Body image perception and weight-related behaviour among adolescents of the Seychelles

Background: We examined one's own body image perception and its association with reported weight-related behavior among adolescents of a rapidly developing country in the African region. Methods: We conducted a school-based survey of 1432 students aged 11-17 years in the Seychelles. Weight and height were measured, and thinness, normal weight and overweight were assessed along standard criteria. A self-administered and anonymous questionnaire was administered. Perception of body image was assessed using both a closed-ended question (CEQ) and the Stunkard's pictorial silhouettes (SPS). Finally, a question assessed voluntary attempts to change weight. Results: Overall, 14.1% of the students were thin, 63.9% were normal-weight, and 22.0% were overweight or obese. There was fair agreement between actual weight status and self-perceived body image based on either CEQ or SPS. However, a substantial proportion of the overweight students did not consider themselves as overweight (SPS: 24%, CEQ: 34%) and, inversely, a substantial proportion of the normal-weight students considered themselves as too thin (SPS: 29%, CEQ: 15%). Among the overweight students, an adequate attempt to lose weight was reported more often by boys and girls who perceived themselves as overweight vs. not overweight (72-88% vs. 40-71%, p <0.05 for most comparisons). Among the normal-weight students, an inadequate attempt to gain weight was reported more often by boys and girls who perceived themselves as thin vs. not thin (27-68% vs. 11-19%, p <0.05). Girls had leaner own body ideals than boys. Conclusions: We found that substantial proportions of overweight students did not perceive themselves as overweight and/or did not want to lose weight and, inversely, that many normalweight students perceived themselves as too thin and/or wanted to gain weight: this points to forces that can drive the upwards overweight trends. Appropriate perception of one's weight was associated with adequate weight-control behavior, although not strongly, emphasizing that appropriate weight perception is only one of several factors driving adequate weight-related behavior. These findings emphasize the need to address appropriate perception of one's own weight and adequate weight-related behavior in adolescents for both individual and community weight-related interventions

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in Seychelles : results of the School Screening Program in 2013

Results related to overweight and obesity in 2013: Participation to the school screening program was satisfactory in 2013, but a bit less than in previous years (4220 children seen out of a total of approximately 6000 eligible ones). Less than maximal participation to the screening program can relate to different factors, e.g.; a trend for obese children to decline participation; lack of time of school nurses to complete the screening program due to competing duties at health centre level. Good organization by the school nurses and adequate facilities for screening are also important factors for a good conduct of the screening program

Increasing prevalence of overweight among Seychelles children, 1998-2002

To examine the prevalence and trends in excess weight among children in the Seychelles. Serial surveys of weight and height were conducted each year between 1998-2002 in all students attending four school grades (crèche, 4th, 7th and 10th years of compulsoryschool). Overweight and obesity were defined using age-specific body mass index (BMI) criteria of the International Obesity Task Force. Two questions explored physical activity at leisure time and daily walking time. From an eligible total of 32 077 observations between 1998-2002, data were available in 22 694 (71%), which corresponded to 17 627 separate children. Median age in the four grades was respectively 5.5, 9.2, 12.6, and 15.8 years. The overall prevalence of excess weight ('overweight' and 'obese' categories combined) was 10.5% in boys and 16.4% in girls. From 1998 to 2002, the prevalence of excess weight increased from 8.4% to 11.8% in boys and from 11.9% to 18.4% in girls. The increase of excess weight over calendar years was particularly marked among the younger children. Only a quarter of children reported walking at least 30 minutes per day. Leisure physical activity was inverselyassociated with excess body weight. The prevalence of excess body weight was high among school children of Seychelles and increased substantially over a five-year period. This calls for prompt and energetic policies and programs to promote physical activity and healthy nutrition among children. [Authors]]]> Obesity ; Child ; Adolescent ; Schools ; Seychelles oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_F8F7E9DEAB96 2022-05-07T01:30:27Z openaire documents urnserval <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_F8F7E9DEAB96 Recruitment of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) to the Fibroblast Cell Surface by Lysyl Hydroxylase 3 (LH3) Triggers Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) Activation and Fibroblast Differentiation. info:doi:10.1074/jbc.M114.622274 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1074/jbc.M114.622274 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/25825495 Dayer, C. Stamenkovic, I. info:eu-repo/semantics/article article 2015 Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 290, no. 22, pp. 13763-13778 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1083-351X urn:issn:0021-9258 <![CDATA[Solid tumor growth triggers a wound healing response. Similar to wound healing, fibroblasts in the tumor stroma differentiate into myofibroblasts (also referred to as cancer-associated fibroblasts) primarily, but not exclusively, in response to transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). Myofibroblasts in turn enhance tumor progression by remodeling the stroma. Among proteases implicated in stroma remodeling, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), including MMP-9, play a prominent role. Recent evidence indicates that MMP-9 recruitment to the tumor cell surface enhances tumor growth and invasion. In the present work, we addressed the potential relevance of MMP-9 recruitment to and activity at the surface of fibroblasts. We show that recruitment of MMP-9 to the fibroblast cell surface occurs through its fibronectin-like (FN) domain and that the molecule responsible for the recruitment is lysyl hydroxylase 3 (LH3). Functional assays suggest that both pro- and active MMP-9 trigger α-smooth muscle actin expression in cultured fibroblasts, reflecting myofibroblast differentiation, possibly as a result of TGF-β activation. Moreover, the recombinant FN domain inhibited both MMP-9-induced TGF-β activation and α-smooth muscle actin expression by displacing MMP-9 from the fibroblast cell surface. Together our results uncover LH3 as a new docking receptor of MMP-9 on the fibroblast cell surface and demonstrate that the MMP-9 FN domain is essential for the interaction. They also show that the recombinant FN domain inhibits MMP-9-induced TGF-β activation and fibroblast differentiation, providing a potentially attractive therapeutic reagent toward attenuating tumor progression where MMP-9 activity is strongly implicated

Prevalence of self-reported risk behaviors related to non-communicable diseases among Seychellois students aged 15 years and relationships with personal and other characteristics

[Table des matières] 1. Executive summary. 2. Methods. 3. Data collection phase and participation. 4. Tobacco. 4.1. Prevalence. 4.2. Reasons for smoking or for not smoking. 4.3. Comparison with other countries. 5. Drinking habits. 5.1. Prevalence. 5.2. Reasons for drinking or for not drinking. 5.3. Comparison with other countries. 6. Marijuana or hashish. 61. Prevalence. 6.2. Reasons for taking drugs and for not taking drugs. 6.3. Relationships between smoking, drinking and taking marijuana. 7. Physical activity outside school hours. 7.1. Prevalence. 7.2. Comparison with other countries. 7.3. Response to statements about sports. 8. Dietary habits. 8.1. Frequency of intake of selected foods. 8.2. Patterns for taking breakfast and lunch. 8.3. Comparison of food intake with other countries. 9. Body weight and perception of body image. 9.1. Prevalence overweight and obesity. 9.2. Self-perceived size, height appearance. 10. Practices during leisure time. 11. Indicators of personal skills and feelings. 12. Indicators of attitudes, behaviors and performance related to school. 13. Relationships between smoking, drug taking, drinking and overweight and selected personal, educational, emotional and other characteristics. 14. Information that students report to receive and wish to receive at school. Appendix: Questions (derived from the standard HBSC) and answers with detailed results by sex and class categories

Expectation to Improve Cardiovascular Risk Factors Control in Participants to a Health Promotion Program

Background: We assessed expectations to improve cardiovascular disease risk factors (CVD-RF) in participants to a health promotion program. Participants and Methods: Blood pressure (BP), blood glucose (BG), blood total cholesterol (TC), body mass index (BMI), and self-reported smoking were assessed in 1,598 volunteers from the general public (men: 40%; mean age: 56.7 ± 12.7years) participating in a mobile health promotion program in the Vaud canton, Switzerland. Participants were asked about their expectation to have their CVD-RF improved at a next visit scheduled 2-3years later. Results: Expectation for improved control was found in 90% of participants with elevated BP, 91% with elevated BG, 45% with elevated TC, 44% who were overweight, and 35% who were smoking. Expectation for TC improvement was reported more often by men, persons with high level of TC, and persons who had consulted a doctor in the past 12months. Expectations to lose weight and to quit smoking were found more often in younger persons than the older ones. Conclusion: Volunteers from the general population participating in a health promotion program expected improved control more often for hypertension and dysglycemia than for dyslipidemia, overweight and smokin

Less is More? : Dépistage des facteurs de risque cardiovasculaire chez les enfants

Les facteurs de risque cardiovasculaire se développent dès l’enfance et augmentent le risque de maladies cardiovasculaires à l’âge adulte. Sur la base de ces observations, le dépistage universel de facteurs de risque comme l’hypertension ou la dyslipidémie est parfois proposé chez les enfants. Faut-il recommander un dépistage universel des facteurs de risque des maladies cardiovasculaires dès l’enfance

Association between obesity indices and cardiovascular risk factors in late adolescence in the Seychelles.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The ability of different obesity indices to predict cardiovascular risk is still debated in youth and few data are available in sub Saharan Africa. We compared the associations between several indices of obesity and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) in late adolescence in the Seychelles. METHODS: We measured body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist/hip ratio (WHiR), waist/height ratio (WHtR) and percent fat mass (by bioimpedance) and 6 CVRFs (blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood glucose and uric acid) in 423 youths aged 19-20 years from the general population. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight/obesity and several CVRFs was high, with substantial sex differences. Except for glucose in males and LDL-cholesterol in females, all obesity indices were associated with CVRFs. BMI consistently predicted CVRFs at least as well as the other indices. Linear regression on BMI had standardized regression coefficients of 0.25-0.36 for most CVRFs (p&lt;0.01) and ROC analysis had an AUC between 60%-75% for most CVRFs. BMI also predicted well various combinations of CVRFs: 36% of male and 16% of female lean subjects (BMI &lt;P50) had ≥2 CVRFs compared to 74% of male and 46% of female overweight subjects (BMI &gt;P90). CONCLUSION: There was an elevated prevalence of obesity and of several CVRFs in youths in Seychelles. BMI predicted single or combined CVRFs at least as well as other simple obesity indices