Traditional Mexican dietary pattern and cancer risk among women of Mexican descent.

PURPOSE: To examine the association of a traditional Mexican diet score with risk of total, breast, and colorectal cancer among women of Mexican ethnic descent in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). METHODS: Participants were WHI enrollees who self-identified as being of Mexican descent. Data from food frequency questionnaires self-administered at study baseline were used to calculate the MexD score, with higher scores indicating greater adherence to an a priori-defined traditional Mexican diet (high in dietary fiber, vegetables, and legumes). Incident cancers were self-reported by participants from 1993 to 2020 and adjudicated by trained physicians. We used multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Among 2,343 Mexican descent women (median baseline age: 59 years), a total of 270 cancers (88 breast, 37 colorectal) occurred during a mean follow-up of 14.4 years. The highest tertile of MexD score was associated with a lower risk of all-cancer incidence (HR: 0.67; 95% CI 0.49-0.91; p-trend: 0.01) and colorectal cancer (HR: 0.38; 95% CI 0.14-0.998; p-trend < 0.05), with each unit increase in the MexD score associated with a 6% lower risk of all-cancer incidence (HR: 0.94; 95% CI 0.88-0.99). There was no statistically significant association with risk of breast cancer. CONCLUSION: Consumption of a traditional Mexican diet was associated with a significantly lower risk of all-cancer incidence and colorectal cancer. Confirmation of these findings in future studies is important, given the prevalence of colorectal cancer and a growing U.S. population of women of Mexican descent.

Association of Anemia with Neurodevelopmental Disorders in a Nationally Representative Sample of US Children.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of anemia with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and learning disability in US children. STUDY DESIGN: We included children and adolescents aged 3-17 years from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 1997-2018. Information about physician-diagnosed history of anemia, ASD, ADHD, and learning disability was reported by a parent or guardian. Multiple logistic regression with sample weights was used to estimate the ORs and 95% CIs of neurodevelopmental disorders according to the presence of anemia. RESULTS: Of the total population of 213 893 children aged 3-17 years (mean age [SE], 10.01 [0.01] years), 2379 were reported to have a diagnosis of anemia, for a weighted prevalence of 1.06% (95% CI, 1.01-1.12). The prevalence of ASD was 1.94% (95% CI, 1.20-2.68) among children with anemia and 1.07% (95% CI, 1.01-1.14) among those without anemia. The corresponding prevalences were 12.24% (95% CI, 10.47-14.00) and 7.73% (95% CI, 7.58-7.88) for ADHD and 15.03% (95% CI, 13.08-16.99) and 7.75% (95% CI, 7.39-7.70) for learning disability, respectively. Compared with those without anemia, children with anemia were more likely to have neurodevelopmental disorders, with an aOR of 2.07 (95% CI, 1.39-3.08) for ASD, 1.84 (95% CI, 1.55-2.19) for ADHD, and 2.22 (95% CI, 1.90-2.60) for learning disability. CONCLUSIONS: In a nationally representative sample of US children, we found significant associations between anemia and neurodevelopmental disorders including ASD, ADHD, and learning disability. Further investigation is warranted to assess the causality and elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Vitamin A and retinol intakes and the risk of fractures among participants of the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Excessive intakes of vitamin A have been shown to have adverse skeletal effects in animals. High vitamin A intake may lead to an increased risk of fracture in humans. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate the relation between total vitamin A and retinol intakes and the risk of incident total and hip fracture in postmenopausal women. DESIGN: A total of 75,747 women from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study participated. The risk of hip and total fractures was determined using Cox proportional hazards models according to different intakes of vitamin A and retinol. RESULTS: In the analysis adjusted for some covariates (age; protein, vitamin D, vitamin K, calcium, caffeine, and alcohol intakes; body mass index; hormone therapy use; smoking; metabolic equivalents hours per week; ethnicity; and region of clinical center), the association between vitamin A intake and the risk of fracture was not statistically significant. Analyses for retinol showed similar trends. When the interaction term was analyzed as categorical, the highest intake of retinol with vitamin D was significant (P = 0.033). Women with lower vitamin D intake (< or =11 microg/d) in the highest quintile of intake of both vitamin A (hazard ratio: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.37; P for trend: 0.022) and retinol (hazard ratio: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.29; P for trend: 0.056) had a modest increased risk of total fracture. CONCLUSIONS: No association between vitamin A or retinol intake and the risk of hip or total fractures was observed in postmenopausal women. Only a modest increase in total fracture risk with high vitamin A and retinol intakes was observed in the low vitamin D-intake group.

Children and cholesterol: potential prevention for future good health

The prevention of cardiovascular disease beginning in chilhood may be affected with two strategies. The first is a population approach to lower the cholesterol levels in all American children. The second is an individualized strategy to identify and treat children at particularly high risk in the health cara system