Influence of the home environment on preschoolers’ dietary intake in middle class families enrolled in a preschool program in metropolitan Seattle

Background: Obesity in the United States has become a major health issue, affecting not only adults, but children as well. The increase among preschool children is of major concern, with 2 out of 10 children in 2008 being overweight or obese. It is important to start obesity prevention at a young age in order to avoid the development of obesity and its detrimental health conditions. Children begin to develop eating habits at a young age, and the home eating environment may have an influence on the development of eating habits. Purpose: To assess the influence of both a positive and negative home eating environment on preschoolers’ intake of fruits and vegetables and snack foods. Setting: A cooperative preschool in metropolitan Seattle, WA. Subjects: Families with children aged 12 months to 5 years (n= 163) were contacted and asked to participate. One hundred and forty-two surveys were distributed and 75 responses were obtained. Research Design: Quantitative study. Data Collection and Analysis: A survey with questions based on a Likert scale was designed specifically for this study. A score for fruit and vegetable intake (FV), snack foods intake (SF), positive home environment (HE), and negative home environment was calculated for each individual. Pearson’s product-moment correlations, individual samples t-test analyses, ANOVA, and frequencies of behaviors were calculated. Findings: A Pearson product-moment correlation revealed significant and non-significant correlations. There was a negative correlation, but not significant, between HE score and FV intake [r = -.199, n =69, p = .102], where the more negative HE factors that were present in the household, the fewer FV were consumed. There was a positive correlation, but not significant, v between HE score and SF intake [r = .191, n =70, p = .113]. There was a statistically significant correlation (p≤.01) between FV availability and FV intake [r = .323, n =75, p = .005]. There was a statistically significant correlation (p≤.05) between the SF availability and SF intake [r = .246, n =73, p = .036]. There was a statistically significant correlation (p≤.01) between SF intake and FV intake [r=.333, n=73, p=.004]. An independent-samples t-test revealed a significant difference (p≤.01) in scores of FV availability for positive HE (M=0.54±0.08) versus negative HE (M=0.45±0.09); t(69)=3.99, p≤.00. These results suggest that there is more FV availability in positive HE. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the home eating environment does have an influence on the dietary intake of FV and SF of preschoolers, where a positive HE correlates with higher availability of FV and increased intake by preschoolers, and a negative HE correlates with a higher availability of SF and increased intake of these foods by preschoolers

Cross-sectional study of ethnic differences in the utility of area deprivation measures to target socioeconomically deprived individuals

Area deprivation measures provide a pragmatic tool for targeting public health interventions at socioeconomically deprived individuals. Ethnic minority groups in the UK experience higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation and certain associated diseases than the White population. The aim of this study was to explore ethnic differences in the utility of area deprivation measures as a tool for targeting socioeconomically deprived individuals. We carried out a cross-sectional study using the Health Survey for England 2004. 7,208 participants aged 16-64 years from the four largest ethnic groups in England (White, Indian, Pakistani and Black Caribbean) were included. The main outcome measures were percentage agreement, sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) of area deprivation, measured using Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, in relation to individual socioeconomic position (measured by education, occupation, income, housing tenure and car access). We found that levels of both area and individual deprivation were higher in the Pakistani and Black Caribbean groups compared to the White group. Across all measures, agreement was lower in the Pakistani (50.9-63.4%) and Black Caribbean (61.0-70.1%) groups than the White (67.2-82.4%) group. However, sensitivity was higher in the Pakistani (0.56-0.64) and Black Caribbean (0.59-0.66) groups compared to the White group (0.24-0.38) and PPV was at least as high. The results for the Indian group were intermediate. We conclude that, in spite of lower agreement, area deprivation is better at identifying individual deprivation in ethnic minority groups. There was no evidence that area based targeting of public health interventions will disadvantage ethnic minority groups

Incentive processing in Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH): a reward-based antisaccade study

Little is known about how steroid hormones contribute to the beneficial effect of incentives on cognitive control during adolescent development. In this study, 27 adolescents with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH, mean age 15.6 years, 12 female), a disorder of cortisol deficiency and androgen excess, and 36 healthy participants (mean age 16.3 years, 18 female) completed a reward-based antisaccade task. In this mixed-saccade task, participants performed eye movements towards (prosaccades) or away (antisaccades) from a peripherally occuring stimulus. On incentive trials, monetary reward was provided for correct performance, while no such reward was provided on no-incentive trials. Consistent with the hypothesis, the results showed that healthy, but not CAH adolescents, significantly improved their inhibitory control (antisaccade accuracy) during incentive trials relative to no-incentive trials. These findings were not driven by severity of CAH (salt wasters vs. simple virilizers), individual hormone levels, sex, age-at-diagnosis, or medication type (dexamethasone vs. hydrocortisone). In addition, no significant differences between groups were found on orienting responses (prosaccades). Additional analyses revealed an impact of glucocorticoid (GC) dosage, such that higher GC dose predicted better antisaccade performance. However, this effect did not impact incentive processing. The data are discussed within the context of steroid hormone mediated effects on cognitive control and reward processing

Menstrual hygiene management and school absenteeism among adolescent students in Indonesia: evidence from a cross-sectional school-based survey

Objective: To assess the prevalence of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) knowledge and practices among adolescent schoolgirls in Indonesia, and assess factors associated with poor MHM and school absenteeism due to menstruation. Methods: A cross-sectional survey enrolled a representative sample of urban and rural school-going girls aged 12-19 years in four provinces of Indonesia. A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire obtained socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, practices and attitudes related to menstruation, MHM and school absenteeism. School water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities were also assessed. Univariate weighted population prevalence was estimated and multivariable logit regression analyses applied to explore associations. Results: A total of 1159 adolescent girls with a mean age of 15 years (SD = 1.8) participated. Most girls (90.8%, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 79.7-96.1) had reached menarche. Over half (64.1%, 95% CI = 49.9-76.2) reported poor MHM practices, and 11.1% (95% CI = 8.1-15.2) had missed one or more days of school during their most recent menstrual period. Poor MHM practices were associated with rural residence (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.13-2.64), province (various AOR), lower school grade (AOR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.05-2.74) and low knowledge of menstruation (AOR = 3.49, 95% CI = 1.61-7.58). Absenteeism was associated with living in rural areas (AOR = 3.96, 95% CI = 3.02-5.18), province (various AOR), higher school grade (AOR = 3.02, 95% CI = 2.08-4.38), believing menstruation should be kept secret (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.03-2.11), experiencing serious menstrual pain (AOR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.06-2.68) and showed mixed associations with school WASH facilities. Conclusions: High prevalence of poor MHM and considerable school absenteeism due to menstruation among Indonesian girls highlight the need for improved interventions that reach girls at a young age and address knowledge, shame and secrecy, acceptability of WASH infrastructure and menstrual pain management

A lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in clinical research has direct impact on patient care

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Constitutive Type VI Secretion System Expression Gives Vibrio cholerae Intra- and Interspecific Competitive Advantages

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) mediates protein translocation across the cell membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, including Vibrio cholerae – the causative agent of cholera. All V. cholerae strains examined to date harbor gene clusters encoding a T6SS. Structural similarity and sequence homology between components of the T6SS and the T4 bacteriophage cell-puncturing device suggest that the T6SS functions as a contractile molecular syringe to inject effector molecules into prokaryotic and eukaryotic target cells. Regulation of the T6SS is critical. A subset of V. cholerae strains, including the clinical O37 serogroup strain V52, express T6SS constitutively. In contrast, pandemic strains impose tight control that can be genetically disrupted: mutations in the quorum sensing gene luxO and the newly described regulator gene tsrA lead to constitutive T6SS expression in the El Tor strain C6706. In this report, we examined environmental V. cholerae isolates from the Rio Grande with regard to T6SS regulation. Rough V. cholerae lacking O-antigen carried a nonsense mutation in the gene encoding the global T6SS regulator VasH and did not display virulent behavior towards Escherichia coli and other environmental bacteria. In contrast, smooth V. cholerae strains engaged constitutively in type VI-mediated secretion and displayed virulence towards prokaryotes (E. coli and other environmental bacteria) and a eukaryote (the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum). Furthermore, smooth V. cholerae strains were able to outcompete each other in a T6SS-dependent manner. The work presented here suggests that constitutive T6SS expression provides V. cholerae with an advantage in intraspecific and interspecific competition.Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Operating Grant MOP-84473)Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions, Endowment Fund)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant MD001091-01)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant GM068855-02)Olegario V. Rana FellowshipAlberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions Graduate Studentships

The EHA Research Roadmap : Malignant Lymphoid Diseases

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