ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Culinary nutrition is a science that aims to apply nutritional concepts into culinary art to serve healthier foods. This study aimed to develop and validate a newly developed culinary nutrition questionnaire to assess chefs’ culinary nutrition knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP). Methods: The KAP questionnaire was developed to be consistent with the Malaysian Dietary Guideline (2010) and Malaysian ingredients. It consisted of 31 items and tested its content validity among four experts using Content Validity Index (CVI), followed by back-to-back-translation process. Finally, 180 chefs answered the questionnaire followed by statistical analysis to evaluate the construct validity using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and reliability using Cronbach alpha. Results: One item was deleted after content validity and four items were omitted after testing the construct validity because their lower factor loading value. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value was derived from (EFA) for knowledge section is 0.631 with total variance 34.7%, attitude is 0.665 with total variance 53.1%, and practice section is 0.841 with total variance 54.6%. The total Cronbach alpha value was 0.712. The Cronbach alpha value for knowledge, attitude, and practice domains were 0.77, 0.73, and 0.88 respectively. Conclusion: The final draft of the questionnaire consisted of 26 items. The questionnaire is valid and reliable. This questionnaire is suitable to be used to assess chefs’ culinary nutrition knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP).
ABSTRACT
@#Body weight may be estimated using equations developed from the anthropometric measurements when body weight is difficult to measure for example among bedridden older adults. This study has developed the equation to estimate body weight among older adults resided in Klang Valley from several anthropometric measurements. A cross sectional study was carried out among community dwelling older adults aged 60 years old and above in Klang Valley area. Subjects were recruited through convenience sampling method. Weight, height, knee height (KH), demi span (DS), subscapular skinfold (SSF), calf circumference (CC), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and wrist circumference (WrC) were measured according to the standard protocol. Cross validation was performed. 61% from total subjects were selected randomly for the development of equation meanwhile, 39% subjects as control subjects. Equation was generated using stepwise multiple regression analysis. A total of 164 older adults involved in this study which consist of 39.0 % men and 61.0 % women. Mean age of the subjects was 68.32 ± 5.79 years meanwhile mean of measured body weight was 66.46 ± 11.98 kg. Predictive equation obtained was: estimated body weight = 5.149 (Sex) – 0.082 (Age) + 0.889 (Hip circumference) + 1.112 (Knee Height) – 72.778 (R2 = 0.848, p < 0.001). Correlation coefficient for 61% subjects were higher (r = 0.921) compared to the correlation coefficient for 39% subjects (r = 0.883) (p < 0.001). However, the differences between measured and estimated body weight was not significant (p = 0.798). This showed that the equation developed was able to estimate body weight among older adults, because the value of estimated body weight was close to the value of measured body weight. The equation developed can be used to estimate body weight among Malaysian older adults. However, further study is warranted to explore this equation into the different settings such as clinical setting.
ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Adequacy of fruit intake contributes to an individual’s health including reducing the risk of non-communicable disease. This study aimed to assess consumption of fruits in various forms and to determine associated factors and barriers. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 300 adults aged 20-39 years were purposely recruited from several urban locations in the Klang Valley. Consumption of fruits in the past 12 months was assessed using a selfadministered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), assisted with pictures of serving size of fruits. Anthropometric measurements were taken and body mass index and waist circumference computed. Results: Fruit intake among young adults was lower (1.6±1.0 servings/day) than the Malaysian Dietary Guideline 2010 of ≥ 2 servings/day. Only 32.3% consumed fruits as recommended, with women consuming significantly more fruits than men. Preferred fresh fruits were red apple, banana and papaya. Consumption of fruit juice was associated with increase in waist circumference (R2=0.261, p=0.027) after adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, education level and marital status. Fruit intake showed no significant association with other anthropometric measurements. Sensory appeal, perceived health benefit, easy to prepare and influence of family were the main determinants of fruit intake, whilst affordability and availability were the major barriers. Conclusion: Fruit consumption among young adults in this study was lower than the recommendation for daily fruit intake. Studies with larger sample size are suggested to verify the finding of significant association between fruit juice consumption and risk of abdominal obesity.
ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Nutrient profiling is the science of ranking food based on the nutrient content that enables an individual to make healthier food choice without exceeding the daily energy recommendation. This study was aimed at developing and validating a nutrient profiling model for Malaysian older population. Methods: A total of six nutrient profiling models comprising different combinations of nutrients were developed. Each model was tested by scoring 94 food items in terms of 100 kcal and 100 g, and the Recommended Nutrient Intakes for Malaysian (2017) as the reference value. The scores in each model were correlated with energy density per 100 g of food. The best model to correctly rank food according to nutrient density was chosen for validation. Validation was done by comparing the healthiness classification of 174 food items as determined by Towards Useful Aging Food Nutrient Density Index (TUA FNDI) nutrient profiling model and the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines. Results: Models with sodium and total fat were better correlated with energy density. All six models were inversely correlated with energy density. TUA FNDI 9-2 model was chosen as the best model for validation. Overall, there was substantial agreement between TUA FNDI 9-2 model and the food-based dietary guidelines (κ=0.644, p=0.001). Conclusion: The inverse correlation between nutrient profiling models to energy density shows that foods with higher nutrient density contain lower energy. The validated TUA FNDI 9-2 model is recommended for older adults to make healthier food choices.
ABSTRACT
Tahfiz education has been well accepted by Muslims in Malaysia. Memorizing the Quran through rote learning can assistin improving the brain ability to process, store information and build memory. In addition, dietary intakes were reportedto contribute in the process of memorizing the Quran and to increase the levels of intelligence (IQ) among huffaz students.This cross-sectional study was conducted to measure and to determine the correlation between IQ and dietary intakeas well as between IQ and the level of trace elements among students in selected tahfiz schools and non-tahfiz school inSelangor. Questionnaires were used to obtain demographic data. Dietary intake was assessed via 3 days dietary record.Levels of trace elements in the nail samples were analyzed by using ICP-MS. Test for intelligence using WASI-II wasconducted to measure the students’ IQ. The results showed that there was a moderate positive correlation between IQ andcarbohydrate (r = 0.425, p < 0.001, a weak positive correlation between IQ and energy (r = 0.260, p < 0.05), vitaminB6 (r = 0.189, p < 0.05), vitamin B12 (r = 0.207, p < 0.05) and vitamin C (r = 0.211, p < 0.05). The levels of traceelements in nail samples showed no correlation with IQ, whereas there were moderate positive correlations between IQand dietary zinc (r = 0.375, p < 0.001) as well as between IQ and dietary iron (r = 0.303, p < 0.001). There was also amoderate positive correlation between IQ and the level of memorization (r = 0.375, p < 0.001). The results of stepwisemultiple linear regression showed that al-Quran memorization influence the level of IQ by 20 %. As a conclusion, dietaryintake of certain nutrients including energy, vitamins and selected trace elements can potentially improve memorizationactivities and also IQ.
ABSTRACT
Postprandial hyperglycemia is independently related to cardiovascular disease. Garlic, ginger, lemon, honey and applecider vinegar are known to have anti-glycemic properties. However, the effectiveness of combination of these naturalproducts on reducing postprandial glycemia is uncertain. The aim of the present study was to investigate the glucoseloweringeffect of a novel mixture consisting of apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, lemon, and honey; alone and incombination with exercise in response to a high-carbohydrate meal in non-diabetic individuals. Ten, female subjects (meanage: 25 ± 2.67 years, mean BMI: 22.6 ± 3.5 kg/m2) participated in this randomised, cross-over intervention consisting offour trials: control (CON), mixture only (MIX), exercise only (EX), and exercise + mixture (EX-MIX). All trials involvedconsumption of a high-carbohydrate breakfast, then followed by rest in CON, consumption of natural product mixturein MIX, brisk-walking exercise in EX, and combination of mixture and exercise in EX-MIX. Blood glucose was measuredat fasting, and at 30, 60, 90, 120 minutes post meal. Postprandial glucose response was calculated as area under theglucose curve. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant group and time interaction (p < 0.001). Comparedto CON, postprandial glucose responses were 8%, 13% and 15% lower in MIX (p = 0.049), EX (p = 0.001) and EX-MIX(p = 0.005) respectively. Postprandial glucose was 8% lower in EX-MIX compared to MIX (p = 0.002). In conclusion,consuming natural product mixture containing garlic, ginger, lemon, honey and apple cider vinegar reduced postprandialglycemia to a certain extent, however, combining mixture with exercise produced a greater attenuation effect comparedto consuming mixture alone. This finding is indicative of a potential benefit of the novel mixture as a complementarymanagement of hyperglycemia in high-risk individual