Arli Guadalupe Zárate-Ortiz

Dietary changes can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Great Britain. Guidelines recommend reducing meat and dairy consumption while increasing plant-based foods, but household purchasing habits achieving these shifts are not well understood. Here we analysed food purchase data from ~30,000 British households (2012–2019), identifying 709 households that reduced their dietary greenhouse gas emissions by 34%. Using latent class analysis, we identified two distinct clusters among these households: plant-based adopters who reduced meat and dairy, adopting healthier diets; and households replacing meat with dairy and convenience foods, showing less healthy dietary changes. Plant-based adopters typically had higher education, higher incomes, were older (45+ years), and smaller in size. Households shifting toward dairy and convenience foods were older and smaller. Supporting healthy and sustainable diets requires targeted policies to enhance affordability, availability, and convenience of nutritious plant-based foods.

Objective: The study examined the association between depressive symptoms and iron status, anaemia, body weight and pubertal status among Mexican adolescent girls.Design: In this cross-sectional study, depressive symptoms were assessed by the 6-item Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale, and latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify and characterise groups of girls based on depressive symptoms. Iron status and inflammation were assessed using ferritin and soluble transferrin receptor, C-reactive protein and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, respectively. Multiple logistic and linear regressions were applied to model class membership as a function of iron status, anaemia, body weight and pubertal status.Participants: We collected data from 408 girls aged 12–20 years.Setting: Public schools in northern Mexico.Results: LCA yielded three classes of depressive symptoms: 44·4 % of the adolescents were ‘unlikely to be depressed’, 41·5 % were ‘likely to be depressed’ and 14·1 % were ‘highly likely to be depressed’. Our analyses demonstrated that iron-deficient girls had greater odds of being ‘likely depressed’ (OR 2·01, 95 % CI 1·01, 3·00) or ‘highly likely depressed’ (OR 2·80, 95 % CI 1·76, 3·84). Linear regression analyses revealed that lower Hb concentrations and higher body weight increased the probability of being ‘likely depressed’. There was no evidence that depressive symptoms were associated with age at menarche and years since menstruation.Conclusions: This study shows that iron-deficient adolescent girls are more likely to suffer from depressive symptoms and that lower concentrations of Hb and higher body weight increased the probability of experiencing depressive symptoms.

Mexico is facing the double burden of malnutrition, and adolescents are not an exception. Diet plays an important role, both in causing overweight and undernutrition. This study aimed to describe the dietary patterns (DPs) of Mexican adolescents and to examine its association with nutritional status using data from adolescents aged 12–19 years (n = 7380) from the National Survey of Health and Nutrition (ENSANUT-2006). Principal component analysis was used to derivate the DPs. Associations between DP and nutritional status were determined by prevalence ratio (PR). Four DPs were identified: nontraditional and breakfast-type, Western, plant-based, and protein-rich. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher in adolescents who scored high on the Western pattern (PR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.08–1.21) or on the plant-based pattern (PR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.03–1.17). The Western pattern was positively associated with anemia in girls (PR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.03–1.35), while the nontraditional and breakfast-type pattern was inversely associated with anemia in adolescents aged 12–15 years (PR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.76–0.99) and in girls (PR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.75–0.97). The Western and plant-based patterns were simultaneously associated with overweight–obesity and at least one indicator of undernutrition. In the context of the double burden of malnutrition, dietary advice must consider malnutrition in all its forms.

Developed countries have shown a time trend towards a younger age at menarche (AAM), which is associated with increased risk of later obesity and non-communicable diseases. This study aimed to assess whether a time trend in AAM is associated with disease risk in Mexican women (n = 30,826), using data from the Mexican National Health Survey (2000). Linear and log binomial regression was used for nutritional and disease outcomes, while Welch–ANOVA was used to test for a time trend. AAM (in years) decreased over time (p < 0.001), with a maximal difference of 0.99 years between the 1920s (13.6 years) and 1980s (12.6 years ). AAM was negatively associated with weight (β = −1.01 kg; 95% CI −1.006, −1.004) and body mass index (BMI) (β = −1.01 kg/m²; −1.007, −1.006), and positively with height (β = 0.18 cm; 0.112, 0.231). AAM was associated with diabetes (RR = 0.95; 0.93, 0.98) and hypercholesterolemia (RR = 0.93; 0.90, 0.95), but not with hypertension, breast cancer or arthritis. In Mexico, AAM decreased significantly during the 20th century. AAM was inversely associated with adult weight and BMI, and positively with height. Women with a later AAM had a lower risk of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia.