Desire to lose weight, dietary intake and psychological correlates among middle-aged and older women. The CoLaus study.

Body dissatisfaction has been regularly associated with negative consequences on health of young women, but less is known regarding middle-aged or older women. However, body dissatisfaction in women has been seen for long as a "normative discontent" (i.e. widespread and chronic dissatisfaction) because of its high prevalence among all age categories. The goal of this study was to explore the relationships between the desire to lose weight, energy intake and psychological health in community-dwelling women issued from the second wave (cross-sectional data) of the cohort study CoLaus (2009-2012, Switzerland), taking age categories (40-59 and 60-80) and body mass index (BMI, normal and overweight/obese) into account. Results showed that the desire to lose weight was common even in women with normal BMI and whatever the age category. Women with normal BMI who wished to lose weight reported lower energy and protein intake per kg of body weight, more signs of depression and less satisfaction with their quality of life than those who did not wish to lose weight in both age groups. The desire to lose weight was similarly associated with psychological health in women with overweight/obesity, in both age categories as well. These results indicate that the desire to lose weight may be associated with an impaired psychological health also in middle-aged and older women, even in those with normal BMI. This should not be considered as normal by health care professionals but as a possible indicator of psychological health and of the capacity to comply with dietary recommendations.

[Validity of a French screening questionnaire for binge eating disorders in adolescents]. / Dépistage de l'hyperphagie boulimique chez les adolescents : validité faciale d'un questionnaire développé en français.

Binge eating disorder is often associated with obesity. It has many psychosocial and somatic consequences and affects obesity treatment outcome. Binge eating has been observed in very young populations. Studies have shown that complications associated with binge eating disorder can appear in children, even when all the criteria included in the definition of the disorder for adults are not met. Therefore, provisional criteria have been proposed to investigate binge eating disorder among children and adolescents. There is an urgent need to enhance the screening of binge eating disorder in the young population, first in order to document the disorder and second to allow for tailored treatment of these populations. Currently, there is no scale in French to detect this type of disorder among children or adolescents. The aim of this study was to develop a self-administered questionnaire in French, which could be used as a screening tool for binge eating disorder among adolescents. We have developed a self-administered questionnaire, based on a previous questionnaire and provisional criteria proposed in the English-speaking world. In the present study, we assessed how the target population understood the expressions used in the questionnaire and refined terminology according to the results. Nineteen adolescents aged 11-18 years (normal weight or with obesity) were interviewed about their understanding of the questionnaire, using a structured individual interview. After completing the questions on their own, because the goal was to end up with a self-administered tool, they were asked to explain their own understanding of each question and to reformulate the terms used. The results highlighted that some words or sentences were misunderstood by adolescents, and we developed more adequate formulations as a consequence. Some terms used in their figurative sense had to be modified. Respondents found it difficult to assess duration and frequency of their behavior and suggested changing the open-ended answers to categories. Over the course of answering the questionnaire, they tended to forget the context and related their answers to their general eating behavior. Therefore, the context (binging) was repeated in each question of the modified version. A self-administered questionnaire can be effective in detecting problematic eating behaviors among adolescents and is a good first step before a diagnosis clarification by a professional. Our results show the importance of development and evaluation with the target population. The discriminant validity of the questionnaire will be evaluated by comparison with an assessment by a professional in a further study.

[Development and validation of a nutritional knowledge questionnaire among 9- to 15-year-olds]. / Développement et validation d'un questionnaire permettant d'évaluer les connaissances alimentaires (QuesCA) auprès de jeunes de 9 à 15ans.

Improving nutritional knowledge is a frequent goal in nutritional education programs. However, there is a lack of valid instruments to assess nutritional knowledge in children. Questionnaires on nutritional knowledge are usually related to a specific curriculum or program, and their development or validation process is rarely available. Our goal was to develop a valid, self-administered questionnaire to assess nutritional knowledge among French-speaking children and adolescents aged 9-15 years. The conceptual framework and concepts were based on a literature review. For each concept, an expert panel selected a number of items, and successive versions of the questionnaire were pretested. The edited version of a 30-item questionnaire (QuesCA) was administered to 475 children aged 9-15, in two French-speaking cantons in Switzerland. We calculated internal consistency (Cronbach alpha), the rate of correct answers for each question, and the mean scores for each concept. The mean scores were 16.32 (95% CI: [15.69; 16.94]) in the 9- to11-year-olds and 18.62 [18.19; 19.06] in the 12- to 15-year-olds (maximum possible, 30). Beverages, breakfast, fruit, and vegetables were the concepts that gathered the most correct answers. The overall Cronbach alpha score was good (0.66), but as the internal consistency for each concept was low (0.06-0.45), we developed an optimal scale for each age group. The result is a two-part questionnaire: QuesCA 9-11 and QuesCA 12-15, with 9 items each, that enables a rapid and reliable assessment of nutritional knowledge in children and adolescents.

Topical nonsteroidal antipsoriatic agents. 1. 1,2,3,4-Tetraoxygenated naphthalene derivatives.

On the basis of previous observations that both 2,3-dihydro-2,2,3,3-tetrahydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (oxoline, 1) and 6-chloroisonaphthazarin (2) had demonstrated antipsoriatic activity in vivo, a series of structural derivatives of 2 were prepared and examined in the Scholtz-Dumas topical psoriasis bioassay. Of these six (5, 6, 9a, 10, 11a, 11b), the most effective compound was found to be 6-chloro-1,4-diacetoxy-2,3-dimethoxynaphthalene (RS-43179, lonapalene, 11a). An extensive series of 1,2,3,4-tetraoxygenated naphthalenes (16-74) incorporating variations of the ester, ether, and aryl substituents were prepared as analogues of 11a to examine the structural requirements for activity and were screened in vivo as inhibitors of arachidonic acid induced mouse ear edema, a topical bioassay capable of detecting 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors. Net lipophilicity, hydrolytic stability, and ring substitution play significant roles in determining the observed in vivo activity. Lonapalene (11a) is currently in clinical development as a topically applied nonsteroidal antipsoriatic agent.