The Journal of nutrition
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The Journal of nutrition · May 2013
School meals participation and weekday dietary quality were associated after controlling for weekend eating among U.S. school children aged 6 to 17 years.
Prior research has shown positive associations between participation in school meals and some dietary measures, but the evidence is equivocal. Few prior studies have used methodological approaches that address underlying differences in food preferences and health beliefs between school meals participants and nonparticipants, resulting in the potential for selection bias to influence results. This study estimated relationships among school meals participation and weekday energy intake and dietary quality, controlling for weekend dietary intake as a proxy for food preferences and health beliefs. ⋯ Low-income children who ate school breakfast and lunch had significantly higher total HEI, and total grain, and meat and beans component scores. Conversely, higher income participants had significantly lower scores for total grains, whole grains, and saturated fat. Changes to the content of school meals may differentially affect weekday dietary intake of low-income and higher income participants.
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The Journal of nutrition · Feb 2013
Comparative StudySpecific infant feeding practices do not consistently explain variation in anthropometry at age 1 year in urban United States, Mexico, and China cohorts.
Infant feeding practices generally influence infant growth, but it is unclear how introduction of specific foods affects growth across global populations. We studied 3 urban populations in the Global Exploration of Human Milk study to determine the association between infant feeding and anthropometry at 1 y of age. Three hundred sixty-five breastfeeding mother-infant pairs (120 US, 120 China, and 125 Mexico) were recruited soon after the infant's birth. ⋯ Adjusting for nonfeeding covariates, the only feeding variable associated with anthropometry was EBF duration, which was modestly inversely associated with weight-for-age but not length-for-age or BMI Z-scores at 1 y. Although feeding variables differed by cohort, their impact on anthropometry differences was not consistent among cohorts. Overall, across these urban, international, breast-fed cohorts, differences in specific feeding practices did not explain the significant variation in anthropometry.
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The Journal of nutrition · Dec 2012
Cooking enhances but the degree of ripeness does not affect provitamin A carotenoid bioavailability from bananas in Mongolian gerbils.
Banana is a staple crop in many regions where vitamin A deficiency is prevalent, making it a target for provitamin A biofortification. However, matrix effects may limit provitamin A bioavailability from bananas. The retinol bioefficacies of unripe and ripe bananas (study 1A), unripe high-provitamin A bananas (study 1B), and raw and cooked bananas (study 2) were determined in retinol-depleted Mongolian gerbils (n = 97/study) using positive and negative controls. ⋯ Body weights did not differ even though gerbils ate more green, ripe, and raw bananas than cooked, suggesting a greater indigestible component. In conclusion, thermal processing, but not ripening, improves the retinol bioefficacy of bananas. Food matrix modification affects carotenoid bioavailability from provitamin A biofortification targets.
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The Journal of nutrition · Dec 2012
A proposal for an upper limit of leucine safe intake in healthy adults.
Based on recent research, an upper limit of safe intake (ULSI) for leucine is proposed for healthy adults: 0.53 g/(kg·d). Because leucine has been used as a dietary supplement for many years in people practicing exercise and sport, further study with long-term exposure to leucine in this specific subpopulation should be performed to eventually adjust the ULSI.
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The Journal of nutrition · Sep 2012
Comparative StudyTotal fat intake is associated with decreased mortality in Japanese men but not in women.
Dietary guidelines generally recommend avoiding a high-fat diet. However, the relationship between fat subtypes and mortality remains unclear especially in a population with a relatively low intake of fat. We aimed to prospectively examine the relationship between dietary fat intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a Japanese community. ⋯ Both fats were associated with a decrease in mortality from cancer and diseases other than cardiovascular disease. In women, a higher SFA intake was associated with higher all-cause mortality [HR = 1.22 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.49; P-trend = 0.03)]. A favorable effect was suggested for total fat and PUFA intakes on mortality in men except for that from cardiovascular disease, whereas increased SFA intake may be associated with adverse health consequences in women.