Promising Practices to Promote Physical Activity and Healthy Eating Among Head Start Caregivers and Their Children.

Many children in Head Start programs do not meet physical activity (PA) and dietary intake recommendations and have increased risk for obesity. The purpose of this pilot study was to formatively assess a multi-level intervention, exploring strategies to encourage PA and healthy eating among north Texas Head Start families. In year 1, 5 Head Start sites with 217 children began the Head Start to Healthy Lifestyles (HSHL) project.

Serum Cholesterol Differences Between Statin Users Who Take Dietary Supplements and Those Who Do Not: NHANES 2013-2018.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in the United States and statins are the most commonly prescribed medication. It is important to understand the potential impact supplements may have when taken in combination with statins on serum lipid outcomes.

Objectives: To evaluate the differences in the concentrations of cholesterol, triacylglycerol (TAG), and HbA1c between adults who use statins alone and those who combine statins and dietary supplements.

The Baby Bites Text Messaging Project with randomized controlled trial: texting to improve infant feeding practices.

Background: Rapid weight gain and overweight in infancy are associated with childhood obesity. Thus, effective, accessible interventions to promote healthy infant feeding practices to prevent early obesity are essential.

Methods: This mixed-methods study involved diverse parents of infants in an urban, low-income pediatric clinic.

College Campus Food Pantry Program Evaluation: What Barriers Do Students Face to Access On-Campus Food Pantries?

The purpose of this study was to explore barriers Texas Woman's University (TWU) students face in accessing on-campus food pantries. This cross-sectional, survey-based study was conducted in Fall 2021. Students' use of the food pantries and barriers to utilization, including qualitative questions, were evaluated using descriptive statistics and thematic analyses.

Factors associated with food security of Texas Woman's University freshmen.

Objective: To investigate what factors are associated with food insecurity (FI) among freshman students and identify potential solutions.

Participants: 73 freshman students.

Methods: Cross-sectional, Internet survey-based study.

Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions on College Students' Dietary Quality and Experience of the Food Environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions sent college students online and off campus, potentially reducing access to healthy food. The objective of this cross-sectional, internet-based study was to use qualitative and quantitative survey methods to evaluate whether COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Texas, USA affected college students' ability to buy food, how/what they shopped for, how they prepared food, what they ate, how they felt about eating, and overall dietary quality (assessed using Healthy Eating Index [HEI] scores). Survey responses from 502 students (87.

Prevalence and Social Determinants of Food Insecurity among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has increased unemployment and food insecurity in the United States (US). Prior to the pandemic, college students exhibited higher rates of food insecurity than nonstudent households. The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence and determinants of food insecurity among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parent preferences for text messages containing infant feeding advice.

Background: Text-messaging is beneficial in health promotion. Research on impact of message framing (gain- versus loss-framed) has had variable results, depending on type of behavior targeted. There is no research on framing of text-messaging to promote healthful infant feeding practices.

Infant feeding practices and dietary consumption of US infants and toddlers: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2012.

Objective: To compare infant and toddler anthropometric measurements, feeding practices and mean nutrient intakes by race/ethnicity and income.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis using general linear modelling. Ten years of survey data (2003-2012) were combined to compare anthropometric measurements, feeding practices and mean nutrient intakes from a nationally representative US sample.

Advanced Glycation End Products and Risks for Chronic Diseases: Intervening Through Lifestyle Modification.

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a family of compounds of diverse chemical nature that are the products of nonenzymatic reactions between reducing sugars and proteins, lipids, or nucleic acids. AGEs bind to one or more of their multiple receptors (RAGE) found on a variety of cell types and elicit an array of biologic responses. In this review, we have summarized the data on the nature of AGEs and issues associated with their measurements, their receptors, and changes in their expression under different physiologic and disease states.

Contribution of dietary advanced glycation end products (AGE) to circulating AGE: role of dietary fat.

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether macronutrient content (low-fat v. high-fat diet) influences an indicator of advanced glycation end products (AGE), N(ε) carboxymethyl-lysine (CML), in the context of a 1-d, high-AGE diet. The effect of the diets on inflammatory markers was also assessed.

Advanced Glycation End Products, Inflammation, and Chronic Metabolic Diseases: Links in a Chain?

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a diverse group of compounds produced when reducing sugars react with proteins or other compounds to form glycosylated molecules. AGEs may form endogenously, and glycation of molecules may negatively affect their function. AGEs may also be consumed in food form with dietary AGEs reported to be particularly high in foods treated with high heat: baked, broiled, grilled, and fried foods.

Serum soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products correlates inversely with measures of adiposity in young adults.

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) may promote inflammation by interacting with the receptor for advanced glycation end products. Serum soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE), a form of receptor for advanced glycation end products thought to mediate AGE's inflammatory properties, is decreased in diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease. Evidence in older adults suggests that sRAGE is depressed in individuals without current disease who are obese; however, 2 studies have failed to find this correlation.

Consumption of a diet rich in cottonseed oil (CSO) lowers total and LDL cholesterol in normo-cholesterolemic subjects.

Animal data indicates that dietary cottonseed oil (CSO) may lower cholesterol; however, the effects of a CSO-rich diet have not been evaluated in humans. Thirty-eight healthy adults (aged 18-40; 12 males, 26 females) consumed a CSO rich diet (95 g CSO daily) for one week. Anthropometric measurements were obtained, and blood was drawn pre- and post-intervention.