Habits and Persistent Food Restriction in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa: A Scoping Review.

The aetiology of anorexia nervosa (AN) presents a puzzle for researchers. Recent research has sought to understand the behavioural and neural mechanisms of these patients' persistent choice of calorie restriction. This scoping review aims to map the literature on the contribution of habit-based learning to food restriction in AN. PRISMA-ScR guidelines were adopted. The search strategy was applied to seven databases and to grey literature. A total of 35 studies were included in this review. The results indicate that the habit-based learning model has gained substantial attention in current research, employing neuroimaging methods, scales, and behavioural techniques. Food choices were strongly associated with dorsal striatum activity, and habitual food restriction based on the self-report restriction index was associated with clinical impairment in people chronically ill with restricting AN. High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) and Regulating Emotions and Changing Habits (REaCH) have emerged as potential treatments. Future research should employ longitudinal studies to investigate the time required for habit-based learning and analyse how developmental status, such as adolescence, influences the role of habits in the progression and severity of diet-related illnesses. Ultimately, seeking effective strategies to modify persistent dietary restrictions controlled by habits remains essential.

Weight stigma in the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Weight stigma is a phenomenon associated with adverse behavioural and psychological consequences. Although experts suggest that its increase during the COVID-19 pandemic may be associated with worse health outcomes for people with obesity, a thorough analysis of the main findings and gaps is still needed when relating to this subject. OBJECTIVE: We aim to answer three questions: (1) How does weight stigma manifest in the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) How can weight stigma affect people with overweight or obesity in times of COVID-19? (3) What are the perceptions and experiences of weight stigma during the pandemic in individuals who experience overweight or obesity? METHODS: We conducted a scoping review of studies addressing weight stigma and the COVID-19 pandemic in electronic databases (Medline/PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PsycInfo, BVS/Lilacs, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and OpenGrey) published until 10th August 2021. All relevant studies were reviewed in full by two researchers. In addition, a narrative synthesis of the data was performed. RESULTS: The results included 35 studies out of 8,090 records and identified 13 original research publications, 14 text and opinion papers, and 6 narrative reviews. The results revealed the presence of weight stigma in the media, healthcare settings, interpersonal relationships, and public campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The evidence of increasing weight stigma in the COVID-19 outbreak is limited, though. Many weight discrimination consequences were described during this time, such as impairment in accessing healthcare, worst COVID-19 outcomes, and maladaptive eating. However, only maladaptive behaviours and decline in mental health outcomes were demonstrated empirically in all age groups. This effect occurred regardless of body mass index, but people with high body weight were more likely to experience weight stigma. For some people with obesity, weight stigma in the pandemic has made activities of daily routine difficult. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that weight stigma in the COVID-19 pandemic occurs in several settings; moreover, although weight discrimination impacts mental health, whether before or during the pandemic, this influence between the pandemic and pre-pandemic scenario is still unclear. Therefore, more research is required in this field while the pandemic lasts, especially with people with obesity. Overall, people with overweight or obesity are more vulnerable to weight stigma than individuals without overweight. In addition, weight stigma refers to discrimination or prejudice based on a person's weight and relates to several consequences, for instance, poor healthcare treatment and mental health problems. In the COVID-19 outbreak, these weight stigma effects tend to become even more critical because they may be associated with unfavourable COVID-19 outcomes and eating disorder risks. Thus, it is crucial to investigate how weight stigma occurs during the pandemic and its impact on health, mainly for the most affected people. We investigated 35 studies published between 2019 and 2021 to map and explore how weight stigma was manifested and the related consequences for people with overweight or obesity in the COVID-19 pandemic. Only about a third of them were quantitative or qualitative, limiting the evidence of weight stigma in the COVID-19 context. The available evidence suggests that weight stigma manifests in several settings such as media, healthcare, public campaigns, and is more common in people with excess weight. However, weight discrimination experiences before or during the pandemic were associated with adverse psychological and behavioural consequences across all age groups, regardless of body weight. For some people with obesity, for instance, weight stigma made it difficult to accomplish their activities of daily routine. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether weight stigma has increased in the pandemic, thus, more studies are required, especially about people with overweight or obesity.

Restrained eating behaviour, anorexia nervosa and food consumption between children and adolescents: a scoping review.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) and restrained eating behaviour (REB) are characterised by reduced food intake to achieve body weight loss. This scope review aimed to describe the existing evidence on the association between AN, restrictive eating behaviour and food consumption. Studies with children and adolescents of both sexes of all races and ethnicities were included. Experimental and observational studies, systematic reviews, meta-analysis, case reports or series, conference abstracts, dissertations and theses were also included. The search was conducted in ten electronic databases and grey literature without language restriction on 14 November 2020. Twenty-four studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies included girls and identified lower intake of energy content, fat and certain micronutrients. There was also a higher intake of caffeine, fibre, vegetables, legumes and fruits and a lower intake of low-quality snack, fast food, sweets and foods with high carbohydrate and fat contents. The need to improve the quality of the diet among study participants was also identified. Thus, it is recommended that the evaluation of food consumption be careful to develop effective prevention strategies for the development of AN/REB and minimise nutritional deficiencies in these individuals.

Zinc supplementation combined with antidepressant drugs for treatment of patients with depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

CONTEXT: Zinc is an essential trace mineral required for the function of brain and neural structures. The role of zinc supplementation in the prevention and treatment of depression has been suggested in clinical studies that reported a reduction in depressive symptoms. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to determine whether zinc supplementation vs placebo can prevent or improve depressive symptoms in children, adolescents, or adults. DATA SOURCES: Five electronic databases were searched, and studies published until September 2019 were included without language restriction. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized, controlled, crossover trials that evaluated the effect of zinc supplementation vs a comparator for prevention or improvement of depressive symptoms in children, adolescents, or adults were eligible for inclusion. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors independently performed data extraction and risk-of-bias assessment. RESULTS: The initial search identified 12 322 studies, 5 of which were eligible for meta-analysis. The standardized mean difference (SMD) showed an average reduction of 0.36 point (95%CI, -0.67 to -0.04) in the intervention group compared with the placebo group. Forstudies in which the mean age of participants was ≥ 40 years, the SMD was reduced by 0.61 point (95%CI, -1.12 to -0.09) in the intervention group vs the placebo group. The meta-analysis by sample size (< 60 individuals and ≥ 60 individuals) did not show an effect of zinc supplementation in reducing depressive symptoms (SMD -0.28; 95%CI, -0.67 to -0.10; and SMD -0.52; 95%CI, -1.10 to 0.06). CONCLUSION: Zinc supplementation may reduce depressive symptoms in individuals treated with antidepressant drugs for clinical depression. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration number CRD42018081691.

Anthropometric status and lipid profile among children and adolescents: Changes after 18-month follow-up.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Overweight children and adolescents are more likely to evolve with high cholesterol, be obese adults and develop cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to identify the influence of anthropometric status on the changes in the lipid profile of children and adolescents during an 18-month follow-up period. METHODS: A cohort study involving 540 boys and girls from 7 to 15 years of age was conducted over 18 months' follow-up. The outcome variables were the lipid indicators and the principal exposure variable was anthropometric status, measured by different indicators. A generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach was used to identify the associations of interest. RESULTS: Irrespective of age, sex, socio-economic status, physical activity and diet, for each gain of 1 cm in the waist circumference (WC) mean in the adjusted model, triglyceride levels increased by a mean of 0.5 mg/dl (p < 0.000) and there was an increase of 0.21 mg/dL in the total cholesterol after the 18-month period. The increase of 0.1 in the mean body mass index (BMI) Z-score promoted a gain of 2.7 mg/dL in the triglycerides mean levels (p < 0.000) and an increase of 1.5 mg/dL in the total cholesterol mean levels (p = 0.014) after the follow-up period. Regarding the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and conicity index (CI), an increment of 40.6 mg/dL (p = 0.02) and of 30.1 mg/dL (p = 0.01) was observed in the triglycerides' mean when the participants increased 0.1 in the WHtR mean and CI mean, and the same was observed in the total cholesterol mean, with an increase of 45.4,g/dL (p = 0.02) and 19.3 mg/dL (p = 0.03), for each indicator, respectively. Changes of the traditional anthropometric indicators (WC and BMI) did not promote variations in the mean levels of LDL-cholesterol. HDL-cholesterol was not influenced by the changes in the anthropometric indicators. CONCLUSIONS: At the baseline, a higher triglyceride mean and lower levels of HDL-c were observed in children and adolescents with altered anthropometric status for all measures. Mean triglyceride and total cholesterol levels are influenced by changes in the anthropometric status, regardless of the measure, after 18 months of follow-up. However, for LDL-cholesterol, it was observed that changes in the traditional anthropometric indicators (WC and BMI) did not promote variations in the mean levels of this biochemical variable, while HDL-c was not influenced by changes in any of the anthropometric indicators.