Abstract"Mindful eating" describes a non-judgmental awareness of physical and emotional sensations associated with eating. This manuscript reports the development of a mindful eating questionnaire (MEQ) to support rigorous scientific inquiry into this concept. An item pool was developed based on hypothesized domains of mindful eating. A cross-sectional survey examined associations of MEQ scores with demographic and health-related characteristics. The MEQ was distributed to seven convenience samples between January-May, 2007, with an overall response rate of 62% (n=303). Participants were mostly female (81%) and white (90%), and had a mean age of 42±14.4 years (range 18-80 years). Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify factors, which were defined as the mean of items scored 1 to 4, where 4 indicated higher mindfulness; the mean of all factors was the summary MEQ score. Multiple regression analysis was used to measure associations of demographic characteristics, obesity, yoga practice and physical activity with MEQ scores. Domains of the final 28-item questionnaire were: Disinhibition, Awareness, External Cues, Emotional Response, and Distraction. The mean MEQ score was 2.92 ± 0.37, with a reliability (Chronbach's alpha) of 0.64. The covariate-adjusted MEQ score was inversely associated with BMI (3.02 for BMI <25 vs. 2.54 for BMI >30, p <0.001). Yoga practice, but neither walking nor moderate/intense physical activity, was associated with higher MEQ score. In this study sample, the MEQ had good measurement characteristics. Its negative association with BMI and positive association with yoga provide evidence of construct validity. Further evaluation in more diverse populations is warranted.

In older adults, measurements of physical performance assess physical function and associate with mortality and disability. Muscle wasting and diminished physical performance often accompany CKD, resembling physiologic aging, but whether physical performance associates with clinical outcome in CKD is unknown. We evaluated 385 ambulatory, stroke-free participants with stage 2-4 CKD enrolled in clinicbased cohorts at the University of Washington and University of Maryland and Veterans Affairs Maryland Healthcare systems. We compared handgrip strength, usual gait speed, timed up and go (TUAG), and 6-minute walking distance with normative values and constructed Cox proportional hazards models and receiver operating characteristic curves to test associations with all-cause mortality. Mean age was 61 years and the mean estimated GFR was 41 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 . Measures of lower extremity performance were at least 30% lower than predicted, but handgrip strength was relatively preserved. Fifty deaths occurred during the median 3-year follow-up period. After adjustment, each 0.1-m/s decrement in gait speed associated with a 26% higher risk for death, and each 1-second longer TUAG associated with an 8% higher risk for death. On the basis of the receiver operating characteristic analysis, gait speed and TUAG more strongly predicted 3-year mortality than kidney function or commonly measured serum biomarkers. Adding gait speed to a model that included estimated GFR significantly improved the prediction of 3-year mortality. In summary, impaired physical performance of the lower extremities is common in CKD and strongly associates with all-cause mortality. CKD is a growing global health problem that affects .25 million US adults. 1 CKD leads to the retention of metabolic waste products and hormonal disturbances that adversely affect multiple target organ systems, including skeletal muscle. A major consequence of loss of skeletal muscle (sarcopenia) is skeletal muscle dysfunction, which is associated with impaired mobility and reduced physical performance. Among general older adult populations, decreased physical performance is independently associated with subsequent disability, fracture, falls, hospitalization, and mortality. [2][3][4] In particular, usual gait speed has been used as an adjunct for risk stratification by quantifying the burden of recognized and unrecognized multisystem comorbidity,

Vitamin and mineral supplements are among the most commonly used drugs in the United States, despite limited evidence on their benefits or risks. This paper describes the design, implementation, and participant characteristics of the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) Study, a cohort study of the associations of supplement use with cancer risk. A total of 77,738 men and women in western Washington State, aged 50-76 years, entered the study in 2000-2002 by completing a detailed questionnaire on supplement use, diet, and other cancer risk factors, and 70% provided DNA through self-collected buccal cell specimens. Supplement users were targeted in recruitment: 66% used multivitamins, 46% used individual vitamin C, 47% used individual vitamin E, and 46% used calcium, typically for 5-8 of the past 10 years. Analyses to identify confounding factors, the main study limitation, showed that regular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, intake of fruits and vegetables, and recreational physical activity were strongly associated with supplement use (p < 0.001). The authors describe a follow-up system in which cancers, deaths, and changes of residence are tracked efficiently, primarily through linkage to public databases. These methods may be useful to other researchers implementing a large cohort study or designing a passive follow-up system.

PURPOSE To obtain estimates of time to recruit the study sample, retention, facility-based class attendance and home practice for a study of yoga in breast cancer survivors, and its efficacy on fatigue, quality of life (QOL), and weight change. METHODS Sixty-three post-treatment stage 0–III borderline overweight and obese (body mass index ≥ 24 kg/m2) breast cancer survivors were randomly assigned to a 6-month, facility- and home-based viniyoga intervention (n = 32) or a waitlist control group (n = 31). The yoga goal was 5 practices per week. Primary outcome measures were changes in self-reported QOL, fatigue, and weight from baseline to 6 months. Secondary outcomes included changes in waist and hip circumference. RESULTS It took 12 months to complete recruitment. Participants attended a mean of 19.6 classes and practiced at home a mean of 55.8 times during the 6-month period. At follow-up, 90% of participants completed questionnaires and 87% completed anthropometric measurements. QOL and fatigue improved to a greater extent among women in the yoga group relative to women in the control group, although no differences were statistically significant. Waist circumference decreased 3.1 cm (95% CI: −5.7, −0.4) more among women in the yoga compared with the control group, with no differences in weight change. CONCLUSIONS This study provides important information regarding recruitment, retention, and practice levels achieved during a 6-month, intensive yoga intervention in overweight and obese breast cancer survivors. Yoga may help decrease waist circumference and improve quality of life; future studies are needed to confirm these results.