Background: The long-term effects of skipping breakfast on cardiometabolic health are not well understood.Objective: The objective was to examine lon

Few studies have investigated the associations of takeaway food consumption with overall diet quality and abdominal obesity. Young adults are high consumers of takeaway food so we aimed to examine these associations in a national study of young Australian adults.

Objective: High-carbohydrate (HC)–high-fibre diets are recommended for weight loss and for treating and preventing diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We report a randomised trial comparing high-fat (HF) and high-protein (HP) diets with the conventional approach. Research design and methods: A total of 93 overweight insulin-resistant women received advice following randomisation to HF, HP or HC dietary regimes, to achieve weight loss followed by weight maintenance over 12 months. Weight, body composition and measures of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism were investigated. Results: Retention rates were 93% for HP and 75% for HC and HF. Features of the metabolic syndrome improved in all groups during the first 6 months, to a greater extent on HF and HP than an HC. During the second 6 months the HF group had increases in waist circumference (mean difference 4.4 cm (95% CI 3.0, 5.8)), fat mass (2.3 kg (1.5, 3.1)), triglycerides (0.28 mmol/l (0.09, 0.46)) and 2 h glucose (0.70 mmol/l (0.22, 1.18)). Overall there was substantial sustained improvement in waist circumference, triglycerides and insulin in the HP group and sustained but more modest changes on HC. Dietary compliance at 12 months was poor in all groups. Conclusions: HP and HC approaches appear to be appropriate options for insulin-resistant individuals. When recommending HP diets appropriate composition of dietary fat must be ensured. HC diet recommendations must include advice regarding appropriate high-fibre, low glycaemic index foods.

The current study examines associations between five factor personality traits and average sleep duration, sleep deficiency, and sleep problems. The participants were from two population-based samples from Australia (n = 1,104, age range 31-41) and Finland (n = 1,623, age range 30-45). Self-reports of sleep behavior, sleep problems (Jenkin's scale), and five factor model personality traits (NEO-FFI) were collected. Associations between personality traits and sleep were analyzed with linear regressions. The results showed that higher extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were, in general, associated with better sleep, whereas higher neuroticism was associated with sleeping less well. Openness was not associated with sleep. Most of the associations were replicable between the samples from the two countries, but personality traits explained only small part of the variance in sleep behavior. Increasing the knowledge on personality and sleep may benefit more personalized treatment of sleep disorders and help in personnel selection to jobs in which it is critical to stay alert. However, longitudinal research is needed to confirm the current findings.