Changes in (poly)phenols intake and metabolic syndrome risk over ten years from adolescence to adulthood.

Background And Aims: (Poly)phenols might contribute to prevent cardiovascular disease, but limited prospective studies exist among adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate within-subject longitudinal changes in (poly)phenols intakes and food group contributors while also exploring the association with metabolic syndrome risk (MetS) during 10 years of follow up in European adolescents becoming young adults.

Methods And Results: In 164 participants (58% girls, 13-18 y at baseline) from Ghent, Zaragoza and Lille, longitudinal data (2006-2016) on (poly)phenol intake was retrieved via 2 or 3 24 h recalls.

Dietary sugars, metabolic effects and child health.

Purpose Of Review: To describe current findings on sugar intake in children worldwide, including sugar sources and their impact on child health focusing on cardiometabolic alterations usually associated to obesity.

Recent Findings: In children less than 4 years, intakes of added sugars across countries ranged from 9.8 to 11.

Dietary sources of sugars in adolescents' diet: the HELENA study.

Objective: To report dietary sugars consumption and their different types and food sources, in European adolescents.

Methods: Food consumption data of selected groups were obtained from 1630 adolescents (45.6% males, 12.

Reliability of anthropometric measurements in European preschool children: the ToyBox-study.

The ToyBox-study aims to develop and test an innovative and evidence-based obesity prevention programme for preschoolers in six European countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Spain. In multicentre studies, anthropometric measurements using standardized procedures that minimize errors in the data collection are essential to maximize reliability of measurements. The aim of this paper is to describe the standardization process and reliability (intra- and inter-observer) of height, weight and waist circumference (WC) measurements in preschoolers.

Validity of 24-h recalls in (pre-)school aged children: comparison of proxy-reported energy intakes with measured energy expenditure.

Background & Aims: Little is known about the validity of repeated 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDR) as a measure of total energy intake (EI) in young children. This study aimed to evaluate the validity of proxy-reported EI by comparison with total energy expenditure (TEE) measured by the doubly labeled water (DLW) technique.

Methods: The agreement between EI and TEE was investigated in 36 (47.

Validation of anthropometry and foot-to-foot bioelectrical resistance against a three-component model to assess total body fat in children: the IDEFICS study.

Objective: To compare different field methods for estimating body fat mass with a reference value derived by a three-component (3C) model in pre-school and school children across Europe.

Design: Multicentre validation study.

Subjects: Seventy-eight preschool/school children aged 4-10 years from four different European countries.

Five year trends on total and abdominal adiposity in Spanish adolescents.

Objective: To assess five years trends in total and abdominal fat in Spanish adolescents.

Design: Two cross-sectional studies: adolescents from the city of Zaragoza (Spain) assessed during 2001-2002 and 2006-2007.

Subjects: 399 adolescents in 2001-02 and 392 adolescents in 2006-07.

Assessment tools of energy balance-related behaviours used in European obesity prevention strategies: review of studies during preschool.

Valid and reliable measures of energy balance-related behaviours are required when evaluating the effectiveness of public health interventions aiming at prevention of childhood obesity. A structured descriptive review was performed to appraise food intake, physical activity and sedentary behaviour assessment tools used in obesity intervention strategies targeting mainly preschool children across Europe. In total, 25 papers are described, addressing energy balance-related behaviours as study outcomes and targeting individuals or clusters of individuals at school- or home-based environment.

Vitamin D status and physical activity interact to improve bone mass in adolescents. The HELENA Study.

Unlabelled: The effects of vitamin D concentrations on bone mineral content in adolescents are still unclear. Vitamin D and physical activity (PA) may interact to determine bone mineral content (BMC) in two possible directions; 25(OH)D sufficiency levels improve BMC only in active adolescents, or PA increases BMC in individuals with replete vitamin D levels.

Introduction: The effects of suboptimal 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25(OH)D) concentrations on BMC in adolescents are still unclear.

European adolescents' level of perceived stress is inversely related to their diet quality: the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence study.

As stress is hypothesised to influence dietary behaviour, the relationship between perceived stress and diet quality in European adolescents was investigated. Within the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence study, adolescents (n 704, aged 12-17 years) from schools in five European cities (Ghent, Stockholm, Zaragoza, Athens and Vienna) completed a 2 d 24 h dietary recall assessment and an Adolescent Stress Questionnaire. Measurements and information were taken on height, weight, pubertal stage, parental education level, the level of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sleep duration.

Reliability and intermethod agreement for body fat assessment among two field and two laboratory methods in adolescents.

To increase knowledge about reliability and intermethods agreement for body fat (BF) is of interest for assessment, interpretation, and comparison purposes. It was aimed to examine intra- and inter-rater reliability, interday variability, and degree of agreement for BF using air-displacement plethysmography (Bod-Pod), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and skinfold measurements in European adolescents. Fifty-four adolescents (25 females) from Zaragoza and 30 (14 females) from Stockholm, aged 13-17 years participated in this study.

Nutritional knowledge in European adolescents: results from the HELENA (Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence) study.

Objective: To build up sufficient knowledge of a 'healthy diet'. Here, we report on the assessment of nutritional knowledge using a uniform method in a large sample of adolescents across Europe.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Food and drink intake during television viewing in adolescents: the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study.

Objective: To compare food consumption during television (TV) viewing among adolescents who watched >2 h/d v. ≤2 h/d; and to examine the association between sociodemographic variables (age, gender and socio-economic status (SES)) and the consumption of energy-dense foods and drinks during TV viewing.

Design: The data are part of the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) cross-sectional survey.

Bone mass and bone metabolism markers during adolescence: The HELENA Study.

Background/aims: The assessment of bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD) status in children and adolescents is important for health and the prevention of diseases. Bone metabolic activity could provide early information on bone mass development. Our aim was to describe bone mass and metabolism markers according to age and Tanner stage in adolescents.

Secular trends in health-related physical fitness in Spanish adolescents: the AVENA and HELENA studies.

We analysed the secular trends in health-related physical fitness in Spanish adolescents between 2001-2002 and 2006-2007. Two representative population studies were conducted 5 years apart in adolescents (12.5-17.

Food and nutrient intake, nutritional knowledge and diet-related attitudes in European adolescents.

Background And Objective: To provide an overview of methods used to assess food and nutrient intake, nutritional knowledge and diet-related attitudes in the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence Cross-Sectional Study (HELENA-CSS), with selected results from the feasibility study.

Material And Methods: To assess food intake in 13- to 16-year-old adolescents, a previously developed computer-assisted and self-administered 24-h recall was adapted for international use. Food consumption data were linked to national food composition databases to calculate energy and nutrient intakes.

Quality assurance of ethical issues and regulatory aspects relating to good clinical practices in the HELENA Cross-Sectional Study.

Rationale: Research involving humans is regulated by regulatory authorities through their specific requirements and controls. The Healthy Life Style in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence Cross-Sectional Study (HELENA-CSS) is a multicenter biomedical research study of adolescents in several representative European cities, which requires satisfying medico-regulatory requirements including Independent Ethics Committee (IEC) approval and agreement by the national or local regulatory authorities. To achieve a high level of quality assurance relating to ethical issues, we followed the good clinical practices (GCP) described at the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH), which we adapted to the national and local situations of each of the 11 participating cities in 10 European countries.

Independent and combined effect of nutrition and exercise on bone mass development.

Food intake provides the necessary components for adequate metabolic functions in bone. Calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D, magnesium, proteins, and fluoride are some of the most important nutrients in this regard. These have different effects on bone mass.

Physical fitness effect on bone mass is mediated by the independent association between lean mass and bone mass through adolescence: a cross-sectional study.

We studied 278 adolescents (169 females) aged 13.0-18.5 years to elucidate whether an independent effect of physical fitness and lean mass in the differences between male and female bones can be detected.

Healthy lifestyle by nutrition in adolescence (HELENA). A new EU funded project.

The key to health promotion and disease prevention in the 21st century is to establish an environment that supports positive health behaviour and healthy lifestyle from childhood. The HELENA project includes cross-sectional, crossover and pilot community intervention multi-centre studies, as an integrated approach to the above-mentioned problem. Dietary intake, nutrition knowledge and eating attitudes, food choices and preferences, body composition, biochemical, physical activity and fitness and genotype (to analyse gene-nutrient and gene-environment interactions) assessment will provide the full information about the nutritional and lifestyle status of the European adolescents.

Body fat distribution reference standards in Spanish adolescents: the AVENA Study.

Objective: To present body fat patterning reference standards to identify children with a predominant distribution of body fat in the abdominal or truncal region of the body.

Design: Cross-sectional study in a representative sample of Spanish adolescents aged 13-18 years.

Subjects: A total of 2160 adolescents with a complete set of anthropometric measurements (1109 males and 1051 females).

Screening performances of the International Obesity Task Force body mass index cut-off values in adolescents.

Objective: To try to improve the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) BMI cut-off values, in terms of prediction of body fat percentage assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), in adolescents.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey of the adolescents from the city of Zaragoza (Spain). For this analysis we have included 286 adolescents (116 boys and 170 girls) aged 13.

Inflammatory proteins are related to total and abdominal adiposity in a healthy adolescent population: the AVENA Study.

Background: In adults, obesity is characterized by a state of chronic low-grade inflammation accompanied by moderately high concentrations of acute phase inflammatory proteins. Recent results regarding C-reactive protein (CRP) point to a similar status in adolescents; however, studies of associations of the serum inflammatory proteins CRP, ceruloplasmin, and complement factors C3 and C4 with body fat distribution remain scarce.

Objective: We aimed to establish the possible relations of serum inflammatory proteins with body fat estimates and body fat distribution in an apparently healthy adolescent population.

How to measure dietary intake and food habits in adolescence: the European perspective.

Aim: This paper deals with some methodological aspects of data collection in the context of measuring dietary intake in individuals in their adolescence life stage.

Method: Experiences from three partners of the HELENA project in dietary intake measurement in children and adolescents are presented in this paper with emphasis on characteristics of under-reporting, long-term diet measurement and food patterns (Dortmund DONALD group), influences of survey duration on under-reporting (Ghent group) and meal habits (Spanish AVENA group).

Results: Under-reporters in the DONALD Study, particularly female adolescents, had a significantly higher body mass index (BMI) than non-under-reporters; BMI could not be explained by different long-term dietary patterns during childhood and adolescence clustered according to fat consumption; consumers of fast food had higher BMI values than nonconsumers.

Early programming of body composition and fat distribution in adolescents.

Size at birth and early postnatal growth are determinants of adult height and BMI. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of birth weight on body composition and fat distribution in a group of Spanish adolescents. Current body composition was assessed by both skinfold thickness and dual X-ray absorptiometry in 234 adolescents born at term (140 girls and 94 boys), now aged 13-18 y and living in the city of Zaragoza.