Energy, added sugar, and saturated fat contributions of taxed beverages and foods in Mexico

Objective. To estimate the dietary contribution of taxed beverages and foods. Materials and methods. Using 24-hour diet recall data from the Ensanut 2012 (n=10 096), we estimated the contribution of the items which were taxed in 2014 to the total energy, added sugar, and saturated fat intakes in the entire sample and by sociodemographic characteristics. Results. The contributions for energy, added sugar, and saturated fat were found to be 5.5, 38.1, and 0.4%, respectively, for the taxed beverages, and 14.4, 23.8, and 21.4%, respectively, for the taxed foods. Children and adolescents (vs. adults), medium and high socioeconomic status (vs. low), urban area (vs. rural), and North and Center region (vs. South) had higher energy contribution of taxed beverages and foods. The energy contribution was similar between males and females. Conclusions. These taxes covered an important proportion of Mexicans’ diet and therefore have the potential to improve it meaningfully

Self-perception of dietary quality and adherence to food groups dietary recommendations among Mexican adults

Background Mexicans’ adherence to food group’s dietary recommendations is low and an inaccurate self-perception of dietary quality might perpetuate this low adherence. Our aim was to compare the intake and the adherence to the dietary recommendations for several food groups, subgroups, and to an overall Mexican Diet Quality Index (MxDQI), among those that perceived their diet as healthy vs. those that did not. Methods We analyzed data from 989 subjects 20–59 y old from the nationally representative Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey 2016. Dietary intake was collected with one 24-h recall and a repeated recall in 82 subjects. Self-perception of dietary quality was evaluated with the following question “Do you consider that your diet is healthy? (yes/no)”. We used the National Cancer Institute method to estimate the usual intake. We compared the mean intake adjusted by sociodemographic variables and the percentage of adherence according to the self-perception of dietary quality among the whole sample and in sociodemographic subpopulations. Results Sixty percent perceived their diet as healthy, and their adherence to recommendations was low [20% for fruits and vegetables, < 8% for legumes, seafood and SSBs, and ~ 50% for processed meats and high in saturated fat and/or added sugar (HSFAS) products]. The mean number of recommendations they met was 2.8 (out of 7) vs. 2.6 among the rest of the population (p > 0.05), and the MxDQI score was 40 vs. 37 (out of 100 points). The only food groups and subgroups with a statistically significant difference between those that perceived their diet as healthy vs. unhealthy were fruits [38 g/d (95% CI 3, 73)], fruit juices [27 g/d (95% CI 2, 52)], industrialized SSBs [− 35 kcal/d (− 70, − 1)] and salty snacks [− 40 kcal/d (− 79, − 1)]. Other differences were small or inconsistent across subgroups of the population. Conclusions Those that perceived their diet as healthy only had a slightly healthier diet than the rest of the population, moreover, their adherence to recommendations was very low. Hence, it is necessary to improve their nutrition knowledge

Do high vs. low purchasers respond differently to a nonessential energy-dense food tax? Two-year evaluation of Mexico's 8% nonessential food tax

It is unclear whether response to a nonessential food tax varies across time or for high vs. low-consuming households. The objective is to examine whether the effect of Mexico's 2014 8% nonessential energy-dense foods tax increased in the second year post-implementation and whether it differentially affected households by pre-tax purchasing pattern. We used longitudinal data on Mexican household food purchases (n = 6089 households) from 2012 to 2015. Households were classified based on median pre-tax purchases: low untaxed/low taxed (“low”), low untaxed/high taxed (“unhealthy”), high untaxed/low taxed (“healthy”), and high untaxed/high taxed (“high”) purchasers. Fixed effects models tested whether observed post-tax purchases differed from the counterfactual, or what would have been expected based on pre-tax trends. Post-tax declines in the % taxed food purchases increased from − 4.8% in year one to − 7.4% in year two, yielding a 2-year mean decline of 6.0% beyond the counterfactual (p < 0.01). Post-tax change in % taxed food purchases varied by pre-tax purchasing level. Healthy purchasers showed no post-tax change in % taxed food purchases beyond the counterfactual, while unhealthy, low and high purchasers decreased (− 12.3%, − 5.3% and − 4.4%, respectively) (p < 0.01). The positive effect of Mexico's junk food tax continued in the second year, and households with greater preferences for taxed foods showed a larger decline in taxed food purchases

The caloric and sugar content of beverages purchased at different store-types changed after the sugary drinks taxation in Mexico

Background: Following the 2014 sugary drinks tax implementation in Mexico, promising reduction in the volume of purchases of taxed beverages were observed overall and at different store-types. However, the tax's effects on purchasing patterns of calories and sugar remain unclear. Methods: Using longitudinal data from Mexican households (n = 7038), we examined changes in volume, calories and total sugar of packaged beverages purchased from 2012 to 2016 overall and by store-type. We used fixed effects models to estimate means for volume, calories, and sugar of households. To address the potential selectivity from households shopping at different stores, we calculated inverse probability weights to model the purchases changes over time by store-type. Results: For taxed beverages, the volume of purchases declined by-49 ml and-30 ml in the first year and second year post tax (2014 and 2015, respectively), while purchases leveled off in the third year of the tax (2016). Calories and sugar from taxed beverage purchases decreased over time, with the majority of the declines occurring in the first two years post-tax implementation. The volume of untaxed beverage purchases increased, whereas changes in calories and total sugar of untaxed beverages were minimal. Store level purchases of taxed beverages significantly decreased in the first two years post taxation (2014 and to 2015) only in supermarkets and traditional stores. The steepest declines in purchases of taxed beverages in 2014 were observed at supermarkets (-40 ml or-45%). The volume of purchases of untaxed beverages increased over time in almost all store-types, while calories and sugar minimally decreased over time. Conclusion: Although the Mexican tax on SSBs has lowered the purchases of sugary drinks 3 years after the tax implementation, the tax should be strengthened and store-specific interventions should be implemented to further reduce SSBs purchases in the Mexican population

Dietary Patterns and Cognitive Decline among Chinese Older Adults

Background: Prospective evidence of associations of dietary patterns with cognitive decline is limited and inconsistent. We examined how cognitive changes among Chinese older adults relate to either an adapted Mediterranean diet score or factor analysis-derived dietary patterns. Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised 1,650 adults ≥55 years of age, who completed a cognitive screening test at two or more waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey in 1997, 2000, or 2004. Outcomes were repeated measures of global cognitive scores, composite cognitive z scores (standardized units [SU]), and standardized verbal memory scores (SU). Baseline diet was measured by 24-hour recalls over 3 days. We used linear mixed effects models to evaluate how changes in cognitive scores were associated with adapted Mediterranean diet score and two dietary pattern scores derived from factor analysis. Results: Among adults ≥65 years of age, compared with participants in the lowest tertile of adapted Mediterranean diet, those in the highest tertile had a slower rate of cognitive decline (difference in mean SU change/year β = 0.042; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.002, 0.081). A wheat-based diverse diet derived by factor analysis shared features of the adapted Mediterranean diet, with the top tertile associated with slower annual decline in global cognitive function (β = 0.069 SU/year; 95% CI: 0.023, 0.114). We observed no associations among adults <65 years of age. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that an adapted Mediterranean diet or a wheat-based, diverse diet with similar components may reduce the rate of cognitive decline in later life in the Chinese population

Energy, added sugar, and saturated fat contributions of taxed beverages and foods in Mexico

Objective. To estimate the dietary contribution of taxed beverages and foods. Materials and methods. Using 24-hour diet recall data from the Ensanut 2012 (n=10 096), we estimated the contribution of the items which were taxed in 2014 to the total energy, added sugar, and saturated fat intakes in the entire sample and by sociodemographic characteristics. Results. The contributions for energy, added sugar, and saturated fat were found to be 5.5, 38.1, and 0.4%, respectively, for the taxed beverages, and 14.4, 23.8, and 21.4%, respectively, for the taxed foods. Children and adolescents (vs. adults), medium and high socioeconomic status (vs. low), urban area (vs. rural), and North and Center region (vs. South) had higher energy contribution of taxed beverages and foods. The energy contribution was similar between males and females. Conclusions. These taxes covered an important proportion of Mexicans’ diet and therefore have the potential to improve it meaningfully

Ultra-low DNA input into whole genome methylation assays and detection of oncogenic methylation and copy number variants in circulating tumour DNA

Background: Abnormal CpG methylation in cancer is ubiquitous and generally detected in tumour specimens using a variety of techniques at a resolution encompassing single CpG loci to genome wide coverage. Analysis of samples with very low DNA inputs, such as formalin fixed (FFPE) biopsy specimens from clinical trials or circulating tumour DNA is challenging at the genome-wide level because of lack of available input. We present the results of low input experiments into the Illumina Infinium HD methylation assay on FFPE specimens and ctDNA samples. Methods: For all experiments, the Infinium HD assay for methylation was used. In total, forty-eight FFPE specimens were used at varying concentrations (lowest input 50 ng); eighteen blood derived specimens (lowest input 10 ng) and six matched ctDNA input (lowest input 10 ng)/fresh tumour specimens (lowest input 250 ng) were processed. Downstream analysis was performed in R/Bioconductor for quality control metrics and differential methylation analysis as well as copy number calls. Results: Correlation coefficients for CpG methylation were high at the probe level averaged R2 = 0.99 for blood derived samples and R2 > 0.96 for the FFPE samples. When matched ctDNA/fresh tumour samples were compared, R2 > 0.91 between the two. Results of differential methylation analysis did not vary significantly by DNA input in either the blood or FFPE groups. There were differences seen in the ctDNA group as compared to their paired tumour sample, possibly because of enrichment for tumour material without contaminating normal. Copy number variants observed in the tumour were generally also seen in the paired ctDNA sample with good concordance via DQ plot. Conclusions: The Illumina Infinium HD methylation assay can robustly detect methylation across a range of sample types, including ctDNA, down to an input of 10 ng. It can also reliably detect oncogenic methylation changes and copy number variants in ctDNA. These findings demonstrate that these samples can now be accessed by methylation array technology, allowing analysis of these important sample types

There's an App for That:Development of an Application to Operationalize the Global Diet Quality Score

BACKGROUND: The global diet quality score (GDQS) is a simple, standardized metric appropriate for population-based measurement of diet quality globally.OBJECTIVES: We aimed to operationalize data collection by modifying the quantity of consumption cutoffs originally developed for the GDQS food groups and to statistically evaluate the performance of the operationalized GDQS relative to the original GDQS against nutrient adequacy and noncommunicable disease (NCD)-related outcomes.METHODS: The GDQS application uses a 24-h open-recall to collect a full list of all foods consumed during the previous day or night, and automatically classifies them into corresponding GDQS food group. Respondents use a set of 10 cubes in a range of predetermined sizes to determine if the quantity consumed per GDQS food group was below, or equal to or above food group-specific cutoffs established in grams. Because there is only a total of 10 cubes but as many as 54 cutoffs for the GDQS food groups, the operationalized cutoffs differ slightly from the original GDQS cutoffs.RESULTS: A secondary analysis using 5 cross-sectional datasets comparing the GDQS with the original and operationalized cutoffs showed that the operationalized GDQS remained strongly correlated with nutrient adequacy and was equally sensitive to anthropometric and other clinical measures of NCD risk. In a secondary analysis of a longitudinal cohort study of Mexican teachers, there were no differences between the 2 modalities with the beta coefficients per 1 SD change in the original and operationalized GDQS scores being nearly identical for weight gain (-0.37 and -0.36, respectively, P &lt; 0.001 for linear trend for both models) and of the same clinical order of magnitude for waist circumference (-0.52 and -0.44, respectively, P &lt; 0.001 for linear trend for both models).CONCLUSION: The operationalized GDQS cutoffs did not change the performance of the GDQS and therefore are recommended for use to collect GDQS data in the future.</p

Percepción etnobotánica de los campesinos sobre la flora arvense en fincas de la agricultura suburbana en Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

Currently the weed species are a resource to conserve. The objective was to evaluate the ethnobotanical perception of the peasants about the weed flora in farms of suburban agriculture in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. An ethnobotanical study was developed and the percentage of known species, percentage of species per management action and the percentage of weed species with potential utility was determined. The spectrum of use, the categories of use and the species richness by category were also taken into account. The weed species found in each of the farms were identified by at least 60% of the producers conferring more than 70% of this flora potential utilities such as medicinal, animal feed and agricultural. Although different forms of management for these species were identified, more than 40% are eliminated regardless of the potential benefits that productive systems can bring to this.Actualmente las especies arvenses son un recurso a conservar. El objetivo fue evaluar la percepción etnobotánica de los campesinos sobre la flora arvense en fincas de la agricultura suburbana en Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Se desarrolló un estudio etnobotánico y se determinó el porcentaje de especies conocidas, porcentaje de especies por acción de manejo y el porcentaje de especies arvenses con utilidad potencial. También se tuvo en cuenta el espectro de uso, las categorías de uso y la riqueza de especies por categoría. Las especies arvenses que se encuentran en cada una de las fincas fueron identificadas por al menos el 60% de los productores confiriéndoles a más del 70% de esta flora utilidades potenciales como medicinal, alimento animal y agrícola. Aunque se identificaron diferentes formas de manejo para estas especies, más del 40% resultan eliminadas independientemente de los beneficios potenciales que puedan aportar a estos sistemas productivos