Food consumption of adults in Germany: results of the German National Nutrition Survey II based on diet history interviews

The second German National Nutrition Survey (NVS II) aimed to evaluate food consumption and other aspects of nutritional behaviour of a representative sample of the German population, using a modular design with three different dietary assessment methods. To assess usual food consumption, 15 371 German speaking subjects 14–80 years of age completed a diet history interview between November 2005 and November 2006. With reference to the guidelines of the German Nutrition Society (DGE), NVS II observed that the German population did not eat enough foods of plant origin, especially vegetables and consumed too much of meat and meat products. While generally similar food consumption is observed in other European countries, consumption of bread, fruit juices/nectars and beer is higher in Germany. On average, men consumed two times more meat and soft drinks as well as six times more beer than women did, whereas the consumption of vegetables, fruit as well as herbal/fruit tea was higher in women. Older participants showed a lower consumption of meat, fruit juice/nectars, soft drinks and spirits as well as a higher consumption of fish, vegetables, fruit, and herbal/fruit tea than adolescents and younger adults did. There are also differences in food consumption with regard to socio-economic status (SES). Persons with higher SES consumed more vegetables, fruit, fish, water, coffee/tea and wine, while persons with lower SES consumed more meat and meat products, soft drinks and beer. In general, the food consumption of women, the elderly and the higher SES group tends to be closer to the official dietary guidelines in Germany

Thermodynamic Fingerprints of Disorder in Flux Line Lattices and other Glassy Mesoscopic Systems

We examine probability distributions for thermodynamic quantities in finite-sized random systems close to criticality. Guided by available exact results, a general ansatz is proposed for replicated free energies, which leads to scaling forms for cumulants of various macroscopic observables. For the specific example of a planar flux line lattice in a two dimensional superconducting film near H_c1, we provide detailed results for the statistics of the magnetic flux density, susceptibility, heat capacity, and their cross-correlations.Comment: 4 page

Magnesium status of non-pregnant and pregnant women with different dietary regimens

Hintergrund: Daten zur üblichen Ernährung zeigen für Frauen, insbesondere für Schwangere, eine Magnesiumzufuhr unterhalb der Empfehlungen. Da vor allem pflanzliche Lebensmittel hohe Magnesiumgehalte aufweisen (insbesondere Nüsse, Vollkornprodukte), könnten Ernährungsweisen mit einem hohen Anteil pflanzlicher Lebensmittel mit einer besseren Magnesiumversorgung verbunden sein als eine übliche Mischkost. Ziel: Untersuchung des Magnesiumstatus von nicht-schwangeren und schwangeren Frauen, deren gewohnheitsmäßige Kost unterschiedliche Anteile pflanzlicher Lebensmittel enthielt. Methoden: Die Studiengruppen bestanden aus 243 nicht-schwangeren und 70 schwangeren Vollwertköstlerinnen, deren Kost weitgehend präventiven Ernährungsempfehlungen entsprach, 104 nicht-schwangeren Rohköstlerinnen, deren Nahrungsmenge zu 70 - 100 % aus pflanzlicher Rohkost bestand, sowie 175 nicht-schwangeren und 35 schwangeren Mischköstlerinnen als Kontrollgruppe, die sich gemäß dem Bundesdurchschnitt ernährten. Datengrundlage waren u. a. 7-Tage-Schätzprotokolle, Blut- und Urinuntersuchungen. Für die statistische Analyse wurden verschiedene multivariate Methoden eingesetzt. Ergebnisse: Bei den nicht-schwangeren Frauen war die pflanzenbetonte Kost der Vollwert- und Rohköstlerinnen mit einer höheren Magnesiumzufuhr verbunden als die Kost der Mischköstlerinnen. Dies spiegelte sich nicht in den Serummagnesiumspiegeln wider. Die höheren Magnesiumkonzentrationen im Erythrozyten deuten auf einen günstigeren Magnesiumstatus bei Rohkost-Ernährung hin. Die tatsächlichen Unterschiede im Magnesiumstatus zwischen üblicher und pflanzenbetonter Kost sind möglicherweise deutlicher als mit der vorliegenden Untersuchung nachweisbar war, da sich die als Kontrollgruppe herangezogenen Mischköstlerinnen etwas günstiger ernährten, eine höhere Magnesiumzufuhr aufwiesen und höhere Serummagnesiumspiegel hatten als der Bundesdurchschnitt. Auch in der Schwangerschaft, die mit einem erhöhten Magnesiumbedarf einhergeht, waren zwischen Vollwert- und Mischköstlerinnen keine unterschiedlichen Magnesiumkonzentrationen im Serum und Erythrozyten zu beobachten, obwohl die Vollwertköstlerinnen eine höhere Magnesiumzufuhr als die Mischköstlerinnen aufwiesen. Jedoch lässt die bei den Schwangeren beobachtete höhere renale Magnesiumausscheidung der Vollwertköstlerinnen auf einen günstigeren Magnesiumstatus bei einer pflanzenbetonten Ernährungsweise gegenüber einer üblichen Mischkost schließen. Unterstützt wird dies durch das verminderte Auftreten von Wadenkrämpfen bei den Vollwertköstlerinnen.Background: Data on a usual Western diet show that the average magnesium intake of women, in particular of pregnant women, is below the recommendations. Because foods of plant origin have high magnesium contents (in particular nuts and whole grain products), dietary regimens with a high consumption of food of plant origin could lead to a more favourable magnesium status compared with an average Western diet. Purpose: This study examines the magnesium status of non-pregnant and pregnant women whose habitual diets contain different proportions of food of plant origin. Methods: The study groups consisted of 243 non-pregnant and 70 pregnant women following Wholesome Nutrition, a diet largely meeting preventive recommendations, 104 non-pregnant raw food dieters consuming a diet with an amount of unheated food between 70 and 100 % and the control group of 175 non-pregnant and 35 pregnant women with a diet in accordance with the German average (Western diet). Data bases were amongst others 7-day food records, blood and urine samples. Different multivariate methods were used for the statistical analysis. Results: For the non-pregnant women the plant-based diet of the Wholesome Nutrition group and raw food dieters was associated with a higher intake of magnesium than the Western diet. The serum magnesium concentrations did not mirror this higher magnesium intake. The high magnesium concentration in the red blood cells suggests that the raw food diet is associated with a more favourable magnesium status. The differences in magnesium status between Western diet and plant-based diets may be more distinct than the present results indicate, as the women in the control group showed a somewhat more favourable diet, higher magnesium intakes and higher serum magnesium concentrations than the average German population. Even during pregnancy with higher magnesium requirements no differences between the Wholesome Nutrition group and control group with regard to magnesium concentrations in serum and red blood cells were observed, even though the Wholesome Nutrition group had a higher magnesium intake than the pregnant control group. However, in the pregnant Wholesome Nutrition group a more favourable magnesium status may be suspected because of the higher urinary magnesium excretion compared to the control group. This is supported by the lower prevalence of calf cramps in the Wholesome Nutrition group

Extending an IEEE 42010-Compliant Viewpoint-Based Engineering-Framework for Embedded Systems to Support Variant Management

Part 7: Embedded System ApplicationsInternational audienceThe increasing complexity of today’s embedded systems and the increasing demand for higher quality require a comprehensive engineering approach. The model-based engineering approach that has been developed in the project SPES 2020 (Software Platform Embedded Systems) is intended to comprehensively support the development of embedded systems in the future. The approach allows for specifying an embedded system from different viewpoints that are artefact-based and seamlessly integrated. It is compliant with the IEEE Std. 1471 for specifying viewpoints for architectural descriptions. However, the higher demand for individual embedded software necessitates the integration of variant management into the engineering process of an embedded system. A prerequisite for the seamless integration of variant management is the explicit consideration of variability. Variability allows for developing individual software based on a set of common core assets. Yet, variability is a crosscutting concern as it affects all related engineering disciplines and artefacts across the engineering process of an embedded system. Since the IEEE Std. 1471 does not support the documentation of crosscutting aspects, we apply the concept of perspectives to IEEE Std. 1471’s successor (IEEE Std. 42010) in order to extend the SPES engineering approach to support continuous variant management

Relative validation of a food frequency questionnaire for national health and nutrition monitoring

Background: Validation of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) is important as incorrect information may lead to biased associations. Therefore the relative validity of an FFQ developed for use in the German Health Examination Survey for Adults 2008-2011 (DEGS) was examined. Methods: Cross-sectional comparisons of food consumption data from the FFQ and from two 24-hour recalls were made in a sample of 161 participants (aged 18 to 80 years) of an ongoing nationwide survey, the German National Nutrition Monitoring (NEMONIT). The data collection took place from November 2008 to April 2009. Results: Spearman rank correlations between the FFQ and the 24-hour dietary recalls ranged from 0.15 for pizza to 0.80 for tea, with two third of the correlation coefficients exceeding 0.30. All correlation coefficients were statistically significant except those for pizza and cooked vegetables. The proportion of participants classified into the same or adjacent quartile of intake assessed by both methods varied between 68% for cooked vegetables and 94% for coffee. There were no statistically significant differences in food consumption estimates between both methods for 38% of the food groups. For the other food groups, the estimates of food consumption by the FFQ were not generally higher or lower than estimates from the 24-hour dietary recalls. Conclusions: The FFQ appears to be reasonably valid in the assessment of food consumption of German adults. For some food groups, such as raw and cooked vegetables, relative risks estimates should be interpreted with caution because of the poor ranking agreement

Food consumption of adults in Germany: results of the German National Nutrition Survey II based on diet history interviews

The second German National Nutrition Survey (NVS II) aimed to evaluate food consumption and other aspects of nutritional behaviour of a representative sample of the German population, using a modular design with three different dietary assessment methods. To assess usual food consumption, 15371 German speaking subjects 14-80 years of age completed a diet history interview between November 2005 and November 2006. With reference to the guidelines of the German Nutrition Society (DGE), NVS II observed that the German population did not eat enough foods of plant origin, especially vegetables and consumed too much of meat and meat products. While generally similar food consumption is observed in other European countries, consumption of bread, fruit juices/nectars and beer is higher in Germany. On average, men consumed two times more meat and soft drinks as well as six times more beer than women did, whereas the consumption of vegetables, fruit as well as herbal/fruit tea was higher in women. Older participants showed a lower consumption of meat, fruit juice/nectars, soft drinks and spirits as well as a higher consumption of fish, vegetables, fruit, and herbal/fruit tea than adolescents and younger adults did. There are also differences in food consumption with regard to socio-economic status (SES). Persons with higher SES consumed more vegetables, fruit, fish, water, coffee/tea and wine, while persons with lower SES consumed more meat and meat products, soft drinks and beer. In general, the food consumption of women, the elderly and the higher SES group tends to be closer to the official dietary guidelines in German

Predictors of BMI Vary along the BMI Range of German Adults - Results of the German National Nutrition Survey II

Objective: The objective of the study was to identify predictors of BMI in German adults by considering the BMI distribution and to determine whether the association between BMI and its predictors varies along the BMI distribution. Methods: The sample included 9,214 adults aged 18-80 years from the German National Nutrition Survey II (NVS II). Quantile regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between BMI and the following predictors: age, sports activities, socio-economic status (SES), healthy eating index-NVS II (HEI-NVS II), dietary knowledge, sleeping duration and energy intake as well as status of smoking, partner relationship and self-reported health. Results: Age, SES, self-reported health status, sports activities and energy intake were the strongest predictors of BMI. The important outcome of this study is that the association between BMI and its predictors varies along the BMI distribution. Especially, energy intake, health status and SES were marginally associated with BMI in normal-weight subjects; this relationships became stronger in the range of overweight, and were strongest in the range of obesity. Conclusions: Predictors of BMI and the strength of these associations vary across the BMI distribution in German adults. Consequently, to identify predictors of BMI, the entire BMI distribution should be considered