Background: With the rapid development of Shanghai’s economy, diet habits have undergone great changes. The study aimed to examine the situation of out-of-home (OH) eating in Shanghai adults and the nutrition characteristics of eating in different dining places, and to assess the social demographic determinants of eating OH. Method: Data was sourced from the Shanghai Diet and Health Survey (SDHS) involving people aged 18 years or older in 2012–2013. The food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and three-day 24-h dietary recall (24-HDR) were used to collect dietary intake data on how people eat out in a cross-sectional study of 1689 adults. OH food refers to the food prepared or consumed away from home. We define that people who eat at least one meal prepared away from home in each survey have a habit of eating outside. The multiple linear and logistic regression methods were used for statistical analysis. Results: The prevalence of eating OH and at restaurants was only 55.1% and 31.8%, respectively. There was an increase in energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat, and iron intake while eating OH. Restaurant and company/school canteen consumption were both associated with an increase in daily total energy intake of 140 kcal and 91 kcal, and fat intake of 6.0 g and 4.3 g, respectively. However, eating at restaurants was associated with higher intake of 548 mg of sodium. However, no significant association was observed between eating at canteens and higher sodium intake. Conclusions: Eating OH related to a poor diet quality, and the diet quality was different between restaurant and canteen food. There may be a need for interventions to target residents’ overall dining-out behavior, particularly focusing on the consumption of restaurant food.

Effective nutrition and exercise interventions may improve sarcopenia in the elderly. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effectiveness of Internet-based nutrition and exercise interventions in the elderly with sarcopenia. Participants were divided into 4 groups: control, nutrition, exercise, and comprehensive (nutrition plus exercise) groups; there was at least 50 participants in each group. Our trial lasted 12 weeks. We conducted dietary and exercise interventions through an app and collected feedback from the participants every three weeks. Information on the diet, skeletal muscle mass, and muscle function was collected before and after the interventions. The comprehensive group had higher high-quality protein intake than the control (p = 0.017) and exercise (p = 0.012) groups. After the interventions, we obtained differences in skeletal muscle mass, skeletal muscle mass/height², skeletal muscle mass/weight, muscle mass/BMI, and skeletal muscle mass/body fat percentage (p < 0.05). Changes in average daily energy and total daily protein intakes were not significantly different; however, there was an overall improvement in the intervention groups relative to baseline data. There were no changes in the average daily time of moderate physical activity. The Internet was an effective tool of nutrition intervention in the elderly with sarcopenia. The Internet-based nutrition intervention improved high-quality protein intake and skeletal muscle mass in the elderly with sarcopenia.

The causal relationship between serum ferritin and metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains inconclusive. Dietary iron intake increases serum ferritin. The objective of this study was to evaluate associations of total, heme, and nonheme dietary iron intake with MetS and its components in men and women in metropolitan China. Data from 3099 participants in the Shanghai Diet and Health Survey (SDHS) obtained during 2012–2013 were included in this analysis. Dietary intake was assessed by 24-h diet records from 3 consecutive days. Multivariate generalized linear mixed models were used to evaluate the associations of dietary iron intake with MetS and its components. After adjustment for potential confounders as age, sex, income, physical exercise, smoking status, alcohol use, and energy intake, a positive trend was observed across quartiles of total iron intake and risk of MetS (p for trend = 0.022). Compared with the lowest quartile of total iron intake (<12.72 mg/day), the highest quartile (≥21.88 mg/day) had an odds ratio (95% confidence interval), OR (95% CI), of 1.59 (1.15,2.20). In addition, the highest quartile of nonheme iron intake (≥20.10 mg/day) had a 1.44-fold higher risk of MetS compared with the lowest quartile (<11.62 mg/day), and higher risks of MetS components were associated with the third quartiles of total and nonheme iron intake. There was no association between heme iron intake and risk of MetS (p for trend = 0.895). Associations for total and nonheme iron intake with MetS risk were found in men but not in women. Total and nonheme dietary iron intake was found to be positively associated with MetS and its components in the adult population in metropolitan China. This research also revealed a gender difference in the association between dietary iron intake and MetS.

Gut microbial dysbiosis influences the development of sarcopenia. This case-control study explored the gut microbiota composition in elderly Chinese women with sarcopenia. The information from 50 cases and 50 controls was collected. Grip strength, body weight, body mass index, skeletal muscle mass, energy intake, and total and high-quality protein intake were lower in cases than in controls (p < 0.05). Gut microbiota metagenomic sequencing showed that phylum Bacteroides was significantly reduced in the case group, whereas genus Prevotella was more abundant (p < 0.05). Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size showed that 9 and 13 distinct microbial taxa were enriched in the case and control groups, respectively (LDA > 2, p < 0.05), among which Prevotella copri and Bifidobacterium longum were significantly different (LDA > 4, p < 0.05). The AUC of Bifidobacterium longum was 0.674 (95% CI: 0.539–0.756). Elderly women with sarcopenia exhibited significantly different gut microbiota compositions than healthy controls.

Background: Pregnant women in Shanghai have long been at risk for mild iodine deficiency. Because thyroid autoimmunity in pregnant women can lead to premature birth and miscarriage as well as neurodevelopmental deficits in the fetus, the aim of this study was to explore the association of iodine nutrition status with thyroid antibodies during pregnancy. Methods: A pregnancy-birth cohort was conducted including 4635 pregnant women in Shanghai, China. The eligible participants underwent a face-to-face interview and completed questionnaire surveys to collect baseline information and diet intake. Spot urine samples were collected to test urine iodine. Thyroid antibodies including thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb), thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) and thyrotrophic antibodies (TRAb) were tested. Single-factor analysis and logistic regression were used to evaluate the association between iodine status and thyroid autoimmunity during pregnancy. Results: The median urinary iodine excretion level in the sample was 138.14 μg/L (interquartile range [IQR] 80.90–219.00 μg/L). Among all the subjects, 25.9% consumed non-iodized salt, 54.5% had iodine deficiency, and 31.0% had thyroid autoimmunity. The proportion of patients with iodine deficiency was significantly higher among those who consumed non-iodized salt (36.9% vs. 33.1%; p = 0.04). After adjusting for age, educational status, former smoker status, former drinker status, first pregnancy, and previous thyroid disease, non-iodized salt (odds ratio [OR] = 1.394 [confidence interval, CI, 1.165–1.562]; p = 0.003), iodine-rich food (OR = 0.681 [CI 0.585–0.793]; p = 0.003), iodized nutritional supplements (OR = 0.427 [CI 0.347–0.526]; p = 0.003), were found to be individually associated with thyroid autoimmunity in all participants. The results of the multivariable restricted cubic spline regression analysis showed a non-linear relationship between the continuous change in iodine intake and thyroid autoimmunity (p = 0.019). Participants with iodine deficiency (urinary iodine concentration, UIC,< 100 μg/L) had an increased risk of testing positive for thyroid antibodies (TPOAb/TgAb/TRAb[+]; OR = 1.324 [CI 1.125–1.559]; p < 0.001). Moreover, this associated existed even after removing participants with previous thyroid disease. Conclusion: Inadequate iodine nutrition in pregnant women is an independent risk factor for thyroid autoimmunity in Shanghai. It’s important to maintain the adequate iodine status in pregnant women.

Background: Iron, zinc and magnesium perform differently in body metabolism but exist in similar food. This study was to evaluate the associations of dietary iron, zinc and magnesium with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: A sample of a total of 5323 participants from four of China’s mega cities was included in the current study. Both a 3-day 24-h dietary recall and household condiment weighing were applied to assess dietary intake, respectively. Hierarchical logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations of dietary iron, zinc and magnesium with MetS. Results: After adjusting for age, sex, region, years of education, physical activity level, intended physical exercises, smoking status, alcohol use, daily energy intake and mutual adjustment for dietary iron, zinc and magnesium, significant positive trends were found across quartiles of total dietary iron and the risk of MetS, as well as for magnesium and MetS (p value for trends = 0.01 and 0.02, respectively); dietary zinc was inversely associated with MetS risk (p value for trend < 0.01). Magnesium from grains and potato was positively associated with MetS (p value for trend < 0.01). Conclusions: Dietary iron and magnesium were positively associated with the risk of MetS, while zinc was inversely associated with the risk of MetS, in China’s mega cities. The positive association of magnesium with MetS could be a result confounding by other factors correlated with magnesium in grains and potato, which warrants further study.