Impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of Catalonia, Spain: a difference in differences study

BACKGROUND: Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is contributing to the obesity epidemic. On 28 March 2017, Catalonia enacted a law levying an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages for public health reasons. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in Catalonia (Spain). METHODS: Before-and-after study to assess changes in the prevalence of consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among 1929 persons aged 12 to 40 years residing in low-income neighbourhoods of Barcelona (intervention) and Madrid (control). Beverage consumption frequency was ascertained via a validated questionnaire administered during the month prior to the tax's introduction (May 2017) and again at 1 year after it had come into force. The effect of the tax was obtained using Poisson regression models with robust variance weighted using propensity scores. RESULTS: While the prevalence of regular consumers of taxed beverages fell by 39% in Barcelona as compared to Madrid, the prevalence of consumers of untaxed beverages remained stable. The main reason cited by more than two-thirds of those surveyed for reducing their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was the increase in price, followed by a heightened awareness of their health effects. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of the Catalonian excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages was followed by a reduction in the prevalence of regular consumers of taxed beverages.This study was supported by the Spanish Health Research Fund (Fondo deInvestigación Sanitaria - FIS) of the Carlos III Institute of Health (Project ENPY120/18) and the Spanish Consumers’Organisation (Organización deConsumidores y Usuarios - OCU). The funders had no role in the design of thestudy, in collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, or in writing themanuscriptS

Euler, números primos y la función zeta

En este articulo se muestran principalmente, la contribución de Leonhard Euler al surgimiento de la función ζ(x), y las primeras relaciones entre esta y los números primos

Euler, números primos y la función zeta

En este articulo se muestran principalmente, la contribución de Leonhard Euler al surgimiento de la función ζ(x), y las primeras relaciones entre esta y los números primos

Adherence to mediterranean diet and its associated factors in adolescents from Madrid

[ES] Objetivo: La dieta poco saludable es el principal factor que contribuye a la obesidad infantil. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la adherencia a la dieta mediterránea en una muestra de adolescentes y analizar los factores asociados a la misma. Metodos: Se realizó una encuesta transversal a 573 adolescentes de entre 11 y 14 años en Madrid en 2018. Se recogieron variables mediante un cuestionario. La adherencia a la dieta mediterránea se midió con el índice KIDMED. Las características asociadas a una alta adherencia se analizaron mediante razones de prevalencia (RP) obtenidas con regresión de Poisson de varianza robusta. Resultados: El 64,3% de los participantes presentaron un nivel de adherencia medio a la dieta mediterránea. La alta adherencia fue menos frecuente en adolescentes mujeres (17% [RP=0,63; p=0,02]), cuyas madres no habían superado los estudios primarios (16,3% [RP=0,58; p=0,07]), que dormían menos de 8,5 horas al día (16,8% [RP=0,54; p<0,01]) o que usaban el móvil más de 2,6 horas al día (12,2% [RP=0,56; p=0,02]). Conclusiones: La adherencia a la dieta mediterránea es inferior a la óptima en cuatro de cada cinco adolescentes, y resulta menor en adolescentes mujeres, cuyas madres no superaron los estudios primarios o que dedicaban más tiempo al móvil y menos a dormir. Nuestros resultados apuntan a la importancia de atender a los hábitos de sueño y a reducir el uso de pantallas para mejorar la adherencia a la dieta mediterránea en adolescentes. [EN] Objective: Unhealthy diet is the main contributor to childhood obesity. The aim of this study was to assess adherence to the mediterranean diet in a sample of adolescents and analyse adherence-related factors. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study (June-October 2020), in a non-probabilistic sample of 473 patients with Substance Use Disorder, from the 8 Addiction Care Centers (CAD) of the Madrid City Council. Their demographic, habits and health characteristics, IgM and IgG for SARS-CoV-2, previous PCR, presence of symptoms, contact with COVID-19 cases were described, and multivariate analysis was performed using binary logistic regression. Results: A total of 64.3% of participants displayed a medium level and 21.3% a high level of adherence to the mediterranean diet. High adherence was less frequent among teenage girls (17% [PR=0.63; p=0.02]), those whose mothers had not gone beyond primary school (16.3% [PR=0.58; p=0.07]), those who slept less than 8.5 h/day (16.8% [PR=0.54; p<0.01]), and those who used a mobile telephone for more than 2.6 hours per day (12.2% [PR=0.56; p=0.02]). Conclusions: Adherence to the mediterranean diet is less than optimum in four out of five adolescents, and is lower in teenage girls whose mothers had not gone beyond primary school or who devote more time to mobile telephones and less time to sleeping. Our results highlight the importance of paying attention to sleeping habits and reducing the use of screens when seeking to improve mediterranean diet adherence among adolescents.Este trabajo fue apoyado por el Instituto Mixto de Investigación, Escuela Nacional de Sanidad (IMIENS), resolución del 14 de febrero de 2019.S

Higher risk of malaria transmission outdoors than indoors by Nyssorhynchus darlingi in riverine communities in the Peruvian Amazon.

BACKGROUND: Malaria remains an important public health problem in Peru where incidence has been increasing since 2011. Of over 55,000 cases reported in 2017, Plasmodium vivax was the predominant species (76%), with P. falciparum responsible for the remaining 24%. Nyssorhynchus darlingi (previously Anopheles darlingi) is the main vector in Amazonian Peru, where hyperendemic Plasmodium transmission pockets have been found. Mazán district has pronounced spatial heterogeneity of P. vivax malaria. However, little is known about behavior, ecology or seasonal dynamics of Ny. darlingi in Mazán. This study aimed to gather baseline information about bionomics of malaria vectors and transmission risk factors in a hyperendemic malaria area of Amazonian Peru. METHODS: To assess vector biology metrics, five surveys (two in the dry and three in the rainy season), including collection of sociodemographic information, were conducted in four communities in 2016-2017 on the Napo (Urco Miraño, URC; Salvador, SAL) and Mazán Rivers (Visto Bueno, VIB; Libertad, LIB). Human-biting rate (HBR), entomological inoculation rate (EIR) and human blood index (HBI) were measured to test the hypothesis of differences in entomological indices of Ny. darlingi between watersheds. A generalized linear mixed effect model (GLMM) was constructed to model the relationship between household risk factors and the EIR. RESULTS: Nyssorhynchus darlingi comprised 95% of 7117 Anophelinae collected and its abundance was significantly higher along the Mazán River. The highest EIRs (3.03-4.54) were detected in March and June in URC, LIB and VIB, and significantly more Ny. darlingi were infected outdoors than indoors. Multivariate analysis indicated that the EIR was >12 times higher in URC compared with SAL. The HBI ranged from 0.42-0.75; humans were the most common blood source, followed by Galliformes and cows. There were dramatic differences in peak biting time and malaria incidence with similar bednet coverage in the villages. CONCLUSIONS: Nyssorhynchus darlingi is the predominant contributor to malaria transmission in the Mazán District, Peru. Malaria risk in these villages is higher in the peridomestic area, with pronounced heterogeneities between and within villages on the Mazán and the Napo Rivers. Spatiotemporal identification and quantification of the prevailing malaria transmission would provide new evidence to orient specific control measures for vulnerable or at high risk populations

Analysis of labour market needs for engineers with enhanced knowledge in renewable energy in some European and Latin-American Countries

One of the main challenges related to the renewable energy labour market is that of human capital and as a consequence the educational profile of future employees is of paramount importance. Unfortunately, the skill level gained at University does not always fit with the practical needs of industry thus reducing the benefit-cost ratio of new employees and slowing down the transition to a green economy. Within this context, ‘The Crux’ project co-funded by EU under the framework of the Erasmus + programme aims at improving the renewable energy engineering curriculum at different university levels in several Universities of Latin America and Europe. In order to better appreciate the potential impact of the project, a survey on the labour market need for specialists with enhanced knowledge and skills in renewable and sustainable energy technologies has been conducted in the related EU and Latin America countries. More precisely, 60 organizations have been interviewed and almost 70% of them are interested in employing engineers with enhanced knowledge on renewable energy in the next three years. The analysis has shown significant discrepancies between EU and Latin American organizations. In fact, while future employees in EU countries will be mainly related to solar energy and management, the former together with wind and biomass will represent the main renewable energy working sector in Latin American countries. Moreover, MSc level will be the most demanded in EU while bachelor education seems to satisfy the future industry requirements in Latin America. Despite each country having its own needs, the research carried out under this EU project confirms the potential of renewable energy education on the global labour market in the near future