Discretionary Foods Research Articles

Targeting the perinatal diet to modulate the gut microbiota increases dietary variety and prebiotic and probiotic food intakes: results from a randomised controlled trial.

To evaluate the hypothesis that a perinatal educational dietary intervention focused on 'eating for the gut microbiota' improves diet quality of pregnant women pre- and postnatally. The Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids study is a prospectively registered randomised controlled trial designed to evaluate the efficacy of a dietary intervention in altering the maternal and infant gut microbiota and improving perinatal diet quality. Eligible pregnant women were randomised to receive dietary advice from their healthcare provider or to additionally receive a three session dietary intervention. Dietary data were collected at gestation weeks 26, 31, 36 and postnatal week 4. Outcome measures were diet quality, dietary variety, prebiotic and probiotic food intakes, energy, fibre, saturated fat and discretionary food intakes. Between-group differential changes from baseline before and after birth in these dietary measures were assessed using generalised estimating equations. Melbourne, Australia. Healthy pregnant women from gestation week 26. Forty-five women were randomised (twenty-two control, twenty-three intervention). Compared with the control group, the intervention group improved diet quality prior to birth (5·66 (95 % CI 1·65, 9·67), Cohen's d: 0·82 (se 0·33)). The intervention improved dietary variety (1·05 (95 % CI 0·17, 1·94), d: 0·66 (se 0·32)) and increased intakes of prebiotic (0·8 (95 % CI 0·27, 1·33), d: 0·91 (se 0·33)) and probiotic foods (1·05 (95 % CI 0·57, 1·53), d: 1·3(se 0·35)) over the whole study period compared with the control group. A dietary intervention focused on 'eating for the gut microbiota' can improve aspects of perinatal diet quality during and after pregnancy.

Income Management of Government Payments on Welfare: The Australian Cashless Debit Card

ABSTRACT A new form of conditional welfare through income management is being trialled in Australia, dubbed the “Cashless Debit Card”. It aims to reduce gambling, alcohol and illegal drug use to address social pathologies related to crime and welfare. Routinely collected data from government were used to assess if the targeted reductions arose. Store sales data were also used to evaluate impact on food purchases. No substantive impact on measures of gambling (p = .175), and intoxicant abuse (p = .662) were found. An increased spend on healthy foods (95%CI: 12.0% to 150.0%) was observed, but decreased as a proportion of all foods (95%CI: −6.3% to −13.1%). Impacts on crime and Emergency Department presentations were not substantively found. We conclude that targeting individual choices may not be as effective as policies targeting the historical social structures that serve as antecedents to such social pathologies. IMPLICATIONS The Australian Cashless Debit Card is having nominal impact on the targeted behaviours of gambling and intoxicant abuse While there was an increase in shopping spend, the biggest increase was in spending on less healthy discretionary foods Policies that focus on addressing historical social structure may prove more impactful on welfare outcomes

Demographic, Behavioural and Anthropometric Correlates of Food Liking: A Cross-sectional Analysis of Young Adults.

The degree to which foods are liked or disliked is associated with dietary intake and health behaviours. However, most food liking research has focused on single foods and nutrients and few studies have examined associations with demographics and health behaviours. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the association between food liking and socio-demographics, health behaviours, diet quality and body mass index (BMI) in a sample of young Australian adults. Data from 1728 undergraduate students (21.8 (standard deviation [SD] 6.0) years; 76% female) were used. Food liking scores and a diet quality index (Dietary Guideline Index, DGI) were estimated from a Food Liking Questionnaire and Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), respectively. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to assess the association between food liking and correlates. Young adults with higher liking for encouraged core foods were older, female, did their own food shopping, consumed less packaged foods and had better diet quality. Higher liking for discretionary foods and beverages was associated with less healthy behaviours, such as smoking, higher BMI and lower diet quality. These results suggest that food liking measures may offer an appropriate methodology for understanding influences on young adults’ food choices, adding to the body of literature investigating the potential for food liking scores to assess diet–disease relationships.

Study of Mothers’ and Infants’ Life Events Affecting Oral Health (SMILE) birth cohort study: cohort profile

PurposeThe long-term goal of the Study of Mothers’ and Infants’ Life Events Affecting Oral Health (SMILE) birth cohort study is to identify and evaluate the relative importance and timing of...

Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours Are Associated with Children's Psychological Health: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Protecting children’s mental health is important and studies have shown that diet and exercise can have a positive impact. There are limited data available, however, from representative populations of children on the relationship between regular healthy lifestyle behaviours and psychological health. Data were obtained from the New South Wales Child Population Health Survey, 2013–2014. Parents were asked about diet, physical activity and screen time behaviours and completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for one child aged 5–15. Higher SDQ scores indicate poorer psychological health and risk for mental health problems. Multivariable linear and logistic regression examined the relationships among dietary consumption, physical activity, screen time and SDQ scores, adjusting for potential confounding. Meeting screen time recommendations was most strongly associated with a lower SDQ total difficulties score (5–10 years: −1.56 (−2.68, −0.44); 11–15 years: −2.12 (−3.11, −1.12)). Children and adolescents who met screen time recommendations were also significantly less likely to have any score in the at-risk range. Children and adolescents meeting vegetable intake guidelines had significantly lower total difficulties scores (5–10 years: −1.54 (−3.03, −0.05); 11–15 years: −1.19 (−3.60, −0.39)), as did adolescents meeting discretionary food guidelines (−1.16 (−2.14, −0.18)) and children consuming the recommended fruit intake (−1.26 (−2.42, −0.10)). Our findings indicate that more effective interventions to increase the proportion of young Australians who meet the guidelines for diet and screen time would contribute to protecting their mental health.

Effect of restricted retail merchandising of discretionary food and beverages on population diet: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial

The effectiveness of healthy food promotion on food and beverage sales in real-world food retail settings has been shown in randomised trials. The effectiveness of restrictions on the promotion of unhealthy food is, however, less clear. We aimed to assess the effect of restricted unhealthy food promotion, specifically those items contributing most to free sugar sales, on food and beverage sales. In this community-level pragmatic, partially randomised, parallel group trial, stores were randomly assigned by a statistician using a single sequence of random assignments to the intervention group, in which a co-designed strategy restricted merchandising of unhealthy food, or to a control group of usual retail practice. The trial was done in partnership with an organisation operating 25 stores in remote Australia. The primary analysis was based on difference in weekly sales with the strategy compared with no strategy in free sugar from all foods and beverages (g/total MJ; primary outcome), targeted food or beverages (weight and free sugars; g/total MJ), and gross profit (AU$) using mixed models. This trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12618001588280. Between June 13 and Aug 15, 2018, 20 stores were recruited; ten stores were randomly assigned to the intervention group and ten stores to the control group. The trial was done between Sept 2 and Dec 2, 2018. The Healthy Stores 2020 strategy resulted in a reduction in sales of free sugar of 2·8% (95% CI -4·9 to -0·7). Targeted beverages were reduced by 8·4% (-12·3 to -4·3) and associated free sugar by 6·8% (-10·9 to -2·6), sugar-sweetened soft drinks by 13·2% (-18·5 to -7·6), and associated free sugar by 13·4% (-18·7 to -7·7). Reductions in sales of free sugar from confectionery of 7·5% (-14·3 to -0·2) and in weight sold (-4·6%, -11·1 to 2·3) resulted; however, the reduction in weight was not statistically significant. No differences in sales of table sugar and sweet biscuits were observed. Gross profit was not impacted adversely; a small increase resulted (5·3%, 0·3 to 10·5). Restricted merchandising of unhealthy foods and beverages, while allowing for complementary merchandising of healthier foods and beverages in a real-world store setting and co-designed with retailers, can achieve both public health and business relevant gains. Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

Energy misreporting is more prevalent for those of lower socio-economic status and is associated with lower reported intake of discretionary foods.

The role of socio-economic status (SES) on the misreporting of food and energy intakes is not well understood with disagreement in the literature. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between low energy reporting, dietary quality and SES in a representative sample of adults. Dietary data were collected using 2 d of 24-h recalls for 6114 adults aged 19 years and over, participating in the Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2011-2012. Low energy reporters (LER) and plausible reporters (PR) were identified. Discretionary food intake was used as a proxy indicator of diet quality. SES was determined using area-level SES and educational attainment. Regression analysis was applied to examine the effects of LER and SES on diet quality, adjusting for potential confounders. LER was more common in populations of lower SES than higher SES (area-level OR 1·46 (95 % CI 1·06, 2·00); education OR 1·64 (95 % CI 1·28, 2·09). LER and SES were independently associated with diet quality, with LER reporting lower percentage energy from discretionary foods compared with PR (27·4 v. 34·2, P < 0·001), and those of lower area-level SES and education reporting lower diet quality compared with those of higher SES (33·7 v. 31·2, P < 0·001; and 33·5 v. 29·6, P < 0·001, respectively). No interaction effect was found between LER and SES, indicating percentage energy in discretionary foods was not differentially misreported across the SES areas (0·3078) or education (P = 0·7078). In conclusion, LER and higher SES were associated with better diet quality.

Using wearable cameras to monitor eating and drinking behaviours during transport journeys.

Young adults are vulnerable to weight gain and dietary behaviours such as 'eating on the run' are likely contributors. The objective of this study was to examine eating and drinking behaviours during transport journeys in a sample of young adults using wearable cameras that take continuous images every 30s. Seventy-eight 18-30year olds wore an Autographer wearable camera for three consecutive days. Image coding schedules were designed to assess physical activity (included transportation) and diet. For the general description of data, frequency analysis was calculated as image number (percentage) and mean (± SD) or median (IQR) when appropriate. A total of 281,041 images were coded and 32,529 (14%) of images involved transport. The median (IQR) camera wear time was 8h per day (7-9h). The camera images identified 52 participants (67%) either eating or drinking during transport (excluding water). A total of 143 eating and drinking occasions were identified, averaging 3 occasions per person over the three study days. Fifty five (38%) eating episodes were identified by the camera images of which 27 (49%) were discretionary and 88 (62%) drinking episodes were identified of which (45%) were discretionary. This study confirms that transport is a potential setting for intervention. Young adults are consuming discretionary food and beverages during transport which may contribute to energy-dense diets and compromise diet quality. Substituting unhealthy with healthy food advertising and potentially prohibiting eating and drinking whilst on public transport is suggested.

Efficacy of online nutrition professional development for Early Childhood Education Care staff

Abstract Background Early Childhood Education &amp; Care (ECEC) services are a public health setting that influences the lifelong eating habits and health of young Australians. Over 1.3 million children attend ECEC for 30 hours/week. Overweight/obesity, a risk factor for chronic disease, has been associated with this setting. Research reports sub-optimal food provision, poor role modelling and a lack of nutrition training and confidence. Online nutrition education training was provided to ECEC staff, aiming to increase nutrition knowledge/confidence. Methods Training was evidence-based, informed by stakeholders and developed by tertiary nutrition experts. ECEC staff were recruited and randomised to intervention or control groups. The intervention group completed an online short course about whole-service approach to healthy eating of 2-3 hours duration. Nutrition knowledge/confidence were measured pre/post-intervention via a pre-validated, online survey. GLM was used to determine differences within and between groups adjusting for years of experience. Results Participants (n = 116) were mostly female, aged &amp;gt;36 years, with &amp;gt;10 years industry experience. Post-course, compared to the control group, intervention participants significantly increased confidence to offer 2 serves of grains/day and unsweetened cereals, a variety of vegetables and low-sodium foods, and solid fats were avoided. Confidence to avoid serving discretionary foods did not change and cakes/biscuits were offered frequently. Conclusions Following course completion, intervention participants demonstrated increased confidence to serve foods from core food groups, but both groups reported offering discretionary foods frequently. Some results are promising and may improve the nutritional value of food offered at ECEC, but it appears discretionary foods continue to be overprovided. Further research is required to identify the depth of training required to embed important nutrition education concepts in ECEC settings. Key messages Evidence-based nutrition education adopting a whole-service approach is effective in increasing ECEC staff nutrition knowledge and confidence to provide foods from core food groups. Further research is required to establish the level of nutrition education appropriate for ECEC staff to avoid the continuing overprovision of discretionary foods to young children.

Childcare Food Provision Recommendations Vary across Australia: Jurisdictional Comparison and Nutrition Expert Perspectives.

Early childhood is a critical stage for nutrition promotion, and childcare settings have the potential for wide-reaching impact on food intake. There are currently no Australian national guidelines for childcare food provision, and the comparability of existing guidelines across jurisdictions is unknown. This project aimed to map and compare childcare food provision guidelines and to explore perspectives amongst early childhood nutrition experts for alignment of jurisdictional childcare food provision guidelines with the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG). A desktop review was conducted and formed the basis of an online survey. A national convenience sample of childhood nutrition experts was surveyed. Existing guideline recommendations for food group serving quantities were similar across jurisdictions but contained many minor differences. Of the 49 survey respondents, most (84–100%) agreed with aligning food group provision recommendations to provide at least 50% of the recommended ADG serves for children. Most (94%) agreed that discretionary foods should be offered less than once per month or never. Jurisdictional childcare food provision guidelines do not currently align, raising challenges for national accreditation and the provision of support and resources for services across jurisdictions. Childhood nutrition experts support national alignment of food provision guidelines with the ADG.

Iodine Status and Discretionary Choices Consumption Among Primary School Children, Kinondoni Tanzania.

BackgroundTanzania is one of the countries where excessive iodine intake has been reported, to intervene, the identification of possible causes is required. This study aimed to assess iodine status and determine the critical contributors to excessive iodine intakes in schoolchildren aged 8–14 years.Materials and MethodsA total of 288 school children were randomly selected in this school-based cross-sectional study in Kinondoni municipality, Tanzania. Household salt samples were analyzed using iodine rapid field test kit while that was collected from retailers/wholesalers by iodometric titration. Spot urine samples were collected and analyzed for iodine levels using a modified microplate method following the Sandell‐Kolthoff reaction. A lifestyle questionnaire was administered to schoolchildren to assess their eating frequency of discretionary foods and salts.ResultsThe mean salt iodine content was 53.94 ± 13.02, and over 90% of household salt was iodized. Median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) was 401 µg/L indicating excessive iodine intake, and one-third of the children had UIC >500 µg/L. Nearly all school children consume discretionary choices as snacks or part of a meal. Potato chips and fried cassava were the top two discretionary choices consumed with discretionary salt use (67.3%). Potato chips (adjusted odds ratio [AOR=9.04, 95% CI: 3.61–22.63]), fried cassava (AOR=11.08, 95% CI: 3.45–35.54) and groundnuts consumption for 4–7 days/week (AOR = 0.30 95% CI: 0.09–1.0) were significantly associated with iodine intake.Conclusion and RecommendationThe evidence of excessive iodine intakes observed in previous studies and in this study should alert the policymakers to consider adjustment of the amount of iodine added to salt along with the obligation of reducing discretionary foods and salt intake.

Creating health enabling environments in large, complex and competitive food systems

Abstract Australia's largest university, Monash, is a complex food system, with &amp;gt;70 000 students, 17000 staff, 50 food outlets, a supermarket and &amp;gt;100 vending machines. Analysis of this food system in 2016 identified poor availability of healthy food and prompted the university to implement a local healthy eating framework, the Victorian Government's Healthy Choices Guidelines (HCGs). Australians consume a diet low in plant foods and high in discretionary foods: 67% of adults are overweight or obese. Our food environment is large, complex and competitive and akin to a shopping mall or small town and our findings are broadly applicable to these settings. In 2016 Monash commenced implementation of HCGs which classify foods using a traffic light system: Green (best choice), Amber (choose carefully) and Red (limit). To create health enabling environments, the guidelines recommend ≥50% Green and &amp;lt;20% Red foods. Three key strategies are explored: 1) Retail food healthiness assessments, 2) Vending changes and 3) Retail food healthiness labelling. Multiple implementation challenges arose in food retail. In 2016, we conducted retail food healthiness assessments using HCGs. These assessments indicated the Monash food retail environment was 19% Green, 26% Amber and 55% Red. HCG vending was successfully implemented in 2017 using a commercial tender process. Healthy retail labelling was implemented with 32 retailers in 2018; the cost and complexities associated with menu assessments, retailer education and labelling fidelity present enormous challenges. Local frameworks do not scale up in large, complex, competitive retail systems. Success with vending contracts indicates change to food retail may occur with contract clauses. Implementing change in established food retail is problematic. Implementation challenges in large, complex, competitive retail settings require further exploration. Contract clauses show promise for implementing and sustaining change in complex food systems. Key messages Large, complex, competitive retail settings present challenges for food system change. Leasing clauses show promise for changes to large, complex, competitive, retail food systems.

Transforming food retail for better health: The Healthy Stores 2020 trial

Abstract Background How food is promoted in food retail settings impacts population diet. Foods high in sugar, fat and/or salt are promoted by retailers to attract impulse purchases. To combat the high burden of chronic disease and associated conditions confronting society we examined the impact of restricted retail merchandising (promotion and visibility) of discretionary food and beverages on sales and business outcomes. Methods We conducted a pragmatic randomised controlled trial in partnership with a retail organisation operating stores in remote communities of Australia (the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation). Twenty consenting stores were allocated to the 12-week intervention (7-point Healthy Stores 2020 strategy) or to usual retail practice. Four intervention stores with retail competition implemented a modified 6-point strategy. Weekly sales data were used to assess intervention impact on free sugars (g) to energy (MJ) (primary outcome) derived from all purchased food and beverages. Impact on gross profit and sales of targeted food and beverages was also assessed. Managers of intervention stores were interviewed to determine their views on customer response and impact on retail practice. Results Free sugars were reduced by a relative 2.8% (95% CI -4.8, -0.7). There were significant reductions in free sugars from targeted beverages (-6.4%; -11.1, -1.5) and soft drinks (-12.5%; -18.1, -6.5). Gross profit was not impacted adversely. Managers mostly viewed the strategy favourably and of benefit to the community. Conclusions The public health and business relevant gains demonstrated by this novel trial have resulted in ALPA converting their stores to the Healthy Stores 2020 strategy and integrating the strategy in to their nutrition policy. Retail competition impedes complete implementation of the 7-point strategy. Tackling this will require collective agreement by retailers to implement the full strategy and/or government policy power. Key messages Restricting merchandising of unhealthy foods can achieve both public health relevant and business relevant gains. Working in partnership with retailers is critical to testing real-world interventions to impact population diet.

Urban consumer preferences for nutrient fortified snacks in Zambia

AbstractThis paper uses a choice experiment with 661 respondents in two large cities in Zambia to evaluate urban consumers’ preferences for nutrient‐fortified wheat cookies. Our results indicate that both nutrient fortification and marketing messaging tied to taste, health and energy are important attributes for discretionary food selection among urban consumers in Zambia. Using a latent class model, we identify two types of consumers: price sensitive consumers strongly interested in nutrient fortification, who respond to different types of marketing messages and are unlikely to select the opt out option; and a smaller (24%) proportion of consumers who would rather not buy cookies at all, but exhibit strong demand for nutrient fortification, and are to some extent influenced by marketing messages that highlight the taste characteristics of the product. This suggests that while demand for fortified discretionary items is high among a significant proportion of the population promoting such foods on their health or energy characteristics might be counterproductive to some consumers, potentially due to health fortification stigma previously identified in the field. Taste messaging is identified as the most effective marketing appeal across our participants.

A cross-sectional study of packed lunchbox foods and their consumption by children in early childhood education and care services.

To (a) describe lunchbox foods packed and consumed by children attending early childhood education and care services; (b) compare the serves of foods packed and consumed with nutrition guideline recommendations; and (c) explore associations between parent characteristics and serves of food groups packed in lunchboxes. A cross sectional study was conducted on a sample of early childhood education and care services where parents provide food in the Hunter New England region of NSW, Australia. Lunchbox contents were assessed using photography and pre- and post-meal weights. Descriptive statistics were used to describe packing and consumption of core food groups and discretionary foods. Data on food packed and consumed were collected for 355 children's lunchboxes from 17 services (preschools n=14, long day care services n=3). Less than half (44%) of lunchboxes contained vegetables, and 54% contained at least one serve of discretionary foods. Less than 1% of lunchboxes met all setting-specific nutrition guidelines. On average, children consumed 68% of lunchbox contents, with the lowest consumption rate being for vegetables. An association was found between parent education level and packing of discretionary foods (-0.36, P= <.01) but not for packing of fruit or vegetables. Lunchboxes contained an over-representation of discretionary foods and under-representation of vegetables, and children had a low preference for consuming vegetables compared with other food groups. Interventions to support parent packing of lunchboxes in line with nutrition guidelines and strategies to expand child preference for foods such as vegetables are warranted.

Keeping our staff in mind: Dietary results of a lifestyle intervention targeting mental health staff.

1) Describe the dietary intake of mental health staff within South Eastern Sydney Local Health District and 2) Evaluate the impact of an individualised staff lifestyle program on the following nutrition parameters; (i) energy, (ii) core food groups and (iii) discretionary foods. This was a pragmatic single-arm intervention study, conducted for all staff working in a public mental health service, in Sydney, Australia. A five-session individualised lifestyle intervention delivered over 5weeks incorporated nutritional counselling delivered by a dietitian. Participants were assessed at baseline, following the intervention, and at follow-up using diet history to assess dietary intake. Eighty-eight staff completed the dietary intervention and follow-up. An intake of core food groups significantly below national recommendations was reported for total vegetables (-1.75±0.14 serves, P<.001), fruit (-0.29±0.11 serves, P=.01), grains (-1.25±0.20 serves, P<.001) and dairy servings (-1.00±1.08 serves, P<.001), and protein-based foods were significantly above national recommendations (0.2±0.09 serves, P=.03). At completion of the program, energy from discretionary foods was reduced by 460kJ (95% CI -635 to -285, P<.001), and the serves of total vegetables (0.91 serves, 95% CI 0.59-1.22, P<.001) and dairy (0.31 serves, 95% CI 0.11-0.50, P<.001) were increased significantly. A workplace-based well-being program for staff working in the mental health setting coincided with dietary improvements. Mental health staff can act as positive role models for clients to promote developing positive physical health behaviours.

Associations between sleep and lifestyle behaviours among Australian nursing students: A cross-sectional study

<h2>ABSTRACT</h2><h3>Background</h3> Nursing students are at risk of inadequate sleep and poor lifestyle behaviours due to academic, clinical and personal stressors faced throughout their training. However, the relationship between lifestyle and sleep in this population is not well understood. <h3>Aim</h3> The aim of this study was to determine whether inadequate sleep was associated with poor diet, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption and smoking in Australian nursing students. <h3>Methods</h3> Using a cross-sectional design, nursing students (<i>n</i> = 470) completed an online questionnaire that assessed sleep and lifestyle behaviours. One-way ANOVA, <i>t</i>-tests, Pearson's bivariate correlation and multiple regression testing were used to determine relationships between variables. <h3>Findings</h3> Most nursing students experienced inadequate sleep (78%). Patterns of irregular eating, increased intake of discretionary foods, high-risk alcohol consumption and smoking were associated with indicators of inadequate sleep (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Frequent lunch intake (4–7 times per week) was associated with lower global sleep quality scores than irregular lunch intake (β: −1.060, 95% confidence interval −2.022, −0.099), whereas alcohol score was associated with higher global sleep quality scores (β: 0.088, 95% confidence interval 0.011, 0.165) indicating poorer quality sleep, even after adjusting for confounding variables. No significant associations were found between sleep parameters and level of physical activity. <h3>Conclusion</h3> This study highlights that nursing students experience inadequate sleep, and that poor lifestyle behaviours were associated with inadequate sleep in this sample. Strategies are needed to address inadequate sleep and poor lifestyle behaviours in nursing students, to support health, academic and clinic performance, as well as the transition to professional nursing practice.

Availability and placement of healthy and discretionary food in Australian supermarkets by chain and level of socio-economic disadvantage.

The current study aimed to investigate availability and placement of healthy and discretionary (less healthy) food in supermarkets in Victoria, Australia, and examine variation by supermarket chain and area-level socio-economic disadvantage. Cross-sectional supermarket audit. Measures included: (i) proportion of shelf space (in square metres) allocated to selected healthy and discretionary food and beverages; (ii) proportion of end-of-aisle, checkout and island bin displays containing discretionary food and beverages and (iii) proportion of space within end-of-aisle, checkout and island bin displays devoted to discretionary food and beverages. Metropolitan areas of Melbourne and Geelong, Australia. Assessment: June-July 2019. Random sample of 104 stores, with equal numbers from each supermarket group (Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Independent stores) within strata of area-level socio-economic position. Proportion of shelf space devoted to selected discretionary foods was greater for Independent stores (72·7 %) compared with Woolworths (65·7 %), Coles (64·8 %) and Aldi (63·2 %) (all P < 0·001). Proportion of shelf space devoted to selected discretionary food for all Coles, Woolworths and Aldi stores was 9·7 % higher in the most compared with the least disadvantaged areas (P = 0·002). Across all stores, 90 % of staff-assisted checkout displays and 50 % of end-of-aisle displays included discretionary food. Aldi was less likely to feature discretionary food in end-of-aisle and checkout displays compared with other supermarket groups. Extensive marketing of discretionary food in all Australian supermarket chains was observed, which is likely to strongly influence purchasing patterns and population diets. Findings should be used to inform private and public sector policies to reduce marketing of discretionary food in supermarkets.

Food group intake at self-reported eating occasions across the day: secondary analysis of the Australian National Nutrition Survey 2011-2012.

To examine core and discretionary food and beverage intake at eating occasions, and to explore the variation in consumption by age and gender in Australian adults and children. The study utilised one 24-h dietary recall with self-reported eating occasions from a nationally representative sample of Australians. Average servings of each food group for age and gender subpopulations were compared with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. The percentage contribution of each eating occasion to total daily food group intake and typical composition of eating occasions were described. Frequently consumed discretionary foods were reported for eating occasions by age and gender. 2011-2012 Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. 12153 Australian people aged 2 years and above. Grains were consumed in equal proportions throughout the day across all age and gender subgroups, while remaining core food groups were unequally distributed, featuring more prominently at specific eating occasions. Children consumed two-thirds of their fruit intake as snacks, and up to three quarters of adults' vegetable and meat intake was consumed at dinner. Children consumed more of their discretionary intake at mid-meals, while adults consumed a greater proportion as part of a main meal. The present study provides a detailed understanding about when food groups are consumed, the 'typical' meal composition across the day, and how consumption patterns and compliance with dietary guidelines differ by age group and gender. These findings can assist in developing more specific nutrition messages which may help to achieve greater improvements in population dietary intake.

Investigation into the diets and nutritional knowledge of young men with depression: The MENDDS survey.

Currently 1 million Australians are living with depression each year, with an average of one in eight men experiencing the disorder. Studies have shown that individual nutrients, fruit and vegetable intake, polyphenols, and whole dietary patterns can have a positive effect on depressive symptoms. In particular, the Mediterranean diet has shown promising preliminary findings. The aim of this study was to assess the diet quality and knowledge of young men in relation to depressive symptoms. This was a cross-sectional online survey. We collected data from 384 young Australian men between 18 and 25 y of age with diagnosed depression. Pearson's χ2 test was used for ordinal categorical variables. Dietary intake among this population was poor. Discretionary foods were consumed two to three times per week and included pizza (41%), fried potatoes such as French fries or hash browns (29%), and chocolate (25%). Roughly half of participants (47%) reported never consuming whole grains or legumes and only 9% said they eat vegetables twice or more per day. Healthy eating is perceived as both time consuming (82%) and expensive (70%). One-third (32%) of participants perceived their diet as having a major effect and 29% a slight effect on their mental health, with only 5% reporting that diet has no effect on their mental health. However, the majority of participants (84%) believe it is important or very important to eat an overall healthy diet and 77% reported being willing to change their diet if it would improve their symptoms of depression. These results highlighted the relatively poor diets of this population. This group of young men would greatly benefit from a quality diet such as the Mediterranean diet. The reported willingness to change their diets is encouraging and supports the viability of dietary intervention trials in this demographic. The dietary data presented in this study can be used to develop targeted interventions aimed at improving the diets of young men with depression.