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Background : Stress has been shown to be associated with poor nutrition among young women. However, studies around the topic have major limitations in their methodologies and the role of confounding factors within this association remains unclear in the literature. Objective : To investigate the associations between stress and dietary quality/patterns in a culturally diverse population of childbearing-aged women. Methods : A secondary analysis of data from two studies conducted in UK and Lebanon was performed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to explore the role of country context, socio-economic status, and physical variables. Participants were healthy women of childbearing age ( n = 493). Variables measured were dietary intake, stress, physical activity, sociodemographic variables, and Body Mass Index. These were included in the SEM analysis to examine the mediating effect of stress. Results : The results showed that, among all variables, only country had a significant effect on dietary quality and patterns through the mediatory effect of stress. Participants from Lebanon were found to have higher stress levels compared to participants from the UK, and this contributed to a lower adherence to a Mediterranean diet. Conclusions : This study shows that for women of childbearing age, having a good diet quality/pattern is dependent on stress levels and country context.

The Blue Zones (BZs) are areas of the globe inhabited by exceptionally long-lived populations. They include the island of Okinawa in Japan, the island of Ikaria in Greece, the mountain area of the island of Sardinia in Italy, and the peninsula of Nicoya in Costa Rica. Their longevity is a relatively recent phenomenon that has been progressively investigated since the dawn of this century. Research efforts over the past two decades have sought to shed light on the factors associated with this longevity, as well as explore the possibility of lessons transferable to the general population. Among the features of BZ inhabitants, described in the literature, their eating habits hold a prominent place, as these have the advantage of being easily quantifiable and applicable on a larger scale. However, it is too often taken for granted that the mere fact of being documented in a long-lived population makes the diet a causal factor of that population's longevity; this is a claim which should be proven. Furthermore, it is implicitly assumed that a specific BZ diet is homogeneous and remains stable over time, whereas some evidence suggests the opposite. Therefore, this review summarizes our current knowledge of the BZ diets and discusses whether they can be considered as a paradigmatic example of healthy nutrition valid for anyone or, rather, a set of evolving food patterns that has offered benefits to a few specific communities in recent decades., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interest., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between stress and diet quality/patterns among women of reproductive age in UK. In total, 244 reproductive aged women participated in an online survey consisting of the European Prospective into Cancer and Nutrition food frequency questionnaire in addition to stress, depression, physical-activity, adiposity, and socioeconomic questions. An a-priori diet quality index was derived by assessing the adherence to Alternate Mediterranean Diet (aMD). A-posteriori dietary-patterns (DPs) were explored through factor analysis. Regression models were used to assess the predictors of the DPs. Participants mainly had medium ( n = 113) aMD adherence. Higher stress levels were reported by participants with low aMD adherence. Participants with high aMD adherence were of normal BMI. Factor analysis revealed three DPs: fats and oils, sugars, snacks, alcoholic-beverages, red/processed meat, and cereals (DP-1), fish and seafood, eggs, milk and milk-products (DP-2), and fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds (DP-3). Regression models showed that DP-1 was positively associated with stress ( p = 0.005) and negatively with age ( p = 0.004) and smoking ( p = 0.005). DP-2 was negatively associated with maternal educational-level ( p = 0.01) while DP-3 was negatively associated with stress ( p < 0.001), BMI ( p = 0.001), and white ethnicity ( p = 0.01). Stress was negatively associated with healthy diet quality/patterns among reproductive aged women.

Poor diet quality is a major cause of maternal obesity. We aimed to investigate a priori and a-posteriori derived dietary patterns in childbearing-aged women in UK. An online survey assessed food intake, physical activity (PA), anthropometry and socio-demographics. An a priori defined diet quality was determined via Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence score and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) derived dietary patterns (DPs). Multiple linear regression explored associations between DPs with anthropometric measures, PA and socio-demographics. Participants ( n = 123) had low-to-medium MD adherence (average MD-score: 4.0 (2.0)). Age was positively associated with higher MD adherence (X 2 (2) = 13.14, p = 0.01). EFA revealed three DPs: 'fruits, nuts, vegetables and legumes' ("Vegetarian-style" DP); 'sweets, cereals, dairy products and potatoes' ("Dairy, sweets and starchy foods" DP); and 'eggs, seafood and meats' ("Protein-rich" DP). "Vegetarian-style" DP was positively associated with higher maternal educational level ( p < 0.01) and PA ( p = 0.01), but negatively with white ethnicity ( p < 0.01). "Dairy, sweets and starchy foods" DP was positively associated with white ethnicity ( p = 0.03) and negatively with age ( p = 0.03). "Protein-rich" DP was positively associated with age ( p < 0.001) and negatively with PA ( p = 0.01). A poor diet quality was found among childbearing-aged women; notably in the younger age category, those of white ethnicity, that were more physically inactive and with a lower socioeconomic background.

Background: Lunch clubs are community-based projects where meals are offered with opportunities for social interaction, and a unique dining experience of dual commercial and communal nature., Aim: The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to assess differences in the dietary intake between lunch club and non-lunch club days among community-dwelling elderly, living in Dorset, UK., Methods: A total of 39 elderly individuals attending local lunch clubs were recruited. Socioeconomic factors were recorded, anthropometric measurements were taken and the dietary intake was assessed in lunch club and non-lunch club days via 24 hour dietary recalls., Results: For the majority of participants, having a hot meal (74.4%), meeting with friends (92.3%), dining outside home (76.9%), having a home-styled cooked meal (71.8%) and skipping cooking (43.6%) were considered as important factors for lunch club dining. Absolute energy intake, protein, fat, carbohydrate, saturated fatty acids, fibre, potassium, calcium, iron, vitamins A, C and folate and water from drinks were significantly greater on lunch club days. When intake was expressed as a percentage of the dietary reference values, all examined nutrients were consumed in greater adequacy during lunch club days, except potassium and vitamin D., Conclusions: Lunch clubs appear to be an effective means for ameliorating nutrient intake among older adults, while in parallel, offer the opportunity for socializing and sharing a hot meal with peers.

Background: Poor diet quality is associated with obesity-related morbidity and mortality. Psychological stress can increase unhealthy dietary choices, but evidence pertinent to women of reproductive age remains unclear. This paper systematically reviewed the literature to determine the association between psychological stress and diet quality in women of reproductive age., Methods: Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Sciencedirect were searched. Data extraction was determined by the PEO. Inclusion criteria consisted of: English language, stress (exposure) measured in combination with diet quality (outcome), healthy women of reproductive age (18-49 years old (population)). Observational studies, due to the nature of the PEO, were included. Quality assessment used the Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies from the Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Meta-analysis was conducted using random-effect model to estimate the Fisher's z transformed correlation between stress and diet quality with 95% confidence interval (CI)., Results: From 139,552 hits, 471 papers were screened; 24 studies met the inclusion criteria and were conducted in different countries: 8 studies on diet quality and 16 on food intake and frequency of consumption. Studies of diet quality consisted of six cross-sectional and two longitudinal designs with a total of 3982 participants. Diet quality was measured with diverse indices; Alternate Healthy Eating Index (n = 2), Healthy Eating Index (n = 2), Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet Index (n = 2), Dietary Quality Index- Pregnancy (n = 2), and Dietary Guideline Adherence Index (n = 1). Most studies used Cohen's perceived stress scale and no study measured biological stress response. After sensitivity analysis, only 5 studies (3471 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis revealed a significant negative association between stress and diet quality with substantial heterogeneity between studies (r = - 0.35, 95% CI [- 0.56; - 0.15], p value < 0.001, Cochran Q test P < 0.0001, I 2  = 93%). The 16 studies of food intake and frequency of consumption were very heterogeneous in the outcome measure and were not included in the meta-analysis. These studies showed that stress was significantly associated with unhealthy dietary patterns (high in fat, sweets, salt, and fast food and low in fruits, vegetables, fish, and unsaturated fats)., Conclusion: Future studies that explore diet quality/patterns should include both diet indices and factor analysis and measure biological markers of stress and dietary patterns simultaneously.