Marijana Matek Sarić

Knowledge about dietary fibre: a fibre study framework

Abstract The objective of this work was to study the degree of knowledge about dietary fibre (DF), as influenced by factors such as gender, level of education, living environment or country. For this, a descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6010 participants from 10 countries in different continents (Europe, Africa and America). The results showed that the participants revealed on average a positive but still low global level of knowledge, which alerts for the need to take some actions to further inform the population about DF and its role as a component of a healthy diet. The results also indicated differences between genders, levels of education, living environments and countries. The highest level of knowledge was revealed by the participants from female gender, with higher education and living in urban areas. Concerning the country, the best informed were the participants from Romania, followed by those from Portugal and Turkey while the least informed were from Egypt.

Benefits of dietary fibre to human health: study from a multi-country platform

Purpose Because dietary fibre has been recognized as a major ally to the maintenance of a healthy body as well as to help against the development of some chronic diseases, this paper aims to study the level of knowledge of a relatively wide range of people about the health effects related to the ingestion of dietary fibre in appropriate dosages. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6,010 participants. The data were collected from 10 countries in three different continents (Europe, Africa and America) and measured the level of knowledge regarding different health benefits from dietary fibre. The questionnaires were applied by direct interview after verbal informed consent. Findings The results obtained considering the general level of knowledge revealed a considerable degree of information about the benefits of fibre (average score of 3.54 ± 0.5, on a scale from 1 to 5). There were significant differences between genders (p < 0.001), with higher average score for women, and also for level of education (p < 0.001), with higher score for university level. The living environment also showed significant differences (p < 0.001), with people living in urban areas showing a higher degree of knowledge. Also for countries the differences were significant (p < 0.001), with the highest score obtained for Portugal (3.7), and the lowest for Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia and Romania (3.5). However, despite these differences, the results showed that for all the countries the degree of knowledge was good (above 3.5), corresponding to a minimum level of knowledge of 70 per cent. Originality/value This work is considered important due to the wide coverage, including so many countries inclusive with different social and cultural settings. The study allowed concluding that, in general, the participants in the study were quite well informed about the benefits of dietary fibre for the improvement of human health, regardless of gender, level of education, living environment or country. This finding is very relevant considering the diversity of people that composed the sample and reinforces the necessity of continuing with educational policies aimed at providing the general population with the knowledge that might help them make appropriate food choices.

Knowledge about sources of dietary fibres and health effects using a validated scale: a cross-country study

OBJECTIVES Dietary fibre (DF) is one of the components of diet that strongly contributes to health improvements, particularly on the gastrointestinal system. Hence, this work intended to evaluate the relations between some sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, level of education, living environment or country on the levels of knowledge about dietary fibre (KADF), its sources and its effects on human health, using a validated scale. STUDY DESIGN The present study was a cross-sectional study. METHODS A methodological study was conducted with 6010 participants, residing in 10 countries from different continents (Europe, America, Africa). The instrument was a questionnaire of self-response, aimed at collecting information on knowledge about food fibres. The instrument was used to validate a scale (KADF) which model was used in the present work to identify the best predictors of knowledge. The statistical tools used were as follows: basic descriptive statistics, decision trees, inferential analysis (t-test for independent samples with Levene test and one-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons post hoc tests). RESULTS The results showed that the best predictor for the three types of knowledge evaluated (about DF, about its sources and about its effects on human health) was always the country, meaning that the social, cultural and/or political conditions greatly determine the level of knowledge. On the other hand, the tests also showed that statistically significant differences were encountered regarding the three types of knowledge for all sociodemographic variables evaluated: age, gender, level of education, living environment and country. CONCLUSIONS The results showed that to improve the level of knowledge the actions planned should not be delineated in general as to reach all sectors of the populations, and that in addressing different people, different methodologies must be designed so as to provide an effective health education.

Attitudes Towards Dietary Fibre on a Multicultural Basis: A Fibre Study Framework

Background: Dietary fibre (DF) has been recognised as having many positive health effects. Hence, the objective of this research was to evaluate the consuming habits relating to DF on people from different countries, as well as their knowledge about the fibre rich foods and their attitudes towards food labelling. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6010 participants from 10 countries. Descriptive statistics and inferential tests were done using SPSS software considering a level of significance of 5%. Results: The results suggested that the ingestion of fibre rich foods like fruit, vegetables and cereals, was low and far from the recommended amounts. It was also concluded that most people did not pay the desired level of attention to food labelling and nutritional information. Furthermore, the level of knowledge about dietary fibre was generally not satisfactory. Conclusion: In view of these findings it becomes important to develop actions to better inform the population and to make them better aware of the importance of dietary fibre in their habitual diet.

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Cyprinidae fish: Towards hints of their arrangements using advanced classification methods

Abstract To tackle the ever‐present global concern regarding human exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) via food products, this study strived to indicate associations between organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in lake‐fish tissue depending on the species and sampling season. Apart from the monitoring initiatives recommended in the Global Monitoring Plan for POPs, the study discussed 7 OCPs and 18 PCB congeners determined in three Cyprinidae species (rudd, carp, and Prussian carp) from Vransko Lake (Croatia), which are widely domesticated and reared as food fish across Europe and Asia. We exploit advanced classification algorithms, the Kohonen self‐organizing maps (SOM) and Decision Trees (DT), to search for POP patterns typical for the investigated species. As indicated by SOM, some of the dioxin‐like and non‐dioxin‐like PCBs (PCB‐28, PCB‐74, PCB‐52, PCB‐101, PCB‐105, PCB‐114, PCB‐118, PCB‐156 and PCB‐157), &agr;‐HCH and &bgr;‐HCH caused dissimilarities among fish species, but regardless of their weight and length. To support these suggestions, DT analysis sequenced the fish species and seasons based on the concentration of heavier congeners. The presented assumptions indicated that the supplemental application of SOM and DT offers advantageous features over the usually rough interpretation of POPs pattern and over the single use of the methods. HighlightsSOM and DT classifiers searched for relation among 25 POPs in three Cyprinidae fish.The concentrations of indicator congeners dominated over dioxin‐like PCBs.Based on SOM, both dioxin‐like and indicator PCBs differentiated the fish species.DT assorted the samples on the levels of PCB‐126, ‐156, ‐170, ‐28, ‐105, and ‐114.

Optimisation of headspace solid phase microextraction for the analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in human milk samples

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are persistent environmental pollutants that raise concern due to their endocrine disrupting, immunotoxic, and neurotoxic properties. Owing to their lipophilic character, they are easily bioaccumulated. Breast milk is a significant source of exposure to these chemicals. A simple and rapid headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) technique followed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC- MS/MS) was developed for the simultaneous determination of 21 PCBs and 7 OCPs in human milk samples. The parameters affecting extraction efficiency were simultaneously optimised by experimental design. The best results were obtained using polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene fibre, 0.5 g NaCl added to 1 mL of sample, extraction at 80 °C (40 min), stirring at 300 rpm, and desorption at 260 °C (10 min). The method showed a linear response within the tested concentration range (0.5-20 μg/L), good precision (RSD<10%), accuracy (average 95%), and sensitivity (limit of detection from 0.2 to 2.5 μg/L). The method was applied for the analysis of 30 human milk samples. The most abundant PCBs were 138, 153, 170 and 180. Among the OCPs, p, p´-DDE was the prevalent compound. An overall evaluation of the analytical parameters showed that HS-SPME combined with acquisition in MS/MS mode provides satisfactory sensitivity and selectivity that could replace the time consuming conventional clean-up processes based on liquid–liquid or solid-phase extraction. This work was financially supported by Project No. 8366 funded by the Croatian Science Foundation.

Knowledge about dietary fibre and its health benefits: A cross-sectional survey of 2536 residents from across Croatia

This cross-sectional study is aimed at identifying the level of understanding of the health benefits of dietary fibre in the prevention of disease, as well as the association between that understanding and fibre consumption in the Croatian population. We believe that nutritional knowledge is important for the consumption of healthy food which includes also a positive reflection on food habits and health. Only well-informed consumers can shop effectively for food rich in dietary fibre and thereby derive the health benefits that fibre can offer. We suppose the association between that understanding and fibre consumption in the Croatian population. However, this knowledge is not the only important determinant; food purchases are influenced by socioeconomic and demographic factors. Our hypothesis is that the level of knowledge about fibre and fibre consumption varies with age, gender, education level and urban or rural environment. It is our assumption that life styles, environmental conditions and education can affect the level of knowledge and perception about healthy eating habits. If this assumption is accurate, targeted education campaigns to educate and sensitise the population about fibre-rich foods and the health benefits of fibre is a priority. Public health programmes are urgently needed, particularly in rural areas, to sensitise the population to fulfill the recommended fibre intake, high-fibre food sources and the mechanisms by which fibre can help prevent disease.

Consumer knowledge and attitudes toward healthy eating in Croatia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Unlike fast and restaurant food, diet rich in fibre is known to contribute significantly to health. The aim of our study was to assess eating habits such as consumption of fibre-rich, fast, and restaurant food of the general population in Croatia. For this purpose we used a validated survey designed by the Polytechnic Institute Viseu in Portugal, which includes questions about demographics, good eating habits related to the consumption of the main sources of dietary fibre (fruit, vegetables, and whole grains), and unhealthy eating habits related to the consumption of fast food and restaurant meals. Between October 2014 and March 2015 we received answers from 2,536 respondents aged between 18-70 years, of whom 67.4 % were women and 32.6 % were men. Most respondents reported consuming one serving of vegetables and one piece of fruit a day, and whole grains every other day. Women and urban residents reported consuming larger amounts of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains than men (p<0.001). Men, in turn, reported eating out and eating fast food more often than women (p<0.001). Eating out highly correlated with eating fast food, which translates to lower consumption of dietary fibre (p<0.001). Higher education correlated positively with the consumption of fibre-rich food, but it also correlated positively with the consumption of fast and restaurant food (p<0.001). While eating fast food is not the predominant dietary practice in Croatia, over 50 % of respondents have reported eating fast food at least once a week. Our data also indicate that consumption of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains falls below the national and international dietary recommendations.

505 Combined early treatment with DMSA and DTPA to mobilize cadmium in rats

The influence of chelating agents: meso-2, 3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) ; calcium trisodium diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA) and their combination on tissue retention and distribution of cadmium (Cd) was compared in female albino rats. Special attention was given to time of chelators application after cadmium administration. After oral cadmium intubation chelators were applied either orally (DMSA) or intraperitoneally (DTPA) in various short time intervals after cadmium. The dose of cadmium chloride was 0, 25 mmol/kg body weight and chelators dose was 1 mmol/kg, each. Three experiments were carried out with four treatment groups in each of them: 1) Cd (control) ; 2) Cd + DMSA ; 3) Cd + DTPA ; 4) Cd + DMSA + DTPA. Time intervals for chelator application after cadmium administration were: immediately in the first, half an hour in the second and one hour in the third experiment. Cadmium, iron, copper and zinc were measured in 24-hour urine collected after chelators application and in organs (liver, kidney and brain) at the end of each experiment. Results showed that the efficiency of cadmium removal from the body is lower when the time of chelator application is longer after cadmium administration. The two chelators differ in efficiency in mobilizing cadmium, with DMSA being more efficient than DTPA. The combined therapies of two chelators give slightly better results of cadmium chelation. It seems that DMSA that is given orally after oral cadmium removes this element very efficiently from the gastrointestinal tract. However, DTPA which is given parenterally removes absorbed cadmium very modestly. Whenever DTPA was given to animals zinc concentration is significantly higher in kidneys and much higher in urine than in other groups. Iron and copper do not change dramatically after chelation treatment.