Table_1_Breath Stable Isotope Analysis Serves as a Non-invasive Analytical Tool to Demonstrate Dietary Changes in Adolescent Students Over Time.pdf

Concern about adolescent diets, obesity, and the associated health risks have been growing in the United States. This inspired former First Lady Michelle Obama to spearhead the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA), which made changes to the national school lunch program by increasing servings of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Our study examined the variability of student carbohydrate sources throughout the day and before and after the implementation of HHFKA using a stable isotope dietary biomarker. This method uses carbon stable isotope values of exhaled CO2 breath (δ13Cbreath) and provides a quantitative, non-invasive measure. δ13Cbreath samples were collected throughout the day from students (n = 31) that attended a public high school in Salt Lake City, UT. δ13Cbreath measurements reflected the short-term carbohydrate inputs from the previous meal. Carbohydrate sources were not consistent throughout the day; most students had their lowest inputs of corn/sugar-based carbohydrates after lunch. We compared our results with an earlier study that had been conducted pre-HHFKA. After-lunch δ13Cbreath values decreased significantly between the two time points, suggesting an increase in whole grain, fruit, and vegetable carbohydrates in the lunch program. Our results demonstrated that δ13Cbreath measurements provide a valuable tool to examine carbohydrate sources in an individual's diet throughout the day. We believe that this tool could be beneficial to studies examining the relationship between sugar sweetened beverages, added sugars, and refined carbohydrates and health outcomes like diabetes and obesity in both adolescent and adult populations.

在美国，青少年饮食、肥胖及其相关健康风险的关注度日益上升。此现象激发前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马发起《健康无饥饿儿童法案》（HHFKA），该法案通过增加全谷物、水果和蔬菜的供应量，对国家学校午餐计划进行了调整。本研究旨在运用稳定同位素饮食生物标志物，探讨HHFKA实施前后学生全天碳水化合物来源的差异性。此方法通过测定呼出二氧化碳呼吸中的碳稳定同位素值（δ13Cbreath），提供了一种定量、非侵入性的测量手段。我们从盐湖城一所公立高中的31名学生（n=31）全天收集了δ13Cbreath样本。δ13Cbreath测量值反映了前一顿饭的短期碳水化合物摄入。全天内碳水化合物来源并不一致；大多数学生在午餐后碳水化合物摄入量最低。我们将我们的结果与HHFKA实施前的一项早期研究进行了比较。午餐后的δ13Cbreath值在两个时间点之间显著降低，这表明午餐计划中的全谷物、水果和蔬菜碳水化合物摄入量有所增加。我们的研究结果证明了δ13Cbreath测量在考察个人全天碳水化合物来源方面具有重要作用。我们相信，这一工具对研究糖分饮料、添加糖和精制碳水化合物与糖尿病和肥胖等健康结果之间的关联，无论是在青少年还是成年人群中，都具有潜在的应用价值。