[Exploring Needs, Motivations, and Limitations Towards Healthy Eating and Digital Resources: A Qualitative Study in a Mexican Primary Education Setting]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the needs, motivations, and limitations related to healthy eating and digital materials, as well as to identify patterns for their design as a strategy aimed at Mexican families.

DESIGN

A qualitative observational study of the phenomenon through focus group sessions.

LOCATION

A public primary education center in the city of Querétaro, Mexico.

PARTICIPANTS

Children aged 9 to 11 years and parents, mothers, or caregivers with children in primary education.

METHOD

Twelve sessions were conducted with three groups of students and two sessions with parents, mothers, or caregivers using an interview guide. Various digital materials, developed based on social cognitive theory, were presented during the sessions. The sessions were recorded with the participants' or their guardians' prior consent and transcribed for analysis. Coding was performed for key points of analysis, and information saturation was confirmed.

RESULTS

Students expressed motivation towards digital material that promotes play and experimentation, especially within the family context. The main perceived barrier was the caregivers' resistance to change. Parents expressed motivation and a need for explanatory material on diseases, with economic and time-related barriers.

CONCLUSIONS

Digital material based on social cognitive theory, designed to improve nutrition, can be an effective strategy in nutritional education if it considers the circumstances of the target population. It is advisable to include affective and behavioral elements to achieve meaningful learning within households.

Effect of Foliar Application of Hydrogen Peroxide Macroconcentrations on Growth Parameters, Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity in the Leaves and Seeds of Amaranthus hypochondriacus L

Amaranth has many interesting features, both nutritional and otherwise, that make it attractive as a food crop. Plants grown in greenhouses have higher yields but lower nutritional value compared to those grown in open fields. This prompted an interest in studying viable elicitors for the production of amaranth. Small hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) concentrations for foliar spraying from 0 to 18 mM have been used in greenhouse amaranth cultivation. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of foliar application of H₂O₂ megadoses on growth parameters, total phenolic compounds, condensed tannins, anthocyanins, and the antioxidant capacity of leaves and seeds of amaranth grown in a greenhouse setting. The seed of the Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. species was used. The concentrations of H₂O₂ analyzed were 0, 125, 250 and 400 mM, with 11 applications throughout the growing cycle. The variable data were subjected to an analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by a Tukey's post hoc test (95% CI, p < 0.05). The results on chlorophyll, growth parameters and proximal chemical analysis showed no statistical difference between the control group versus the treatment groups. A greater number of favorable changes in the different variables studied were observed with the 125 mM H₂O₂ treatment, including the increase in antioxidant capacity measured by FRAP. The seed showed a considerable increase in TFC with all treatments and responded better to the 250 mM H₂O₂ treatment in the case of DPPH (an increase of 30%) and TPC (an increase of 44%). A 28% increase in anthocyanin content was observed with the treatment of 400 mM H₂O₂. The use of H₂O₂ may be an appropriate strategy to enhance the production of antioxidant compounds in amaranth without affecting growth or its basic proximal chemical composition. More studies are required in this regard.

Design and Validation of a Food Frequency Questionnaire to Evaluate the Consumption of Trans Fatty Acids in the Adult Population (FFQ-TFA)

Instruments for estimating the intake of food components can be useful in the prevention and/or treatment of diseases related to improper diet. There is, at present, no scientifically validated instrument for estimating consumption of trans fatty acids (TFA) in the Mexican population. The objective of this study was to design and validate such an instrument: a questionnaire that can be used to estimate consumption of TFA from food products. The questionnaire was applied to 162 students from the Autonomous University of Querétaro (UAQ). There were two phases to the study: (1) design of a food frequency questionnaire to assess consumption of trans fatty acids (FFQ-TFA) and an eating practices questionnaire (EPQ-TFA); (2) validation of the instrument. Content validity was measured by expert review and by Aiken's V method, obtaining an overall score of 0.895. As final tests for the FFQ-TFA analysis, criterion validity was measured using Spearman's correlation (r = 0.717, p < 0.01) and a linear regression (B = 0.668), considering the results of the 24-h dietary recall (24 HR); and reproducibility or temporal stability was measured using Pearson's correlation (r = 0.406, p < 0.01). Subsequently, a Pearson correlation was applied between TFA consumption estimated by the FFQ-TFA-2 and the global score from the EPQ-TFA-2 (r = 0.351, p < 0.01). A Pearson correlation was applied between the EPQ-TFA-1 and the EPQ-TFA-2 (r = 0.575, p < 0.01). TFA consumption per day was 2.49 ± 1.32 g in the participating population, which was 1.04 ± 0.51% of their total kcal consumption.

Relationship between Emotional Eating, Consumption of Hyperpalatable Energy-Dense Foods, and Indicators of Nutritional Status: A Systematic Review

People's health is closely linked to their diet. Diet can be defined as the set of foods that are consumed in a day, and it is susceptible to being altered by various factors, such as physiological, environmental, psychological, and social. These, in turn, can be affected by an inadequate diet and/or a dysregulation of emotions. Emotions are an immediate response by the organism informing it of the degree of favorability of a certain stimulus or situation. Moods are similar to emotions but more intense and prolonged. Some studies indicate that the consumption of hyperpalatable energy-dense foods may be related to emotional eating. Emotional eating is characterized by the excessive consumption of hyperpalatable energy-dense foods, rich in sugars and fats, in response to negative emotions. But several reports also indicate that emotional eating may be associated with the presence of positive emotions, so further analysis of the available information is necessary. Consuming higher amounts of hyperpalatable energy-dense foods can lead to the accumulation of energy in the body that results in an increase in body weight, as well as other associated diseases. Obesity is the world's leading diet-related health problem. The objective of this work was to carry out a systematic review of the available literature using the Cochrane methodology, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, to evaluate the relationship between emotional eating, the consumption of hyperpalatable energy-dense foods, and indicators of nutritional status. An exhaustive search in different databases yielded 9431 scientific articles, 45 of which met the inclusion criteria. This review underscores the fact that knowing and understanding the reasons why people consume hyperpalatable energy-dense foods and the possible connection with their emotional eating can provide key data for improving and personalizing patients' nutritional treatment. This in turn can encourage compliance with treatment plans to improve people's health and quality of life using an interdisciplinary approach.

Evaluation of the effect of a school garden as an educational didactic tool in vegetable and fruit consumption in teenagers

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Increasing the consumption of vegetables and fruits in Mexico remains a challenge. Promoting sustainable food production systems through schools may be an effective way to educate young people about food and nutrition issues. A study of nutritional education in adolescents, based on the school garden, is necessary in order to evaluate its effects on the consumption of fruits and vegetables among middle- and upper-income segments of the population. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention, accompanied by a school garden as an educational teaching tool, to improve vegetable and fruit consumption by Mexican teenagers attending a private middle/high school.

SUBJECTS/METHODS

Teenagers between 12 and 18 years of age (n = 126) attending a private middle/high school in Queretaro, Mexico participated in a 3-arm, controlled, comparative impact study using a vegetable and fruit consumption frequency questionnaire, food consumption diaries, a psychosocial factor assessment questionnaire of vegetable and fruit consumption, and structured interviews. The participants were randomized into 3 experimental groups: 1) food education + school garden (FE + SG), 2) FE only, and 3) control group (CG).

RESULTS

The FE + SG and FE groups significantly increased the frequency and daily intake of vegetables and fruits compared to the CG. The FE + SG group showed greater understanding of, reflection upon, and analysis of the information they received about vegetable and fruit consumption, as well as a greater willingness to include these in their daily diet.

CONCLUSIONS

FE accompanied by a SG as a teaching tool is more effective at promoting vegetable and fruit consumption than either education alone or control in teenagers in middle-upper income segments of the population.

Elevated circulating LDL phenol levels in men who consumed virgin rather than refined olive oil are associated with less oxidation of plasma LDL

In human LDL, the bioactivity of olive oil phenols is determined by the in vivo disposition of the biological metabolites of these compounds. Here, we examined how the ingestion of 2 similar olive oils affected the content of the metabolic forms of olive oil phenols in LDL in men. The oils differed in phenol concentrations as follows: high (629 mg/L) for virgin olive oil (VOO) and null (0 mg/L) for refined olive oil (ROO). The study population consisted of a subsample from the EUROLIVE study and a randomized controlled, crossover design was used. Intervention periods lasted 3 wk and were preceded by a 2-wk washout period. The levels of LDL hydroxytyrosol monosulfate and homovanillic acid sulfate, but not of tyrosol sulfate, increased after VOO ingestion (P < 0.05), whereas the concentrations of circulating oxidation markers, including oxidized LDL (oxLDL), conjugated dienes, and hydroxy fatty acids, decreased (P < 0.05). The levels of LDL phenols and oxidation markers were not affected by ROO consumption. The relative increase in the 3 LDL phenols was greater when men consumed VOO than when they consumed ROO (P < 0.05), as was the relative decrease in plasma oxLDL (P = 0.001) and hydroxy fatty acids (P < 0.001). Plasma oxLDL concentrations were negatively correlated with the LDL phenol levels (r = -0.296; P = 0.013). Phenols in LDL were not associated with other oxidation markers. In summary, the phenol concentration of olive oil modulates the phenolic metabolite content in LDL after sustained, daily consumption. The inverse relationship of these metabolites with the degree of LDL oxidation supports the in vivo antioxidant role of olive oil phenolics compounds.

Changes in the phenolic content of low density lipoprotein after olive oil consumption in men. A randomized crossover controlled trial

Olive oil decreases the risk of CVD. This effect may be due to the fatty acid profile of the oil, but it may also be due to its antioxidant content which differs depending on the type of olive oil. In this study, the concentrations of oleic acid and antioxidants (phenolic compounds and vitamin E) in plasma and LDL were compared after consumption of three similar olive oils, but with differences in their phenolic content. Thirty healthy volunteers participated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover, randomized supplementation trial. Virgin, common, and refined olive oils were administered during three periods of 3 weeks separated by a 2-week washout period. Participants were requested to ingest a daily dose of 25 ml raw olive oil, distributed over the three meals of the day, during intervention periods. All three olive oils caused an increase in plasma and LDL oleic acid (P < 0·05) content. Olive oils rich in phenolic compounds led to an increase in phenolic compounds in LDL (P < 0·005). The concentration of phenolic compounds in LDL was directly correlated with the phenolic concentration in the olive oils. The increase in the phenolic content of LDL could account for the increase of the resistance of LDL to oxidation, and the decrease of thein vivooxidized LDL, observed in the frame of this trial. Our results support the hypothesis that a daily intake of virgin olive oil promotes protective LDL changes ahead of its oxidation.

Presence of virgin olive oil phenolic metabolites in human low density lipoprotein fraction: Determination by high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

The biological benefits of olive oil in preventing the oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) would seem to be linked to its high monounsaturated fatty acid contents, but also to its respective phenolic compounds contents. One prerequisite to assess the in vivo physiological significance of phenolic compounds is to determine their presence in human LDL following the ingestion of virgin olive oil. In this work, olive oil phenolic metabolites were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography in tandem with electrospray mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) detection, after solid phase extraction (SPE). Quantitative methods were developed in carrying out linearity, precision, sensitivity and recovery tests. The results from two methods of LDL separation were compared and shorter LDL isolation procedure showed a better recovery for antioxidants compounds in LDL. The metabolites identified in LDL were: hydroxytyrosol monoglucuronide, hydroxytyrosol monosulfate, tyrosol glucuronide, tyrosol sulfate and homovanillic acid sulfate. The fact that olive oil phenolic metabolites are able to bind LDL strengthens claims that these compounds act as in vivo antioxidants.

Rapid high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of virgin olive oil phenolic metabolites in human low-density lipoproteins

A rapid method for detection and quantification of metabolites of specific olive oil phenolic compounds (hydroxytyrosol monoglucuronide, hydroxytyrosol monosulfate, tyrosol glucuronide, tyrosol sulfate and homovanillic acid sulfate) in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) fractions by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS/MS) is described. A 3 microm particle size fast C18 Luna column, 5 cm x 2.0 mm I.D., was used at a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min with a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% (v/v) formic acid (A) and acetonitrile (B). A linear gradient profile was used for separation at column temperature 40 degrees C. The proposed chromatographic procedure is rapid without loosing its separation efficiency and sensitivity. Validation proofs were carried out for the method described, showing a linear system (r>0.99) and a recovery of 81.9 and 101.3% for hydroxytyrosol and homovanillic acid, respectively. The results show that this method is effective and can be used in routine analysis.

Characterization and quantification of phenolic compounds in olive oils by solid-phase extraction, HPLC-DAD, and HPLC-MS/MS

A simple and reproducible method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of phenolic compounds in virgin olive oils by solid-phase extraction (SPE), high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD), and HPLC-mass spectrometry (MS) in tandem mode was developed. The polar fraction was obtained from samples of three different virgin olive oils. Detection and quantification were performed at 280, 240, and 320 nm. For identification purposes, HPLC-MS/MS was equipped with turbo ion spray source in the negative-ion mode. Twenty compounds of twenty-three detected and quantified were characterized. The method showed satisfactory linearity (r > 0.99), good recovery, satisfactory precision, and appropriate limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ).