Associations between sports participation, adiposity and obesity-related health behaviors in Australian adolescents

Background The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between organized sports participation, weight status, physical activity, screen time, and important food habits in a large nationally representative sample of Australian adolescents. Methods Nationally representative cross-sectional study of 12,188 adolescents from 238 secondary schools aged between 12 and 17 years (14.47 ± 1.25 y, 53% male, 23% overweight/obese). Participation in organized sports, compliance with national physical activity, screen time, and fruit and vegetable consumption guidelines, and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and high-fat foods were self-reported. Weight status and adiposity (BMI, waist circumference) were measured. Results Organized sports participation was higher among males and those residing in rural/remote areas. Underweight adolescents reported the lowest levels of participation. Higher levels of participation were associated with an increased likelihood of complying with national physical activity (OR = 2.07 [1.67-2.58]), screen time (OR = 1.48 [1.19-1.84]), and fruit and vegetable consumption guidelines (OR = 1.32 [1.05-1.67]). There was no association between organized sport participation and weight status, adiposity, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages or high-fat foods. Conclusions Participation in organized sports was associated with a greater likelihood to engage in a cluster of health behaviors, including meeting physical activity guidelines, electronic screen time recommendations, and fruit and vegetable consumption guidelines. However, participation in organized sports was not associated with unhealthy dietary behaviors including the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and high-fat foods. There is no association between participation in organized sports and likelihood to be overweight or obese. The role of sports in promoting healthy weight and energy balance is unclear

What factors are associated with excess body weight in Australian secondary school students?

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian secondary school students and identify factors associated with excess adiposity. Design, setting and participants: Cross-sectional survey of students aged 12-17 years (in school years 8-11) who completed the National Secondary Students\u27 Diet and Activity survey in 2009-10, which included a web-based self-report questionnaire and height and weight measurements. Main outcome measures: Overweight and obesity based on international standard body mass index (BMI) cut-offs for children and adolescents. Results: Data were analysed for 12188 students. Just under one in four students were either overweight (18%) or obese (5%). After adjusting for demographic and health-behaviour characteristics, males were more likely than females to be overweight or obese (OR, 1.23; 95% Cl, 1.07-1.40; P = 0.004), as were both low (OR, 1.67; 95% CI,1.40-1.99; P \u3c 0.001) and medium (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.14-1.55; P \u3c 0.001) socioeconomic position (SEP) students compared with high SEP students. Students engaging in low levels of physical activity (OR, 1.21; 95% Cl. 1.08-1.36; P = 0.001), more time in small-screen recreation (OR, 1.18; 95% Cl, 1.05-1.32; P = 0.005), and short sleep duration (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.05-1.41; P = 0.008) also had higher odds of being overweight or obese. Conclusions: There is a need for interventions to reduce overweight and obesity during adolescence. Preventive measures should include a focus on facilitating physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour, as well as promoting adequate sleep, particularly among young people from lower SEP neighbourhoods who appear to be most susceptible

Reporting of suicide in the Australian media

The media monitoring project aimed to establish a baseline picture of the extent, nature and quality of reporting of suicide by the Australian media, with a view to informing future strategies intended to optimize reporting of suicide.Newspaper, television and radio items on suicide were retrieved over 12 months. Identifying and descriptive information were extracted for each item. Approximately 10% of items were rated for quality, using a rating scale based on criteria from Achieving the Balance, a kit designed to promote awareness among media professionals of issues relating to suicide. The scale ranged from 0 (poor quality) to 100 (good quality).Reporting of suicide was extensive (with 4813 items retrieved). The nature of reporting was variable. Items tended to be about completed suicide (rather than attempted suicide or suicidal ideation), and most commonly involved content related to an individual's experiences, policy/programme initiatives and/or suicide statistics, although there were differences across media types. Items showed variability across dimensions of quality. The majority of suicide items did not have examples of inappropriate language, were not inappropriately located, did not use the word 'suicide' in the headline, and did not use explicit photographs/diagrams or footage. However, around half of the suicide items provided a detailed discussion of the method of self-harm and portrayed suicide as merely a social phenomenon. Where items concerned the suicide of a celebrity, reference was commonly made to that person's celebrity status. Most items failed to provide information on help services. The median total quality score was 57.1%.The reporting of suicide is extensive across all media types, and varies in nature and quality. In general, good items outnumber poorer items. However, there are still opportunities for improving media reporting of suicide

Molecular prioritization strategies to identify functional genetic variants in the cardiovascular disease-associated expression QTL Vanin-1

There is now good evidence that non-coding sequence variants are involved in the heritability of many common complex traits. The current 'gold standard' approach for assessing functionality is the in vitro reporter gene assay to assess allelic differences in transcriptional activity, usually followed by electrophoretic mobility shift assays to assess allelic differences in transcription factor binding. Although widely used, these assays have inherent limitations, including the lack of endogenous chromatin context. Here we present a more contemporary approach to assessing functionality of non-coding sequence variation within the Vanin-1 (VNN1) promoter. By combining 'gold standard' assays with in vivo assessments of chromatin accessibility, we greatly increase our confidence in the statistically assigned functional relevance. The standard assays revealed the-137 single nucleotide variant to be functional but the-587 variant to have no functional relevance. However, our in vivo tests show an allelic difference in chromatin accessibility surrounding the-587 variant supporting strong functional potential at both sites. Our approach advances the identification of functional variants by providing strong in vivo biological evidence for function