Objective: To analyze the relationship between anxiety, self-esteem, happiness index and primary school students’ academic performance in Chilean adolescents from the Biobío province. Methodology: 733 (46.1% girls; 12 (1.3 years)) public primary school students that completed the 2018 Health and School Performance Survey carried out in the Biobío province were included in this cross-sectional analysis. The BECK Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was used to measure anxiety while happiness index and self-esteem were measured using the subjective happiness scale and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, respectively. School performance was measured by grade point average (GPA) of language, math, physical education and cumulative GPA, and behavior associated with cognition in the school context was also considered. The relationship between mental health indicators and school performance was investigated using a one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation. Results: In comparison to students with low anxiety levels and high self-esteem and happiness levels, students with higher anxiety levels, lower self-esteem and happiness levels perceived themselves as having memory problems. They were also slower to solve math problems, had a shorter attention span in class and presented more difficulties in solving complex tasks, as well as being more nervous during testing. These students also got the lowest grade point average in math, language and physical education. Conclusions: High anxiety levels, low self-esteem and low happiness levels were associated with lower school performance and weaker behavior associated with cognition in Chilean adolescents. Implementing plans of emotional education and mental health could improve academic achievement.

Objective: To investigate the relationship of a healthy eating score with depression in Chilean older adults.Design: Cross-sectional study.Setting: Older adults from the Chilean National Health Survey 2016–2017. Associations were analysed using complex samples multivariable logistic regressions adjusted for age, sex, socio-demographic, lifestyles (physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and sleep duration), BMI and clinical conditions (hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia and cardiovascular diseases).Participants: The number of participants was 2031 (≥ 60 years). The Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form was applied to establish the diagnosis of major depressive episode. Six healthy eating habits were considered to produce the healthy eating score (range: 0–12): consumption of seafood, whole grain, dairy, fruits, vegetables and legumes. Participants were categorised according to their final scores as healthy (≥ 9), average (5–8) and unhealthy (≤ 4).Results: Participants with a healthy score had a higher educational level, physical activity and regular sleep hours than participants with an average and unhealthiest healthy eating score. Participants classified in the healthiest healthy eating score had an inverse association with depression (OR: 0·28, (95 % CI 0·10, 0·74)). Food items that contributed the most to this association were legumes (15·2 %) and seafood (12·7 %).Conclusion: Older adults classified in the healthiest healthy eating score, characterised by a high consumption of legumes and seafood, showed a lower risk for depression in a representative sample of Chilean population.

Background: Walking pace is a well-known indicator of physical capability, but it is also a strong predictor of type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, there is a lack of evidence on the association between walking pace and T2D, specifically, within developing countries such as Chile. Aim: To investigate the association between self-reported walking pace and T2D in the Chilean adult population. Methods: 5520 Chilean participants (aged 15 to 90 years, 52.1% women) from the Chilean National Health Survey 2016–2017 were included in this cross-sectional study. Both walking pace (slow, average, and brisk) and diabetes data were collected through self-reported methods. Fasting blood glucose (reported in mg/dl) and glycosylated haemoglobin A (HbA1c) scores were determined via blood exams. Results: In the unadjusted model, and compared to people who reported a slow walking pace, those with average and brisk walking pace had lower blood glucose levels (β = −7.74 mg/dL (95% CI: −11.08 to −4.40) and β = −11.05 mg/dL (95% CI: −14.36 to −7.75), respectively) and lower HbA1c (β = −0.34% (95% CI: −0.57 to −0.11) and β= −0.72% (95% CI: −0.94 to −0.49)), respectively. After adjusting for sociodemographic, Body Mass Index and lifestyle factors, the association between glycaemia and HbA1c remained only for brisk walkers. Both the average and brisk walker categories had lower odds of T2D (OR: 0.59 (95% CI: 0.41 to 0.84) and (OR 0.48 (95% CI: 0.30 to 0.79), respectively). Conclusion: Brisk walkers were associated with lower blood glucose and HbA1c levels. Moreover, average to brisk walking pace also showed a lower risk for T2D.

Objective: To study the association of SLC16A11 gene variants with obesity and metabolic markers in nondiabetic Chilean adults. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study included 263 nondiabetic adults. The genotype of the rs75493593 polymorphism of SLC16A11 gene was performed by real-time PCR. It's association with adiposity markers (body weight, BMI, waist circumference and fat mass percentage), metabolic markers (glucose, insulin, HOMA(IR), leptin, total cholesterol, LDLc, HDLc, triglycerides, ALT, GGT and hsCRP) and blood pressure was analyzed by linear regression. Results: The minor allele (T) of the SLC16A11 gene (rs75493593) has a frequency of 29.7% among Chileans. Risk genotypes (GT and TT) were associated with a significant 1.49 mU/l increase in plasmatic insulin for each copy of the minor allele (95% CI: 0.12, 2.87, p < 0.05). This association remained significant after adjusting for socio-demographic variables, physical activity and smoking (1.36 mU/l, 95% CI: 0.16, 2.58 p < 0.05), but was lost when BMI was included as a confounding factor. Higher BMI was also significantly associated with polymorphic genotypes in SLC16A11, independent of sociodemographic variables. Conclusion: The minor allele of the SLC16A11 gene (T) is highly prevalent among Chileans and is associated with increased insulin and BMI in nondiabetic individuals. These findings suggest that the genetic variant in SLC16A11 is not only associated with type 2 diabetes as previously shown in Mexicans, but is also related to early metabolic alterations in healthy subjects that may lead to type 2 diabetes.

Palabras clave: Dieta; Lactancia materna; Mecanismo; Obesidad

We aimed to investigate the association between frailty status and all-cause mortality in middle-aged and older people. We included 2661 individuals aged ≥ 35 from the Chilean National Health Survey 2009–2010. Mortality was determined through linkage with the Chilean Civil Registry and Identification. A 36-item frailty index (FI) was used to assess the frailty status. Associations between frailty status and all-cause mortality were assessed using Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. A non-linear association was investigated using penalized cubic splines fitted in the Cox models. During an 8.9 median follow-up (interquartile range of 8.6–9.0), 308 individuals died (11.5%). Lower survival rates were observed in frail individuals compared to pre-frail and robust people (log-rank < 0.001). Compared with robust individuals, frail people had a higher mortality risk (HR: 2.35 [95% CI: 1.57 to 3.51]). Frail middle-aged individuals had a higher risk of dying independently of major risk factors.