Previous research on nutrition labelling has mainly used subjective measures. This study examines the effectiveness of two types of nutrition label using two objective measures: eye movements and healthiness ratings.

Eye movements were recorded while participants made healthiness ratings for two types of nutrition label: standard and standard plus the Food Standards Agency's ‘traffic light’ concept.

University of Derby, UK.

A total of 92 participants (mean age 31.5 years) were paid for their participation. None of the participants worked in the areas of food or nutrition.

For the standard nutrition label, participant eye movements lacked focus and their healthiness ratings lacked accuracy. The traffic light system helped to guide the attention of the consumer to the important nutrients and improved the accuracy of the healthiness ratings of nutrition labels.

Consumers have a lack of knowledge regarding how to interpret nutrition information for standard labels. The traffic light concept helps to ameliorate this problem by indicating important nutrients to which to pay attention.

To describe the pattern and prevalence of food and drink advertisements to children on commercial television in Sydney, Australia, and compare these with advertising regulations set out in the Children's Television Standards and results from a similar study in 2002.

Data were collected by recording television from 06.00 hours until 23.00 hours on all three commercial channels from Sunday 14 May 2006 to Saturday 20 May 2006 (357 h). The study analysed advertisements in two children's viewing periods, one as defined in the 2002 study and the other according to current standards. Food advertisements were coded using 18 food categories and were analysed by time period and popular children's programmes.

Food advertisements occurred in similar proportions during children's viewing hours and adult's viewing hours (25.5 vs. 26.9% of all advertisements, respectively), although there was a higher rate of high-fat/high-sugar food advertisements during children's viewing hours (49 vs. 39% of all food advertisements, P < 0.001). There were even more advertisements for high-fat/high-sugar foods during popular children's programmes, contributing to 65.9% of all food advertisements. Estimates of exposure indicate that children aged 5–12 years were exposed to 96 food advertisements, including 63 high-fat/high-sugar advertisements per week. Since 2002, there has been a reduction in overall food and high-fat/high-sugar food advertisements.

Despite reductions in overall levels of food advertising, children continue to experience high levels of exposure to food advertisements, which remain skewed towards unhealthy foods. Further food advertising regulation should be required to curtail the current levels of advertising of high-fat/high-sugar foods to children, to make them commensurate with recommended levels of consumption.

The aim was to review and update advances in genetics of obesity.

Analysis and interpretation of recent investigations about regulating the energy balance as well as about gene-nutrient interactions and current nutrigenomic research methods.

Obesity results from a long-term positive energy balance. However, its rising prevalence in developed and developing societies must reflect lifestyle changes, since genetic susceptibility remains stable over many generations. Like most complex diseases, obesity derives from a failure of adequate homoeostasis within the physiological system controlling body weight. The identification of genes that are involved in syndromic, monogenic and polygenic obesity has seriously improved our knowledge of body weight regulation. This disorder may arise from a deregulation at the genetic level (e.g. gene transcription or altered protein function) or environmental exposure (e.g. diet, physical activity, etc.).

In practice, obesity involves the interaction between genetic and environmental factors.

The introduction of voluntary fortification of some foods with folic acid in Australia has been implemented since evidence of the prevention of neural tube defects with periconceptional folic acid was published. Our objectives were to determine how many women were aware of folate and when they became aware, what was the awareness of labels on foods that mentioned folate, and how much folate-fortified food women ate.

To address these objectives we collected data by self-administered questionnaire from a random sample of 578 recently pregnant women in Western Australia between September 1997 and March 2000.

Overall, 89% of women had heard, seen or read anything about the link between folate and birth defects such as spina bifida, 62% first became aware of the folate message before their recent pregnancy and 42% of women noticed any labels on foods that mention folate before or during their recent pregnancy. Overall, 53% of women were aware of foods that have folate added to them and 33% usually or always read the labels on food packaging. The folate-fortified foods most often consumed by women were cereals (69%), breads (34%) and milk (15%). Of the women who consumed folate-fortified foods (78%), the earlier they became aware of the folate message and noticed labels on food, the more fortified foods they consumed.

These results indicate that staple foods fortified with folate are consumed by almost 80% of women in the population. Therefore, mandatory fortification of staple foods may reach most women, providing improved opportunity for the prevention of neural tube defects in Australia.

To analyse the association between socio-economic indicators and diet among 2-year-old children, by assessing the independent contribution of parental education and equivalent income to food intake.

The analysis was based on data from a prospective birth cohort study. Information on diet was obtained using a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Low and high intake of food was defined according to the lowest and the highest quintile of food consumption frequency, respectively.

Four German cities (Munich, Leipzig, Wesel, Bad Honnef), 1999–2001.

Subjects were 2637 children at the age of 2 years, whose parents completed questionnaires gathering information on lifestyle factors, including parental socio-economic status, household consumption frequencies and children's diet.

Both low parental education and low equivalent income were associated with a low intake of fresh fruit, cooked vegetables and olive oil, and a high intake of canned vegetables or fruit, margarine, mayonnaise and processed salad dressing in children. Children with a low intake of milk and cream, and a high intake of hardened vegetable fat, more likely had parents with lower education. Low butter intake was associated with low equivalent income only.

These findings may be helpful for future intervention programmes with more targeted policies aiming at an improvement of children's diets.

To develop an objective, nutrient-based, healthy eating indicator shopping basket (HEISB) tool for use in studies of access to healthy food.

Tool development used a literature search to identify previous practice, web information on current definition of healthy foods by the UK Food Standards Agency, and population-based dietary surveys to identify culturally acceptable foods. These findings were then appraised with respect to practical fieldwork considerations.

The review took account of surveys undertaken in a range of geographical areas.

Previous tools have varied in the foods selected and the rationale for inclusion. Most have considered nutritional composition but no systematic definition has been used and foods have been subjectively classified as ‘less healthy’ or ‘more healthy’. Recent UK work on nutrient profiling enabled individual food items to be objectively assessed for inclusion. Data from national food surveys enabled commonly consumed and culturally acceptable foods to be identified. Practical considerations included item use in meals, convenience, price, and fieldwork constraints. Other issues including health and price discriminators as well as regional preferences were considered. The final HEISB tool comprised 35 items within the following categories – 17 from fruit and vegetables, nine from potatoes, bread and cereal, five from fish/meats, three from dairy, and one from fatty and sugary foods.

The tool provides a rational basis for examining access and availability of healthy foods in cross-sectional and longitudinal retail and consumer studies.

This paper describes the development of an online questionnaire for testing nutrition professionals' perceptions of the ‘healthiness’ of individual foods and the results of administering that questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to produce a standard ranking of foods that can be used as a tool for testing nutrient profile models.

The questionnaire asked respondents to categorise 40 foods (from a master list of 120) in one of six positions, ranging from less to more healthy. The 120 foods were selected to be representative of the British diet. The questionnaire was sent via email to nutrition professionals from the British Dietetic Association and the (British) Nutrition Society.

Eight hundred and fifty responses were received. These responses were used to rank the 120 foods by the average score which they received from the nutrition professionals. A regression analysis was also carried out to examine the relationship between the scores awarded by the nutrition professionals and various features of the foods: their nutritional content, their average serving size, their frequency of consumption, whether they were drinks or foods, etc. Nearly 50% of the variance in the average scores was explained by the nutritional content of the foods. When other variables were included in the analysis the percentage of variance that was explained increased to 64%.

The average scores of the foods produce a standard ranking, which can be used as a tool for validating and comparing nutrient profile models. The regression analysis provides some information about how nutrition professionals rank the ‘healthiness’ of individual foods.

To assess the impact of urbanisation on the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Chinese adults.

As part of a community-based cross-sectional survey conducted in 2002, a sample from rural and urban populations in East China was obtained. The metabolic syndrome is defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria (ATP III) and the modified ATP III, which recommended a lower waist circumference cut-off for Asians.

Field sites in Jiangxi and Anhui provinces and the Jing'an District of Shanghai, China.

A total of 529 non-pregnant, non-lactating urban and rural adults, aged 20–64 years without diagnosed diabetes.

Dwelling in urban areas was associated with higher dietary fat intake and slightly lower total energy intake, and with significantly lower occupational physical activity. Using the ATP III criteria, the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was significantly higher for urban than rural men (12.7 vs. 1.7%, P < 0.001), and was similar between urban and rural women (10.1 vs. 9.7%, P = 0.17). These urban–rural differences were greatly enhanced when the modified ATP III criteria for the syndrome were used, for men (34.3 vs. 2.7%, P < 0.01) and women (24.1 vs. 11.4%, P = 0.07). The Asian waist circumference cut-offs (90 and 80 cm for men and women, respectively) had a better combination of sensitivity and specificity in identifying other metabolic disorders, which included high glucose, high blood pressure, high triglycerides and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, for this population.

For the Chinese population, urban dwelling was associated with higher prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, especially in men.

Obesity is defined as an excess of total body fat and may be assessed by different methods. The objective of the present study was to establish the discriminatory power of anthropometric data in determining obesity.

The subjects comprised 685 individuals, aged 20–79 years, sampled from a population-based survey. The following indicators were used: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and total body fat percentage estimated with both Siri's equation (%BF Siri) and foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis (%BF BIA). Sensitivity and specificity of different cut-off points for each method were determined using %BF BIA as reference.

Of 685 participants, 57.6% were aged ≥ 40 years, 69.9% were women and 72.6% self-referred themselves as non-white. To classify obesity based on sex and age among women aged < 40 years, the cut-off points were BMI of 26.0 kg m− 2, WC of 84.0 cm and %BF Siri of 34.0%; in those aged ≥ 40 years, the cut-off points were 28.0 kg m− 2, 90.0 cm and 37.4%, respectively. The cut-off points among men aged < 40 years were BMI of 26.3 kg m− 2, WC of 86.0 cm and %BF Siri of 22.5%, and in those aged ≥ 40 years, 26.3 kg m− 2, 89.0 cm and 24.5%, respectively. BMI was the method with the largest area under the curve (AUC) independent of sex and sex/age, yet no differences were observed in AUC between BMI and WC (P>0.05). Classifying according to skin colour did not change cut-off points in any indicator.

BMI and WC better discriminate obesity among women and men aged ≥ 40 years from a mixed-race population.

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the modification of knowledge, opinions and attitudes to healthy eating, weight perception and dieting practices and preventive habits over a 10-year trend in the Catalan population from 1992 to 2003.

Two cross-sectional surveys were carried out in Catalonia, Spain, during 1992–93 and 2002–03.

In all, 2361 individuals in the ENCAT 1992–93 nutritional survey and 2061 individuals in the ENCAT 2002–03 health survey. The subjects’ ages ranged from 10 to 75 years old.

Lettuce and carrots, fish and olive oil were chosen as the healthiest foods in the two Catalan Nutritional Surveys. Although some improvement was reported, a high percentage of the population still thought that bread (31%), potatoes (23%) or olive oil (19%) should be moderated to prevent high blood cholesterol, especially among the youngest individuals. The perception of being overweight increased among males and decreased among females. There was an increase in the percentage of the population following a diet (from 13% to 17%). An increase in the consumption of iodine-enriched salt (from 26% to 40%) was observed as well as of diet supplements, especially among females (from 6% to 13%). The prevalence of males with diabetes increased from 3.4% to 4.5% and the number of individuals with diabetes not following any treatment decreased.

The Catalan population has improved their knowledge of healthy food and health-related attitudes. Nutrition policy should focus on young adults as a key age group for primary prevention of future nutrition-related chronic diseases.

To discuss present knowledge about adiponectin hormone.

Review of existing literature.

Adiponectin is one of the most interesting cytokines associated with obesity, although its physiological role remains to be fully clarified. Adiponectin is a 247-amino acid protein that contains four differentiable domains. Contrary to most adipose-related cytokines, adiponectin levels are surprisingly lower in obese than in lean humans. Women have been found to have significantly higher adiponectin plasma concentrations than men. Further research is needed in order to identify new polymorphisms which contribute to explain the potential role of adiponectin in obesity and related pathologies.

Considering the anti-inflammatory properties of adiponectin and the fact that it is negatively associated with adiposity, this cytokine could be one of the links between obesity and inflammation. The main mechanisms of action of adiponectin are directed to a protective role against atherogenic and insulin resistance processes. Research has revealed interesting new functions far beyond metabolism, such as immunity, cancer and bone formation.

Contrary to all adipose-related proteins, adiponectin decreases with obesity. Most of the contradictory data surrounding adiponectin are related to plasma values and their relationship with body fat, gender differences and insulin resistance. There are important confounding results regarding the mechanisms of action and functions of adiponectin, especially in relation to insulin resistance and inflammation.

To investigate the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and self-reported physical and mental functional health measured by an anglicised short-form 36-item questionnaire (UK SF-36).

Population-based cross-sectional study.

General community in Norfolk, UK.

A total of 16 792 men and women aged 40–79 years recruited from general practice population registers as part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)–Norfolk study, who completed food-frequency questionnaires in 1993–1997 and Health and Life Experiences Questionnaires 18 months later, were enrolled in the study.

Mean SF-36 physical component summary scores increased significantly with increasing total fruit and vegetable consumption in both men and women (P <  0.0001 for trend). Men and women in the top quartile of consumption compared with the bottom quartile had a significantly higher likelihood of reporting good physical health (defined as a score ≥ 55); odds ratio (OR) 1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11–1.53 for men and OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.11–1.48 for women, after controlling for age, body mass index, smoking, education, social class, prevalent illness and total energy intake. Exclusion of current smokers and people with prevalent illness did not alter the associations.

Higher fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with better self-reported physical functional health within a general population. Increasing daily intake by two portions of fruit and vegetables was associated with an 11% higher likelihood of good functional health. Since the current average consumption of fruit and vegetables in the UK is about three portions, the recommended ‘five a day’ strategy may have additional benefit for functional as well as other health outcomes in the population.

A food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed to assess habitual dietary intake in the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS), a prospective epidemiological study to analyse disparities in cancer and other chronic diseases between African-Americans and Whites.

Frequency and portion size estimates were obtained for each of 104 foods. Daily intakes of 13 food groups, energy and 18 nutrients were computed. Each participant's rank and quintile classification of nutrient intakes was determined with and without the use of the subject's reported portion size.

The sample was obtained from the SCCS pilot study conducted in Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida, and consisted of 209 adults, 54% African-American, with a mean (standard deviation) age of 57.1 (12.5) years.

Correlations between the ranks from the two methods of estimation were high, ranging from 0.66 to 0.94 for food groups and 0.81 to 0.94 for nutrients. Pearson correlations were similarly high for food groups and nutrients. Concordance in exact quintile rank across the nutrient indices ranged from 52 to 70%, rising to 90–99% for concordance within adjacent quintiles.

To reduce the respondents' burden and to increase data completeness, the assignment of a uniform portion size when scoring the SCCS FFQ was considered acceptable.

The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of and differences in self-reported occasions of overeating (such as at celebrations and other parties), compensatory behaviours and specific weight gain prevention strategies among young Dutch adults according to sociodemographics and overweight status.

Cross-sectional data were analysed from Dutch adults aged 20–40 years, recruited from an Internet research panel (n = 857, response rate = 76.6%). Using electronic questionnaires, self-report data were collected on sociodemographics, body mass index (BMI), occasions of overeating, compensatory behaviours, and diet and physical activity used as weight gain prevention strategies. Associations were tested using multiple linear and logistic regression analyses.

Of the participants, 48.6% reported occasions of overeating at least once a week during the 4-week period, 44.6% reported compensating for these occasions and 72.9% reported engaging in dietary and physical activities specifically for weight gain prevention purposes. Only 32.1% of the respondents reported using the recommended combination of diet and physical activity as a weight gain prevention strategy. In addition, results showed that overweight people (BMI ≥ 25 kg m-2) and women were more likely to report overeating than people with healthy body weights (odds ratio (OR) = 1.79; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.32–2.42) and men (OR = 1.50; 95% CI 1.14–1.97). Overweight people, women and people who regularly reported overeating were also significantly more likely to report compensatory behaviours by eating less and to report specific weight gain prevention strategies using diet and physical activity.

The present study suggests that people experience frequent occasions of overeating and try to compensate for such occasions in different ways. However, the combination of dietary changes and physical activity recommended by experts was seldom reported.

To examine food and nutrient availability in New Zealand using supermarket sales data in conjunction with a brand-specific supermarket food composition database (SFD).

The SFD was developed by selecting the top-selling supermarket food products and linking them to food composition data from a variety of sources, before merging with individualised sales data. Supermarket food and nutrient data were then compared with data from national nutrition and household budget/economic surveys.

A supermarket in Wellington, New Zealand.

Eight hundred and eighty-two customers (73% female; mean age 38 years) who shopped regularly at the participating supermarket store and for whom electronic sales data were available for the period February 2004–January 2005.

Top-selling supermarket food products included full-fat milk, white bread, sugary soft drinks and butter. Key food sources of macronutrients were similar between the supermarket sales database and national nutrition surveys. For example, bread was the major source of energy and contributed 12–13% of energy in all three data sources. Proportional expenditure on fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, farm products and oils, and cereal products recorded in the Household Economic Survey and supermarket sales data were within 2% of each other.

Electronic supermarket sales data can be used to evaluate a number of important aspects of food and nutrient availability. Many of our findings were broadly comparable with national nutrition and food expenditure survey data, and supermarket sales have the advantage of being an objective, convenient, up-to-date and cost-effective measure of household food purchases.

To identify dietary transition stages based on dietary patterns of adult Haitians having lived in Montreal for various lengths of time, and to assess associated dietary quality.

One hundred and eighty-one Haitians aged 25–60 years were recruited by the modified random digit dialling method.

Socio-economic, diet and lifestyle variables were documented by questionnaire. Three non-consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls were conducted over a 3-month period. Dietary patterns were studied using cluster analysis, and their association with proportion of lifetime in Canada and with socio-economic status (SES) was examined. Diet quality criteria were micronutrient adequacy and healthfulness based on dietary recommendations of the World Health Organization.

Four dietary phenotypes were identified which could roughly represent stages of dietary transition or acculturation (Traditional, Pre-Western, Western and Modern). Subjects in the ‘Traditional’ cluster were older and had lived for a significantly lower proportion of their lifetime in Canada; they also tended to be of lower SES. Diet quality was significantly higher in the ‘Traditional’ than the ‘Western’ type, particularly with respect to healthfulness. A significantly lower proportion of subjects complying with limited intake of total fat ( < 30%) and cholesterol ( < 45%) was observed in the ‘Western’ compared with other diet phenotypes. Less than 15% of all subjects consumed enough dietary fibre, irrespective of diet type.

Dietary transition stages could be identified on the basis of food patterns of Haitians according to the proportion of their lifetime in Canada. Encouraging the youth to retain the traditional food culture in its positive aspects would appear relevant.

Dietary surveys of 11- to 12-year-old Northumbrian children in 1980 and 1990 revealed that consumption of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) was 16–17% of energy intake. This study reports dietary sugars consumption in 2000 and compares it with data collected in 1980 and 1990, using identical methods.

A repeat cross-sectional dietary survey of children aged 11–12 years attending the same schools as in the 1980 and 1990 surveys.

Seven middle schools in south Northumberland.

All children aged 11–12 years old attending the seven schools.

Food consumption was recorded using two 3-day diet diaries. Food composition tables were used to calculate energy and nutrient intakes. NMES, and milk and intrinsic sugars were calculated using previously described methods.

The numbers of children completing the surveys in 1980, 1990 and 2000 were 405, 379 and 424, respectively; ~60–70% of eligible children. Total sugars provided 22% of energy consistently over the three surveys. NMES consumption in 2000 provided 16% of energy compared with 16% in 1980 and 17% in 1990. Sources of NMES changed over the three surveys. NMES from soft drinks doubled from 15 to 31 g day− 1, and from breakfast cereals increased from 2 to 7 g day− 1 over the 20 years. Confectionery and soft drinks provided 61% of NMES. Over 20 years, the proportion of energy from fat decreased by 5% and from starch increased by 4%, creating a welcome tilt in the fat–starch see-saw, without an adverse effect on sugars intake.

Consumption of NMES in 2000 was substantially higher than recommended, and there has been little change over 20 years. Continued and coordinated efforts are required at a national, community and individual level to reduce the intake of NMES.