Whole-fat dairy products do not adversely affect adiposity or cardiometabolic risk factors in children in the Milky Way Study: a double-blind randomized controlled pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Limited evidence supports the common public health guideline that children >2 y of age should consume dairy with reduced fat content. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the effects of whole-fat compared with reduced-fat dairy intake on measures of adiposity and biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk in healthy 4- to 6-y-old children. METHODS: The Milky Way Study enrolled 49 children (mean ± SD age: 5.2 ± 0.9 y; 47% girls) who were habitual consumers of whole-fat dairy, then randomly assigned them in a double-blind fashion to remain on whole-fat dairy or switch their dairy consumption to reduced-fat products for 3 mo. Primary endpoints included measures of adiposity, body composition, blood pressure, fasting serum lipids, blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and C-reactive protein (CRP) and were assessed at baseline and study end. Pre- and postintervention results were compared using linear mixed models, adjusted for growth, age, and sex. RESULTS: Dairy fat intake was reduced by an adjusted (mean ± SEM) 12.9 ± 4.1 g/d in the reduced-fat compared with the whole-fat dairy group (95% CI: -21.2, -4.6 g/d; P = 0.003), whereas dietary energy intakes remained similar (P = 0.936). We found no significant differential changes between dairy groups in any measure of adiposity, body composition, blood pressure, or fasting serum lipids, glucose, HbA1c, and CRP. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that although changing from whole-fat to reduced-fat dairy products does reduce dairy fat intake, it does not result in changes to markers of adiposity or cardiometabolic disease risk in healthy children.This trial was registered at www.anzctr.org.au as ACTRN12616001642471.

Characterizing the Composition of the Pediatric Gut Microbiome: A Systematic Review.

The consortium of trillions of microorganisms that live inside the human gut are integral to health. Little has been done to collate and characterize the microbiome of children. A systematic review was undertaken to address this gap (PROSPERO ID: CRD42018109599). MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched using the keywords: "healthy preadolescent children" and "gut microbiome" to 31 August 2018. Of the 815 journal articles, 42 met the inclusion criteria. The primary outcome was the relative abundance of bacteria at the phylum, family, and genus taxonomic ranks. α-diversity, short chain fatty acid concentrations, diet, 16S rRNA sequencing region, and geographical location were documented. The preadolescent gut microbiome is dominated at the phylum level by Firmicutes (weighted overall average relative abundance = 51.1%) and Bacteroidetes (36.0%); genus level by Bacteroides (16.0%), Prevotella (8.69%), Faecalibacterium (7.51%), and Bifidobacterium (5.47%). Geographic location and 16S rRNA sequencing region were independently associated with microbial proportions. There was limited consensus between studies that reported α-diversity and short chain fatty acids. Broadly speaking, participants from non-Western locations, who were less likely to follow a Westernized dietary pattern, had higher α-diversity and SCFA concentrations. Confirmatory studies will increase the understanding of the composition and functional capacity of the preadolescent gut microbiome.

Low-level cadmium exposure and cardiovascular outcomes in elderly Australian women: A cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Cadmium has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in observational studies, however there has been a limited focus on this relationship in women. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the association of urinary cadmium (UCd) concentrations with CVD outcomes and all-cause mortality in elderly Western Australian (WA) women. METHODS: UCd excretion was measured at baseline in 1359 women, mean age 75.2 ±â€¯2.7 years and 14.5 years of atherosclerotic vascular disease (ASVD) hospitalisations and deaths, including both the principle cause of death and all associated causes of death. Health outcome data were retrieved from the Western Australian Data Linkage System. Cox regression analysis was used to estimate hazard ratios of ASVD and all-cause mortality. UCd was ln-transformed and models were adjusted for demographic and CVD risk factors. RESULTS: Median (IQR) concentration of UCd was 0.18 (0.09-0.32) µg/L. In multivariable-adjusted analyses per ln unit (equivalent to ∼2.7 fold) increase in UCd, there was a 36% increase in the risk of death from heart failure and 17% increase in the risk of a heart failure event, respectively (HR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.11-1.67; HR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.01-1.35). When analyses were restricted to never smokers the relationship between UCd and death from heart failure remained (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.01-1.63). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that even at low levels of exposure cadmium may be associated with heart failure hospitalisations and deaths in older women, however given the dilute nature of these urine samples, the results must be interpreted with caution.