Prevailing food intake, physical activity and health beliefs in a Rural Agricultural Community in the Philippines: Factors to consider prior to a Diabetes Prevention Program / Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies

Objective@#A diabetes prevention program is being proposed in the rural agricultural town of San Juan, Batangas, Philippines. This study aims to determine the prevailing level of food intake, physical activity, and health beliefs prior to any intervention.@*Methodology@#Adults were recruited via random sampling with proportional allocation. Interviews were done to determine food intake and physical activity. Small group discussions were held to determine prevailing health beliefs.@*Results@#The average energy intake (1,547 kcal/d) is only 72% of the recommended values for Filipinos. Only 12% of the respondents achieved the recommended energy intake. Carbohydrates comprise a large part (71%) of calorie intake. A majority (91%) already have moderate to high levels of physical activity. There are prevailing health beliefs that need to be considered when dietary modifications and physical activity interventions are to be done.@*Conclusion@#Internationally recommended diabetes prevention interventions such as reducing calorie intake and increasing physical activity may not be directly applicable here. We recommend that the features of a diabetes prevention program for this locale must include the following: 1) introduction of affordable plant sources of proteins; 2) decreasing the proportion of rice as a source of carbohydrates in the diet; 3) maintaining the level of physical activity; and 4) being sensitive to the prevailing health beliefs.

Trimester-specific reference interval for Thyroid Function Tests in pregnant Filipino women / Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies

Background@#The interpretation of thyroid hormone function during pregnancy is difficult due to its physiologic changes. Differences in iodine status in previous studies led to different intervals; therefore the use of trimester-specific, method-specific and probably country-specific reference values is advocated. @*Objective@#To establish trimester-specific reference interval for thyroid function tests in pregnant Filipino women. @*Methodology@#Six hundred sixteen pregnant patients (5–40 weeks gestation) attending a tertiary center were recruited. Level of serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was measured using immunoradiometric assay while free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) were measured by radioimmunoassay method. Main outcome measures are trimester-specific reference interval based on 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles for TSH, FT4 and FT3 among TPOAb-negative pregnant patients. @*Results@#The reference intervals for each trimester were as follows: TSH (0.05-4.24, 0.13-3.95, and 0.20-3.00 uIU/mL); FT4 (9.80-21.88, 9.10-18.95 and 9.16-18.64 pmol/L) and FT3 (2.40-6.20, 2.77-5.00 and 2.09-3.70 pmol/L). FT4 and FT3 are strongly and negatively correlated with age of gestation (p=<0.01and <0.01 respectively). No correlation is found with TSH and age of gestation (p=0.52). @*Conclusions@#Trimester-specific intervals among pregnant Filipino women are different from their non-pregnant counterparts and laboratory cutoffs. Thus, these reference values should be used in the country.