The Association of General and Central Obesity with Dietary Patterns and Socioeconomic Status in Adult Women in Botswana

Prevalence of pre-obesity and above and its associated factors in adult women: an analysis of the 2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

PURPOSE

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of pre-obesity (overweight) and above in adult women and to identify associated factors.

METHODS

Data were obtained from the eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VIII-2), conducted in 2020. The sample comprised 2,288 women aged 19-64 years who participated in the KNHANES VIII-2. Data were analyzed using complex sample design analysis with SPSS version 20.1.

RESULTS

The prevalence of pre-obesity and above among adult women was 46.5%, with 18.6% classified as having pre-obesity and 27.9% as having obesity. A higher prevalence of pre-obesity and above was observed in women aged 50-59 years (odds ratio [OR]=1.67, p=.019) or 60-64 years (OR=1.80, p=.029); women whose highest educational attainment was high school (OR=1.28, p=.018) or middle school or less (OR=1.60, p=.017); those in middle-income households (OR=1.55, p=.005); those engaging in muscle-strengthening activities less than 2 days per week (OR=1.37, p=.019); and those sleeping less than 6 hours per night during the week (OR=1.37, p=.025).

CONCLUSION

As nearly half of all adult women have either pre-obesity or obesity, prevention and management strategies must target both groups. Interventions should be prioritized for women in their 50s and older, as well as those with low education or income levels. Additionally, receiving adequate sleep of 7 hours or more and engaging in muscle-strengthening activities at least 2 days per week are important components of obesity management.

The health and economic impact and cost effectiveness of interventions for the prevention and control of overweight and obesity in Kenya: a stakeholder engaged modelling study

BACKGROUND

The global increase in mean body mass index has resulted in a substantial increase of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including in many low- and middle-income countries such as Kenya. This paper assesses four interventions for the prevention and control of overweight and obesity in Kenya to determine their potential health and economic impact and cost effectiveness.

METHODS

We reviewed the literature to identify evidence of effect, determine the intervention costs, disease costs and total healthcare costs. We used a proportional multistate life table model to quantify the potential impacts on health conditions and healthcare costs, modelling the 2019 Kenya population over their remaining lifetime. Considering a health system perspective, two interventions were assessed for cost-effectiveness. In addition, we used the Human Capital Approach to estimate productivity gains.

RESULTS

Over the lifetime of the 2019 population, impacts were estimated at 203,266 health-adjusted life years (HALYs) (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 163,752 - 249,621) for a 20% tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, 151,718 HALYs (95% UI 55,257 - 250,412) for mandatory kilojoule menu labelling, 3.7 million HALYs (95% UI 2,661,365-4,789,915) for a change in consumption levels related to supermarket food purchase patterns and 13.1 million HALYs (95% UI 11,404,317 - 15,152,341) for a change in national consumption back to the 1975 average levels of energy intake. This translates to 4, 3, 73 and 261 HALYs per 1,000 persons. Lifetime healthcare cost savings were approximately United States Dollar (USD) 0.14 billion (USD 3 per capita), USD 0.08 billion (USD 2 per capita), USD 1.9 billion (USD 38 per capita) and USD 6.2 billion (USD 124 per capita), respectively. Lifetime productivity gains were approximately USD 1.8 billion, USD 1.2 billion, USD 28 billion and USD 92 billion. Both the 20% tax on sugar sweetened beverages and the mandatory kilojoule menu labelling were assessed for cost effectiveness and found dominant (health promoting and cost-saving).

CONCLUSION

All interventions evaluated yielded substantive health gains and economic benefits and should be considered for implementation in Kenya.

Association of dietary patterns with general and central obesity among Chinese adults: a longitudinal population-based study

BACKGROUND

Limited evidence exists for the association between dietary patterns and later obesity phenotypes among Chinese adults. This longitudinal study aimed to evaluate associations of dietary patterns with general and central obesity in Chinese adults.

METHODS

Based on the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) waves 2004 and 2015, the study was conducted on 4207 adult men and women (age range: 18-65 years). Dietary intakes were assessed by three consecutive 24-h dietary recalls, and dietary patterns were identified using exploratory factor analysis. Longitudinal associations of dietary patterns with general and central obesity were evaluated using logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

The prevalence rates of general and central obesity were 14.2% and 42.1%, respectively. Factor analysis extracted three major dietary patterns: "traditional southern," "modern," and "traditional northern." After adjustment for potential confounders, adults in the highest quartile of the traditional southern dietary group were less likely to develop over 10 years general (odds ratio [OR] = 0.50, 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 0.39, 0.65) and central (OR = 0.52, 95%CI: 0.43, 0.63) obesity compared to those in the lowest quartile group. The modern dietary pattern was not significantly associated with general and central obesity. Adherence to the traditional northern dietary pattern increased the chance of both general and central obesity (OR = 1.61, 95%CI: 1.23, 2.10; OR = 1.64, 95%CI: 1.36, 1.98) after 10 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provides longitudinal evidence for associations between dietary patterns and later obesity phenotypes among Chinese adults. Our findings may guide the development of evidence-based preventive nutrition interventions to control the obesity epidemic.

Assessment of the association between plant-based dietary exposures and cardiovascular disease risk profile in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

Background

Studies have investigated dietary attributes associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in Africa. However, there has been no effort to critically assess the existing evidence. This systematic review examined available evidence on the association between plant-based dietary exposures and CVD risk profile in Africa. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020159862.

Methods

We conducted a literature search for observational studies reporting on plant-based dietary exposures in relation to CVD risk profile in African populations. PubMed-Medline, Scopus, EBSCOhost, and African Journals Online platforms were searched up to 19 March 2021. Titles and abstracts of the identified records were screened independently by two investigators. The quality of the studies was also assessed independently.

Results

Of 458 entries identified, 15 studies published between 2002 and 2020 were included in this review. These studies originated from 12 sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. Sample sizes ranged from 110 to 2362, age from 18 to 80 years; and majority of participants were females (66.0%). In all, four plant-based dietary exposures were identified across SSA. Sixty percent of the studies reported a significant association between a plant-based dietary exposure with at least one CVD risk factor such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia, overweight/obesity, and metabolic syndrome.

Conclusions

The few available studies suggest that there may be a protective effect of plant-based dietary exposures on CVD risk profile in the African setting. Nonetheless, more elaborated studies are still needed to address plant-based diet (PBD) adherence in relation with CVD risk in African populations.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-12724-w.

Spatial-Temporal Footprints Assessment and Driving Mechanism of China Household Diet Based on CHNS

Food consumption is closely associated with resource consumption and environmental sustainability. An unreasonable dietary pattern would cause great pressure or damage to resources and the environment. It is particularly important to reduce the negative impact of household food consumption on resources and the environment while simultaneously ensuring people’s nutrient intake and health. This study applied the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) database to quantitatively study the spatial-temporal analysis of multiple footprints of household food consumption at multiple scales and explored the driving mechanism of the multiple footprints. The results showed that, except land footprint (LF), the other four types of footprints all decreased at varying degrees; the water footprint (WF), carbon footprint (CF), nitrogen footprint (NF) and energy footprint (EF) decreased by 18.24%, 17.82%, 12.03% and 20.36%, respectively, from 2000 to 2011; multiple footprints of food consumption of household in Guizhou was the highest among the 12 provinces involved in the study; this shows that resource consumption (water, energy and land resource) and environmental influences (CO₂ emissions and nitrogen emissions) brought by food consumption of per household in Guizhou are much greater than in other provinces, which has a negative influence on sustainable development; by analyzing the driving factors of multiple footprints, it is shown that nutrient intake, household attributes, educational level and health conditions were significantly correlated to multiple footprints. Among them, nutrient intake has greater impact on the multiple footprints of Chinese household food consumption. By comparing multiple footprints of different dietary patterns, it was found that the current Chinese dietary pattern would cause excessive resource consumption, which would bring more pressure on resources and the environment. Adjusting household living habits would possibly reverse the unsustainable situation, such as reducing the consumption of animal-derived foods and adjusting the dietary pattern of households with a higher educational level and income status. Chinese Dietary Guidelines 2016 has better sustainability; the promotion of this dietary pattern across the country would help China to relieve the pressure on resources and environment from the consumer side, promoting the realization of sustainable development.

Fruits and Vegetables in the Management of Underlying Conditions for COVID-19 High-Risk Groups

SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus, which is the cause of the current pandemic with 107,411,561 infections and 2,351,195 death worldwide so far. There are multiple symptoms that are linked with the infection of COVID-19 such as coughing, shortness of breath, congestion together with fatigue, fever, loss of taste or smell, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. The lack of or early stage of development of a cure for COVID-19 illness, there is need for insuring the best possible position of health to be able to fight the virus naturally through a robust immune system to limit severe complication. In this article, we have discussed the role of fruits and vegetables consumption to boost the immune system and major emphasis has been given to high risk group. We have taken into consideration a number of underlying conditions such as people with cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, hemoglobin disorder such as sickle cell disease, weakened immune system due to organ transplant. Furthermore, factors to improve the immune system, risks associated with quarantine and lifestyle and food handling during COVID-19 has been discussed.