Taxation of unprocessed sugar or sugar-added foods for reducing their consumption and preventing obesity or other adverse health outcomes

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Taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages for reducing their consumption and preventing obesity or other adverse health outcomes:protocol

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of taxation of sugar‐sweetened beverages (SSBs) on SSB consumption, energy intake, overweight, obesity, and other adverse health outcomes in the general population

Preterm birth and small for gestational age in relation to alcohol consumption during pregnancy: stronger associations among vulnerable women? Results from two large Western-European studies

Pfinder M, Kunst AE, Feldmann R, van Eijsden M, Vrijkotte TGM. Preterm birth and small for gestational age in relation to alcohol consumption during pregnancy: stronger associations among vulnerable women? Results from two large Western-European studies. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2013;13(1): 49.BACKGROUND: Inconsistent data on the association between prenatal alcohol exposure and a range of pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth (PTB) and small for gestational age (SGA) raise new questions. This study aimed to assess whether the association between low-moderate prenatal alcohol exposure and PTB and SGA differs according to maternal education, maternal mental distress or maternal smoking. METHODS: The Amsterdam Born Children and their Development (ABCD) Study (N=5,238) and the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) (N=16,301) are both large studies. Women provide information on alcohol intake in early pregnancy, 3 months postpartum and up to 17 years retrospectively. Multivariate logistic regression analyses and stratified regression analyses were performed to examine the association between prenatal alcohol exposure and PTB and SGA, respectively. RESULTS: No association was found between any level of prenatal alcohol exposure (non-daily, daily, non-abstaining) and SGA. The offspring of daily drinkers and non-abstainers had a lower risk of PTB [ABCD: odds ratio (OR) 0.31, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.13, 0.77; KiGGS: OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.57, 0.99]. Interactions with maternal education, maternal distress or maternal smoking were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Although these results should be interpreted with caution, both studies showed no adverse effects of low-moderate prenatal alcohol exposure on PTB and SGA, not even in the offspring of women who were disadvantaged in terms of low education, high levels of distress, or smoking during pregnancy

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the Associated Risk of Elevated Blood Pressure: A Cross-sectional Analysis of 3- to 17-Year-Olds in Germany

Item does not contain fulltextBACKGROUND: As the prevalence of obesity and high blood pressure increases among the population, early action is needed to reduce blood pressure. Certain lifestyles during pregnancy have negative effects resulting in high blood pressure for children and adolescents. Using data from the "German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents" (KiGGS), this study analyzed: (i) the association between low-to-moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and the risk of increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure and (ii) whether associations were modified by socioeconomic status (SES), prenatal smoke exposure (PSE), and body mass index (BMI) of the children and adolescents. METHODS: We applied multivariate logistic regression analyses and stratified analyses by SES, PSE, and BMI with cross-sectional data from the KiGGS study (N = 14,253) to examine the association between PAE and prehypertension or hypertension in 3- to 17-year-olds. RESULTS: Of the surveyed children and adolescents, 13.7% had a systolic prehypertension and 11.5% had a diastolic prehypertension. A further 7.5% were identified as having systolic hypertension and 6.0% diastolic hypertension. In the regression analyses, PAE resulted in a decreased risk of systolic prehypertension (odds ratio [OR]: 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70, 0.99) and diastolic prehypertension (OR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68, 0.98). Risk reductions were not significant in surveyed children and adolescents with hypertension. Interactions between PAE and SES, PSE, and offspring BMI were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to our initial hypothesis, PAE reduces the risk of prehypertension. Animal studies suggest that vasodilation is induced by nitric oxide in small quantities of PAE