Sensory determinants of stated liking for vegetable names and actual liking for canned vegetables: A cross-country study among European adolescents.

Sensory properties are reported as one of the main factors hindering an appropriate vegetable intake by the young. In the present work the sensory determinants of likings for vegetables were explored in adolescents of four European countries (Denmark, n = 88; France, n = 206; Italy, n = 110 and United Kingdom, n = 93). A questionnaire was designed to study cross country differences in stated liking for and familiarity with a list of vegetables popular among European markets (between-vegetable approach). A within-vegetable comparison approach with actual tasting was used to analyze differences and similarities in liking for canned pea and sweet corn samples across the countries. A close positive relationship between stated liking and familiarity was found. Irrespective of the country, one group of highly liked vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, green salad) was identified, characterized by innately liked tastes (sweet, umami), delicate flavour and bright appealing colour. A second group of highly disliked vegetables consists of cauliflowers and broccoli, characterized by disliked sensations such as bitter taste and objectionable flavour. Internal Preference Maps from actual liking scores indicate that the generally disliked tastes (bitter, sour), are clearly correlated with a negative hedonic response for both peas and sweet corn. The hedonic valence of a generally well accepted taste such as salty and texture descriptors depends on the type of vegetable. Internal preference maps from actual liking data indicate that flavour and appearance descriptors of the distinct sensory properties of each type of vegetable positively affect liking, while the intensity of unusual flavours is related to sample disliking

Social disparities in food preparation behaviours: a DEDIPAC study

BACKGROUND: The specific role of major socio-economic indicators in influencing food preparation behaviours could reveal distinct socio-economic patterns, thus enabling mechanisms to be understood that contribute to social inequalities in health. This study investigated whether there was an independent association of each socio-economic indicator (education, occupation, income) with food preparation behaviours. METHODS: A total of 62,373 adults participating in the web-based NutriNet-Santé cohort study were included in our cross-sectional analyses. Cooking skills, preparation from scratch and kitchen equipment were assessed using a 0-10-point score; frequency of meal preparation, enjoyment of cooking and willingness to cook better/more frequently were categorical variables. Independent associations between socio-economic factors (education, income and occupation) and food preparation behaviours were assessed using analysis of covariance and logistic regression models stratified by sex. The models simultaneously included the three socio-economic indicators, adjusting for age, household composition and whether or not they were the main cook in the household. RESULTS: Participants with the lowest education, the lowest income group and female manual and office workers spent more time preparing food daily than participants with the highest education, those with the highest income and managerial staff (P < 0.0001). The lowest educated individuals were more likely to be non-cooks than those with the highest education level (Women: OR = 3.36 (1.69;6.69); Men: OR = 1.83 (1.07;3.16)) while female manual and office workers and the never-employed were less likely to be non-cooks (OR = 0.52 (0.28;0.97); OR = 0.30 (0.11;0.77)). Female manual and office workers had lower scores of preparation from scratch and were less likely to want to cook more frequently than managerial staff (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001). Women belonging to the lowest income group had a lower score of kitchen equipment (P < 0.0001) and were less likely to enjoy cooking meal daily (OR = 0.68 (0.45;0.86)) than those with the highest income. CONCLUSION: Lowest socio-economic groups, particularly women, spend more time preparing food than high socioeconomic groups. However, female manual and office workers used less raw or fresh ingredients to prepare meals than managerial staff. In the unfavourable context in France with reduced time spent preparing meals over last decades, our findings showed socioeconomic disparities in food preparation behaviours in women, whereas few differences were observed in men

Integrated and predictive approach for identifying determinants of health changes: role of nutrition - The DIAPASON project

National audienceThe objective of the project is to develop accurate and robust markers of the evolution of health status toward metabolic syndrome (MetS), and to determine to what extent nutrition is a determinant, by using a multidisciplinary approach, putting together sociology, epidemiology, nutrition, statistics, and computer science. Within the GAZEL French cohort set up in 1989 (20,000 EDF-GDF employees), the project integrate demographic, socioeconomic, clinical, and biological data (annual questionnaires including food frequency questionnaires (FFQs)) to analyze food trajectories between 1998 & 2009. Metabolic signatures will be characterized using untargeted metabolomics within a Case Control sub-cohort in order to identify early discriminant factors predictive of MetS development. 52-64 y.o. males with high BMI (25≤BMI<30) who developed MetS after the follow up (‘Case’) were selected and compared for some parameters (socio-demographic, clinical, parameters, food habits) with at risk subjects who did not (‘Control’ matched for BMI, age, sex). Correlations between these data and metabolic signatures will be done to build predictive models and determine whether integration of multidimensional parameters improves prediction. Among the 9,000 individuals, 3 dietary patterns were identified from FFQs in 1998 and confirmed from 2004 & 2009 FFQs: Western Diet (WD), Hea -lthy, and Traditional French after Multiple Correspondence Analyses based on 22 food items. Individuals’ food trajectories were different ac-cording to their dietary patterns: decrease of ‘WD’ with time, in opposite to an increase in ‘Healthy’ and ‘Traditional’ behaviours. The sub-cohort appears representative of the whole cohort, but the behaviors’ evolution of Cases and Controls is different in amplitude: a deeper decrease in ‘WD’ in the Cases vs an increase in ‘Traditional’ behavior. This approach should provide new tools to better stratify at risk population

Integrated and predictive approach for identifying determinants of health changes: role of nutrition

International audienceThe overall objective of the project is to develop accurate and robust markers of the evolution of health status toward metabolic syndrome (MetS), and to determine to what extent nutrition is a major determinant, by using a multidisciplinary approach, putting together sociology, epidemiology, nutrition, statistics, and computer science. The project uses the French population-based cohort GAZEL, an on-going epidemiological study set up in 1989 (around 20,000 volunteers) among employees of the French national Gas and Electricity Company. The study consists in integrating demographic, socioeconomic, clinical, and biological data (from annual questionnaires, including food frequency questionnaires (FFQs)) to analyse food trajectories between 1998 and 2009. A case-control approach is used within a sub-cohort to characterize metabolic signatures and identify early discriminant factors predictive of MetS development. Male subjects between 52 and 64 years old, with high BMI (25≤BMI<30) who developed MetS (NCEP criteria) after the follow-up (‘Case’ group) were selected and compared for several parameters (socio-demographic, collected clinical, biochemical parameters, and food habits) with those who did not but still having some risk factors (‘Control’ group, matched for BMI, age and sex). Metabolomic analyses of serum samples collected between 2000 and 2003 will be performed using a mass spectrometry-based untargeted approach. Analyses of correlations between social characteristics, food habits and metabolic signatures will be done to build predictive models and determine whether integration of multidimensional parameters improves prediction. Among the 9,000 individuals having responded to FFQs in 1998, three different dietary patterns were identified, Western Diet (WD), Healthy, and Traditional French, after Multiple Correspondence Analyses (MCA) based on 22 food items. These patterns were confirmed from FFQs in 2004 and 2009. Food trajectories of individuals were found to be different according to their dietary patterns: strong decrease of ‘WD’ dietary pattern with time, in opposition with an increase in ‘Healthy’ and ‘Traditional’ behaviours. The at-risk sub-cohort appears to be representative of the whole cohort after MCA analyses on the 22 identified food variables, the nature of the dietary patterns, and the trend of changes. However, the evolution of behaviours for the Cases (MetS) and Controls is different in its amplitude: a deeper decrease in ‘WD’ pattern in the Cases in favour of an increase in ‘Traditional’ behaviour. These data will be correlated with metabolic changes identified from metabolomic profiles. This approach should provide new tools to better stratify at-risk populations. Furthermore, these analyses will allow identifying the role of nutrition as determinant and modulator in MetS etiology. Finally, this study should contribute to develop a more personalized nutritional prevention

Integrated and predictive approach for identifying markers of health status evolution toward metabolic syndrome: the role of nutrition

National audienc

Constructing normality through material and social lock-in: The dynamics of energy consumption among Geneva's more affluent households

This chapter explores the underpinning dimensions of energy-using practices among an affluent social group in Geneva, or households who self-identify as being part of the expatriate population. We demonstrate how people can be locked into certain consumption practices by their physical possessions, a form of material lock-in, but also by social status and power dynamics, what we term social lock-in. Much of this has to do with expectations around social norms, or how normality is constructed within this social group and across different consumption spaces, and the critical role of norms in holding practices together over time. Opportunities for destabilizing practices and challenging expectations around energy consumption are discussed, including the role of demonstration sites, the value of time and the significance of social networks