Associations Between Dietary Energy Density in Mothers and Growth of Breastfeeding Infants During the First 4 Months of Life

#Body goals or #Bopo? Exposure to pregnancy and post-partum related social media images: Effects on the body image and mood of women in the peri-pregnancy period

Women who are pregnant or have recently given birth use social media where they may encounter content promoting appearance ideals or offering more realistic representations of the body during this unique period. To date, little is known regarding the ways in which different social media content may impact the body image and mood of women who are pregnant or postpartum. A sample of 261 participants aged 21-44, mean (SD) age = 31.79 (4.402), were randomly allocated online to view either thin-and-toned ideal or body positive social media content specific to the pregnancy and postpartum period, or a neutral travel condition. Findings revealed that exposure to the body positive images had positive effects on body image relative to the thin-and-toned ideal condition, as well as leading to increases in some indices of positive body image, while the thin-ideal images were harmful. Partial support emerged for the protective roles of body appreciation and low social media-related rumination among women exposed to the thin-and-toned ideal images. Social media content may be harmful or helpful to the body image and mood of pregnant and postpartum women, which is important given the documented relationships between maternal body image, mood, and maternal and infant outcomes.

Food insecurity, dietary acid load, dietary energy density and anthropometric indices among Iranian children

OBJECTIVES

Food insecurity significantly influences diet quality which in turn has an impact on individual health. This study aimed to determine the association of food insecurity, dietary energy density (DED), dietary acid load (DAL), and the anthropometric status of children.

STUDY DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

METHODS

This study was conducted in 788 6-year-old girls who were referred to health care centers affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences in the south of Tehran from October 2017 to March 2018. Food frequency questionnaires (168 food items) were assessed to calculate DAL and DED. Food insecurity was assessed using the 18-item United States Department of Agriculture questionnaire. Weight and height of children were measured as anthropometric indices.

RESULTS

Protein and energy intake were higher in participants with a higher DAL and DED, respectively. Energy, fat, carbohydrate, fiber, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, folate, vitamin B12, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acid intake was inversely related to DAL. Children characterized as food insecure were more likely to be defined as thin (OR 5.36; 95% CI 3.41-8.40) than overweight (OR 0.18; 95% CI 0.12-027) and obese (OR 0.28; 95% CI 0.08-0.98, respectively). There was no significant association between DED, potential renal acid load (PRAL), and food security status. Moreover, there was no significant association between anthropometric measure and PRAL.

CONCLUSION

Findings from our study revealed that there was no association between DAL and food insecurity. However, food insecure children were more likely to be characterized as thin than children categorized as food secure. More studies need to be performed in both genders to confirm our findings.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level V cross-sectional descriptive study.

Reproducibility and relative validity of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for the Chinese lactating mothers

Background

The dietary nutritional status of the lactating mothers is related to maternal health and has a significant impact on the growth and development of infants through the secretion of breast milk. The food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) is the most cost-effective dietary assessment method that can help obtain information on the usual dietary pattern of participants. Until now, the FFQs have been used for different populations in China, but there are few FFQs available for the lactating mothers. We aimed to develop a semi-quantitative, 156-item FFQ for the Chinese lactating mothers, and evaluate its reproducibility and relative validity.

Methods

A total of 112 lactating mothers completed two FFQs and one 3-d dietary record (3DR). The first FFQ (FFQ1) was conducted during postpartum at 60–65 days and the second FFQ (FFQ2) during subsequent follow-up at 5 weeks. The 3DR was completed with portion sizes assessed using photographs taken by the respondent before and after eating (instant photography) 1 week after FFQ1.

Results

For reproducibility, the Spearman’s correlation coefficients for food ranged from 0.34 to 0.68, and for nutrients from 0.25 to 0.61. Meanwhile, the intra-class correlation coefficients for food ranged from 0.48 to 0.87, and for nutrients from 0.27 to 0.70. For relative validity, the Spearman’s correlation coefficients for food ranged from 0.32 to 0.56, and for nutrients from 0.23 to 0.72. The energy-adjusted coefficients for food ranged from 0.26 to 0.55, and for nutrients from 0.22 to 0.47. Moreover, the de-attenuation coefficients for food ranged from 0.34 to 0.67, and for nutrients from 0.28 to 0.77. The Bland-Altman plots also showed reasonably acceptable agreement between the two methods.

Conclusions

This FFQ is a reasonably reproducible and a relative valid tool for assessing dietary intake of the Chinese lactating mothers.