Demosthenes Panagiotakos

• Harokopio University of Athens

This study aimed to explore the secular trend of healthy habits from childhood to adolescence and to assess associations with obesity and physical fitness (PF). Healthy habits such as physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep and dietary habits were assessed through a self-completed questionnaire in a sample of 177,091 children and adolescents...

Squamous cell carcinoma may arise primarily from the breast parenchyma (PSCCB) or from the periprosthetic capsule in patients with breast implants (BIA-SCC). A systematic literature review was performed to identify all PSCCB and BIA-SCC cases, and estimate prevalence, incidence rate (IR) and risk. Using predefined keywords, studies since no time li...

Εισαγωγή: Ένας ικανός αριθμός μελετών έχει δείξει ότι συχνά οι μετανάστες, εμφανίζουν υψηλότερα ποσοστά χαμηλής επισιτιστικής ασφάλειας, καθώς και φτωχής ποιότητας δίαιτας σε σχέση με τον υπόλοιπο πληθυσμό, με συνέπεια να παρουσιάζουν αυξημένο κίνδυνο για πολλαπλές χρόνιες παθήσεις Σκοπός: Η μέτρηση των επιπέδων της επισιτιστικής ασφάλειας (ΕΑ) κ...

Purpose - The study aims to have adults discuss experiences, practices, needs and feelings related to health management, diet and food security. Design/methodology/approach - Twenty-two immigrants were recruited from the Open School of Immigrants in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, in order to participate in focus group discussions. The discussions were a...

The development of overweight and obesity during late childhood and early adolescence is one of the most critical issues in public health. Additionally, over the past few years, the consumption of protein has tended to increase in both children and adults. The present study aimed to evaluate whether the protein type, either plant- or animal-sourced...

Background: Textured implants represent less than 10% in the United States, despite reporting the highest number of Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphomas (BIA-ALCL). Objectives: A systematic literature review on US-based epidemiology was performed to update knowledge on BIA-ALCL in the United States. Methods: Publications o...

Background: Epidemiologic studies on Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) currently estimate the risk between 1:300 and 1:30,000, assessed mainly in large breast reconstruction populations. Objectives: Aims of the study was to assess BIA-ALCL epidemiology in a cohort of patients who have received textured implants...

Aims: To evaluate the association between metabolically healthy overweight/obesity (MHO) status and longitudinal cognitive function while also considering the stability of the condition. Methods: In total, 2892 participants (mean age 60.7 (9.4) years) from Framingham Offspring Study completed health assessments every four years since 1971. Neuro...

Σκοπός: Η συζήτηση μεταξύ μεταναστών σχετικά με τις εμπειρίες, πρακτικές, ανάγκες και συναισθήματα σχετικά με τη διαχείριση ζητημάτων υγείας, διατροφής και επισιτιστικής ασφάλειας. Υλικό-Μέθοδος: 22 μετανάστες συμμετείχαν σε συζητήσεις τριών ομάδων εστιασμένης συζήτησης. Οι συζητήσεις ηχογραφήθηκαν και αναλύθηκαν θεματικά. Αποτελέσματα: Οι συμμετ...

The present work aimed at identifying the geographical variability, as well as the socioeconomic, lifestyle and environmental determinants of people’s health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at an aggregated level, and to investigate whether men’s and women’s HRQoL are affected differently by these characteristics. A cross-sectional spatial analysis...

Purpose We prospectively evaluated the association between quality of plant-based diets and 10-year first fatal/non-fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence. Methods ATTICA study was conducted in the greater metropolitan Athens area, Greece, during 2001–2002 studying men and women (aged > 18 years old) free of CVD at baseline. Follow-up CVD as...

The ATHLOS cohort is composed of several harmonized datasets of international groups related to health and aging. As a result, the Healthy Aging index has been constructed based on a selection of variables from 16 individual studies. In this paper, we consider additional variables found in ATHLOS and investigate their utilization for predicting the...

The study aims to explore the lifestyle profile of adult individuals with cardiovascular and endocrine diseases in Cyprus. Age and sex-specific analyses were applied. A representative sample of the general adult population was recruited during 2018-2019 using stratified sampling among the five government-controlled municipalities of the Republic of...

Background Evidence points to adverse effects of trans fatty acids (TFA) on health. The aim of this study was to estimate total TFA intake, evaluate major food contributors and its effect on dyslipidemia. Methods A total of 3537 adults (48.3% males) were included. Total TFA intake was assessed using two 24-hour dietary recalls. Foods were categori...

Background and objectives: Various bio-psychosocial mechanisms underlying the link between anxiety, depression and cardiovascular disease risk, remain unknown. We investigated the role of irrational beliefs in conjunction with anxiety and depression in the 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence, and the effect of biochemical and socio-beha...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the primary cause of death around the world (17.9 million deaths per year); heart attack and stroke account for 85% of CVD deaths. According to current demographic data, 1/3 of these deaths occur in adults under the age of 70 and more than 75% in low- and middle-income countries. Recent studies have provided clear...

Objective Asthma is a major contributor to childhood morbidity. Several environmental and socioeconomic status (SES) factors have been implicated in its etiopathogeneses such as indoor moisture and parental education level. Our study examined the association between exposure to indoor dampness and/or mould (IDM) with adolescent asthma and how paren...

Importance: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019) provided systematic estimates of incidence, morbidity, and mortality to inform local and international efforts toward reducing cancer burden. Objective: To estimate cancer burden and trends globally for 204 countries and territories and by Sociodemographic...

Background/objectives To quantify the changes in 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) onset, recurrence, and mortality, in relation to transitioning from low to a higher level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Subjects/methods An individual-level microsimulation was created based on ATTICA (2002–2012, n = 3042 subjects free-of-CVD) and GREEC...

Opuntia is a plant that grows in wild, arid, and semi-arid regions, and it is a renowned food source that is presently undervalued. The chemical composition and properties of the Opuntia genus have attracted research and commercial interest as its species are rich in phytochemicals, nutrients, and bioactive compounds. Several of these constituents...

Limited literature has examined parents’ perceptions of children’s pickiness in relation to all the five core food groups (vegetables, legumes/beans; fruits; dairy and alternatives; meat and alternatives; cereals), which is representative of a nutritionally balanced diet and critical for optimal growth and development in children. This study aimed...

Background Disability and mortality burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have risen worldwide; however, the NCD burden among adolescents remains poorly described in the EU. Methods Estimates were retrieved from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019. Causes of NCDs were analysed at three different levels o...

Background & Aims Sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity may be associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study examined the association between low skeletal muscle mass, with or without central obesity, with NAFLD, as well as their interaction on predicting 10-year incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods This was a post...

Background Recent meta-analyses suggest the use of technology-based interventions as a treatment option for obesity in adulthood. Similar meta-analytic approaches for children are scarce. Objective The aim of this meta-analysis is to examine the effect of technology-based interventions on overweight and obesity treatment in children and adolescent...

Prevalence of dementia or of milder form of cognitive impairment is increasing and a pharmaceutical treatment remains pending. These facts underline the need of identifying modifiable factors and targeted interventions that could reduce the incidence or control disease progression. Physical activity (PA) has been shown to have a beneficial effect o...

Background and aims Several studies have reported the positive cardio-metabolic effects of yogurt consumption. The addition of olive oil’s bioactive extracts into yogurt can result to a functional food with pleiotropic properties against cardiovascular diseases. A polar lipid extract of olive pomace (OOPLE) that contains platelet activating factor...

On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the current novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a public health emergency of international concern and later characterized it as a pandemic. New data show that excess body mass and vitamin D deficiency might be related to the disease severity and mortality. The aim of this st...

Background The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of adherence to the Mediterranean diet with trajectories of healthy aging. Methods The dataset of the Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet was the basis for the present longitudinal analysis. In a sample of 1226 older (>65 years) adults (704 women), adheren...

This study aimed to identify the association of recommended dairy intake with several dietary habits, obesity, physical fitness, physical activity, screen time, and sleep. Population data were derived from a health survey on a representative sample of 177091 children aged 8 to 17 years. Dairy intake and dietary habits were evaluated using questionn...

Background: Whether older immigrant populations from the Mediterranean region, continue to follow the MD long after they immigrated is not known. Aim: Compare adherence to the MD and successful aging levels between Greeks living in Greece (GG) and Greeks living abroad (GA). Methods: Anthropometrical, clinical, psychological, sociodemographic, dieta...

This study examined the association between breastfeeding, type of childbirth, and family structure with childhood obesity. During 2014–2016, 1728 Greek students attending primary schools and their parents were enrolled. Children’s weight status was measured and classified according to the International Obesity Task Force criteria. A self-administe...

Poor sleep is a relatively common condition with possibly serious adverse health consequences. Lack of sleep affects the endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. In Cyprus, there is no information about the quality of sleep in the population. The goal of this study was to assess the quality of sleep in the Cypriot population and evaluate its associa...

A B S T R AC T Aim: To examine the association of nutrition knowledge and dietary behavior among preadolescents in the greater urban area of Athens. Methods: 615 school-aged children 10-12 years from the metropolitan area of Athens were enrolled in the study, in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. Anthropometric data (height, weight, BMI z-score, waist circum...

Introduction: Diet and physical activity might be associated with the risk of allergic diseases in childhood. However, evidence in literature is sparse and diverse. We aim to examine the associations between four healthy dietary consumption pattern drinks, plus the adherence to a physically active lifestyle with atopic diseases (asthma, allergic r...

Food waste prevention is globally an urgent policy priority. Multiple studies have demonstrated that in the developed world, households are the main producers of food waste along the food supply chain, being responsible for about half of the edible food wasted. This study aims to analyse consumers’ food waste behaviour and identify the factors that...

Objective: Mental stress, low Health Literacy (HL) and Nutrition Literacy (NL) are associated with serious negative health outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate HL and NL levels, in relation to levels of perceived stress, in adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban area of the Attica region, in Greece. The...

Background/Introduction Inclusion of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as a component of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and/or a criterion for defining metabolically healthy vs. unhealthy obese (MHO vs MUO) status remains to be decided. Purpose The present work evaluated the role of NAFLD at baseline in the transition of MHO to MUO status, and...

Background/Introduction The role of dietary protein on cardiometabolic health remains complex influenced by concomitant changes in overall diet composition. The quality of protein sources is currently suggested as more detrimental than the level of consumption itself. Purpose The association between different protein-rich dietary patterns and 10-y...

Although the detrimental effects of heavy drinking in terms of health are well-documented in the literature, there are inconsistent findings regarding the safety of light-to-moderate alcohol consumption. In particular, little is still known about the consumption of specific alcoholic beverages in combination with dietary habits and lifestyle, which...

The aim of the present work was to investigate the association of dietary habits and lifestyle characteristics with successful aging among native Greeks and Greeks of Diaspora (Canada and France). During 2005–2019, 2,434 Greek men and women, living in Greece, in France, and in Canada, over 65 years of age were enrolled voluntarily in the study. Ant...

Background and Aims Substantial scientific evidence supports the effectiveness of a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) in managing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Potential benefits of time restricted feeding (TRF) in T2DM are unknown. The MedDietFast trial aims to investigate the efficacy of a MedDiet with or without TRF compared to standard care diet...

Aims Circulating vitamin D is linked with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). A meta-analysis has yet to explicitly explore correlation between vitamin D and the risk of CVD incidence and recurrent CVD. This meta-analysis examines the association between 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D) and the risk of CVD incidence (fatal, non-fatal, fatal and...

Background DEpICT is an ongoing exploratory, observational, cross-sectional study in community-dwelling individuals in Limassol, Cyprus aiming to combine individual-level and community-level risk factors to decode their effect on arterial health (stiffness) as measured with pulse wave velocity (PWV). Methods Participants are >40 years and living i...

Objectives: Comparing lifestyle and successful aging between Greeks living in Greece (GG) and Greeks living abroad (GA) using a multidimensional model of successful aging including both biomedical and non-medical components. Methods: Anthropometric, clinical, psychological, socio-demographic, dietary and lifestyle parameters were assessed in a rand...

Limited data suggests possible gender-specific association between serum uric acid (SUA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence. The aim of the present analysis was to evaluate the association between SUA levels and 10-year CVD incidence (2002–2012) in the ATTICA study participants. Overall, 1687 apparently healthy volunteers, with SUA measurem...

Background/objectives We evaluated the role of the presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) at baseline in the transition from metabolically healthy to metabolically unhealthy obesity (MHO to MUO) ten years later. Methods A prospective cohort study (ATTICA study, Greece) was performed between 2002 and 2012 studying a sample from the g...

Obesity and diabetes rates have been rising to epidemic levels during the last decade, especially among young populations. Recommendations for clinicians and primary healthcare providers concerning the improvement of childhood nutrition and the healthcare of childhood nutrition-related diseases are of major interest. Clinical Practice Guidelines (C...

We describe the profile of dietary supplement use and its correlates in the Epirus Health Study cohort, which consists of 1237 adults (60.5% women) residing in urban north-west Greece. The association between dietary supplement use and demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, personal medical history and clinical measurements was assessed...

Sugar intake has been associated with increased prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity; however, results remain controversial. The aim of this study was to examine the probability of overweight/obesity with higher sugar intakes, accounting for other dietary intakes. Data from 1165 children and adolescents aged ≥2-18 years (66.8% males) enrolled...

To test the diagnostic ability of two combined practical markers for elevated urine osmolality (underhydration) in free-living adults and children. One hundred and one healthy adults (females n = 52, 40 ± 14 y, 1.70 ± 0.95 m, 76.7 ± 17.4 kg, 26.5 ± 5.5 kg/m²) and 210 children (females = 105, 1.49 ± 0.13 m, 43.4 ± 12.6 kg, 19.2 ± 3.2 kg m⁻²) collect...

Adherence to certain dietary patterns influences obesity status in both children and adults. Weight perception influences dietary habits. The aim of this study was to examine children’s dietary habits and obesity status, in relation to weight perception. One thousand seven hundred Greek students enrolled in this study during 2014−2016. Children’s c...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the dietary habits and irrational beliefs of apparently healthy individuals in relation to their 10-year diabetes incidence. METHODS The ATTICA study (2002-2012) is a prospective population-based cohort study, in which 853 participants (453 men (aged 45 ± 13 years) and 400 women (aged 44 ± 18 years))...

BIA-ALCL is the occurrence of ALCL adjacent to a breast implant. Diagnosis of BIA-ALCL is achieved by analysis of seroma fluid or if a mass, core needle, incisional or excisional tissue biopsy. Radical en bloc surgical resection (i.e. implant including seroma and intact capsule) with safe margins, including healthy tissue, is recommended as the sta...

Aims The aim of this study was to develop, validate, and illustrate an updated prediction model (SCORE2) to estimate 10-year fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in individuals without previous CVD or diabetes aged 40–69 years in Europe. Methods and results We derived risk prediction models using individual-participant data from...

Objectives There are a growing number of people aged over 55 years living in retirement communities in Australia. These communities typically consist of accommodation, services and community facilities which cater to older people and the desire to maintain independence. The Nutrition and Healthy Ageing Trajectories in Retirement Living (NutriHAT-RL...

The Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) was requested by the European Commission (EC) to provide a scientific opinion on the safety of breast implants in relation to anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). There are several types of textured breast implants; surface textures of breast implants are not all manufa...

BACKGROUND Recent meta-analyses suggest the use of technology-based interventions as a treatment option for obesity in adulthood. Similar meta-analytic approaches for children are scarce . OBJECTIVE The aim of this meta-analysis is to examine the effect of technology-based interventions on overweight and obesity treatment in children and adolesce...

PurposeTo investigate the combined role of irrational beliefs, anxiety and depression in the 10-year incidence of type 2 diabetes, and the underlying effect of biochemical, and socio-behavioural factors.Methods Within the context of the ATTICA cohort study (2002–2012), 853 participants without evidence of CVD [453 men (45 ± 13 years) and 400 women...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Other. Main funding source(s): The ATTICA study is supported by research grants from the Hellenic Cardiology Society [HCS2002] and the Hellenic Atherosclerosis Society [HAS2003]. Background/Introduction: Among all behaviors, nutrition makes the largest contribution to cardiovascular disease (CVD) mo...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Other. Main funding source(s): The ATTICA study is supported by research grants from the Hellenic Cardiology Society [HCS2002] and the Hellenic Atherosclerosis Society [HAS2003]. Background/Introduction: Consistent evidence exists for a causal association between blood cholesterol and cardiovascular...

Background Over the past decade, the financial crisis has affected harshly the household income of Greek people. This study aimed to investigate whether the effect of the financial crisis on food spending has affected the dietary habits in the family environment. Methods Under a cross-sectional study conducted during 2014–2016, 1145 children and t...

Background Prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment increase creating the need for identifying modifiable risk factors to reduce their burden. The aim of this study was to identify latent groups following similar trajectories in cognitive performance assessed with the verbal fluency test, as well as their determinants. Methods Data from Eng...

The aim of this work was to evaluate, from an epidemiological perspective, whether there is any association between CVD burden and COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, in EU/EEA and UK. A strong, inverse relationship between COVID-19 and CVD death rates in EU/EEA and UK was observed and presented for the first time in the literature. This relationship...

We explored the differences in dietary habits and dietary patterns between individuals characterized by irrational beliefs with no or low anxiety and depressive symptoms and individuals characterized by irrational beliefs with high anxiety and depressive symptomatology. Within the context of the ATTICA cohort study (2002–2012), 853 participants wit...

The aim of this study was to identify latent groups of similar trajectories in processing speed through aging, as well as factors that are associated with these trajectories. In the context of the Ageing Trajectories of Health: Longitudinal Opportunities and Synergies (ATHLOS) project, data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) (n = 1...

PurposeThe built and food environments are widely acknowledged to play an important role in defining human health by influencing, among others, behaviors such as nutrition habits and physical activities. The aim of this study was to identify the spatial variability of the sex-specific prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its environmenta...

Background: Evidence suggests that nutritional factors, such as consumption of fruits and vegetables, along with socioeconomic factors such as parental education level, are associated with asthma prevalence. Our study examined the role of parental education in the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and adolescent asthma. Methods:...

Background As we move towards a post-pandemic society, a question arises: How will the way we live look different in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? Aim The aim of this survey was to evaluate changes in eating habits and other lifestyle behaviours (i.e., exercise and smoking) of people of almost all ages, who live in Greece, during the COVID-19...

Recent technological advancements in various domains, such as the biomedical and health, offer a plethora of big data for analysis. Part of this data pool is the experimental studies that record various and several features for each instance. It creates datasets having very high dimensionality with mixed data types, with both numerical and categori...

Background: To investigate the associations of pregnancy and pre-pregnancy parental characteristics on child’s weight and progression at the early adulthood. Material and Methods: Α random sample of 5,125 dyads children and their mothers was assessed. Mothers were asked to provide information contained in their medical booklets and pregnancy ultras...

Aims This study aimed at evaluating the age, sex, and country-income patterns in aortic aneurysm disease burden, analysing trends in mortality and years of life lost (YLLs), as well as their causal drivers and risk factors, using the 2017 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD 2017). Methods and results We described the t...

The 2021 Scientific Committee on Health Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) Report on BIA-ALCL, breast implant associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma.Requested by the European Committee. updates on the current views on this lymphoma structured into a number of PICOS.

Purpose of Review Childhood obesity is considered a major problem in the modern world, associated with many health issues in youth. This review aimed the association between extracurricular sports participation, sedentary time/screen time, and “obesogenic” and “non-obesogenic” dietary habits among youth and to explore the role of family structure o...

Background: Missing data constitutes a common phenomenon, especially, in questionnaire-based, population surveys or epidemiological studies, with the statistical power, the efficiency and the validity of the conducted analyses being significantly affected by the missing information. The aim of the present work was to investigate the socio-demograph...

Background: Health literacy (HL) and nutrition literacy (NL) are important issues to consider, in the provision of health-care to children and the establishment of healthy eating behaviours. Aim: The study investigates the possible role of HL and NL levels of Greek parents, in parental Feeding Practices (PFP). Methods: This is a cross-sectional stu...

Study objectives: Sleep is an essential normal function for children's growth and development, but over the years lifestyle changes have resulted in insufficient sleep, a factor that may be associated with the increased childhood obesity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between sleep duration and, sleep patterns, separately o...

Objectives: To assess whether Health Literacy (HL) acts as a determinant of obesity in adults and children by synthesizing the results of recent scientific evidence. Content: This is a systematic qualitative review following the MOOSE guidelines. A systematic, computer-assisted literature search via PubMed scientific database, between January 1s...

Aims: To assess the association between past level of physical activity (PA) and risk for death during the acute phase of myocardial infarction (MI) in a pooled analysis of cohort studies. Methods and results: European cohorts including participants with a baseline assessment of PA, conventional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, and available fo...

The study examines Parental Feeding Practices (PFP) in relation to adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) and children’s weight status. It’s a cross-sectional study of 402 parents (68.4% mothers), with children aged 2-12 years. Parents completed the Comprehensive Parental Feeding Questionnaire and the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for childr...

BACKGROUND: Food insecurity seems to be positively correlated with increased risk of malnutrition and poor health. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to develop and validate the Greek version of Adult Food Security Survey Module (AFSSM). METHODS: The AFSSM was translated to the Greek language forward and backward twice and subsequently was adm...