“It’s Making Memories”: A Qualitative Investigation of Family Mealtime Cognitions, Barriers and Strategies for Success of Parents and School-aged Kids

Objective: Family meals, particularly those occurring in calm environments, are associated with numerous health benefits for both children and parents. However, families often struggle to share meals, with the frequency declining as kids get older. This qualitative research study aimed to explore the factors influencing family meal behaviors. Methods: Parents (n=38) and school-age children (n=37) participated in focus group discussions guided by Social Cognitive Theory. Results: Content analysis results indicate that parents and children believed family meals were important, promoted communication, and strengthened family bonds. Parents and children reported that a calm, enjoyable, conflict-free mealtime environment bolstered mealtime enjoyment and increased the likelihood of regular family meals. Busy schedules were the greatest barrier to family meals identified by children and parents. Strategies for overcoming barriers to family meals identified by parents were similar to those shared by kids and included keeping mealtime conversations positive, altering schedules to accommodate family mealtime, planning ahead, using time saving strategies and recruiting kids to help with meal preparation. Conclusion: This qualitative research study provides novel insights into parents’ and school-age children’s cognitions (e.g., beliefs, attitudes), barriers, and facilitators related to family meals. Consideration of these insights during the development of nutrition education interventions has the potential to improve intervention effectiveness in increasing family meal frequency

Cooking and Meal Planning as Predictors of Fruit and Vegetable Intake and BMI in First-Year College Students

The objective was to determine if cooking skills and meal planning behaviors are associated with greater fruit and vegetable intake and lower body mass index (BMI) in first-year college students who are at risk for excessive weight gain. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using baseline data from a multi-state research project aimed at preventing weight gain in first-year college students. Cooking type, frequency and confidence, self-instruction for healthful mealtime behavior intention, self-regulation of healthful mealtime behavior, and cup equivalents of fruits and vegetables (FV) were measured using validated surveys. BMI was calculated from measured height and weight. First-year students (n = 1108) considered at risk for weight gain from eight universities completed baseline assessments within the first month of entering college. Multiple linear regression was used to determine associations among independent variables of cooking patterns, meal planning behaviors, and dependent variables of fruit and vegetable intake and BMI, after controlling for the influence of sex. Cooking more frequently, cooking with greater skills, and practicing meal planning behaviors are associated with greater fruit and vegetable intake and lower BMI in first-year college students. Interventions aimed at improving health in college students may be enhanced by incorporating cooking and meal planning components

eB4CAST Approach Improves Science Communication With Stakeholders in a College-Based Health Program

Communicating scientific results with community partners is often lacking in intervention programs, thus eB4CAST was developed to facilitate impact sharing. This article investigated using the eB4CAST dissemination tool to communicate impact from a campus-based obesity prevention program. Data from Get Fruved RCT university sites collected at baseline were used to generate eB4CAST reports. Experts (n = 13) and RCT sites (n = 15) were asked to provide feedback on eB4CAST reports based on appeal, understanding, and clarity. On all Likert items, participants rated above 7 on each (out of 10). Positive responses from open-ended questions included eB4CAST reports being clear, visually appealing, and aid in program understanding. Overall, eB4CAST was successful in relaying data and information for the Get Fruved program, thus a means for science communication that could be used in interventions. Utilizing infographics to report data and information is a feasible way to disseminate and communicate in a cost-effective, timely manner

Influence of folate status on genomic DNA methylation in colonic mucosa of subjects without colorectal adenoma or cancer

DNA hypomethylation may increase the risk of colorectal cancer. The main aim of this study was to assess the influence of folate status (serum and erythrocyte folate and plasma homocysteine concentrations) on DNA methylation. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR 677C → T and 1298A → C), methionine synthase (MS 2756A → G) and cystathionine synthase (CBS 844ins68) polymorphisms were measured to account for potential confounding effects on folate status and DNA methylation. A total of 68 subjects (33 men and 35 women, 36–78 years) free from colorectal polyps or cancer were recruited in a cross-sectional study. Tissue biopsies were obtained at colonoscopy for the determination of DNA methylation in colonic mucosa using an in vitro radiolabelled methyl acceptance assay. Serum and erythrocyte folate were inversely correlated with plasma homocysteine (r=−0.573, P<0.001 and r=−0.307, P=0.01 respectively) and DNA hypomethylation in colonic mucosa (r=−0.311, P=0.01 and r=−0.356, P=0.03). After adjusting for gender, age, body mass index, smoking and genotype, there were weak negative associations between serum and erythrocyte folate and colonic DNA hypomethylation (P=0.07 and P=0.08, respectively)

Phencyclidine (PCP)-Induced Disruption in Cognitive Performance is Gender-Specific and Associated with a Reduction in Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in Specific Regions of the Female Rat Brain

Phencyclidine (PCP), used to mimic certain aspects of schizophrenia, induces sexually dimorphic, cognitive deficits in rats. In this study, the effects of sub-chronic PCP on expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophic factor implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, have been evaluated in male and female rats. Male and female hooded-Lister rats received vehicle or PCP (n = 8 per group; 2 mg/kg i.p. twice daily for 7 days) and were tested in the attentional set shifting task prior to being sacrificed (6 weeks post-treatment). Levels of BDNF mRNA were measured in specific brain regions using in situ hybridisation. Male rats were less sensitive to PCP-induced deficits in the extra-dimensional shift stage of the attentional set shifting task compared to female rats. Quantitative analysis of brain regions demonstrated reduced BDNF levels in the medial prefrontal cortex (p < 0.05), motor cortex (p < 0.01), orbital cortex (p < 0.01), olfactory bulb (p < 0.05), retrosplenial cortex (p < 0.001), frontal cortex (p < 0.01), parietal cortex (p < 0.01), CA1 (p < 0.05) and polymorphic layer of dentate gyrus (p < 0.05) of the hippocampus and the central (p < 0.01), lateral (p < 0.05) and basolateral (p < 0.05) regions of the amygdaloid nucleus in female PCP-treated rats compared with controls. In contrast, BDNF was significantly reduced only in the orbital cortex and central amygdaloid region of male rats (p < 0.05). Results suggest that blockade of NMDA receptors by sub-chronic PCP administration has a long-lasting down-regulatory effect on BDNF mRNA expression in the female rat brain which may underlie some of the behavioural deficits observed post PCP administration

A Genetic Signature of Spina Bifida Risk from Pathway-Informed Comprehensive Gene-Variant Analysis

Despite compelling epidemiological evidence that folic acid supplements reduce the frequency of neural tube defects (NTDs) in newborns, common variant association studies with folate metabolism genes have failed to explain the majority of NTD risk. The contribution of rare alleles as well as genetic interactions within the folate pathway have not been extensively studied in the context of NTDs. Thus, we sequenced the exons in 31 folate-related genes in a 480-member NTD case-control population to identify the full spectrum of allelic variation and determine whether rare alleles or obvious genetic interactions within this pathway affect NTD risk. We constructed a pathway model, predetermined independent of the data, which grouped genes into coherent sets reflecting the distinct metabolic compartments in the folate/one-carbon pathway (purine synthesis, pyrimidine synthesis, and homocysteine recycling to methionine). By integrating multiple variants based on these groupings, we uncovered two provocative, complex genetic risk signatures. Interestingly, these signatures differed by race/ethnicity: a Hispanic risk profile pointed to alterations in purine biosynthesis, whereas that in non-Hispanic whites implicated homocysteine metabolism. In contrast, parallel analyses that focused on individual alleles, or individual genes, as the units by which to assign risk revealed no compelling associations. These results suggest that the ability to layer pathway relationships onto clinical variant data can be uniquely informative for identifying genetic risk as well as for generating mechanistic hypotheses. Furthermore, the identification of ethnic-specific risk signatures for spina bifida resonated with epidemiological data suggesting that the underlying pathogenesis may differ between Hispanic and non-Hispanic groups