Sex Differences in Healthy Eating: Investigating the Moderating Effect of Self-Efficacy.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate sex differences in dietary habits and the moderating effect of self-efficacy on the adoption of a healthy diet. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: The healthy population of Tehran, Iran. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 262 participants from the general population with normal health status. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The adoption of a healthy diet was based on the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) scores and the moderating effect of self-efficacy on eating behaviors. ANALYSIS: Logistic regression analysis and multiple linear regression (moderation) analysis were conducted using PROCESS macro (version 3.5). RESULTS: The sex-based analysis revealed that females were more likely to adopt a healthy diet vs males (adjusted odds ratio, 1.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-3.35). The moderation analysis showed that eating behavior self-efficacy significantly moderated the relationship between sex differences and HEI-2015 scores (ΔR2 = 0.01; P = 0.033). Males with low self-efficacy scores had the highest difference in HEI-2015 with females with low self-efficacy scores, whereas the difference in HEI-2015 was very small in males and females with high self-efficacy scores. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Eating behavior self-efficacy had a significantly decreasing moderating effect on sex differences in the adoption of a healthy diet. Future research needs to clarify the impact of eating`` behavior self-efficacy in the adoption of a healthy diet, particularly in males, and to confirm the study's findings.

Body mass index and risk of Parkinson, Alzheimer, Dementia, and Dementia mortality: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies among 5 million participants.

Objective: Inconsistent results regarding the association between the Body Mass Index (BMI) and brain disorders have been reported. We performed this study to investigate the association between BMI and risk of Parkinson, Alzheimer, Dementia and Dementia-mortality.Methods: A systematic search was conducted up to April 2019 in MEDLINE/PubMed, SCOPUS, and Cochrane Library. Results pooled with random-effects model.Results: Totally, 29 articles which were included in this study with4,978,621 participants. The pooled HR for Parkinson's in the underweight person was 1.20 (95%CI1.10-1.30). The pooled HR for dementia in underweight and overweight category was 1.23 (95%CI = 1.05-1.45) and 0.88 (95%CI = 0.83-0.94), respectively. There is not any significant relation between each categories of BMI and Alzheimer disease. The pooled HR for dementia in underweight and overweight category was 1.36 (95%CI = 1.14-1.63) and 0.81 (95%CI = 0.49-1.33), respectively. The non-linear association between BMI and risk of Dementia-mortality was significant (p = 0.001,Coeff = 0.003).Conclusion: This study highlights underweight related to increase incidence of Parkinson, Dementia, and Dementia mortality but no on Alzheimer disease.

Dietary and Socio-Economic Predictors of Obesity Among 2-5-Year Old in Northwest Iran.

BACKGROUND: As a rising epidemic in developing countries, childhood obesity and overweight need particular attention. METHODS: The sample (n = 2432) was randomly selected among children aged 24-59 months living in West Azerbaijan Province whose information was recorded in SIB software. The survey questionnaire is derived from the Demographic and Health Survey and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey questionnaires designed by the WHO 2017 and UNICEF 2017, respectively. RESULTS: The prevalence of obesity defined as BMIz (body mass index z-score)> +2 was 1.4% among children. Dietary diversity score (DDS) was high in 59.3% of children, moderate in 36.1%, and low in 4.6%. Socio-economic status (SES) of children families was high, moderate, and low in 34%, 28.9%, and 37.1% of families, respectively. Physical activity hours were over 3 in 85.9% of children. The girls were more likely to be obese than the boys (OR = 0.43, P = 0.016). Those with high and moderate DDS were less likely to be obese than those with low DDS (OR = 0.250 and OR = 0.180, respectively). The likelihood of obesity among children with high and moderate SES were 2.6 and 1.6 times more compared to children with low SES, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results, DDS and physical activity levels are related to obesity in children aged 24-59 months. Therefore, establishing proper nutritional behavior and promoting a healthy lifestyle are essential for preventing obesity and non-communicable diseases in this age group.

Consumers' perception of nutritional facts table and nutritional traffic light in food products' labelling: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Traffic light labelling (TLL) policy has been adopted to improve consumers' food choices. This qualitative study examined the consumers' perception of TLL and nutritional facts table (NFT) in Iran. DESIGN: We applied a qualitative method to explore public views and perceptions of NFT and TLL in Iran. Participants ageing 20-75 years old were selected by maximum diversity sampling and interviewed using a semi-structured in-depth interview. The interviews were continued until data saturation was achieved after interviewing 35 participants with five more interviews to ensure no new emerging perception. Data was analysed by directed content analysis in MAXQDA 10 software. FINDINGS: Findings indicated that a large number of the participants were not aware of NFT and TLL. There are some reasons for not paying attention to NFT and TLL, which include lack of enough knowledge about NFT and TLL concepts and defects in appearance and details written in these labels, lack of appropriate education about labels, place of putting the labels and lack of enough time for using the labels during shopping. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that educational interventions should be applied to ensure their effectiveness in improving healthy food choices.

Television food advertisements and childhood obesity: A systematic review.

The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased worldwide and various environmental factors have accelerated this trend. Several reports have suggested that food advertising causes childhood obesity. We proposed a review study to evaluate the relationship between TV food advertisements and obesity in children. By searching over electronic databases (including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar), the reference lists of original studies, and reviews using key search terms, 1181 articles were identified. Out of these, only 9 articles met the inclusion and quality criteria. Most of the longitudinal study carried out at the national level have reported a significant association between commercial viewing and BMI in children. The duration of these studies varied between 7 months and 5 years. The children's TV viewing time was between 1.5 and 3.5 hours per day. Results of the reviewed studies have revealed a controversial attitude about the influence of TV food advertisements on obesity. However, three of four modeling studies indicated an increment in the prevalence of overweight and obesity following exposure to food advertisements. Further interventional and longitude studies are needed to achieve more precise results.

Assessment of soy phytoestrogens' effects on bone turnover indicators in menopausal women with osteopenia in Iran: a before and after clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is the gradual declining in bone mass with age, leading to increased bone fragility and fractures. Fractures in hip and spine are known to be the most important complication of the disease which leads in the annual mortality rate of 20% and serious morbidity rate of 50%. Menopause is one of the most common risk factors of osteoporosis. After menopause, sex hormone deficiency is associated with increased remodeling rate and negative bone balance, leading to accelerated bone loss and micro-architectural defects, resulting into increased bone fragility. Compounds with estrogen-like biological activity similar to "Isoflavones" present in plants especially soy, may reduce bone loss in postmenopausal women as they are similar in structure to estrogens. This research, therefore, was carried out to study the effects of Iranian soy protein on biochemical indicators of bone metabolism in osteopenic menopausal women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial of before-after type was carried out on 15 women 45-64 years of age. Subjects were given 35 g soy protein per day for 12 weeks. Blood and urine sampling, anthropometric measurement and 48-h-dietary recalls were carried out at zero, 6 and 12 weeks. Food consumption data were analyzed using Food Proccessor Software. For the study of bone metabolism indicators and changes in anthropometric data as well as dietary intake, and repeated analyses were employed. RESULTS: Comparison of weight, BMI, physical activity, energy intake and other intervening nutrients did not reveal any significant changes during different stages of the study. Soy protein consumption resulted in a significant reduction in the urinary deoxypyridinoline and increasing of total alkaline phosphatase (p < 0.05), although the alterations in osteocalcin, c-telopeptide, IGFBP3 and type I collagen telopeptide were not significant. CONCLUSION: In view of beneficial effect of soy protein on bone metabolism indicators, inclusion of this relatively inexpensive food in the daily diet of menopausal women, will probably delay bone resorption, thereby preventing osteoporosis.