Association of dairy intake with weight change in adolescents undergoing obesity treatment

A review of dairy food intake for improving health among black children and adolescents in the US

Adequate nutrition during childhood and adolescence is crucial for proper neurological, musculoskeletal, immunological, and cardiometabolic health and development. Yet, disparities among socially underserved racial/ethnic groups in the United States (US) provide significant challenges to achieving adequate nutrition during these years of rapid growth and maturation. For example, Black children and adolescents are at greater risk for having food insecurity, lower-quality diets, obesity, and numerous associated health challenges that result from these disparities compared to their White peers. A growing body of evidence indicates that improving diet quality is critical for improving childhood and adolescent health and well-being, and that the diverse nutritional profile and bioactive compounds found within dairy foods may play multiple roles in promoting proper growth and development during these life stages. Therefore, to support overall health and development among Black youth, greater education and implementation efforts are needed to help this population meet the national dietary recommendations of 2.5 to 3 servings of dairy foods per day. Continuing to fall short of these recommendations puts Black children and adolescents at risk of multiple nutrient inadequacies and health disparities that can have lifelong impacts on disease development, mental health, and quality of life. This review presents the state of knowledge on health disparities and modifiable nutritional strategies involving milk and dairy foods to support the growth and maturation of children and adolescents, with a special focus on Black youth in the US.

Dairy products and constituents: a review of their effects on obesity and related metabolic diseases

Obesity has become a global public health problem that seriously affects the quality of life. As an important part of human diet, dairy products contain a large number of nutrients that are essential for maintaining human health, such as proteins, peptides, lipids, vitamins, and minerals. A growing number of epidemiological investigations provide strong evidence on dairy interventions for weight loss in overweight/obese populations. Therefore, this paper outlines the relationship between the consumption of different dairy products and obesity and related metabolic diseases. In addition, we dive into the mechanisms related to the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism by functional components in dairy products and the interaction with gut microbes. Lastly, the role of dairy products on obesity of children and adolescents is revisited. We conclude that whole dairy products exert more beneficial effect than single milk constituent on alleviating obesity and that dairy matrix has important implications for metabolic health.

Gut Microbiome Diversity and Composition Are Associated with Habitual Dairy Intakes: A Cross-Sectional Study in Men

BACKGROUND

At a population level, the relation between dairy consumption and gut microbiome composition is poorly understood.

OBJECTIVES

We sought to study the cross-sectional associations between individual dairy foods (i.e., milk, yogurt, and cheese), as well as total dairy intake, and the gut microbiome composition in a large, representative sample of men living in south-eastern Australia.

METHODS

Data on 474 men (mean ± SD: 64.5 ± 13.5 y old) from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study were used to assess the cross-sectional association between dairy consumption and gut microbiome. Information on dairy intake was self-reported. Men were categorized as consumers and nonconsumers of milk, yogurt, cheese, and high- and low-fat milk. Milk, yogurt, and cheese intakes were summed to calculate the total dairy consumed per day and categorized into either low (<2.5 servings/d) or high (≥2.5 servings/d) total dairy groups. Fecal samples were analyzed using bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. After assessment of α and β diversity, differential abundance analysis was performed to identify bacterial taxa associated with each of milk, yogurt, and cheese consumption compared with nonconsumption, low compared with high total dairy, and low- compared with high-fat milk consumption. All analyses were adjusted for potential confounders.

RESULTS

α Diversity was not associated with consumption of any of the dairy groups. Differences in β diversity were observed between milk and yogurt consumption compared with nonconsumption. Taxa belonging to the genera Ruminococcaceae UCG-010 and Bifidobacterium showed negative and weak positive associations with milk consumption, respectively. A taxon from the genus Streptococcus was positively associated with yogurt consumption, whereas a taxon from the genus Eisenbergiella was negatively associated with cheese consumption. No specific taxa were associated with low- compared with high-fat milk nor low compared with high total dairy consumption.

CONCLUSIONS

In men, community-level microbiome differences were observed between consumers and nonconsumers of milk and yogurt. Bacterial taxon-level associations were detected with milk, yogurt, and cheese consumption. Total dairy consumption was not associated with any microbiome measures, suggesting that individual dairy foods may have differential roles in shaping the gut microbiome in men.

The Associations between Dairy Product Consumption and Biomarkers of Inflammation, Adipocytokines, and Oxidative Stress in Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

The association between dairy product consumption and biomarkers of inflammation, adipocytokines, and oxidative stress is poorly studied in children. Therefore, these associations were examined in a representative subsample of 1338 schoolchildren with a mean age of 11.5 (±0.7) years in the Healthy Growth Study. Information on dairy product consumption was collected by dietary recalls. Total dairy consumption was calculated by summing the intake of milk, yogurt, and cheese. Inflammatory markers, i.e., high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and adipocytokines, i.e., leptin, adiponectin, and the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were analysed. Due to the skewed distribution hs-CRP, IL-6, and leptin were log transformed. Multivariable regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, energy intake, physical activity, parental education, Tanner stage, and fat mass were used to assess the associations between consumption of total dairy, milk, yogurt, cheese, and markers of inflammation, adipocytokines, oxidative stress, and adiponectin-leptin ratio. Our results showed that milk consumption was inversely associated with leptin (β: -0.101; 95% CI: -0.177, -0.025, p = 0.009) and positively associated with the adiponectin-leptin ratio (β: 0.116; 95% CI: 0.020, 0.211; p = 0.018), while total dairy, cheese, and yogurt consumption were not associated with inflammatory, adipocytokine, or antioxidant markers. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these results.

Association between Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Physical Fitness with Body Composition Parameters in 1717 European Adolescents: The AdolesHealth Study

Obesity, low levels of physical fitness, and unhealthy eating patterns are responsible for part of the health problems of adolescents today. The current study aimed at examining the association between the adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), through each answer to the items of the Adherence to the MD Questionnaire (KIDMED), and physical fitness with body composition parameters (body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat, and waist circumference) in 1717 European adolescents (N = 900 boys, N = 817 girls). Data of body composition, physical fitness results, and the answers to KIDMED were analyzed by the Student’s t-test. Additionally, the effect size (ES) was calculated and a Chi-square test analyzed the proportion of participants with and without over waist circumference, overfat, and overweight in each KIDMED question. The relative risk of suffering over waist circumference, overfat and overweight in relation to the responses was calculated by Odd-Ratio. Adherence to the MD did not influence the condition of over waist circumference, overfat and overweight, although certain dietary habits were identified as risk factors for their development. Over waist circumference, overfat, and overweight boys and girls presented higher levels of body mass, waist circumference, body fat percentage, and BMI (p < 0.001; ES = 1.73–3.38), as well as lower levels of all the parameters of the physical fitness analyzed (p < 0.001; ES = 0.45–1.08), except the handgrip test. A direct relationship between fitness and over waist circumference, overfat, and overweight was found.