A Common CNR1 (Cannabinoid Receptor 1) Haplotype Attenuates the Decrease in HDL Cholesterol That Typically Accompanies Weight Gain

We have previously shown that genetic variability in CNR1 is associated with low HDL dyslipidemia in a multigenerational obesity study cohort of Northern European descent (209 families, median  = 10 individuals per pedigree). In order to assess the impact of CNR1 variability on the development of dyslipidemia in the community, we genotyped this locus in all subjects with class III obesity (body mass index >40 kg/m2) participating in a population-based biobank of similar ancestry. Twenty-two haplotype tagging SNPs, capturing the entire CNR1 gene locus plus 15 kb upstream and 5 kb downstream, were genotyped and tested for association with clinical lipid data. This biobank contains data from 645 morbidly obese study subjects. In these subjects, a common CNR1 haplotype (H3, frequency 21.1%) is associated with fasting TG and HDL cholesterol levels (p = 0.031 for logTG; p = 0.038 for HDL-C; p = 0.00376 for log[TG/HDL-C]). The strength of this relationship increases when the data are adjusted for age, gender, body mass index, diet and physical activity. Mean TG levels were 160±70, 155±70, and 120±60 mg/dL for subjects with 0, 1, and 2 copies of the H3 haplotype. Mean HDL-C levels were 45±10, 47±10, and 48±9 mg/dL, respectively. The H3 CNR1 haplotype appears to exert a protective effect against development of obesity-related dyslipidemia

Novel Technologies for Assessing Dietary Intake: Evaluating the Usability of a Mobile Telephone Food Record Among Adults and Adolescents

The development of a mobile telephone food record has the potential to ameliorate much of the burden associated with current methods of dietary assessment. When using the mobile telephone food record, respondents capture an image of their foods and beverages before and after eating. Methods of image analysis and volume estimation allow for automatic identification and volume estimation of foods. To obtain a suitable image, all foods and beverages and a fiducial marker must be included in the image

Disparities in healthy food zoning, farmers’ market availability, and fruit and vegetable consumption among North Carolina residents

Background Context and purpose of the study. To examine (1) associations between county-level zoning to support farmers’ market placement and county-level farmers’ market availability, rural/urban designation, percent African American residents, and percent of residents living below poverty and (2) individual-level associations between zoning to support farmers’ markets; fruit and vegetable consumption and body mass index (BMI) among a random sample of residents of six North Carolina (NC) counties. Methods Zoning ordinances were scored to indicate supportiveness for healthy food outlets. Number of farmers’ markets (per capita) was obtained from the NC-Community Transformation Grant Project Fruit and Vegetable Outlet Inventory (2013). County-level census data on rural/urban status, percent African American, and percent poverty were obtained. For data on farmers’ market shopping, fruit and vegetable consumption, and BMI, trained interviewers conducted a random digit dial telephone survey of residents of six NC counties (3 urban and 3 rural). Pearson correlation coefficients and multilevel linear regression models were used to examine county-level and individual-level associations between zoning supportiveness, farmers’ market availability, and fruit and vegetable consumption and BMI. Results At the county-level, healthier food zoning was greater in more urban areas and areas with less poverty. At the individual-level, self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with healthier food zoning. Conclusions Disparities in zoning to promote healthy eating should be further examined, and future studies should assess whether amending zoning ordinances will lead to greater availability of healthy foods and changes in dietary behavior and health outcomes.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun

"Do I really want to do this?" Longitudinal cohort study participants' perspectives on postal survey design: a qualitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Randomised controlled trials have investigated aspects of postal survey design yet cannot elaborate on reasons behind participants' decision making and survey behaviour. This paper reports participants' perspectives of the design of, and participation in, a longitudinal postal cohort survey. It describes strengths and weaknesses in study design from the perspectives of study participants and aims to contribute to the: 1) design of future cohort surveys and questionnaires generally and, 2) design of cohort surveys for people with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) specifically.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In-depth interviews explored the design of postal surveys previously completed by participants. Interviews used open ended questioning with a topic guide for prompts if areas of interest were not covered spontaneously. Thematic data analysis was undertaken based on the framework method. A second researcher verified all coding.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data from fourteen interviews were analysed within three main themes; participation, survey design and survey content. One of the main findings was the importance of clear communication aimed at the correct audience both when inviting potential participants to take part and within the survey itself. Providing enough information about the study, having a topic of interest and an explanation of likely benefits of the study were important when inviting people to participate. The neutrality of the survey and origination from a reputable source were both important; as was an explanation about why information was being collected within the survey itself. Study findings included participants' impressions when invited to take part, why they participated, the acceptability of follow-up of non-responders and why participants completed the follow-up postal survey. Also discussed were participants' first impression of the survey, its length, presentation and participants' views about specific questions within the survey.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Ideas generated in this study provide an insight into participants' decision making and survey behaviour and may enhance the acceptability of future surveys to potential participants. As well as clear communication, participants valued incentives and survey questions that were relevant to them. However, opinions varied as to the preferred format for responses with some advising more opportunity for open-ended feedback. We also found that some standard format questions can raise quandaries for individual participants.</p

Multiple micronutrient supplementation improves vitamin B12 and folate concentrations of HIV infected children in Uganda: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effect of multiple micronutrient supplementation on vitamin B₁₂and folate has hither to not been reported in African HIV infected children. This paper describes vitamin B₁₂and folate status of Ugandan HIV infected children aged 1-5 years and reports the effect of multiple micronutrient supplementation on serum vitamin B₁₂and folate concentrations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Of 847 children who participated in a multiple micronutrient supplementation trial, 214 were assessed for vitamin B₁₂and folate concentrations pre and post supplementation. One hundred and four children were randomised to two times the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of a 14 multiple micronutrient supplement (MMS) and 114 to a 'standard of care' supplement of 6 multivitamins (MV). Serum vitamin B₁₂was measured by an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and folate by a competitive protein-binding assay using Modular E (Roche) automatic analyzer. Vitamin B₁₂concentrations were considered low if less than 221picomoles per litre (pmol/L) and folate if < 13.4 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L). The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was used to measure the difference between pre and post supplementation concentrations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Vitamin B₁₂was low in 60/214 (28%) and folate in 62/214 (29.0%) children. In the MMS group, the median concentration (IQR) of vitamin B₁₂at 6 months was 401.5 (264.3 - 518.8) pmol/L compared to the baseline of 285.5 (216.5 - 371.8) pmol/L, p < 0.001. The median (IQR) folate concentrations increased from 17.3 (13.5 - 26.6) nmol/L to 27.7 (21.1 - 33.4) nmol/L, p < 0.001. In the 'standard of care' MV supplemented group, the median concentration (IQR) of vitamin B₁₂at 6 months was 288.5 (198.8 - 391.0) pmol/L compared to the baseline of 280.0 (211.5 - 386.3) pmol/L while the median (IQR) folate concentrations at 6 months were 16.5 (11.7 - 22.1) nmol/L compared to 15.7 (11.9 - 22.1) nmol/L at baseline. There was a significant difference in the MMS group in both vitamin B₁₂and folate concentrations but no difference in the MV group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Almost a third of the HIV infected Ugandan children aged 1-5 years had low serum concentrations of vitamin B₁₂and folate. Multiple micronutrient supplementation compared to the 'standard of care' supplement of 6 multivitamins improved the vitamin B₁₂and folate status of HIV infected children in Uganda.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><url>http://ClinicalTrials.gov</url><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00122941">NCT00122941</a>)</p

Body weight, weight perceptions and food intake patterns. A cross-sectional study among male recruits in the Norwegian National Guard

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Young men tend to have a low intake of vegetables and fruit. Unfortunately, this group is difficult to reach with health information. Furthermore, knowledge about weight perceptions and the relationship to food behaviour among young men is scant. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between BMI, health and weight perceptions and food intake patterns among young men in the military.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected with a 4-day food diary among 578 male recruits (age 18-26, mean 19.7) in the Norwegian National Guard (response rate 78%), in addition to a questionnaire, including questions about health and weight perceptions, and food frequency when still living at home. Weight and height were objectively measured. Food patterns were explored with principal component analysis, based on the diary data. A multivariate linear regression analysis determined the association between BMI and food patterns, and attitudes to health and slenderness, adjusting for smoking, physical activity and phase of data collection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty eight percent of the recruits were overweight/obese (BMI > 25 kg/m²). Two-thirds meant that it is important for them to be slender, and these recruits reported more of both light (p = 0.025) and hard (p = 0.016) physical activity than the others. It was a positive association between the recruits' food frequency at home, and the amount of intake in the military camp for several food items. A principal component analysis identified three distinct food patterns, loading on 1) plant foods, 2) fast food/soft drinks, 3) milk/cereals. Those who stated that it is important for them to be slender, or to have good health, did not have significantly different food intake patterns than the others. BMI was inversely related to scores on the plant food pattern, and positive attitudes to slenderness.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The majority of the recruits find it important to be slender. This orientation had a bearing on their physical activity pattern, but less on the food intake pattern. The data also indicate that subjects with high intakes of plant foods were less likely to have a high BMI than others. It is important to raise awareness of healthy eating in young men.</p

Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis Identifies Regions on 7p21 (AHR) and 15q24 (CYP1A2) As Determinants of Habitual Caffeine Consumption

We report the first genome-wide association study of habitual caffeine intake. We included 47,341 individuals of European descent based on five population-based studies within the United States. In a meta-analysis adjusted for age, sex, smoking, and eigenvectors of population variation, two loci achieved genome-wide significance: 7p21 (P = 2.4×10−19), near AHR, and 15q24 (P = 5.2×10−14), between CYP1A1 and CYP1A2. Both the AHR and CYP1A2 genes are biologically plausible candidates as CYP1A2 metabolizes caffeine and AHR regulates CYP1A2

Online dietary intake estimation : The food4me food frequency questionnaire

Copyright ©Hannah Forster, Rosalind Fallaize, Caroline Gallagher, Clare B O’Donovan, Clara Woolhead, Marianne C Walsh, Anna L Macready, Julie A Lovegrove, John C Mathers, Michael J Gibney, Lorraine Brennan, Eileen R Gibney. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 09.06.2014. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.Dietary assessment methods are important tools for nutrition research. Online dietary assessment tools have the potential to become invaluable methods of assessing dietary intake because, compared with traditional methods, they have many advantages including the automatic storage of input data and the immediate generation of nutritional outputs. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop an online food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for dietary data collection in the Food4Me study and to compare this with the validated European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) Norfolk printed FFQ. Methods: The Food4Me FFQ used in this analysis was developed to consist of 157 food items. Standardized color photographs were incorporated in the development of the Food4Me FFQ to facilitate accurate quantification of the portion size of each food item. Participants were recruited in two centers (Dublin, Ireland and Reading, United Kingdom) and each received the online Food4Me FFQ and the printed EPIC-Norfolk FFQ in random order. Participants completed the Food4Me FFQ online and, for most food items, participants were requested to choose their usual serving size among seven possibilities from a range of portion size pictures. The level of agreement between the two methods was evaluated for both nutrient and food group intakes using the Bland and Altman method and classification into quartiles of daily intake. Correlations were calculated for nutrient and food group intakes. Results: A total of 113 participants were recruited with a mean age of 30 (SD 10) years (40.7% male, 46/113; 59.3%, 67/113 female). Cross-classification into exact plus adjacent quartiles ranged from 77% to 97% at the nutrient level and 77% to 99% at the food group level. Agreement at the nutrient level was highest for alcohol (97%) and lowest for percent energy from polyunsaturated fatty acids (77%). Crude unadjusted correlations for nutrients ranged between .43 and .86. Agreement at the food group level was highest for other fruits (eg, apples, pears, oranges) and lowest for cakes, pastries, and buns. For food groups, correlations ranged between .41 and .90. Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the online Food4Me FFQ has good agreement with the validated printed EPIC-Norfolk FFQ for assessing both nutrient and food group intakes, rendering it a useful tool for ranking individuals based on nutrient and food group intakes.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Body mass index, physical activity, and dietary behaviors among members of an urban community fitness center: a questionnaire survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Development of effective behavioral interventions to promote weight control and physical activity among diverse, underserved populations is a public health priority. Community focused wellness organizations, such as YMCAs, could provide a unique channel with which to reach such populations. This study assessed health behaviors and related characteristics of members of an urban YMCA facility.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We surveyed 135 randomly selected members of an urban YMCA facility in Massachusetts to examine self-reported (1) physical activity, (2) dietary behaviors, (3) body mass index, and (4) correlates of behavior change among short-term (i.e., one year or less) and long-term (i.e., more than one year) members. Chi-square tests were used to assess bivariate associations between variables, and multivariate linear regression models were fit to examine correlates of health behaviors and weight status.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eighty-nine percent of short-term and 94% of long-term members reported meeting current physical activity recommendations. Only 24% of short-term and 19% of long-term members met fruit and vegetable consumption recommendations, however, and more than half were overweight or obese. Length of membership was not significantly related to weight status, dietary behaviors, or physical activity. Most respondents were interested in changing health behaviors, in the preparation stage of change, and had high levels of self-efficacy to change behaviors. Short-term members had less education (p = 0.02), lower household incomes (p = 0.02), and were less likely to identify as white (p = 0.005) than long-term members. In multivariate models, females had lower BMI than males (p = 0.003) and reported less physical activity (p = 0.008). Physical activity was also inversely associated with age (p = 0.0004) and education (p = 0.02).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Rates of overweight/obesity and fruit and vegetable consumption suggested that there is a need for a weight control intervention among members of an urban community YMCA. Membership in such a community wellness facility alone might not be sufficient to help members maintain a healthy weight. The data indicate that YMCA members are interested in making changes in their dietary and physical activity behaviors. Targeting newer YMCA members might be an effective way of reaching underserved populations. These data will help inform the development of a weight control intervention tailored to this setting.</p