Micronutrient quality of weight-loss diets that focus on macronutrients: results from the A TO Z study.

Background: Information on the micronutrient quality of alternative weight-loss diets is limited, despite the significant public health relevance.

Objective: Micronutrient intake was compared between overweight or obese women randomly assigned to 4 popular diets that varied primarily in macronutrient distribution.

Design: Dietary data were collected from women in the Atkins (n = 73), Zone (n = 73), LEARN (Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitudes, Relationships, Nutrition) (n = 73), and Ornish (n = 72) diet groups by using 3-d, unannounced 24-h recalls at baseline and after 8 wk of instruction.

Metabolic syndrome in adolescents with spinal cord dysfunction.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of components of the metabolic syndrome in adolescents with spinal cord injury (SCI) and spina bifida (SB), and their associations with obesity in subjects with and without SCI and SB.

Methods: Fifty-four subjects (20 SCI and 34 SB) age 11 to 20 years with mobility impairments from lower extremity paraparesis were recruited from a hospital-based clinic. Sixty able-bodied subjects who were oversampled for obesity served as controls (CTRL).

Body mass index and body composition measures by dual x-ray absorptiometry in patients aged 10 to 21 years with spinal cord injury.

Background/objective: To determine the body composition of adolescents with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to assess whether established cutoff values for obesity determined by body mass index (BMI) are valid for this population.

Methods: Sixty patients, aged 10-21 years, with traumatic SCI (50 with paraplegia and 10 with tetraplegia) were compared with 60 gender-, age-, and BMI-matched controls (CTRL). Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry was used to estimate regional and total bone mineral content, lean tissue mass, fat tissue mass, and body fat percentage.

Measurements of the major isoforms of vitamins A and E and carotenoids in the blood of people with spinal-cord injuries.

We used reversed-phase HPLC with diode array detection to simultaneously measure the major isoforms of vitamins A, E, and the carotenoids in serum from 55 healthy people with spinal cord injuries. Typically, the method measured retinol (vitamin A), alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) and beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein, lycopene, and cryptoxanthin (carotenoids). gamma-Tocopherol (vitamin E), 25-hydroxycalciferol (vitamin D), and the carotenoid zeaxanthin could also be measured when they were present in high concentrations.