Associations between household food environment and daily intake of regular and diet soft drinks per BMI status of European children: Feel4Diabetes Study.

The objective of this study was to investigate how the availability of food in the household environment is associated with a daily intake of regular and diet soft drinks in European children, considering BMI status. This cross-sectional study utilised baseline data from 12 211 schoolchildren participating in the Feel4Diabetes European lifestyle modification intervention. Sociodemographics, soft drink intake and household food availability data were collected using parent-completed questionnaires. Anthropometry was recorded, and children were classified into BMI categories according to the International Obesity Task Force cut-offs. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis controlled for children's sex, mother's BMI, and educational level, frequent household availability of fruit juice (sugar added), regular soft drinks and salty snacks compared to less frequent were positively associated with daily regular soft drink intake in children, regardless of BMI group (ORs range 1.59-6.69). Conversely, frequent availability of fruit juice (no added sugar) was inversely related to regular soft drink intake in both BMI groups, as was the availability of fresh fruit in the overweight/obesity group, and the availability of diet soft drinks in the underweight/normal-weight (ORs range 0.31-0.54). In conclusion, habitual household availability of selected energy-dense foods/beverages was positively associated with a daily intake of regular soft drinks in European children, regardless of BMI status. Contrastingly, household availability of fresh fruit, fruit juice (no added sugar) and diet soft drinks were inversely associated with regular soft drink intake. Programmes focusing on reducing children's soft drink intake should consider reducing the availability of sugar-added beverages in the household food environment and encouraging water consumption, as a practical, healthier alternative suggestion.

Role of parenting practices and digital media on beverage intake in European schoolchildren of different weight status. Feel4Diabetes-study.

OBJECTIVES: Halting the rise in childhood obesity is an ongoing challenge in Europe. Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and artificially sweetened beverage (ASB) consumption has become common practice at home and during family meals. The objective of this study was to investigate associations of parenting practices and home digital media availability with beverage intake in European schoolchildren of different weight groups. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were derived from six countries taking part in the multicentered Feel4Diabetes-study. Anthropometric data were measured for 12 030 schoolchildren (n = 6097 girls; median age = 8.1 y). Details on sociodemographic characteristics, beverage intake, food parenting practices, and home availability of digital media were collated from questionnaires. The outcomes, daily SSB and ASB intakes, were included as dependent variables in multivariable regression models that provided odds ratios reflecting their association with parenting practices and digital media (exposures), after stratifying for children's weight status (underweight or normal versus overweight or obese). RESULTS: After controlling for children's sex, region, maternal body mass index, and education, the multivariate model found that in both body mass index groups, permissive parenting practices, such as rewarding and allowing consumption of unhealthy foods "very often or often," as compared with "rarely or never," were associated with a high daily intake of SSBs and ASBs in children, while parents "watching television together with their child," rewarding with screen time, and availability of television in children's rooms increased the likelihood of both beverages in the underweight or normal-weight group. CONCLUSIONS: Modification of permissive parenting practices and removal of television from children's rooms could effectively reduce SSB intake and curb the ongoing threat of child obesity in Europe.

The Emerging Prevalence of Obesity within Families in Europe and its Associations with Family Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Lifestyle Factors; A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Baseline Data from the Feel4Diabetes Study.

The Feel4Diabetes study is a type 2 diabetes prevention program that recruited 12,193 children [age: 8.20 (±1.01) years] and their parents from six European countries. The current work used pre-intervention data collected from 9576 children-parents pairs, to develop a novel family obesity variable and to examine its associations with family sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics. Family obesity, defined as the presence of obesity in at least two family members, had a prevalence of 6.6%. Countries under austerity measures (Greece and Spain) displayed higher prevalence (7.6%), compared to low-income (Bulgaria and Hungary: 7%) and high-income countries (Belgium and Finland: 4.5%). Family obesity odds were significantly lower when mothers (OR: 0.42 [95% CI: 0.32, 0.55]) or fathers (0.72 [95% CI: 0.57, 0.92]) had higher education, mothers were fully (0.67 [95% CI: 0.56, 0.81]) or partially employed (0.60 [95% CI: 0.45, 0.81]), families consumed breakfast more often (0.94 [95% CI: 0.91 0.96]), more portions of vegetables (0.90 [95% CI: 0.86, 0.95]), fruits (0.96 [95% CI: 0.92, 0.99]) and wholegrain cereals (0.72 [95% CI: 0.62, 0.83]), and for more physically active families (0.96 [95% CI: 0.93, 0.98]). Family obesity odds increased when mothers were older (1.50 [95% CI: 1.18, 1.91]), with the consumption of savoury snacks (1.11 [95% CI: 1.05, 1.17]), and increased screen time (1.05 [95% CI: 1.01, 1.09]). Clinicians should familiarise themselves with the risk factors for family obesity and choose interventions that target the whole family. Future research should explore the causal basis of the reported associations to facilitate devising tailored family-based interventions for obesity prevention.

Protocol for a multicentre, parallel, randomised, controlled trial on the effect of sweeteners and sweetness enhancers on health, obesity and safety in overweight adults and children: the SWEET project.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this randomised controlled trial (RCT) is to investigate whether prolonged consumption of sweeteners and sweetness enhancers (S&SEs) within a healthy diet will improve weight loss maintenance and obesity-related risk factors and affect safety markers compared with sugar. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: SWEET (S&SEs: prolonged effects on health, obesity and safety) is a 1-year multicentre RCT including at least 330 adults with overweight (18-65 years, body mass index (BMI) >25 kg/m2) and 40 children (6-12 years, BMI-for-age >85th percentile). In an initial 2-month period, adults will consume a low-energy diet with the aim to achieve ≥5% weight loss. Children are advised to consume a generally healthy diet to maintain body weight, thus reducing their BMI-for-age z-score. In the following 10 months, participants will be randomised to follow a healthy ad libitum diet with or without S&SE products. Clinical investigations are scheduled at baseline, after 2, 6 and 12 months. The primary outcomes are body weight for efficacy and gut microbiota composition (in relation to metabolic health) for safety, both in adults. Secondary outcomes include anthropometry, risk markers for type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, questionnaires including, for example, food preferences, craving and appetite and tests for allergenicity. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The trial protocol has been approved by the following national ethical committees; The research ethics committees of the capital region (Denmark), approval code: H-19040679, The medical ethics committee of the University Hospital Maastricht and Maastricht University (the Netherlands), approval code: NL70977.068.19/METC19-056s, Research Ethics Committee of the University of Navarra (Spain), approval code: 2019.146 mod1, Research Ethics Committee of Harokopio University (Greece), approval code: 1810/18-06-2019. The trial will be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Results will be published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals regardless of whether the findings are positive, negative or inconclusive. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04226911 (Clinicaltrials.gov).

Associations between soft-drink consumption and lifestyle patterns in overweight and obese European adults: Feel4Diabetes Study.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify lifestyle patterns that are characteristic of overweight and obese European adults in the context of educational level. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of dietary data from 1235 men and 10 343 women. Dietary intake, educational level, and physical activity were assessed using questionnaires. A principal component analysis was used to derive lifestyle patterns, and associations with being overweight or obese (OW/OB) and waist circumference (WC) were explored by applying a multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Overall, 35% of women and 68% of men were OW/OB, of whom 30% and 40%, respectively, had ≤12 y of education. The principal component analysis derived 2 distinct dietary patterns (healthy vs. unhealthy). The daily intake of fruits (fresh, canned, and juice) and vegetables was found to be associated with lower odds of being OW/OB and WC in women only. In contrast, the daily intake of diet soft drinks was associated with higher odds of being OW/OB in women and men, but the daily intake of sweets was associated with higher odds of WC in women only. In both sexes, having >12 y of education was inversely associated with being OW/OB. No associations were observed for regular soft-drink intake. CONCLUSIONS: A healthy dietary pattern constituting of a daily intake of fruits and vegetables was inversely associated with being OW/OB in women. Conversely, a diet soft-drink intake was positively associated with being OW/OB in both sexes, probably because of a reduction in overall energy intake. More studies are recommended to clarify the effectiveness of diet soft-drink consumption in controlling caloric intake and as a healthier alternative to regular soft drinks and sweets.

Association of breakfast consumption frequency with fasting glucose and insulin sensitivity/b cells function (HOMA-IR) in adults from high-risk families for type 2 diabetes in Europe: the Feel4Diabetes Study.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the association of breakfast consumption frequency (BCF) with glycemic control indices in a cross-sectional sample of adults from families at high risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), exploring the role of sex and socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS: In 2370 adults (40.8 ± 5.6 years) from 6 European countries, sociodemographic, lifestyle, anthropometric and biochemical characteristics were assessed through standardized procedures. Multivariable regression models were used to examine the association between fasting glucose (FG), fasting insulin (FI), and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (dependent variables) with BCF (independent variable) controlling for multiple possible confounders. RESULTS: A linear association of BCF with FG (ß = -0.557, 95% CI (-0.834, -0.280)) and a quadratic association with FI and HOMA-IR with the highest point of curve observed at BCF = 2.989 (times/week) and at BCF = 2.746, respectively, independent of the used covariates. In males and in participants of high SES, BCF was linearly and inversely associated with FG, while with FI and HOMA-IR there was an association with BCF in quadratic function. In females, BCF was linearly and inversely associated with FG and HOMA-IR, and there was a quadratic association with FI. In low SES there was only a linear association with FG, yet with no statistically significant findings for FI and HOMA-IR. CONCLUSIONS: Regular breakfast consumption, especially >3 times/week is associated with improved indices of glycemic control. This association was diminished in low SES participants in the presence of the used covariates.

Association between daily number of eating occasions with fasting glucose and insulin sensitivity in adults from families at high risk for type 2 diabetes in Europe: the Feel4Diabetes Study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the association between the number of times one eats daily (termed eating occasions [EO]) with indices of glycemic control and insulin resistance (IR) in a large sample of adults from families at high risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) from six European countries. The study also considered sex and socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS: Standardized questionnaires and procedures were used to assess sociodemographic characteristics, dietary intake, sedentary behavior, and anthropometric and biochemical indices. Univariate analysis of variance was used to investigate associations of daily EOs with fasting glucose (FG), fasting insulin (FI), and IR. RESULTS: In 1552 adults (41.6 ± 7.2 y), three to four daily EOs rather than less than three were inversely associated with FG (ß = -2.598; 95% confidence interval [CI], -4.521 to -0.675), independent of age, body mass index (BMI), dietary quality, and sedentary time. In women, three to four EOs per day were also associated with FG (ß = -3.071; 95% CI to -5.573 to -0.570) independently of the mentioned confounders. In high SES participants, having more than four EOs per day had an inverse association with FI (ß = -1.348; 95% CI to -2.583 to -0.114). No such associations were observed in men or in low SES participants. CONCLUSION: In adults at high risk for T2DM, and especially in women, having three to four daily EOs was inversely associated with FG, whereas in high SES participants, more than four EOs was associated with FI. Future studies should further elucidate the underlying mechanisms and offer insight into the optimum number of daily EOs for the prevention of T2DM especially in men and in adults with low SES where the number of daily EOs was not found to be significantly related to glycemic indices.

Conceptual framework of a simplified multi-dimensional model presenting the environmental and personal determinants of cardiometabolic risk behaviors in childhood.

Clinical manifestations of cardiometabolic risk (CMR) may be set early in childhood due to unfavorable behaviors or lifestyle patterns related to diet and physical activity. Several factors may determine the adoption of such lifestyle-related behaviors, which researchers have tried to cluster under certain frameworks or models. In this context, the framework developed and proposed by this review gathers all the present knowledge regarding these determining factors to date and groups them into three main categories related to personal characteristics and the social and physical environment. Based on the proposed framework, a large variety of personal, social and physical environmental factors can positively or negatively influence CMR-related behaviors (either directly or indirectly via their interrelations), thus leading to decreased or increased risk, respectively. This framework could be of great value to public health policy makers and legislators for designing and implementing interventional programs tailored to the needs of susceptible population groups who are most in need for such initiatives. Targeting the correlates as potential determinants of CMR-related behaviors, and not just on the behaviors themselves, has been shown previously to be the most effective approach for tackling health issues related to CMR starting from early life stages.