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This comprehensive narrative review of 64 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 14 systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses provides an in-depth analysis of the effect of almonds on weight measures, metabolic health biomarkers and outcomes, and the colonic microbiota, with extensive use of figures and tables. Almonds are a higher energy-dense (ED) food that acts like a lower ED food when consumed. Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses of nut RCTs showed that almonds were the only nut that had a small but significant decrease in both mean body mass and fat mass, compared to control diets. The biological mechanisms for almond weight control include enhanced displacement of other foods, decreased macronutrient bioavailability for a lower net metabolizable energy (ME), upregulation of acute signals for reduced hunger, and elevated satiety and increased resting energy expenditure. The intake of 42.5 g/day of almonds significantly lowered low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), 10-year Framingham estimated coronary heart disease (CHD) risk and associated cardiovascular disease (CVD) medical expenditures. Diastolic blood pressure (BP) was modestly but significantly lowered when almonds were consumed at >42.5 g/day or for >6 weeks. Recent RCTs suggest possible emerging health benefits for almonds such as enhanced cognitive performance, improved heart rate variability under mental stress, and reduced rate of facial skin aging from exposure to ultraviolet (UV) B radiation. Eight RCTs show that almonds can support colonic microbiota health by promoting microflora richness and diversity, increasing the ratio of symbiotic to pathogenic microflora, and concentrations of health-promoting colonic bioactives. Almonds are a premier healthy snack for precision nutrition diet plans.

Objectives To investigate the influence of overweight and obesity on general performance and mortality in seniors. Design Cross-sectional multidisciplinary study on ageing of the Polish population. Setting Community-dwelling individuals aged 65 years or older, selected using three-stage stratified, proportional draw. Participants 4944 Polish Caucasian seniors, aged 65 years or older recruited between October 2007 and October 2010. Measurements All study subjects underwent measurement of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and arm circumference (AC). The physical and cognitive performance was evaluated using the Katz Activities of Daily Living (ADL) score and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), respectively. Morbidity data were obtained from a medical questionnaire. Mortality data were obtained from the Population Register of Poland between October 2015 and October 2018. Results Increasing age was associated with a decreased prevalence of obesity (all p Conclusions Overweight and obesity in Caucasian seniors are not associated with deterioration of physical and cognitive function or with increased mortality.

Background We evaluated the association between parental factors (overweight, history of hypertension, and education level) and children’s blood pressure status. Further, we evaluated to what extent the potential association could be interpreted by children’s adiposity indices. Methods The current study included 3316 Chinese school students (1579 girls and 1737 boys, aged 6–14 years) and their parents. Parents reported information on their height, body weight, history of hypertension, and the highest education level. Trained medical staff measured children’s blood pressure, height, body weight, waist circumference (WC), and percentage of body fat (PBF, assessed by bio-impedance method). Z-score of all three indices were calculated and used in the analysis. We used generalized linear model to evaluate the association between parental information and z-score of children’s blood pressure. Meditation analysis was used to evaluate the proportion contributed by z-score of children’s adiposity indices (BMI, WC, and PBF). Results We found that parental overweight and hypertension, but not parental education level, were significantly associated with children’s systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P

The present study is undertaken to evaluate any association between BMI, WC and Blood pressure and any tendency to develop prehypertension. The study comprises of 100 medical students of NRI medical college, Sangivalasa near Visakhapatnam. It was carried out ongirl students with age of 17 ye ars. Their BMI, WC and Blood pressure were determined. The examination included measurement of weight, height of the student to determine BMI, measurement of waist circumference, and measurement of blood pressure by sphygmomanometer. In the present study t he results are consistent with early clinical studies reporting that there is elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure with increasing BMI and waist circumference and there is tendency to develop prehypertension in students with higher BMI. Modificat ion of life style factors should be emphasized.

Objective To determine the frequency of knee osteoarthritis in adult patients with Diabetes mellitus and its association with body mass index (BMI) in kg/m2 and waist circumference (WC). Methods This is a cross-sectional comparative study at a tertiary hospital based in an industrial area of Karachi. Patient population comprised of all adult diabetic subjects. Clinical and demographic data was obtained with detailed musculoskeletal examination on all patients. BMI and WC were measured as kg/m2 and cm respectively. Data was analyzed on SPSS version 15. Results A total of 413 subjects were recruited. Among them diabetic and non-diabetic subjects were 210 and 203 respectively. Mean age of diabetics was 50.7+-10.2 years as compared to non-diabetic subjects i.e. 49.5+-10.5 years. Proportion of male subjects was 72(34.3%) and 71(35.0) respectively in both groups. Mean duration of diabetes was 6.2 years. Frequency of knee osteoarthritis (OA) was found to be 52(24.8%) and 54(26.6%) in diabetic and non-diabetic respectively. Among the diabetic group 6 (18%) subjects with OA had normal BMI (18.5-22.9) whereas 4 (16%) were overweight (BMI 23-24.9) and 41(27.5%) were obese(BMI ≥25). Near 98% (n=51) of the diabetic patients with OA had high waist circumference. Females (n= 42, 31.1%) were more frequent than males (n=9, 16%) in the diabetic subjects with OA and a higher WC. Conclusion Both diabetic and non diabetic group did not show any difference in the frequency of knee OA. However, frequency of knee OA showed a significant difference between overweight and obese category of BMI.WC appears as a strong predictor of knee osteoarthritis.

Background Self-reported height, weight, and waist circumference (WC) are widely used to estimate the prevalence of obesity, which has been increasing rapidly in China, but there is limited evidence for the accuracy of self-reported data and the determinants of self-report bias among the general adult Chinese population. Methods Using a multi-stage cluster sampling method, 8399 residents aged 18 or above were interviewed in the Jiangsu Province of China. Information on self-reported height, weight, and WC, together with information on demographic factors and lifestyle behaviors, were collected through structured face-to-face interviews. Anthropometrics were measured by trained staff according to a standard protocol. Results Self-reported height was overreported by a mean of 1.1 cm (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.0 to 1.2). Self-reported weight, body mass index (BMI), and WC were underreported by −0.1 kg (95 % CI: −0.2 to 0.0), −0.4 kg/m2 (95 % CI: −0.5 to −0.3) and −1.5 cm (95 % CI: −1.7 to −1.3) respectively. Sex, age group, location, education, weight status, fruit/vegetable intake, and smoking significantly affected the extent of self-report bias. According to the self-reported data, 25.5 % of obese people were misclassified into lower BMI categories and 8.7 % of people with elevated WC were misclassified as normal. Besides the accuracy, the distribution of BMI and WC and their cut-off point standards for obesity of a population affected the proportion of obesity misclassification. Conclusion Amongst a general population of Chinese adults, there was rather high proportion of obesity misclassification using self-reported weight, height, and WC data. Self-reported anthropometrics are biased and misleading. Objective measurements are recommended.

Background The association between obesity and albuminuria in the general population remains unclear. We aimed to identify the association between obesity and albuminuria as well as sex differences regarding the associations using several obesity indices, including waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-height ratio (WHR). Methods This study included 3841 subjects (1730 males and 2111 females; age 20–80 years) who participated in the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2011. Subjects with hypertension, diabetes, renal failure, or a malignant tumor and those who were pregnant or menstruating were excluded. Albuminuria was defined as a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/g. Anthropometric parameters were categorized into sex-specific quartiles. Logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between each anthropometric parameter and albuminuria. Results All of the obesity indices of the fourth quartile group of females showed a twofold higher risk for albuminuria than the second quartile group, and it was persistently significant after adjusting for age, smoking, and physical activity. After further adjustment for high blood pressure and impaired fasting glucose and triglyceride levels, WC and BMI of the fourth quartile group of females still showed a significantly higher risk for albuminuria than the second quartile group (odds ratios 1.96 and 2.24; 95 % confidence intervals 1.03–3.74 and 1.15–4.37). None of the associations between albuminuria and the obesity indices were significant in males. Conclusion Higher WC and BMI were significantly associated with the risk of albuminuria among females, but not males. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10157-016-1238-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This cross-sectional study was carried out from January to June 2006 to find out the anthropometric profile of the urban seniors living in three selected areas (Nakhal Para, Badda and Mirpur) of Dhaka city. A total of 317 individuals of both sexes aged 60 years and above were recruited by convenient sampling. Data were collected by a pre-tested questionnaire and a check list. Mean body mass index, waist circumference and waist to hip ratio were 17.8 ± 4.0, 75.5 ± 12.5 cm and 0.87 ± 0.12, respectively. Although only 3% elderly were obese, substantial proportion of the sample were overweight. Females were more prone to health risks than male. Measures should be taken to create awareness amongst these populations for controlling their health risk. Key words: Anthropometry; elderly; Body Mass Index (BMI); Waist Circumference (WC); Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) DOI: 10.3329/imcj.v4i2.6497Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2010; 4(2): 59-62