3D body scanning and healthcare applications

Developed largely for the clothing industry, 3D body-surface scanners are transforming our ability to accurately measure and visualize a person's body size, shape, and skin-surface area. Advancements in 3D whole-body scanning seem to offer even greater potential for healthcare applications

Anthropometry and body composition of 18 year old men according to duration of breast feeding: birth cohort study from Brazil

Objective: To assess the association between duration of breast feeding and measures of adiposity in adolescence. Design: Population based birth cohort study. Setting: Pelotas, a city of 320 000 inhabitants in a relatively developed area in southern Brazil. Participants: All newborn infants in the city's hospitals were enrolled in 1982; 78.8% (2250) of all male participants were located at age 18 years when enrolling in the national army. Main outcome measures: Weight, height, sitting height, subscapular and triceps skinfolds, and body composition (body fat, lean mass). Results: Neither the duration of total breast feeding nor that of predominant breast feeding (breast milk plus non-nutritive fluids) showed consistent associations with anthropometric or body composition indices. After adjustment for confounding factors, the only significant associations were a greater than 50% reduction in obesity among participants breast fed for three to five months compared with all other breastfeeding categories (P = 0.007) and a linear decreasing trend in obesity with increasing duration of predominant breast feeding (P = 0.03). Similar significant effects were not observed for other measures of adiposity. Borderline direct associations also occurred between total duration of breast feeding and adult height (P = 0.06). Conclusions: The significant reduction in obesity among children breast fed for three to five months is difficult to interpret, as no a priori hypothesis existed regarding a protective effect of intermediate duration of breast feeding. The findings indicate that, in this population, breast feeding has no marked protective effect against adolescent adiposity

Association between worldwide dietary and lifestyle patterns with total cholesterol concentrations and DALYs for infectious and cardiovascular diseases: An ecological analysis

Global dietary and lifestyle trends are primary risk factors for communicable and non-communicable diseases. An ecological analysis was conducted to examine the association of global dietary and lifestyle patterns with total cholesterol concentrations. This study also investigated whether total cholesterol modified the association between dietary and lifestyle habits with disability-adjusted-life-years-lost (DALYs) for infectious and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Country-specific mean total cholesterol concentrations and DALYs for infectious and CVDs were obtained. Data were then matched to country-specific food and energy availability for consumption and information on obesity, physical inactivity, urbanization, gross domestic product (GDP), life expectancy and smoking. Stepwise multiple regression models were developed to identify significant predictors of total cholesterol concentrations and DALYs for infectious and CVDs. Life expectancy and egg and meat consumption were significantly associated with cholesterol concentrations. DALYs for infectious diseases were associated with smoking, life expectancy and per capita GDP. Smoking was the only predictor of DALYs for CVDs. The improvement of socio-demographic conditions and economic growth is likely to reduce the burden of communicable diseases in developing countries. A concurring increase in non-communicable diseases is expected, and these results have, yet again, identified smoking as a primary risk factor for CVDs

The effect of diet and sex on sleeping metabolic rate in 12-week-old infants

Objective: Sleeping metabolic rate (SMR) in 12-week-old infants was adjusted for body size and body composition and then compared between the sexes and between breast-fed and formula-fed infants

Calculation of total body water in infancy

Objective: Total body water can be calculated using stable isotopes by two alternative approaches known as the plateau method and the back extrapolation method. These methods treat the isotopic data in different ways and consequently do not necessarily produce identical values for total body water. Total body water was therefore calculated using both methods using two different tracers, H-2 and O-18

Correction for environmental water influx in measurement of milk volume intake by deuterium turnover in infants

Measurement of milk volume intake (MVI) in infants is a useful tool for assessing nutritional intake. Current measurement techniques include test-weighing, weighing formula-bottles, and calculation of MVI from water turnover estimated isotopically. Test-weighing of breast-fed infants may disturb normal feeding behaviour and thus influence intake. Calculation of MVI from water turnover is a non-invasive measurement method and can be applied to all infants whether breast-fed or formula-fed. The method requires correction for environmental water influx (EWI) which constitutes non-oral water intake. EWI has previously been investigated only in premature or malnourished infants. The correction factor for EWI was calculated by comparing MVI obtained from weighing formula-bottles and measured isotopically in 21 formula-fed infants at 12 weeks of age. The mean correction factor, by which total water intake should be adjusted to obtain oral water intake, was 0.937 (S.E. 0.017). The proportion of water intake derived from non-oral sources was therefore 6.3%

Patterns of infant weight gain in developing countries

Data relating to weight of infants from 23 developing countries and two western industrialized populations taken from the literature were compared. Growth in the developing countries was extremely variable, but was poor compared to western standards such that by 12 months of age mean weight in all 23 populations was below the NCHS 50th percentile (P < 0.001) and in 11 populations mean weight was below the 10th percentile. Birth weight was not related to growth increment in the first 3 months. Multiple regression analysis showed birth weight and growth increments in the first four 3-month periods post-partum to be highly significantly related to weight at 12 months (P< 0.0001 in all cases). Growth increment in the first 3 months had the greatest effect out of these variables; the effect of the other four variables was similar. These patterns demonstrate the variable impact of environmental factors on growth in the first year of life

Adjusting milk intake for body size in early infancy

Energy intake and expenditure are related to body size and body composition and therefore must be taken into consideration when comparing individuals. Previous work has typically expressed energy metabolism variables per kilogram body weight or per kilogram fat-free mass. However this may not remove the effect of body size entirely. In infancy milk volume intake is usually expressed in a similar manner which may not be entirely appropriate. The most appropriate method of expressing milk volume intake relative to body weight and fat-free mass was investigated in 20 normal breast-fed infants at 6 weeks of age. Regression analysis revealed that the relationship between milk intake and body weight could be adjusted for by expressing milk intake per kg(0.68), and that the relationship between milk intake and fat-free mass could be adjusted for by expressing milk intake per kg(0.54). These values are not significantly different to 0.50 which is the square root of body weight. It is suggested that in studies of energy metabolism in infancy the expression of milk intake per kg(0.50) should be used as the most appropriate adjustment for removing the influence of body size upon milk intake, in the first few months of life

Attentional Strategies During Rowing

This investigation explored the relationship between task intensity, competitive setting, and attentional strategy in collegiate rowers. Here, the associative-dissociative dimension of attentional focus is considered. Associative thoughts are task-related, whereas dissociative thoughts are not. Previous work has linked associative strategies with higher level performance, and higher intensities of exercise (i.e. those which exceed the ventilatory threshold). Male and female collegiate rowers (N = 298) completed three training sessions (one each at low, moderate, and high intensity) and two races (short and long distance). Results revealed that the higher the training intensity, the greater the degree of association. A greater degree of association was also observed in competition as opposed to training, and in short distance versus long distance races. There was no gender difference in attentional strategy. Finally, it was shown that the variation in attentional strategy was inversely proportional to exercise intensity. These findings support previous work examining the effect of task intensity on attentional focus [1], in a field based setting. Furthermore, new insight is offered regarding how competition interacts with intensity in this relationship

The contribution of fat and fat-free tissue to body mass index in contemporary children and the reference child

BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) is widely used to assess the prevalence of childhood obesity in populations, and to infer risk of subsequent obesity-related disease. However, BMI does not measure fat directly, and its relationship with body fatness is not necessarily stable over time