Socio-Demographic Patterning of Physical Activity across Migrant Groups in India: Results from the Indian Migration Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between rural to urban migration and physical activity (PA) in India. METHODS: 6,447 (42% women) participants comprising 2077 rural, 2,094 migrants and 2,276 urban were recruited. Total activity (MET hr/day), activity intensity (min/day), PA Level (PAL) television viewing and sleeping (min/day) were estimated and associations with migrant status examined, adjusting for the sib-pair design, age, site, occupation, education, and socio-economic position (SEP). RESULTS: Total activity was highest in rural men whereas migrant and urban men had broadly similar activity levels (p<0.001). Women showed similar patterns, but slightly lower levels of total activity. Sedentary behaviour and television viewing were lower in rural residents and similar in migrant and urban groups. Sleep duration was highest in the rural group and lowest in urban non-migrants. Migrant men had considerably lower odds of being in the highest quartile of total activity than rural men, a finding that persisted after adjustment for age, SEP and education (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.37, 0.74). For women, odds ratios attenuated and associations were removed after adjusting for age, SEP and education. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that migrants have already acquired PA levels that closely resemble long-term urban residents. Effective public health interventions to increase PA are needed

Tentative d'estimation d'une fonction prévisionnelle pour les investissements étrangers en Belgique

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Low anemia prevalence in school-aged children in Bangalore, South India: possible effect of school health initiatives

Objective: Anemia is a serious public health problem in Indian school children. Since 2003, simple health intervention programs such as antihelminthic treatment and vitamin A supplementation have been implemented in primary schools in the Bangalore region, Karnataka, India. This study examines the prevalence of anemia in school children who are beneficiaries of this program. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Bangalore district, South India. Subjects: A total of 2030 boys and girls, aged 5-15 years, attending schools in the Bangalore district. Interventions: School-based, twice yearly intervention: deworming (albendazole 400mg, single oral dose) and vitamin A supplementation (200 000 ¿U, single oral dose). Main outcome measures: Anemia prevalence based on measure of blood hemoglobin (Hb). Results: Mean age and blood Hb concentration of all children were 9.5±2.6 years and 12.6±1.1 g/dl (range 5.6-16.7), respectively. The overall anemia prevalence in this group was 13.6%. Anemia prevalence was lower in boys than girls (12.0%; n=1037 vs 15.3%; n = 993 respectively,

Exposure to maternal gestational diabetes is associated with higher cardiovascular responses to stress in adolescent indians

Context:Altered endocrinal and autonomic nervous system responses to stress may link impaired intra-uterine growth with later cardiovascular disease.Objective:To test the hypothesis that offspring of gestational diabetic mothers (OGDM) have high cortisol and cardiosympathetic responses during the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C).Design:Adolescents from a birth cohort in India (n = 213; mean age, 13.5 y), including 26 OGDM, 22 offspring of diabetic fathers (ODF), and 165 offspring of nondiabetic parents (controls) completed 5 minutes each of public speaking and mental arithmetic tasks in front of two unfamiliar “evaluators” (TSST-C). Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured at baseline and at regular intervals after the TSST-C. Heart rate, blood pressure (BP), stroke volume, cardiac output, and total peripheral resistance were measured continuously at baseline, during the TSST-C, and for 10 minutes after the test using a finger cuff; the beat-to-beat values were averaged for these periods.Results:Cortisol and cardiosympathetic parameters increased from baseline during stress (P &lt; .001). OGDM had greater systolic BP (mean difference, 5.6 mm Hg), cardiac output (0.5 L/min), and stroke volume (4.0 mL) increases and a lower total peripheral resistance rise (125 dyn · s/cm5) than controls during stress. ODF had greater systolic BP responses than controls (difference, 4.1 mm Hg); there was no difference in other cardiosympathetic parameters. Cortisol responses were similar in all three groups.Conclusions:Maternal diabetes during pregnancy is associated with higher cardiosympathetic stress responses in the offspring, which may contribute to their higher cardiovascular disease risk. Further research may confirm stress-response programming as a predictor of cardiovascular risk in OGDM.<br/

Childhood cognitive ability: relationship to gestational diabetes mellitus in India

Aims/hypothesis: Our aim was to test the hypothesis that gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in mothers is associated with poorer cognitive ability in their offspring in India. Methods: During 1997 to 1998 maternal GDM status was assessed by OGTT at 30?±?2 weeks of gestation. Between 2007 and 2008, at a mean age of 9.7 years, 515 children (32 offspring of GDM mothers [ODM]; 483 offspring of non-GDM mothers [controls]) from the Mysore Parthenon birth cohort underwent cognitive function assessment using tests from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children—Second Edition and additional tests measuring learning, long-term storage/retrieval, short-term memory, reasoning, attention and concentration, and visuo-spatial and verbal abilities. Results: Compared with controls, ODM scored higher in tests for learning, long-term retrieval/storage (p?=?0.008), reasoning (p?=?0.02), verbal ability (p?=?0.01), and attention and concentration (p?=?0.003). In multiple regression, adjusted for the child’s age, sex, gestation, neonatal weight and head circumference, maternal age, parity and BMI, and the parent’s socioeconomic status, education and rural/urban residence, this difference remained significant only for learning, long-term retrieval/storage (??=?0.4 SD (95% CI 0.01–0.75); p?=?0.04) and verbal ability (??=?0.5 SD (95% CI 0.09–0.83); p?=?0.02), and not with other test scores. Conclusions/interpretation: In this population of healthy Indian children, there was no evidence of lower cognitive ability in ODM. In fact some cognitive scores were higher in ODM. <br/

Undernutrition, fatty acid and micronutrient status in relation to cognitive performance in Indian school children: a cross-sectional study

While undernutrition and anaemia have previously been linked to poor development of children, relatively little is known about the role of B-vitamins and fatty acids on cognition. The present study aims to explore the associations between indicators of body size, fatty acid and micronutrient status on cognitive performance in 598 Indian school children aged 6-10 years. Baseline data of a clinical study were used to assess these associations by analyses of variance adjusting for age, sex, school, maternal education and cognitive tester. The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children II was used to measure four cognitive domains, including fluid reasoning, short-term memory, retrieval ability and cognitive speediness. Scores were combined into an overall measure, named mental processing index (MPI). Body size indicators and Hb concentrations were significantly positively related to cognitive domains and MPI, such that increases of 1 sd in height-for-age and weight-for-age z-scores would each translate into a 0.09 sd increase in MPI, P = 0.0006 and 0.002, respectively. A 10 g/l increase in Hb concentrations would translate into a 0.08 sd increase in MPI, P = 0.0008. Log-transformed vitamin B12 concentrations were significantly inversely associated with short-term memory, retrieval ability and MPI (beta (95 % CI) = - 0.124 (- 0.224, - 0.023), P = 0.02). Other indicators of Fe, iodine, folate and fatty acid status were not significantly related to cognition. Our findings for body size, fatty acids and micronutrients were in agreement with previous observational studies. The inverse association of vitamin B12 with mental development was unexpected and needed further stud

Relationship between physical activity measured using accelerometers and energy expenditure measured using doubly labelled water in Indian children

Background/Objectives: to test the association between physical activity measured using accelerometer counts (Actigraph) and energy expenditure (EE) measured using the doubly labelled water (DLW) method in free-living children in India. The aim of this study was to explore the usefulness of Actigraphs in estimating EE.Subjects/Methods: total EE (TEE) was measured in 58 children aged 8–9 years over a period of 2 weeks using the DLW technique. Physical activity level (PAL) was estimated from TEE, and the basal metabolic rate was predicted from weight. Physical activity was measured simultaneously using the Actigraph accelerometers (MTI AM7164 and GT1M). TEE was also calculated from the Actigraph counts using a published equation.Results: TEE (mean: 6.6 vs 5.7 MJ, P=0.04) and Actigraph counts (counts/minute: 557 vs 465, P=0.02; total counts: 445 534 vs 354 748, P=0.004) were higher in boys than in girls. There were no significant correlations between either total Actigraph counts (r=0.15, P=0.3) or counts/minute (r=0.18, P=0.2), and TEE estimated using DLW. Similarly, there were no significant correlations between Actigraph counts and PAL (r=0.10, P=0.5; r=0.17, P=0.2, respectively). The Bland–Altman analysis showed poor agreement between TEE estimated using the DLW method and TEE derived from the Actigraph equation.Conclusions: activity measured using Actigraph accelerometers was not related to TEE and PAL derived using the DLW technique in children in Mysore. Actigraphs may not be useful in predicting EE in this setting, but may be better used for judging activity pattern

Trier social stress test in Indian adolescents

Objective: To test the Trier Social Stress Test for children (TSST-C) in a cohort of Indian adolescents.Design: Cohort study.Setting: Holdsworth Memorial Hospital, Mysore, India.Participants: Adolescent children (N=273, 134 males; mean age 13.6 yrs) selected from an ongoing birth cohort; 269 completed the test.Intervention: Performance of 5-minutes each of public- speaking and mental arithmetic tasks in front of two unfamiliar 'evaluators'.Outcome Measures: Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured at baseline and at regular intervals after the TSST-C. Continuous measurements of heart rate, finger blood pressure, stroke volume, cardiac output and systemic vascular resistance were carried out before, during and for 10 minutes after the TSST-C using a finger cuff.Results: Cortisol concentrations [mean increment (SD): 6.1 (6.9) ng/mL], heart rate [4.6 (10.1) bpm], systolic [24.2 (11.6) mmHg] and diastolic blood pressure [16.5 (7.3) mmHg], cardiac output [0.6 (0.7) L/min], stroke volume [4.0 (5.6) mL] and systemic vascular resistance [225 (282) dyn.s/cm5] increased significantly (P&lt;0.001) from baseline after inducing stress.Conclusions:The TSST-C produces stress responses in Indian adolescents of a sufficient magnitude to be a useful tool for examining stress physiology and its relationships to disease outcomes in this populatio