There is a well-established link between F&V and health, and are an essential part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. They are rich in essential nutrients that are believed to promote good health, such as vitamins, minerals, fibre, and phytochemicals. Due to the low adherence to F&V recommendation among people across all ages, it is essential to tackle this problem - especially among children. One way to achieve this is to gain a good understanding of the relationship between F&V intake and health parameters; this will help emphasise the importance of consuming the recommend five-a-day for the whole family. In addition, the younger generation should be provided with nutritional education regarding their food choices, including snacks. The investigation in this thesis focuses on children's F&V intake and healthy snack awareness and its relationship with measured health parameters, as currently very little is known about this relationship, particularly among Scottish children. To this end, six studies were conducted and are presented here. The first and second studies examined the relationship between F&V intake and health parameters using a combination of longitudinal and cross-sectional data (n=475 and 466, respectively) from children of primary school age (5 to 12 in Aberdeenshire). Parents completed either a seven-day total food intake questionnaire - dietary record (TFIQ) or a two-day fruit and vegetable questionnaire (FVQ) on behalf of their children. Health parameters (weight, height, body fat, waist/hip circumference, blood pressure and lung function) were measured at their school. Higher F&V intake was correlated with improved health parameters when using the two-day FVQ. These are summarised as follows: lowered systolic blood pressure, some measures of lung function and reduced weight, body fat, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist to hip ratio and waist to height ratio. Of note, the health parameters did not appear correlated with F&V intake measured using the seven-day TFIQ, with the exception of a negative relationship with blood pressure when using the longitudinal data. F&V intake using two instruments (seven-day TFIQ and two-day FVQ) was compared in the third study within the same individuals (primary school children, n=51). The estimated portions of F&V using the focused (two-day) FVQ was higher than the seven-day TFIQ. It is unclear whether parents tended to overestimate their children's F&V intake using the FVQ or under-estimate it using the TFIQ. These studies led to the fourth study, which focused on identifying biomarkers of F&V intake using the new technique of metabolomics - liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), using urine samples collected from the children. This involved correlating biomarkers in urine with children's F&V intake as measured by the FVQ. Participants included 29 primary age children, recruited as a part of the cross sectional F&V study in Chapter Two. The findings revealed 15 food/F&V biomarkers, excluding food/F&V biomarkers (n=5) that reflected children's dietary behaviour which was identified as a result of the significant correlation with children's F&V intake. The identified biomarkers which were revealed from two different approaches - stepwise regression and literature searching - are as follows: citric acid; benzoic acid; 2-Pyrrolidinone; Glycine; Alanine; N-Nitrosopyrrolidine; Isocitric acid; Isocitrate; 1-Acetoxypinoresino; Proline betaine; Adenosine; Adenine; Hippuric acid; Carnitine, and Ethanol. Children's F&V intake was correlated with three urinary metabolites (4, 427, 109) in which very few correlations (n=4, one positive and three negative correlations) were significant. These correlations that compared the identified biomarker with what was reported in the FVQ were generally poor in terms of not showing agreement with children's F&V intake. One exception was the positive correlation that was found with the urinary excretion of gamma guanidinobutyric acid, which may reflect children's fruit intake. Urinary excretion of formic acid, butanoic acid and 1-propanamine were all negatively correlated with children's F&V intake and were used as a robust biomarker of fruit and dairy products among children. With the use of the metabolomics technique, there is more precision in children's dietary profile presentation compared with relying on a single method, such as the FVQ. Metabolomics has the potential to be used as a validation/reference tool and in detecting novel biomarkers. A fifth study was carried out to explore children's perceptions of snack healthiness and snack preferences, and the relationship between these and their health parameters. Participants were children of nursery and primary age (3-12 years old, n=472). A card sorting exercise was implemented using 18 popular snack types, and basic health parameters (weight, height, body fat, waist/hip circumference), both of which were measured in the children's school. The children showed good understanding of snack healthiness based on the nutritional composition of the 18 snacks, and the findings showed that as children develop, their perception of healthiness increases. Nevertheless, the unhealthier snacks were still the most preferable type to children. A follow-up study was conducted to examine parents' (n=142) views on snack healthiness and snack preferences for their children. Participants were parents of nursery and primary school age children. An online survey was designed and implemented as a tool for data collection. Parents exhibited a good awareness of healthy snacks, however stated that their children showed more preference for unhealthy snacks. There was no statistically significant relationship between parents' knowledge of snack healthiness and their age, sex, education level, employment status and ethnicity. Although parents demonstrated that nutritional value is one of the most important goals for them in snack selection for their children, taste and peer pressure are two factors that significantly affected children's snack choice. It is still not clear why the parents' snack choices were not always the healthy choice. Overall, the findings from the above-conducted studies demonstrated that: 1) Scottish children still do not adhere to the five-a-day recommendation; 2) some aspects of children's health were correlated to their F&V intake when using a focused two-day FVQ, and expressed more F&V intake for their children when the focus was on the two-day FVQ; 3) urine metabolomics has potential for identifying biomarkers of F&V intake; 4) both children and their parents showed a good perception and knowledge of what constitutes a healthy snack - even children of nursery age were able to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy types; 5) nevertheless, children's eating habits (particularly towards snack preference) need to be improved. It is hoped that these data will aid in the production and testing of further hypotheses related to short- and long-term health in children.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Washington State University, May 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

A diet rich in fruit and vegetables is associated with better bone health although the reason behind this remains unclear. Mounting evidence suggests that it may be particular fruit and vegetables or a variety of fruit and vegetables that are important and it has been suggested that bioactive compounds, considered to be non-essential nutrients, may play a role. The aims of this project were to study the roles of three classes of dietary compounds on bone health: flavonoids (represented by hesperetin), anthocyanidins and carotenoids. Methods The influence of six major anthocyanidins, six major carotenoids and the citrus flavanone hesperetin were examined by three methodological approaches: (i) a cross-sectional study using outcomes of bone mineral density (BMD) and markers of bone turnover, (ii) a randomised controlled trial with bone turnover markers as the outcome measures and (iii) in vitro examinations in osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The epidemiological part of this thesis was carried out in the Aberdeen Prospective Osteoporosis Screening Study (APOSS) cohort. Women were recuited to the study between 1990 and 1994 and returned for a follow-up visit between 1997 and 1999 (n=3214, mean age 54.8 y at follow-up). Measurements of BMD at the spine and hip were taken at both visits; and urinary markers of bone resorption total deoxypyridinolines (DPD) and total pyridinolines (PYD), and a serum bone formation marker N-terminal propeptides of type 1 procollagen (P1NP), were analysed at the follow-up visit. Diet was recorded by food frequency questionnaire and dietary anthocyanidins and carotenoids were estimated using a database of food compositions developed for this purpose. Analysis was carried out to determine if anthocyanidin or carotenoid intakes were associated with BMD, change in BMD (between the 2 visits), or markers of bone resorption or formation, within the APOSS population. The effect of the carotenoid lycopene on bone turnover was assessed in a 3-month randomised controlled trial in 214 apparently healthy men and women. Participants were randomised into 3 groups: high dietary lycopene (minimum 10 mg/d); low tomato diet with lycopene capsule vi (10 mg/d) or a low tomato diet as the control. Marker of bone resorption plasma carboxyterminal collagen crosslinks (CTX) and marker of bone formation serum P1NP were analysed at baseline (after washout) and after 12 weeks of intervention. In order to study if the aglycone or glycoside compounds directly affect bone metabolism, the effects of a series of anthocyanidins on osteoblast differentiation were analysed in vitro. The effects of hesperetin on osteoblast differentiation and mineralisation and on osteoclast formation and function in vitro were also assessed. Results Regarding the epidemiological part of the project, associations between both dietary anthocyanidins and carotenoids and markers of bone health were observed in the APOSS population. Higher total dietary anthocyanidin intake was found to be associated with higher spine BMD and lower concentrations of bone resorption markers. In addition higher total dietary anthocyanidin intake was associated with less BMD loss at the spine in the period between baseline and follow-up, which was illustrated by a 13.2% difference in annual percent bone loss between the highest and lowest quartiles of anthocyanidin consumption. Individual anthocyanidins were also found to be associated with different markers of bone turnover. Total dietary carotenoid intake was found to be associated with BMD at the spine and lower concentrations of bone resorption markers. Analysis of the individual carotenoids showed that lycopene was associated with higher BMD at the hip; β-carotene was associated with less BMD loss at the spine; and β-carotene, lycopene, β-cryptoxanthin and lutein/zeaxanthin were found to be associated with lower concentrations of bone resorption markers. Each of these findings remained significant after adjusting for confounding factors. In the 3-month randomised controlled trial, lycopene supplementation did not alter bone turnover markers CTX or P1NP. These results are in contrast to those of a previous, smaller randomised controlled trial in postmenopausal women where a decrease in a marker of bone resorption (N-telopeptide of collagen cross-links (NTX)) was observed. Therefore these results suggest that the potential beneficial effect of lycopene may be specific to a population at risk of bone loss. Alternatively, lycopene may have a cumulative protective effect over the lifetime but short-term effects may only be observed in groups with high bone turnover, where there is greater potential to see measureable effects. The results of the in vitro investigations of this project showed that neither anthocyanidins nor hesperetin had an affect on osteoblasts or osteoclasts at physiologically relevant concentrations. Almost all of the anthocyanidin compounds tested had no effect on osteoblast differentiation, and none at physiological concentrations. Similarly, hesperetin had no effect on osteoblast differentiation or mineralisation although it did have an effect on both osteoclast formation and function, but only at concentrations which were not considered to be physiologically relevant. These results add weight to the suggestion that the metabolites of dietary compounds may be responsible for the action on bone metabolism rather than the dietary compounds directly or that a combination of compounds, as found in foods, may be required. Conclusions Taken together, these results support the evidence that a diet rich in fruit and vegetablederived bioactive compounds is beneficial to bone health. Future work could include: observational studies to examine the association of lifetime consumption and long-term risk of fracture; larger dietary intervention trials; and in vitro studies to examine the effects of the compound metabolites and elucidate their mechanism of action.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-56).

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-64). Also available via the Internet.

No description available.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (D.B.A.)--Murdoch University, 2004. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: leaves 264-270.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Alnarp : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.