Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a public health problem and has a prevalence of 0.6%–1.7% in children. As well as psychiatric symptoms, dysbiosis and gastrointestinal comorbidities are also frequently reported. The gut–brain microbiota axis suggests that there is a form of communication between microbiota and the brain underlying some neurological disabilities. The aim of this study is to describe and compare the composition of gut microbiota in children with and without ASD. Methods: Electronic databases were searched as far as February 2020. Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan5.3 to estimate the overall relative abundance of gut bacteria belonging to 8 phyla and 17 genera in children with ASD and controls. Results: We included 18 studies assessing a total of 493 ASD children and 404 controls. The microbiota was mainly composed of the phyla Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria, all of which were more abundant in the ASD children than in the controls. Children with ASD showed a significantly higher abundance of the genera Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, Clostridium, Faecalibacterium, and Phascolarctobacterium and a lower percentage of Coprococcus and Bifidobacterium. Discussion: This meta-analysis suggests that there is a dysbiosis in ASD children which may influence the development and severity of ASD symptomatology. Further studies are required in order to obtain stronger evidence of the effectiveness of pre- or probiotics in reducing autistic behaviors.

Children with autism spectrum disorders show higher food selectivity, which restricts consumption of some foods and may cause nutritional deficiencies. The aims of this meta-analysis are to determine the overall differences in nutritional intake and food consumption between children with autism spectrum disorder and control (typical development) children, as well as determine the extent to which the nutritional intake and food consumption of autistic children comply with the dietary recommendations. Children with autism spectrum disorder consume less protein (standardized mean difference = −0.27, 95% confidence interval (−0.45, −0.08)), calcium (−0.56 (−0.95, −0.16)), phosphorus (−0.23 (−0.41, −0.04)), selenium (−0.29 (−0.44, −0.13)), vitamin D (−0.34 (−0.57, −0.11)), thiamine (−0.17 (−0.29, −0.05)), riboflavin (−0.25 (−0.45, −0.05)) and vitamin B12 (−0.52 (−0.95, −0.09)) and more polyunsaturated fat acid (0.27 (0.11, 0.44)) and vitamin E (0.28 (0.03, 0.54)) than controls. Autistic children also consume less omega-3 (−0.83 (−1.53, −0.16)) and more fruit (0.35 (0.12, 0.59)) and vegetables (0.35 (0.09, 0.61)) than control children; however, these results must be considered with care due to the low number of studies included in the analysis and the high heterogeneity. The results also suggest a lower intake of calcium, vitamin D and dairy and a higher intake of fruit, vegetables, protein, phosphorus, selenium, thiamine, riboflavin and vitamin B12 than recommended.

Physical activity (PA) promotes cardiovascular health and health related quality of life (HRQoL), although the effect of that on blood pressure (BP) control has rarely been studied in hypertensive subjects. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a PA intervention programme on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, HRQoL and BP control in hypertensive subjects. A randomized clinical trial, with a PA intervention programme of 9 months duration, comprising a walking group of 120 min/week, supervised, and with socio-cultural activities. Participants were 207 hypertensive subjects (68.2 years, 76.8% women). PA (IPAQ-s), diet, CVD risk, BP, BMI, smoking, and HRQoL (SF-36) were assessed at baseline and at the end of the intervention. Changes in CVD risk and in HRQoL during the intervention was calculated (end-baseline score). Multivariate models were applied. In multivariate models, the PA intervention programme, with no modification of the diet, decreased CVD risk (− 1.19 points) and the systolic BP (− 8.68 mmHg), and increased some areas of HRQoL (4.45 to 14.62 points). An increase in the percentage of subjects with controlled BP was observed by the PA programme itself (OR 5.395 to 5.785 according to multivariate models), and by the changes during the intervention in the decrease in CVD risk (OR 0.609) and in the increase in the HRQoL in physical component summary (OR 1.041), role physical (OR 1.010), and bodily pain (OR 1.014), independently of controlled BP at baseline. This PA intervention programme improved cardiovascular health and HRQoL, and favoured BP control in primary care users with hypertension. Clinicaltrials.gov ID NCT02767739 ; Trial registered on May 5th, 2016. Retrospectively registered.

Zinc could have a protective role against type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between dietary, supplementary, and total zinc intake, as well as serum/plasma and whole blood zinc concentration, and risk of T2DM. Observational studies, conducted on cases of incident diabetes or T2DM patients and healthy subjects that reported a measure of association between zinc exposure and T2DM, were selected. Random effects meta-analyses were applied to obtain combined results. Stratified meta-analyses and meta-regressions were executed to assess sources of heterogeneity, as well as the impact of covariates on the findings. From 12,136 publications, 16 studies were selected. The odds ratio (OR) for T2DM comparing the highest versus lowest zinc intake from diet was 0.87 (95% CI: 0.78–0.98). Nevertheless, no association between supplementary or total zinc intake from both diet and supplementation, and T2DM was observed. A direct relationship was found between serum/plasma zinc levels and T2DM (OR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.25–2.14). A moderately high dietary zinc intake, in relation to the Dietary Reference Intake, could reduce by 13% the risk of T2DM, and up to 41% in rural areas. Conversely, elevated serum/plasma zinc concentration was associated with an increased risk of T2DM by 64%, suggesting disturbances in zinc homeostasis.

Background: Lockdown due to COVID-19 influenced food habits and lifestyles with potential negative health impact. This study aims to identify patterns of change in eating habits and physical activity during COVID-19 lockdown in Spain and to identify associations with sociodemographic factors and usual habits. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1155 adults recruited online to answer a 10-section questionnaire. The protocol assessed usual diet by means of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, usual physical activity (PA) and supplement use, dietary changes, sedentary time, PA, exposure to sunlight, sleep quality, and smoking during confinement. Patterns of dietary change were identified by factor analysis. Factor scores were included in cluster analysis together with change in PA. Results: Six patterns of dietary change were identified that together with PA changes during lockdown defined three clusters of lifestyle change: a cluster less active, a more active cluster, and a third cluster as active as usual. People who were usually less active were more likely to be classified in the cluster that increased physical activity in confinement. Scores of the Healthy Mediterranean-Style dietary pattern were higher in this group. Conclusions: Different patterns of change in lifestyles in confinement suggest the need to tailor support and advice to different population groups.