Chitosan and Cystatin/Lysozyme Preparation as Protective Edible Films Components

This work characterizes biological, physical, and chemical properties of films formed from an aqueous solution of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), with different concentrations of chitosan (CH) and bioactive cystatin/lysozyme preparation (C/L). The properties of biocomposites were examined by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), Fourier’s transfer infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), water vapour permeability (WVP), and tensile testing. Antimicrobial activity against Micrococcus flavus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Candida famata was conducted. Films glass transition and storage modulus were dependent on the C/L and CH concentration. Modulus values decreased during the temperature scan and with higher reagents levels. An increase of CH and C/L concentrations in the films resulted in a decrease in tensile strength from 2.62 to 1.08 MPa. It suggests the hydrolyzing influence of C/L, also observed in smaller peak size of α relaxation. C/L addition caused shifting Tg to higher temperature. DMA and FTIR analysis proved that HPMC and CH are compatible polymers. Water resistance was improved with rising CH concentration from 1.08????−09to7.71????−10g/m∗s∗ PA . The highest inhibition zone in M. flavus and C. famata was recorded at the highest concentration of CH and C/L

Regulacja prawna żywności genetycznie zmodyfikowanej w USA i UE w kontekście planowanego Transatlantyckiego Porozumienia Handlowo-Inwestycyjnego (TTIP)

The process of globalization in the production and distribution of food, ongoing for many years, causes a number of problems. Agreement on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), negotiated since 2013 by the US and the EU, is one of the instruments to manage of globalization process. The Agreement is aimed at liberalization of trade of goods and services. This article presents the US and the EU regulation on genetically modified food and assessment of the consequences of TTIP Agreement for the regulation of GM food in the EU. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the approach to genetically modified food in the legal regulations of the EU and the US vary significantly. In the US, it was assumed that GM food is not different from conventional food and, consequently, the consumer does not need to be informed on GM food contents. In opposition to the US approach the EU law separately regulates GM food and gives the consumer the ability to make choice of food which differs only by the usage of genetic engineering. Authors conclude, that the signing of TTIP and the full opening of the EU market for food from the US may result in loss of supervision over genetically modified food by EU public authorities as well as the collapse of the EU model of consumer protection based on the precautionary principle.Postępujący od wielu lat proces globalizacji w produkcji i dystrybucji żywności wywołuje szereg problemów. Instrumentem służącym do zarządzania tym procesem jest w szczególności negocjowana od 2013 r. przez USA i UE umowa o Transatlantyckim Partnerstwie Handlowo-Inwestycyjnym (TTIP). Ma ona na celu wzajemną liberalizację handlu towarami i usługami. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie amerykańskiej i unijnej regulacji dotyczącej żywności genetycznie zmodyfikowanej oraz ocena konsekwencji zawarcia porozumienia TTIP dla regulacji żywności GMO w UE. Analiza prowadzi do wniosku, że podejście do żywności genetycznie modyfikowanej w regulacji prawnej UE i USA jest zupełnie odmienne. W USA przyjęto założenie, iż żywność GMO nie różni się od żywności konwencjonalnej, a w konsekwencji konsument nie musi być informowany o żywności GMO. W przeciwieństwie do regulacji amerykańskiej prawo UE odrębnie reguluje żywność genetycznie zmodyfikowaną i daje konsumentowi możliwość dokonywania samodzielnego wyboru żywności różniącej się wyłącznie zastosowaniem inżynierii genetycznej. W konkluzji autorzy stwierdzają, iż zawarcie TTIP i pełne otwarcie rynku UE na żywność z USA może spowodować utratę nadzoru nad żywnością GMO przez władze publiczne w UE i załamanie unijnego modelu ochrony konsumenta opartego na zasadzie ostrożności

Self-perception of body weight status by 13-year-olds with respect to the parents’ body mass index

WSTĘP. Prawidłowa ocena własnej masy ciała jest elementem zapobiegania i kontroli nadwagi i otyłości. Celem pracy była analiza adekwatności oceny własnej masy ciała przez 13-latków w Polsce w zależności od wskaźnika masy ciała (BMI) rodziców. MATERIAŁ I METODY. Analizy wykonano w 561-osobowej grupie 13-latków i ich rodziców. Badana grupa pochodziła z trzeciego etapu badań kohorty ogólnopolskiej reprezentatywnej grupy dzieci urodzonych w 1995 roku. Badanie wykonano metodą sondażu z wykorzystaniem ankiet dla dzieci i rodziców. Pomiary wysokości i masy ciała przeprowadziły pielęgniarki szkolne. W ocenie BMI 13-latków wykorzystano normy referencyjne Światowej Organizacji Zdrowia. Wskaźnik BMI rodziców obliczono na podstawie danych uzyskanych z ankiet. WYNIKI. Stwierdzono istotne statystycznie różnice w adekwatności oceny własnej masy ciała w zależności od płci (p < 0,001). Nieprawidłowo swoją masę ciała oceniło 36% dziewcząt i 38,5% chłopców. Chłopcy mieli tendencję do postrzegania siebie jako &#8222;za szczupłych&#8221;, a dziewczęta &#8212; jako &#8222;za grube&#8221;. Masa ciała obojga rodziców wpływała istotnie statystycznie (p = 0,002 w odniesieniu do matki i p = 0,016 w odniesieniu do ojca) na prawidłowość oceny własnej masy ciała przez dziewczęta. Ponad 2/3 dziewcząt z nadmiarem masy ciała, których rodzice byli otyli lub na granicy otyłości, oceniło swoją masę ciała jako prawidłową. WNIOSKI. Masa ciała rodziców wpływa na prawidłowość oceny masy ciała ich 13-letnich dzieci, zwłaszcza córek. Działania zapobiegawcze i interwencyjne, ukierunkowane na zmniejszenie masy ciała nastolatków, powinny być skierowane do całej rodziny i uwzględniać adekwatność oceny własnej masy ciała przez dzieci.INTRODUCTION. Adequate self-perception of body weight status is the element of prevention and control of overweight and obesity. The purpose of this study was to analyse the self-perception of body weight by 13-year-olds in Poland with respect to the parents&#8217; body mass index (BMI). MATERIAL AND METHODS. Analyses were performed on the sample of 561 adolescent and their parents. Subjects were identified in the third stage of prospective cohort of children born in 1995. This study was conducted with the use of questionnaires for children and parents. Anthropometric measurements of 13-year-olds were done by school nurses. WHO growth standards were used as BMI references. Parents&#8217; BMI was calculated on the basis of data obtained from the questionnaires. RESULTS. Significant gender differences in self-perception of body weight status were found (p < 0.001). The inadequate perception of body weight was demonstrated by 36% girls and 38.5% boys. Boys had a tendency to assess themselves as &#8220;to slim&#8221; and the girls as &#8220;too fat&#8221;. Parental BMI significantly influenced (p = 0.002 for mother and p = 0.016 for father) the accuracy of the perception of body weight by girls. More than 2/3 of overweight girls, whose parents was obese or near to obesity, assessed their weight as a normal. CONCLUSIONS. Parental BMI affected the adequacy of teenagers body weight self-assessment, particularly in relation to daughters. Prevention and interventions aiming to reduce body weight among adolescents should be addressed to the whole family and consider the adequacy of children&#8217;s body weight status self-assessment

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development

Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income&nbsp;countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was &lt;1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of&nbsp;countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions