Egg Intake Has No Adverse Association With Blood Lipids Or Glucose In Adolescent Girls

Objective: Longitudinal data on cardiometabolic effects of egg intake during adolescence are lacking. The current analyses aim to evaluate the impact of usual adolescent egg consumption on lipid levels, fasting glucose, and insulin resistance during late adolescence (age 17–20?years).

Methods: Data from 1392 girls, aged 9 to 10 at baseline and followed for 10?years, in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s National Growth and Health Study were used to examine the association between usual egg intake alone and in combination with other healthy lifestyle factors and late adolescent lipid levels, fasting glucose, and insulin resistance, measured as homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Diet was assessed using 3-day food records during eight examination cycles. Girls were classified according to usual weekly egg intake, ages 9–17?years:?<1 egg/wk (n?=?361), 1 to <3 eggs/wk (n?=?703), and ≥3 eggs/wk (n?=?328). Analysis of covariance modeling was used to control for confounding by other behavioral and biological risk factors.

Results: Girls with low, moderate, and high egg intakes had adjusted low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels of 99.7, 98.8, and 95.5 mg/dL, respectively (p?=?0.0778). In combination with higher intakes of fiber, dairy, or fruits and vegetables, these beneficial effects were stronger and statistically significant. There was no evidence that ≥3 eggs/wk had an adverse effect on lipids, glucose, or HOMA-IR. More active girls who consumed ≥3 eggs/wk had the lowest levels of insulin resistance.

Conclusion: These results suggest that eggs may be included as part of a healthy adolescent diet without adverse effects on glucose, lipid levels, or insulin resistance.     

Fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder: Their perceptions of paternal role a predictor of caregiving satisfaction,self-efficacy and burden

BackgroundThe positive effect of a father’s involvement in children’s upbringing is now recognised. However, research on fathers raising children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still few. This study examines the relationship between the perception, fathers of children with ASD have of the importance of their role in the development of their children and the feelings (self-efficacy, caregiving burden, satisfaction) they express about their parenting experience.MethodSixty-three Swiss Italian fathers of children with ASD completed The Role of the Father Questionnaire (ROFQ), three sub-scales of the Caregiver Survey, a subtest of the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale and a home-made questionnaire measuring Perceived Social Support.ResultsThe results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that the importance that fathers attach to the paternal role predicts positively their caregiving satisfaction and their feeling of self-efficacy. The children’s challenging behaviours predict positively the caregiving burden whereas the assessment of social support predicts it negatively.ConclusionsThe perception of the importance of the paternal role needs to be considered in the support offered to families with a child with ASD. A better understanding of the fathers’ feelings could be of value for the programmes.     

The effects of dietary modification as denned by NACNE on the eating habits of 28 people

Twenty-eight members of the general public, with little nutritional knowledge and no previous commitment to dietary change, completed 7-day-weighed dietary diaries. They then attempted to change their diets, where appropriate, in line with current nutritional guidelines.
The panel achieved changes in diet that were consistent with the recent recommendations but several problems arose. In particular, although fat levels were reduced, energy levels fell and fibre goals were not reached; in addition, certain of the initial vitamin and mineral intakes gave cause for concern. These results emphasize the importance of giving advice not only about foods that might be reduced in the diet, but also about food that might be used as alternatives. They also illustrate the difficulty of persuading people to make radical changes to their eating habits even when given personal advice from a nutritionist.
The panel was small and not necessarily representative, but the results illustrate the need for more dietary analysis studies. It is not enough simply to formulate appropriate guidelines from a nutritional point of view; it is also important to ensure that the public understands them and that people make sensible decisions about their diet.     

The effect of increasing the dietary fibre content of diets of patients with chronic renal failure treated by haemodialysis at home

The study described tested the hypothesis that increasing amounts of dietary fibre (DF) in the diet of patients on haemodialysis (HD) may achieve positive clinical benefit without adversely affecting serum potassium and plasma phosphate. The current diet of 20 home HD patients was supplemented with 15g unprocessed wheat bran incorporated into three 'bran muffins' eaten daily for a trial period of 28 days. During this period patients reported an improvement in bowel habit. Serum potassium decreased slightly but not significantly ( P =0.242) but there was a significant rise in plasma phosphate ( P =0.004). These findings suggest that when increasing DF in devising HD dietary regimes, plasma phosphate is possibly the more sensitive biochemical variable following introduction of wheat bran.