Eating Behavior and Obesity in Canada: Evidence From Panel Data.

Eating Behavior and Obesity in Canada: Evidence From Panel Data.

J Prim Care Community Health. 2012 Jan 1; 3(1): 57-64
Azagba S, Sharaf MF

Although a growing body of research has examined the association between food prices and the availability of fast food restaurants on weight outcomes, there is limited empirical evidence on the direct effect of eating behavior on body weight.The effect of eating behavior on obesity prevalence among Canadians is examined.A nationally representative sample from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (2000-2008) with 29 722 observations is used. Obesity prevalence is estimated by a linear probability model using cross-sectional and panel estimation methods. Separate regressions are estimated for males and females.Multivariate analyses suggest that eating behavior has a statistically significant effect on obesity prevalence. In particular, individuals who reported excellent, very good, and good eating behavior have a lower risk of obesity compared with those with fair or poor eating behavior. Although cross-sectional and panel data methods produce consistent results, the cross-sectional model overestimates the effect of eating behavior on the risk of obesity. This highlights the importance of controlling for unobserved individual factors that may affect how eating behavior is related to body weight.Evidence is found showing that eating behavior is an important determinant of obesity prevalence. The findings suggest that improving the eating behavior of individuals would help reduce excessive body weight and its induced health risks. HubMed – eating

 

A Pilot Study to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Pregnant Latina Women.

J Prim Care Community Health. 2012 Jan 1; 3(1): 2-5
Trout KK, McGrath J, Flanagan J, Costello MC, Frey JC

Previous studies have suggested that women have low dietary intake of fruits and vegetables. This study’s objective was to test the effectiveness of a novel nutrition intervention (education about prenatal flavor learning) on increasing fruit and vegetable intake in a group of primarily Latina women at an urban prenatal clinic. Methods: The Harvard Service Food Frequency Questionnaire (HSFFQ) was administered to 2 groups at the same clinic at 2 time points for each group. The first group was a nonintervention, comparison group. The second (intervention) group received specific information about how a pregnant woman’s food choices can influence subsequent solid food preferences of her infant, with encouragement given to increase fruit and vegetable choices. The HSFFQ was administered pre- and post-intervention for this group. Results: Combined fruit and vegetable intake declined from the administration of Q#1 to Q#2 in both the comparison (n = 28) and intervention (n = 31) groups. The decline was primarily the result of a decrease in vegetable intake, but it was not statistically significant. In the comparison group, only 23.3-36.6% of women were eating adequate daily servings of vegetables, and in the intervention group 32.3%-38.7%. In both the comparison and intervention groups, over 74% of the women were eating adequate daily servings of fruit at both time points. Conclusions: In this Latina population of pregnant women, there was no difference in fruit and vegetable intake after receiving education about prenatal flavor learning. These findings suggest that education alone may not be sufficient to change health behaviors. HubMed – eating

 

Maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy and offspring eating disorder risk in adolescence.

Int J Eat Disord. 2013 Jun 26;
Allen KL, Byrne SM, Kusel MM, Hart PH, Whitehouse AJ

To determine if maternal vitamin D concentrations at 18 weeks gestation predict offspring eating disorder risk in adolescence.Participants were 526 Caucasian mother-child dyads from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. The Raine Study has followed participants from 18 weeks gestation to 20 years of age. Maternal serum 25(OH)-vitamin D concentrations were measured at 18 weeks pregnancy and grouped into quartiles. Offspring eating disorder symptoms were assessed at ages 14, 17 and 20 years. Core analyses were limited to female offspring (n?=?308).Maternal 25(OH)-vitamin D quartiles were a significant predictor of eating disorder risk in female offspring, in multivariate logistic regression models. Vitamin D in the lowest quartile was associated with a 1.8-fold increase in eating disorder risk relative to concentrations in the highest quartile. This association also accounted for the relationship between offspring season of birth and eating disorder risk. Results were significant after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index and depressive symptoms.This is the first study to link low gestational vitamin D to increased eating disorder risk in female offspring of Caucasian mothers. Research is needed to extend these findings and to consider how gestational vitamin D may relate to the pathogenesis of eating disorders. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.(Int J Eat Disord 2013). HubMed – eating

 

Bile acids and gut peptide secretion after bariatric surgery – A 1-year prospective randomized pilot trial.

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 Jun 26;
Steinert RE, Peterli R, Keller S, Meyer-Gerspach AC, Drewe J, Peters T, Beglinger C

Objective: Increased delivery of bile acid salts (BA) to distal L-cells and altered TGR5 receptor activation may contribute to the early and substantial increases in gut peptide secretion seen after bariatric surgery. To further elucidate a potential role of BA in the secretion of GLP-1 and PYY, we analyzed plasma BA concentrations in 14 morbidly obese patients undergoing gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy in a prospective, randomized 1-year trial. Design and Methods: Patients received a standard test meal and blood was collected before and after eating, prior to, and 1 week, 3 months, and 12 months after surgery. Results: Pre-surgery, basal BA concentrations were significantly lower in bariatric patients than in healthy controls. One year post-surgery, bariatric patients expressed variably increased BA concentrations (gastric bypass patients ˜2 fold increase, p?0.05). However, whereas in both patient groups, marked increases in GLP-1 and PYY and improved glycemic control was seen already 1 week and 3 months post-surgery, changes in plasma BA followed a different pattern – basal and postprandial plasma BA concentrations increased much slower, more progressively with significant increases only 1 year post-surgery. Conclusions: Based on these findings, BA do not appear to be key mediators of the early increase in GLP-1 and PYY response in postbariatric patients. HubMed – eating