Association of beverage consumption types with weight, height, and body mass index in grade 3 children in northern Taiwan: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of convenience and beverage stores in Taiwan provides an environment for children to access different beverages. To our knowledge, the relationship between beverage consumption types and anthropometrics in children has not been reported in Taiwan. The aim of this study was to examine the association between the consumption frequency of beverage type and anthropometrics in third-grade children. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 10 elementary schools in 12 administrative regions distributed evenly throughout Taipei City from June 2017 to December 2018. Parents of 515 children completed a questionnaire with written instructions, which was designed to collect demographic characteristics, frequency of consumed beverage types, and anthropometrics. This study was novel because beverage types were categorized based on sugar and protein contents, namely nutritious, sugar, nutritious and sugar, and non-nutritious and sugar-free. The differences in height and body weight between intake frequencies within each beverage type were determined using analysis of variance test or nonparametric statistics, depending on the confirmation of normal data distribution. RESULTS: Height and weight of children consuming the most nutritious beverages fell in the highest respective percentile compared with those who did not consume them (P = 0.001 and 0.035, respectively). Consumption of nutritious and sugar and sugar beverages were not associated with height, body weight, or body mass index. Children who consumed more non-nutritious and sugar-free beverages were significantly heavier (P = 0.016) and had a higher body mass index (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: This was the first study conducted on third-grade children in Taiwan showing the beverage consumption type was associated with anthropometrics. Nutritious beverages appear to be a better choice for growth in children. Nevertheless, additional related studies, including an overall assessment of children's calorie and nutrient intakes and related dietary behaviors, are warranted to provide more helpful information for policymakers.

Effects of fermented red bean extract on nephropathy in streptozocin-induced diabetic rats.

BACKGROUND: The antioxidant effects of Bacillus subtilis-fermented red bean (natto-red bean) extract (NRBE) in young (6 weeks old) Sprague-Dawley rats and aged (12 months old) mice had been reported previously. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of NRBE in the kidneys of streptozocin-induced diabetic rats. DESIGN: Normal control rats and diabetic rats were orally gavaged with saline and low-dose NRBE (100 mg/kg body weight [BW]), medium-dose NRBE (200 mg/kg BW), and high-dose NRBE (500 mg/kg BW), for 12 weeks and then sacrificed. Concentration of fasting glucose, adiponectin, renal function markers, antioxidative markers, and pro-inflammatory markers were measured. RESULTS: Oral administration of 50% ethanolic extract of NRBE with a dosage of 100 mg/kg BW, 200 mg/kg BW, or 500 mg/kg BW could improve the symptoms of kidney enlargement and renal function. Supplementation of NRBE can effectively inhibit the formation of renal reactive oxygen species and advanced-glycation end-products and increase renal glutathione content and serum adiponectin. A low dose of NRBE (100 mg/kg BW) decreased fasting blood sugar and renal interleukin (IL)-6 expression. Serum C-reactive protein, renal tumor necrosis factor-α, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 concentrations were decreased, and renal superoxide dismutase activity was increased in the medium-dose NRBE group. Twenty-four hour creatinine clearance and urinary albumin excretion also improved by medium-dose NRBE supplementation. In NRBE, total phenols and flavonoids were 6.3 mg gallic acid equivalent/g and 12.02 mg rutin equivalent/g, respectively, and kampherol was the major active antioxidant compound. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that appropriate amount of NRBE, 200 mg/kg BW in rats, could prevent diabetic nephropathy by improving antioxidant status and inhibiting inflammation in renal tissue.

Health-Related Quality of Life and Medical Resource Use in Patients with Osteoporosis and Depression: A Cross-Sectional Analysis from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Patients with either osteoporosis or depression are prone to develop other diseases and require more medical resources than do the general population. However, there are no studies on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and medical resource use by osteoporosis patients with comorbid depression. We conducted this study for clarifying it. Methods: This cross-sectional study from 2005 to 2010 (6 years) analyzed 9776 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) patients > 40 years old. Each patient was assigned to one of four groups: osteoporosis-positive(+) and depression-positive(+) (O+/D+); O+/D-; O-/D+; O-/D-. We used multivariate linear and logistic regression model to analyze the HRQoL and medical resource use between groups. Results: The O+/D+ group reported more unhealthy days of physical health, more unhealthy days of mental health, and more inactive days during a specified 30 days. The adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of O+/D+ patients who had poor general health (7.40, 95% CI = 4.80-11.40), who needed healthcare (3.25, 95% CI = 2.12-5.00), and who had been hospitalized overnight (2.71, 95% CI = 1.89-3.90) were significantly highest. Conclusions: Low HRQoL was significantly more prevalent in D+/O+ patients. We found that depression severity more significantly affected HRQoL than did osteoporosis. However, both diseases significantly increased the risk of high medical resource use.

Association of Parental Overweight and Cardiometabolic Diseases and Pediatric Adiposity and Lifestyle Factors with Cardiovascular Risk Factor Clustering in Adolescents.

Cardiometabolic risk factors or their precursors are observed in childhood and may continue into adulthood. We investigated the effects of parental overweight and cardiometabolic diseases and pediatric lifestyle factors on the clustering of cardiovascular risk factors among adolescents, and examined the mediating and modifying effects of pediatric adiposity on these associations. Representative adolescents (n = 2727; age, 12-16 years) were randomly recruited through multistage stratified sampling from 36 schools in Southern Taiwan. Adolescent and parent surveys were conducted in schools and participant homes, respectively. Their demographic factors, diet patterns, and physical, anthropometric, and clinical parameters were collected and analyzed. Adolescents with 1-2 and ≥3 risk components for pediatric metabolic syndrome (MetS) were defined as potential MetS (pot-MetS) and MetS, respectively. Adolescents whose parents were overweight/obese, or with diabetes and hypertension had a higher prevalence ratio of pot-MetS and MetS (1.5-1.6 and 1.9-4.2-fold, respectively). Low physical activity (<952.4 MET·min/week), long screen time (≥3 h/day) and high sugar-sweetened beverage intake (>500 mL/day) were associated with a 3.3- (95% confidence intervals (CI) = 1.5-7.3), 2.2- (95% CI = 1.1-4.4), and 26.9-fold (95% CI = 3.2-229.0) odds ratio (OR) of MetS, respectively. Pediatric body mass index (BMI) accounted for 18.8%-95.6% and 16.9%-60.3% increased prevalence ratios of these parental and pediatric risk factors for MetS. The OR of pot-MetS + MetS for sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was multiplicatively enhanced among adolescents with overweight/obesity (combined OR, 8.6-fold (95% CI = 4.3-17.3); p for multiplicative interaction, 0.009). The results suggest that parental overweight and cardiometabolic diseases and pediatric sedentary and high sugar-intake lifestyles correlate with the development of adolescent MetS, and an elevated child BMI explains a part of these associations. Pediatric adiposity might be multiplicatively associated with sugar-sweetened beverage consumption for enhancing the MetS prevalence ratio among adolescents.

Trends and nutritional status for magnesium in Taiwan from NAHSIT 1993 to 2008.

Data from nationwide population-based nutrition surveys in Taiwan were used to investigate trends and nutritional status for magnesium from 1993 to 2008. Dietary magnesium intake was estimated from 24-hour dietary recalls. Serum and urinary magnesium were also measured. In Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (NAHSIT) 2005-2008, average magnesium intake was 305 mg and 259 mg for adult males and females, respectively, which is equivalent to 82-85% of relevant Taiwanese Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). After correcting intra-individual variation, 74-81% of adult subjects' dietary magnesium was estimated as sub-optimal. Mean serum magnesium concentration was 0.866 mmol/L and 0.861 mmol/L for the males and females, respectively. The prevalence of low serum magnesium (<0.8 mmol/L) was 12.3% and 23.7% for the males and females, respectively. There was positive association among dietary magnesium, blood magnesium, and urinary magnesium/creatinine ratio. From NAHSIT 1993-1996 to NAHSIT 2005-2008, dietary magnesium significantly increased (p<0.05), the blood magnesium and urinary magnesium/creatinine ratio decreased (p<0.05). The findings suggest that the relationships between dietary magnesium and biochemical markers among different nutrition and health surveys are not straightforward and need to be further clarified.

Herbal and vitamin/mineral supplement use by retirement community residents: preliminary findings.

A survey questionnaire assessed supplement use by free-living residents of a retirement community. Of the 318 respondents (mean age 82.2 years), 20% of women and 20% of men reported using herbal supplements, with 62% of these using them at least once per week. Most herbal supplements users (97%) also used vitamin/mineral supplements. Sixty-eight percent of herbal supplement users felt very much/somewhat informed about taking the supplements. Forty-four percent, however, were not sure whether there was testing before marketing; 33% were not sure about side effects. Half (52%) relied "very much/somewhat" on doctors/nurses as information sources; 40% relied on dietitians.