Background: Many older adults with dementia residing in nursing homes or assisted living facilities exhibit behavioral disturbances such as agitation and apathy. In addition they lose their ability to feed themselves and often suffer serious malnutrition as their dietary intake decreases. Music has been linked to decreased agitation in this population and physical activity to music linked to a slower decline in eating ability. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether a familiar physical activity to familiar music would reduce apathy and agitation and increase eating ability and dietary intake among institutionalized older adults with dementia. Method: Eighty four older residents with early to late-stage dementia were randomly assigned to a usual activity or to a group that received a 25-minute intervention (seated chair exercises and beach ball toss to music of the 1920’s to 1950’s) offered 30 minutes before the noon meal twice a week for three weeks. Prior to the intervention, research assistants observed and recorded participants’ apathy using the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale and agitation using the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory. Trained research assistants (RAs) conducted the intervention, and then escorted participants in both groups to their noon meals. A second group of RAs, blinded to group, observed apathy and agitation as residents began their meals. At the end of the meals, RAs recorded eating ability using the Functional Independence Measure and the percentage of dietary intake for all participants. Digital photos of trays, pre- and post-meal, were also used to document the percentage. Results: Participants, whose mean age was 85.92 and whose Mini Mental Status Exam scores ranged from 0 to 24, resided in two sites: a nursing home with assisted living and a separate assisted living facility. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences between groups for apathy (p=.01) and dietary intake (p=.01). There was no significant difference in agitation or eating ability. Discussion: Participation in the intervention was associated with more positive outcomes for apathy and dietary intake. There is evidence that a familiar physical activity to familiar music is an effective approach for institutionalized older adults with dementia.

Background: Youth consume high volumes of fast food, putting them at risk for poor diet, weight gain and several noncommunicable diseases. Fast food marketing can affect youth's food-related behaviours and has been identified as a determinant of excess weight and obesity. The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between exposure to fast food marketing and the fast food brand preferences and intake amongst youth aged 10-17 across six countries. Methods: The International Food Policy Study youth survey collects data on dietary patterns and behaviours amongst youth aged 10-17 living in six countries. Data on fast food marketing exposure, brand preferences and intake were compared using regression models adjusted for age, sex, income adequacy and ethnicity. Results: Exposure to fast food marketing was positively associated with both brand preferences and fast food intake across most countries. Brand preferences were consistently high across all countries when exposed to brand-specific marketing. Fast food intake was higher amongst ethnic minority respondents than ethnic majority respondents and amongst males compared to females. Conclusion: Fast food marketing is consistently associated with brand preferences and intake across all countries investigated, which points to the need for stringent government regulation to reduce unhealthy food marketing to youth in all 6 countries.

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Introduction: Health-related behaviours of Canadian adolescents are generally suboptimal. Studies have assessed effectiveness of exercise interventions primarily from an energy balance perspective, but not from a health promotion standpoint. This study assessed the effect of an 8-week aerobic exercise program on dietary intake parameters and eating behaviours of adolescents with a normal weight and excess body weight. Methods: This quasi-experimental study involved 13 male and 13 female adolescents between the age of 14-18 years old (17 normal weight, 9 with excess weight). The intervention consisted of an 8-week aerobic exercise program on cycle ergometers, aiming for 50-75% of heart rate reserve. Diet was assessed in pre- and post-intervention via 24-hour dietary recalls. Two recalls were collected for each condition: pre- intervention, post-intervention on exercise days and post-intervention on non-exercise days. Diet was assessed for the following dietary intake parameters: food quantity, diet quality and eating patterns. Results: The 8-week exercise program led to a decrease in meal size at lunch and dinner, energy density at breakfast, carbohydrate intake as well as a slight shift in eating pattern of participants. At baseline, participants with excess weight had greater number of daily eating occurrences and portion sizes at evening snacks but consumed a smaller percentage of daily energy intake before school, compared to those with a normal weight. Participants with excess weight decreased their total number of eating occurrences, but not those with normal weight. The exercise program did not influence cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating or emotional eating scores of participants. Conclusion: Significant changes in food quantity and eating pattern parameters, but not in diet quality, were observed following the exercise program. Differences in pre- intervention and in response to the exercise program were observed based on weight status. Future studies with greater sample size are needed to confirm these findings.

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