Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.</p

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol�which is a marker of cardiovascular risk�changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95 credible interval 3.7 million�4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Arroz e trigo: tolerância à salinidade em solução nutritiva Tolerance of rice and wheat cultivars to salinity

O estresse hídrico é uma das principais causas da baixa produtividade de grãos nas culturas de arroz e trigo-de-sequeiro no Brasil. Um programa de melhoramento genético usando um método para selecionar plantas tolerantes ao estresse hídrico diminuiria bastante esses efeitos negativos: por isso, tentou-se verificar os comportamentos de cultivares de arroz (sequeiro e irrigado) e trigo sob estresse salino considerando que estes se correlacionassem. Realizaram-se dois experimentos no laboratório da Seção de Arroz e Cereais de Inverno do Instituto Agronômico de Campinas, empregando soluções nutritivas. Os cultivares estudados foram os seguintes: arroz-de-sequeiro: IAC-25, IAC-47, IAC-164, IAC-165, IAC-1246, Batatais, Pérola, Pratão Precoce e Dourado Precoce; de arroz irrigado: IAC-120, IAC-435, IAC-899, IR-841, IAC-1278 e IAC-4440; de trigo: IAC-5, IAS-55, Siete Cerros e Paraguay-281. Tanto o arejamento das soluções como a iluminação das plântulas foram contínuos. Usaram-se as concentrações de cloreto de sódio: 0,0; 0,1; 0,2; 0,3; 0,4; e 0,8 molal (p/m) ou potenciais osmóticos de 0,00; -0,47; -0,93; -1,39; -1,85 e -3,75 MPa. As plântulas de arroz cresceram doze dias em solução-tratamento contendo diferentes concentrações de cloreto de sódio em pH 6,0 e com temperatura de raízes 30 &plusmn; 1&deg;C. As plântulas de trigo cresceram em dez dias em solução-tratamento em pH 6,0 e temperatura de raízes 25 &plusmn; 1&deg;C. Mediu-se o comprimento da maior raiz seminal, comprimento da parte aérea (bainha da terceira folha madura) e pesou-se a matéria seca das partes aéreas e raízes, das plantas dos diferentes cultivares estudados. A avaliação da diminuição do diâmetro das raízes e da cor verde foi visual, tanto para o arroz como para o trigo. Os resultados mostraram que o parâmetro da raiz seminal variou mais do que os outros, sendo, portanto, melhor para avaliar a tolerância à salinidade, visando ao melhoramento genético. Assim, com base nas variações das porcentagens diárias médias do comprimento das raízes seminais ao cloreto de sódio, os cultivares de arroz foram classificados em tolerantes: IAC-165, Pratão Precoce, Dourado Precoce, IAC-1 64 e IAC-1 20; moderadamente tolerantes: IAC-1246, Pérola, IAC-25, Batatais e IAC-47; moderadamente sensíveis: IAC-899, IAC-435, IAC-4440 e IR-841, e sensível: IAC-1278. Para o trigo foram considerados como os mais tolerantes os cultivares IAS-55 e Siete Cerros.<br>The water stress and the salinity in the soil are the most important causes of low grain yield of rice and wheat in Brazil, when cultivated on upland conditions. Selection for new cultivars showing tolerance to salt effects seems to be one of the methods to solve this problem. The osmotic agent usually used to this purpose is sodium chloride. One experiment was conducted in laboratory conditions using nutrient solutions. The rice genotypes utilized were: upland cultivars IAC-25, IAC-47, IAC-164, IAC-165, IAC-1246, Batatais, Dourado Precoce, Pérola and Pratão Precoce; and irrigated cultivars IAC-120, IAC-435, IAC-899, IAC-1278, IAC-4440 and IR-841. The wheat genotypes utilizated were: upland cultivars IAC-5, IAS-55, Siete Cerros and Paraguay-281. Nutrient solutions aeration and light for the seedlings were provided continuously. Six levels of sodium chloride (0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.8 molal) or osmotic potentials of 0.00, -0.47, -0.93, -1.39, -1.85 and -3.75 MPa were applied int the nutrient solutions. The plastic pots containing the treatment solutions were placed in waterbath with temperature of 30 &plusmn; 1&deg;C, for rice, and 25 &plusmn; 1&deg;C, for wheat. The rice and wheat seedlings were cultivated during 48 hours in distilled water and after this period -they were changed to pots, containing nutrient solutions with different sodium chloride concentrations and pH = 6.0. The rice plants were cultivated during twelve days and the wheat plants, ten days. The longest seminal root lengths, the aereal part heights and dry weights of plants were determined. Visual evaluations of root diameter and leaf color were done for all plants in the different treatments. The length of the longest seminal root was the best parameter in relation to the others to evaluate the tolerance to salinity for a breeding program. According to the variations in percentage of the longest seminal root length, as the sodium chloride concentration increased in the solutions, the rice cultivars IAC-165, Pratão Precoce, Dourado Precoce, IAC-164 and IAC-120 were considered tolerant; IAC-1246, Pérola, IAC-25, Batatais and IAC-47, moderately tolerant; IAC-899, IAC-435, IAC-4440 and IR-841, moderately sensitive and the cultivar IAC-1278, sensitive. The wheat cultivars IAS-55 and Siete Cerros were considered more tolerant than the cultivars IAC-5 and Paraguay-281 up to the concentration of 0.2 molal of sodium chloride. The developed technique was useful to select plants more tolerant to sodium chloride