Ideal cardiovascular health and inflammation in European adolescents: The HELENA study

Background and aims Inflammation plays a key role in atherosclerosis and this process seems to appear in childhood. The ideal cardiovascular health index (ICHI) has been inversely related to atherosclerotic plaque in adults. However, evidence regarding inflammation and ICHI in adolescents is scarce. The aim is to assess the association between ICHI and inflammation in European adolescents. Methods and results As many as 543 adolescents (251 boys and 292 girls) from the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study, a cross-sectional multi-center study including 9 European countries, were measured. C-reactive protein (CRP), complement factors C3 and C4, leptin and white blood cell counts were used to compute an inflammatory score. Multilevel linear models and multilevel logistic regression were used to assess the association between ICHI and inflammation controlling by covariates. Higher ICHI was associated with a lower inflammatory score, as well as with several individual components, both in boys and girls (p < 0.01). In addition, adolescents with at least 4 ideal components of the ICHI had significantly lower inflammatory score and lower levels of the study biomarkers, except CRP. Finally, the multilevel logistic regression showed that for every unit increase in the ICHI, the probability of having an inflammatory profile decreased by 28.1% in girls. Conclusion Results from this study suggest that a better ICHI is associated with a lower inflammatory profile already in adolescence. Improving these health behaviors, and health factors included in the ICHI, could play an important role in CVD prevention

Contributions of mean and shape of blood pressure distribution to worldwide trends and variations in raised blood pressure: a pooled analysis of 1018 population-based measurement studies with 88.6 million participants

Background Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and prevalence of raised blood pressure by sex and 10-year age group from 20–29?years to 70–79?years in each study, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights, where relevant. We used a linear mixed effect model to quantify the association between (probit-transformed) prevalence of raised blood pressure and age-group- and sex-specific mean blood pressure. We calculated the contributions of change in mean SBP and DBP, and of change in the prevalence-mean association, to the change in prevalence of raised blood pressure. Results In 2005–16, at the same level of population mean SBP and DBP, men and women in South Asia and in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa would have the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure, and men and women in the high-income Asia Pacific and high-income Western regions would have the lowest. In most region-sex-age groups where the prevalence of raised blood pressure declined, one half or more of the decline was due to the decline in mean blood pressure. Where prevalence of raised blood pressure has increased, the change was entirely driven by increasing mean blood pressure, offset partly by the change in the prevalence-mean association. Conclusions Change in mean blood pressure is the main driver of the worldwide change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure, but change in the high-blood-pressure tail of the distribution has also contributed to the change in prevalence, especially in older age groups

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022 : a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

A list of authors and their affiliations appears online. A supplementary appendix is herewith attached.Background: Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods: We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI 2 SD above the median). Findings: From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation: The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesity.peer-reviewe

Personalised Nutrition: Updates, Gaps and Next Steps

Personalised nutrition approaches provide healthy eating advice tailored to the nutritional needs of the individual[...]</jats:p

Prospective BMI changes in preschool children are associated with parental characteristics and body weight perceptions: the ToyBox-study

AbstractObjective:To examine the effect of the intervention implemented in the ToyBox-study on changes observed in age- and sex-specific BMI percentile and investigate the role of perinatal factors, parental perceptions and characteristics on this change.Design:A multicomponent, kindergarten-based, family-involved intervention with a cluster-randomised design. A standardised protocol was used to measure children’s body weight and height. Information was also collected from parents/caregivers via the use of validated questionnaires. Linear mixed effect models with random intercept for country, socio-economic status and school were used.Setting:Selected preschools within the provinces of Oost-Flanders and West-Flanders (Belgium), Varna (Bulgaria), Bavaria (Germany), Attica (Greece), Mazowieckie (Poland) and Zaragoza (Spain).Participants:A sample of 6268 preschoolers aged 3·5–5·5 years (51·9 % boys).Results:There was no intervention effect on the change in children’s BMI percentile. However, parents’ underestimation of their children’s actual weight status, parental overweight and mothers’ pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity were found to be significantly and independently associated with increases in children’s BMI percentile in multivariate modelling.Conclusions:As part of a wide public health initiative or as part of a counseling intervention programme, it is important to assist parents/caregivers to correctly perceive their own and their children’s weight status. Recognition of excessive weight by parents/caregivers can increase their readiness to change and as such facilitate higher adherence to favourable behavioural changes within the family.</jats:sec

Lipidemic Profile Changes over a Two-Year Intervention Period: Who Benefited Most from the Feel4Diabetes Program?

Identification of participants’ characteristics who benefited most from large community-based intervention studies may guide future prevention initiatives in order to maximize their effectiveness. The current study aimed to examine the socio-demographic, anthropometric, and behavioral characteristics, as well as the health and eating perceptions of those who improved their lipidemic profile, in the Feel4Diabetes early screening and prevention program. In the present analyses, 1773 adults from families at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were enrolled, receiving either the standard care or the more intensive intervention, and 33.3–55.2% of them improved one or more of their lipidemic indices by &gt;5%. Women, people living in Southeastern Europe, coming from two-parent families, having higher financial security, educational level and better diet quality were associated with a 27–64% higher likelihood for benefiting from the program regarding one or more of their lipidemic profile indices. Participants who were overweight or obese (especially with central obesity), employed, with prolonged sedentary behavior, prone to emotional eating and perceiving their weight status as lower than their actual weight were 24–43% less likely to have benefited. These findings should guide future interventions, prioritizing regions in greater need, and being tailor-made to specific population characteristics in order to further improve their effectiveness.</jats:p

Prevalence of Childhood Obesity by Country, Family Socio-Demographics, and Parental Obesity in Europe: The Feel4Diabetes Study

The Feel4Diabetes study recruited 12,193 children (age: 8.20 ±1.01 years) and their parents from six European countries as part of the broader attempt to prevent type 2 diabetes. The current work collected data pre-intervention to identify the prevalence of childhood obesity by country and describe its association with socio-demographic characteristics and parental obesity status. One in four children were overweight or obese, and one in four families had at least one obese parent. Multivariate logistic regression examined the associations between childhood obesity, family socio-demographics, and parental obesity status. Children had a higher chance of being overweight or obese if they were living in “low income” countries (OR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.62, 2.74) and countries “under economic crisis” (OR: 2.48, 95% CI: 1.89, 3.24) compared to “high-income” countries; if their fathers completed fewer than nine years of education (OR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.54, 3.05) compared to children whose fathers had a higher level (&gt;14 years) of education; and if one (OR: 2.46, 95% CI: 0.32, 0.62) or both of their parents (OR: 6.83, 95% CI: 5.15, 9.05) were obese. Future childhood obesity prevention-programs should target the whole family while taking into consideration the socioeconomic and weight status of parents. Future research should examine these associations in more countries and in socio-demographically diverse populations in order to facilitate the generalisability of the present study’s findings.</jats:p