Volume 11 Issue 3

▪ Keyword : anaemia, China, ferritin, iron, pregnancy, Qingdao

▪ Content : Anaemia in pregnancy is a major public health problem in China. Anaemia in pregnant women may be related to dietary intake of nutrients. To examine the relationship between iron status and dietary nutrients, a crosssectional study in pregnant women was carried out. The intake of foods and food ingredients were surveyed by using 24-h dietary recall. Blood haemoglobin, haematocrit, serum iron, serum ferritin, transferrin and soluble transferrin receptor were measured in 1189 clinically normal pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy.

▪ Keyword : antithrombotic activity, diabetes, green tea catechin, renal dysfunction, renal glomerulus

▪ Content : The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of green tea catechin on prostaglandin synthesis of renal glomerular and renal dysfunction in rats with streptozotocin–induced diabetes. Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 100 ± 10 g were randomly assigned to one normal group and three groups with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. The diabetic groups were classified to a catechin-free diet (DM group), a 0.25% catechin diet (DM0.25C group) and a 0.5% catechin diet (DM-0.5C group) according to the levels of catechin supplement in their diet. The animals were maintained on an experimental diet for 4 weeks.

▪ Keyword : evaluation, feeding programs, malnutrition, refugees

▪ Content : Selective feeding programs are centres for the treatment of persons suffering from acute malnutrition. Unlike chronic malnutrition, acute malnutrition reflects recent problems. In a crisis situation, wasting is preferred above other indicators because it is sensitive to rapid change, indicates present change, can be used to monitor the impact of interventions and is a good predictor of immediate mortality risk. This paper reviews the current approach being used in the field to evaluate the effectiveness of feeding programs.

▪ Keyword : breakfast cereals, dietary fibre, faecal bulk, wheat bran equivalents

▪ Content : Faecal bulk may play an important role in preventing a range of disorders of the large bowel, but as yet there is little information available on the relative faecal bulking capacities of various foods. Breakfast cereals are often promoted as a good source of potential bulk for ‘inner health’ because they provide dietary fibre, but their relative abilities to provide faecal bulk per se have not been described. The faecal bulking efficacy of 28 representative Australasian breakfast cereals was therefore measured.

▪ Keyword : anaemia, birthweight, haemoglobin, hair, iron, Philippines, pregnancy

▪ Content : Low birthweight is associated with maternal anaemia and, in some circumstances, with low iron and zinc status, but this relationship has not been investigated in the Philippines. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of anaemia and suboptimal iron and zinc status in pregnant women from three geographical regions (mountain, coast, city) of Zamboanga del Sur province at 24 weeks (n = 305), and again at 36 weeks (n = 127), gestation.

▪ Keyword : α-tocopherol, bone calcium, female rat, palm vitamin E

▪ Content : In this study the effects of vitamin E deficiency and supplementation on bone calcification were determined using 4-month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats weighed between 180 and 200 g. The study was divided in three parts. In experiment 1 the rats were given normal rat chow (RC, control group), a vitamin E deficient (VED) diet or a 50% vitamin E deficient (50%VED) diet. In experiment 2 the rats were given VED supplemented with 30 mg/kg palm vitamin E (PVE30), 60 mg/kg palm vitamin E (PVE60) or 30 mg/kg pure α-tocopherol (ATF). In experiment 3 the rats were fed RC and given the same supplements as in experiment 2.

▪ Keyword : Australia, body mass index, nutrition survey, obesity, overweight

▪ Content : This study is a secondary data analysis based on the 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey (NNS). A random subsample of 1581 school children aged 7–15 years old from the NNS was studied. The results show the prevalence of overweight, obesity and combined overweight and obesity was 10.6–20.9%, 3.7–7.2% and 15.6–25.7%, respectively. The odds ratio of overweight or obese boys with highest household income was significantly smaller than those with the lowest household income.

▪ Keyword : aqueous extract, enzymic antioxidants, Phaseolus vulgaris, streptozotocin-induced diabetes

▪ Content : The antioxidant effect of an aqueous extract of Phaseolus vulgaris pods, an indigenous plant used in Ayurvedic medicine in India, was studied in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Oral administration of Phaseolus vulgaris pod extract (PPEt; 200 mg/kg body weight) for 45 days resulted in a significant reduction in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and hydroperoxides. The extract also causes a significant increase in reduced glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione-S-transferase in the liver and kidneys of rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. These results clearly show the antioxidant property of PPEt. The effect of PPEt at 200 mg/kg body weight was more effective than glibenclamide.

▪ Keyword : Australia, cholesterol, diabetes, diet, Ghana, hypertension

▪ Content : Ethnic groups in affluent environments experience higher rates of metabolic diseases than their native counterparts. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of metabolic risk factors in Ghanaians in Sydney, and to investigate the relationship with dietary and lifestyle factors. Cross-sectional design with anthropometry, blood pressure, plasma lipids, glucose and insulin concentrations were measured on two occasions on each subject.

▪ Keyword : carbohydrate, diabetes mellitus, food intake, glycaemia, glycaemic glucose equivalents

▪ Content : The glycaemic index (GI) is the blood glucose response to carbohydrate in a food as a percentage of the response to an equal weight of glucose. Because GI is a percentage, it is not related quantitatively to food intakes, and because it is based on equi-carbohydrate comparisons, GI-based exchanges for control of glycaemia should be restricted to foods providing equal carbohydrate doses. To overcome these limitations of GI, the glycaemic glucose equivalent (GGE), the weight of glucose having the same glycaemic impact as a given weight of food, is proposed as a practical measure of relative glycaemic impact.

▪ Keyword : antithrombogenic, diabetes, green tea catechin, lipid peroxidation

▪ Content : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of green tea catechin on the microsomal phospholipase A2 activity and arachidonic acid cascade in the kidneys of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Sprague-Dawley male rats weighing 100 ± 10 g were assigned randomly to one normal and three streptozotocin-induced diabetic groups. The diabetic groups were the DM-0C group (n = 10), fed a catechin-free diet, the DM-0.25C group (n = 10), fed a 0.25 g catechin per 100 g diet, and the DM-0.5C group (n = 10), fed a 0.5 g catechin per 100 g diet.