Children’s and adolescents’ rising animal-source food intakes in 1990–2018 were impacted by age, region, parental education and urbanicity

Animal-source foods (ASF) provide nutrition for children and adolescents’ physical and cognitive development. Here, we use data from the Global Dietary Database and Bayesian hierarchical models to quantify global, regional and national ASF intakes between 1990 and 2018 by age group across 185 countries, representing 93% of the world’s child population. Mean ASF intake was 1.9 servings per day, representing 16% of children consuming at least three daily servings. Intake was similar between boys and girls, but higher among urban children with educated parents. Consumption varied by age from 0.6 at <1 year to 2.5 servings per day at 15–19 years. Between 1990 and 2018, mean ASF intake increased by 0.5 servings per week, with increases in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, total ASF consumption was highest in Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey, and lowest in Uganda, India, Kenya and Bangladesh. These findings can inform policy to address malnutrition through targeted ASF consumption programmes.publishedVersio

Incident type 2 diabetes attributable to suboptimal diet in 184 countries

The global burden of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not well established. This risk assessment model estimated T2D incidence among adults attributable to direct and body weight-mediated effects of 11 dietary factors in 184 countries in 1990 and 2018. In 2018, suboptimal intake of these dietary factors was estimated to be attributable to 14.1 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 13.8–14.4 million) incident T2D cases, representing 70.3% (68.8–71.8%) of new cases globally. Largest T2D burdens were attributable to insufficient whole-grain intake (26.1% (25.0–27.1%)), excess refined rice and wheat intake (24.6% (22.3–27.2%)) and excess processed meat intake (20.3% (18.3–23.5%)). Across regions, highest proportional burdens were in central and eastern Europe and central Asia (85.6% (83.4–87.7%)) and Latin America and the Caribbean (81.8% (80.1–83.4%)); and lowest proportional burdens were in South Asia (55.4% (52.1–60.7%)). Proportions of diet-attributable T2D were generally larger in men than in women and were inversely correlated with age. Diet-attributable T2D was generally larger among urban versus rural residents and higher versus lower educated individuals, except in high-income countries, central and eastern Europe and central Asia, where burdens were larger in rural residents and in lower educated individuals. Compared with 1990, global diet-attributable T2D increased by 2.6 absolute percentage points (8.6 million more cases) in 2018, with variation in these trends by world region and dietary factor. These findings inform nutritional priorities and clinical and public health planning to improve dietary quality and reduce T2D globally.publishedVersio

A new Minoan-type peak sanctuary on Stelida, Naxos

A long-recognised characteristic of Crete’s later Bronze Age [BA] state-level society – the ‘Minoan civilization’ of the 2nd millennium cal. BC – was the establishment of socio-economic connections with off-island populations. The nature of these relationships has been interpreted in various ways, from the establishment of overseas colonies to a more mutually beneficial relationship between local political agents and their Cretan partners, not least Knossos. Minoan influence has been documented throughout the southern Aegean in the form of material culture, iconography, metrological systems and socio-religious practices. It is the latter theme that concerns us here, specifically in the form of ‘peak sanctuaries’, i.e. upland foci of ritual activity associated with settlements and palatial centres throughout Crete, a handful of which are claimed to have been established overseas, on Kythera, Kea, Naxos, Rhodes and possibly Andros (Figure 1). We report here on what we claim to be a new example from Stelida on Naxos, whose southern peak dominates the skyline of nearby Grotta, the island’s main harbour and BA centre (Figures 1-3). The argument is based upon (i) the character of the finds, (ii) the presence of architecture and (iii), the site’s location and the vistas afforded from it, all of which have excellent comparanda from recognised peak sanctuaries in Crete (Table 1). We start by providing a brief overview of peak sanctuaries, followed by a presentation of the new excavations at Stelida, after which we discuss the site’s larger significance, arguing that these new discoveries suggest that Naxos was a much more dynamic participant in relations with communities in Neopalatial Crete – not least Knossos ­than hitherto suggested