Hellas Cena

Relationship between smoking and metabolic syndrome

Obesity and smoking are important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The diseases and conditions associated with smoking make tobacco use one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In the World Health Organization European region, overweight and obesity are responsible for many chronic diseases, causing more than one million deaths each year. Smoking cessation is associated with a significantly reduced mortality risk in every body-mass-index group. Reductions in smoking and obesity would increase both the psychophysical well-being of the population and its economic productivity; it would also reduce the direct costs of pharmacological therapies and other forms of treatment. The aim of this review is to critically evaluate how tobacco smoking and obesity interact to reduce life expectancy, and to offer a comprehensive view of this issue that should be useful for clinical practice.

Validation of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire parent version (DEBQ-P) in the Italian population: a screening tool to detect differences in eating behaviour among obese, overweight and normal-weight preadolescents

Objective: To validate the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire Parent version (DEBQ-P) in the Italian population and investigate the differences in eating behaviour among Italian normal-weight, overweight and obese preadolescents.Design: A cross-sectional validation study. Participants were measured and the approved translation of the questionnaire was administered to their parents.Setting: Three school communities in the province of Bergamo, Northern Italy.Subjects: A total of 312 preadolescents (mean age 12.9 y; s.d. 0.8, both sexes) from three secondary schools of the province of Bergamo, Northern Italy, and their parents were invited to participate to the study. Informed written consent was obtained from each subject and their parents. Students were measured and their parents filled in the approved translation of the DEBQ-P. Recruitment was opportunistic and school based.Results: Factor and internal consistency analysis confirmed the factor structure of the DEBQ-P and the high internal consistency of its three scales. Variance analysis showed that eating behaviour of Italian normal-weight, overweight and obese preadolescents differs significantly only in regards to the ‘restrained eating’ scale (F 19.29, P<0.001), with overweight and obese scoring higher.Conclusions: The DEBQ-P can be used for screening projects regarding eating behaviour in the Italian population. The association between restrained eating and weight status was confirmed for both sexes, but the relationship between external eating and emotional overeating and overweight requires further exploration.

Behavioral effects of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in young adults with severe autism: an open label study.

BACKGROUND Pilot findings seem to suggest a potential beneficial effect of omega-3 fatty acid (FA) supplementation on behavioral alterations in children with autism. However, data on the potential benefits of omega-3 supplements in young adults with severe autism are lacking. In the present study, we sought to explore this issue in an open label study. METHODS Nineteen young adults with severe autism (CARS >40), aged 18-40 years, received two fish oil capsules per day [0.93 g of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) plus 5 mg of vitamin E to avoid lipid peroxidation] for 6 weeks. Subjects were assessed with an ad hoc caregiver questionnaire, the Rossago Behavioral Checklist, for the assessment of behavioral anomalies. RESULTS No significant improvements were observed with regard to the severity and frequency of problematic behaviors either during the active treatment period or during the post-treatment 6-week observation period. Moreover, no effect on the number of episodes and severity of behavior aberrations was observed. CONCLUSIONS Our negative findings do not point toward a major effect of omega-3 FA supplementation on behavioral abnormalities in adults with severe autism. Further studies on larger sample sizes are warranted to shed more light on this important issue.

Nutrition knowledge and other determinants of food intake and lifestyle habits in children and young adolescents living in a rural area of Sicily, South Italy.

OBJECTIVE The study aimed to test the reliability of a nutrition questionnaire and to assess potential associations between nutrition knowledge, food consumption and lifestyle behaviours, controlling for sociodemographic factors. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Comprehensive school in the municipality of Butera, a rural area of Sicily, South Italy. SUBJECTS The survey was conducted between March and May 2010 on 445 students (4-16 years). RESULTS All constructs of the questionnaire had statistically significant Cronbachs a and Pearsons correlation coefficients, showing good internal consistency and temporal stability. After controlling for covariates, nutrition knowledge was positively associated with pasta/rice, fish, vegetable and fruit intakes, and negatively with sweets, snacks, fried foods and sugary drinks consumption. Moreover, students whose parents were in the highest educational and occupational categories reported eating significantly more fruits and vegetables and less meat, sweets, snacks, fried foods and sugary drinks. Students with higher nutrition knowledge scores were less likely to have two or more snacks daily and to spend more than 3 h in sedentary activities daily (OR=0.89, 95% CI 0.83, 0.97 and OR=0.92, 95% CI 0.86, 0.99, respectively). High parental education was associated with less frequent snacking and more frequent weekly physical activity, compared with lower categories, whereas high parental occupational category was associated with daily breakfast. CONCLUSIONS Improving nutrition knowledge in children and young adolescents may translate into educating them in good dietary habits. Moreover, nutrition intervention programmes should also involve parents to improve dietary quality and nutritional habits of the entire family.

Prevalence rate of Metabolic Syndrome in a group of light and heavy smokers.

BackgroundSmoking is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It iswidely accepted as a major risk factor for metabolic and cardiovasculardisease. Smoking reduces insulin sensitivity or induces insulin resistanceand enhances cardiovascular risk factors such as elevated plasmatriglycerides, decreases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and causeshyperglycemia. Several studies show that smoking is associated withmetabolic abnormalities and increases the risk of Metabolic Syndrome. Theaim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndromein a group of light and heavy smokers, wishing to give up smoking.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study all the enrolled subjects voluntary joined thesmoking cessation program held by the Respiratory Pathophysiology Unit ofSan Matteo Hospital, Pavia, Northern Italy.All the subjects enrolled were former smokers from at least 10 years and hadno cancer or psychiatric disorders, nor history of diabetes or CVD orcoronary artery disease and were not on any medication.ResultsThe subjects smoke 32.3 ± 16.5 mean Pack Years. Theprevalence of the metabolic syndrome is 52.1%: 57.3% and 44.9% for males andfemales respectively. Analysing the smoking habit influence on the IDFcriteria for the metabolic syndrome diagnosis we found that all thevariables show an increasing trend from light to heavy smokers, except forHDL cholesterol. A statistical significant correlation among Pack Years andwaist circumference (R = 0.48, p < 0.0001),Systolic Blood Pressure (R = 0.18, p < 0.05),fasting plasma glucose (R = 0.19, p < 0.005) andHDL cholesterol (R = −0.26, p = 0.0005) hasbeen observed.ConclusionsCurrently smoking subjects are at high risk of developing the metabolicsyndrome.Therapeutic lifestyle changes, including smoking cessation are a desirablePublic health goal and should successfully be implemented in clinicalpractice at any age.

Reliability and relative validity of a quantitative food-frequency questionnaire for use among adults in Italian population.

Our objective was to assess the reliability and relative validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) among adult people. In a cross-sectional study carried out in northern Italy, 112 adults were recruited. A total of 189 food and drink items were selected according to those typically consumed by Italians. FFQ reliability was assessed by two repeated administrations at 6 weeks. The FFQ was validated using four 24-h recalls repeated in the same period of time. For the validation study, classification into quartiles from the two methods and Bland–Altman plot were also performed. The reliability study showed a good correlation between the two methods. Bland–Altman plots showed that the two methods are very likely to agree for individual energy and macronutrient intakes. The reliability and relative validity of this FFQ was good, supporting its use in assessing dietary intakes of Italians in nutritional surveillance programs and in epidemiological dietary surveys.

Lutein concentration in human milk during early lactation and its relationship with dietary lutein intake

OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to estimate the lutein concentration in human milk during early lactation and its relationship with dietary lutein intake measured through the administration of a short FFQ. DESIGN A cross-sectional study in which an FFQ was administered twice: on day 3 (T0) and day 30 (T1) postpartum; meanwhile two breast milk samples were collected. Maternal plasma samples were obtained at T0. The comparison of dietary lutein intakes and likewise lutein concentrations in breast milk at T0 and T1 were analysed with Students t test. Pearsons correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between dietary lutein intake and lutein concentration in milk and plasma, respectively, as well as the correlation between breast milk and plasma lutein concentrations at T0. SETTING Pavia, northern Italy. SUBJECTS Twenty-one pregnant women, age range 24-42 years, were recruited during their last trimester on a voluntary basis. RESULTS Both breast milk and plasma lutein concentrations were significantly correlated with dietary lutein intake (r = 0.86, P = 0.0001 and r = 0.94, P = 0.0001, respectively). There was a clear significant correlation between milk and plasma lutein concentrations (r = 0.87, P = 0.0001). Mature milk lutein concentration, although significantly reduced at T1 (P < 0.01), maintained a fairly high correlation with dietary lutein intake (r = 0.82, P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Even though milk lutein concentration decreased during early lactation, it remained significantly correlated with daily lutein intake. Therefore, while awaiting further research, dietary recommendations advising intake of fresh fruit and vegetables rich in lutein, throughout the whole duration of pregnancy and lactation, are extremely useful.

Quality of life (QoL) and motivation for treatment: A female issue?

OBJECTIVE: The Quality of Life (QoL) of overweight and obese subjects is a widely discussed topic. From numerous studies, it emerges that obese persons suffer significant damage as result of their overweight in terms of QoL with regard to their physical and psychosocial well-being, with greater incidence associated with the degree of obesity. Our study aims at evaluating the usefulness of specific psychometric tests on the “obese population” that may be effective for the overall evaluation of the patient and in identifying specific subgroups on the basis of psychometric characteristics relating to QoL and of motivation for treatment. METHODS: The study was carried out on a sample of 150 obese subjects who approached the Section of Human Nutrition of the University of Pavia requesting treatment for weight loss. The persons in the selected sample were subjected to a specialized examination during which, as well as collecting all the anamnestic information on each individual patient, they were also asked to fill out the obesity-specific ORWELL 97 (Obesity Related Well- Being) questionnaire and the DBI (Decisional Balance Inventory) questionnaire. RESULTS: An analysis of the results indicates that the female group is strongly characterized by a lower QoL, as well as by a clearly larger number of failed dieting attempts and by a strong motivation to undergo treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation of QoL and motivation for treatment in overweight and obese individuals appears to be an effective tool for better identification of the subjects and for planning the most appropriate diagnostic approach.

Comparative study of the relationship between multi-frequency impedance and body water compartments in two European populations

To investigate possible differences in the relationship between multi-frequency impedance and body-water compartments (total body water (TBW) and extracellular water (ECW)) measured by dilution techniques in two European populations, we studied forty Italian (twenty male and twenty female) and forty-three Dutch (twenty-three male and twenty female) healthy subjects aged 19-41 years. The main differences in body build between the two groups were height, trunk length and the two ratios TBW/height and ECW/height. Population-specific prediction formulas for ECW (at 1 kHz) and TBW (at 100 kHz) were developed. The prediction errors for ECW and TBW were about 0.6 and 1.5 kg respectively, (CV 4%) in both groups. Cross-validation analysis showed no significant error in the prediction of TBW but a slight error (range -4.9 to +2.8%) in the ECW prediction. The biases in both TBW and ECW were correlated with ECW/TBW (r -0.44, P < 0.0005 and r +0.52, P < 0.0005 respectively) in the two groups; the biases in ECW were also related to ECW/height (r 0.51, P < 0.001), TBW/height (r 0.25, P < 0.05), trunk length (r 0.36, P < 0.001) and Z1/Z100 (r 0.32, P < 0.01). In conclusion, the water distribution between the extra- and intracellular compartments emerged in the present study as the major cause of error in the prediction of body water, and in particular of ECW from impedance measurements with a population-specific equation. Moreover, body build, expressed as TBW/height and ECW/height, had an impact on the bias.

The risks of self-made diets: the case of an amateur bodybuilder

BackgroundFollowing DIY (do it yourself) diets as well as consuming supplements exceeding by far the recommended daily intake levels, is common among athletes; these dietary habits often lead to an overconsumption of some macro and/or micronutrients, exposing athletes to potential health risks.The aim of this study is to document the development of possible adverse effects in a 33 year-old amateur bodybuilder who consumed for 16 years a DIY high protein diet associated to nutrient supplementation. Body composition, biochemical measures and anamnestic findings were evaluated.We present this case to put on alert about the possible risks of such behavior repeated over time, focusing on the adverse gastrointestinal effects. We discuss the energy and nutrient composition of his DIY diet as well as the use of supplements.ConclusionThis study provides preliminary data of the potential risks of a long-term DIY dietary supplementation and a high protein diet. In this case, permanent abdominal discomfort was evidenced in an amateur body builder with an intake exceeding tolerable upper limit for vitamin A, selenium and zinc, according to our national and updated recommendations.As many amateur athletes usually adopt self-made diets and supplementation, it would be advisable for them to be supervised in order to prevent health risks due to a long-term DIY diet and over-supplementation.