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Papadima EI, Vassilakou T, Grigoriadis T, Boutsiadis A, Ivanidou S, Kalampalikis A, Michala L. Nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of Greek menopausal women. Menopause 2024; 31:415-429. [PMID: 38564702 DOI: 10.1097/gme.0000000000002342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Nutritional guidelines for postmenopausal women differ. This study aimed to assess postmenopausal women's knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding nutrition during menopause and their dietary habits. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted in a menopause clinic, and data from 105 women were analyzed. A nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions (KAP) questionnaire was designed, structured, and piloted before implementation, based on the Hellenic dietary guidelines. International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Greek version, MedDietScore, and Menopause-specific Quality of Life questionnaires were administered. RESULTS The mean ± SD age of the women was 56.9 ± 4.6 years. The mean ± SD KAP score was 12.2 ± 3.5. Those who lived in rural areas had lower KAP scores than those who lived in urban areas ( P = 0.004). Of all the women, 74.5% knew the Mediterranean diet pyramid, whereas 9.8% knew the Hellenic dietary guidelines. Women who had read the guidelines showed better knowledge of Mediterranean diet food groups (Pearson, 0.309; P = 0.039). Knowledge of dairy services was correlated with consumption of dairy products ( P = 0.002). Furthermore, 76.4% were willing to participate in nutrition education programs. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire score was positively correlated with years of smoking ( P = 0.002). Physical activity correlated with adherence to the Mediterranean diet ( P = 0.044). CONCLUSIONS The majority of postmenopausal Greek women in this study were unaware of the Hellenic dietary guidelines. In general, women's knowledge of nutrition during menopause was moderate. Greek postmenopausal women are willing to participate in nutrition education programs, which should raise awareness of healthy lifestyles through nutrition, exercise, and smoking cessation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evgenia-Ioanna Papadima
- From the 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Alexandra General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Tonia Vassilakou
- Department of Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
| | - Themos Grigoriadis
- From the 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Alexandra General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | | | - Sofia Ivanidou
- From the 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Alexandra General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Andreas Kalampalikis
- From the 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Alexandra General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Lina Michala
- From the 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Alexandra General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
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Engelbrecht HR, Merrill SM, Gladish N, MacIsaac JL, Lin DTS, Ecker S, Chrysohoou CA, Pes GM, Kobor MS, Rehkopf DH. Sex differences in epigenetic age in Mediterranean high longevity regions. FRONTIERS IN AGING 2022; 3:1007098. [PMID: 36506464 PMCID: PMC9726738 DOI: 10.3389/fragi.2022.1007098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Sex differences in aging manifest in disparities in disease prevalence, physical health, and lifespan, where women tend to have greater longevity relative to men. However, in the Mediterranean Blue Zones of Sardinia (Italy) and Ikaria (Greece) are regions of centenarian abundance, male-female centenarian ratios are approximately one, diverging from the typical trend and making these useful regions in which to study sex differences of the oldest old. Additionally, these regions can be investigated as examples of healthy aging relative to other populations. DNA methylation (DNAm)-based predictors have been developed to assess various health biomarkers, including biological age, Pace of Aging, serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), and telomere length. Epigenetic clocks are biological age predictors whose deviation from chronological age has been indicative of relative health differences between individuals, making these useful tools for interrogating these differences in aging. We assessed sex differences between the Horvath, Hannum, GrimAge, PhenoAge, Skin and Blood, and Pace of Aging predictors from individuals in two Mediterranean Blue Zones and found that men displayed positive epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) compared to women according to all clocks, with significantly greater rates according to GrimAge (β = 3.55; p = 1.22 × 10-12), Horvath (β = 1.07; p = 0.00378) and the Pace of Aging (β = 0.0344; p = 1.77 × 10-08). Other DNAm-based biomarkers findings indicated that men had lower DNAm-predicted serum IL-6 scores (β = -0.00301, p = 2.84 × 10-12), while women displayed higher DNAm-predicted proportions of regulatory T cells than men from the Blue Zone (p = 0.0150, 95% Confidence Interval [0.00131, 0.0117], Cohen's d = 0.517). All clocks showed better correlations with chronological age in women from the Blue Zones than men, but all clocks showed large mean absolute errors (MAE >30 years) in both sexes, except for PhenoAge (MAE <5 years). Thus, despite their equal survival to older ages in these Mediterranean Blue Zones, men in these regions remain biologically older by most measured DNAm-derived metrics than women, with the exception of the IL-6 score and proportion of regulatory T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah-Ruth Engelbrecht
- Edwin S. H. Leong Healthy Aging Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Sarah M. Merrill
- Edwin S. H. Leong Healthy Aging Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Nicole Gladish
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States
| | - Julie L. MacIsaac
- Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - David T. S. Lin
- Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Simone Ecker
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Giovanni M. Pes
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Michael S. Kobor
- Edwin S. H. Leong Healthy Aging Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,*Correspondence: Michael S. Kobor, ; David H. Rehkopf,
| | - David H. Rehkopf
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States,*Correspondence: Michael S. Kobor, ; David H. Rehkopf,
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