<p> Underserved populations suffer the highest rates of overweight and obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African Americans have the highest obesity rates followed by Latinos (47.8% and 42.5% respectively). In the City of Long Beach, 40.9% of adults are overweight and 24.6% are considered obese. Overweight and obesity are major risk factors that contribute to chronic diseases. In an effort to help curtail these unhealthy trends, The Beach Community Wellness Program (BCWP) was created. During the second year of the program&rsquo;s implementation, the author realized additional resources could help supplement the classes being offered. The purpose of this project was to create a free fitness and nutrition manual for the BCWP participants. The manual is divided into two parts; fitness information to help increase participant&rsquo;s daily levels of physical activity and nutrition guidelines to help improve their eating habits. Recommendations for future BCWP manuals are provided.</p>

The effect of households' strategies on preschool children's intakes of vitamin A were examined in a rural Guatemalan village. The children's caretakers were interviewed regarding acquisition, preparation, storage and consumption of vitamin A sources on four separate occasions while children's intakes were measured by a seven-day food frequency questionnaire. The median daily intake of vitamin A was 128 μg and on average β-carotene constituted 45.5% of daily intake. Socioeconomic variables did not predict vitamin A intakes; only horse ownership was associated (r = .30, p < .05) with beta-carotene, but not total vitamin A intake. Purchased and cultivated sources were significant predictors of intakes. Of all the variables, household consumption of vitamin A was the prevailing predictor. However, household consumption was associated in a threshold fashion with children's intakes; it was a significant predictor of intakes only when household consumption was ≥ 11 food items measured over four days.

<p> The importance of investigating relationships between depression and mineral intake is necessary due to concerns over the mental health and nutrition status of the growing older adult population in America. Due to lack of research in this area, the development of nutrition therapies for depressed older adults with special consideration for minerals is hindered. This study explored whether mean depression scores significantly differed between quartile intake groups of selenium, magnesium, zinc, and copper in a nationally representative sample of older adults (<i>n</i> = 901) from the 2011-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). For all four minerals, those within the highest quartile of intake had significantly lower depression scores than those within the lowest quartile. Nutrition and mental health care professionals should be aware of a possible association between mineral intake and depression and emphasize healthy eating patterns and nutrient-dense diets to maintain optimal mental and physical functioning.</p>

<p> Diet is a modifiable risk factor that strongly influences colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. Previous studies have associated CRC with impaired nutrient intakes including calcium, selenium and folate intakes. This study sought to investigate relationships between calcium, selenium and folate intakes and CRC. Calcium, selenium, and folate intakes and incidence of CRC from a selected cohort within the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999&ndash;2014 were analyzed. A total of 2,130 men and women aged 31 to 85 with and without CRC were included in the analysis. The relationships between daily intakes of calcium, selenium and folate and CRC incidence were analyzed using &chi;² test and logistic regression. Correlations between calcium, selenium and folate intakes and CRC were also assessed using Pearson&rsquo;s correlation coefficient.</p>

As beta-carotene is transported via micelles across the intestinal lumen for absorption, the factors that regulate uptake into micelles could also regulate at least in part beta-carotene absorption in humans. Thus, we have studied the effect of different dietary lipids on beta-carotene uptake into mixed micelles in vitro. Using this method, the effects of fatty acids of increasing degrees of unsaturation, vitamin A, cholesterol, and vitamin E on beta-carotene uptake into micelles were studied. Uptake of beta-carotene into micelles was stimulated by cholesterol and unsaturated fatty acids (uptake correlated with degree of unsaturation). beta-Carotene solubilization into micelles was inhibited by vitamin A and vitamin E. These results suggest that the absorption of beta-carotene may be partly regulated at the level of formation of intestinal micelles by the presence of different dietary components.

This study compared focus groups and in-depth interviews in terms of number of factors generated, time and cost requirements, and ease of data collection. Participants were 18 to 24 year old Hispanic and Anglo college women. The discussion topic was factors influencing food choices. Eight focus groups were conducted, four Anglo (n = 13) and four Hispanic (n = 12). Thirty-eight Anglo (n = 16) and Hispanic (n = 12) in-depth interviews were completed. A total of 83 unique factors were identified. Focus groups and in-depth interviews yielded 79 and 73 factors, respectively. The mean number of factors for focus groups was 33.8 compared to 37.0 for randomly selected in-depth interviews grouped to form "nominal groups". However, this was not a significant difference. Focus groups required 66.8 hours and cost $292.40 to yield 79 factors while in-depth interviews required 147.0 hours and cost $624.75 for 73. Focus groups were more difficult to arrange but easier to conduct.

The recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition is to delay the introduction of Supplementary foods to the infants diet until 4-6 months of age. However, it is found that supplementary foods are introduced prior to four months. In this study 48 mothers, of infants under four months of age and receiving formula and supplementary foods, were interviewed for food intake of the infant. Results from the study indicate that early introduction of supplementary foods has little influence on the total mean energy and nutrient intake. Formula was found to be the major source of energy and nutrients with only a small percentage from supplementary foods. No significant difference was found in energy and nutrient intake by ethnicity, gender of baby or age. Although the percent intake from supplementary foods increased with age. Demographics were not related to the age of introduction of supplementary foods.

Increasing recognition of the importance of diet in the etiology of disease has highlighted the need for methods to determine dietary intake of high risk nutrients. The Behavior Risk Factor Survey is a food frequency questionnaire used to assess dietary habits. This project used the BRFS to determine if perceived dietary fat intake correlated with actual dietary fat intake in three elderly population groups. Results show that subjects who perceived their diet to be low in fat, consumed fewer servings of high fat foods and had lower overall weekly fat intakes. Subjects stating no change in diet had a higher weekly intake than subjects claiming a change in diet. These finding suggest that the BRFS is a rapid, inexpensive data collection method which can be used to determine differences between perceived and reported behaviors. Results from this investigation may be used to develop educational programs targeting the elderly.

This study examined the nutritional patterns of 26 preadolescents (7-10 years of age) who participated in a summer food service program and determined whether the program met one-third of their daily nutrient intake. Visual plate waste and 24-hour dietary recalls were taken on five days at three ethnically different sites. Food consumed at lunch provided more than one-third of total intake for all nutrients studied, with the exception of carbohydrate intake in girls, and carbohydrate, iron and thiamine intake in boys. Average amount of food consumed at lunch by participants exceeded one-third of the RDA for all nutrients except Kcalories and iron. Additionally, mean total Kcalories consumed over a 24-hour period by participants met only 66 percent of the RDA.

Mammalian milk has been shown to contain bombesin-like immunoreactivity. In order to assess these peptides' physiologic significance in the developing gastrointestinal tract, we initially characterized the in vitro degradation of radiolabeled bombesin by intestinal luminal flush. When these studies indicated survival of bombesin in the luminal flush, we performed in vivo studies to determine if enteral administration of bombesin affects the intestinal luminal content of trypsin and protein in 12-14 day old rats. Our results showed a significant elevation of total protein and luminal tryptic content in the bombesin treated group when compared to controls. These results indicate a possible physiologic role for bombesin-like peptides in the early development of the gastrointestinal tract.