Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2014 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 8 Articles
Background: There are a limited number of studies regarding the association between abdominal obesity and\nserum adiponectin complexes (high, medium, and low molecular weight adiponectins) among population-based\nelementary school children, especially in Japan, where blood collection is not usually performed during annual\nhealth examinations of school children. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between\nabdominal obesity and serum adiponectin complexes among population-based elementary school children in\nJapan.\nMethods: Subjects were all the fourth-grade school children (9 or 10 years of age) in the town of Ina during\n2005ââ?¬â??2008 (N = 1675). The height, weight, percent body fat, and waist circumference (WC) of each subject were\nmeasured. Blood samples were drawn from subjects to measure adiponectin isoform values. Childhood abdominal\nobesity was defined as ââ?¬Å?a waist-to-height ratio greater than or equal to 0.5ââ?¬Â or ââ?¬Å?a WC greater than or equal to\n75 cmââ?¬Â. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test and the logistic regression model were used to analyze the association\nbetween abdominal obesity and each adiponectin isoform value.\nResults: Data from 1654 subjects (846 boys and 808 girls) were analyzed. Adiponectin complexes were lower in\nthe abdominal obesity group than in the non-abdominal obesity group regardless of sex. Abdominal obesity\nsignificantly increased the odds ratio (OR) for each adiponectin isoform level less than or equal to the median\nvalue in boys; the OR (95% confidence interval [CI]) was 2.50 (1.59-3.92) for high molecular weight adiponectin\n(HMW-adn), 2.47 (1.57-3.88) for medium molecular weight adiponectin (MMW-adn), and 1.75 (1.13-2.70) for low\nmolecular weight adiponectin (LMW-adn). In girls, the OR (95% CI) was 1.95 (1.18-3.21) for HMW-adn, 1.40 (0.86-2.28)\nfor MMW-adn, and 1.06 (0.65-1.70) for LMW-adn.\nConclusions: Abdominal obesity was associated with lower adiponectin complexes and the influence of abdominal\nobesity varied by adiponectin isoform. Furthermore, the impact of abdominal obesity was larger in boys than in\ngirls. The present study results suggest that prevention of abdominal obesity could contribute to the prevention of\nlower adiponectin levels, especially in boys....
Background: Studies addressing the influence of early sexual maturation on the excess of body weight and height\nof children and adolescents are scarce. The aim of the study was to analyze the association of sexual maturation\nwith excess body weight and height in children and adolescents.\nMethods: This was a cross-sectional study performed in FlorianÃ?³polis city, Brazil, in 2007, with 2339 school children,\naged 8ââ?¬â??14 years (1107 males). Selection was based on a probabilistic, cluster-stratified sampling technique. School\nchildren were classified according to the presence of excess body weight, using sex- and age-specific body mass\nindex (BMI) cutoff points. Z-scores were calculated from height and BMI data. Sexual maturation was self-assessed\naccording to Tanner stages of development. Subjects were ranked based on tertiles of sexual maturation\n(early, normal and late) for each stage of development. Poisson and linear regression models were used.\nResults: Compared to the reference group (normal sexual maturation), early maturing females had higher\nprevalence of excess weight (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.70; 95% CI: 1.24 to 2.33) and increased height-for-age\n(adjusted Ã?Ÿ: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.14 to 0.59), while late maturing females had lower prevalence of excess weight (adjusted\nprevalence ratio: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.37 to 0.87) and decreased height-for-age (adjusted Ã?Ÿ: -0.38; 95% CI: -0.56 to -0.20).\nIn males, early and late sexual maturation were associated with increased (adjusted Ã?Ÿ: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.14 to 0.59) and\ndecreased (adjusted Ã?Ÿ: -0.38; 95% CI: -0.56 to -0.20) height-for-age, respectively.\nConclusion: Early sexual maturation is associated with excess body weight in females and with greater height-for-age\nin both sexes....
Newborn care is an essential care given to the newborn which includes feeding, hygiene, immunization, handling of baby etc. By educating and creating awareness among ASHA workers it has potential of reducing the existing high neonatal morbidity and mortality rate. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to assess effectiveness of structured teaching programme among ASHA workers regarding newborn care at community health centre, Payal, Distt. Ludhiana. A total of 50 ASHA workers were purposely selected. Self structured questionnaire was implemented to assess the knowledge of ASHA workers regarding newborn care. Structured teaching programme on newborn care was provided to ASHA workers after taking the pre-test. The assessment of pre-test and post-test knowledge score showed statistical significant difference (p<0.001). The study concluded that the structured teaching programme helped to increase the knowledge of ASHA workers regarding newborn care....
Background: Mexico has the highest adult overweight and obesity prevalence in the Americas; 23.8% of children\n<5 years old are at risk for overweight and 9.7% are already overweight or obese. Creciendo Sanos was a pilot\nintervention to prevent obesity among preschoolers in Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) clinics.\nMethods: We randomized 4 IMSS primary care clinics to either 6 weekly educational sessions promoting healthful\nnutrition and physical activity or usual care. We recruited 306 parent-child pairs: 168 intervention, 138 usual care.\nChildren were 2-5 years old with WHO body mass index (BMI) z-score 0-3. We measured children�s height and weight\nand parents reported children�s diet and physical activity at baseline and 3 and 6-month follow-up. We analyzed\nbehavioral and BMI outcomes with generalized mixed models incorporating multiple imputation for missing values.\nResults: 93 (55%) intervention and 96 (70%) usual care families completed 3 and 6-month follow-up. At 3\nmonths, intervention v. usual care children increased vegetables by 6.3 servings/week (95% CI, 1.8, 10.8). In stratified\nanalyses, intervention participants with high program adherence (5-6 sessions) decreased snacks and screen time and\nincreased vegetables v. usual care. No further effects on behavioral outcomes or BMI were observed. Transportation\ntime and expenses were barriers to adherence. 90% of parents who completed the post-intervention survey were\nsatisfied with the program.\nConclusions: Although satisfaction was high among participants, barriers to participation and retention included\ntransportation cost and time. In intention to treat analyses, we found intervention effects on vegetable intake, but not\nother behaviors or BMI...
Preterm birth is the delivery of a baby before 37 completed weeks’ gestation. Only around two thirds of low birth weight infants are preterm. In developing countries, low birth weight is probably caused by intrauterine growth restriction. Maternal under-nutrition and chronic infection in pregnancy are the main factors that cause intrauterine growth restriction. The main contributing factors were found to be poor socioeconomic status, maternal status and maternal under nutrition which resulted into multiple health problem of children. The dietary intake of mother depends on various socio-economic and cultural factors. Thus, it is very essential to investigate the extent of relationship that exists between paternal, maternal and socio-economic environment factors and the birth weight of the neonates....
Background: Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) are leading causes of hospitalisation in children. Birth\ndefects occur in 5% of live births in Western Australia (WA). The association between birth defects and ALRI\nhospitalisation is unknown.\nMethods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 245,249 singleton births in WA (1996-2005). Population-based\nhospitalisation data were linked to the WA Register of Developmental Anomalies to investigate ALRI hospitalisations in\nchildren with and without birth defects. We used negative binomial regression to estimate associations between birth\ndefects and number of ALRI hospitalisations before age 2 years, adjusting for known risk factors.\nResults: Overall, 9% of non-Aboriginal children and 37% of Aboriginal children with birth defects had at least one\nALRI admission before age 2 years. Aboriginal children (IRR 2.3, 95% CI: 1.9-2.8) and non-Aboriginal children (IRR 2.0,\n95% CI: 1.8-2.2) with birth defects had higher rates of hospitalisation for an ALRI than children with no birth defects.\nRates of ALRI hospitalisation varied by type of defect but were increased for all major birth defects categories, the\nhighest rate being for children with Down syndrome (IRR 8.0, 95% CI: 5.6-11.5). The rate of ALRI hospitalisation was\n3 times greater in children with multiple birth defects than in those with isolated defects.\nConclusions: Children with birth defects experience higher rates of hospitalisation for ALRIs before age 2 years than\nchildren with no birth defects. Optimal vaccination coverage and immunoprophylaxis for specific categories of birth\ndefects would assist in reducing hospitalisation rates for ALRI....
Background: The Mushua Innu of Natuashish, Labrador, Canada seem to have a high rate of childhood eczema.\nAnecdotally this problem seems to be more common now than 20 years ago. There has been speculation that this\ncould be related to food sensitization that may have arisen coincident with a move away from a traditional Innu\ndiet. We undertook to assess the prevalence and severity of pediatric eczema in Natuashish (population 792), and\ninvestigate the level of sensitization to common food antigens.\nMethods: Over a three-month period we performed a population survey of all children in the community from the\nages of 2ââ?¬â??12 inclusive. The one-year prevalence of eczema was assessed using the United Kingdom Working Partyââ?¬â?¢s\ndiagnostic criteria, and graded on the Nottingham Severity Scale. All children with eczema and twice as many\nage/sex matched controls were offered complete blood counts, total IgE, and food specific IgE levels for egg\nwhite, cowââ?¬â?¢s milk protein and wheat.\nResults: One hundred and eighty two (95% of the eligible children) were assessed. Of the 182 children examined\neczema was diagnosed in 30 (16.5%) - 22 females and 8 males. The majority of children with eczema (20/30) were\nclassified as being in the moderate and severe category. Of the 22 with eczema and 40 controls who consented\nto venipuncture all but 3 had IgE levels above the lab''s reference range. Food specific antibody assays showed\nthat 32, 23, and 5 percent of children with eczema were sensitized to egg, milk, and wheat respectively. None of\nthe controls were sensitized.\nConclusions: The children of Natuashish, Labrador have a high rate of eczema, much of it graded as moderate or\nsevere. IgE levels were markedly elevated in children with and without eczema, with average values at least ten-fold\nhigher than other populations. There is no evidence of an unusual amount of sensitization to egg, milk or wheat....
Background: Industrialization in the northwest provinces of the People�s Republic of China is accelerating rapid\nincreases in early life environmental exposures, yet no publications have assessed health care provider capacity to\nmanage common hazards.\nMethods: To assess provider attitudes and beliefs regarding the environment in children�s health, determine\nself-efficacy in managing concerns, and identify common approaches to managing patients with significant\nexposures or environmentally-mediated conditions, a two-page survey was administered to pediatricians, child\ncare specialists, and nurses in five provinces (Gansu, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Ningxia). Descriptive and\nmultivariable analyses assessed predictors of strong self-efficacy, beliefs or attitudes.\nResults: 960 surveys were completed with <5% refusal; 695 (72.3%) were valid for statistical analyses. The role of\nenvironment in health was rated highly (mean 4.35 on a 1-5 scale). Self-efficacy reported with managing lead, pesticide,\nair pollution, mercury, mold and polychlorinated biphenyl exposures were generally modest (2.22-2.52 mean).\n95.4% reported patients affected with 11.9% reporting seeing >20 affected patients. Only 12.0% reported specific\ntraining in environmental history taking, and 12.0% reported owning a text on children�s environmental health.\nGeographic disparities were most prominent in multivariable analyses, with stronger beliefs in environmental\ncausation yet lower self-efficacy in managing exposures in the northwestern-most province.\nConclusions: Health care providers in Northwest China have strong beliefs regarding the role of environment in\nchildren�s health, and frequently identify affected children. Few are trained in environmental history taking or\nrate self-efficacy highly in managing common hazards. Enhancing provider capacity has promise for improving\nchildren�s health in the region....
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