Association between adherence to the EAT-Lancet sustainable reference diet and cardiovascular health among European adolescents: the HELENA study.

BACKGROUND: The EAT-Lancet Commission proposed a global reference diet to promote healthy diets within planetary boundaries. Studies evaluating the associations between the reference diet with health outcomes among adolescents are scarce. Thus, our aim was to assess the association between adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet and cardiovascular health among European adolescents. METHODS: Data from the HELENA study were used. Usual dietary intake was assessed using two 24-h dietary recalls and adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet was assessed using the Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI), a 16-component index that ranges from 0 to 150 points. Cardiovascular health was assessed through the seven-component Ideal Cardiovascular Health (ICH) score: never smoked, eutrophic body mass index, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, healthy dietary pattern, low blood pressure, low fasting plasma glucose, and low total cholesterol. Total ICH score was categorized into ideal (5-7) and non-ideal (0-4). RESULTS: A 10-point increment in the PHDI was associated with a lower probability of a non-ideal ICH status (OR 0.84, [95% CI: 0.75, 0.94]) among European adolescents, after adjusting for age, sex, socio-economic status, and total energy intake. Furthermore, a 10-point increment in the PHDI was associated with lower probability of high blood pressure (OR: 0.87 [0.79, 0.96]) and a lower probability of high blood cholesterol (OR: 0.88 [0.78, 0.99]). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that a higher PHDI may be associated with a better cardiovascular health status among European adolescents.

The body mass index increases the genetic risk scores' ability to predict risk of hepatic damage in European adolescents: The HELENA study.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic disorders are often complex and multifactorial, modulated by genetic and environmental determinants. During the last years, the hepatic disease has been progressively established from early stages in life. The use of genetic risk scores (GRS) to predict the genetic susceptibility to a particular phenotype among youth has gained interest in recent years. Moreover, the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) blood biomarker is often considered as hepatic screening tool, in combination with imaging techniques. The aim of the present study was to develop an ALT-specific GRS to help in the evaluation of hepatic damage risk in European adolescents. METHODS: A total of 972 adolescents (51.3% females), aged 12.5-17.5 years, from the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence study were included in the analyses. The sample incorporated adolescents in all body mass index (BMI) categories and was divided considering healthy/unhealthy ALT levels, using sex-specific cut-off points. From 1212 a priori ALT-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) extracted from candidate gene selection, a first screening of 234 SNPs univariately associated was established, selecting seven significant SNPs (p < .05) in the multivariate model. An unweighted GRS (uGRS) was developed by summing the number of reference alleles, and a weighted GRS (wGRS), by multiplying each allele to its estimated coefficient. RESULTS: The uGRS and wGRS were significantly associated with ALT (p < .001). The area under curve was obtained integrating BMI as clinical factor, improving the predictive ability for uGRS (.7039) and wGRS (.7035), using 10-fold internal cross-validation. CONCLUSIONS: Considering BMI status, both GRSs could contribute as complementary tools to help in the early diagnosis of hepatic damage risk in European adolescents.

Associations between parental educational/occupational levels and cognitive performance in Spanish adolescents: the AVENA study.

We examined the associations between parental educational/occupational levels and cognitive performance in Spanish adolescents. Cognitive performance was measured by a validated Scholar Aptitudes test in 2,162 participants. Parental educational and occupational levels were positively associated with all specific cognitive abilities and the overall score (p<001 to .04). The odds ratios of having a high cognitive performance (top quartile) in adolescents with high parental educational level were 1.6 to 1.7 times higher than for those with a low parental educational level. Similarly, the odds ratios were 1.9 to 2.4 times higher for adolescents with high parental occupational level. These findings suggest an association between parental educational/occupational levels and cognitive performance in Spanish adolescents and support the parents' role in the creation of a stimulating intellectual environment.

Effects of hydroxytyrosol-enriched sunflower oil consumption on CVD risk factors.

Inclusion of biophenols in traditional foods transforms them into functional foods that may help to decrease CVD risk. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the consumption of hydroxytyrosol-enriched sunflower oil (HSO) improves certain CVD biomarker values. A total of twenty-two healthy volunteers participated in a cross-over study involving two 3-week periods, separated by a 2-week washout period, in which volunteers consumed 800-1275 µg/d [corrected] of either HSO (45-50 mg/d of hydroxytyrosol) or non-enriched (control) sunflower oil. Total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, arylesterase activity, oxidised LDL and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM-1) levels were measured in the plasma obtained at the beginning and at the end of each treatment period. The HSO group displayed a significantly higher level (P < 0·01) of arylesterase activity and significantly lower levels of oxidised LDL and sVCAM-1 (both P < 0·05) than the control group. These results suggest that HSO may help prevent CVD.