Abstract This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The objectives are as follows: Our proposed systematic review and meta‐analysis will integrate the evidence available from all sources ...to answer the following questions: (1) to what extent can information, behavioral and monetary interventions reduce energy consumption of households in residential buildings? (average treatment effect of interventions) (2) what is the relative effectiveness of interventions? (account for heterogeneity in treatment effects across and within studies) (3) how effective are combinations of different interventions?
Blood glucose concentrations, fasting, postprandial and in response to exercise, reflect a dynamic balance between β-cell function and tissue insulin sensitivity. Both are implicated to affect ...metabolic health in mother and fetus, with increased risk for new-onset hyperglycemia throughout gestation in mothers with obesity. Longitudinal data of glycemic patterns during obese pregnancies without diabetes could help: 1) identify specific periods when metabolic function shifts to meet gestational energy demands, 2) define more nuanced approaches to intervention timing. Yet, such data are lacking in the literature. To collect longitudinal data via continuous glucose monitoring technology in obese singleton pregnancies without diabetes during either a physical activity intervention or normal standard of care.
Ancillary to a randomized parallel-arm physical activity intervention study conducted at Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC), we will conduct additional measures in 24 sedentary women with BMI ≥ 30 kg·m−2, ≥18 years of age, recruited within weeks 11–13 of gestation; with obtained health care provider clearance to participate. Consented participants will have a CGM sensor (FreeStyle Libre Pro®, Abbot Diabetes Care, Inc., Alameda, CA) applied and initialized, and will wear this monitor for the first 14 days into the study; allowing for CGM data of 7-day baseline and 7-day onset of physical activity in the intervention or continued sedentary lifestyle in the control group to incur. Additional CGM periods will be set for 2 weeks within the 2nd and 3rd trimester, respectively. CGM data will be collected in a single-blind manner to prevent participant reactivity and bias. Slopes for fasting and postprandial glucose values will be compared across randomization groups to test the immediate effect of PA onset. Fitted B-splines of temporal mean glucose values will model changes in glucose levels over time for each participant. Multivariable regression of modeled changes will assess the relationship between maternal glucose levels in intervention versus control at the 2nd and 3rd trimester.
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Data from this pilot study will help identify gestational periods susceptible to intervention. Optimally timed prevention efforts will protect offspring health in the future.
UAMS.
Prune has been shown to be beneficial in several chronic conditions including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. Specifically, daily fresh prune consumption may increase serum values ...of bone formation as well as protect and improve values of bone mineral density. However, the effect of prune on fracture healing has not been investigated. The objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of prune in enhancing distal radius fracture healing.
A total of 50 men and women between the ages of 50 to 85 years, body mass index (BMI) range of 18.5–35.0 kg/m2, with a confirmed, closed, distal radius fracture will be recruited for this study. Three fracture types included are listed from least to most severe: extraarticular; non-comminuted, intra-articular; and comminuted, intra-articular. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: 1) 100 g daily of prune + standard of care (500 mg Calcium and 400 IU Vitamin D, twice daily; providing a total of 1000 mg Calcium and 800 IU Vitamin D) or 2) standard of care alone (500 mg Calcium and 400 IU Vitamin D, twice daily) daily for 12 weeks. Radius Union Scoring System (RUSS) for rate of healing will be assessed using anteroposterior and lateral X-ray. Additionally, range of motion (ROM), handgrip strength, and pain and functionality (via QuickDASH, the Veterans Rand 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12), and the Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS Pain)) will be assessed. For continuous variables (e.g., serum analyses), two-way mixed ANOVAs will be performed. For dichotomous variables, c2 tests will be performed to compare proportions between groups. For ordinal variables, Kruskal-Wallis H tests will be performed to compare ranking. Significance will be set at P ≤ 0.05. The findings of this study will further our understanding of the role of prune on fracture healing.
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California Prune Board.
Unhealthy food marketing to children adversely affects their diet quality and health. The negative impacts of this marketing may be amplified on digital media, which allows industry to use artificial ...intelligence (AI) to market unhealthy food to children in covert ways. Health Canada is developing regulations to prohibit digital marketing of unhealthy food that appeals to children <13 years. However, reliance on adults to manually assess food marketing to children on digital media has limited understanding of key targets for policy and capacity to monitor policy adherence. To address these gaps, we are developing an AI system to monitor marketing of unhealthy food to children on digital media, including websites, YouTube, social media and mobile gaming apps.
Our web and mobile scrapers continuously collect marketing instances that may be viewed by individuals in Canada on websites and social media applications popular with children. This has allowed us to accumulate a database of > 615,000 marketing instances. The AI system extracts features from each marketing instance to determine whether foods are present, and if so, whether they are unhealthy according to Health Canada’s standards (based on the presence of added saturated fat, added sodium and/or free sugars). Next, the AI system uses a supervised machine learning model to assess whether child appealing marketing techniques are present. In the final step, the system integrates all of the data collected to determine whether a given marketing instance features unhealthy foods and appeals to children. The system can be applied to monitor the extent and nature of digital food marketing to children internationally. It can also be retrained to monitor adherence to country-specific policy.
This is a protocol paper so there are no results.
The AI system provides a scalable, objective and reproducible manner to identify digital marketing of unhealthy food that appeals to children across the digital marketing landscape. The system can assist researchers and policy makers to study children’s exposure to digital marketing of unhealthy food and its impacts, and to monitor adherence to policy that restricts this marketing.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Grandi Byen—to grow well in Haitian Creole—tests the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention encompassing nutrition, responsive parenting, and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) during the ...complementary feeding period on child growth and neurobehavioral development.
This study is a three-arm, longitudinal randomized controlled trial. Mothers/caregiver and their infants (ages 6–8 months at baseline) living in Cap-Haitien, Haiti (N = 600 dyads) will be randomly and equally assigned into the following groups: 1) standard well-baby care (control); 2) nutrition intervention (one egg per day for 6 months); and 3) multicomponent Grandi Byen intervention (one egg per day for 6 months + 12-week psychoeducational intervention on responsive parenting, nutrition, and WASH practices).
Primary outcomes for this study are child growth (length-for-age-, weight-for-age-, and weight-for-length Z scores) and development (cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional). Secondary outcomes that are hypothesized as mediators to the primary outcomes are child health (bone maturation, brain growth, diarrheal morbidity and allergies, dietary intake, nutrient biomarkers) and parent-specific outcomes (responsive parenting and parental mental health). Targeted genomics will also highlight potential interactions between host genetics, enteric pathogens, gut microbiota, and overall child development. Findings will demonstrate the reproducibility and feasibility of egg-based interventions, while testing their impact on reducing child stunting and suboptimal development. Additionally, the multicomponent intervention will demonstrate whether stimulating care and WASH education induces any incremental benefits on child nutrition and developmental outcomes.
This project shifts from the norm of single-component nutrition interventions (e.g., single nutrient supplements and other food-based interventions) in child health research. The Grandi Byen concept approaches child well-being holistically by addressing poor child growth and development through nutrition along with proximal environmental and psychosocial determinants of child development.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD).
People vary dramatically in the quantity and activity of their salivary amylase, which alters the oral texture of and chewing requirements for starchy foods. This study will investigate whether ...dietary intake of starch causes changes in salivary amylase activity, measured through an at-home assay. Additionally, we will test whether starchy diet and salivary amylase activity also correlate with sensory ratings of starchy and non-starchy foods.
Subjects are consuming 3 daily snacks that are relatively higher or lower in starch content. Subjects consume the snacks for 1 week, have a 1-week washout period, then switch to consume the other type of snack. At the beginning and end of each intervention week, data are being collected on smell/taste function, sensory attributes of the snacks, chewing behavior, and salivary amylase activity (measured through an assay conducted at home using a starch thickened pudding). Dietary records are being collected prior to starting the intervention, to gauge estimated average intake of starch at baseline.
As this is a protocol abstract, results have yet to be obtained. However, we hypothesize that 1) after increasing dietary starch, salivary amylase activity will increase, 2) people with higher habitual starchy food intake will have increased salivary amylase activity at baseline, and 3) salivary amylase activity of those with higher habitual starchy food intake will change less in response to added dietary starch. We also expect that people who tend to prefer to “chew” vs. “crunch,” “suck on,” or “smoosh” their foods (from a mouth behavior assessment tool) will exhibit higher salivary amylase activity. Finally, we expect those with higher salivary amylase activity to show relatively higher/preferred sensory ratings for the starchy compared to non-starchy foods.
Data from this study will inform future work on how diet, salivary amylase, and sensory attributes/preferences in foods interact. It will also provide practical usage data on our in-home salivary amylase “pudding assay” tool.
NIDCD R21DC017559, USDA Hatch Project 1,013,624.
This study aims to describe the acceptability, usability, and feasibility testing of the iCANPlate smartphone application, an innovative app that resembles the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide (CFG), at the ...University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In Part 1, the acceptability and usability of iCANPlate will be explored using a mixed-method approach. Included participants will be healthy adults (n = 10) from all over Canada with lower levels of health literacy and with the intention of changing their eating behaviours. The eligible participants will be using the app for three weeks and will be surveyed using Technology Acceptance Model-3 (TAM-3), System Usability Scale (SUS), and semi-structured interviews. In part 2, a 6-week feasibility trial will be conducted using iCANPlate versus a standard traditional dietary self-monitoring app (Cronometer Software Inc. Canada) to establish feasibility markers in data collection. Participants (n = 80) will be randomized to the intervention (iCANPlate group) and the control group (Cronometer group) in a 1:1 ratio. Participants will be included based on the same inclusion criteria in Part 1 and will be asked to record their food and beverages intakes for 6 weeks. We will also compare the efficacy of using the iCANPlate and Cronometer using the following measures: User version Mobile Application Rating Scale; SUS; TAM-3; Healthy Eating Food Index (HEFI)-2019; Healthy Eating and Weight Self-Efficacy. Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and paired t-test and qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis with a deductive approach.
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This study will develop and test the iCANPlate aimed to improve adherence to dietary self-monitoring in healthy adults. The results of Part 1 of the study will be used to further refine the iCANPlate before it is launched in the second part. This study will allow us to determine the iCANPlate’s usefulness, feasibility, and acceptability for dietary self-monitoring in adults with lower levels of health literacy.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
Dietary assessment provides essential data for nutrition research, but current methods have limitations impeding the accuracy of reported intakes. Keenoa is a new mobile food diary that integrates ...artificial intelligence food recognition. Participants take pictures of their meals, specify foods and beverages consumed and estimate portion sizes with the help of visual pictograms. Data are analyzed from the Canadian Nutrient File v2015 and other national databases. Objectives are 1) To assess Keenoa’s validity and reliability for energy, protein, potassium and sodium intakes against recovery biomarkers; 2) to determine the optimal number of tracking days for maximal validity; 3) to assess the appreciation and usability from participants.
Adult participants (18–70 y, n = 120) will be recruited for this 3-month study. They will track their food intake using a weighted written food diary (WFD) and Keenoa, in a randomized order, at month 1 (4 consecutive days), 2 (7 days) and 3 (4 days). At month 2, urinary nitrogen, sodium and potassium excretion will be measured from 24-h urine collections on day 3 of each tracking tool. A subsample of n = 30 will undergo measurement of total energy expenditure using the gold-standard doubly labeled water method. Intakes in other key nutrients will be compared to those reported by WFD, as a relative comparator considered the most accurate among conventional methods. Proportions of under/over-reporters will be analyzed by gender and BMI category. Perceived usability of the Keenoa application will be assessed using the validated System Usability Scale (SUS). The validity of Keenoa will be tested by comparing reported intakes of multiple days against measured recovery biomarkers with paired t-tests and Wilcoxon Signed rank test, as applicable, and Bland Altman’s test for bias. Reliability will be tested by comparing repeated measures over time with intraclass correlations. P-values < 0.05 will be considered significant.
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If proven accurate, reliable, and appreciated by users, this innovative tool could be used by researchers in a cost-effective manner. It could contribute to expanding nutrition knowledge and support research on the role of nutrition in health.
Canadian Foundation for Dietetics Research.
Consumption of highly processed foods and beverages, and inadequate fruit and vegetable intake is common among college students. These low diet quality eating patterns may predispose students to ...excess weight gain, metabolic derangements, and risk for chronic health conditions later in life. It is currently unknown if personalized text messages can improve eating patterns in this population. The objective of the present study is to examine the effects of personalized text messages on diet quality and anthropometric markers in college students attending a public Midwestern university.
A 12-week randomized, two-arm, parallel design pilot study will examine the effects of personalized text messages (INV) compared to generic text messages (CON) on diet quality and anthropometric markers. Recruitment will be delimited to healthy (i.e., no diagnosis of chronic health conditions), undergraduate students ≥18 years old with normal weight, overweight, or obesity, and a low diet quality score (assessed during the initial screening survey). Students without access to a text-capable mobile phone and those who engage in >420 minutes of physical activity per week will be excluded. One-way short message service (SMS) will be utilized, and text messages will be sent between 7 AM – 7 PM according to a pre-determined schedule (i.e., each participant will receive seven text messages per week during weeks 1–8 and five text messages per week during weeks 9–12). Thirteen areas of focus with five distinct text messages per area were created for the INV group using a validated diet quality screener. Text messages were reviewed by two dietitians and were further refined based on feedback from four virtual focus groups (n = 13 graduate nutrition and/or health majors attending U.S. universities). General, non-nutrition text messages (e.g., handwashing) will be utilized for the CON group, and each area of focus will consist of five distinct text messages.
Study approval has been granted by the University’s Institutional Review Board. Recruitment activities have commenced, and data collection is ongoing.
Findings will inform the development of effective and sustainable mobile health initiatives for college students.
Ball State University.
Pathogenic bacterial infections in the gastrointestinal tract compromise the health and function of the gut microbiome, and the rising incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains has resulted ...in initiatives seeking alternative treatments. Some prebiotic fibers, such as mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS), may be a promising alternative. In addition to selectively growing commensal bacteria and creating a diverse gut microbiota, MOS have a high affinity for specific binding arms on the structure of some pathogenic bacteria and can prevent bacterial adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells. The ability of MOS to bind pathogenic bacteria and selectively grow commensal bacteria is influenced by its carbohydrate structure. However, there are no published studies to our knowledge on the optimization of MOS structure for both pathogen binding and commensal bacterial growth. Therefore, the focus of this work is to (1) assess the effectiveness of MOS on in vitro agglutination of various pathogenic bacterial species and, (2) explore the impact of MOS carbohydrate structure on pathogen binding.
Characterization of MOS will be performed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS). To assess the ability of MOS to bind pathogenic bacteria, in vitro agglutination and growth inhibition assays will be performed. Prebiotic performance of MOS on commensal bacterial growth will be assessed using in vitro mixed culture analyses of both commensal and pathogenic bacterial species.
Protocol Abstract
This research will inform further investigations of the ability of prebiotics such as MOS to support intestinal health through the selective growth of commensal bacteria and binding of pathogenic bacteria, as a nutritional supplement and as an alternative to antibiotics.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
