Increasing vegetable intakes: rationale and systematic review of published interventions

Purpose While the health benefits of a high fruit and vegetable consumption are well known and considerable work has attempted to improve intakes, increasing evidence also recognises a distinction between fruit and vegetables, both in their impacts on health and in consumption patterns. Increasing work suggests health benefits from a high consumption specifically of vegetables, yet intakes remain low, and barriers to increasing intakes are prevalent making intervention difficult. A systematic review was undertaken to identify from the published literature all studies reporting an intervention to increase intakes of vegetables as a distinct food group. Methods Databases—PubMed, PsychInfo and Medline—were searched over all years of records until April 2015 using pre-specified terms. Results Our searches identified 77 studies, detailing 140 interventions, of which 133 (81 %) interventions were conducted in children. Interventions aimed to use or change hedonic factors, such as taste, liking and familiarity (n = 72), use or change environmental factors (n = 39), use or change cognitive factors (n = 19), or a combination of strategies (n = 10). Increased vegetable acceptance, selection and/or consumption were reported to some degree in 116 (83 %) interventions, but the majority of effects seem small and inconsistent. Conclusions Greater percent success is currently found from environmental, educational and multi-component interventions, but publication bias is likely, and long-term effects and cost-effectiveness are rarely considered. A focus on long-term benefits and sustained behaviour change is required. Certain population groups are also noticeably absent from the current list of tried interventions

Genetic differentiation among populations of the blackfin goodea Goodea atripinnis

Central Mexico is characterized by a complex topography that is the result of historic and contemporary tectonic and climatic factors. These events have influenced the evolutionary history of numerous freshwater fishes in the region. Nonetheless, recent studies have shown that life¿history traits and ecological characteristics of species may influence dispersal capabilities and the degree of genetic connectivity. Goodea (Cyprinodontiformes: Goodeidae) is one of the most widely distributed and environmentally tolerant genera of goodeids. In this study, the authors analysed variation in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene to evaluate the phylogeographic relationships, genetic structure, genetic diversity and demographic history of Goodea from across its distribution range. They found low genetic differentiation and identified shared haplotypes among several regions. Geographic segregation was found in samples southwest and northeast of the Lower Lerma region, with some internal isolated groups showing phylogeographic differentiation and unique haplotypes. The AMOVA best explained genetic structure when grouped by haplogroups rather than when grouped by recognized biogeographic regions. Several regions showed null genetic diversity, raising the possibility of dispersal mediated by humans. Finally, Bayesian Skyline Plot analysis showed a population expansion for the Southwest haplogroup, except for the Armería population and sub¿group II of the Northeast haplogroup. All this suggests a recent colonization of Goodea atripinnis throughout some of the biogeographic regions currently inhabited by this species.This work was partially supported by PRODEP, CIC‐UMSNH 2015‐2017 to O.D.D., U.S. National Science Foundation grant (DEB 1354930) to K.R.P. and Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad y FEDER, Spain (CGL2016‐75262‐P) to I.D