The relationship between nutritional knowledge and the consumption frequency of preferred food-types was studied among one sample of Uruguayan consumers. A locally-adapted version of Parmenter & ...Wardle’s General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire and a food consumption survey based on 39 food groups were completed by a total of 270 participants. Cluster Analysis enabled the identification of two clusters showing different levels of nutritional knowledge —cluster 1 (n = 177) and cluster 2 (n = 93), providing an average of 73.6% and 52.9% of correct answers, respectively. These clusters differed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) in age and educational distribution —cluster 1 was composed mainly by older adults and persons with a higher educational level. A number of areas were identified where nutritional knowledge was extremely poor, as was the case with the recommended daily fruit and vegetable intake and the caloric content of the nutrients. Overall, nutritional knowledge was found to have a positive influence on food preferences and consumption frequency, those participants with a higher nutritional knowledge reporting a higher consumption of fruits, vegetables and low-fat products, in addition to a lower consumption of high-fat and high-sugar foods. El presente estudio investiga los conocimientos nutricionales de una muestra de la población de consumidores en Uruguay y su frecuencia de consumo de alimentos. 270 individuos completaron una adaptación local del General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire de Parmenter & Wardle y contestaron una encuesta sobre su frecuencia de consumo de 39 grupos de alimentos. Por medio de un Análisis de Conglomerados se identificaron 2 grupos de participantes con diferente nivel de conocimientos nutricionales: el clúster 1 (n = 177) y el clúster 2 (n = 93), quienes proporcionaron un valor promedio de 73.6% y 52.9% de respuestas correctas, respectivamente. Los grupos se diferenciaron en forma significativa (p ≤ 0.05) en su distribución por edad y nivel de educación, estando el clúster 1 compuesto principalmente por adultos mayores y con mayor nivel de estudios. Algunas áreas del conocimiento fueron extremadamente pobres, como ser el conocimiento sobre el número de porciones de frutas y verduras que se deberían consumir por día y el aporte calórico de los distintos nutrientes. En términos generales, los conocimientos nutricionales influyeron positivamente en la frecuencia de consumo de alimentos, dado que la población que presentó mayores conocimientos nutricionales declaró un mayor consumo de frutas y verduras y de alimentos de bajo tenor graso y un menor consumo de alimentos con alto contenido de grasas y azúcares.
Abstract
Context
Individual patients vary in their response to growth hormone (GH). No large-scale genome-wide studies have looked for genetic predictors of GH responsiveness.
Objective
To identify ...genetic variants associated with GH responsiveness.
Design
Genome-wide association study (GWAS).
Setting
Cohorts from multiple academic centers and a clinical trial.
Patients
A total of 614 individuals from 5 short stature cohorts receiving GH: 297 with idiopathic short stature, 276 with isolated GH deficiency, and 65 born small for gestational age.
Intervention
Association of more than 2 million variants was tested.
Main Outcome Measures
Primary analysis: individual single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) association with first-year change in height standard deviation scores. Secondary analyses: SNP associations in clinical subgroups adjusted for clinical variables; association of polygenic score calculated from 697 genome-wide significant height SNPs with GH responsiveness.
Results
No common variant associations reached genome-wide significance in the primary analysis. The strongest suggestive signals were found near the B4GALT4 and TBCE genes. After meta-analysis including replication data, signals at several loci reached or retained genome-wide significance in secondary analyses, including variants near ST3GAL6. There was no significant association with variants previously reported to be associated with GH response nor with a polygenic predicted height score.
Conclusions
We performed the largest GWAS of GH responsiveness to date. We identified 2 loci with a suggestive effect on GH responsiveness in our primary analysis and several genome-wide significant associations in secondary analyses that require further replication. Our results are consistent with a polygenic component to GH responsiveness, likely distinct from the genetic regulators of adult height.
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