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Obesity prevention is an urgent public health priority that requires action at multiple levels. Collaboration between academics, policy and practice is necessary to ensure best-practice implementation. A national knowledge translation and exchange (KT) platform, the Collaboration of Community-based Obesity Prevention Sites (CO-OPS), was delivered and evaluated over three years (2013-15). A mixed-methods evaluation used communications and website data, knowledge-brokering data, event evaluations, interviews and tracer searches to assess process (reach, delivery, quality, cost, uptake) and impact (use of tools/resources, networking, improvements in practice). Results included: 1) average 27% yearly membership growth (330 new members per year) in response to KT activities including tailored communications, stakeholder engagement, knowledge brokering and networking opportunities; 2) sustained website use with approximately 1200 visits/month and 73% unique visitors; and high access to networking and professional development information (120 hits/month), and best practice guidelines (60 hits/month); 3) higher uptake of face-to-face interactive strategies (for example, workshops) than online interactive strategies (for example, knowledge broker service) and higher uptake of passive KT (for example, website resources) than interactive KT strategies (for example, workshops); 4) the KT function of CO-OPS was clearly valued, and appeared to address a gap in implementation. A central coordinating KT platform provided support for best practice and exchange opportunities to a broad network of practice, policy and academic professionals. Simple KT strategies such as tailored, targeted online resources were useful for practice, whilst more intensive KT strategies were important for network engagement. Findings are applicable to other information-sharing networks where professionals address complex public health problems.

The role of dietary macronutrients and energy intake in the aging process has been well‐established. However, previous research has mainly focused on the association between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and individual macronutrients, while the effects of macronutrient composition on LTL remain unclear. This cross‐sectional analysis involved 4130 US adults (44.8 ± 17.0 years; 51% female) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during 1999–2002. A single 24‐h dietary recall is used to collect dietary data. The relationship between dietary macronutrient composition and LTL is examined using three‐dimensional generalized additive models. After adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, education, physical activity, BMI, and dietary quality, a three‐dimensional association of macronutrient composition with LTL (P = 0.02) is revealed. Diets lower in protein (5–10%), higher in carbohydrates (75%), and lower in fat (15–20%) are associated with the longest LTL corresponding to 7.7 years of slower biological aging. Diets lowest in protein (5%) and carbohydrate (40%), while highest in dietary fat (55%) are associated with the shortest LTL, corresponding to accelerated biological aging of 4.4 years. The associations appeared magnified with higher energy intake. These findings support a complex relationship between dietary macronutrients and biological aging independent of diet quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hawaiian people before Western contact gathered at special places during the Makahiki period, a time that was sacred to the god Lono, and during which sports, games and other ceremonies took place. Archaeological excavation and archaeoastronomical investigation together suggest that an approximately 40 m2 rock enclosure in the uplands of Honouliuli on the island of O'ahu was such a special gathering place. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the enclosure was most likely constructed between the late AD 1500s and early AD 1600s, with a notable period of use during the mid-AD 1600s. The archaeoastronomical evidence supports this conclusion, in that the enclosure is precisely aligned upon the horizon rising point in AD 1600 of the Pleiades star cluster (Makali'i in Hawaiian), whose first appearance each November marked the beginning of the four-month Makahiki "annnual harvest" period dedicated to the god Lono. That time period saw the peaking and stabilisation of population on O'ahu, and the expansion of settlements into marginal environmental zones such as Honouliuli. A significant number of temples built around the same time on the island of Maui are oriented in a similar manner.

The gut microbiome has been shown to play a role in the relationship between diet and cardiometabolic health. We sought to examine the degree to which key microbial lignan metabolites are involved in the relationship between diet quality and cardiometabolic health using a multidimensional framework. This analysis was undertaken using cross-sectional data from 4685 US adults (age 43.6 ± 16.5 years; 50.4% female) participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 1999–2010. Dietary data were collected from one to two separate 24-hour dietary recalls and diet quality was characterized using the 2015 Healthy Eating Index. Cardiometabolic health markers included blood lipid profile, glycemic control, adiposity, and blood pressure. Microbial lignan metabolites considered were urinary concentrations of enterolignans, including enterolactone and enterodiol, with higher levels indicating a healthier gut microbial environment. Models were visually examined using a multidimensional approach and statistically analyzed using three-dimensional generalized additive models. There was a significant interactive association between diet quality and microbial lignan metabolites for triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, insulin, oral glucose tolerance, adiposity, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure (all p < 0.05). Each of these cardiometabolic health markers displayed an association such that optimal cardiometabolic health was only observed in individuals with both high diet quality and elevated urinary enterolignans. When comparing effect sizes on the multidimensional response surfaces and model selection criteria, the strongest support for a potential moderating relationship of the gut microbiome was observed for fasting triglycerides and oral glucose tolerance. In this study, we revealed interactive associations of diet quality and microbial lignan metabolites with cardiometabolic health markers. These findings suggest that the overall association of diet quality on cardiometabolic health may be affected by the gut microbiome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. government leaders have long considered Latin America their proverbial backyard and have recurrently intervened in the region. In earlier periods of U.S. imperialism, U.S. government leaders justified such intervention with reference to allegedly scientific racial hierarchies, which placed White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) at the top of this artificial hierarchy. In more recent episodes of U.S. imperialism leading into the twenty-first century, however, U.S. leaders have publicly used the language of democracy and human rights to justify intervention. In the instance of contemporary Venezuela, while U.S leaders indeed use the language of human rights and democracy, they also draw on racist tropes of Latin Americans to justify their intervention. Through interviews with U.S. foreign policymakers and analysis of U.S. government documents, I find that U.S. leaders depict former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez as an irrational, uncivilized, and beastly leader, who manipulates ideas of racial inequality to maintain power. In addition, U.S. leaders understand him as manipulating an uncritical mass of Venezuelans who cannot think for themselves. U.S. leaders believe it thus their duty to intervene in order to promote democracy and show Venezuelans their true political-economic interests. I connect these dynamics with a history of U.S. intervention into the region and a history of racist and imperial thinking that continues to shape the logic of U.S. foreign policymaking into the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White meat is one of the most commonly consumed animal-source foods in the Emirate of Dubai and is one of 21 main foods listed in the National Food Security Strategy of UAE and the Emirate of Dubai. Although fresh white meat is produced locally, the quantities are very limited, so, to meet market needs, chilled and frozen white meat is imported. The aim of this chapter is to examine the existing white meat supply networks and market in Dubai and understand the flow of fresh chickens from the local market and the shipment dynamics for imported frozen chickens under the One Health concept. Data from documents, publications and surveys of the Dubai Government, representatives of the Food Safety Department and Veterinary Service Section (via focus group discussions) and direct interviews with local small farmers, food importers, food manufacturers and retailers and animal feed manufacturers and retailers were used to describe the value chain for white meat in the Emirate of Dubai. The data were collected through detailed questionnaires in the interview with the focus groups and interviews of groups of stakeholders selected by the Food Safety Department in Dubai Municipality. Data from government strategies and reports were collected and analysed to understand the government's position and the size of the white meat sector. The data provided by representatives of local small farmers, food importers, food manufacturers and retailers and animal feed manufacturers and retailers were used to understand the value chain of white meat from the private sector perspective. After studying the value chain and the results of this research, areas were identified in the value chain of the white meat sector at the level of the Emirate of Dubai that can be improved, for example, the need for better marketing of local products. Some areas are already strong such as the inclusion of white meat products in the Dubai strategy for Food Security approved at the level of the Emirate of Dubai. The results of this chapter highlight critical opportunities for changes in policies and best practices that if implemented by the Dubai Government would ensure that the white meat industry is able to meet local market demands. Recommendations to the Dubai Government are presented in support of enhancing Dubai's economic sustainability and efficient contributions to food and nutrition security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the contribution of ultra-processed foods to the intake of free sugars among different age groups in Australia. Methods: Dietary intakes of 12,153 participants from the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (2011–12) aged 2+ years were evaluated. Food items collected through two 24-h recalls were classified according to the NOVA system. The contribution of each NOVA food group and their subgroups to total energy intake was determined by age group. Mean free sugar content in diet fractions made up exclusively of ultra-processed foods, or of processed foods, or of a combination of un/minimally processed foods and culinary ingredients (which includes table sugar and honey) were compared. Across quintiles of the energy contribution of ultra-processed foods, differences in the intake of free sugars, as well as in the prevalence of excessive free sugar intake (≥ 10% of total energy) were examined. Results: Ultra-processed foods had the highest energy contribution among children, adolescents and adults in Australia, with older children and adolescents the highest consumers (53.1% and 54.3% of total energy, respectively). The diet fraction restricted to ultra-processed items contained significantly more free sugars than the two other diet fractions. Among all age groups, a positive and statistically significant linear association was found between quintiles of ultra-processed food consumption and both the average intake of free sugars and the prevalence of excessive free sugar intake. Conclusion: Ultra-processed food consumption drives excessive free sugar intake among all age groups in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is part of a broader interdisciplinary project investigating the historical, social, and cultural contexts behind individual and collective differences in taste and consumption. It offers a comparative historical study of nonalcoholic beverage (NAB) consumption in Australia and Japan. Australia and Japan are among the largest NAB consumers in the world, and they have a similar history of progression from brewed tea as the main beverage consumed at meals and between meals, to a widespread consumption of bottled beverages. Yet in the contemporary context, both consumer behavior and its impact on nutrition health differ significantly in the two countries. We compare the Australian case, where "soft drinks" are equated with sugar-sweetened beverages, seen as contributing to the global rise in obesity, with thecase of Japan, where sugar-sweetened sodas are widely available, but people also consume large amounts of cold bottled green teas and herbal teas, that are not just "sugarless" but are not sweet at all. We propose that comparing the NAB consumption cultures of Japan and Australia offers us valuable insight into the importance of the cultural dimension of consumption and nutrition health, and the need to consider it when formulating policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: There is an urgent need to identify and develop cross-sectoral policies which promote and support a healthy, safe and sustainable food system. To help shape the political agenda, a critical first step is a shared definition of such a system among policy makers across relevant sectors. The aim of the present study was to determine how Australian policy actors define, and contribute to, a healthy, safe and sustainable food system.Design: A Delphi survey, consisting of two rounds, was conducted. Participants were asked how they define, and contribute to, a healthy, safe and sustainable food system (Round 1) and indicate their level of agreement with summary statements (Round 2).Setting: This was an online Delphi survey conducted in Australia.Participants: Twenty-nine and fourteen multisectoral and multilevel policy makers completed Round 1 and Round 2, respectively.Results: The definition included food processing regulation, environmentally friendly food production and access to nutritious food. All agreed that it was important for them to improve access and supply of healthy food and ensure healthy planning principles are applied.Conclusions: There were cross-sectoral differences in definitions and contributions; however, critical consensus was achieved. The study contributes to the definition of key elements of a cross-sectoral food and nutrition policy to meet today's environmental, health, social and economic challenges; however, further research using a more representative multisectoral sample is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some scholars have shown how the U.S. has deployed several traditional, imperial strategies to maintain global power, including military interventions, support for proxy governments, economic coercion, and the exercise of hegemony. In many countries, though, these strategies cannot effectively work. Some countries have elected leaders that defy U.S. influence, and, in middle‐income countries, the U.S. cannot use economic coercion. The U.S. also cannot militarily invade all countries that possess anti‐American governments. How, then, does the U.S. aim to confront and control anti‐American governments in the contemporary world? I examine U.S. foreign policy towards Venezuela under Hugo Chávez, who recurrently challenged U.S. global power during his time in office. Through interviews with U.S. state elites, who developed policy towards Venezuela, and through analysis of U.S. diplomatic cables, I show how the U.S. has moved away from traditional, imperial modalities and towards new imperial techniques aimed at frustrating political processes within particular countries, as well as containing their global influence. These techniques include pressuring the federal judiciary, utilizing state agencies to fund and support opposition political parties and NGOs, seeking to terminate particular pieces of legislation, and eliminating eligibility for global leadership positions. These efforts do not immediately aim to displace existing governments, but, in the least, they aim to frustrate the domestic efforts of particular governments, and ultimately cultivate conditions favorable for the political opposition to eventually attain political power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]