High Consumption Of Soft Drinks Research Articles

Irregular daily energy intake and diet quality in Iranian adults.

The present cross-sectional study aimed to assess the association of daily irregularity in energy intake and diet quality among apparently healthy adults in Iran. The research was conducted on 850 adult men and women (age range: 20-59 years) who attended health care centres in Tehran. Dietary intake was assessed by three, 24-h dietary recalls. Diet quality was assessed using the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet score and Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015). An irregularity score of daily energy intake was calculated based on the deviation from the 3-d mean energy intake, with a higher score indicating more fluctuations in daily energy intake. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the association of irregularity score of daily energy intake with food group intakes and DASH diet score and HEI-2015, controlling for age, sex, BMI, physical activity, education level and occupation status. The range of irregularity score was 0·55-133·3 (22·4 (sd 19·0)). Higher irregularity score of daily energy intake was significantly associated with a lower consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes, low-fat dairy products and poultry, higher consumption of soft drinks, processed meat and nuts, and lower overall DASH diet score and HEI-2015. Overall, our findings showed that more day-to-day variations in energy intake may be correlated with a lower diet quality. More research is needed to confirm the associations observed in the present study and to clarify potential mechanisms explaining these associations.

Obesity epidemic in urban Tanzania: a public health calamity in an already overwhelmed and fragmented health system

BackgroundWorldwide, the epidemiological and demographic transitions have resulted in nutrition shift characterized by an increased consumption of high energy fast food products. In just over 3 decades, overweight and obesity rates have nearly tripled to currently affecting over a third of the global population. Notwithstanding the ever present under-nutrition burden, sub Saharan Africa (SSA) is witnessing a drastic escalation of overweight and obesity. We aimed to explore the prevalence and associated factors for obesity among residents of Dar es Salaam city in Tanzania.MethodsParticipants from this study were recruited in a community screening conducted during the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair. Sociodemographic and clinical data were gathered using a structured questionnaire during enrollment. Dietary habits and anthropometric measurements were assessed using standard methods. All statistical analyses utilized STATA v11.0 software. Pearson Chi square and Student’s T-test were used to compare categorical and continuous variables respectively. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess for factors associated with BMI ≥ 25. All tests were 2-sided and p < 0.05 was used to denote a statistical significance.ResultsA total of 6691 participants were enrolled. The mean age was 43.1 years and males constituted 54.2% of all participants. Over two-thirds of participants were alcohol consumers and 6.9% had a positive smoking history. 88.3% of participants were physically inactive, 4.7% had a history of diabetes mellitus and 18.1% were known to have elevated blood pressure. Overweight and obesity were observed in 34.8 and 32.4% of participants respectively. Among overweight and obese participants, 32.8% had a misperception of having a healthy weight. Age ≥ 40, female gender, a current working status, habitual breakfast skipping, poor water intake, high soft drink consumption, regular fast food intake, low vegetable and fruit consumption, alcohol consumption and hypertension were found to be independent associated factors for obesity.ConclusionAmidst the ever present undernutrition in SSA, a significant proportion of participants had excess body weight. Concomitantly, the rates of physical inactivity and unhealthy eating are disproportionately high in Dar es Salaam. In view of this, community-based and multilevel public health strategies to promote and maintain healthy eating and physical activity require an urgent step-up in urban Tanzania.

Cumulative soft drink consumption is associated with insulin resistance in Mexican adults

Insulin resistance (IR) is an important risk factor for type 2 diabetes(T2D) and other cardiometabolic diseases. Recent studies suggest that soft drink consumption could increase IR. However, inconsistent findings have been observed. The aim was to estimate the association between the cumulative consumption of soft drinks and IR by means of the HOMA-IR in Mexican adults. We analyzed the association between cumulative consumption of soft drinks and HOMA-IR change after 7 y of follow-up in participants (n=1073) of the Health Workers Cohort Study. Soft drink consumption was estimated by food-frequency questionnaires. Insulin was measured by chemiluminescence, and fasting glucose was measured with the enzymatic colorimetric method. HOMA-IR was computed as fasting insulin (mIU/L) × fasting glucose (mmol/L)/22.5. To assess the relation between cumulative soft drink consumption and HOMA-IR change, we performed robust linear regression models. Additionally, we used fixed-effects models to estimate the association between changes in soft drink consumption and change in HOMA-IR. At baseline, the average age was 44 y. Mean cumulative soft drink consumption was 0.42 servings/d. Median HOMA-IR increased from 1.5 at baseline to 2.0 at follow-up. Soft drink consumption was positively associated with HOMA-IR change. In the multiple linear regression analysis, for each increase in the consumption of 2 (355 mL) soft drinks/d, the average change between baseline and follow-up HOMA-IR showed an increase of 1.11 units (95% CI: 0.74, 1.48). Our data support the hypothesis that, in Mexican adults, a higher soft drink consumption is associated with an increase in HOMA-IR, despite known risk factors. These findings support the need for reinforcing policies to reduce soft drink consumption in our population.

Natural Experiment on Trade and Investment Liberalization and Soft Drink Consumption

Abstract Background Globalization is recognized to as a contributing factor to a health harming environment through a variety of mechanisms including through changes in food systems and food availability. Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is linked to obesity and diabetes and its regulation is a key priority for public health. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is an international trade agreement between 11 countries. Methods This project uses of natural experiment methods to predict the impact of the entry into force of the CPTPP on SSB consumption. These methods allow quantitative inferences to be drawn in the situations where the exposure is not randomly assigned. Soft drink consumption data was collected from the Euromonitor database for 80 countries from all regions. This data was used to estimate the effect of agreements similar to the TPP. Results Eleven country trade agreement pairs were identified. In 5 cases out of the 11, the exposed country had a higher soft drink consumption at five years after the trade agreement. The effect of the trade agreement exposure for an average country in the sample in a trade agreement was found to be 1.10 (95% CI: 1.01-1.18; p-value: 0.03) after adjusting for GDP and the involvement of the US. In 7 of the 11 member-countries soft drink consumption is expected to increase yielding an average increase of 9.0% in those countries; the changes did not yield statistically significant differences in others. Conclusions This projected extended the use of synthetic methods to the projection of future effects of policy implementation. While it showed that there may be increasing trend of SSB consumption in certain scenarios, this could not be generalized to all cases. This illustrates the wide range of effects of international trade liberalization and highlights that national policy probably plays a strong modulating role on the impact that it has on local food environments. Key messages Globalization can lead to health harming environments and its impacts should further be studied by public health professionals and researchers. Many global policies have the potential to lead to significant health impacts but are negotiated without involving public health experts.

Prospective association of soft drink consumption with depressive symptoms.

Consumption of soft drinks has become a serious public health issue worldwide. However, prospective evidence is limited regarding the relationship between soft drink consumption and depression, especially in Asia. The aim of this study was to investigate the prospective association between soft drink consumption and the development of depressive symptoms. We evaluated an occupational cohort of 935 adults in Japan (2012-2016), who were free from depressive symptoms at baseline and attended a 3-y follow-up assessment. Soft drink consumption was assessed using a self-administered diet history questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for sociodemographic, lifestyle, dietary, and occupational covariates. Over the 3-y study period, 16.9% (158 cases) of the study participants reported depressive symptoms. Higher soft drink consumption was associated with higher odds of depressive symptoms. The multivariable-adjusted OR was 1.91 (95% CI, 1.11-3.29; Ptrend=0.015) when comparing soft drink consumption of ≥4 cups/wk with consumption of <1 cup/wk. The present results suggested that greater consumption of soft drinks would increase the likelihood of exhibiting depressive symptoms.

Consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados por idosos frequentadores de uma clínica integrada de saúde em São Paulo

Objetivo: avaliar o consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados por idosos atendidos em uma clínica escola de saúde em São Paulo, considerando o seu estado nutricional, sexo e presença ou não de hipertensão. Métodos: Estudo transversal com 78 idosos (≥ 60 anos de idade), de ambos os sexos, realizado com frequentadores de uma Clínica integrada de Saúde. Os dados foram coletados entre janeiro de 2013 e dezembro de 2018. Esta pesquisa faz parte do projeto de pesquisa temático denominado: “Avaliação Interdisciplinar da Saúde do idoso”. As variáveis quantitativas foram testadas para normalidade pelo teste de Kolmogorov Smirnov, não apresentando normalidade. Portanto, diferenças entre as médias de consumo de ultraprocessados entre idosos e idosas, hipertensos e normotensos, eutróficos e sobrepeso, foram analisadas por teste Mann-Whitney (p0,05). Resultados: Identificou-se que 65,4% (n=51) dos indivíduos eram normotensos e 34,6% (n=27) eram hipertensos. Notou-se que os idosos apresentaram um maior consumo de refrigerante, hambúrguer e biscoito recheado do que as idosas, os eutróficos apresentaram um maior consumo de pão de forma/bisnaguinha do que os indivíduos com sobrepeso e os hipertensos apresentaram maior consumo de margarina quando comparados aos normotensos. Conclusão: As ações de prevenção de fatores de risco para as DCNT, como a hipertensão, além da promoção de hábitos de vida saudáveis focadas na redução do consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados, são componentes fundamentais para contribuir para uma melhor qualidade de vida nessa faixa etária, principalmente entre as mulheres idosas, que apresentaram maior prevalência de hipertensão e maior consumo de ultraprocessados como biscoito recheado, refrigerante e hambúrguer.

The Role of Diet in Osteoporotic Fracture Risk

Introduction: Osteoporosis-related fractures constitute a considerable public health burden and nutrition is an important modifiable factor influencing bone health. Numerous micronutrients, macronutrients, and dietary components influence bone health, as well as dietary patterns. This short review describes the role of diet on osteoporosis fracture risk, investigating those dietary factors which improve bone health. Materials and Methods: Searching Pubmed and Web of Science, we performed a review of current literature. Results: This review reported the beneficial effects of micronutrients (e.g. calcium, vitamin D, potassium, magnesium, vitamin K, and vitamin B12), macronutrients (e.g. protein and carbohydrates), and foods (e.g. fish and seafood, fruits and vegetables) on osteoporotic fracture risk. A healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, is important for decreasing osteoporotic fracture risk. A potential benefit on fracture risk is attributed to the “Healthy” and “Milk/dairy” dietary patterns which emphasise the intake of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, poultry and fish, nuts and legumes, and low-fat dairy products. By contrast, the unhealthy “Meat/Western” dietary pattern, characterised by high consumption of soft drinks, fried foods, meat and processed products, sweets and desserts, and refined grains, increased osteoporosis fracture risk. Conclusions: Diet plays an important role in bone health. A healthy diet prevents osteoporosis and reduces osteoporotic fracture risk.

Association between soft drink consumption and handgrip strength in middle aged and older adults: the TCLSIH cohort study

A cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the association between soft drink consumption and handgrip strength (HGS) in subjects aged 40 years and older (n = 14,925). After multivariable-adjustment (including demographics, lifestyles, family history of diseases, dietary intake, and other beverages consumption), the least square means (95% confidence interval) of HGS across soft drink consumption categories were 43.1(42.7, 43.5) kg for almost never drink, 42.9(42.4, 43.4) kg for <1 cup/week, 42.8(42.1, 43.5) kg for 1–6 cups/week and 41.2(40.1, 42.6) kg for ≥1 cup/day (p for trend < 0.001) in men, and 26.6(25.9, 27.8) kg for almost never drink, 26.5(25.8, 27.1) kg for <1 cup/week, 26.3(25.7, 27.2) kg for 1–6 cups/week and 25.2(24.9, 27.0) kg for ≥1 cup/day (p for trend < 0.001) in women, respectively. Our findings suggest that higher consumption of soft drinks was significantly associated with lower HGS in middle-aged and older adults. Additional prospective or interventional studies are needed to confirm this issue.

High Consumption of Soft Drinks Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Fracture: A 7-Year Follow-Up Study.

(1) Background: Fracture causes a substantial burden to society globally. Some studies have found that soft drinks consumption was associated with the risk of fractures. We aimed to assess the association in the Chinese population; (2) Methods: Data from 17,383 adults aged 20 to 75 years old attending the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) between 2004 and 2011 were analyzed. Soft drinks consumption and fracture occurrence were self-reported. The cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between soft drink and fracture was assessed using multivariable mixed-effect logistic regression and Cox regression; (3) Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors and dietary patterns, compared with those who did not consume soft drinks, participants with daily consumption of soft drinks had an odds ratio (95%CI) of 2.72 (95%CI: 1.45–5.09) for fracture. During a mean 5-year follow-up, there were 569 incident fracture cases. Compared with non-consumers, those with daily soft drinks consumption had a hazard ratio (95%CI) of 4.69 (95%CI: 2.80–7.88) for incident fracture; (4) Conclusions: Soft drinks consumption is directly associated with the risk of fracture. Reducing soft drinks consumption should be considered as an important strategy for individual and population levels to maintain bone health.

Association between beverages consumption and total diet quality index with sedentary behaviours in Spanish children. Calina study

AbstractIntroductionEvidence suggests that the time spent in different types of sedentary behaviours (e.g. TV watching, use of video games) may be more important in predicting childhood obesity as compared with overall sedentary time (ST). Sedentary time has been associated with unhealthy food and beverage consumption at young ages. The aims of this study were: to examine the association between different beverages consumption and sedentary behaviours and to evaluate the association between the total dietary quality index (DQI) and the adherence to the ST recommendations, in a sample of Spanish children.MethodologyThe study included a cohort of 381 children (40.7 % boys) aged 7 years, from the Growth and Feeding during Infancy and Early Childhood in Aragon (CALINA) longitudinal study, living in Zaragoza. Data on dietary habits and screen time (watching TV/DVD/videos and playing PC/video games) were parental-reported. ST was categorized based on the recommendations (≤ 2hour/day and &gt; 2hour/day). The DQI was computed from a validated semi quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Generalized linear mixed models, adjusted for maternal education and body mass index, were analysed.ResultsIn boys, exceeding the total ST's recommendations (&gt; 2 h/day) was positively associated with high consumption of soft drinks (β = 0.13; CI: 0.02;0.26) while in girls, exceeding the recommendations was positively associated with light drinks (soft drinks with artificial sweeteners) consumption (β = 0.06; CI: 0.02;0.13). Only individual PC/videogames time was associated with beverage consumption. In both gender, excessive PC/video games time (&gt; 2h/day) was associated with high soft drinks consumption (β = 0.51; CI: 0.25; 0.77, β = 1.07; CI: 0.79; 1.35, respectively). Only in girls, there was a positive association between PC/ video games time and light drinks (soft drinks with artificial sweeteners) consumption (β = 0.21; CI: 0.02; 0.41). Regarding the DQI, only boys showed a negative associations between total ST and the DQI (β = -5.91; CI -2.56; -2.56), this means, that those boys that exceeded the total ST's recommendations (&gt; 2 h/day) had a poor total quality diet.DiscussionIn children, ST was associated with beverages (soft drinks and light drinks) consumption and a poor total diet quality. Soft drinks with artificial sweeteners (light drinks) were chosen mostly by girl´s, whereas, boys preferred regular sugar sweetened soft drinks consumption.

Soft Drink Consumption and its Influence on BMI and Academic Performance among Selected School Children in Dhaka City of Bangladesh

Soft drink refers to sugar-sweetened beverages that contain a natural or artificial flavoring. Daily soft drinks consumption in children is an unhealthy lifestyle behavior that demands special attention to maintain their healthy lives. The present study was aimed to examine the consumption of soft drink and its influence on BMI, and academic performance among selected school children in Dhaka City of Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was nested among 600 randomly selected young school-aged children (6-17 years, both boys and girls) from the six English Medium schools in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect the data using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were done using SPSS 20.0. Results showed that about 48% of the school children consumed soft drinks regularly. Raised weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) was higher among regular soft drink consumers compared to their counterparts (p&lt;0.05). Study revealed that girls (49%) consumed more artificial color soft drinks than boys (30%). On bivariate analysis, the availability (p&lt;0.01) and accessibility of soft drinks (p&lt;0.01), peer influence (p&lt;0.01), low price (p&lt;0.01) and advertisement (p&lt;0.01) were established to be significant determinants for soft drink consumption among the young school students. Study findings showed that academic performance was better among non-consumers of soft drinks (p&lt;0.001). The overall consumption of soft drinks is alarming among school children and its influence on increasing BMI and decreasing academic performance. The high consumption of soft drinks deserve due attention to avoid the development of non-communicable diseases. Therefore, well coordinated health education programs are recommended to minimize the consumption of soft drinks among school children.

Sport Types and Time Spent Playing Sport Are Associated with Eating Pattern Among Young Brazilian Athletes

Background: Nutritional studies on athletes have focused on the intake of nutrients and nutritional supplements. The lack of sufficient evidence on eating pattern is challenging for those advising athletes on their daily dietary patterns during training and competitions. Objectives: To identify the eating pattern of high school athletes and its association with sport characteristics. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 248 Brazilian athletes (170 boys; age range, 14 - 20 years). We assessed the frequency of meals, unhealthy and healthy food items, and sports variables. Poisson regression model and the effect measure [prevalence ratio, PR] was analyzed. Results: The athletes exhibited low breakfast consumption and lunch or dinner with parents, as well as a low consumption of healthy food items. More than one-third of all athletes ate vegetables and fruits on ≤ 2 days per week. We found a positive association between the time spent practicing the sport type and the regular consumption of raw salad and fruits. Soccer athletes had the worst eating pattern, including high soft drink (PR, 1.32; 1.10 - 1.60) consumption and the lowest bean (PR, 1.13; 1.01 - 1.26), raw salad (PR, 1.19; 1.04 - 1.37), and vegetable (PR, 1.10; 1.01 - 1.22) consumption, whereas the volleyball players exhibited the most adequate eating pattern. Conclusions: Sports types and the time spent practicing these sports are associated with eating pattern. This information may be crucial for improving performance and promoting healthy habits that could benefit athletes even after their sports career.

Association between soft drink consumption and osteoporotic fractures among postmenopausal women: the Women's Health Initiative.

High consumption of soft drinks has been associated with lower bone mineral density among postmenopausal women. This study explores the association of soft drink consumption, osteoporosis, and incidental fractures in this population. Cross-sectional (at baseline) and cohort combined designs, over 11.9 years of median follow-up for 72,342 postmenopausal women participating in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. Multiple linear regression models were used to examine the cross-sectional associations between soft drink consumption and hip and lumbar spine bone mineral density. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the association of soft drink consumption with incident hip fractures. There were no associations between soft drink consumption and hip or lumbar spine t scores. During 700,388 person-years of follow-up, 2,578 hip fractures occurred. Adjusted hazard ratios for incident hip fracture for the highest consumption category compared with no consumption were 1.26 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.56) for total soda and 1.32 (95% CI 1.00-1.75) for caffeine-free soda. There was no association between caffeinated soda and incident hip fracture (hazard ratio = 1.16; 95% CI 0.86-1.57). There was no apparent linear trend in the risk of hip fracture across categories of soda consumption in the fully adjusted models, suggesting a threshold effect. A sensitivity analysis using adjudicated hip fractures showed significant associations for all three soda exposures in the highest intake groups. Consuming more than two servings of soft drinks per day on average showed potential associations with higher risk of hip fracture among postmenopausal women.

Maternal dietary patterns during early pregnancy and birth weight in Japan

Abstract Background The average birth weight in Japan has decreased by 200 g in the last 40 years. Only three studies were reported for the association between maternal dietary patterns and birth weight in East Asia, whose results were inconsistent. We examined what maternal dietary patterns were associated with the birth weight in Japan. Methods Totally 22,493 pregnant women were recruited between July 2013 and September 2016 into the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study. We included 17,287 women who had a full-term single healthy baby into the analysis. Consumption of food and beverage items was evaluated based on food frequency questionnaire at the first-trimester. Dietary patterns were analyzed using a machine learning method of k-means clustering algorithm. Birth weight was obtained from the medical record. The association between dietary patterns and birth weight was analyzed using multiple liner regression model adjusted for potential confounders with multiple imputation method for missing values. Results Dietary patterns were classified into seven groups by cluster analysis: “high in rice (reference) (n = 8046)”, “middle in vegetables, beans, mushrooms, seaweeds and miso-soup (n = 4842)”, “high in fruits (n = 1176)”, “high in bread, dairy and alcohol (n = 1091)”, “high in meat and fish (n = 1049)”, “high in coffee, black tea, soft drinks and confections (high in coffee) (n = 585)”, and “high in vegetables, beans, mushrooms, seaweeds and miso-soup (n = 498)” groups. In multiple liner regression models, birth weight was 22.6 g (95%CI: 0.1 to 45.2 g) heavier in “high in fruits” group than in reference group and 39.4 g (95%CI: 8.6 to 70.3 g) lighter in “high in coffee” group than in reference group. The other groups were not statistically significant. Conclusions High consumption of fruits and high consumption of coffee, black tea, soft drinks and confections during early pregnancy were associated with increased and decreased birth weight, respectively. Key messages We found maternal dietary patterns during early pregnancy using a machine learning method of k-means clustering algorithm. We found maternal dietary patterns which associated with the birth weight in Japan.

Soft drink consumption and periodontal status in pregnant women.

Periodontal disease is associated with metabolic syndrome, and during pregnancy, it is linked to preeclampsia and preterm birth. We hypothesized that soft drink consumption, which has also been associated with metabolic disorders, may also be linked to periodontal disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between soft drink consumption and periodontal status in pregnancy. This was a cross-sectional study nested in BRISA (Brazilian Ribeirão Preto and São Luís Birth Cohort Studies). Pregnant women (n=1,185) completed a questionnaire and underwent periodontal examination from the 22nd to 25th week of pregnancy. The explanatory variable was the frequency of soft drink consumption (times per week). The outcome was periodontal status measured as the number of teeth with probing depth ≥4mm with bleeding on probing (PD/BOP) or with clinical attachment level ≥4mm (CAL). Means ratio (MR) was estimated using zero-inflated Poisson, adjusted for maternal age and income. The higher tertile of consumption of soft drinks during pregnancy was associated with PD/BOP (MR=1.34; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03 to 1.75); while the highest tertile of diastolic blood pressure was also associated to CAL (MR=1.21; 95% CI 1:07 to 1.35). High soft drink consumption was associated with the number of teeth with PD/BOP in pregnant women, suggesting that beverage consumption is a factor that contributes to the systemic inflammatory burden, which is common to periodontal disease, metabolic syndrome, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Patterns of beverage consumption and risk of CHD among Mexican adults.

CHD is becoming an increasing priority worldwide, as it is one of the main causes of death in low- and middle-income countries lately. This study aims to evaluate the association between beverage consumption patterns and the risk of CHD among Mexican adult population. We performed a cross-sectional analysis using data from 6640 adults participating in the Health Workers' Cohort Study. Factor analysis was performed to identify beverage patterns using sex-specific Framingham prediction algorithms to estimate CHD risk. The prevalence of moderate to high CHD risk was 17·8 %. We identified four major beverage consumption patterns, which were categorised as alcohol, coffee/tea, soft drinks and low-fat milk. We observed a lower risk of CHD (OR=0·61; 95 % CI 0·46, 0·80; and OR=0·58; 95 % CI 0·43, 0·79, respectively) among participants in the upper quintile of alcohol or low-fat milk consumption compared with those in the bottom quintile. In contrast, a higher consumption of soft drinks was positively associated with CHD risk (OR=1·64; 95 % CI 1·21, 2·20) when compared with other extreme quintiles. Finally, coffee/tea consumption was not significantly associated with CHD risk. Our findings suggest that a beverage pattern characterised by a higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages may be associated with an increased risk of CHD among the Mexican adult population, whereas patterns of moderate alcohol intake and low-fat milk may be associated with a reduced risk.

Message in a bottle – The story of floating plastic in the eastern Mediterranean sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a closed basin with limited water exchange through the Strait of Gibraltar, and sites along its shores show the greatest densities of marine debris in the world. Plastic bottles, which are a growing concern due to high consumption of soft drinks and bottled water, constitute most of the floating marine debris. In this paper we present the transport mechanisms of floating marine debris to and from the Israeli coast using an experimental offshore release and recovery of plastic bottles, with the participation of citizens. Many bottles released near the beach in the south part of Israel, returned to the beach at a short distance and time from the release point. Some release locations had no bottle returns. Ten bottles, released from three locations, were recovered many dozens to hundreds of kilometers from the release point. Since most of the westward water flow in the eastern Mediterranean is subsurface, it was not surprising to find our floating debris only in the east. That makes the Levant basin in the eastern Mediterranean a collection area for floating debris.

Non-alcoholic beverage consumption and risk of depression: epidemiological evidence from observational studies.

Recent epidemiological studies have examined associations between various types of non-alcoholic beverage consumption and risk of depression, but the associations were inconsistent. To provide a quantitative assessment of this association, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. We searched PubMed and Web of Science databases through February 2017 for eligible studies and examined the reference lists of the retrieved articles. A random-effects model was used to calculate pooled relative risks (RR) with 95% CIs after adjusting for important confounders. We identified fifteen observational studies (9 cross-sectional studies; 6 prospective studies) of beverage consumption and depression, including 20,572 cases of depression among 347,691 participants. For coffee and tea consumption, the pooled RRs of depression for the high vs. low categories of consumption were 0.73 (95% CI 0.59-0.90) and 0.71 (95% CI 0.55-0.91), respectively. For soft drinks, however, the pooled RR for the high vs. low category of consumption was 1.36 (95% CI 1.24-1.50). The inverse association with coffee or tea consumption and the positive association with soft drink consumption for risk of depression did not vary by gender, country, high consumption category, and adjustment factors such as alcohol, smoking and physical activity. Our findings suggest that high consumption of coffee and tea may reduce the risk of depression, while high consumption of soft drinks may increase the risk of depression. Further well-designed large prospective studies are needed to provide definitive evidence to address the effects of various types of beverages on risk of depression.

Reducing the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Nonselected Outpatients With Schizophrenia: A 30-Month Program.

Type 2 diabetes is 2- to 3-fold more common in patients with schizophrenia than in the general population. A lifestyle with a focus on diet, exercise, and medication is required to prevent complications from type 2 diabetes, but patients with schizophrenia frequently have trouble maintaining such a lifestyle because of factors related to their illness, such as cognitive disturbances, negative and positive symptoms, and side effects of psychotropic medications. To measure and reduce risk factors for type 2 diabetes in patients with schizophrenia and examine characteristics associated with positive outcomes. This study, which was conducted in clinics treating both newly diagnosed and long-term (LT) patients with schizophrenia, evaluated the effects of a 30-month naturalistic intervention on improvement in the physical health of patients treated for schizophrenia and reduction in their risk factors for type 2 diabetes. The clinical intervention incorporated individual guidance, group sessions, and treatment as usual. Patients newly diagnosed with schizophrenia were found to have high consumption of soft drinks and low physical activity at their index evaluation. At follow-up, the physical profile of these patients had worsened, with increased weight, waist circumferences, visceral adiposity index (P=0.030), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c; P=0.010). Average HbA1c values increased in newly diagnosed male patients by 0.24 mmol/l (P=0.007). At follow-up, LT patients improved with regard to their consumption of soft drinks (P=0.001) and fast food (P=0.009). The LT patients also reduced their weight and waist circumferences and became more physically active. No changes in HbA1c values were found in the LT patients during the intervention period. The study found that positive outcomes were associated with female sex and a longer duration of illness. Negative outcomes with worsening of risk factors were associated with being newly diagnosed with schizophrenia and male sex. It was possible to produce improvements in some risk factors through individual health-oriented lifestyle interventions, especially in LT patients.

Beverage consumption and risk of ulcerative colitis: Systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies.

Epidemiological studies have provided controversial evidence between beverage consumption and the risk of ulcerative colitis (UC). This study aimed to determine the role of beverage consumption in the development of UC. A systematic search was conducted in public databases to identify all relevant studies, and study-specific relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using a random-effects model. Sixteen studies were identified with a total of 3689 cases and 335,339 controls. Alcohol consumption showed no significant association with UC risk (RR for the highest vs the lowest consumption level: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.65-1.39). Coffee consumption tended to be inversely associated with UC risk (RR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.33-1.05), but it was not significant and confounded by smoking adjustment. Soft drinks consumption was associated with UC risk (RR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.24-2.30), and tea consumption was inversely associated with UC risk (RR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.58-0.83). In conclusion, high consumption of soft drinks might increase the risk of UC, while tea consumption might decrease the risk.