Etiology of Metabolic Syndrome and Dietary Intervention.

The growing prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the U.S. and even worldwide is becoming a serious health problem and economic burden.

It's who I am and what we eat. Mothers' food-related identities in family food choice.

This study aimed to understand mothers' everyday food choices using one type of visual method-participant-driven photo-elicitation (PDPE). The sample consisted of 12 low/moderate income mothers (26-53 years) living in Bryan/College Station, Texas. Each mother completed a photography activity, where she created photographs of her food experience, and an in-depth interview using the mother's photographs.

Determinants of children's use of and time spent in fast-food and full-service restaurants.

Objective: Identify parental and children's determinants of children's use of and time spent in fast-food (FF) and full-service (FS) restaurants.

Design: Analysis of cross-sectional data.

Setting: Parents were interviewed by phone; children were interviewed in their homes.

Mothers and meals. The effects of mothers' meal planning and shopping motivations on children's participation in family meals.

Participation in family meals has been associated with benefits for health and social development of children. The objective of the study was to identify the impact of mothers' work of caring through planning regularly scheduled meals, shopping and cooking, on children's participation in family meals. Parents of children aged 9-11 or 13-15 years from 300 Houston families were surveyed about parents' work, meal planning for and scheduling of meals, motivations for food purchases, importance of family meals, and children's frequency of eating dinner with their families.

Perceived parenting behaviours predict young adolescents' nutritional intake and body fatness.

This study investigated whether perceptions of parenting behaviours predict young adolescents' nutritional intake and body fatness. The randomly selected study sample consisted of 106 13-15 years olds from Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area. Parenting style variables were created by cluster analysis and factor analysis.

[Effect of TLT absorptive eyeglasses on progression of myopia in children].

The incidence of myopia is increasing worldwide. At the last VIIIth international conference on myopia held in June 2000 in Boston attention was aroused by the work of Quin et al. on the influence of noctural illumination in rooms where children slept on their subsequent development of myopia.

[The optic nerve disk in myopic children with elevated intraocular pressure].

The optic nerve disc of short-sighted children with elevated intraocular pressure was investigated to achieve early assessment of glaucoma and to detect signs which differentiate changes in the disc caused by short-sightedness from changes caused by glaucoma. The authors examined 16 eyes of 8 short-sighted children with elevated intraocular pressure. In addition to the basic ophthalmological examination they made a digital analysis of the optic nerve disc incl.

[Effect of infrared rays on the eye in progressive myopia].

In the submitted paper the authors pay attention to infrared radiation close to visible light is intensely absorbed by haemoglobin, melanin and xanthophyll whereby part of the radiation energy is transformed into heat. The authors present three series of experiments where they investigated by different methods changes in the vitreous body after exposure to light, infrared radiation or raised temperature. They assume that on the defocused eye with a myopic conus which developed as a result of an inborn inadequate closure of the optic cup the light can cause a rise of temperature in the vitreous body.

[Visual perceptions in ophthalmic migraine].

The number of patients with ophthalmic migraine is steadily increasing. The symptoms of their attacks are dominated by typical visual aura, followed by major or minor headache. The authors present the experience of three physicians who observed the symptoms on themselves.

Nutrition and the immune system: a review of nutrient-nutrient interactions.

Although research on the role of single nutrients in immune function is extensive, this is not the case for multiple nutrients and subsequent nutrient-nutrient interactions. After presenting a brief overview of immune function, the authors consider reports that examine imbalance of more than one nutrient and interactive effects on immunocompetence. Availability of one nutrient may impair or enhance the action of another in the immune system, as reported for nutrients such as vitamin E and selenium, vitamin E and vitamin A, zinc and copper, and dietary fatty acids and vitamin A.

Blood lipids, cardiovascular fitness, obesity, and blood pressure: the presence of potential coronary heart disease risk factors in adolescents.

Objective: To identify and compare the presence of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors among 14- and 15-year-old boys and girls.

Design: For this cross-sectional study of 54 subjects, a blood sample taken after subjects fasted was used to determine total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride concentrations. Dietary intake was estimated using a 24-hour recall and a 2-day food record.

Factors associated with sources of influence/information in reducing red meat by elderly subjects.

A number of studies have found that health beliefs and social influences predict changes in dietary intake, including red meat. These studies have not determined what kinds of individuals are more likely to change their diets due to the advice of physicians, the advice of significant others, or because of mass-media exposure. We obtained data from 424 elderly Houstonians regarding whether they had attempted to reduce red meat consumption and if so, why.

The relationship of nutritional copper to the development of postmenopausal osteoporosis in rats.

Factors that influence tissue copper concentration include age, diet, hormones, and pregnancy. In this study we altered diet independently, hormone (estrogen) independently, and various combinations of diet and hormone in animals of the same age to study the effects of ovariectomy complicated with dietary copper deficiency; a deficiency that has been demonstrated to cause bone defects. Sprague-Dawley rats were placed on various combinations of copper deficient or enriched diets before and/or after ovariectomy to determine if copper deficiency aggravated osteoporosis and if return to a copper-adequate diet alleviated it.

n-3 fatty acid enriched table eggs: a survey of consumer acceptability.

Table eggs enriched with n-3 fatty acids may provide an alternative to fish as a source of these proposed healthful fatty acids. Successful marketing of this product may be influenced, however, by consumer perceptions of the egg as an unhealthful food. Therefore, the objectives of the current study were to assess consumer perceptions of table egg health quality and to determine the potential consumer acceptability of an n-3 fatty acid-enriched table egg.

Physicians' knowledge of dietary fat and advice to patients.

A mailed survey of 239 Texas physicians selected by a stratified random sample was completed in 1990 (response ratio = 39.5%) concerning physician's background in nutrition, nutrition knowledge, and recommended treatments to patients with hypercholesterolemia. Twenty-one percent reported taking a nutrition seminar and 41 percent read a nutrition text during the past year.

Effect of butter, mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acid-enriched butter, trans fatty acid margarine, and zero trans fatty acid margarine on serum lipids and lipoproteins in healthy men.

The effect of diets containing 50% of fat calories from butter, butter enriched with mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and margarines with and without trans fatty acids on the serum lipids of 38 healthy men in a free-living condition have been determined. Serum lipid responses to the high level of individual dietary fats were unexpectedly small. The butter diet produced a small, but significant rise (5%) in the total serum cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, relative to all other diets.

Life events, social support, and immune response in elderly individuals.

One hundred ninety-two elderly men and women were investigated to determine the effects of recent life events, psychological adjustment, and social support on lymphocyte count, controlling for nutritional status, age, education, income, and the presence of lymphocyte-altering drugs. Effects of specific recent life events were found. For elderly males, recent sexual dysfunction lowers lymphocyte count, while psychological adjustment and percentage kin in the intimate network elevates it.

Modification of plasma and hepatic lipids of guinea pigs by feeding high oleic acid pork compared with regular pork.

Meat from such monogastric animals as swine can be modified to substitute monounsaturated fatty acids for saturated fatty acids. Because monounsaturated fatty acids have a beneficial effect on serum lipids as compared with saturated fatty acids, the objective of this study was to assess the effect of modified pork as compared with regular pork on serum and hepatic lipids. Guinea pigs were fed diets containing pork from control diet-fed hogs or from hogs fed a diet containing high oleic acid sunflower oil.

[Collagen architecture of sclerocorneal trabeculae in relation to age].

The authors investigated the collagen architecture of the sclerocorneal trabeculum in relation to age in eight eyes within the range from a premature infant to a 90-year-old man. All specimens were investigated using a scanning electron microscope of Jeol Co. The appearance of fibrils does not change substantially in relation to age, however, their pattern and distribution change.

Scleroplasty in progressive myopia--selection of materials.

Scleroplastic surgery is known to encounter the pathogenetical agent when the progressive myopia develops. In the first part, the implemented surgical approaches as well as up-to-date surgical techniques are presented. The experimental part is reserved for the selection of material which is necessary to perform scleroplasties.

Anthropometry and health in the elderly.

Measurements of height, weight, skinfold thicknesses, and circumferences were obtained along with data on health practices and disease from 424 independent-living elderly in the Houston area. The objectives of the study were to examine anthropometric measurements of younger (58 through 74 years) and older (75 through 100 years) elderly individuals and to assess relationships between these measurements and health behaviors and disorders. Results demonstrated differences in anthropometric indexes due to aging and sex.