Lifestyle, dietary habits and consumption pattern of male university students according to the frequency of commercial beverage consumptions

Examining the network dynamics of daily movement and dietary behaviors among college students: A diary study

Promoting individuals' overall health and well-being is important, and understanding the interconnections between daily movement and dietary behaviors may provide insights for developing effective health behavior interventions. In the current study, we therefore adopted a network approach to investigate the complex relationships among movement and dietary behaviors within a daily diary study. Data were collected from 101 college students over a 28-day period, assessing movement (i.e., physical exercise and sedentary behavior) and dietary (i.e., overeating, sugar-sweetened beverage intake, and snack consumption) behaviors. We employed a multilevel vector autoregressive model to analyze the within-person (temporal and contemporaneous) and between-person networks of movement and dietary behaviors. Our findings unveiled a negative association between physical exercise and sedentary behavior at both contemporaneous and between-person levels, while the interconnections among dietary behaviors displayed nuanced variations across different levels. We also found intricate relationships between movement and dietary behaviors, with sedentary behavior and sugar-sweetened beverage intake emerging as central nodes in the behavior networks. This exploratory study underscores the complex interconnections of daily health behaviors, particularly highlighting the potential roles of sedentary behavior and sugar-sweetened beverage intake in multiple behavior interventions. These preliminary findings have yet to be validated through theory-driven studies with experimental designs.

Comparing Taste Detection Thresholds across Individuals Following Vegan, Vegetarian, or Omnivore Diets

Taste perception plays an undisputed role in food choice, preference, and intake. Recent literature suggests that individual diet and taste sensitivity may have a reciprocal relationship, with evidence highlighting that specific diets can alter taste sensitivities. Commensurate with an increase in the prevalence of plant-based diets is the importance of investigating if following a vegetarian or vegan diet is associated with altered taste sensitivities. In this study, the taste detection thresholds for six compounds (i.e., sweet-sucrose, salty-sodium chloride, sour-citric acid, umami-monosodium glutamate, MSG, bitter-caffeine, and metallic-iron II sulphate heptahydrate) were measured for a total of 80 healthy, New Zealand European females aged 18-45 years old, who were categorised as 22 vegans, 23 vegetarians, and 35 omnivores. Each participant's detection thresholds to these compounds were measured across two sessions, using an ascending Method of Limits with two-alternative-forced-choice presentations. The threshold data were analysed using both multivariate (i.e., principal component analysis) and univariate (i.e., ANCOVA) techniques to assess differences across the three types of diet. Multivariate analysis suggested that the omnivore group had distinct taste sensitivity patterns across the six compounds compared to the vegetarian or vegan group, which were characterised by relatively heightened sensitivity to metallic and lowered sensitivity to sweetness. Furthermore, the vegetarian group was shown to have a significantly lower detection threshold to bitterness (i.e., caffeine) relative to the other two groups (p < 0.001). While future study is required to investigate the cause-effect relationship between individual diet and taste sensitivities, the present study provides a systematic evaluation of taste sensitivities of individuals following distinct diets. This information may be valuable to future gustatory research as well as to food manufacturers.

Relationship between coffee consumption and serum uric acid level in the general Korean population: A nationwide cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

Coffee is one of the world's most consumed beverages, and its consumption is increasing. Serum uric acid levels are affected by dietary factors, and increased levels can cause a variety of diseases, including gout. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between coffee consumption and serum uric acid levels in the general Korean population.

METHODS

A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2016. A total of 3005 participants who checked serum uric acid levels and a completed coffee consumption survey were included (1146 men and 1859 women). The amount of coffee consumption was examined via self-reporting and categorized as none, <1 cup, 1-2 cups, 2-5 cups, and ≥5 cups of coffee consumed daily.

RESULTS

The mean serum uric acid level of the men was 5.91 ± 1.24 mg/dL and that of women was 4.29 ± 0.97 mg/dL. In the multiple linear regression analysis, there were no significant differences in the serum uric acid levels between the non-coffee-drinking group and the coffee-drinking group (<1 cup, 1-2 cups, 2-5 cups, and ≥5 cups of coffee) in both men and women (P = .569, .258, .466, and .751, respectively, in men; .185, .520, .116, and .302, respectively, in women).

CONCLUSIONS

There was no significant relationship between coffee consumption and serum uric acid levels in the general Korean population.

Trends in fluid consumption and beverage choices among adults reveal preferences for ayran and black tea in central Turkey

AIM

Beverages are globally significant sources of water in the diet. There is a lack of knowledge about fluid intake from beverage and water consumption in Turkey. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the type of drinks preferred at meals and snacks as well as the daily fluid, beverage and water intakes based on age and gender.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was administered to 3411 randomly chosen adult participants (n = 1522 male, n = 1919 female) representing the general profile of central Turkey. The survey consisted of a demographic/personal information questionnaire, 24-hour dietary recalls and mealtime-based beverage frequency questionnaires. Body weights and heights were measured.

RESULTS

Daily average total fluid consumption was 2270 mL/day, of which water was 1470 mL/day, and other beverages were 800 mL/day. More than 90% of the participants drank black tea at breakfast and snacks. For lunch and dinner, young participants' major choices were carbonated soft drinks followed by ayran (diluted salty plain yoghurt); middle aged and older participants' choices were ayran followed by black tea. Carbonated soft drinks were preferred over ayran in subjects aged 19-39 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Older participants prefer healthy, traditional choices such as ayran and black tea, but younger participants prefer high energy-containing drinks with low nutritional value. Thus, this unique information contributes to the data on beverage consumption patterns in different countries and might be useful for increasing consumption of nutritious fluids and decreasing sugar usage in Turkey.

Sensory attributes of soft drinks and their influence on consumers' preferences

Soft drinks are beverages composed of water and other ingredients that provide specific sensorial attributes. Soft drink consumption patterns have recently been changed partially influenced by an increased availability of different types of beverages during the last few years. Consumers' preferences to choose one drink over another are influenced, not only by genetic, psychological and environmental factors, but also by the beverage's specific attributes. In fact, beverage consumption is driven by the sensations it gives. Because the main component of soft drinks is water, an increase in the intake of soft drinks might improve fluid intake and the levels of water in the body if it is regarded as an "essential nutrient".

Association between the Number of Unfamiliar Vegetables and Dietary Factors of Elementary School Children

Despite well established health benefits, today’s children do not eat enough vegetables. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between the number of unfamiliar foods in the vegetable food group and the preference for these foods and dietary factors. Subjects were 1,072 children in 5th and 6th grades from elementary schools located in 4 cities in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. A two-page questionnaire consisted of questions asking about the subjects’ preference and familiarity for 64 foods in the vegetable group, preferences for three fast foods, four types of vegetable dishes, and six tastes. Also included in the questionnaire were questions assessing subjects’ adherence to national dietary guidelines. The subjects were divided into quintiles according to the number of unfamiliar vegetables; the 1st quintile (N=226) was children who had less than 14 unfamiliar vegetables and the 5th quintile (N=229) was more than 29. Compared to the children in the other quintiles, the children in the 5th quintile had a significantly lower adherence to national dietary guidelines regarding consumptions of vegetable and protein sources, regular exercise, awareness of desirable height and weight, and reading food labels, as well as total (P<0.05). The preferences for bland tastes (P<0.05), salads (saengchae, P<0.01), stir-fried vegetables (P<0.01), and several vegetable items (P<0.05) were significantly lower in the 5th quintile compared to the other quintiles. This study proposes the potential benefits of teaching children names of a variety of vegetables to improve their dietary factors such as food preferences and dietary habits.