Correction: Faught et al. “Socioeconomic Disadvantage across the Life Course is associated with Diet Quality in Young Adulthood” Nutrients, 2019, 11(2), 242

We noticed an error in the text that requires correcting as it may contribute to an incorrect understanding of our study’s scientific conclusions. In the text accompanying Table 4 (Section 3.3: Mediation Analysis (Pathways Hypothesis), page 11), the third sentence in the paragraph reads: “Adult SEP at the level of university education mediated associations between childhood SEP and mean adult HEI-2015 score (p < 0.001).” This should in fact read: “Adult SEP at the level of high school or less mediated associations between childhood SEP and mean adult HEI-2015 score (p < 0.001).” This correction is consistent with the results presented in Table 4, and in line with the scientific conclusions discussed in the article that a low socioeconomic position (SEP) in adulthood mediates associations between childhood SEP and adult diet quality. SEP at the level of university education was the reference group in this analysis

Smaller dishware to reduce energy intake: fact or fiction?

Abstract The potential effects of dishware size on energy intake are unclear, as many previous studies have been of low methodological quality. A newly published paper by Kosīte et al. (IJBNPA 10.1186/s12966-019-0826-1, 2019) reports findings from a rigorous, pre-registered investigation of the effects of manipulating plate size on total energy intake within a single eating occasion. This Editorial considers the implications of these new findings in light of previous evidence pertaining to the efficacy of behavioral nudges in particular, and in relation to contextual drivers of food consumption more generally. We conclude that the potential impact of behavioral nudges may have been exaggerated in the past, and call for future high-quality randomized controlled trials to establish whether reducing dishware size and other behavioral nudges might offer an effective complement to more comprehensive, multi-level interventions to reduce overconsumption of foods and beverages at a population-level

Nutritional quality of new food products released into the Australian retail food market in 2015 – is the food industry part of the solution?

Abstract Background Food manufacturers have made public statements and voluntary commitments, such as the Healthier Australia Commitment (HAC), to improve the nutritional quality of foods. However, limited information about the nutritional quality or healthfulness of new products makes it difficult to determine if manufacturers are doing this. The purpose of this study was to assess the healthfulness of new food products released into the Australian retail market in 2015, and whether those companies who were HAC members released healthier food options compared to non-HAC members. Methods This cross-sectional study assessed the healthfulness of all new retail food products launched in Australia in 2015 as indexed in Mintel’s Global New Products Database. Healthfulness was assessed using three classification schemes: Healthy Choices Framework Victoria, Australian Dietary Guidelines and NOVA Food Classification System. Descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests described and compared the number and proportions of new foods falling within each of the food classification schemes’ categories for companies that were and were not HAC members. Results In 2015, 4143 new food products were launched into the Australian market. The majority of new products were classified in each schemes’ least healthy category (i.e. red, discretionary and ultra-processed). Fruits and vegetables represented just 3% of new products. HAC members launched a significantly greater proportion of foods classified as red (59% vs 51% for members and non-members, respectively) discretionary (79% vs 61%), and ultra-processed (94% vs 81%), and significantly fewer were classified as green (8% vs 15%), core foods (18% vs 36%) and minimally processed (0% vs 6%) (all p < 0.001). Conclusions This study found that the majority of new products released into the Australian retail food market in 2015 were classified in each of three schemes’ least healthy categories. A greater proportion of new products launched by companies that publicly committed to improve the nutritional quality of their products were unhealthy, and a lower proportion were healthy, compared with new products launched by companies that did not so commit. Greater monitoring of industry progress in improving the healthfulness of the food supply may be warranted, with public accountability if the necessary changes are not seen

Socioeconomic Disadvantage across the Life Course Is Associated with Diet Quality in Young Adulthood

Socioeconomic position (SEP) is a key determinant of diet quality across the life course. Young adulthood is a unique period of transition where dietary inequities between groups with lower and higher SEP may widen. This study investigated associations between SEP in both childhood and young adulthood and diet quality in young adulthood. Data from 1949 Canadian young adults aged 18&#8315;30 who participated in the Canada Food Study were analyzed. Healthy Eating Index&#8315;2015 (HEI-2015) scores were calculated based on one 24-hour dietary recall. Childhood and young adult SEP were represented by self-report of participants&#8217; parent(s)&#8217; and their own highest educational level, respectively. Linear regression was used to examine associations between childhood and adult SEP and adult HEI-2015 score. Mediation analyses examined whether adult SEP mediated the relationship between childhood SEP and adult HEI-2015 score. Lower SEPs in childhood and adulthood were each associated with lower HEI-2015 scores in young adulthood. Adult SEP mediated up to 13.0% of the association between childhood SEP and adult HEI-2015 scores. Study findings provide support for key life course hypotheses and suggest latent, pathway, and cumulative effects of SEP across the early life course in shaping the socioeconomic patterning of diet quality in young adulthood

Do food-related capabilities, opportunities and motivations of adolescents mediate the association between socioeconomic position in adolescence and diet quality in early adulthood?

Abstract Background Socio-economic position (SEP) in adolescence may influence diet quality over the life course. However, knowledge of whether individual and environmental determinants of diet quality mediate the longitudinal association between SEP and diet quality is limited. This study examined whether and to what extent food-related capabilities, opportunities and motivations of adolescents mediated the longitudinal association between SEP in adolescence and diet quality in early adulthood overall and by sex. Methods Longitudinal data (annual surveys) from 774 adolescents (16.9 years at baseline; 76% female) from ProjectADAPT (T1 (baseline), T2, T3) were used. SEP in adolescence (T1) was operationalized as highest level of parental education and area-level disadvantage (based on postcode). The Capabilities, Opportunities and Motivations for Behaviour (COM-B) model was used as a framework to inform the analysis. Determinants in adolescence (T2) included food-related activities and skills (Capability), home availability of fruit and vegetables (Opportunity) and self-efficacy (Motivation). Diet quality in early adulthood (T3) was calculated using a modified version of the Australian Dietary Guidelines Index based on brief dietary questions on intake of foods from eight food groups. Structural equation modelling was used to estimate the mediating effects of adolescents’ COM-B in associations between adolescent SEP and diet quality in early adulthood overall and by sex. Standardized beta coefficients (β) and robust 95% confidence intervals (CI) were generated, adjusted for confounders (T1 age, sex, diet quality, whether still at school, and living at home) and clustering by school. Results There was evidence of an indirect effect of area-level disadvantage on diet quality via Opportunity (β: 0.021; 95% CI: 0.003 to 0.038), but limited evidence for parental education (β: 0.018; 95% CI: -0.003 to 0.039). Opportunity mediated 60.9% of the association between area-level disadvantage and diet quality. There was no evidence of an indirect effect via Capability or Motivation for either area-level disadvantage or parental education, or in males and females separately. Conclusions Using the COM-B model, the home availability of fruit and vegetables (Opportunity) of adolescents explained a large proportion of the association between area-level disadvantage in adolescence and diet quality in early adulthood. Interventions to address poor diet quality among adolescents with a lower SEP should prioritize environmental determinants of diet quality

An evaluation of the impact of a restrictive retail food environment intervention in a rural community pharmacy setting

Abstract Background Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is associated with morbidity and mortality. The retail food environment influences food and beverage purchasing and consumption. This study assesses the impact of a community pharmacy’s removal of sweet beverages on overall community sales of carbonated soft drinks (CSD) in a rural setting. We also examined whether the pharmacy intervention affected CSD sales in the town’s other food stores. Methods Weekly CSD sales data were acquired from the three food retailers in the town of Baddeck, Nova Scotia (January 1, 2013 to May 8, 2015, n = 123 weeks). Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) analysis was used to analyse the interrupted time series data and estimate the impact of the pharmacy intervention (September 11, 2014) on overall CSD sales at the community level. Data were analysed in 2015. Results Before the intervention, the pharmacy accounted for approximately 6 % of CSD sales in the community. After the intervention, declines in total weekly average community CSD sales were not statistically significantly. CSD sales at the other food stores did not increase after the pharmacy intervention. Conclusions This study was among the first to examine the impact of a restrictive retail food environment intervention, and found a non-significant decline in CSD sales at the community level. It is the first study to examine a retail food environment intervention in a community pharmacy. Pharmacies may have an important role to play in creating healthy retail food environments

Reliability and validity of a novel tool to comprehensively assess food and beverage marketing in recreational sport settings

Background: Current methods for evaluating food marketing to children often study a single marketing channel or approach. As the World Health Organization urges the removal of unhealthy food marketing in children’s settings, methods that comprehensively explore the exposure and power of food marketing within a setting from multiple marketing channels and approaches are needed. The purpose of this study was to test the inter-rater reliability and the validity of a novel settings-based food marketing audit tool. Methods: The Food and beverage Marketing Assessment Tool for Settings (FoodMATS) was developed and its psychometric properties evaluated in five public recreation and sport facilities (sites) and subsequently used in 51 sites across Canada for a cross-sectional analysis of food marketing. Raters recorded the count of food marketing occasions, presence of child-targeted and sports-related marketing techniques, and the physical size of marketing occasions. Marketing occasions were classified by healthfulness. Inter-rater reliability was tested using Cohen’s kappa (κ) and intra-class correlations (ICC). FoodMATS scores for each site were calculated using an algorithm that represented the theoretical impact of the marketing environment on food preferences, purchases, and consumption. Higher FoodMATS scores represented sites with higher exposure to, and more powerful (unhealthy, child-targeted, sports-related, large) food marketing. Validity of the scoring algorithm was tested through (1) Pearson’s correlations between FoodMATS scores and facility sponsorship dollars, and (2) sequential multiple regression for predicting “Least Healthy” food sales from FoodMATS scores. Results: Inter-rater reliability was very good to excellent (κ = 0.88–1.00, p < 0.001; ICC = 0.97, p < 0.001). There was a strong positive correlation between FoodMATS scores and food sponsorship dollars, after controlling for facility size (r = 0.86, p < 0.001). The FoodMATS score explained 14% of the variability in “Least Healthy” concession sales (p = 0.012) and 24% of the variability total concession and vending “Least Healthy” food sales (p = 0.003). Conclusions: FoodMATS has high inter-rater reliability and good validity. As the first validated tool to evaluate the exposure and power of food marketing in recreation facilities, the FoodMATS provides a novel means to comprehensively track changes in food marketing environments that can assist in developing and monitoring the impact of policies and interventions.Medicine, Faculty ofOther UBCNon UBCPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofReviewedFacult