Medical Bulletin 29/November/2022

Childhood obesity is a growing concern in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in every five American children is obese.

Using MRI data from the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States, researchers have found that higher weight and body mass index (BMI) in pre-adolescence are associated with poor brain health.

The study used imaging data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study that included 11,878 children aged 9-10 years from 21 centers across the country to represent the sociodemographic diversity. After excluding children with eating disorders, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diseases, and traumatic brain injury, the study group included 5,169 children out of which 51.9% were females.

Reference:

Simone Kaltenhauser et al, MEETING 108th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America

Healthy plant-based diets linked with lower colorectal cancer risk in men

Researchers from Kyung Hee University, South Korea found that, among a population of close to 80000 American men, those who ate the highest average daily amounts of healthy plant-based foods had a 22% lower risk of colorectal cancer, compared to those who ate the lowest amounts of healthy plant foods. Now we all know that colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and the risk of developing colorectal cancer over a lifetime is one in 23 for men and one in 25 for women..

The authors found that the association between the nutritional quality of plant-based diets and colorectal cancer risk among men varied by race and ethnicity. Among Japanese American men, colorectal cancer risk was 20% lower for those who ate the highest amount of healthy plant foods per day than for those who ate the lowest amount. Among white men, those who ate the highest amount of highest amount of healthy plant foods had a 24% lower colorectal cancer risk than those who ate the lowest amount.

Reference:

Plant-based dietary patterns defined by a priori indices and colorectal cancer risk by sex and race/ethnicity: the Multiethnic Cohort Study, BMC Medicine 2022,

DOI: 10.1186/s12916-022-02623-7

Lower frequency of dietary salt tied to a reduced CVD risk?

Over the years, there has been a substantial evidence linking high sodium intake to high blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, epidemiological studies investigating this link have produced conflicting results due to a lack of practical methods for assessing long-term dietary sodium intake. Recent studies suggest that the frequency at which an individual adds salt to their foods could be used to predict their individual sodium intake over time.

Adding additional salt to foods at a lower frequency is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, heart failure and ischemic heart disease, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Even among those following a DASH-style diet, behavioral interventions to lessen salt consumption could further improve heart health.

Reference:

Lu Qi et al, JOURNAL Journal of the American College of Cardiology