Parental perception of weight and weight-related behaviour in 2- to 4-year-old children in the eastern part of the Netherlands

Parental perception of weight status and weight-related behaviour of their toddler was determined through a questionnaire survey in child health care centres (CHCs). Complete data on weight, length, sex and age were available for 635 of 682 children (93.1%). The median age of the children was 37.0 months (range 24–56 months). Of all 635 children, 76.5% were normal weight, 16.2% underweight and 7.2% overweight. Parents’ perception of the weight of their child compared with their peers was moderately related to the actual weight status. Of the parents of overweight and underweight children, 87.0% and 89.3%, respectively, were not concerned. Only the parents’ perception of the amount of food eaten by their child was significantly related to the weight status. The primary goal of CHC workers should be to create parental awareness in case of their child being overweight or underweight and to support them in accomplishing a healthy lifestyle

Preventing overweight and improving parenting skills from birth to age 3 years: preliminary results

Background. Parenting has been associated with child weight status. This study aims to evaluate the effects on parenting skills and BMI-SDS of the BBOFT+ overweight prevention program, compared to care-as-usual (CAU). Method. In a cluster-randomized trial, 2500 parents participated. Parent-reported weight and length were used. Parenting was measured with subscales control and reinforcement of the parenting strategies for eating and activity scale (PEAS) and the warmth subscale from the Child Rearing Questionnaire. Results. The first univariate analyses show that at age 15 months, no statistically significant differences in BMI- SDS, parental control, reinforcement or warmth were found between the BBOFT+ and the CAU group. Further cluster analyses need to be conducted. Results from age 36 months will be presented during the conference, which will include all subscales of the PEAS and an assessment of parenting styles. Conclusion. The intervention does not seem to have an effect on BMI-SDS or parenting

Survey of prevalence of protective and risk factors for SIDS in the Netherlands

BACKGROUND: From 1987 on, surveys have been conducted in the Netherlands to monitor babycare habits and target safe sleeping prevention campaigns. The last survey was conducted in 2011. In the Netherlands, the 2016 incidence of SIDS (R95) was 0.075/1000 live births (n=13); taking into account adjacent categories the SUDI incidence was 0.15/1000 (n=26). This low incidence, the lowest in the Western world, may result in decreased parental awareness of SIDS risks and complacency regarding preventive messages. Therefore, a new survey was conducted. OBJECTIVES: 1) To measure the prevalence of protective and risk factors for SIDS in the Netherlands in 2017 including new customs of babycare. 2) To compare 2011 prevalences with 2017. 3) To investigate why parents do not follow recommendations regarding safe sleep position and location. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire (52 questions). The study population encompassed parents/caregivers of infants up to 1 year of age living in the Netherlands. Between February 12 – April 30, 2017, invitations with a link to the questionnaire were distributed to 9000 parents visiting 17 child healthcare organizations. In healthcare centers in socially more deprived neighborhoods research assistants helped parents fill out the online questionnaire. In May and June, invitations to participate were also communicated using social media. We used SPSS 24 to calculate prevalence rates and performed a content analysis of answers on open-ended questions on reasons for not following SIDS prevention advice. RESULTS: In total 1289 questionnaires were filled out, of which 80 were excluded, mostly because the child was too old. The study population was comparable to the Dutch population in terms of sex ratio, preterm infants, and parents with a lower education. First-born infants and parents with a higher education were overrepresented, families with a migration background were underrepresented. Sleeping prone increased from 3.1% of infants when 0-2 months old to 13.6% at 9-11 months. Infants aged 0-2 months slept in a separate room in 31.5%, roomshared with parents in 52.3%, slept in an attached bedside sleeper in 9.7% and with their parent(s) in bed in 6.3%. For age 7-8 months this was respectively 71.2%, 15.2%, 4.0% and 8%. Only 4.5% of infants used a duvet. The typical Dutch sleeping sack (wearable blanket) was used for 55.8% of infants. Only 50% of infants 0-2 months and 23.6% of infants 5-6 months were breastfed exclusively. Of all mothers, 4z had smoked during pregnancy; of all infants 21.3% were exposed to parents’ smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The number of infants that sleep prone is comparable to 2011, with still significant room for improvement. Roomsharing with infants 0-2 months has increased significantly since 2011, but so has bedsharing. These data are important for future preventive campaigns

Electron gas polarization effect induced by heavy H-like ions of moderate velocities channeled in a silicon crystal

We report on the observation of a strong perturbation of the electron gas induced by 20 MeV/u U$^{91+}$ ions and 13 MeV/u Pb$^{81+}$ ions channeled in silicon crystals. This collective response (wake effect) in-duces a shift of the continuum energy level by more than 100 eV, which is observed by means of Radiative Electron Capture into the K and L-shells of the projectiles. We also observe an increase of the REC probability by 20-50% relative to the probability in a non-perturbed electron gas. The energy shift is in agreement with calculations using the linear response theory, whereas the local electron density enhancement is much smaller than predicted by the same model. This shows that, for the small values of the adiabaticity parameter achieved in our experiments, the density fluctuations are not strongly localized at the vicinity of the heavy ions

Overgewicht en obesitas bij jonge kinderen (0-4 jaar): gedrag en opvattingen van ouders

Doel. Beschrijven van risicogedrag en opvattingen over voeding, beweging en opvoeding in gezinnen met jonge kinderen, in relatie tot specifieke risicogroepen voor overgewicht. Opzet. Dwarsdoorsnedeonderzoek. Methode. Op consultatiebureaus voor zuigelingen en peuters verspreid over het land werden 534 ouders benaderd voor het invullen van vragenlijsten over voeding, beweging en opvoeding. Er werd gevraagd naar achtergrondkenmerken en ook werd een aantal stellingen getoetst. Via een bivariate en multivariate analyse werd per stelling onderzocht of de antwoorden gekoppeld waren aan specifieke risicogroepen. Resultaten. De respons bedroeg 73 (390 ouders). Bij 15 van de 2-4-jarigen was er sprake van overgewicht, inclusief 3,7 met obesitas. De ouders hadden relatief vaak opvattingen en gedragingen die kenmerkend zijn voor een ongezonde leefstijl van jonge kinderen. Zo was men in 1 op de 7 gezinnen niet gewend om te ontbijten. Van de respondenten beschouwde 43 gezoete melkdrank als een goede vervanger voor melk en had 39 van de kinderen altijd frisdrank binnen handbereik. Een vijfde van de ouders gaf aan niet voldoende tijd te hebben om met hun kind naar buiten te gaan. Ongeveer 1 op de 10 peuters van 2-4 jaar had een tv op de eigen kamer; 22 mocht zelf bepalen of hij of zij tv keek en 9 hoelang dat gebeurde. Vooral in gezinnen met niet-westerse moeders, laagopgeleide moeders of moeders met een uitkering kwamen deze specifieke risicogedragingen frequenter voor. Het gebruikmaken van kinderopvang of peuterspeelzaal leek op enkele punten beschermend te werken. Conclusie. In gezinnen met kinderen van 0-4 jaar kwam frequent gedrag voor dat op latere leeftijd in verband staat met overgewicht. Gezien de toename van overgewicht en obesitas bij jonge kinderen is het starten van onderzoek waarin opvoeding wordt geoptimaliseerd gerechtvaardigd, met speciale aandacht voor het gedrag van ouders ten aanzien van 5 speerpunten: borstvoeding, meer buiten spelen en bewegen, regelmatig en goed ontbijten, minder consumeren van gezoete drank en minder tv-kijken en computeren. Door interventies in te zetten bij jonge leeftijdsgroepen kan worden voorkomen dat ongezonde leef- en opvoedingsstijlen ontstaa

Effect of pediatric physical therapy on deformational plagiocephaly in children with positional preference: a randomized controlled trial

Objective To study the effect of pediatric physical therapy on positional preference and deformational plagiocephaly.\ud \ud Design Randomized controlled trial.\ud \ud Setting Bernhoven Hospital, Veghel, the Netherlands.\ud \ud Participants Of 380 infants referred to the examiners at age 7 weeks, 68 (17.9%) met criteria for positional preference, and 65 (17.1%) were enrolled and followed up at ages 6 and 12 months.\ud \ud Intervention Infants with positional preference were randomly assigned to receive either physical therapy (n = 33) or usual care (n = 32).\ud \ud Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome was severe deformational plagiocephaly assessed by plagiocephalometry. The secondary outcomes were positional preference, motor development, and cervical passive range of motion.\ud \ud Results Both groups were comparable at baseline. In the intervention group, the risk for severe deformational plagiocephaly was reduced by 46% at age 6 months (relative risk, 0.54; 95% confidence interval, 0.30-0.98) and 57% at age 12 months (0.43; 0.22-0.85). The numbers of infants with positional preference needed to treat were 3.85 and 3.13 at ages 6 and 12 months, respectively. No infant demonstrated positional preference at follow-up. Motor development was not significantly different between the intervention and usual care groups. Cervical passive range of motion was within the normal range at baseline and at follow-up. When infants were aged 6 months, parents in the intervention group demonstrated significantly more symmetry and less left orientation in nursing, positioning, and handling.\ud \ud Conclusion A 4-month standardized pediatric physical therapy program to treat positional preference significantly reduced the prevalence of severe deformational plagiocephaly compared with usual care

Group medical appointments for people with physical illness

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of group medical appointments (GMAs) on the health status and well-being of patients with a primary physical illness as compared to one-to-one patient-clinician appointments