scholarly journals Sugar Content and Nutritional Quality of Child Orientated Ready to Eat Cereals and Yoghurts in the UK and Latin America; Does Food Policy Matter?

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada L. Garcia ◽  
José D. Ronquillo ◽  
Gabriela Morillo-Santander ◽  
Claudia V. Mazariegos ◽  
Lorena Lopez-Donado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Sugar Content ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sugar Reduction ◽  
The Uk

Ready to eat breakfast cereals (REBCs) and yoghurts provide important nutrients to children’s diets, but concerns about their high sugar content exist. Food reformulation could contribute to sugar reduction, but policies across countries are not uniform. We aimed to compare the sugar content and nutritional quality of child-orientated REBCs and yoghurts in Latin American countries with the UK. In a cross-sectional study, nutritional information, marketing strategies, and claims were collected from the food labels and packaging of products available in Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador and the UK. Nutritional quality was assessed using the UK Ofcom Nutrient Profiling System. In total, 262 products were analysed (59% REBCs/41% yoghurts). REBCs in the UK had a lower sugar content (mean ± SD) (24.6 ± 6.4) than products in Ecuador (34.6 ± 10.8; p < 0.001), Mexico (32.6 ± 7.6; p = 0.001) and Guatemala (31.5 ± 8.3; p = 0.001). Across countries, there were no differences in the sugar content of yoghurts. A large proportion (83%) of REBCs and 33% of yoghurts were classified as “less healthy”. In conclusion, the sugar content of REBCs in Latin America is higher than those of the UK, which could be attributed to the UK voluntary sugar reduction programme. Sugar reformulation policies are required in Guatemala, Mexico and Ecuador.

scholarly journals Predictors of COVID-19 Fatality: A Worldwide Analysis of the Pandemic over Time and in Latin America

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayana Rojas ◽  
Jorge Saavedra ◽  
Mariya Petrova ◽  
Yue Pan ◽  
José Szapocznik
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Fatality Rate ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Risk Ratios

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 has infected over one hundred million people worldwide and has affected Latin America particularly severely in terms of both cases and deaths. This study aims to determine the association between SARS-CoV-2 testing and COVID-19 fatality rate worldwide over 8 months and to examine how this relationship differs between Latin America and all other countries. This cross-sectional study used March 2021 data from 169 countries. Multivariate regressions predicted COVID-19 fatality (outcome) from the number of SARS-CoV-2 tests (exposure), while controlling for other predictors. Results for March 2021 were compared to results from June 2020. Additionally, results for Latin America were also compared to all other countries except Latin American for March 2021. SARS-CoV-2 testing was associated with a significant decrease in COVID-19 fatality rate in both June 2020 and March 2021 (RR = 0.92; 95% CI 0.87–0.96 and RR = 0.86; 95% CI 0.74–1.00, respectively). SARS-CoV-2 testing was associated with a significant decrease in COVID-19 fatality rate in Latin American countries but not in all other countries (RR = 0.45; 95% CI 0.23–0.89 and RR = 0.95; 95% CI 0.82–1.11, respectively). However, the difference between the risk ratios for June 2020 and March 2021 and between the risk ratios for Latin America and all other countries were not statistically significant. Increased SARS-CoV-2 testing may be a significant predictor of lower COVID-19 case fatality rate, specifically in Latin American countries, due to the existence of a strong association, which may have driven the worldwide results.

Neighborhood environment, self-rated health and quality of life in Latin America

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis F Gomez ◽  
Carolina Soto-Salazar ◽  
José Guerrero ◽  
María Garcia ◽  
Diana C Parra
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Neighborhood Environment ◽  
Bibliographic Databases ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Self Rated Health

Abstract To conduct a systematic review examining the associations between neighborhood environments and self-rated health (SRH) and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in the urban context of Latin America. We conducted a structured search of quantitative studies in three bibliographic databases published in Spanish, English, Portuguese and French from January 1990 to December 2015. We restricted the search to studies conducted in Latin-American cities with one million and more inhabitants. Eleven studies were finally included in the analysis. Ten were cross-sectional studies and one was a cohort follow-up study. Two studies found positive associations between accessibility to parks and HR-QOL. One study found that high neighborhood social capital was positively associated with SRH. Neighborhood socioeconomic status was positively associated with both HR-QOL and SRH in two studies. A walkable neighborhood was positively associated with SRH in two studies. Three studies included attributes related with neighborhood security perception and road safety, with higher scores of HR-QOL, both in the physical and mental dimensions, while high levels of street noise were negatively associated. Narrowness and slope of streets were negatively associated with SRH. No association was found between the perception of neighborhood security and SRH. The results of this systematic review show that several studies conducted in Latin America have found significant associations between neighborhood environment and SRH and HRQOL. However, the relatively small number of studies and the heterogeneity among them require further studies to better understand this topic in the region.

scholarly journals Sources of social support associated with health and quality of life: a cross-sectional study among Canadian and Latin American older adults

BMJ Open ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. e011503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Bélanger ◽  
Tamer Ahmed ◽  
Afshin Vafaei ◽  
Carmen Lucia Curcio ◽  
Susan P Phillips ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional

scholarly journals Nutritional quality of prepackaged food that carry health or nutritional claims and their compliance with SFDA regulations in Saudi Arabia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Almughthim ◽  
Hoda Jr
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Saturated Fat ◽  
Health Claims ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Nutrition Claims ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Background Products that carry health or nutrition claims may be perceived by consumers as healthier than those that do not carry claims. Therefore, they will have a more favorable attitude towards it and may also be easily misled about the nutritional profile and may misinterpret it. Nutritional quality of those products should be assessed to protect consumers against being misled and ensuring that they receive accurate information about food products carrying a claim.Methods a cross-sectional survey for a total of 1153 foods were randomly sampled from fourteen stores in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The data were collected from nutritional facts present on food labels and evaluated by comparing the mean level of nutrients between products that carried claims and those that did not using the UK nutrient profile model (UKNPM).Results Overall, 29% of products carried either health or nutritional claims. Only 19.2% of foods that carried health claims met SFDA requirements, while 28.9% of all products that carried nutritional claims met SFDA criteria. The results indicate that products that carried health or nutritional claims were significantly lower in sugar (9.67 g/100 g), fat (9.2 g/100 g), saturated fat (3.2 g/100 g), and sodium (371.36 mg/100 g). According to the UK nutrient profiling model, 46.9% of the products carrying claims were less healthy than those not carrying claims, and statistically significant differences were observed by product origin and category (p=0.005 and p=0.000, respectively).Conclusion a great need for the regulation and monitoring of claims on food packages for the optimal protection of the population’s health.

scholarly journals Frequency and associated factors related to sexual addiction in medical students from 16 Latin American cities, 2016: a regional multicentric study

F1000Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Christian Richard Mejia-Alvarez ◽  
Jhosselyn Chacon-I ◽  
Dayanne Benites-Gamboa ◽  
Niels Pacheco-Barrios ◽  
Giancarlo F. Castillo-Tarrillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Sexual Addiction ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Multicentric Study ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
The University

Background: Examples of addiction problems that have been reported in growing populations are those related to sexual impulses and addictions. However, such studies have not been carried out in Latin America. The aim of this study was to characterize and identify possible associations of sexual addiction in medical students in Latin America. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out among the university students of a medical school in 16 cities; students of medical schools were interviewed during the first semester of 2016. To define sexual addiction, the multi-cage cad-4 test was used, categorizing individuals as possibly or not a potential problem. Additionally, associations with several social and educational variables were obtained. Results: In our study, 6% (221) of the 3691 respondents exhibited a possible problem of sexual addiction; men had 95% more problems (95% confidence interval (95%CI): 21-214, p=0.006), for each year of age it increased by 9% (95%CI: 1-18%, p=0.034 ), those who had a partner were 67%  more likely to exhibit sexual addiction (95%CI: 1.34-2.08%, p <0.001) and those who professed a religion present 44% less frequency (95%CI: 20-60%, p: 0.001). When adjusted for marital status, having children, year of studies, and the university where the respondent studied were not associated. Conclusion: Although the percentage of students who had problems with sexual addiction is minimal, screening programs should be created to find students who suffer from these problems, to avoid the possible consequences that may arise.

scholarly journals The sugar content of foods in the UK by category and company: A repeated cross-sectional study, 2015-2018

PLoS Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. e1003647
Author(s):  
Lauren K. Bandy ◽  
Peter Scarborough ◽  
Richard A. Harrington ◽  
Mike Rayner ◽  
Susan A. Jebb
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Content ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Dietary Recommendations ◽  
Weighted Mean ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Breakfast Cereals ◽  
Sales Data ◽  
Food Market ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Product Sales

Background Consumption of free sugars in the UK greatly exceeds dietary recommendations. Public Health England (PHE) has set voluntary targets for industry to reduce the sales-weighted mean sugar content of key food categories contributing to sugar intake by 5% by 2018 and 20% by 2020. The aim of this study was to assess changes in the sales-weighted mean sugar content and total volume sales of sugar in selected food categories among UK companies between 2015 and 2018. Methods and findings We used sales data from Euromonitor, which estimates total annual retail sales of packaged foods, for 5 categories—biscuits and cereal bars, breakfast cereals, chocolate confectionery, sugar confectionery, and yoghurts—for 4 consecutive years (2015–2018). This analysis includes 353 brands (groups of products with the same name) sold by 99 different companies. These data were linked with nutrient composition data collected online from supermarket websites over 2015–2018 by Edge by Ascential. The main outcome measures were sales volume, sales-weighted mean sugar content, and total volume of sugar sold by category and company. Our results show that between 2015 and 2018 the sales-weighted mean sugar content of all included foods fell by 5.2% (95% CI −9.4%, −1.4%), from 28.7 g/100 g (95% CI 27.2, 30.4) to 27.2 g/100 g (95% CI 25.8, 28.4). The greatest change seen was in yoghurts (−17.0% [95% CI −26.8%, −7.1%]) and breakfast cereals (−13.3% [95% CI −19.2%, −7.4%]), with only small reductions in sugar confectionery (−2.4% [95% CI −4.2%, −0.6%]) and chocolate confectionery (−1.0% [95% CI −3.1, 1.2]). Our results show that total volume of sugars sold per capita fell from 21.4 g/d (95% CI 20.3, 22.7) to 19.7 g/d (95% CI 18.8, 20.7), a reduction of 7.5% (95% CI −13.1%, −2.8%). Of the 50 companies representing the top 10 companies in each category, 24 met the 5% reduction target set by PHE for 2018. The key limitations of this study are that it does not encompass the whole food market and is limited by its use of brand-level sales data, rather than individual product sales data. Conclusions Our findings show there has been a small reduction in total volume sales of sugar in the included categories, primarily due to reductions in the sugar content of yoghurts and breakfast cereals. Additional policy measures may be needed to accelerate progress in categories such as sugar confectionery and chocolate confectionery if the 2020 PHE voluntary sugar reduction targets are to be met.

scholarly journals Breakfast Nutritional Quality and Cognitive Interference in University Students from Mexico City

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (15) ◽  
pp. 2671
Author(s):  
Reyna Sámano ◽  
Carmen Hernández-Chávez ◽  
Gabriela Chico-Barba ◽  
Armando Córdova-Barrios ◽  
Mayela Morales-del-Olmo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Food Group ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Stroop Test ◽  
Cognitive Interference ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Logistic Regression Models

Skipping breakfast might have an impact on cognitive functions, such as interference, which is a basic capacity of executive functions that denotes the possibility of controlling an automated response. This study aimed to analyze the association between nutritional quality of breakfast and cognitive interference in a sample of university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted, a total of 422 students between 18 and 25 years participated. Cognitive interference was assessed with the Stroop Test. Breakfast was assessed with a questionnaire assigning a score for each serving of each food group that was consumed. Logistic regression models were performed. The performance in cognitive tasks was slower in those who had a poor breakfast (32.9 ± 6 vs 29.3 ± 6 s, p < 0.050). Poor cognitive interference was greater in students with poor breakfast (53% versus 23%, p = 0.001). A slower word reading was associated with skipping vegetables (OR: 2.78, 95% CI: 0.09–2.13), and cereals (OR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.03–2.81). Wrong color identification was associated with skipping fruits (OR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.43–1.99) and animal protein sources (OR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.07–2.49). Skipping fat-rich cereals was a protector factor (OR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.36–0.85). Difficulty in the ability to inhibit interference was associated with skipping vegetables (OR: 2.72, 95% CI: 1.25–4.80) and cereals (OR: 2.65, 95% CI: 1.28–4.68). The nutritional quality of breakfast was associated with the time spent answering the Stroop test, but not with cognitive interference.

Quality Of Life and Associated Factors in Latin American Patients Undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-99
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Nunes Santos ◽  
Martha Castro ◽  
Flávio Robert Santana ◽  
Mário Martins Sanches ◽  
Diógenes Pires Serra Filho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Associated Factors ◽  
Hip Osteoarthritis ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Harris Hip Score ◽  
Joint Function ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Womac Questionnaire

Background. The objective of this study was to determine whether individuals with hip osteoarthritis who undergo THA have higher HRQOL scores than those awaiting the procedure; An additional aim was to investigate associated factors exerting an impact on HRQOL. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted. Participants were divided into two groups: pre-THA and post-THA. Functional capacity was assessed using the Harris Hip Score, and HRQOL was measured using a validated and adapted version of the WOMAC questionnaire. A multivariate analysis of the WOMAC results was used to identify the main variables associated with HRQOL in both groups. Results. The post-THA group had higher HRQOL scores (100.4 ± 88.5) than the pre-THA group (197.8 ± 54.1). The domains Pain (68.0 ± 19.0 versus 34.7 ± 30.8), Stiffness (61.2 ± 28.9 versus 29.9 ± 33.1), and Physical Activity (68.6 ± 16.1 versus 36.6 ± 30.2) also had higher scores in the post-THA group. Pain was the variable most frequently associated with the increase in post-THA HRQOL scores. Other variables such as occupation, time of diagnosis, joint function, and body weight also had an impact on the HRQOL of both groups. Conclusions. 1. Individuals who underwent THA had higher scores for HRQOL compared to those still awaiting the procedure. 2. Pain was the variable most strongly associated with quality of life.

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