A smartphone intervention for adolescent obesity: study protocol for a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial

Background There are few evidence-based mobile health solutions for treating adolescent obesity. The primary aim of this parallel non-inferiority trial is to assess the effectiveness of an experimental smartphone application in reducing obesity at 12 months, compared to the Temple Street W82GO Healthy Lifestyles intervention. Methods/design The primary outcome measure is change in body mass index standardised deviation score at 12 months. The secondary aim is to compare the effect of treatment on secondary outcomes, including waist circumference, insulin sensitivity, quality of life, physical activity and psychosocial health. Adolescents with a body mass index at or above the 98th percentile (12 to 17 years) will be recruited from the Obesity clinic at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. W82GO is a family-based lifestyle change intervention delivered in two phases over 12 months. In the current study, participants will be randomised for phase two of treatment to either usual care or care delivered via smartphone application. One hundred and thirty-four participants will be randomised between the two study arms. An intention-to-treat analysis will be used to compare treatment differences between the groups at 12 months. Discussion The results of this study will be disseminated via open access publication and will provide important information for clinicians, patients and policy makers regarding the use of mobile health interventions in the management of adolescent obesity. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01804855

Stressors and resources mediate the association of socioeconomic position with health behaviours

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Determinants of premature mortality in a city population: An eight-year observational study concerning subjects aged 18–64

Background: Premature deaths constitute 31.1% of all deaths in Łódź. Analysis of the causes of premature deaths may be helpful in the evaluation of health risk factors. Moreover, findings of this study may enhance prophylactic measures. Material and Methods: In 2001, 1857 randomly selected citizens, aged 18-64, were included in the Countrywide Integrated Noncommunicable Diseases Intervention (CINDI) Programme. In 2009, a follow-up study was conducted and information on the subjects of the study was collected concerning their health status and if they continued to live in Łódź. The Cox proportional hazards model was used for evaluation of hazard coefficients. We adjusted our calculations for age and sex. The analysis revealed statistically significant associations between the number of premature deaths of the citizens of Łódź and the following variables: a negative self-evaluation of health - HR = 3.096 (95% CI: 1.729-5.543), poor financial situation - HR = 2.811 (95% CI: 1.183‑6.672), occurring in the year preceding the study: coronary pain - HR = 2.754 (95% CI: 1.167-6.494), depression - HR = 2.001 (95% CI: 1.222-3.277) and insomnia - HR = 1.660 (95% CI: 1.029-2.678). Our research study also found a negative influence of smoking on the health status - HR = 2.782 (95% CI: 1.581-4.891). Moreover, we conducted survival analyses according to sex and age with Kaplan-Meier curves. Conclusions: The risk factors leading to premature deaths were found to be highly significant but possible to reduce by modifying lifestyle-related health behaviours. The confirmed determinants of premature mortality indicate a need to spread and intensify prophylactic activities in Poland, which is a post-communist country, in particular, in the field of cardiovascular diseases

Measuring Financial Capability and its Determinants Using Survey Data

Financial capability, Financial distress, Financial problems, Panel data, BHPS,

Do people want more wealth and status in unequal societies?

This chapter discusses the impact that economic inequality has on people’s desire for wealth and status. We first review three major perspectives from previous work suggesting a potential association between higher inequality and a greater desire for wealth and status: the social comparison perspective, the neo-material perspective, and the status anxiety perspective. In order to understand when (and for whom) this “higher inequality–greater desire” association is likely to be salient, we then propose a social identity perspective considering socio-structural factors such as the feasibility to achieve upward mobility in an unequal society and the stability and legitimacy of existing levels of inequality. According to the social identity perspective, we argue that in unequal societies both the “have-nots” and the “haves” are likely to be motivated to pursue more wealth and status, but for different reasons. We then report evidence from our recent research that not only provides evidence of the “higher inequality–greater desire” link but also shows that this link varies as a function of social class. We further discuss implications of these findings and suggest directions for future research

Cross-national differences in determinants of multiple deprivation in Europe

This paper analyses the relationship between deprivation, income and other individual dimensions over time, in eleven European countries, exploiting the longitudinal nature of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). First, the determinants of deprivation are analysed by using individual fixed effects models for each country separately. Second, a decomposition of the deprivation gaps between countries highlights the main reasons for the differentials across Europe. The results show that changes in income and deprivation do not strictly coincide and highlight the importance of employment status and income sources. In countries where deprivation is higher income is more effective in reducing the deprivation differential. However, a relevant part of the deprivation gap is attributable to a country specific effect revealing the importance of unobserved factors like cultural attitudes and institutions

Psychological Consequences of Inequality for Food Intake

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe