Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida

Malnutrition is widespread among older adults, and its determinants may differ between countries. We compared Portuguese and Turkish non-institutionalized older adults regarding nutritional status, sociodemographic, health and anthropometric characteristics and studied the relationships between nutritional status and those characteristics. This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 430 Portuguese and 162 Turkish non-institutionalized older adults regarding sociodemographics, health conditions, the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA-FF) and anthropometry. Turkish older adults were more likely to be malnourished or at risk of malnutrition and had lower average BMI but a higher calf circumference. A higher proportion of the Portuguese sample had tooth loss, diabetes, hypertension, oncologic diseases, kidney diseases, osteoarticular problems or eye problems, while less had anemia. A better nutritional status (higher MNA-FF score) was found among the Portuguese, males, people using dentures, those without tooth loss, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, anemia or oncological diseases and was related to younger age, higher BMI and a higher calf circumference. Malnutrition and its risk were higher among older adults from Turkey, despite Portuguese older adults presenting a higher prevalence of chronic diseases. Being female, older age, tooth loss, hypertension, anemia, CVD or oncological disorders and having a lower BMI or CC were associated with higher rates of malnutrition among older adults from Portugal and Turkey.

Body fat is related to changes in lipid profile, blood pressure and metabolism of insulin and glucose, known as the metabolic syndrome (MS). The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its components among overweight and obese Portuguese schoolchildren, and to identify associated clinical and biochemical characteristics.

Summary  Metabolic syndrome, a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors that can lead to type 2 diabetes and/or heart disease, is at the centre of LIPGENE. This European Union (EU)‐funded project integrates human nutrition, genomics, agro‐food, social and economic analysis. In the social science module of the project, a six‐country survey was carried out to provide data on consumers’ attitudes towards the metabolic syndrome, potential agro‐food technologies and nutrigenomics. A total of 5967 participants aged 15 years plus from six European countries were interviewed.Heart disease, obesity, bulimia, anorexia and type 2 diabetes were the most frequently identified diet‐related diseases. Nearly 30% of participants self‐reported suffering from stress, and one in five reported having central obesity. High blood pressure was identified as an extremely high/high‐risk condition for almost half of the sample, followed by high cholesterol. Respondents reported the three most important ways of reducing personal risk of type 2 diabetes or heart disease to be increasing physical activity, eating more fruit and vegetables, and decreasing intake of fatty foods. However, lack of motivation, lack of information and lack of knowledge were identified as barriers to healthy actions. Participants associated the concept of ‘functional foods’ with fruit and vegetables, which were consumed at least once a week by most of them, but they also reported consuming high‐fibre products, probiotic yogurt drinks, foods with added vitamins and/or minerals, and cholesterol‐lowering spreads/drinks. However, the most commonly desired health benefits from foods to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease were a cholesterol‐lowering effect, blood sugar control and weight reduction. The preferred foods to decrease metabolic syndrome were fish, cheese and yogurt ‘with healthy fat’, but these foods were less acceptable to respondents if developed through genetic modification (GM) technology, and more than 30% of the sample would not eat GM foods at all. However, participants said that they would be more willing to consume GM foods if these foods provided health benefits. The survey also showed that many people would be willing to undergo a genetic test for general interest or in order for a diet to be tailored to their needs.