal expressivity theorem proving the ability of this model family to approximate any reasonably smooth probability density function with arbitrary precision. We then benchmark the performance of this model on several synthetic and real-world datasets, finding that the model learns and generalizes well on distributions of continuous and discrete variables. We develop methods for modeling different data domains, and introduce a trainable compression layer which is found to increase model performance given limited memory or computational resources. Overall, our methods give important theoretical and empirical evidence of the efficacy of quantum-inspired methods for the rapidly growing field of generative learning.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure

Evaluation of a theory-based intervention aimed at reducing intention to use restrictive dietary behaviors among adolescent female athletes

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a theory-based intervention to reduce the intention to use restrictive dietary behaviors for losing weight among adolescent female athletes involved in aesthetic sports. Design: Cluster randomized controlled trial. Setting: Aesthetic sport teams of adolescent (age 12-17) female athletes. Participants: Two teams (n=37 athletes) in the intervention group and 3 teams (n=33) in the comparison group. Interventions: The 2 groups received nutrition education during 3 weekly 60-min sessions. The intervention group was further exposed to a theory-based intervention targeting the specific determinant of intention to use restrictive dietary behaviors for losing weight, namely attitude. Main Outcome Measures: Difference over time between groups in intention to use restrictive dietary behaviors for losing weight and in nutrition knowledge. Analysis: Mixed models for repeated measures. Results: The theory-based intervention contributed to maintaining a low intention of using restrictive dietary behaviors for losing weight over time in the intervention group compared to the comparison group. Nutrition knowledge score increased equally in both groups. Conclusion and implications: Complementing nutrition education with theory-based behavior change intervention may help maintain a low intention of using restrictive dietary behaviors for losing weight among high-school female athletes involved in aesthetic sport

Déterminants biologiques des comportements alimentaires obésogènes

En présence d’un environnement favorisant la sédentarité et l’accessibilité aux aliments, certains individus sont plus susceptibles au gain de poids. Cette différence individuelle peut s’expliquer par des interactions gène-environnement. En effet, il a été démontré que certains individus présentent une prédisposition génétique à l’obésité. De plus, une composante génétique a également été associée aux comportements alimentaires, tels que la restriction cognitive, la désinhibition et la susceptibilité à la faim, ces derniers étant également liés à l’obésité. L’objectif de cet article de revue est de présenter l’état des connaissances en ce qui a trait à l’héritabilité de certains comportements alimentaires, puis d’identifier les gènes associés à ces comportements. Les résultats démontrent que la désinhibition et la susceptibilité à la faim sont deux comportements alimentaires particulièrement héritables et que plusieurs gènes candidats sont maintenant associés aux comportements alimentaires. Ces résultats indiquent que l’on est loin d’être tous égaux face aux aliments et peuvent aider les professionnels à mieux comprendre la variabilité observée en contexte d’intervention. L’identification des gènes associés aux comportements alimentaires s’avère primordiale afin de mieux identifier les individus plus à risque de gain de poids et de mieux intervenir auprès de ces derniers.When exposed to an environment that promotes a sedentary lifestyle and food accessibility, some individuals are at a higher risk of weight gain. This individual difference can be explained by gene–environment interactions. It has been shown that some individuals have a genetic predisposition to obesity. In addition, a genetic component has been associated with eating behaviour traits such as cognitive restraint, disinhibition, and susceptibility to hunger, all of which are also linked to obesity. The purpose of this review article is to present the current state of knowledge on the heritability of specific eating behaviour traits and to then identify the genes associated with these behaviours. The findings show that disinhibition and susceptibility to hunger are 2 eating behaviour traits that are particularly heritable and that several candidate genes are now associated with eating behaviour traits. These findings indicate that we are far from equal when it comes to food and can help professionals better understand the variability observed in an intervention context. Identifying genes associated with eating behaviour traits is crucial to better identify and intervene with people at higher risk of weight gain

Understanding Gene-Lifestyle Interaction in Obesity: The Role of Mediation versus Moderation

BACKGROUND: Obesity results from complex interactions between genetic susceptibility to weight gain and poor eating and lifestyle behaviors. The approach that has been traditionally used in genetics to investigate gene-environment/lifestyle interaction in obesity is based on the concept of moderation or effect modification. Another approach called mediation analysis can be used to investigate gene-environment interaction in obesity. The objective of this review article is to explain the differences between the concepts of moderation and mediation and summarize the studies that have used mediation analysis to support the role of eating or lifestyle behaviors as putative mediators of genetic susceptibility to obesity. SUMMARY: Moderation is used to determine whether the effect of an exposure (genes associated with obesity) on an outcome (obesity phenotype) differs in magnitude and/or direction across the spectrum of environmental exposure. Mediation analysis is used to assess the extent to which the effect of the exposure on the outcome is explained by a given set of hypothesized mediators with the aim of understanding how the exposure could lead to the outcome. In comparison with moderation, relatively few studies used mediation analyses to investigate gene-environment interaction in obesity. Most studies found evidence that traits related to appetite or eating behaviors partly mediated genetic susceptibility to obesity in either children or adults. KEY MESSAGES: Moderation and mediation represent two complementary approaches to investigate gene-environment interaction in obesity and address different research questions pertaining to the cause-effect relationship between genetic susceptibility to obesity and various obesity outcomes. More studies relying on mediation are needed to better understand the role of eating and lifestyle habits in mediating genetic susceptibility to obesity

Aberrant cytoplasmic intron retention is a blueprint for RNA binding protein mislocalization in VCP-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

We recently described aberrantly increased cytoplasmic SFPQ intron-retaining transcripts (IRTs) and concurrent SFPQ protein mislocalization as new hallmarks of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the generalizability and potential roles of cytoplasmic IRTs in health and disease remain unclear. Here, using time-resolved deep sequencing of nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions of human induced pluripotent stem cells undergoing motor neurogenesis, we reveal that ALS-causing VCP gene mutations lead to compartment-specific aberrant accumulation of IRTs. Specifically, we identify > 100 IRTs with increased cytoplasmic abundance in ALS samples. Furthermore, these aberrant cytoplasmic IRTs possess sequence-specific attributes and differential predicted binding affinity to RNA binding proteins. Remarkably, TDP-43, SFPQ and FUS-RNA binding proteins known for nuclear-to-cytoplasmic mislocalization in ALS-abundantly and specifically bind to this aberrant cytoplasmic pool of IRTs. Our data are therefore consistent with a novel role for cytoplasmic IRTs in regulating compartment-specific protein abundance. This study provides new molecular insight into potential pathomechanisms underlying ALS and highlights aberrant cytoplasmic IRTs as potential therapeutic targets

Is Mate Choice in Humans MHC-Dependent?

In several species, including rodents and fish, it has been shown that the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) influences mating preferences and, in some cases, that this may be mediated by preferences based on body odour. In humans, the picture has been less clear. Several studies have reported a tendency for humans to prefer MHC-dissimilar mates, a sexual selection that would favour the production of MHC-heterozygous offspring, who would be more resistant to pathogens, but these results are unsupported by other studies. Here, we report analyses of genome-wide genotype data (from the HapMap II dataset) and HLA types in African and European American couples to test whether humans tend to choose MHC-dissimilar mates. In order to distinguish MHC-specific effects from genome-wide effects, the pattern of similarity in the MHC region is compared to the pattern in the rest of the genome. African spouses show no significant pattern of similarity/dissimilarity across the MHC region (relatedness coefficient, R = 0.015, p = 0.23), whereas across the genome, they are more similar than random pairs of individuals (genome-wide R = 0.00185, p<10−3). We discuss several explanations for these observations, including demographic effects. On the other hand, the sampled European American couples are significantly more MHC-dissimilar than random pairs of individuals (R = −0.043, p = 0.015), and this pattern of dissimilarity is extreme when compared to the rest of the genome, both globally (genome-wide R = −0.00016, p = 0.739) and when broken into windows having the same length and recombination rate as the MHC (only nine genomic regions exhibit a higher level of genetic dissimilarity between spouses than does the MHC). This study thus supports the hypothesis that the MHC influences mate choice in some human populations