Evaluating MyPlate After 8 Years: A Perspective.

MyPlate is the current educational icon that supports communication of US Dietary Guidelines for Americans to the public. Since its inception in 2011, there has been a paucity of research documenting consumer awareness of the icon and its effectiveness for improving Americans' diets. This perspective presents the extent to which MyPlate has been represented in the nutrition education literature and discusses current evaluation and utilization needs. The authors argue that more rigorous, theory-based evaluation of MyPlate, as both a standalone icon and part of educational interventions, is needed to advance communication and adoption of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Latino/Hispanic Participation in Community Nutrition Research: An Interplay of Decisional Balance, Cultural Competency, and Formative Work.

BACKGROUND: Latinos/Hispanics are among the populations at high risk of nutrition disparities. Adequate participation of this group in community nutrition research is necessary to better understand such disparities and propose sensible solutions. OBJECTIVE: To identify factors influencing participation and strategies to effectively reach Latinos/Hispanics for community nutrition research. DESIGN: In-depth interviews with experienced community nutrition researchers across the United States, conducted from February to June 2013. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Nine academics, including four registered dietitian nutritionists with extensive experience in community nutrition research with Latino/Hispanic groups, were interviewed in person (n=3) or via telephone/Skype (n=6). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived participation barriers, facilitators, and structural factors affecting Latino/Hispanic participation were explored. Successful and unsuccessful recruitment strategies to reaching this group were identified. ANALYSIS: A Grounded Theory approach was applied for inductive identification of relevant concepts and deductive interpretation of patterns and relationships among themes. RESULTS: Formative work, cultural competency, and decisional balance emerged as the three interdependent factors influencing participation of Latinos/Hispanics in community nutrition research. Several approaches to influence participation were reported to be operationalized at the interpersonal, community and settings, and systems levels of influence. Trust, time, and tailoring were central concepts, postulated to moderate the relationship between the main themes and influence the effectiveness of recruitment tactics. CONCLUSIONS: Experienced community nutrition researchers identified actions ascribed to formative work as the bedrock of successful reach of Latinos/Hispanics. A robust formative work plan is necessary to achieving a functional level of trust, time, and tailoring tactics, which appear to critically influence participation.

[Acute responses on lipid profile by practicing cycling]. / Acondicionamiento físico y respuesta aguda en la concentración de lípidos séricos. La práctica de ciclismo fijo.

BACKGROUND: it has been demonstrated an association between the increase in physical activity and improvements in the lipid profile. OBJECTIVE: to evaluate changes in the serum lipids caused by spinning practice. METHODS: nine men and twelve women were studied, they underwent to an initial evaluation that included a treadmill effort test, in order to establish the physical fitness level. With the purpose of determine the lipids change, a blood sample was obtained before and after a typical spinning session. The design was prospective, experimental, longitudinal and comparative study. Student's t-test and regression model were used to determine the changes in the lipids concentrations, and its relation with the physical fitness level. A p value < or = 0.05 was required for statistical significance. RESULTS: lipids increase concentrations were observed (p < 0.05), except at triglycerides in men, in which it had a decrease. It was statistically significant relation between the physical fitness level and the percentage of high-density lipoproteins variation (r = 0.44, p = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS: the percentage of high-density lipoproteins variation was greater when the values of VO(2)max were higher. At greater level of medical fitness greater positive answer in this lipoproteins. In the case of the rest serum lipids, it was not observed relation between the level of medical fitness and the percentage of variation due to the execution of the spinning session.