Knowledge about dietary fibres (KADF): development and validation of an evaluation instrument through structural equation modelling (SEM)

Evaluation of bowel habits in patients with acne vulgaris

PURPOSE

To evaluate the bowel habits of patients with acne vulgaris.

METHOD

In this case-control study, socio-demographical characteristics of the participants (age, gender, marital status, educational status, profession, economic status, smoking-alcohol habits, chronic diseases, previous operations, people they live with and diet) were questioned and the global acne grading scores of the patients were calculated. Bristol Stool Scale, Rome III IBS Criteria, International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, Hospital Anxiety Depression and KADF (dietary fibre information) scales were completed.

RESULTS

The patient group consisted of 102 participants and the control group consisted of 104 participants. The mean age was 20.9 ± 3.9 years old in the case group and 21.8 ± 5.0 years old in the control group. Patient and control groups were similar in terms of age and gender. Smoking rates were significantly higher in the patient group (P = .035). The amount of coffee consumed/day was significantly higher in the patient group (P = .040). According to the global acne grading scores, 55.9% (n = 57) had medium, 39.2% (n = 40) had mild, 3.9% (n = 4) had severe and 1% (n = 1) had very severe acne. Anxiety scores were found to be significantly higher in the patient group (P = .005). When the case and control groups were compared for IBS presence, no significant difference was found (P = .317). Also, IBS was not related to acne severity (P = .162).

CONCLUSION

Further large sample sized studies are needed on this subject, as there is strong evidence about brain-gut-skin axis existence.

The Eating Motivations Scale (EATMOT): Development and Validation by Means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)

Introduction

The objective was to develop and validate an instrument that measures different determinants of people’s food choices and simultaneously accounts for a variety of factors: health, emotions, price and availability, society and culture, environment and politics, and marketing and advertising.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study focusing on food choice determinants. It was carried out in 16 countries in 2017 and 2018. This study included 11,960 volunteer adult participants from different countries. The data was validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).

Results

Validation using CFA with SEM revealed that multi-factor modelling produced first- and second-order models that could be used to define the EATMOT scale, the first presenting better fitting indices, with the goodness-of-fit and comparative-fit indices very close to 1, as well as root-mean-square-error-of-approximation, root-mean-square-residual and standardised-root-mean-square-residual at practically zero.

Conclusion

The validated EATMOT scale guarantees confidence in the information obtained through this instrument, and can be used in future studies to better understand food choice determinants in different geographical areas and help plan strategies to improve healthy eating patterns and diminish the burden of non-communicable diseases.

Study about Food Choice Determinants According to Six Types of Conditioning Motivations in a Sample of 11,960 Participants

Many aspects linked to personal characteristics, society and culture constitute some of the motivators that drive food choice. The aim of this work was to determine in what extent the eating behaviors of individuals are shaped by six different types of determinants, namely: health, emotions, price and availability, society and culture, environment and politics, and marketing and commercials. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, involving a non-probabilistic sample of 11,960 participants from 16 countries. The objective of this work was to validate the questionnaire, so as to make it suitable for application in different contexts and different countries. For that, six scales were considered for validation by confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modelling. The obtained results showed that the six individual scales evaluated presented good or very good fitting indices, with saturation in goodness-of-fit index in all cases. The values of chi-square ratio were 6.921 (for health), 0.987 (environment), 0.610 (emotions) and 0.000 in the remaining cases (convenience, society, marketing). Furthermore, the fit was perfect, with saturation for all indices, in three of the six models (convenience, society and marketing). The results of this wok allowed the validation of the six scales, and the assessing of different types of factors that can influence food choices and eating behaviors, namely in the categories: health, emotions, price and availability, society and culture, environment and politics, and marketing and commercials.

Contribution of fruit, vegetables, whole cereals, and legumes to total fibre intake in adult Croatian Dalmatian population

There is compelling evidence that fruit, vegetables, whole cereals, and legumes make about 80 % of the total food fibre intake and have a potential to help in the prevention of a number of diseases. The aim of our study was to estimate total fibre intake from consumption of this fibre-rich food, partly reported in our earlier study in Croatian adult population. Current data analysis involved a non-probabilistic sample of 1,034 adult participants from Dalmatia, Croatia who responded to a validated food frequency questionnaire between October 2014 and March 2015. We also analysed the sales data obtained from three shopping centres in the Zadar area (Croatian coast) to establish a list of most frequently bought fruit, vegetables, whole cereals, and legumes and to calculate dietary fibre (DF) intake for each of the top-selling items and conversion factors for each food group. We then used these conversion factors to calculate individual total fibre intake (TFI) in our population. It was 11.4 g per person per day, which is less than half the recommended dietary requirements. On average, respondents reported to consume one piece of fruit and one meal of vegetables a day, which is less than half the daily recommendation for either. 25.8 % of respondents reported no consumption of whole cereals at all, and only 0.2 % of the population consumed the recommended 3-5 servings of whole grains or legumes a day. We also observed significantly higher consumption of fruit and whole grains/legumes in women than men. Our findings alert to poor dietary fibre intake in Croatian adult population, which is similar to other western countries and points to issues deeply rooted in these economies. However, our findings may be either an over- or under-estimation and need to be verified through longitudinal research on a wider sample using more precise tools.

Consumer knowledge and attitudes toward healthy eating in Croatia: a cross-sectional study

Unlike fast and restaurant food, diet rich in fibre is known to contribute significantly to health. The aim of our study was to assess eating habits such as consumption of fibre-rich, fast, and restaurant food of the general population in Croatia. For this purpose we used a validated survey designed by the Polytechnic Institute Viseu in Portugal, which includes questions about demographics, good eating habits related to the consumption of the main sources of dietary fibre (fruit, vegetables, and whole grains), and unhealthy eating habits related to the consumption of fast food and restaurant meals. Between October 2014 and March 2015 we received answers from 2,536 respondents aged between 18-70 years, of whom 67.4 % were women and 32.6 % were men. Most respondents reported consuming one serving of vegetables and one piece of fruit a day, and whole grains every other day. Women and urban residents reported consuming larger amounts of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains than men (p<0.001). Men, in turn, reported eating out and eating fast food more often than women (p<0.001). Eating out highly correlated with eating fast food, which translates to lower consumption of dietary fibre (p<0.001). Higher education correlated positively with the consumption of fibre-rich food, but it also correlated positively with the consumption of fast and restaurant food (p<0.001). While eating fast food is not the predominant dietary practice in Croatia, over 50 % of respondents have reported eating fast food at least once a week. Our data also indicate that consumption of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains falls below the national and international dietary recommendations.