How parent stress and COVID-19 impact on the family are associated with parental pressure to eat during COVID-19.

This study aimed to assess how parent stress and COVID-19 impact on the family are associated with parental pressure to eat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents of healthy preschool-aged children completed measures including pressure to eat (Child Feeding Questionnaire), parent perception of their stress (Perceived Stress Scale), household food insecurity (Hunger Vital Sign) and effects of COVID-19 on families (COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact). Children (N = 228) were racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse (34 % Black, 15 % Hispanic, and 29 % with household income <$20,000). Bivariate analyses showed that parent stress at Year 1 (ß 0.02; 95 % CI 0.006, 0.04) was significantly associated with pressure to eat at Year 1 and that COVID-19 impact at Year 1 (ß 0.02; 95 % CI 0.001, 0.03) was also significantly associated with pressure to eat. Multivariable linear regression analyses showed that parent stress at Year 1 was significantly associated with pressure to eat at Year 1 (ß 0.39; 95 % CI 0.16, 0.61) while COVID-19 impact was not significantly associated with pressure to eat at Year 1. This study, consisting of racially and socioeconomically diverse children, found that while parent stress was significantly associated with increased parental utilization of pressure to eat feeding practice, COVID-19 impact was not significantly associated with pressure to eat in adjusted analyses. This suggests that overall perceived stress by parents could be an important factor in parent pressuring feeding practices.

Examining the Role of Nutrition in Cancer Survivorship and Female Fertility: A Narrative Review.

Female cancer survivors have a higher chance of experiencing infertility than females without a history of cancer diagnosis. This risk remains high despite advances in fertility treatments. There is a need to augment fertility treatments with cost-effective methods such as nutritional guidance to improve fertility chances. The aim of this review article is to connect the current literature on cancer survivorship nutrition and fertility nutrition, focusing on the importance of integrating nutritional guidance into fertility counseling, assessment, and treatment for female cancer survivors. Consuming a healthful diet comprising whole grains, soy, fruits, vegetables, seafood, and unsaturated fats has improved both female fertility and cancer survivorship. Similarly, maintaining a healthy body weight also improves female fertility and cancer survivorship. Therefore, dietary interventions to support female cancer survivors with fertility challenges are of immense importance. The period of follow-up fertility counseling and assessment after cancer treatment may provide a unique opportunity for implementing nutritional guidance for female cancer survivors. Dietary interventions are a promising strategy to improve pregnancy chances and overall quality of life among female cancer survivors; thus, researchers should investigate perceptions regarding fertility, barriers, and challenges to changing nutrition-related behaviors, and preferences for nutritional guidance to support fertility treatments in this population.

Differences in maternal and paternal pressure to eat and perception of household responsibilities.

Controlling feeding practices, such as pressure to eat, are associated with a child's disinhibited eating and extremes in bodyweight. We aimed to explore which factors are associated with parent dyads' pressuring feeding practices, including how mothers and fathers perceive the sharing of household tasks such as mealtime and child feeding responsibilities. In this cross-sectional study, parent dyads (mother and father) of healthy preschool-aged children completed an identical questionnaire consisting of measures of picky eating (food fussiness subscale of Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire), parental concern for undereating, and pressure to eat (Child Feeding Questionnaire). We used separate multivariable linear regression models for mothers and fathers to assess correlates associated with pressure to eat subscale score, including slowness of eating and enjoyment of food, child BMI z-score and race/ethnicity, and household income. Separate unadjusted linear regression models for mothers and fathers were used to report the association of pressure to eat with household responsibilities. Parents (N = 88) had similar mean picky eating, concern for undereating, and pressure to eat scores; more fathers had high pressure to eat scores (36% vs 27%). Higher pressure to eat was significantly associated with lower income, non-Hispanic Black or Black race/ethnicity, slow eating, and lower enjoyment of food. Pressure was not associated with household responsibilities. While there were similar maternal and paternal perceptions of child eating behaviors, more fathers reported pressuring their child to eat. Identifying differences in parental feeding practices may assist in intervention development to improve feeding practices.

Radon Exposure and Incident Stroke Risk in the Women's Health Initiative.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Little is known about the role of radon in the epidemiology of stroke among women. We therefore examined the association between home radon exposure and risk of stroke among middle-aged and older women in the United States. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years at baseline (1993-1998) in the Women's Health Initiative. We measured exposures as 2-day, indoor, lowest living-level average radon concentrations in picocuries per liter (pCi/L) as estimated in 1993 by the US Geological Survey and reviewed by the Association of American State Geologists under the Indoor Radon Abatement Act. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate risk of incident, neurologist-adjudicated stroke during follow-up through 2020 as a hazard ratio and 95% CI, adjusting for study design and participant demographic, social, behavioral, and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Among 158,910 women without stroke at baseline (mean age 63.2 years; 83% white), 6,979 incident strokes were identified over follow-up (mean 13.4 years). Incidence rates were 333, 343, and 349 strokes per 100,000 woman-years at radon concentrations of <2, 2-4, and >4 pCi/L, respectively. Compared with women living at concentrations <2 pCi/L, those at 2-4 and >4 pCi/L had higher covariate-adjusted risks of incident stroke: hazard ratio (95% CI) 1.06 (0.99-1.13) and 1.14 (1.05-1.22). Using nonlinear spline functions to model radon, stroke risk was significantly elevated at concentrations ranging from 2 to 4 pCi/L (p = 0.0004), that is, below the United States Environmental Protection Agency Radon Action Level for mitigation (4 pCi/L). Associations were slightly stronger for ischemic (especially cardioembolic, small vessel occlusive, and large artery atherosclerotic) than hemorrhagic stroke, but otherwise robust in sensitivity analyses. DISCUSSION: Radon exposure is associated with moderately increased stroke risk among middle-aged and older women in the United States, suggesting that promulgation of a lower Radon Action Level may help reduce the domestic impact of cerebrovascular disease on public health.

Interactions with Nature, Good for the Mind and Body: A Narrative Review.

Interacting with nature may promote mental and physical health. There are multiple ways to interact with nature: indirectly, incidentally, and intentionally. How these types of interactions with nature may be associated with mental and physical health status and health behaviors is unclear. The purpose of this narrative review is to (1) describe the relationship between interactions with nature (indirect, incidental, and intentional) and mental and physical health outcomes and behaviors, (2) identify gaps in the literature, and (3) provide recommendations for future research. Considerable evidence suggests that interacting with nature, indirectly and intentionally, is associated with improvements in mental health and physical exhibitions of mental status. Furthermore, intentionally interacting with nature is associated with engagement in physical activity and gardening is associated with fruit and vegetable consumption. Research suggests that incidentally interacting with nature may be associated with positive mental health status. More research is needed to understand the relationships between incidental interactions with nature and physical health status and behaviors; as well as among all types of interactions with nature and physical health disorders, sleep, and dietary behaviors.

Prevalence of frequent premature ventricular contractions and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia in older women screened for atrial fibrillation in the Women's Health Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Frequent premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) have been associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality. Their prevalence, especially in ambulatory populations, is understudied and limited by few female participants and the use of short-duration (24- to 48-hour) monitoring. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to report the prevalence of frequent PVCs and NSVT in a community-based population of women likely to undergo electrocardiogram (ECG) screening by sequential patch monitoring. METHODS: Participants from the Women's Health Initiative Strong and Healthy (WHISH) trial with no history of atrial fibrillation (AF) but 5-year predicted risk of incident AF ≥5% by CHARGE-AF score were randomly selected to undergo screening with 7-day ECG patch monitors at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Recordings were reviewed for PVCs and NSVT (>5 beats); data were analyzed with multivariate regression models. RESULTS: There were 1067 participants who underwent ECG screening at baseline, 866 at 6 months, and 777 at 12 months. Frequent PVCs were found on at least 1 patch from 4.3% of participants, and 1 or more episodes of NSVT were found in 12 (1.1%) women. PVC frequency directly correlated with CHARGE-AF score and NSVT on any patch. Detection of frequent PVCs increased with sequential monitoring. CONCLUSION: In postmenopausal women at high risk for AF, frequent PVCs were relatively common (4.3%) and correlated with higher CHARGE-AF score. As strategies for AF screening continue to evolve, particularly in those individuals at high risk of AF, the prevalence of incidental ventricular arrhythmias is an important benchmark to guide clinical decision-making.

Diet Quality and Epigenetic Aging in the Women's Health Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Higher diet quality scores are associated with a lower risk for many chronic diseases and all-cause mortality; however, it is unclear if diet quality is associated with aging biology. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the association between diet quality and a measure of biological aging known as epigenetic aging. DESIGN: A cross-sectional data analysis was used to examine the association between three diet quality scores based on self-reported food frequency questionnaire data and five measures of epigenetic aging based on DNA methylation (DNAm) data from peripheral blood. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: This study included 4,500 postmenopausal women recruited from multiple sites across the United States (1993-98), aged 50 to 79 years, with food frequency questionnaire and DNAm data available from the Women's Health Initiative baseline visit. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Five established epigenetic aging measures were generated from HumanMethylation450 Beadchip DNAm data, including AgeAccelHannum, AgeAccelHorvath, AgeAccelPheno, AgeAccelGrim, and DunedinPACE. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Linear mixed models were used to test for associations between three diet quality scores (Healthy Eating Index, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and alternate Mediterranean diet scores) and epigenetic aging measures, adjusted for age, race and ethnicity, education, tobacco smoking, physical activity, Women's Health Initiative substudy from which DNAm data were obtained, and DNAm-based estimates of leukocyte proportions. RESULTS: Healthy Eating Index, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and alternate Mediterranean diet scores were all inversely associated with AgeAccelPheno, AgeAccelGrim, and DunedinPACE (P < 0.05), with the largest effects with DunedinPACE. A one standard deviation increment in diet quality scores was associated with a decrement (ß ± SE) in DunedinPACE z score of -0.097 ± 0.014 (P = 9.70 x 10-13) for Healthy Eating Index, -0.107 ± 0.014 (P = 1.53 x 10-14) for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and -0.068 ± 0.013 (P = 2.31 x 10-07) for the alternate Mediterranean diet. CONCLUSIONS: In postmenopausal women, diet quality scores were inversely associated with DNAm-based measures of biological aging, particularly DunedinPACE.