The relationship between female adiposity and physical attractiveness amongst adults in rural Ranaka village, Botswana

Objective: The aim was to assess the relationship between female adiposity and physical attractiveness among men and women in Botswana. Design: A cross-sectional study was undertaken. Setting: Ranaka rural village, Botswana. Subjects: Randomly selected adults (n = 113, men = 48 and women = 65), 18–50 years old were recruited. Outcome measures: Scores to indicate the attractiveness of 21 images of female bodies that represented different percentage body fat (%BF) according to participants’ age, gender and body mass index (BMI) were recorded. Results: The perceptions of physical attractiveness of female body size were similar among men and women, regardless of significant differences between the BMI of men and women. Younger (18–30 years) and older participants (31–50 years) separately, as well as underweight/normal weight versus overweight/obese groups all gave higher attractiveness scores for images with a lower %BF. All groups gave the highest score for the same image (%BF of 19% and waist:hip ratio (WHR) of 0.72), and the lowest score for an image with %BF of 49% and WHR of 0.81. There was a significant negative correlation between attractiveness score and %BF of the images for all groups, but no significant correlation between the attractiveness scores for the images and WHR. There was a consistent outlier in the graphs between attractiveness score and %BF with a % BF of 32% and a WHR of 0.61, with a relatively high score of 7.4 out of 9 for all groups. Conclusions: Participant groups according to gender, age or BMI gave similar attractiveness scores for leaner female body images

The relationship between female adiposity and physical attractiveness amongst adults in rural Ranaka village, Botswana

The obesity problem persists in many countries despite growing evidence on the development of effective strategies directed at promoting healthy eating and physical activity to reduce obesity prevalence globally.1 Botswana as a developing country is not spared from this growing obesity pandemic.2 Reports show a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity among women than in men.

Social and economic policy interventions to address household food insecurity in high‐income countries (HIC) and the developing nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS)

Objectives This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention). The objectives are as follows: Primary objective To assess the effects of social and economic policy interventions for reducing the prevalence or severity, or both, of household food insecurity in high-income countries (HIC) and the developing nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS). Secondary objective To characterise the social and economic policy options, in terms of policy type, actors involved, settings, duration, and target populations

Level of agreement between objectively determined body composition and perceived body image in 6- To 8-year-old South African children- To Body Composition-Isotope Technique study

To assess the level of agreement between body size self-perception and actual body size determined by body mass index (BMI) z-score and body fatness measured by the deuterium dilution method (DDM) in South African children aged 6-8 years. A cross-sectional sample of 202 children (83 boys and 119 girls) aged 6-8 years from the Body Composition-Isotope Technique study (BC-IT) was taken. Subjective measures of body image (silhouettes) were compared with the objective measures of BMI z-score and body fatness measured by the DDM. The World Health Organization BMI z-scores were used to classify the children as underweight, normal, overweight, or obese. DDM-measured fatness was classified based on the McCarthy centile curves set at 2nd, 85th and 95th in conjunction with fatness cut-off points of 25% in boys and 30% in girls. Data were analyzed using SPSS v26. Of 202 children, 32.2%, 55.1%, 8.8%, and 2.4% perceived their body size as underweight, normal, overweight, and obese, respectively. Based on BMI z-score, 18.8%, 72.8%, 6.9%, and 1.5% were classified as underweight, normal, overweight, and obese, respectively. Body fatness measurement showed that 2.5%, 48.0%, 21.8%, and 29.7% were underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese, respectively

Call for emergency action to restore dietary diversity and protect global food systems in times of COVID-19 and beyond: Results from a cross-sectional study in 38 countries

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fragility of the global food system, sending shockwaves across countries\u27 societies and economy. This has presented formidable challenges to sustaining a healthy and resilient lifestyle. The objective of this study is to examine the food consumption patterns and assess diet diversity indicators, primarily focusing on the food consumption score (FCS), among households in 38 countries both before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 37 207 participants (mean age: 36.70 ± 14.79, with 77 % women) was conducted in 38 countries through an online survey administered between April and June 2020. The study utilized a pre-tested food frequency questionnaire to explore food consumption patterns both before and during the COVID-19 periods. Additionally, the study computed Food Consumption Score (FCS) as a proxy indicator for assessing the dietary diversity of households. Findings: This quantification of global, regional and national dietary diversity across 38 countries showed an increment in the consumption of all food groups but a drop in the intake of vegetables and in the dietary diversity. The household\u27s food consumption scores indicating dietary diversity varied across regions. It decreased in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, including Lebanon (p \u3c 0.001) and increased in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries including Bahrain (p = 0.003), Egypt (p \u3c 0.001) and United Arab Emirates (p = 0.013). A decline in the household\u27s dietary diversity was observed in Australia (p \u3c 0.001), in South Africa including Uganda (p \u3c 0.001), in Europe including Belgium (p \u3c 0.001), Denmark (p = 0.002), Finland (p \u3c 0.001) and Netherland (p = 0.027) and in South America including Ecuador (p \u3c 0.001), Brazil (p \u3c 0.001), Mexico (p \u3c 0.0001) and Peru (p \u3c 0.001). Middle and older ages [OR = 1.2; 95 % CI = [1.125–1.426] [OR = 2.5; 95 % CI = [1.951–3.064], being a woman [OR = 1.2; 95 % CI = [1.117–1.367], having a high education (p \u3c 0.001), and showing amelioration in food-related behaviors [OR = 1.4; 95 % CI = [1.292–1.709] were all linked to having a higher dietary diversity. Conclusion: The minor to moderate changes in food consumption patterns observed across the 38 countries within relatively short time frames could become lasting, leading to a significant and prolonged reduction in dietary diversity, as demonstrated by our findings

Comparison of the Ability of Anthropometric Indices to Predict the Risk of Diabetes Mellitus in South African Males: SANHANES-1

This study aimed to assess the sensitivity of body mass index (BMI) to predict the risk of diabetes mellitus (DM) and whether waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip (WHR) and waist-to-height (WHtR) ratios are better predictors of the risk of DM than BMI in South African men aged 20 years and older. Data from the first South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1) were used. Overall, 1405 men who had valid HbA1c outcomes were included. The sensitivity, specificity, and optimal cut-off points for predicting DM were determined using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. A total of 34.6% percent of the study participants were overweight/obese, while 10.5%, 10.4%, 36.6% and 61.0% had HbA1c, WC, WHR and WHtR above the normal reference ranges, respectively. Based on age-adjusted logistic regression analysis, the highest likelihood of DM was observed for those participants who had increased WC and WHtR (odds ratios [OR] were 6.285 (95% CI: 4.136–9.550; p < 0.001) and 8.108 (95% CI: 3.721–17.667; p < 0.001)). The ROC curve analyses for WC, WHR, and WHtR displayed excellent ability to predict the risk of DM, with their areas under the curve (AUC) being 80.4%, 80.2% and 80.8%, respectively. The overall cut-off points to predict the risk of DM for WC, WHR, and WHtR were ≥88.95 cm, ≥0.92, and >0.54, respectively. The ROC analysis for BMI, on the other hand, showed acceptable ability to predict the risk of DM (AUC = 75.6%), with its cut-off point being ≥24.64 kg/m2. Even after stratifying the data by two age groups, WHtR remained a superior index to predict DM, especially in the younger age group. To conclude, no significant differences were observed between the AUC for BMI the AUCs for other indices. However, the AUCs for these indices showed significant excellent ability as opposed to the significant acceptable ability of BMI to predict DM in adult South African men

Dietary Fiber Intake and Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors among Young South African Adults

This study attempts to bridge the research gap regarding the importance of dietary fiber in reducing metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors in young rural South Africans. A total of 627 individuals (309 males and 318 females) aged 18–30 years participated in the study. Dietary intake was measured using a validated 24-h recall method. The consumption of different types of dietary fiber (total, soluble, and insoluble) was calculated and presented as grams. Anthropometrics, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and lipid profiles were measured according to standard protocols. According to the definition of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the prevalence of MetS was 23.1%. Overall, the total median [interquartile range (IQR)] values for total, insoluble, and soluble fiber consumed were 4.6 g [0.0–48.9], 0.0 g [0.0–18.0], and 0.0 g [0.0–15.0], respectively. Females had a higher median [IQR] intake of total (5.1 g [0.0–48.9] vs. 4.3 g [0.0–43.9]), insoluble (0.0 g [0.0–18.0] vs. 0.0 g [0.0–12.0]), and soluble fiber (0.0 g [0.0–14.9] vs. 0.0 g [0.0–7.3]) than males, respectively. The mean values for waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, and total cholesterol were higher in females than males (82.20 cm vs. 75.07 cm; 5.59 mmol/L vs. 5.44 mmol/L; and 4.26 mmol/L vs. 4.03 mmol/L, respectively), with significant differences observed for waist circumference and total cholesterol (p < 0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). More than 97% of participants had fiber intakes below the recommended levels. After adjusting for all potential confounders (age, gender, and energy), log total fiber was inversely associated with fasting blood glucose (β = −0.019, 95% CI [−0.042 to 0.003], p < 0.05), systolic blood pressure (β = −0.002, 95% CI [−0.050 to 0.002], p < 0.05) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β = −0.085, 95% CI [−0.173 to 0.002], p = 0.051) This study may be of public health relevance, providing a potential link between less dietary fiber intake and fasting blood glucose (FBG) and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Therefore, this observational data encourages public health policy measures to increase the consumption of dietary fiber in rural communities in order to lower the burden of MetS and its associated risk factors