Characterizing the urban diet: development of an urbanized diet index.

BACKGROUND: In recent decades China has experienced rapid urbanization leading to a major nutrition transition, with increased refined carbohydrates, added sweeteners, edible oils, and animal-source foods, and reduced legumes, vegetables, and fruits. These changes have accompanied increased prevalence of cardiometabolic disease (CMD). There is no single dietary measure that summarizes the distinct food changes across regions and levels of urbanization. METHODS: Using a sample of adults (≥18 years) in the 2015 wave of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS; n = 14,024), we selected literature-based candidate dietary variables and tested their univariate associations with overall and within-region urbanization. Using iterative exclusion of select diet-related variables, we created six potential urbanized diet indices, which we examined relative to overall urbanization to select a final urbanized diet index based on a priori considerations, strength of association with urbanization, and minimal missingness. We tested stability of the final urbanized diet index across sociodemographic factors. To examine whether our new measure reflected health risk, we used mixed effects logistic regression models to examine associations between the final urbanized diet index and CMD risk factors - hypertension (HTN), overweight, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), adjusting for sociodemographics, overall urbanization, physical activity, and including random intercepts to account for correlation at community and household level. RESULTS: We identified a final urbanized diet index that captured dietary information unique to consumption of an urbanized diet and performed well across regions. We found a positive association (R2 = 0.17, 0.01 SE) between the final urbanized diet index and overall urbanization in the fully adjusted model. The new measure was negatively associated with HTN [OR (95% CI) = 0.93 (0.88-0.99)] and positively associated with T2D [OR = 1.13; 1.05-1.21] in minimally adjusted models, but not in the fully adjusted models. CONCLUSION: We derived an urbanized diet index that captured dietary urbanization that was distinct from overall urbanization and performed well across all regions of China. This urbanized diet index provides an alternative to measures of traditional versus urbanized diet that vary across regions due to different cultural dietary traditions. In addition, the new measure is best used in combination with diet quality measures, sociodemographic, and lifestyle measures to examine distinct pathways from urbanization to health in urbanizing countries.

Intussusception With a Pathological Lead Point in a Two-Month-Old Infant.

Intussusception is one of the most common causes of acute intestinal obstruction in infancy and early childhood. Most cases of intussusception tend to occur in infancy, between the ages of four and six months. The causes can be split into two categories: non-pathologic and pathologic. Non-pathological causes include administration of the rotavirus vaccine, dehydration, and recent illness. Pathological causes can be attributed to Meckel's diverticulum (in 75% of cases), polyps (15%), and lymphoma or other tumors (3%). Intussusception rarely occurs in infants less than three months of age. If intussusception does occur in patients under three months of age, the cause is idiopathic in up to 75% of the cases. Additionally, myoglandular-type polyps are exceedingly rare and very rarely occur in patients under the age of 50. This case report discusses the diagnosis and treatment of intussusception in a two-month-old male patient who initially presented to the pediatric inpatient unit for dehydration secondary to a suspected viral illness, later developing colicky abdominal pain and bloody stools. He was found to have colo-colonic intussusception with a myoglandular-type polyp lead point. In discussing this case, the aim is to teach about intussusception and myoglandular-type polyps, as well as reveal a rarity in both etiologies for this age group.

Pediatric Patient With Neurofibromatosis I Presenting With Perceptual Disturbances and a Suicide Attempt.

This is a case of a pediatric patient with a history of neurofibromatosis I (NFI) presenting to the emergency department secondary to a suicide attempt via self-strangulation after being verbally and physically bullied at school. Upon hospital admission, the 10-year-old patient was found to have significant auditory and visual perceptual hallucinations in addition to suicidal ideations, for which psychiatry was consulted. The patient underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain to evaluate for intracranial neurofibromas as a potential etiology of his behavior. There is evidence that the growth of neurofibromas in the brain can be associated with psychosis. His brain MRI was significant for multiple foci of non-enhancing lesions seen in the cerebellum, white matter, supratentorial white matter, and bilateral hippocampi that can be seen in NFI, highlighting a medical etiology for the patient's auditory and visual perceptual disturbances. The objective of this case report is to explore medical causes of psychosis including metabolic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic disturbances, parathyroid diseases, genetic disorders (Fragile X, Prader-Willi, etc.), autoimmune disorders, multiple sclerosis, temporal lobe epilepsy, infections, and brain tumors.