This study examined whether sucrose, fructose, aspartame, and saccharin influences the association between obesity and glucose tolerance in 2856 adults from the NHANES III survey. Aspartame intake significantly influenced the association between body mass index (BMI) and glucose tolerance (interaction: P = 0.004), wherein only those reporting aspartame intake had a steeper positive association between BMI and glucose tolerance than those reporting no aspartame intake. Therefore, consumption of aspartame is associated with greater obesity-related impairments in glucose tolerance.

A Family Health Team (FHT) is a multi-disciplinary primary healthcare model that may be an ideal setting to engage patients in physical activity. An environmental scan was conducted to determine the prevalence and characteristics of physical activity services offered by FHTs in Ontario. Of the 186 FHTs, 102 (55%) completed the survey. Almost 60% of responding FHTs offered a physical activity service; however, the availability, duration, size, and target population of the services varied depending on the individual FHT.

This paper is a Position Statement from an ‘ad hoc’ Scientific Review Subcommittee of the PAHO/WHO Regional Expert Group on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention through Dietary Salt Reduction. It is produced in response to requests from representatives of countries of the Pan-American Region of WHO needing clarification on two recent publications casting doubts on the appropriateness of population wide policies to reduce salt intake for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.