the health of the mother-to-be, as women become more

conscious of food and health related issues at this time

(Anderson, 2001). Adhering to a well balanced diet and

healthy lifestyle will help ensure optimal health for both

mother and baby (Anderson, 2001). The aim of this study was

to investigate the diets and lifestyles of a sample of pregnant

women in Northern Ireland and to assess adherence to gov-

ernment guidelines.

Methods: A total of 1600 pregnant women attending antenatal

clinics at Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital, Belfast, participated

in this nutritional study from October 2001 to April 2006.

Women recruited were enrolled in the Hyperglycaemia and

Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) study described else-

where (HAPO, 2008). Women over 18 years old, approxi-

mately 29 weeks gestation (range: 24–35 weeks) were recruited.

Participants completed a validated (Hill, 2005) food frequency

questionnaire (FFQ) that consisted of a list of 44 items cover-

ing all main foods consumed locally. Anthropometric informa-

tion was also collected at this time, self reported weight

approximately three months prior to this pregnancy and

height was recorded during the hospital visit. The FFQ

responses were coded using standard survey design technique.

Various statistical techniques were employed, including Chi

squared tests, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Pearson’s

correlations. Ethical approval for this nutritional study was

obtained by Queen’s University of Belfast and the University

of Ulster filter committee.

Results: Of those women that participated in the study

(n = 1600), 33% were overweight (23%) or obese (10%) prior

to this pregnancy. Only 11% (n = 176) of women consumed

five or more portions of fruit and vegetables daily; a greater

proportion of these women were older (P < 0.0005), married

(P < 0.0005) and non-smokers (P < 0.0005). 35% of the

women achieved an estimated intake of 700 mg of calcium.

Overall, the mean calcium intake was 560 mg (251.12). Choco-

late bars and biscuits were the most popular snack food, eaten

by 86% (n = 1378) at least once a week; women that were

more likely to eat chocolate as a snack were younger

(P < 0.0005). 24% of women smoked during their pregnancy

and 26% consumed alcohol at some stage during the preg-

nancy.

Discussion: A considerable proportion of women were over-

weight or obese prior to this pregnancy; obesity is associated

with an increased risk of developing complications such as ges-

tational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and also obstetrical complica-

tions. The study also showed that few women consumed the

five or more portions of fresh fruit and vegetables daily which

was less than that reported in a previous survey of women in

NI, in which 31% met the five a day requirement (DHSSPS,

2007). The rate of smoking in the current study was compara-

ble with other studies conducted in pregnant women; Mourati-

dou et al. (2006) reported a 28% smoking rate amongst

pregnant women.

Conclusion: Presently, there are no other studies conducted

on dietary and lifestyle habits of pregnant women in North-

ern Ireland; this study has identified the need for public

health intervention to encourage and educate women to

implement changes for their health and the health of their

children.

References:

Anderson, A.S. (2001) Pregnancy as a time for dietary change?

Symposium on ‘Nutritional adaption to pregnancy and lac-

tation’. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 60, 497–504.

DHSSPS (2007) Department of Health, Social Services and

Public Safety Health and Lifestyle Report. A report from the

Health and Social Wellbeing Survey 2005/2006, pp1–150.

DHSSPS, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

HAPO (2008) The Hyperglycaemia and Adverse Pregnancy

Outcome. N. Engl. J. Med. 358, 1991–2002.

Hill, A.J. (2005) Dietary intakes and lifestyle factors of preg-

nant women in Northern Ireland, PhD, University of Ulster.

Mouratidou, T., Ford, F., Prountzou, F. & Fraser, R. (2006)

Dietary Assessment of a population of pregnant women in

Sheffield, UK. Br. J. Nutr. 96, 929–935.

Leukonychia on finger nails as a marker of calcium

and/or zinc deficiency

Z. Morgan and H. Wickett

Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University ofWales Institute, Cardiff, UKe-mail: z.morgan@ntlworld.com

Background: Popular lay media claim that the aetiology of

leukonychia (white spots) on finger nails is due to calcium

and/or zinc (McKeith, 2008; Holford, 1998) deficiency. No

studies are available in scientific literature to support or refute

these claims. Cited causes in dermatology journals include, tro-

phic disturbances, gender, hand dominance, nail trauma and

orange stick usage (Mitchell, 1953) although this is dated. This

small scale study aimed to establish if there is a correlation

between calcium and/or zinc intakes and the presence or

absence of leukonychia on finger nails.

Methods: A cross sectional survey was completed by 82 uni-

versity undergraduate students. The study was approved by

the University ethics panel. A convenience sample was taken

from students enrolled on courses within the School of

Health Science. A self administered questionnaire collected

data on the number of leukonychia present on participant’s

finger nails, participant’s opinions on leukonychia’s aetiology,

calcium and zinc intakes, age, gender, handedness, supple-

ment usage, activities and orange stick usage. A food fre-

quency questionnaire, adapted from the tool used in the

European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) (Day

et al., 2001), was developed to allot participants calcium

and zinc intake scores. Data was coded and analysed using

the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.

Spearmans Correlation was used to assess the relationship

Abstracts

ª 2011 The Authors

294 Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics ª 2011 The British Dietetic Association Ltd. 2011 J Hum Nutr Diet, 24, pp. 277–310

between calcium and zinc intake scores and the number of

leukonychia present.

Results: The majority of participants thought that leukonychia

was a result of a singular or multiple nutrient deficiency

(51%), mainly either calcium or zinc. Leukonychia was present

in 46% of the sample. It was not significantly associated with

calcium intake (P = 0.681), zinc intake (P = 0.604), age

(P = 0.715), gender (P = 0.089), hand dominance (P = 0.151),

multivitamin/mineral usage (n = 62, P = 0.655) or orange

stick usage (n = 12, P = 0.961). The majority (63%) of partici-

pants reported to take part in activities that knock their hands

frequently. A correlation was found between activities that

knock participants hands frequently and the number of leuk-

onychia present on finger nails (P = 0.000, t = )4.902,

df = 77).

Discussion: The results showed there was no correlation

between calcium or zinc intake scores and leukonychia. Par-

ticipant’s intakes scores followed similar patterns to the

actual intakes observed in a survey of the UK general popu-

lation (Henderson et al., 2003). For both nutrients male

intake score where higher than females and intake scores for

calcium increased with age. However a limitation of this

study is that nutrient intake was estimated using a non-vali-

dated tool which provided an arbitrary intake score that

could not be quantitatively compared to the National Diet

and Nutrition Surveys (Henderson et al., 2003) data.

Another limitation was that the number of leukonychia was

also gathered using a non-validated tool and all results were

self-reported.

Conclusion: This study suggested that there is no correlation

between the presences of leukonychia and calcium or zinc

intake scores. Although it would be beneficial if this study was

repeated using more robust measures of calcium and zinc

intake and leukonychia, and within a larger population known

to have low calcium and zinc intakes.

References:

Day, N., McKeown, N., Wong, M., Welch, A. & Bingham, S.

(2001) Epidemiology assessment of diet: a comparison of a

7-day diary with a food frequency questionnaire using uri-

nary markers of nitrogen, potassium and sodium. Int. J. Epi-

demiol. 30, 309–317.

Henderson, L., Irving, K., Gregory, J., Bates, C.J., Prentice,

A., Perks, J., Swan, G. & Farron, M. (2003) National Diet

and Nutrition Survey: Adults aged 19–64 years. Vol 3:Vita-

min and mineral intake and urinary analytes. London:

TSO.

Holford, P. (1998) The Optimum Nutrition Bible: The Book

You Have to Read if You Care About Your Health. London:

Piatkus Books.

McKeith, G. (2008) Food Bible: The Complete A-Z Guide to a

Healthy Life. London: Michael Joseph.

Mitchell, J.C. (1953) A clinical study of leukonychia. Br. J.

Dermatol. 65, 121–130.

The impact of weight loss competition in the

workplace

D. Morton1, S. McElhone2 and H. White2

1Backridge House, Twitter Lane, Waddington, UK and2Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Leeds Metropol-itan University, Calverley St Leeds, UKe-mail: dominiquemorton@hotmail.com

Background: The workplace has been identified as an environ-

ment in which primary prevention and secondary weight man-

agement strategies can be promoted (DH, 2008). Workplace

weight management programmes have had limited success

showing minimal weight loss, poor recruitment and high attri-

tion rates (Stunkard et al., 1989). Team weight loss competi-

tions have proved more promising although studies are

predominantly American and have had methodological limita-

tions (Cohen et al., 1987; Stunkard et al., 1989). The current

investigation was a pilot study to determine if team based

competition (without incentive) was more effective than tradi-

tional workplace education and behavioural programmes in

achieving weight loss.

Methods: Two established self-help diet groups were

recruited from separate office workplaces within Lancashire.

Each group attended a Healthy Lifestyle Workshop led by

the lead researcher consisting of two components; a struc-

tured workshop incorporating an interactive presentation of

a balanced diet, weight loss techniques, exercise and behav-

iour change and a worksheet on which participants identi-

fied personal goals and individual objectives. One office was

randomly assigned to complete this on an individual basis

(Group A), and the remaining office was assigned to a team

based competition intervention (Group B), through random

allocation into two teams, and encouraged to compete

against each other to achieve the greatest collective team

weight loss. No winning incentive was provided. The lead

researcher recorded baseline age, weight and body mass

index (BMI) and subsequent weight, BMI weekly for

3 weeks using the same set of calibrated scales. Independent

t-tests were used to compare the final percentage weight loss

between competing and non-competing groups and differ-

ences in weight and BMI at baseline and 3 weeks. Ethical

approval was gained from Leeds Metropolitan University

Research Ethics Committee.

Results: A total of 42 individuals participated in the study

[Group A: n = 17 (seven male, 12 female); and Group B:

n = 23 (5 male, 18 female)] There were no differences between

groups for age [29(8) years (Group A) versus 31(9) years

(Group B) P = 0.55], baseline weight [81(17.9) kg (Group A)

versus 75.6(16.5) kg (Group B) P = 0.32] or BMI

[27.9(6.7) kg m)2 (Group A) versus 27.1(5.3) kg m)2 (Group

B) P = 0.69]. The competing group (Group B) achieved signif-

icantly greater percentage weight loss after 3 weeks than the

group participating as individuals (Group A) [2.6 (2)% v

1.1(2.1)%, P = 0.025].

Abstracts

ª 2011 The Authors

Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics ª 2011 The British Dietetic Association Ltd. 2011 J Hum Nutr Diet, 24, pp. 277–310 295