Wojciech Roszkowski

Hedonic tests in different locations as predictors of apple juice consumption at home in elderly and young subjects

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of hedonic tests on apple juice carried out in a sensory laboratory, University common room and at home (post-consumption test) on ad libitum home consumption measured over 5 consecutive days. Thirty-five elderly volunteers (59–88 years old) and 33 young subjects (20–30 years old) assessed the degree of liking five apple juices varying in sweetness (0, 2, 4, 7 and 10% w/w sucrose added) on a nine-point hedonic scale. Both age groups judged similarly the juice with the lowest sugar concentrations, whereas the juice with 2% sugar added received lower scores from the elderly compared to the young participants. Those samples with higher sweetness (4, 7 and 10%) received higher scores from the elderly compared to the young people. The sample with no sugar added had higher mean score (all the subjects) in the home test (6.92±1.78) compared to both laboratory (5.51±2.15) and common room (5.92±2.08). No such differences were observed for the juices with the other sugar contents. In the elderly group, 1-day intake of apple juice remained on a similar level, regardless of sweetness liking, while among young adults the intake varied, and was highest for juices that were liked most (with 0 and 2% sucrose added). The results showed that hedonic ratings have a limited value as predictors of fruit juice consumption at home. The correlation between rated degree of liking and intake was low, especially for the elderly ( r =0.39), indicating that factors other than pleasantness may affect intake. Among three test conditions, the lowest correlation of juice intake was obtained with laboratory test results ( r =0.38), relatively higher—when hedonic tests were conducted in common room setting ( r =0.49), or as the post-consumption test at home ( r =0.73). Further research is required on sensory procedures relevant for the elderly, which together with some other nonsensory factors, would give a better prediction of consumption.

Dietary Calcium and Magnesium Intake and Mortality: A Prospective Study of Men

The authors examined the association of dietary calcium and magnesium intake with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality among 23,366 Swedish men, aged 45-79 years, who did not use dietary supplements. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the multivariate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals of mortality. From baseline 1998 through December 2007, 2,358 deaths from all causes were recorded in the Swedish population registry; through December 2006, 819 CVD and 738 cancer deaths were recorded in the Swedish cause-of-death registry. Dietary calcium was associated with a statistically significant lower rate of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.63, 0.88; P(trend) < 0.001) and a nonsignificantly lower rate of CVD (HR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.58, 1.01; P(trend) = 0.064) but not cancer mortality (HR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.65, 1.17; P(trend) = 0.362) when the highest intake tertile (mean = 1,953 mg/day; standard deviation (SD), 334) was compared with the lowest (990 mg/day; SD, 187). Dietary magnesium intake (means of tertiles ranged from 387 mg/day (SD, 31) to 523 mg/day (SD, 38) was not associated with all-cause, CVD, or cancer mortality. This population-based, prospective study of men with relatively high intakes of dietary calcium and magnesium showed that intake of calcium above that recommended daily may reduce all-cause mortality.

Discriminability and appropriateness of category scaling versus ranking methods to study sensory preferences in elderly

Abstract Two methods: the nine-point hedonic scale and hedonic ranking, have been compared for their discrimination power and appropriateness when studying hedonic responses in elderly. A group of 35 elderly subjects (aged 60–88) and a control group of 35 young adults (aged 20–25) participated in the comparison. Five samples of each of two commercial fruit juices (apple and orange) differing in sensory profiles served as test material. Generally hedonic discriminability in elderly was lower than in young subjects for both methods. Ranking appeared to be more discriminating for apple juice samples, where hedonic differences among samples were smaller ( F sample apple =8.80); for orange juice samples, of more pronounced hedonic differences ( F sample orange =17.24) both methods revealed equal discriminability. From simplicity of the task and “user friendliness” of the tasting procedure, hedonic ranking seems to have some advantages over nine-point hedonic scaling. Results obtained by both methods for both juices were significantly correlated for elderly as well as for young subjects. However, the strength of correlation (Spearman R value) in elderly was much lower ( R apple =0.2217; R orange =0.2213) than in young ( R apple =0.4766; R orange =0.4844). Repeatability of hedonic assessment of orange juice samples performed by elderly ( n =27) 2 weeks after first evaluation for both methods was very good and did not show any advantage of one method over another.

Patterns of healthy lifestyle and positive health attitudes in older Europeans.

Objectives: To determine (i) the extent to which recommended lifestyle healthy behaviors are adopted and the existence of positive attitudes to health; (ii) the relative influence of socio-demographic variables on multiple healthy lifestyle behaviors and positive attitudes to health; (iii) the association between healthy lifestyle behaviors and positive attitudes to health.Design: two distinct healthy behavioral measures were developed: (i) healthy lifestyles based on physical activity, no cigarette smoking, no/moderate alcohol drinking, maintaining a “healthy” weight and having no sleeping problems and (ii) positive health attitudes based on having positive emotional attitudes, such as: self-perceived good health status, being calm, peaceful and happy for most of the time, not expecting health to get worse and regular health check-ups. A composite healthy lifestyle index, ranging from 0 (none of behaviors met) to 5 (all behaviors met) was calculated by summing up the individual’s scores for the five healthy lifestyle items. Afterwards, each individual’s index was collapsed into three levels: 0–2 equivalent to ‘level 1’ (subjectively regarded as ‘too low’), a score of 3 equivalent to ‘level 2’ (‘fair’) and 4–5 as ‘level 3’ satisfactory ‘healthy lifestyle’ practices. The same procedure was applied to the positive health attitudes index. Multinomial logistic regression analyses by a forward selection procedure were used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI).Participants: a multi-national sample consisting of 638 older Europeans from 8 countries, aged 65–74 and 75+, living alone or with others.Results and conclusions: maintaining a “healthy” weight was the most frequently cited factor in the healthy lifestyles index and therefore assumed to be the most important to the older Europeans in the study; positive attitudes to health were relatively low; participants achieved a ‘satisfactory’ level for healthy lifestyles index (level 3) more frequently than a satisfactory level for positive attitudes to health; having a satisfactory ‘healthy lifestyle’ was directly related to having a satisfactory level of positive attitudes to health based on the positive health attitudes index; income and geographical location in Europe appeared to be key predictors for meeting both the recommended healthy lifestyle factors in the index and having positive health attitudes however, the composition and nature of the study sample should be taken into consideration when considering the impact of the location on healthy lifestyles and attitudes to health across Europe.

Stakeholders' views on factors influencing nutrition policy: a qualitative study across ten European countries

Abstract The objective was to identify the main factors influencing micronutrient policies in the opinion of policy actors in ten European countries. Study was carried out during Jan-Nov 2010 in European countries: the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with representatives of stakeholders involved in the vitamin D, folate and iodine policy making process. Fifty eight key informants representing mainly scientific advisory bodies (n=24) and governmental organisations (n=19) participated in the study. The remaining interviewees represented non-governmental organisations (n=6), industry (n=4) or were independent academic or health professional experts (n=5). Data were analysed by theoretical interpretative thematic analysis. Insights from interviewees on the development of micronutrient policies were grouped using the Public Health Nutrition Policy-making model. The main factors influencing the micronutrient policies were: systematic monitoring of nutrition and health, causal relationships between consumers’ diet-related behaviours and health outcomes, scientific recommendations from national bodies (Science area); scientific recommendations from international authorities and experiences of other countries, EU legislation, cultural factors (Wider context) and political environment, national capacity to deal with the problem, national legislation, economics, stakeholder engagement, relationships between stakeholders (Policy and institutions area). The spectrum and weight of the factors influencing nutritional policy depends on nutrient, country and degree of its “advanced status” within nutrition policy, political environment, culture and socio-economic conditions as well as the point of view (who is expressing the opinion).

Supplementation with [6S]-5-methyltetrahydrofolate or folic acid equally reduces serum homocysteine concentrations in older adults

Abstract Folic acid (FA) supplementation reduces the elevated serum homocysteine (Hcy) concentrations. [6 S]-5-methyltetrahydrofolate ([6 S]-5-MTHF) is an alternative to FA due to possible advantages, that is, no masking cobalamin deficiency. The study aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of [6 S]-5-MTHF in relations to FA supplementation in reducing the serum Hcy. Healthy volunteers, aged 50–65, had normal serum folate and did not use supplements with B-vitamins for 6 months. Forty subjects were divided into two groups: receiving 400 μg/d FA or the equimolar amount of [6 S]-5-MTHF. Blood was collected at baseline and after 4 weeks. In both groups, a significant decrease in the mean Hcy level after intervention period was observed. Supplementation with [6 S]-5-MTHF was slightly less effective, but not significantly, in Hcy lowering than FA (p = .243 between the groups), that is, by 7.8% and 13.4%, respectively. The [6 S]-5-MTHF was shown to be an adequate alternative to FA in reducing Hcy concentrations.

How is the process of setting micronutrients recommendations reflected in nutrition policies in Poland? The case study of folate

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE Ensuring the adequate intake of micronutrients by populations is an important aspect of public health. This study aims to elucidate the process of setting nutrition recommendations and the development of subsequent policies associated with micronutrients in Poland by using the case study of folate. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was based on 13 interviews conducted between October 2010 - February 2011, and desk research comprising a review of the associated scientific literature and relevant documents, such as scientific opinions and reports of the meetings of scientific committees. The interviews were conducted within the EURRECA (EURopean micronutrient RECommendations Aligned) Network of Excellence in the frame of the European Unions 6th Framework Programme. RESULTS Since 1997, the Experts Group of the Ministry of Health recommended that all women of childbearing age should consume folic acid as a supplement to prevent neural tube defects in their offspring. The fortification of foodstuffs with folic acid is not obligatory. This study describes the revision of the folate nutrient recommendation and the process by which strategies to increase the intake of this vitamin by the Polish population were identified. The institution responsible for the choice and implementation of folate policy is the Ministry of Health and the National Food and Nutrition Institute is responsible for setting/updating the nutrient recommendations. CONCLUSIONS The current Polish nutrition recommendations for folate are consistent with the levels set by most other countries. The constant improvement of nutritional knowledge on folate among consumers, especially young women, is necessary.