Session 2: Other diseases: Dietary management of osteoporosis throughout the life course

Nutritional status, dietary quality and eating disturbance issues among people with dementia in Vietnam: evidence of a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Due to cognitive impairments, people with dementia (PWD) often have difficulties in eating and drinking. This study aimed to assess the nutritional status, dietary quality and eating disturbance issues among PWD in Vietnam.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study at the Vietnamese National Geriatric Hospital from April to December 2022. We used Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) to classify the severity levels of dementia. Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), 24-hour recall, eating disturbance questionnaires, and anthropometric indicators were used to evaluate the nutritional status, dietary quality, and eating disorders of study subjects.

RESULTS

Overall, among 63 study participants, 74.6 per cent of PWD were at risk of or having malnutrition. By dementia classification according to MMSE scale, people with moderate and severe dementia accounted for 53.3 per cent of those who met the recommended energy levels, compared to 42.4 per cent of people with mild dementia and normal people. In the above two groups, around three per cent of participants reached the recommended amount of fibre. Calcium (50-70%), vitamin A (80-90%), and D (90%) were found to be the most severe deficiency forms of minerals and vitamins in both male and female participants. The majority of participants (90.5%) had at least one form of eating disorders with the most frequent issue being appetite changes (76.2%) and swallowing issues (50.8%).

CONCLUSIONS

PWD in our sample frequently experienced malnutrition, a lack of essential nutrients, difficulties swallowing, changes in eating habits and appetite. It is neccesary to early screen and assess nutritional status and swallowing disturbance in PWD, and instruct their caregivers to prepare nutritious meals for them.

Subjective evaluation of the frequency of coffee intake and relationship to osteoporosis in Chinese men

BACKGROUND

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations between frequency of coffee intake and osteoporosis (OP) in a general Chinese male sample.

METHODS

We conducted a large-scale, community-based, cross-sectional study to investigate the associations by using a self-report questionnaire to estimate the frequency of coffee intake. A total of 992 men were available for data analysis in this study. Multiple regression models controlling for confounding factors to include frequency of coffee intake variable were performed to investigate the relationships for OP.

RESULTS

Positive correlations between frequency of coffee intake and T-score were reported (β = 0.211, P = 0.024). Multiple regression analysis indicated that the frequency of coffee intake was significantly associated with OP (P < 0.05 for model 1 and model 2). The men with moderate frequency of coffee intake had a lower prevalence of OP.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicated that consumption of coffee was independently and significantly associated with OP. The prevalence of OP was less frequent in Chinese men with moderate coffee intake.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02451397.

Growing Strong and Healthy with Mister Bone: An Educational Program to Have Strong Bones Later in Life

Optimal peak bone mass and bone health later in life are favored by a sufficient calcium intake in infancy, childhood and adolescence. The purpose of this study was to test a new educational program created to monitor and to improve calcium and vitamin D intake in children. Nutritional habits in children were evaluated through a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess the intake of calcium, vitamin D, dairy products, and total caloric energy at baseline and after seven months of exposure to a unique educational program applied between November 2013 and May 2014 in 176 schoolchildren (48% male, 52% female) attending the fourth and fifth grades of two selected primary schools in Florence, Italy. A significant increase of calcium (from 870 ± 190 to 1100 ± 200 mg/day, p < 0.05), and vitamin D (from 3.6 ± 1.53 to 4.1 ± 2 µg/day) intake in children was documented after the educational program. The amount of specific foods important for bone health consumed, such as milk and vegetables, increased significantly, both in male and female children (p < 0.05). The proposed educational program appears to be effective in modifying calcium intake in children, with a significant increase in the consumption of dairy products and vegetables, but without a significant change in the total caloric intake.

A Review of Vitamin D Fortification: Implications for Nutrition Programming in Southeast Asia

Background

Vitamin D is vital for bone health and has important roles in nonskeletal health and organ function. Most vitamin D is generated in the body by exposure to sunlight, with limited amounts added by the diet. Despite the presence of regular sunshine in Southeast Asia, vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency is being found there more commonly, primarily due to reduction of sunlight exposure as a result of lifestyle changes. Some of these lifestyle changes are unlikely to be reversed, and foods naturally containing vitamin D are not widely consumed, so fortification of foods with vitamin D may raise vitamin D status.

Methods

The literature database was searched for studies of vitamin D fortification, and we estimated potential vitamin D intakes from fortified vegetable oil.

Results

Almost all of the studies showed that circulating vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D [(25OHD]) increased in a dose-dependent manner with increased intake of vitamin D–fortified foods. However, in a number of studies the additional intake was insufficient to increase vitamin D levels to 50 nmol/L. Vegetable oil fortified with vitamin D at a level of 10 μg/100 g could provide 3.9% to 21% of the Institute of Medicine Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) of vitamin D for adults in Southeast Asia.

Conclusions

Fortification of widely consumed foods, such as edible oil, with vitamin D could contribute to improved vitamin D status in Southeast Asian countries. Intake modeling studies should be conducted to calculate the resulting additional intakes, and fortification of additional foods should be considered. More nationally representative studies of vitamin D status in the region are urgently needed.

Hypovitaminosis D and mild hypocalcaemia are highly prevalent among young Vietnamese children and women and related to low dietary intake

Introduction

In many developing countries including Vietnam, data are lacking on vitamin D and calcium deficiencies whereas those deficiencies can play an important role in the development of bone health and possibly non-communicable diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine the overall prevalence of vitamin D and calcium deficiencies in women and young children and their nutritional related risk factors.

Methods

A cross-sectional study conducted among 595 women of reproductive age and 532 children <5 years from 19 provinces of Vietnam. For each individual, data concerning daily diet, socioeconomic group, anthropometric status were obtained, and plasma concentrations of calcium and vitamin D were measured.

Results

The prevalence of hypovitaminosis D status was very high, with the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D<30 nmol/L) and insufficiency (25(OH)D between 30–49.9 nmol/L) being 17% and 40% in women and 21% and 37% in children, respectively. Using more liberal cut-off of 75 nmol/L, approximately 90% of the women and children were classified as having hypovitaminosis D. Overweight/obese women had a 2 times lower risk (OR = 0.46, [0.24–0.90]) for vitamin D deficiency than non-overweight and non-obese women. No participant had severe calcium deficiency but moderate and mild hypocalcaemia (plasma calcium concentrations between 1.15-0.9 mmol/L for mild deficiency and between 0.9-0.8 mmol/L for moderate deficiency) affected respectively 14% and 83% of the women with 97% of the children having mild hypocalcaemia. Women and children consumed about 1% of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended nutrient intake (RNI) for vitamin D and less than 43% of the RNI for calcium.

Conclusion

Our study suggests that calcium and vitamin D deficiencies represent a major public health concern in Vietnam. Thus, actions to improve the vitamin D and calcium status of the Vietnamese population should be considered.

Vitamins and minerals for women: recent programs and intervention trials

Women's nutrition has received little attention in nutrition programming, even though clinical trials and intervention trials have suggested that dietary improvement or supplementation with several nutrients may improve their health, especially in low-income settings, the main focus of this paper. Most attention so far has focused on how improvements in maternal nutrition can improve health outcomes for infants and young children. Adequate vitamin D and calcium nutrition throughout life may reduce the risk of osteoporosis, and calcium supplementation during pregnancy may reduce preeclampsia and low birth weight. To reduce neural tube defects, additional folic acid and possibly vitamin B(12) need to be provided to non-deficient women before they know they are pregnant. This is best achieved by fortifying a staple food. It is unclear whether maternal vitamin A supplementation will lead to improved health outcomes for mother or child. Iron, iodine and zinc supplementation are widely needed for deficient women. Multimicronutrient supplementation (MMS) in place of the more common iron-folate supplements given in pregnancy in low-income countries may slightly increase birth weight, but its impact on neonatal mortality and other outcomes is unclear. More sustainable alternative approaches deserve greater research attention.