Perinatal mortality and morbidity continue to be major global health challenges strongly associated with prematurity and reduced fetal growth, an issue of further interest given the mounting evidence ...that fetal growth in general is linked to degrees of risk of common noncommunicable diseases in adulthood. Against this background, WHO made it a high priority to provide the present fetal growth charts for estimated fetal weight (EFW) and common ultrasound biometric measurements intended for worldwide use.
We conducted a multinational prospective observational longitudinal study of fetal growth in low-risk singleton pregnancies of women of high or middle socioeconomic status and without known environmental constraints on fetal growth. Centers in ten countries (Argentina, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Norway, and Thailand) recruited participants who had reliable information on last menstrual period and gestational age confirmed by crown-rump length measured at 8-13 wk of gestation. Participants had anthropometric and nutritional assessments and seven scheduled ultrasound examinations during pregnancy. Fifty-two participants withdrew consent, and 1,387 participated in the study. At study entry, median maternal age was 28 y (interquartile range IQR 25-31), median height was 162 cm (IQR 157-168), median weight was 61 kg (IQR 55-68), 58% of the women were nulliparous, and median daily caloric intake was 1,840 cal (IQR 1,487-2,222). The median pregnancy duration was 39 wk (IQR 38-40) although there were significant differences between countries, the largest difference being 12 d (95% CI 8-16). The median birthweight was 3,300 g (IQR 2,980-3,615). There were differences in birthweight between countries, e.g., India had significantly smaller neonates than the other countries, even after adjusting for gestational age. Thirty-one women had a miscarriage, and three fetuses had intrauterine death. The 8,203 sets of ultrasound measurements were scrutinized for outliers and leverage points, and those measurements taken at 14 to 40 wk were selected for analysis. A total of 7,924 sets of ultrasound measurements were analyzed by quantile regression to establish longitudinal reference intervals for fetal head circumference, biparietal diameter, humerus length, abdominal circumference, femur length and its ratio with head circumference and with biparietal diameter, and EFW. There was asymmetric distribution of growth of EFW: a slightly wider distribution among the lower percentiles during early weeks shifted to a notably expanded distribution of the higher percentiles in late pregnancy. Male fetuses were larger than female fetuses as measured by EFW, but the disparity was smaller in the lower quantiles of the distribution (3.5%) and larger in the upper quantiles (4.5%). Maternal age and maternal height were associated with a positive effect on EFW, particularly in the lower tail of the distribution, of the order of 2% to 3% for each additional 10 y of age of the mother and 1% to 2% for each additional 10 cm of height. Maternal weight was associated with a small positive effect on EFW, especially in the higher tail of the distribution, of the order of 1.0% to 1.5% for each additional 10 kg of bodyweight of the mother. Parous women had heavier fetuses than nulliparous women, with the disparity being greater in the lower quantiles of the distribution, of the order of 1% to 1.5%, and diminishing in the upper quantiles. There were also significant differences in growth of EFW between countries. In spite of the multinational nature of the study, sample size is a limiting factor for generalization of the charts.
This study provides WHO fetal growth charts for EFW and common ultrasound biometric measurements, and shows variation between different parts of the world.
Abstract Background Consumption of low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) has increased markedly during the past several decades, yet the prevalence of LCS consumption in recent years is currently unknown. ...Objective The aim of this study was to describe LCS consumption in the United States and to characterize consumption by sociodemographic subgroups, source, frequency, eating occasion, and location. Design Cross-sectional study using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2009 to 2012. The prevalence of LCS consumption was assessed using two 24-hour dietary recalls, while the frequency (number of times per day), occasion (meal vs snack vs alone), and location of LCS consumption (at home vs away from home) was assessed using data from the one, in-person, 24-hour dietary recall. Participants National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey participants (2 years old or older) either in 2009-2010 (n=9,047) or in 2011-2012 (n=7,939). After excluding participants with implausible energy intake (n=44), the final sample size was 16,942. Main outcome measures The primary outcome was the proportion of individuals consuming one or more foods, beverages, or packets containing LCSs during at least one of their two dietary recalls. Statistical analyses performed Data were weighted to provide national estimates and Stata frequency procedures for complex survey design were used for all analyses. Results Our findings were that 25.1% of children and 41.4% adults reported consuming LCSs. Most LCS consumers reported use once daily (80% of children, 56% of adults) and frequency of consumption increased with body weight in adults. LCS consumption was higher in females compared with males among adults, and in obese individuals, compared with overweight and normal-weight individuals. Individuals of non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity also had higher prevalence of consumption compared with non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics and those in the highest tertile of income had higher LCS consumption compared with individuals of middle or low income across LCS product categories in adults, and for LCS beverages and LCS foods in children. Most LCS consumers reported consuming LCS with meals (64% of adults, 62% of children) and the majority of LCS consumption occurred at home (71% and 72% among adults and children, respectively). Conclusions LCS consumption is highly prevalent in the United States, among both children and adults. Well-controlled, prospective trials are required to understand the health impact of this widespread LCS exposure.
To provide a better understanding of dietary intakes of pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries.
Systematic review was performed to identify relevant studies which reported nutrient ...intakes or food consumption of pregnant women in developing countries. Macronutrient and micronutrient intakes were compared by region and the FAO/WHO Estimated Average Requirements. Food consumption was summarized by region.
Developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean and Central/South America.
Pregnant women in the second or third trimester of their pregnancies.
From a total of 1499 retrieved articles, sixty-two relevant studies were analysed. The ranges of mean/median intakes of energy, fat, protein and carbohydrate were relatively higher in women residing in the Caribbean and Central/South America than in Africa and Asia. Percentages of energy from carbohydrate and fat varied inversely across studies in all regions, whereas percentage of energy from protein was relatively stable. Among selected micronutrients, folate and Fe intakes were most frequently below the Estimated Average Requirements, followed by Ca and Zn. Usual dietary patterns were heavily cereal based across regions.
Imbalanced macronutrients, inadequate micronutrient intakes and predominantly plant-based diets were common features of the diet of pregnant women in developing countries. Cohesive public health efforts involving improving access to nutrient-rich local foods, micronutrient supplementation and fortification are needed to improve the nutrition of pregnant women in developing countries.
Prior studies have documented lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among people with a higher adherence to a plant-based dietary pattern. Non-Hispanic black Americans are an understudied group ...with high burden of CVD, yet studies of plant-based diets have been limited in this population.
We conducted an analysis of prospectively collected data from a community-based cohort of African American adults (n = 3,635) in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) aged 21-95 years, living in the Jackson, Mississippi, metropolitan area, US, who were followed from 2000 to 2018. Using self-reported dietary data, we assigned scores to participants' adherence to 3 plant-based dietary patterns: an overall plant-based diet index (PDI), a healthy PDI (hPDI), and an unhealthy PDI (uPDI). Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate associations between plant-based diet scores and CVD incidence and all-cause mortality. Over a median follow-up of 13 and 15 years, there were 293 incident CVD cases and 597 deaths, respectively. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, and education) and health behaviors (smoking, alcohol intake, margarine intake, physical activity, and total energy intake), no significant association was observed between plant-based diets and incident CVD for overall PDI (hazard ratio HR 1.06, 95% CI 0.78-1.42, p-trend = 0.72), hPDI (HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.80-1.42, p-trend = 0.67), and uPDI (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.71-1.28, p-trend = 0.76). Corresponding HRs (95% CIs) for all-cause mortality risk with overall PDI, hPDI, and uPDI were 0.96 (0.78-1.18), 0.94 (0.76-1.16), and 1.06 (0.86-1.30), respectively. Corresponding HRs (95% CIs) for incident coronary heart disease with overall PDI, hPDI, and uPDI were 1.09 (0.74-1.61), 1.11 (0.76-1.61), and 0.79 (0.52-1.18), respectively. For incident total stroke, HRs (95% CIs) for overall PDI, hPDI, and uPDI were 1.00 (0.66-1.52), 0.91 (0.61-1.36), and 1.26 (0.84-1.89) (p-trend for all tests > 0.05). Limitations of the study include use of self-reported dietary intake, residual confounding, potential for reverse causation, and that the study did not capture those who exclusively consume plant-derived foods.
In this study of black Americans, we observed that, unlike in prior studies, greater adherence to a plant-based diet was not associated with CVD or all-cause mortality.
To explore the relationship between women's empowerment and WHO recommended infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in sub-Saharan Africa.
Analysis was conducted using data from ten ...Demographic and Health Surveys between 2010 and 2013. Women's empowerment was assessed by nine standard items covering three dimensions: economic, socio-familial and legal empowerment. Three core IYCF practices examined were minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet. Separate multivariable logistic regression models were applied for the IYCF practices on dimensional and overall empowerment in each country.
Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Youngest singleton children aged 6-23 months and their mothers (n 15 153).
Less than 35 %, 60 % and 18 % of children 6-23 months of age met the criterion of minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet, respectively. In general, likelihood of meeting the recommended IYCF criteria was positively associated with the economic dimension of women's empowerment. Socio-familial empowerment was negatively associated with the three feeding criteria, except in Zimbabwe. The legal dimension of empowerment did not show any clear pattern in the associations. Greater overall empowerment of women was consistently and positively associated with multiple IYCF practices in Mali, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. However, consistent negative relationships were found in Benin and Niger. Null or mixed results were observed in the remaining countries.
The importance of women's empowerment for IYCF practices needs to be discussed by context and by dimension of empowerment.
Measures of cardiovascular health (CVH) assessed by a combination of behavioral and biological factors has shown protective associations with all-cause mortality. The mechanisms underlying these ...associations have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we characterized the plasma proteomics profile of CVH and tested whether specific proteins mediated the associations between CVH and all-cause mortality in participants of the InCHIANTI study. Of the 1301 proteins tested, 92 proteins were associated with CVH (22 positively, 70 negatively). Proteins most strongly associated with CVH included leptin (LEP), fatty acid binding protein 3 (FABP3), Angiopoietin-2 (ANGPT2), and growth-differential factor 15 (GDF15). Of the 92 CVH-associated proteins, 33 proteins significantly mediated the associations between CVH and all-cause mortality, with percent mediation ranging from 5 to 30%. The most significant mediating proteins were GDF15 and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGFBP2). Proteins associated with better CVH were enriched for proteins that reflect the suppression of the complement coagulation and GH/IGF pathways.
Vitamin D status has been found to be inversely associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in some studies. Vitamin D status varies by race and ethnicity, and the association of MetS with vitamin D ...status in US adults and by race and Hispanic origin has not been evaluated extensively.
We aimed to examine the associations between vitamin D status and MetS overall, and across race and Hispanic origin groups, in a nationally representative sample of US adults who participated in the NHANES from 2007 to 2014.
The total sample included 8639 adults, ≥20 y of age. Serum vitamin D was measured using a standardized LC-tandem MS method and was categorized using data-driven tertiles. MetS was defined using measured waist circumference, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting glucose. Multivariable logistic regression models were fitted accounting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, dietary supplement use, and BMI (in kg/m2) to examine the associations of serum vitamin D with MetS among adults overall, and by race and Hispanic origin.
Serum vitamin D in the lowest tertile (≤56 nmol/L) was significantly associated with increased odds of MetS compared with the highest tertile (>77.9 nmol/L) (fully adjusted model OR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.51, 2.27). Inverse associations were noted for all race-Hispanic origin groups: non-Hispanic white (NHW) (OR: 2.24; 95% CI: 1.67, 3.01), non-Hispanic black (OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.06, 2.29), and Hispanic (OR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.03, 2.14) adults.
Lower vitamin D status was significantly associated with MetS among US adults after adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, dietary supplement use, and BMI. This finding was noted across all race and Hispanic origin groups, although the strength of the association varied, being strongest for NHW adults.
Identifying modifying protective factors to promote healthy aging is of utmost public health importance. The frailty index (FI) reflects the accumulation of health deficits and is one widely used ...method to assess health trajectories in aging. Adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet (MTD) has been associated with favorable health trajectories. Therefore, this study explored whether adherence to a MTD is negatively associated with FI in the InCHIANTI study. Participants (
= 485) included individuals over 65 years of age at baseline with complete data over a follow-up period of 10 years. MTD was computed on a scale of 0-9 and categorized based on these scores into three groups of low (≤3), medium (4-5), and high (≥6) adherence. Being in a high or medium adherence group was associated with 0.03 and 0.013 unit lower FI scores over the follow-up period, compared to the low adherence group. In participants with a low FI at baseline, being in a high or medium MTD-adherence group had 0.004 and 0.005 unit/year slower progression of FI compared to the low adherence group. These study results support adherence to a MTD as a protective strategy to maintain a lower FI.
Dietary diversity scores and dichotomous indicators derived from them are widely used to assess dietary quality, and specific scoring methods have been recommended for women and 6- to 23-mo-old ...children. However, there is no specific score recommended for older children and the effect of seasonal dietary changes on score performance is not well documented.
We assessed performance of 2 recommended dietary diversity scores as indicators of dietary quality over 3 seasons.
We conducted 7 repeat 24-h dietary recalls among 4- to 8-y-old rural Zambian children (n = 200) over 6 mo. Dietary diversity was assessed using a 7-food group score for assessing infant and young child feeding (DDS-IYCF) and a 10-food group score for use among women of reproductive age (DDS-W). Micronutrient intake adequacy was described by mean probability of adequacy (MPA) over 11 micronutrients. Longitudinal models were fit to test the association between each score and MPA overall and by season. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to describe indicator performance of each score.
Mean ± SE scores were 4.11 ± 0.03 for DDS-IYCF and 4.39 ± 0.03 for DDS-W. Both scores varied by season, but DDS-W better reflected seasonal dietary changes. Across seasons, MPA increased 1–6 percentage points/unit increase in DDS-IYCF or 1–10 percentage points for DDS-W (P < 0.05). Score performance as a predictor of MPA > 0.75 was moderate, with area under the ROC curve values by season ranging from 0.63 to 0.77 for DDS-IYCF and from 0.66 to 0.72 for DDS-W.
DDS-W performed better than DDS-IYCF in characterizing seasonal variability and micronutrient adequacy among rural Zambian children.
Adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet is associated with a lower risk for mortality, cognitive decline, and dementia. Whether adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet protects against age-related ...frailty is unclear. Therefore, our objective was to examine the association between a Mediterranean-style diet with the risk of frailty in community-dwelling older persons. We conducted longitudinal analyses using data from 690 community-living persons (≥65 y) who were randomly selected from a population registry in Tuscany, Italy. Participants of the Invecchiare in Chianti study of aging completed the baseline examination in 1998-2000 and were re-examined at least once over 6 y. Adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet (scored 0-9, modeled categorically as ≤3, 4-5, and ≥6) was computed from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition FFQ previously validated in this cohort. Frailty was defined as having at least 2 of the following criteria: poor muscle strength, feeling of exhaustion, low walking speed, and low physical activity. After a 6-y follow-up, higher adherence (score ≥6) to a Mediterranean-style diet was associated with lower odds of developing frailty OR = 0.30 (95% CI: 0.14, 0.66) compared with those with lower adherence (score ≤3). A higher adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet at baseline was also associated with a lower risk of low physical activity (OR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.96) and low walking speed OR = 0.48 (95% CI: 0.27, 0.86) but not with feelings of exhaustion and poor muscle strength. In community-dwelling older adults, higher adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet was inversely associated with the development of frailty.
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