Food exports and imports of New Zealand in relation to the food-based dietary guidelines.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: It has not been reported that previously how much food New Zealand (NZ), population 4.9 million (M), exports and imports in terms of how many people this food would feed if the food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) were followed. In New Zealand, 40% of adults and 20% of children live in a household with severe to moderate food insecurity. METHODS: Official data for foods and beverages exported and imported between 2016 and 2018 was obtained from Statistics New Zealand. Harmonised food classifications were matched to either a food group or as discretionary foods or ingredients. Standard serving sizes in grams and number of servings/day from each food group viz; vegetables, 5 servings/day; fruit, 2 servings/day; grains 6 servings/day; meat and protein foods 2.5 servings/day: and dairy 2.5 servings/day were used to determine how many people would be fed each year with the food traded. Together these servings should meet a daily energy intake in the order of 8 MJ. The trade of discretionary foods and ingredients, alcoholic beverages, butter and sugar was also examined. RESULTS: According to the guidelines the quantity of food exported each year by NZ had enough numbers of servings to feed 39 M dairy, 11.5 M meat, seafood and other protein, 2 M vegetables and 10 M fruit day/year. Imports were dominated by grains, enough to feed 9 M six servings a day/year. Total food energy exported and imported was enough to meet the energy requirements for 20 M (30% from butter) and 10 M (27% from sugar), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of food insecurity and obesity in NZ could be partially attributed to the disconnect between the quantity, nutritional quality and diversity of foods imported and exported.

Pacific Islands Families Study: Physical growth to age 14 and metabolic risk.

BACKGROUND: The relationships between the trajectories of weight gain from early childhood to adolescence and risk for metabolic disease are not well understood. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to examine the relationships between weight gain from 2 to 14 years and metabolic risk factors at age 14 years in Pacific Island children. METHODS: z scores for weight were calculated at each of the ages 2.5, 4, 6, 9, 11, and 13.5 years in 1053 children. Growth trajectories were determined by estimating the linear trend of z scores with age for each child. In a subgroup of 204 children, biomarkers of metabolic risk were measured and related to linear trend intercepts and slopes. RESULTS: More rapid growth (greater slope of z score trajectory) was associated with higher concentrations of insulin, leptin (boys), urate, and markers of liver function, insulin resistance and inflammation. Children with higher weights in early life (greater intercept) showed fewer associations with metabolic markers, but considered together, intercept and slope were independently associated with a range of metabolic risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Both rapid weight gain and a higher body weight in early childhood were associated with higher risk for metabolic disease. Monitoring growth trajectories may help target interventions to optimize nutrition, physical activity, and growth.

Secular trends 2013-2017 in overweight and visible dental decay in New Zealand preschool children: influence of ethnicity, deprivation and the Under-5-Energize nutrition and physical activity programme.

Early-life intervention to reduce obesity and poor dental health through early-life nutrition will improve health outcomes in later life. This study examined the prevalence of overweight and obesity and visual dental decay in 4-year old children in New Zealand between 2013 and 2017, and the impact of a nutrition and physical activity intervention programme, Under-5-Energize (U5E), on prevalence of these conditions within ethnic groups and by deprivation. The data set included 277,963 4-year-old children, including 25,140 from the Waikato region children of whom 8067 attended one of the 121 early childhood centres (ECC) receiving the U5E programme from 2014. Purposively the U5E-ECC selected were attended by higher proportions of indigenous Maori children and children living in higher deprivation areas than non-U5E-ECC. From 2013 to 2017, the overall prevalence of obesity, as defined by World Health Organisation criteria, declined slightly but rates of dental decay did not change. In the Waikato region, the prevalence of obesity declined in non-Maori children from 2015 to 2017 and children attending U5E-ECC had lower rates of dental decay than non-U5E children. Binary logistic regression showed that between 2015 and 2017 visible dental decay was more likely in children who were Maori (3.06×3.17), living in high deprivation (1.54×1.66) and male (1.10) but less likely if attending an U5E-ECC (0.83×0.79). Early-life intervention had efficacy at reducing dental decay, and demonstrated that the origins of disparities in health such as ethnicity and deprivation need to be addressed further to break the intergenerational cycles of poor health.

Under 5 Energize: Tracking Progress of a Preschool Nutrition and Physical Activity Programme with Regional Measures of Body Size and Dental Health at Age of Four Years.

To reduce weight gain and encourage healthy eating including reduced sugar intake, Under 5 Energize (U5E) was introduced to 121 early-childhood-centres in the Waikato region of New Zealand in July 2013. Using anonymized data collected from January 2013 to September 2016 through free physical assessments of all 4-year-olds provided by the NZ Ministry of Health, the prevalence of obesity and dental decay children measured in the Waikato region was examined. Data were divided into four periods representing pre-implementation and 3 years of gradual implementation. Obesity was defined according to International Obesity Task Force criteria. Of 18,774 Waikato children included in the analysis, 32% were indigenous Maori, and 32% attended an U5E centre. Pre-implementation prevalences of obesity (4%) and visible dental decay (11%) of children attending and not-attending U5E centres were not different. While obesity prevalence did not change significantly over time, prevalence of dental decay decreased among children at U5E (trend p = 0.003) but not non-U5E (trend p = 0.14) centres, such that prevalences were significantly different between children at U5E vs. non-U5E centres at Year 3 (p = 0.02). The U5E intervention is a small but arguably effective part of the wider system approach that is required to improve children's future health.

Metabolic disruption identified in the Huntington's disease transgenic sheep model.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a dominantly inherited, progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion within exon 1 of HTT, encoding huntingtin. There are no therapies that can delay the progression of this devastating disease. One feature of HD that may play a critical role in its pathogenesis is metabolic disruption. Consequently, we undertook a comparative study of metabolites in our transgenic sheep model of HD (OVT73). This model does not display overt symptoms of HD but has circadian rhythm alterations and molecular changes characteristic of the early phase disease. Quantitative metabolite profiles were generated from the motor cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum and liver tissue of 5 year old transgenic sheep and matched controls by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Differentially abundant metabolites were evident in the cerebellum and liver. There was striking tissue-specificity, with predominantly amino acids affected in the transgenic cerebellum and fatty acids in the transgenic liver, which together may indicate a hyper-metabolic state. Furthermore, there were more strong pair-wise correlations of metabolite abundance in transgenic than in wild-type cerebellum and liver, suggesting altered metabolic constraints. Together these differences indicate a metabolic disruption in the sheep model of HD and could provide insight into the presymptomatic human disease.

A triad of highly divergent polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (PIGR) haplotypes with major effect on IgA concentration in bovine milk.

The aim of this study was to determine a genetic basis for IgA concentration in milk of Bos taurus. We used a Holstein-Friesian x Jersey F2 crossbred pedigree to undertake a genome-wide search for QTL influencing IgA concentration and yield in colostrum and milk. We identified a single genome-wide significant QTL on chromosome 16, maximising at 4.8 Mbp. The polymeric immunoglobulin receptor gene (PIGR) was within the confidence interval of the QTL. In addition, mRNA expression analysis revealed a liver PIGR expression QTL mapping to the same locus as the IgA quantitative trait locus. Sequencing and subsequent genotyping of the PIGR gene revealed three divergent haplotypes that explained the variance of both the IgA QTL and the PIGR expression QTL. Genetic selection based on these markers will facilitate the production of bovine herds producing milk with higher concentrations of IgA.

Food frequency information--relationships to body composition and apparent growth in 4-year-old children in the Pacific Island Family Study.

AIMS: To record at the 4-year measurement point for the Pacific Island Family Study the most frequently eaten foods and to identify associations with growth and body composition. METHODS: A food frequency questionnaire relating to consumption of 111 foods over a 4 week period was administered to the 739 children, to be completed by a parent. Body composition of the children was measured by anthropometry and body fatness by bioimpedance analysis. Patterns of association between body composition and food frequency were examined using correlation analyses. RESULTS: The foods most frequently consumed were bread (1.32 times/day) and total milk (1.63), followed by breakfast cereal (0.83), and fruits (0.78-0.83). 77% of respondents consumed white bread only while 85% consumed standard milk and 7% consumed milk less than once a month or never. Recommended frequency of consumption for fruit was attained by 60%, while only 35% achieved the recommended level for vegetables. Traditional Pacific food consumption made up 5% of the dietary pattern. Protein consumption was positively associated with weight and BMI at 4 years, along with weight gain (0 to 4 years), while frequency of fat consumption was negatively correlated with these variables, in addition to body fat %. Dairy consumption showed a positive correlation with body fat % and BMI. CONCLUSIONS: This diet and body size analysis as part of a longitudinal study provides practical evidence to inform practical dietary advice and food policies. Further research is needed to explore association of growth with food patterns and quality.

Are energy drinks contributing to the obesity epidemic?

The consumption of energy drinks containing sucrose and caffeine is increasing worldwide. Ten healthy women aged 18 to 22 years and fasted overnight were randomly allocated to a standardised dose of sucrose either as an "energy" drink (containing sucrose and caffeine) or lemonade on the first day and then crossed over to the alternative drink on a second day. For thirty minutes before and thirty minutes after drinking oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production were measured in the resting subject breath-by-breath by indirect calorimetry and the rates of carbohydrate and fat oxidation calculated. Energy drink consumption apparently caused increased carbohydrate oxidation (P = 0.004) and reduced lipid oxidation (P = 0.004) compared to lemonade. The longer term effects of combined caffeine and sucrose intake, particularly in sedentary individuals, on metabolism and body fatness needs further examination.