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BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES A cross-sectional study was undertaken to evaluate fluid intake and hydration status in association with cognitive function among 230 adolescents (10-14 years of age) in Petaling Perdana, Selangor, Malaysia. SUBJECTS/METHODS Urine color was used to measure hydration status, while fluid intake was assessed using the 15-item beverage intake questionnaire. Cognitive function was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition. RESULTS More than half of the adolescents were mildly or moderately dehydrated (59.6%) and only one-third (33.0%) were well hydrated. Among the daily fluid types, intakes of soft drinks (r = -0.180; P = 0.006), sweetened tea (r = -0.184; P = 0.005) and total sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) (r = -0.199; P = 0.002) were negatively correlated with cognitive function. In terms of hydration status, cognitive function score was significantly higher (F-ratio = 4.102; P = 0.018) among hydrated adolescents (100.38 ± 12.01) than in dehydrated (92.00 ± 13.63) counterparts. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis, after adjusting for socio-demographic factors, showed that soft drinks (β = -0.009; P < 0.05) and sweetened tea (β = -0.019; P < 0.05) negatively predicted cognitive function (ΔR2 = 0.044). When further control for sources of fluid, hydration status (β = -2.839; P < 0.05) was shown to negatively predict cognitive function (ΔR2 = 0.021). The above variables contributed 20.1% of the variance in cognitive function. CONCLUSIONS The results highlight the links between fluid intake (soft drinks, sweetened tea, total SSBs) and hydration status with cognitive function in adolescents. Interventions aimed at decreasing the consumption of SSBs and increasing hydration status through healthy fluid choices, such as water, could improve cognitive performance in adolescents.

Children’s psychosocial factors related to healthy meal preparation are important for sustainable healthy dietary behaviour. At present, there is no valid and reliable tool to measure children’s psychosocial factors related to healthy meal preparation. Hence, this study aimed to develop, validate and determine the reliability of a questionnaire designed to measure psychosocial factors related to healthy meal preparation among Malaysian children. This cross-sectional study included 250 children aged 9–11 years. The questionnaire developed was tested for face and content validity. Item analysis was conducted for the knowledge domain. Construct validity of attitude, practice and self-efficacy domains was assessed using exploratory factor analysis with principle axis factoring extraction and direct oblimin rotation. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 assessed internal consistency. The intraclass correlation coefficient determined test-retest reliability. All experts rated the questionnaire with a > 0.75 validity index. The knowledge domain had the optimal level of difficulty and could discriminate children with top and lower scores. Three-factor solutions emerged for the attitude domain and two-factor solutions emerged for the practice and self-efficacy domains, with appropriate factor loadings (> 0.40). Internal consistency ranged from 0.63–0.75 for the respective domains and an overall internal consistency of 0.82 for the whole questionnaire. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.85–0.89 for the respective domains. Outcomes demonstrated that the questionnaire is a reliable and valid evaluation tool and can be adapted by countries to use in hands-on healthy meal preparation interventions to advocate healthy dietary behaviours among children.

Spirulina (blue-green algae) contains a wide range of nutrients with medicinal properties which include β-carotene, chromium, and moderate amounts of vitamins B12. This study aims to determine the preventive effect of spirulina against bone fragility linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus. Thirty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups (n = 6) and diabetes was induced using streptozocin. Rats with a plasma glucose level of 10 mmol/L and above were orally treated for twelve weeks with either a single dose of spirulina, metformin, or a combined dose of spirulina + metformin per day. After the treatment, blood and bones were taken for biochemical analysis, three-dimensional imaging, 3-point biomechanical analysis, histology imaging and gene expression using qPCR. Results showed that diabetes induction and treatment with metformin caused destruction in the trabecular microarchitecture of the femur bone, reduction in serum bone marker and expression of bone formation marker genes in the experimental rats. Spirulina supplementation showed improved trabecular microarchitecture with a denser trabecular network, increased 25-OH vitamin D levels, and lowered the level of phosphate and calcium in the serum. Biomechanical tests revealed increased maximum force, stress strain, young modulus and histology images showed improvement in regular mesh and an increase in osteoblasts and osteocytes. There was an increase in the expression of bone formation marker osteocalcin. The results suggest that spirulina supplementation was more effective at improving bone structural strength and stiffness in diabetic rats compared to metformin. Spirulina may be able to prevent T2DM-related brittle bone, lowering the risk of fracture.

Obesity is a worldwide pandemic, and the prevalence rate has doubled since the 1980s. Asian countries are also experiencing the global epidemic of obesity with its related health consequences. The prevalence of overweight and obesity are increasing at an alarming rate across all age groups in Asia. These increases are mainly attributed to rapid economic growth, which leads to socio-economic, nutrition and lifestyle transitions, resulting in a positive energy balance. In addition, fat mass and obesity-associated gene variants, copy number variants in chromosomes and epigenetic modifications have shown positive associations with the risk of obesity among Asians. In this review highlights of prevalence and related ecological and genetic factors that could influence the rapid rise in obesity among Asian populations are discussed.

This study was conducted among lecturers and students in Universiti Kebangsan Malaysia (UKM), Kuala Lumpur campus. The purpose of the study was to determine the knowledge, perception and practice on the usage of e-learning among lecturers and students. E-learning that was applied in this study involving a system that was in the university website. The objective of the e–learning system was to facilitate the lecturer and students in terms of announcement, discussion, lecture notes and quiz. This study showed that, the e-learning system was commonly used by lecturers and students just for upload lecture notes and download lecture notes.