Explaining the Frequency of Alcohol Consumption in a Conflict Zone: Jews and Palestinians in Israel

Experiencing stress and exposure to terrorism may have an adverse effect on health risk behaviors. Few studies have examined alcohol use among adults living in Israel under chronic, stressful terrorism-related conditions. In this study, we examined the relationships of demographics, past stressful events, and terrorism exposure to the frequency of alcohol use and the mediating roles of depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. We used three waves of data from a 2007–2008 nationally representative sample of Jewish and Palestinian adults in Israel. We assessed past stressful events, in addition to direct and indirect exposures to terrorism. Results indicated that past stressful events and exposure to terrorism were not directly associated with alcohol use, but were indirectly associated and mediated by depressive and PTSD symptomology. Mental health symptoms were differentially associated with alcohol use. More frequent drinking was mediated by higher levels of depression, including for women and Palestinians; however, PTSD symptom severity was related to less frequent drinking. Mental health may play a prominent role in the frequency of alcohol use among adults exposed to terrorism in Israel. Alcohol use, as a coping mechanism, may differ by demographic characteristics (gender and ethnicity) and psychological symptomology for adults living in a conflict zone in Israel

Health & Wealth:is weight loss success related to monetary savings in US adults of low-income? Findings from a National Study

BACKGROUND: Many individuals aspire to attain various goals in life, such as committing to a healthful diet to slim down or saving for retirement to enhance future welfare. While these behaviors (weight loss and saving) share the common denominator of self-regulation, it is unclear whether success in one domain is related to the other. Therefore, we examined the relationship between long term weight loss (LTWL) success and monetary savings among U.S. adults who at one point in life diverged from normal weight status. METHODS: Data on 1994 adults with a maximum BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 and with an annual household income equal or less than 200% poverty level. Data were derived from a U.S. population-based study (NHANES). The independent variable was LTWL success (loss maintained for at least 1 year), which was operationalized as < 10% (reference group), 10.00-19.99%, and ≥ 20.00%. The dependent variable was monetary savings (e.g., 401 K), defined as a 3-category ordinal variable. We employed ordered logistic regression to estimate the relationship between LTWL success and increased odds for higher overall savings. RESULTS: Multivariable analysis revealed that adjusting for income, education and other covariates, being in the highest LTWL category (≥20.00%) significantly reduced the likelihood of monetary savings in comparison to the reference group (OR = 0.55, 95%CI = 0.34-0.91). This relationship was not observed in the lower LTWL category (10.00-19.99%). CONCLUSIONS: Adults who in the past were overweight or obese and who presently exhibit high levels of LTWL, were markedly less successful when it came to their finances. This might stem from significant cognitive-affective resources exerted during the weight loss process coupled with a paucity of financial resources which impede financial decision making. This supposition, however, warrants future research

Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Alcohol Intake, and Metabolic Syndrome Incidence in Men

Purpose To prospectively examine the independent and joint effects of alcohol consumption and cardiorespiratory fitness on the incidence of metabolic syndrome in a cohort of men. Methods A prospective examination of 3,411 apparently healthy men at baseline, who came to the Cooper Clinic (Dallas, Texas) for at least 2 preventive visits (1979–2010). Primary exposure variables were cardiorespiratory fitness and alcohol intake; the outcome measure was metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the components thereof. Cox proportional hazard models were computed to assess the relationship between the exposure variables and the incidence of MetS while adjusting for confounders. Results Over a mean follow-up period of 9 years (SD=7.8), 276 men developed MetS. In multivariable analysis, a dose-response relationship was observed between increased levels of fitness and reduced MetS risk (moderate fitness: HR=0.60, 95%CI 0.43–0.82; high fitness: HR=0.49, 95%CI 0.35–0.69). When examining the independent effects of alcohol, light drinking increased the risk for MetS by 66% (HR=1.66, 95%CI 1.11–2.48). No statistically significant interaction effect was observed between alcohol and fitness in relation to MetS (P = 0.32). When assessing the relation between each exposure and the components of MetS, higher fitness consistently reduced the risk of all components; whereas lower alcohol intake reduced the risk of elevated glucose and blood pressure and increased the risk for low HDL-c. Conclusions Among this cohort of men, higher fitness levels reduced the risk for MetS and its components. The relation between alcohol intake levels and metabolic risk was more complex and not reflected when examining MetS as a whole

Emotional eating in adults:The role of socio-demographics, lifestyle behaviors, and self-regulation- Findings from a US national study

Background: Emotional eating, the tendency to overeat in response to negative emotions, has been linked to weight gain. However, scant evidence exists examining the prevalence and correlates of emotional eating among large samples of adults in the United States (U.S.). Hence, we examine the relationship among individual and socioeconomic factors, health behaviors, and self-regulation with emotional eating patterns among U.S. adults. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 5863 Family Health Habits Survey participants. Multivariable, ordered, logistic regression was employed to examine the relationship between the frequency of the desire to eat when emotionally upset (never, rarely, sometimes, often, and very often) and the independent variables. Results: Analysis reveals that 20.5% of the sample tended to emotionally eat often or very often. Being female, non-Hispanic White, and of younger age were all related to a higher likelihood of emotional eating. Additionally, inability to delay gratification (impatience) was related to an 18% increased likelihood (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05–1.33) for emotional eating. Finally, emotional eating was significantly related to more frequent fast-food consumption. Conclusions: Program planners might need to develop targeted interventions aimed at enhancing emotional regulation skills while addressing these less healthful behaviors (e.g., fast-food intake) with the goal of obesity and chronic disease prevention

Fit and Tipsy? The Interrelationship between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Alcohol Consumption and Dependence

Purpose To examine whether higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness are related to increased alcohol consumption and dependence among a large sample of adults attending a preventive medicine clinic.Methods A cross-sectional study of 38,653 apparently healthy patients who visited the Cooper Clinic (Dallas, TX) for preventive medical examinations (1988–2019) and enrolled in the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study. The primary independent variable was cardiorespiratory fitness, based on a maximal treadmill test, and the dependent variables were alcohol consumption and dependence (self-reported). The relations between fitness category (low, moderate, high) and alcohol consumption (low, moderate, heavy) and suggested alcohol dependence (Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye opener score ≥2) among women and men were estimated via multivariable regression while adjusting for covariates (e.g., age, birth year cohort, marital status, and body mass index).Results Women within the moderate and high fitness categories had 1.58 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.32–1.91) and 2.14 (95% CI, 1.77–2.58) greater odds of moderate/heavy alcohol consumption, respectively, in comparison to their low fitness counterparts. Similarly, moderate and high fit men had 1.42 (95% CI, 1.30–1.55) and 1.63 (95% CI, 1.49–1.80) times greater odds of moderate-to-heavy alcohol consumption, respectively, in comparison to the low fitness group. In addition, among men who were heavy drinkers (but not women), higher fitness levels were related to lower rates of suggested alcohol dependence. Specifically, these men had 45.7%, 41.7%, and 34.9% proportions of clinically relevant alcohol problems across low, moderate, and high fitness categories (adjusted P for trend &lt;0.001).Conclusions Higher fitness levels are significantly related to greater alcohol consumption among a large cohort of adult patients. Interventions focusing on increasing fitness (via physical activity promotion) might consider concurrently aiming to reduce alcohol consumption.<br/

Long-Term Weight Loss Success and the Health Behaviors of Adults in the United States:Findings from a Nationally Representative Cross-sectional Study

Objective To describe the relationship between long-term weight loss (LTWL) success and lifestyle behaviours among US adults.Design Serial cross-sectional data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycles 2007–2014.Setting and participants Population-based nationally representative sample. The analytic sample included 3040 adults aged 20–64 years who tried to lose weight in the past year.Measures Participants were grouped into five LTWL categories (&lt;5%, 5%–9.9%, 10%–14.9%, 15%–19.9% and ≥20%). Lifestyle-related behaviours included the following: alcohol intake, physical activity, smoking, fast-food consumption, dietary quality (Healthy Eating Index (HEI)) and caloric intake. Multivariable regression was employed adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, household income and size, current body mass index and self-reported health status.Results Individuals in the 15%–19.9% LTWL group differed significantly from the reference group (&lt;5% LTWL) in their physical activity and dietary quality (HEI) but not caloric intake. Specifically, they had a higher HEI score (β=3.19; 95% CI 0.39 to 5.99) and were more likely to meet physical activity guidelines (OR=1.99; 95% CI 1.11 to 3.55). In comparison, the ≥20% LTWL group was significantly more likely to smoke (OR=1.63; 95% CI 1.03 to 2.57) and to consume lower daily calories (β=−202.91; 95% CI –345.57 to –60.25) than the reference group; however, dietary quality and physical activity did not significantly differ.Conclusion Among a national sample of adults, a higher level of LTWL success does not necessarily equate to healthy weight loss behaviours. Future research should attempt to design interventions aimed at facilitating weight loss success while encouraging healthy lifestyle behaviours

Is Qualitative Research Second Class Science? A Quantitative Longitudinal Examination of Qualitative Research in Medical Journals

Background: Qualitative research appears to be gaining acceptability in medical journals. Yet, little is actually known about the proportion of qualitative research and factors affecting its publication. This study describes the proportion of qualitative research over a 10 year period and correlates associated with its publication. Design: A quantitative longitudinal examination of the proportion of original qualitative research in 67 journals of general medicine during a 10 year period (1998–2007). The proportion of qualitative research was determined by dividing original qualitative studies published (numerator) by all original research articles published (denominator). We used a generalized estimating equations approach to assess the longitudinal association between the proportion of qualitative studies and independent variables (i.e. journals' country of publication and impact factor; editorial/methodological papers discussing qualitative research; and specific journal guidelines pertaining to qualitative research). Findings: A 2.9% absolute increase and 3.4-fold relative increase in qualitative research publications occurred over a 10 year period (1.2% in 1998 vs. 4.1% in 2007). The proportion of original qualitative research was independently and significantly associated with the publication of editorial/methodological papers in the journal (b = 3.688, P = 0.012); and with qualitative research specifically mentioned in guidelines for authors (b = 6.847, P<0.001). Additionally, a higher proportion of qualitative research was associated only with journals published in the UK in comparison to other countries, yet with borderline statistical significance (b = 1.776, P = 0.075). The journals' impact factor was not associated with the publication of qualitative research. Conclusions: Despite an increase in the proportion of qualitative research in medical journals over a 10 year period, the proportion remains low. Journals' policies pertaining to qualitative research, as expressed by the appearance of specific guidelines and editorials/methodological papers on the subject, are independently associated with the publication of original qualitative research; irrespective of the journals' impact factor

Estimates, trends, and drivers of the global burden of type 2 diabetes attributable to PM2.5 air pollution, 1990-2019 : an analysis of data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Experimental and epidemiological studies indicate an association between exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution and increased risk of type 2 diabetes. In view of the high and increasing prevalence of diabetes, we aimed to quantify the burden of type 2 diabetes attributable to PM2.5 originating from ambient and household air pollution.Methods We systematically compiled all relevant cohort and case-control studies assessing the effect of exposure to household and ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution on type 2 diabetes incidence and mortality. We derived an exposure-response curve from the extracted relative risk estimates using the MR-BRT (meta-regression-Bayesian, regularised, trimmed) tool. The estimated curve was linked to ambient and household PM2.5 exposures from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019, and estimates of the attributable burden (population attributable fractions and rates per 100 000 population of deaths and disability-adjusted life-years) for 204 countries from 1990 to 2019 were calculated. We also assessed the role of changes in exposure, population size, age, and type 2 diabetes incidence in the observed trend in PM2.5-attributable type 2 diabetes burden. All estimates are presented with 95% uncertainty intervals.Findings In 2019, approximately a fifth of the global burden of type 2 diabetes was attributable to PM2.5 exposure, with an estimated 3.78 (95% uncertainty interval 2.68-4.83) deaths per 100 000 population and 167 (117-223) disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) per 100 000 population. Approximately 13.4% (9.49-17.5) of deaths and 13.6% (9.73-17.9) of DALYs due to type 2 diabetes were contributed by ambient PM2.5, and 6.50% (4.22-9.53) of deaths and 5.92% (3.81-8.64) of DALYs by household air pollution. High burdens, in terms of numbers as well as rates, were estimated in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. Since 1990, the attributable burden has increased by 50%, driven largely by population growth and ageing. Globally, the impact of reductions in household air pollution was largely offset by increased ambient PM2.5.Interpretation Air pollution is a major risk factor for diabetes. We estimated that about a fifth of the global burden of type 2 diabetes is attributable PM2.5 pollution. Air pollution mitigation therefore might have an essential role in reducing the global disease burden resulting from type 2 diabetes. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe