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Many studies have demonstrated that coparenting and parenting behaviors have a substantial effect on the behaviors of young children. Research has indicated that young children may exhibit picky eating behaviors, which pose challenges for parents in terms of coparenting and parenting. This study examined how dietary coparenting and parenting strategies directly affect young children’s picky eating behaviors and explored the mediating role of parenting strategies in the relations between parental dietary coparenting and young children’s picky eating behaviors. More specifically, this study focused on parents of three- to six-year-old children in northern Taiwan. A total of 408 valid completed questionnaires were collected, and the research tools included scales measuring dietary coparenting, parenting strategies, and young children’s picky eating behaviors. The results revealed that supportive and undermining dietary coparenting and parenting strategies had a significant direct effect on young children’s picky eating behaviors. Furthermore, supportive and undermining dietary coparenting partially mediated young children’s picky eating behaviors through parenting strategies. Specifically, among parenting strategies, both “encouraging and facilitating the trying of new foods” and “guiding and modeling” proper eating behaviors had significant indirect effects on reducing young children’s picky eating behaviors.

Picky eating behaviors among children challenge nutritional intake and healthy development and place considerable stress on parents. Parenting approaches play a critical role in shaping young children's dietary behaviors. Mindful parenting, which refers to parents responding to their child's needs with awareness, acceptance, attention, and mindful discipline, has gained increasing attention. Parental dietary competence may determine whether mindful parenting effectively discourages picky eating behavior in children. This study explored whether mindful parenting and parental dietary competence are associated with picky eating behaviors in young children. The mediating role of parental dietary competence in this association was also investigated. A total of 412 parents of children enrolled in six preschools across six administrative districts in New Taipei City, Taipei City, and Taoyuan City, Taiwan, were invited and recruited. Data were collected using three validated parent-reported instruments, including a mindful parenting scale, parental dietary competence scale, and children's picky eating behaviors scale. Mindful parenting influenced children's picky eating behaviors through the full mediation of parental dietary competence. The identification of parental dietary competence as a mediator underscores the need for early preventive interventions and parenting education that integrate parental mindfulness and dietary competence to foster healthy eating habits from the outset of early childhood. Practical recommendations and future research directions are provided regarding mindful parenting, parental dietary competence, and picky eating behaviors in young children.

Objective: To assess the prospective association between frailty and dietary diversity on mortality. Method: This prospective cohort study used the 2005–2008 Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (N = 330; age ≥ 65 years) and this was linked to the Death Registry where we used the data that was recorded up to 31 January 2020. Dietary intake information was assessed using a 24-h dietary recall and food-frequency questionnaire, which were calculated a dietary diversity score (DDS; range, 0–6) and food consumption frequency. Assessment of frailty phenotypes was based on FRAIL scale which was proposed by the International Academy on Nutrition and Aging. Results: Frail older adults had a higher risk of all-cause mortality when they were compared to those with robust physiologies (hazard ratio [HR]: 3.73, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.13–6.52). Frailty and a lower DDS were associated with a higher risk of mortality (joint adjusted HR: 2.30, 95% CI: 1.11–4.75) which, compared with a robust physiology and higher DDS, were associated with a lower risk of mortality. Conclusions: Frailty and a lower DDS were associated with a higher mortality. Prefrailty and frailty with a higher DDS were associated with a lower risk of mortality when compared with those with prefrailty and frailty and a lower DDS. These results suggest that eating a wide variety of foods might reduce the risk of mortality in older adults with prefrailty and frailty.

Few studies on humans have comprehensively evaluated the intake composition of methyl-donor nutrients (MDNs: choline, betaine, and folate) in relation to visceral obesity (VOB)-related hepatic steatosis (HS), the hallmark of non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases. In this case–control study, we recruited 105 patients with HS and 104 without HS (controls). HS was diagnosed through ultrasound examination. VOB was measured using a whole-body analyzer. MDN intake was assessed using a validated quantitative food frequency questionnaire. After adjustment for multiple HS risk factors, total choline intake was the most significant dietary determinant of HS in patients with VOB (Beta: −0.41, p = 0.01). Low intake of choline (<6.9 mg/kg body weight), betaine (<3.1 mg/kg body weight), and folate (<8.8 μg/kg body weight) predicted increased odds ratios (ORs) of VOB-related HS (choline: OR: 22, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.5–80; betaine: OR: 14, 95% CI: 4.4–50; and folate: OR: 19, 95% CI: 5.2–74). Combined high intake of choline and betaine, but not folate, was associated with an 81% reduction in VOB-related HS (OR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.05–0.69). Our data suggest that the optimal intake of choline and betaine can minimize the risk of VOB-related HS in a threshold-dependent manner.

This study aims to investigate whether frailty severity in conjunction with cognitive function, termed as” cognitive frailty”, is associated with dietary diversity in older adults. This cross-sectional study used the data from the 2014–2016 Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (N = 1115; age ≥ 65 years). Dietary intake was assessed using a 24 h dietary recall and food-frequency questionnaire, and dietary diversity score (DDS; range, 0–6) and food intake frequency were calculated. The presence of frailty phenotypes was determined using the FRAIL scale, which was proposed by the International Association of Nutrition and Aging, and cognitive function was assessed using the Mini–Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. The prevalence of cognitive frailty (FRAIL scale score ≥ 3 and MMSE score ≤ 26) was 4.2%. A higher consumption frequency of dairy products, whole grains, vegetables, fruit, fish and seafood, nuts, tea, and coffee, as well as lower pickled vegetable, was inversely associated with cognitive frailty. Those with prefrailty or frailty and lower DDS demonstrated a higher cognitive impairment risk (adjust odds ratio (OR) = 2.15, 95% confidence interval = 1.21–3.83) than those without frailty and higher DDS. Older adults with cognitive prefrailty or cognitive frailty were associated with lower DDS, and frailty with lower DDS was associated with worsening cognitive function.

The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine whether percent bodyfat (%BF) added to the predictive power of waist circumference (WC) to assess risks for modified metabolic syndrome (MMS, where WC was omitted as a criteria) and/or each metabolic co-morbidity by gender; and (2) to examine how the odds ratio (OR) for MMS and each co-morbidity differed by distribution patterns of %BF in overweight men and women with normal or high WC in the United States and Taiwan. Two national survey datasets, NHANES III from the U.S. and NAHSIT from Taiwan, were used. A total of 960 males and 676 females non-Hispanic White Americans (BMI between 25 and 30 kg/m2) and 291 males and 312 females Taiwanese (BMI between 24 and 27 kg/m2) met these criteria. Percent BF was divided into 4 categories based on the 50 th percentile split for %BF and WC as normal vs high (≥102 cm for men, 88 cm for women in the U.S. and 90cm, 80 cm in Taiwan, respectively). Odds Ratios (OR) equations were derived from logistic regression models for MMS and metabolic co-morbidities [high triglycerides (TG) ≥150 mg/dL, low HDL (<40 mg/dl for male and <50 mg/di for female), high blood pressure (BP>85/135 mm Hg) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG≥100 mg/dL)]. The lower 50th percentile of %BF with normal WC in the sample was used as the reference. Results. In non-Hispanic whites, WC was the strongest positive predictor for MMS and metabolic co-morbidities. WC was independent of gender, except for low HDL and high blood pressure in men. The risk for MMS increased with increasing WC, but not always with increasing BF, for people with BMI 25<30. White males with high WC and %BF had the highest risk for MMS (OR=2.1) and for high TG (OR=1.8). White females with high WC but normal %BF had the highest OR for MMS (OR=2.2) and for impaired fasting glucose (OR=3.8). The relation of WC and %BF to MMS and co-morbidities were weaker in the Taiwanese sample but similar to NHANES in that adding %BF to WC did not increase the ability to predict MMS. Conclusion. Percent BF provided no advantage over WC in assessing obesity-related metabolic risks in the Non-Hispanic white US or in the Taiwanese samples. The relationship of fat distribution patterns to the risk for MMS differed somewhat by gender for both staples. Males with higher %BF and high WC had the greatest risk for MMS, high TG. In women, %BF was associated with decreased risk for high serum TG, low HDL, and high fasting glucose and MMS syndrome when adjusted for WC.

This research was designed to determine the growth status of low-income children ages 3-5 years old, and the relationships between birthweight, social-demographic factors and growth status. Subjects were 856 preschool children entering Head Start in 4 mid-Michigan counties. Children's Medicaid height and weight data were linked anonymously to Head Start enrollment data of birthweight. The prevalence of short stature (7.5%) and overweight (9.3%) both were higher than expected. The low birthweight (LBW) children were significantly shorter and thinner than optimal birthweight children (OBW). There was a 14.9% prevalence of short stature in LBW children compared to 3.9% in OBW (p $<$.05). By contrast, overweight was higher in OBW (12.6%) than in LBW children (2.8%). Results suggest: (1) a high prevalence of growth stunting and obesity in this population; (2) LBW children remained shorter and thinner than average; (3) not considering the high rate of LBW in low-income preschooler might overestimate short stature and underestimate overweight.

A study was conducted to determine the growth status of low-income children ages 3-5 years old and the relationship between birth weight and growth status.