Changes in Spanish lifestyle and dietary habits during the COVID-19 lockdown.

PURPOSE: The COVID-2019 pandemic forced many governments to declare the "to stay at home" which encouraged social distancing and isolation among citizens. The aim of this study was to assess the dietary and lifestyle habit changes that occurred during home confinement in Spain. METHODS: An European online survey was launched in April 2020. This included 70 questions on sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, dietary habits, including key Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) foods. A total of 945 Spanish adults from 1268 European that completed the online survey were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Most of the Spanish participants adopted healthier dietary habits during home lockdown, which was translated to a higher MedDiet adherence. However, a negative impact on physical activity levels, sleep quality or smoking rates was observed. Low MedDiet adherence was associated with a higher risk of weight gain (OR = 1.53, CI 1.1-2.1; p = 0.016), while no snacking between meals reduced the risk by 80% (OR = 0.20, CI 0.09-0.45, p < 0.001) and eating more quantity, considering portion size, increased body weight gain risk almost sixfold more. CONCLUSION: To conclude, although dietary habits were improved during home lockdown, certain unhealthy behaviours (e.g. increased snacking between meals, increased food intake, and an increase in sedentary behaviour) were increased.

FNDC4, a novel adipokine that reduces lipogenesis and promotes fat browning in human visceral adipocytes.

BACKGROUND: Fibronectin type IIIdomain-containing protein 4 (FNDC4) constitutes a secreted factor showing a high homology in the fibronectin type III and transmembrane domains with the exercise-associated myokine irisin (FNDC5). We sought to evaluate whether FNDC4 mimics the anti-obesity effects of FNDC5/irisin in human adipose tissue. METHODS: Plasma and adipose tissue samples of 78 patients with morbid obesity undergoing bariatric surgery and 26 normal-weight individuals were used in the present study. RESULTS: Plasma FNDC4 was decreased in patients with morbid obesity, related to obesity-associated systemic inflammation and remained unchanged six months after bariatric surgery. Visceral adipose tissue from patients with morbid obesity showed higher expression of FNDC4 and its putative receptor GPR116 regardless of the degree of insulin resistance. FNDC4 content was regulated by lipogenic, lipolytic and proinflammatory stimuli in human visceral adipocytes. FNDC4 reduced intracytosolic lipid accumulation and stimulated a brown-like pattern in human adipocytes, as evidenced by an upregulated expression of UCP-1 and the brown/beige adipocyte markers PRDM16, TMEM26 and CD137. Moreover, FNDC4 treatment upregulated mitochondrial DNA content and factors involved in mitochondrial biogenesis (TFAM, NRF1 and NRF2). Human FNDC4-knockdown adipocytes exhibited an increase in lipogenesis and a reduction of brown/beige-specific fat markers as well as factors involved in mitochondrial biogenesis. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the novel adipokine FNDC4 reduces lipogenesis and increases fat browning in human visceral adipocytes. The upregulation of FNDC4 in human visceral fat might constitute an attempt to attenuate the adipocyte hypertrophy, inflammation and impaired beige adipogenesis in the obese state.

Passing through Open/Closed Doors: A Solution for 3D Scanning Robots.

In this article, a traversing door methodology for building scanning mobile platforms is proposed. The problem of passing through open/closed doors entails several actions that can be implemented by processing 3D information provided by dense 3D laser scanners. Our robotized platform, denominated as MoPAD (Mobile Platform for Autonomous Digitization), has been designed to collect dense 3D data and generate basic architectural models of the interiors of buildings. Moreover, the system identifies the doors of the room, recognises their respective states (open, closed or semi-closed) and completes the aforementioned 3D model, which is later integrated into the robot global planning system. This document is mainly focused on describing how the robot navigates towards the exit door and passes to a contiguous room. The steps of approaching, door-handle recognition/positioning and handle-robot arm interaction (in the case of a closed door) are shown in detail. This approach has been tested using our MoPAD platform on the floors of buildings composed of several rooms in the case of open doors. For closed doors, the solution has been formulated, modeled and successfully tested in the Gazebo robot simulation tool by using a 4DOF robot arm on board MoPAD. The excellent results yielded in both cases lead us to believe that our solution could be implemented/adapted to other platforms and robot arms.

Towards the automatic scanning of indoors with robots.

This paper is framed in both 3D digitization and 3D data intelligent processing research fields. Our objective is focused on developing a set of techniques for the automatic creation of simple three-dimensional indoor models with mobile robots. The document presents the principal steps of the process, the experimental setup and the results achieved. We distinguish between the stages concerning intelligent data acquisition and 3D data processing. This paper is focused on the first stage. We show how the mobile robot, which carries a 3D scanner, is able to, on the one hand, make decisions about the next best scanner position and, on the other hand, navigate autonomously in the scene with the help of the data collected from earlier scans. After this stage, millions of 3D data are converted into a simplified 3D indoor model. The robot imposes a stopping criterion when the whole point cloud covers the essential parts of the scene. This system has been tested under real conditions indoors with promising results. The future is addressed to extend the method in much more complex and larger scenarios.

Nutritional and cultural aspects of the Mediterranean diet.

The recent recognition by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) of the Mediterranean diet as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity reinforces, together with the scientific evidence, the Mediterranean diet as a cultural and health model. The Mediterranean diet has numerous beneficial effects on among others the immune system, against allergies, on the psyche, or even on quality of life, topics that are currently fields of research. The Mediterranean diet has an international projection; it is regarded as the healthiest and the most sustainable eating pattern on the planet and is a key player in the public health nutrition field globally, but especially in the Mediterranean area. Moreover, this ancient cultural heritage should be preserved and promoted from different areas: public health, agriculture, culture, politics, and economic development.

Availability of Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean foods during the last four decades: comparison of several geographical areas.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the changes in the availability of the most important food components of the traditional Mediterranean diet and other food groups in five geographical areas during a 43-year period. DESIGN: Ecological study with food availability data obtained from FAO food balance sheets in forty-one countries for the period 1961-1965 and 2000-2004. SETTING: Mediterranean, Northern and Central Europe, Other Mediterranean countries and Other Countries of the World were the studied areas. RESULTS: The main changes since the 1960s, at an availability level, were found in European areas and in Other Mediterranean countries. The greatest changes were found in Mediterranean Europe, recording high availability of non-Mediterranean food groups (animal fats, vegetable oils, sugar and meat), whereas the availability of alcoholic beverages, including wine, and legumes decreased. Despite having lost some of its typical characteristics, Mediterranean Europe has more olive oil, vegetables, fruits and fish available than other areas. Although Northern Europe has a greater availability of non-Mediterranean foods, there has been a tendency towards a decrease in availability of some of these foods and to increase Mediterranean food such as olive oil and fruits. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that European countries, especially those in the Mediterranean area, have experienced a 'westernisation' process of food habits, and have increasingly similar patterns of food availability (mainly non-Mediterranean food groups) among them. Measures must be taken to counteract these tendencies and to avoid their possible negative consequences. It is also crucial to find ways to promote and preserve the Mediterranean diet and its lifestyle in modern societies.

Worldwide variation of adherence to the Mediterranean diet, in 1961-1965 and 2000-2003.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to analyse the worldwide trends of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), in 1961-1965 and 2000-2003. DESIGN: Data were obtained from the FAO food balance sheets in two periods: 1961-1965 and 2000-2003. In order to have a sample from across the world, forty-one countries were selected. The average of available energy for different food groups was calculated for all selected countries. These values were used to evaluate the adherence to the MD through a variation of Mediterranean Adequacy Index (MAI). RESULTS: The majority of the forty-one countries in this study have tended to drift away from a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern. Mediterranean Europe and the Other Mediterranean country groups suffered a significant decrease in their MAI values. The Mediterranean European group, especially Greece, experienced the greatest decrease in MAI value. In both periods, the Other Mediterranean countries showed the highest MAI values. In an analysis by countries, Iran had the highest increase in MAI across the time periods, and Egypt occupied the first place in the ranking in 2000-2003. The Northern European group was the only one that registered an increase in MAI, although this was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Many countries in the Mediterranean basin are drifting away from the Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP). However, countries in Northern Europe and some other countries around the world are taking on a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern. The Other Mediterranean countries have the closest adherence to the MDP, currently and in the 1960s. Nutrition policy actions to tackle dietary westernisation and preserve the healthy prudent MDP are required.

[Trends in the nutritional status of the Spanish population: results from the Catalan nutrition monitoring system (1992-2003)]. / Tendencias del estado nutricional de la población española: resultados del sistema de monitorización nutricional de Cataluña (1992-2003).

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in the nutricional habits and nutricional status of the Catalan population over 10 years interval of the two Catalan Nutricional Surveys conducted in 1992-93 and 2002-03. METHODS: 2641 individuals in 1992-93 and 2060 individuals in 2002-03 aged 10 to 75 years participated in the surveys. Two 24 hour recall, a food frequency questionnaire, and a general questionnaire with information on physical activity, knowledge and opinions on nutrition and supplements use were administered. Weight (Kg), height (cm) and waist circumference (WC) (cm) were measured. A subsample of the population underwent a biochemical evaluation. Total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, tryglicerides and beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol and retinol were measured. RESULTS: A decrease in the consumption of fruit, vegetables, potatoes, meat and fish and an increase in the consumption of dairy products and fast food (in young individuals) were reported. An increase in the mean value of Body Mass Index (BMI) was observed among males, and an increase in WC mean value was observed in males and females. BMI value decreased in females (except among the younger ones). The prevalence of obesity increased among males (from 9.9% to 16.6%), but not in females. Both total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol decreased. A decrease was observed in the percentage of population with sedentary habits during leisure time. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for an effective nutrition policy promoting healthy nutrition in accordance with the ongoing dietary guidelines.