The effect of daily fast food consumption, family size, weight-caused stress, and sleep quality on eating disorder risk in teenagers

Purpose: Eating disorder (ED) is a common complication with disturbance of eating or eating-related behaviors that lead to physical and psychosocial disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between eating disorders and daily fast food consumption, family size, weight-caused stress, and sleep quality in teenagers in Zanjan, Iran. Methods: Adolescent girl students aged 12–15 years (n = 370), selected in a cross-sectional study, completed the Eating Attitude Test-26 and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaires. The cluster random sampling method was used. Statistical analysis was performed using R software version 3.6.3. Logistic regression modeling was used for investigating the relationship between factors and odds of EDs. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: A significant relationship was found between family size (OR = 0.77, p = 0.049), fast food-daily consumption (OR = 5.42, p = 0.043), weight-caused stress (OR = 12.47, p < 0.001), and poor sleep quality (OR = 1.70, p = 0.024) and odds of eating disorder among teenage girls. Conclusion: A significant positive association was found between a low number of family members, daily fast food consumption, stress status, poor sleep quality and odds of EDs. However more longitudinal studies are required to confirm the results. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Author keywords Eating disorder; Family size; Fast food consumption; Sleep quality; Weight-caused stres

Lactobacillus plantarum And Inulin: Therapeutic Agents to Enhance Cardiac Ob Receptor Expression and Suppress Cardiac Apoptosis in Type 2 Diabetic Rats

Background. T2DM may cause increased levels of oxidative stress and cardiac apoptosis through elevated blood glucose. The present study investigated the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) as a probiotic strain and inulin as a prebiotic supplement on cardiac oxidative stress and apoptotic markers in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats. Methods. A high-fat diet and a low dose of streptozotocin were used to induce type 2 diabetes. The rats were divided into six groups which were supplemented with L. plantarum, inulin, or their combination for 8 weeks. Results. The results showed improved activity of cardiac antioxidant parameters including total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (P<0.001, P<0.01, and P<0.01, respectively) and decreased level of cardiac malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration (P<0.05). These changes were accompanied with increased protein expression of cardiac obesity receptor (Ob-R) (P=0.05) and reduced apoptotic markers such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), Fas ligand (FasL), and caspase proteins (P<0.001, P=0.003, and P<0.01, respectively) in T2DM rats after concurrent L. plantarum and inulin supplementation. Moreover, a remarkable correlation of cardiac Ob-R and oxidative stress parameters with cardiac apoptotic markers was observed (P<0.01). Conclusion. The concurrent use of L. plantarum and inulin seems to be beneficial, as they can lead to decreased heart complications of T2DM via reducing cardiac apoptotic markers