Methods: A total of 279 older adults aged 60 years and above were randomly selected. Respondents were classified as non-frail (<2 criteria) or frail (≥3 criteria) based on the 'phenotype of frailty'. A binary logistic regression was used to determine predictors of frailty.
Results: The prevalence of frailty was 18.3%. The frail older adults were positively associated with advanced age, being unmarried, hospitalisation in the previous year, poor self-rated health, and lower body mass index.
Discussion: These results give an overview on underlying effects and guiding actions for prevention programmes functioning to reverse and minimise the adverse effects of frailty syndrome.
METHODS: The study utilized data from the National School-Based Health Survey 2022, a nationwide survey involving school-going adolescents aged 13-17, with a total of 33,523 participants from 239 schools. To assess depression, the study employed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), considering a score of 10 or higher as indicative of depression. Dietary behaviours were assessed using a validated self-administered questionnaire adapted from the World Health Organization's Global School-based Student Health Survey. Descriptive analysis and complex sample logistic regression were carried out using SPSS version 26.0.
RESULTS: The study revealed a 26.9% overall prevalence of depression, with higher risks among female adolescents (AOR 2.71, 95% CI 2.51, 2.92) and those in higher grades. Malays (AOR 1.71, 95% CI 1.41, 2.07), Other Bumiputeras (AOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.32, 2.17), and Others (AOR 1.63, 95% CI 1.16, 2.30) had elevated odds of depression compared to Indians. Healthy dietary habits, like consuming less than two servings of fruits daily, correlated with depression (AOR 1.44 95% CI 1.35, 1.54). Additionally, unhealthy dietary behaviours such as fast food consumption (AOR 1.73 [95% CI 1.55, 1.93]) and carbonated soft drink intake (AOR 1.59 [95% CI 1.48, 1.70]) were positively associated with depression.
CONCLUSIONS: One out of every four Malaysian adolescents was identified to experience depression. Depression was linked to several factors, such as being female, belonging to higher grade levels, identifying as Malays, Other Bumiputeras, or belonging to other ethnicities, and participating in the consumption of fast food, carbonated soft drinks, and fruits. To address these observations, it is crucial to formulate effective public health programmes that prioritize adolescent mental health and encourage the adoption of healthy eating habits.
METHODS: MICOS is a prospective cohort study conducted at selected government health clinics in two states, namely Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Women in their third trimester of pregnancy are recruited into the study and their infants will be followed-up at 3, 6, and 12 months of age. Information on prenatal factors including socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric history, pre-pregnancy body mass index, gestational weight gain, smoking, family history of allergic diseases, maternal dietary intake and sunlight exposure during pregnancy are obtained through face-to-face interviews. Postnatal factors including dietary intake, sun exposure, and anthropometric measurements of the mothers, as well as feeding practices, dietary intake, anthropometric measurements, and development of allergic diseases of the infants are assessed at each follow-up. Blood samples are collected from the mothers in the third trimester to determine 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels as well as from the infants at age 12 months to determine atopic sensitisation.
DISCUSSION: The concept of developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) which emphasises on the role of early life environments in shaping future health and disease susceptibility in adulthood has gained a huge interest in recent years. The DOHaD paradigm has influenced many fields of research including malnutrition and allergic diseases. While findings from the developed countries remain controversial, such studies are scarce in developing countries including Malaysia. The present study will determine the cause and effect relationship between early nutrition and the development of malnutrition and allergic diseases in infants' first year of life.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study recruited 203 postmenopausal women (age ranged from 51 to 85 years old) in community settings. The dietary intakes of the participants were assessed using a validated interviewer-administered semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), while dietary acid load (DAL) was estimated using net endogenous acid production (NEAP). Agena® MassARRAY genotyping analysis and serum collagen type 1 cross-linked C-telopeptide (CTX1) were used to identify the IL6 genotype and as a bone resorption marker, respectively. The interactions between diet and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were assessed using linear regressions.
RESULTS: A total of 203 healthy postmenopausal women aged between 51 and 85 years participated in this study. The mean BMI of the participants was 24.3 kg/m2. In IL6 -174 G/C, all the participants carried the GG genotype, while the C allele was absent. Approximately 40% of the participants had a high dietary acid load. Dietary acid load (B = 0.15, p = 0.031) and the IL6 -572 CC genotype group (B = 0.14, p = 0.044) were positively associated with a higher bone resorption. However, there was no moderating effect of the IL6 genetic polymorphism on the relationship between and acid ash diet and bone resorption markers among the postmenopausal women (p = 0.79).
CONCLUSION: High consumption of an acid ash diet and the IL6 -572 C allele seem to attribute to high bone resorption among postmenopausal women. However, our finding does not support the interaction effect of dietary acidity and IL6 (-174G/C and -572G/C) polymorphisms on the rate of bone resorption. Taken together, these results have given scientific research other candidate genes to focus on which may interact with DAL on bone resorption, to enhance planning for preventing or delaying the onset of osteoporosis among postmenopausal women.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a teacher-led Healthy Lifestyle Program on eating behaviors among adolescents in Malaysia.
METHODS: This was a cluster randomized controlled trial (conducted in 2012 to 2014), with 100 schools randomly selected from 721 schools, then assigned to 50 intervention schools and 50 control schools. A Healthy Eating and Be Active among Teens (HEBAT) module was developed for pretrained teachers to deliver a Healthy Lifestyle Program on eating behaviors among adolescents. Eating behaviors of the respondents was determined using Eating Behaviors Questionnaire. Linear Mixed Model analysis and χ2 test were used to determine within- and between-group effects of studied variables.
RESULTS: A total of 4277 respondents participated in this study, with 2635 samples involved in the final analysis, comprised of 921 intervention and 1714 control respondents. There were 32.4% (36.4%) males and 67.6% (63.6%) females in the intervention (control) group. Mean age was comparable between the groups (intervention = 12.98 years; control = 12.97 years). Majority of the respondents skipped meals at baseline (intervention = 74.7%; control = 79.5%). After the program, intervention respondents had higher consumption frequency of lunch, dinner, and mid-morning snack but a lower consumption frequency of late-evening snack and meal skipping behaviors than their control counterparts.
CONCLUSION: The teacher-led Healthy Lifestyle Program was effective in reducing meal-skipping behaviors among Malaysian adolescents.
METHODS: A total of 1319 Malaysian adults participated in this cross-sectional online survey. Information on anthropometric data including body weight and height, and lifestyle behaviours including eating pattern, physical activity, and sleep pattern were self-reported by the respondents. A multivariable generalised linear mixed model was used to assess the associations between lifestyle behaviours and body weight changes with adjustment of confounding factors; namely, age, sex, ethnicity, and body weight status before MCO.
RESULTS: During MCO, 41.2% of the respondents perceived that their eating patterns were healthier, but 36.3% reduced their physical activities, and 25.7% had a poorer sleep quality. Further, the proportion of adults who reported having lose weight (32.2%) was almost similar to those who reported having gained weight (30.7%). Lifestyle behaviours including less frequent practice of healthy cooking methods and lunch skipping were associated with weight gain, while less frequent consumption of high fat foods, more frequent physical activity, and good sleep latency were associated with lower risk of weight gain. In contrast, practicing healthy eating concept, skipped lunch, and more frequent physical activity were significantly associated with weight loss.
CONCLUSION: Lifestyle behaviours were associated with body weight changes during MCO. While the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown is necessary to prevent further spread of the disease, promoting healthy lifestyle practices during lockdown should be implemented for a healthy weight and better health.
METHODS: The respondents had their body weight, height, waist circumference and body fat percentage measured, as well as interviewed for their socio-demographic characteristics, sun exposure and dietary intake. Fasting blood samples were obtained from the respondents to measure their serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration.
RESULTS: There were 82.7% (95% CI: 77.6%, 87.8%) of the respondents that had serum vitamin D insufficiency (< 50 nmol/L) with an average of 37.4 ± 14.3nmol/L. In stepwise multiple linear regression, high percentage of body fat (ß = -0.211, p <0.01) and low consumption of milk and dairy products (ß = 0.135, p <0.05) were the main contributors towards insufficient serum vitamin D levels, but not socio-demographic characteristics, other anthropometric indices, sun exposure and diet quality.
CONCLUSION: Older women with high body fat percentage and low dairy product consumption were more likely to have serum vitamin D insufficiency. Older women should ensure their body fat percentage is within a healthy range and consume more milk and dairy products in preventing serum vitamin D insufficiency.