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Integrated Structural And Functional Analysis Of The Protective Effects Of Kinetin Against Oxidative Stress In Mammalian Cellular Systems, Muhammad Naseem, Eman M. Othman, Moustafa Fathy, Jibran Iqbal, Fares M. Howari, Fatima A. Alremeithi, Geema Kodandaraman, Helga Stopper, Elena Bencurova, Dimitrios Vlachakis, Thomas Dandekar Dec 2020

Integrated Structural And Functional Analysis Of The Protective Effects Of Kinetin Against Oxidative Stress In Mammalian Cellular Systems, Muhammad Naseem, Eman M. Othman, Moustafa Fathy, Jibran Iqbal, Fares M. Howari, Fatima A. Alremeithi, Geema Kodandaraman, Helga Stopper, Elena Bencurova, Dimitrios Vlachakis, Thomas Dandekar

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© 2020, The Author(s). Metabolism and signaling of cytokinins was first established in plants, followed by cytokinin discoveries in all kingdoms of life. However, understanding of their role in mammalian cells is still scarce. Kinetin is a cytokinin that mitigates the effects of oxidative stress in mammalian cells. The effective concentrations of exogenously applied kinetin in invoking various cellular responses are not well standardized. Likewise, the metabolism of kinetin and its cellular targets within the mammalian cells are still not well studied. Applying vitality tests as well as comet assays under normal and hyper-oxidative states, our analysis suggests that kinetin …


Prevalence And Factors Associated With Overweight And Central Obesity Among Adults In The Eastern Sudan, Saeed M. Omar, Zainab Taha, Ahmed Ali Hassan, Osama Al-Wutayd, Ishag Adam Apr 2020

Prevalence And Factors Associated With Overweight And Central Obesity Among Adults In The Eastern Sudan, Saeed M. Omar, Zainab Taha, Ahmed Ali Hassan, Osama Al-Wutayd, Ishag Adam

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© 2020 Omar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background A global epidemic of obesity has been documented, particularly among African countries. While central obesity and overweight have been reported for many countries, very limited information exists about the prevalence of these health problems in Sudan, and these data are nonexistent for Eastern Sudan. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity and central obesity, as well as …


Sleep Duration Is Associated With Vitamin D Deficiency In Older Women Living In Macao, China: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study, Xiaoying Liu, Liang Ke, Jacky Ho, Myriam Abboud, Elias Mpofu, Tara C. Brennan-Speranza, Rebecca S. Mason, Kaye E. Brock Jan 2020

Sleep Duration Is Associated With Vitamin D Deficiency In Older Women Living In Macao, China: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study, Xiaoying Liu, Liang Ke, Jacky Ho, Myriam Abboud, Elias Mpofu, Tara C. Brennan-Speranza, Rebecca S. Mason, Kaye E. Brock

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© 2020 Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Chinese women are known to have both a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and vitamin D deficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) /l). Associations between sleep duration and circulating 25OHD have recently been reported but, to our knowledge, these associations have not been studied in older Chinese populations. We thus investigated whether sleep duration was associated with vitamin D status in …


A Consumer Neuroscience Study Of Conscious And Subconscious Destination Preference, Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy, Noela Michael, Ian Michael Dec 2019

A Consumer Neuroscience Study Of Conscious And Subconscious Destination Preference, Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy, Noela Michael, Ian Michael

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© 2019, The Author(s). In studying consumer behaviors, the inclusion of neuroscience tools and methods is improving our understanding of preference formation and choice. But such responses are mostly related to the consumption of goods and services that meet an immediate need. Tourism represents a consumer behavior that is related to a more complex decision-making process, involving a stronger relationship with a future self, and choices typically being of a higher level of involvement and of a transformational type. The aim of this study was to test whether direct emotional and cognitive responses to travel destination would be indicative of …


Temporal And Effort Cost Decision-Making In Healthy Individuals With Subclinical Psychotic Symptoms, Damiano Terenzi, Elena Mainetto, Mariapaola Barbato, Raffaella Ida Rumiati, Marilena Aiello Dec 2019

Temporal And Effort Cost Decision-Making In Healthy Individuals With Subclinical Psychotic Symptoms, Damiano Terenzi, Elena Mainetto, Mariapaola Barbato, Raffaella Ida Rumiati, Marilena Aiello

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© 2019, The Author(s). The value people attribute to rewards is influenced both by the time and the effort required to obtain them. Impairments in these computations are described in patients with schizophrenia and appear associated with negative symptom severity. This study investigated whether deficits in temporal and effort cost computations can be observed in individuals with subclinical psychotic symptoms (PS) to determine if this dysfunction is already present in a potentially pre-psychotic period. Sixty participants, divided into three groups based on the severity of PS (high, medium and low), performed two temporal discounting tasks with food and money and …


Incense Burning Is Associated With Human Oral Microbiota Composition, Yvonne Vallès, Claire K. Inman, Brandilyn A. Peters, Laila Abdel Wareth, Abdishakur Abdulle, Habiba Alsafar, Fatme Al Anouti, Ayesha Al Dhaheri, Divya Galani, Muna Haji, Aisha Al Hamiz, Ayesha Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Houqani, Abdulla Aljunaibi, Marina Kazim, Tomas Kirchhoff, Wael Al Mahmeed, Fatma Al Maskari, Abdullah Alnaeemi, Naima Oumeziane, Ravichandran Ramasamy, Ann Marie Schmidt, Henri Vallès, Eiman Al Zaabi, Scott Sherman, Raghib Ali, Jiyoung Ahn, Richard B. Hayes Dec 2019

Incense Burning Is Associated With Human Oral Microbiota Composition, Yvonne Vallès, Claire K. Inman, Brandilyn A. Peters, Laila Abdel Wareth, Abdishakur Abdulle, Habiba Alsafar, Fatme Al Anouti, Ayesha Al Dhaheri, Divya Galani, Muna Haji, Aisha Al Hamiz, Ayesha Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Houqani, Abdulla Aljunaibi, Marina Kazim, Tomas Kirchhoff, Wael Al Mahmeed, Fatma Al Maskari, Abdullah Alnaeemi, Naima Oumeziane, Ravichandran Ramasamy, Ann Marie Schmidt, Henri Vallès, Eiman Al Zaabi, Scott Sherman, Raghib Ali, Jiyoung Ahn, Richard B. Hayes

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© 2019, The Author(s). Incense burning is common worldwide and produces environmental toxicants that may influence health; however, biologic effects have been little studied. In 303 Emirati adults, we tested the hypothesis that incense use is linked to compositional changes in the oral microbiota that can be potentially significant for health. The oral microbiota was assessed by amplification of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene from mouthwash samples. Frequency of incense use was ascertained through a questionnaire and examined in relation to overall oral microbiota composition (PERMANOVA analysis), and to specific taxon abundances, by negative binomial generalized linear models. We found …


Development And Validation Of A Prediction Model For Fat Mass In Children And Adolescents: Meta-Analysis Using Individual Participant Data, Mohammed T. Hudda, Mary S. Fewtrell, Dalia Haroun, Sooky Lum, Jane E. Williams, Jonathan C.K. Wells, Richard D. Riley, Christopher G. Owen, Derek G. Cook, Alicja R. Rudnicka, Peter H. Whincup, Claire M. Nightingale Jan 2019

Development And Validation Of A Prediction Model For Fat Mass In Children And Adolescents: Meta-Analysis Using Individual Participant Data, Mohammed T. Hudda, Mary S. Fewtrell, Dalia Haroun, Sooky Lum, Jane E. Williams, Jonathan C.K. Wells, Richard D. Riley, Christopher G. Owen, Derek G. Cook, Alicja R. Rudnicka, Peter H. Whincup, Claire M. Nightingale

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© Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to. To develop and validate a prediction model for fat mass in children aged 4-15 years using routinely available risk factors of height, weight, and demographic information without the need for more complex forms of assessment. Design Individual participant data meta-analysis. Setting Four population based cross sectional studies and a fifth study for external validation, United Kingdom. Participants A pooled derivation dataset (four studies) of 2375 children and an external validation dataset of 176 children with complete data on …


Types Of Tobacco Consumption And The Oral Microbiome In The United Arab Emirates Healthy Future (Uaehfs) Pilot Study, Yvonne Vallès, Claire K. Inman, Brandilyn A. Peters, Raghib Ali, Laila Abdel Wareth, Abdishakur Abdulle, Habiba Alsafar, Fatme Al Anouti, Ayesha Al Dhaheri, Divya Galani, Muna Haji, Aisha Al Hamiz, Ayesha Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Houqani, Abdulla Al Junaibi, Marina Kazim, Tomas Kirchhoff, Wael Al Mahmeed, Fatma Al Maskari, Abdullah Alnaeemi, Naima Oumeziane, Ravichandran Ramasamy, Ann Marie Schmidt, Michael Weitzman, Eiman Al Zaabi, Scott Sherman, Richard B. Hayes, Jiyoung Ahn Dec 2018

Types Of Tobacco Consumption And The Oral Microbiome In The United Arab Emirates Healthy Future (Uaehfs) Pilot Study, Yvonne Vallès, Claire K. Inman, Brandilyn A. Peters, Raghib Ali, Laila Abdel Wareth, Abdishakur Abdulle, Habiba Alsafar, Fatme Al Anouti, Ayesha Al Dhaheri, Divya Galani, Muna Haji, Aisha Al Hamiz, Ayesha Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Houqani, Abdulla Al Junaibi, Marina Kazim, Tomas Kirchhoff, Wael Al Mahmeed, Fatma Al Maskari, Abdullah Alnaeemi, Naima Oumeziane, Ravichandran Ramasamy, Ann Marie Schmidt, Michael Weitzman, Eiman Al Zaabi, Scott Sherman, Richard B. Hayes, Jiyoung Ahn

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© 2018, The Author(s). Cigarette smoking alters the oral microbiome; however, the effect of alternative tobacco products remains unclear. Middle Eastern tobacco products like dokha and shisha, are becoming globally widespread. We tested for the first time in a Middle Eastern population the hypothesis that different tobacco products impact the oral microbiome. The oral microbiome of 330 subjects from the United Arab Emirates Healthy Future Study was assessed by amplifying the bacterial 16S rRNA gene from mouthwash samples. Tobacco consumption was assessed using a structured questionnaire and further validated by urine cotinine levels. Oral microbiome overall structure and specific taxon …


Investigating The Effect Of Wearing The Hijab: Perception Of Facial Attractiveness By Emirati Muslim Women Living In Their Native Muslim Country, Mercedes Sheen, Hajar Aman Key Yekani, Timothy R. Jordan Oct 2018

Investigating The Effect Of Wearing The Hijab: Perception Of Facial Attractiveness By Emirati Muslim Women Living In Their Native Muslim Country, Mercedes Sheen, Hajar Aman Key Yekani, Timothy R. Jordan

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© 2018 Sheen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The Hijab and other forms of Islamic veiling are important social, cultural, and religious symbols that are central to the identity of millions of Muslim women across the world. However, despite the large body of literature that exists on the political and socio-cultural aspects of Islamic veiling, little is known about how the appearance of women wearing the hijab is perceived …


Patterns Of Tobacco Use In The United Arab Emirates Healthy Future (Uaehfs) Pilot Study, Mohammed Al-Houqani, Andrea Leinberger-Jabari, Abdullah Al Naeemi, Abdullah Al Junaibi, Eiman Al Zaabi, Naima Oumeziane, Marina Kazim, Fatima Al Maskari, Ayesha Al Dhaheri, Leila Abdel Wareth, Wael Al Mahmeed, Habiba Alsafar, Fatme Al Anouti, Abdishakur Abdulle, Claire K. Inman, Aisha Al Hamiz, Muna Haji, Jiyoung Ahn, Tomas Kirchhoff, Richard B. Hayes, Ravichandran Ramasamy, Ann Marie Schmidt, Omar El Shahawy, Michael Weitzman, Raghib Ali, Scott Sherman May 2018

Patterns Of Tobacco Use In The United Arab Emirates Healthy Future (Uaehfs) Pilot Study, Mohammed Al-Houqani, Andrea Leinberger-Jabari, Abdullah Al Naeemi, Abdullah Al Junaibi, Eiman Al Zaabi, Naima Oumeziane, Marina Kazim, Fatima Al Maskari, Ayesha Al Dhaheri, Leila Abdel Wareth, Wael Al Mahmeed, Habiba Alsafar, Fatme Al Anouti, Abdishakur Abdulle, Claire K. Inman, Aisha Al Hamiz, Muna Haji, Jiyoung Ahn, Tomas Kirchhoff, Richard B. Hayes, Ravichandran Ramasamy, Ann Marie Schmidt, Omar El Shahawy, Michael Weitzman, Raghib Ali, Scott Sherman

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© 2018 Al-Houqani et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction Self-reported tobacco use in the United Arab Emirates is among the highest in the region. Use of tobacco products other than cigarettes is widespread, but little is known about specific behavior use patterns. There have been no studies that have biochemically verified smoking status. Methods The UAE Healthy Future Study (UAEHFS) seeks to understand the causes of non-communicable diseases through …


The Epidemiology And Economic Burden Of Obesity And Related Cardiometabolic Disorders In The United Arab Emirates: A Systematic Review And Qualitative Synthesis, Hadia Radwan, Rami A. Ballout, Hayder Hasan, Nader Lessan, Mirey Karavetian, Rana Rizk Jan 2018

The Epidemiology And Economic Burden Of Obesity And Related Cardiometabolic Disorders In The United Arab Emirates: A Systematic Review And Qualitative Synthesis, Hadia Radwan, Rami A. Ballout, Hayder Hasan, Nader Lessan, Mirey Karavetian, Rana Rizk

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Copyright © 2018 Hadia Radwan et al. Background. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are considered as a global health problem and considered as a public health priority with the more considerable increasing trend of obesity and cardiometabolic disorders rates in the Middle Eastern countries. This systematic review aims at assessing the prevalence, incidence rates, and trends, as well as the cost of obesity and related cardiometabolic disorders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods. A highly sensitive strategy was used to retrieve original observational studies, addressing the epidemiology and cost of obesity and related cardiometabolic disorders in the UAE, irrespective of nationality …


Body Mass Index Adjustments To Increase The Validity Of Body Fatness Assessment In Uk Black African And South Asian Children, M. T. Hudda, C. M. Nightingale, A. S. Donin, M. S. Fewtrell, D. Haroun, S. Lum, J. E. Williams, C. G. Owen, A. R. Rudnicka, J. C.K. Wells, D. G. Cook, P. H. Whincup Jul 2017

Body Mass Index Adjustments To Increase The Validity Of Body Fatness Assessment In Uk Black African And South Asian Children, M. T. Hudda, C. M. Nightingale, A. S. Donin, M. S. Fewtrell, D. Haroun, S. Lum, J. E. Williams, C. G. Owen, A. R. Rudnicka, J. C.K. Wells, D. G. Cook, P. H. Whincup

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© 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Body mass index (BMI) (weight per height2) is the most widely used marker of childhood obesity and total body fatness (BF). However, its validity is limited, especially in children of South Asian and Black African origins. We aimed to quantify BMI adjustments needed for UK children of Black African and South Asian origins so that adjusted BMI related to BF in the same way as for White European children. METHODS: We used data from four recent UK studies that made deuterium dilution BF measurements in UK children of White European, …


Assessing Knowledge Of, And Attitudes To, Hiv/Aids Among University Students In The United Arab Emirates, Dalia Haroun, Ola El Saleh, Lesley Wood, Rola Mechli, Nada Al Marzouqi, Samir Anouti Feb 2016

Assessing Knowledge Of, And Attitudes To, Hiv/Aids Among University Students In The United Arab Emirates, Dalia Haroun, Ola El Saleh, Lesley Wood, Rola Mechli, Nada Al Marzouqi, Samir Anouti

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© 2016 Haroun et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is among the top two regions in the world with the fastest growing HIV epidemic. In this context, risks and vulnerability are high as the epidemic is on the rise with evidence indicating significantly increasing HIV prevalence, new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. Objective: The aim of the survey was to assess …


Air Quality And Respiratory Health Among Adolescents From The United Arab Emirates, Caroline Barakat-Haddad, Sheng Zhang, Ayesha Siddiqua, Rania Dghaim Jan 2015

Air Quality And Respiratory Health Among Adolescents From The United Arab Emirates, Caroline Barakat-Haddad, Sheng Zhang, Ayesha Siddiqua, Rania Dghaim

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© 2015 Caroline Barakat-Haddad et al. Purpose. To examine the role of air quality in relation to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, wheeze, and dry cough among adolescents from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods. A survey was administered on 6,363 adolescents from 9 UAE regions. Data consists of demographic, socioeconomic, residential, and behavioural variables, such as location of residence, residing near industry/gas stations/dumpsites/construction sites, residing near overhead power line/plants, exposure to tobacco, residential exposure, ethnicity, concern over air pollution, smoking, and purposely smelling gasoline fumes/glue/correctors/car exhaust/burning black ants. Logistic regression modeling was used to determine significant predictors of respiratory health. …


The Role Of Vitamin D In Diabetes And Cardiovascular Disease: An Updated Review Of The Literature, Dimitrios Papandreou, Zujaja Tul Noor Hamid Jan 2015

The Role Of Vitamin D In Diabetes And Cardiovascular Disease: An Updated Review Of The Literature, Dimitrios Papandreou, Zujaja Tul Noor Hamid

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© 2015 Dimitrios Papandreou and Zujaja-Tul-Noor Hamid. The dietary reference values for Vitamin D were set primarily considering its role in bone health, but with the discovery of Vitamin D receptors throughout body tissues, new links with other health conditions are now studied, such as for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This paper shall analyze and examine all new research studies carried out, especially in 2013-2015 regarding diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Vast research has been carried out to establish strong relationship between Vitamin D serum levels, supplementation, diabetes, and CVD. However, the results from researches identified in …


Coral Spawning In The Gulf Of Oman And Relationship To Latitudinal Variation In Spawning Season In The Northwest Indian Ocean, E. J. Howells, D. Abrego, G. O. Vaughan, J. A. Burt Dec 2014

Coral Spawning In The Gulf Of Oman And Relationship To Latitudinal Variation In Spawning Season In The Northwest Indian Ocean, E. J. Howells, D. Abrego, G. O. Vaughan, J. A. Burt

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Despite a wealth of information on sexual reproduction in scleractinian corals, there are regional gaps in reproductive records. In the Gulf of the Oman in the Arabian Sea, reproductive timing was assessed in four common species of broadcast spawning corals using field surveys of gamete maturity and aquarium observations of spawning activity. The appearance of mature gametes within the same month for Acropora downingi, A. hemprichii, Cyphastrea microphthalma and Platygyra daedalea (≥ 75% of colonies, n = 848) indicated a synchronous and multi-specific spawning season. Based on gamete disappearance and direct observations, spawning predominantly occurred during April in 2013 (75- …


Visual Speech Perception In Foveal And Extrafoveal Vision: Further Implications For Divisions In Hemispheric Projections, Timothy R. Jordan, Mercedes Sheen, Lily Abedipour, Kevin B. Paterson Jul 2014

Visual Speech Perception In Foveal And Extrafoveal Vision: Further Implications For Divisions In Hemispheric Projections, Timothy R. Jordan, Mercedes Sheen, Lily Abedipour, Kevin B. Paterson

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When observing a talking face, it has often been argued that visual speech to the left and right of fixation may produce differences in performance due to divided projections to the two cerebral hemispheres. However, while it seems likely that such a division in hemispheric projections exists for areas away from fixation, the nature and existence of a functional division in visual speech perception at the foveal midline remains to be determined. We investigated this issue by presenting visual speech in matched hemiface displays to the left and right of a central fixation point, either exactly abutting the foveal midline …


Revealing Variations In Perception Of Mental States From Dynamic Facial Expressions: A Cautionary Note, Elisa Back, Timothy R. Jordan Jan 2014

Revealing Variations In Perception Of Mental States From Dynamic Facial Expressions: A Cautionary Note, Elisa Back, Timothy R. Jordan

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Although a great deal of research has been conducted on the recognition of basic facial emotions (e.g., anger, happiness, sadness), much less research has been carried out on the more subtle facial expressions of an individual's mental state (e.g., anxiety, disinterest, relief). Of particular concern is that these mental state expressions provide a crucial source of communication in everyday life but little is known about the accuracy with which natural dynamic facial expressions of mental states are identified and, in particular, the variability in mental state perception that is produced. Here we report the findings of two studies that investigated …


Association Of Iron Depletion With Menstruation And Dietary Intake Indices In Pubertal Girls: The Healthy Growth Study, George Moschonis, Dimitrios Papandreou, Christina Mavrogianni, Angeliki Giannopoulou, Louisa Damianidi, Pavlos Malindretos, Christos Lionis, George P. Chrousos, Yannis Manios Jan 2013

Association Of Iron Depletion With Menstruation And Dietary Intake Indices In Pubertal Girls: The Healthy Growth Study, George Moschonis, Dimitrios Papandreou, Christina Mavrogianni, Angeliki Giannopoulou, Louisa Damianidi, Pavlos Malindretos, Christos Lionis, George P. Chrousos, Yannis Manios

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations of iron depletion (ID) with menstrual blood losses, lifestyle, and dietary habits, in pubertal girls. The study sample comprised 1222 girls aged 9-13 years old. Biochemical, anthropometrical, dietary, clinical, and physical activity data were collected. Out of 274 adolescent girls with menses, 33.5% were found to be iron depleted (defined as serum ferritin < 12 g/L) compared to 15.9% out of 948 girls without menses. Iron-depleted girls without menses were found to have lower consumption of poultry (P = 0.017) and higher consumption of fruits (P = 0.044) and fast food (P = 0.041) compared to their peers having normal iron status. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that girls with menses were 2.57 (95% CI: 1.37, 4.81) times more likely of being iron depleted compared to girls with no menses. Iron depletion was found to be associated with high calcium intake, high consumption of fast foods, and low consumption of poultry and fruits. Menses was the only factor that was found to significantly increase the likelihood of ID in these girls. More future research is probably needed in order to better understand the role of diet and menses in iron depletion. © 2013 George Moschonis et al.