Molecular Reconstruction of the Diet in Human Stool Samples

ABSTRACT Understanding dietary effects on the gut microbial composition is one of the key questions in human microbiome research. It is highly important to have reliable dietary data on the stool samples to unambiguously link the microbiome composition to food intake. Often, however, self-reported diet surveys have low accuracy and can be misleading. Thereby, additional molecular biology-based methods could help to revise the diet composition. The article by Reese et al. [A. T. Reese, T. R. Kartzinel, B. L. Petrone, P. J. Turnbaugh, et al., mSystems 4(5):e00458-19, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00458-19] in a recent issue of mSystems describes a DNA metabarcoding strategy targeting chloroplast DNA markers in stool samples from 11 human subjects consuming both controlled and freely selected diets. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of this molecular method in detecting plant remains in the sample compared to the written dietary records. This study displays an important first step in implementing molecular dietary reconstructions in stool microbiome studies which will finally help to increase the accuracy of dietary metadata.

Prevalência e fatores associados ao aleitamento materno no Brasil entre os anos 1998 e 2013: revisão sistemática

O estudo teve como objetivo comparar as prevalências e os fatores determinantes do aleitamento materno em diferentes cidades e estados brasileiros, a partir de pesquisas que utilizaram metodologia semelhante à proposta pelo Projeto Amamentação e Municípios. Para tal, realizou-se revisão sistemática e a busca dos artigos nas bases de dados Lilacs, Scielo, Cochrane, Bdenf, Medline e PubMed, por meio dos descritores aleitamento materno/breastfeeding, prevalência/prevalence, indicadores/indicators, estudos transversais/cross-sectional studies, inquéritos nutricionais/nutrition surveys, inquéritos alimentares/diet surveys e Brasil/Brazil, no período de 1998 a 2013. Selecionou-se 27 artigos, dos quais 08 apresentaram a prevalência do aleitamento materno entre menores de um ano, 11 em até quatro meses, 10 de seis meses, 07 em menores de quatro e seis meses e 04 artigos de tendências temporais do aleitamento materno. Os artigos analisaram a associação entre aleitamento materno e variáveis maternas, como idade, escolaridade, ocupação, paridade, tipo de parto, número de consultas no pré-natal, renda, e licença maternidade. Com relação às variáveis do lactente, o uso de chupeta, peso ao nascer, nascimento em instituições que participavam da Iniciativa Hospital Amigo da Criança, uso de mamadeira, introdução de outro leite e chá, mamar nas primeiras 24 horas de vida e sexo, foram as mais estudadas. Os resultados indicam a necessidade de avaliação e compreensão sobre a eficácia das ações existentes, bem como a criação de estratégias de incentivo e apoio ao aleitamento materno, principalmente às mães primíparas, adolescentes, trabalhadoras e com dificuldades de manejo no início da amamentação.

Abstract MP51: Global, Regional, And National Intakes Of Sugar-sweetened Beverages, Milk, And Fruit Juice: A Systematic Analysis Including 193 Country-specific Nutrition Surveys Worldwide.

Background: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), fruit juice, and milk each significantly contribute to health and disease. To-date, assessment of their global distributions and health impacts have been limited by insufficient comparable and reliable data by country, age, and sex. Objective: To quantify global, regional, and national levels of SSB, fruit juice, and milk intake by age and sex in adults over age 20 in 2010. Methods: We identified, obtained, and assessed data on intakes of these beverages in adults, by age and sex, from 193 nationally representative diet surveys worldwide, representing 62% of the world’s population. We developed a multi-level hierarchical Bayesian model to account for differences in national and regional missingness, measurement incomparability, study representativeness, and sampling and modeling uncertainty. Results: In 2010, global average intakes were 0.58 (95%UI: 0.37, 0.89) 8 oz servings/day for SSBs, 0.16 (0.10, 0.26) for fruit juice, and 0.57 (0.39, 0.83) for milk. There was significant heterogeneity in consumption of each beverage by region and age (Figure). SSB intakes were highest in the Caribbean (1.9 servings/day; 1.2, 3.0) fruit juice intakes were highest in Australia and New Zealand (0.66; 0.35, 1.13), and milk intakes were highest in Central Latin America and parts of Europe (1.06; 0.68, 1.59). Consumption levels of all three beverages were lowest in East Asia and Oceania. Globally and within regions, SSB consumption was highest in younger adults; fruit juice consumption showed little relation with age; and milk intakes were highest in older adults. Conclusions: This quantitative assessment of current beverage intakes at global, regional, and national levels, as well as by age and sex, is imperative for informing public health and policy priorities for intervention strategies, as well as for quantifying the impacts of these beverages on health worldwide.

Abstract P163: Global and Regional Consumption of Specific Dietary Fats and Dietary Cholesterol in 1990 and 2005: Systematic Analysis of Country-Specific Nutrition Surveys Worldwide

Background. Assessing the impact of diet on chronic diseases worldwide has been limited by availability only of food disappearance data rather than reliable and systematically assessed consumption data on dietary habits globally. Objective. To review and access published and unpublished national diet surveys worldwide in a systematic and consistent way to produce comprehensive intake data of specific dietary fats and their uncertainties by country, region, age, and sex in 1990 and 2005. Methods. We developed methods to identify, assess, and obtain exposure data (mean, SD) from nationally representative diet surveys worldwide on saturated, n-6, n-3 and trans fats, and dietary cholesterol. To address missing data and estimate mean intake, we developed and applied a multi-level hierarchical Bayesian model that accounted for country- and region-level data, measurement comparability, study representativeness, and diet assessment method. Time-varying country-level covariates were used to inform the estimates, including FAO food availability data, population, GDP, latitude, metabolic risks, and other diet covariates. Uncertainty of the estimates accounted for uncertainty from sampling and statistical modeling. Results. We obtained relevant data (85% by direct author contact) from 76 nationally representative and 15 large regional surveys from 49 countries in 15 regions, covering 75% of the world’s population. Several countries and regions lacked representative data. Data were most frequently available for saturated fat and dietary cholesterol (Figure). Results for other fats will be presented at the meeting. Conclusions. These new methods developed to systematically assess, compile and estimate the exposure distribution of specific dietary fats and cholesterol in a uniform fashion globally allow, for the first time, characterization of consumption habits and trends by country, region, age and sex. Such global assessment is imperative for estimating the impact of dietary fats on chronic diseases worldwide.