Age at menarche in Coimbra (Portugal) school girls : a note on the secular changes

The age at menarche and several menstrual symptoms were reported by 516 Portuguese school girls who took part in a cross-sectional anthropometric study in Coimbra, Portugal. The mean ages of menarche calculated using the recall method and also using probit analysis were 12.53 1.27 and 12.03 1.26 years, respectively. Parents’ educational level, place of residence and size of the family did not have any significant effect on the mean age at menarche in this sample of adolescents. The order of birth was the only variable that indicated a significative effect: the firstborns reported a lower mean age at menarche (12.34 years) than the later borns (12.6 years). In this sample, 47% of the girls had a cycle length of 529 days, 23.4% had irregular cycles, 59% reported that the duration of bleeding was 3–5 days and the majority, 49%, did not report any pain during the bleeding days. However, 14.3% and 24.45% reported severe and medium pain. The age at menarche has declined from 15.0 (girls born in 1880–1890) to 12.03 (girls born in 1970–1980) years in the Portuguese population. This decrease in age, and also the lack of influence of the family characteristics, appear as a result of the great improvements in the social and economic living conditions that occurred in Portugal, especially after the 1970s. These improvements are mainly related to better nutrition and better health care along with many other environmental factors

Depression Among Portuguese Pregnant Women During Covid-19 Lockdown: A Cross Sectional Study

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 was declared as a pandemic on March 2020. Research on its psychological effects is still lacking. Perinatal depression is a medical complication of pregnancy, especially in situations of stress. In this study, we aimed to investigate the presence of symptoms of depression in pregnant women during the lockdown period in Portugal. Methods: This study consisted in a cross-sectional study among Portuguese pregnant women, who completed an online self-report questionnaire between 25th April and 30th April 2020. An anonymous online questionnaire was developed to assess depression and concerns related to COVID-19. This study was approved by the IRB of Hospital Dona Estefânia and performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. Eligibility criteria included pregnant women, ≥ 18 years and living in Portugal. The primary outcome was to evaluate the presence of depressive symptoms and its association to socio-demographic characteristics and to concerns related to COVID-19. Results: A total of 1698 pregnant women were enrolled. The mean age was 31.9 years. 82.4% felt a negative impact of the pandemic in the surveillance of pregnancy and 43% felt insufficient support. 26.3% showed "possible depression" according to the EPDS. A regression analysis revealed the possibility of depression increased as the concerns about COVID increased and was lower for women with support. The possibility of depression was higher for women with psychiatric medical history. Conclusion: This study demonstrated a significant increase in clinically significant depressive symptoms in pregnant women during the lockdown. It also revealed some of the socio-demographic characteristics of women at risk for depression. If left untreated, depression tends to persist, affecting the woman and also the child. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 represents a serious challenge for this population and reinforce the urgent need for early detection and intervention on mental health issues during pregnancy, especially during the pandemic.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Maternal smoking in pregnancy association with childhood adiposity and blood pressure

BACKGROUND: Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been associated with increased risk of childhood overweight/obesity defined by body mass index (BMI). We examined its association with a range of adiposity measures and cardiovascular indicators in children aged 3–10 years. METHODS: We used data from a cross‐sectional study of schoolchildren across mainland Portuguese districts (2009–2010). We applied quantile regressions to examine maternal smoking associations with adiposity (n = 17 286), blood pressure (BP) and resting pulse rate (RPR) (n ≈ 2500) measures across the age range, adjusting for prenatal and early life factors. RESULTS: Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with increases in offspring adiposity levels. The difference in median BMI between children of smokers and non‐smokers was 0.39 kg m(−2) (95% confidence interval: 0.25, 0.53) in boys and 0.46 kg m(−2) (0.31, 0.62) in girls; 0.55 cm (0.24, 0.87) and 0.82 cm (0.45, 1.19), respectively, in median waist circumference; and 0.94 mm (0.49, 1.40) and 1.47 mm (0.87, 2.07) in median sum of (triceps, subscapular, suprailiac) skin‐folds. The associations appeared to be stronger with increasing age. The differences in the 90th centile tended to be greater than those in median. There was no consistent association of maternal smoking with BP and RPR. CONCLUSIONS: Children whose mother smoked during pregnancy had higher adiposity levels than children of non‐smokers, across several measures, particularly among older children. Although there was no consistent association with cardiovascular indicators, maternal smoking association with childhood obesity may have implications for cardiovascular risk factors over the life course

La alimentación preescolar, educación para la salud de los 2 a los 6 años

The infant feeding and nutrition is one of the most important areas regarding the Health Education (HE). This health-promoting action must start at the early stage of the development and learning, such as the pre-school period. A valuable tool to initiate successfully the HE could be infant nutrition, which can and must be also approached in the educational area.Our objective of the investigation was to gather, from the main Spanish manuals of nutrition, the basic and nutritional characteristics of the stage from 2 to 6 years, in order to be used by educational personnel instead of health personnel in the school area. By the analysis of bibliographical documented review, related to the nutritional characteristics at this stage of growth.The results indicate that the Recommendations Dietary Allowance (RDA) from 2 years are very different with regard to the breast-fed stage, the contribution moves towards the carbohydrates in 50 %, in decline of fats <30 % and proteins. In addition, the preparation and incorporation of new ingredients to the daily foods is already regular, obtaining, in this way, a balanced and healthy diet. For that, we will follow a guideline of 3 daily foods, with 2 intermediate of minor quantity, and the breakfast will have a well-deserved importance.To conclude, we must indicate that the educator has to inculcate healthy habits of feeding in pre-school stage by means of the Health Education. The mentioned infant diet will be the base for a healthy adulthood, since during the infant stage, future pathologies may emerge such as diabetes, cancer of colon and hypertension.La alimentación y nutrición infantil constituye una de las áreas de mayor importancia dentro de la Educación para la Salud (EpS). Esta acción promotora de la salud debe iniciarse en la fase temprana del desarrollo y aprendizaje, como es la etapa preescolar. Una valiosa herramienta para iniciar la EpS es la alimentación infantil, la cual puede y debe ser abordada en el ámbito educativo. Por ello, nuestro objetivo de investigación fue recoger, de los principales manuales de nutrición españoles, las características, básicas, nutricionales de la etapa de 2 a 6 años, para ser utilizado por personal docente no sanitario en el ámbito escolar. Mediante análisis de revisión bibliográfica documentada, referente a las características nutricionales de esta etapa de crecimiento. Los resultados indican que las Recomendaciones Diarias Alimenticias (RDA) a partir de los 2 años son muy diferentes respecto a la etapa de lactante, el aporte se balancea hacía los carbohidratos  en un 50%, en decremento de grasas <30% y proteínas. Además, la preparación e incorporación de nuevos ingredientes a los platos diarios es ya una constate, obteniendo nuevas y atractivas características organolépticas, para conseguir una dieta equilibrada y saludable. Para ello, se seguirá una pauta de 3 comidas, con 2 intermedias de menor cantidad, y donde el desayuno ya tendrá una merecida  importancia. Para concluir, además debemos indicar que el educador a través de la EpS debe trasmitir e inculcar, desde esta temprana edad, hábitos de vida saludable a través de la alimentación infantil. Ya que esta dieta infantil será la base de una etapa adulta saludable, ya que es en la etapa infantil donde se fraguan futuras  patologías como diabetes, cáncer de colon e hipertensión

Age at menarche and the menstrual pattern of secondary school adolescents in northwest Ethiopia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Population studies on normal and dysfunctional characteristics of menstrual cycles are scarce in Ethiopia. In addition variability in menarcheal age and menstrual characteristics are common. Knowledge on this variability is necessary for patient education and to guide clinical evaluation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross sectional study was conducted in two small towns called Dabat and Kola Diba, northwest Ethiopia between April and May 2007. Systematic sampling method was used to select 622 school girls from two secondary schools. A pretested questionnaire prepared in Amharic was used to gather data. Selected girls cooperated in answering the questionnaire in their classrooms under the supervision of the research team. Only 612 of the adolescent females were included in the final analysis, of which 305 were from Koladiba High School and 307 from Dabat.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The age of the study subjects ranges between 14 and 19 with a mean (standard deviation) of 16.9 ± 1 years. About 92.2% had attained menarche by the time the survey was conducted. The probit analysis of the <it>status quo </it>data yielded a median (CI) age at menarche of 14.8 (13.9-15.3) years. The average age at menarche by recall method was 15.8 ± 1 years. The mean age at menarche was 0.3 years younger for urban females compared with rural ones (p < 0.001). A cycle length between 21 and 35 days was observed in 70.3% of the girls. The mean duration of flow was 4 ± 1.3 days with a range of 2-7 days. The menstrual cycles were irregular in 42.8% of the subjects. The overall prevalence of dysmenorrhoea was 72% among these subjects. Premenstrual symptoms were present in 435 of the females (75.4%). The leading sources of menarcheal information to the adolescents were mothers (39.7%), followed by their friends (26.6%) and teachers (21.8%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study age of menarche was found to be delayed which is even higher than the findings indicated similar studies conducted in Ethiopia and other African countries. A significant number of students complain of abnormal menstrual cycle, dysmenorrhoea and premenstrual symptoms which call for appropriate counselling and management.</p

Predictors of overweight and obesity in five to seven-year-old children in Germany: Results from cross-sectional studies

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem and epidemiological studies are important to identify predictive factors. It is the aim of this study to analyse factors associated with overweight/obesity in samples of German children. METHODS: 35,434 five to seven year-old children (50.9% boys) participated in cross-sectional studies between 1991 and 2000 in several rural and urban areas in East and West Germany. Weight and height were measured and body mass index was calculated. International cut-off points, recommended by the International Obesity Task Force, were used to classify childhood overweight and obesity. Predictive modelling was employed to analyse independently associated factors, using logistic regression to adjust for confounding. RESULTS: 15.5% were overweight, and 4.3% were obese. Female sex, other than German nationality, smoking in the living place and increasing birth weight were found to increase the odds of overweight and obesity, while increasing educational level, living space > 75 m2 and breastfeeding for more than three months were inversely associated. CONCLUSION: The findings add to the evidence informing public health action, both through health promotion strategies (promoting breastfeeding, tackling smoking) and wider societal change management (addressing children from migrant families and families with low educational level)

Maternal Postpartum Distress and Childhood Overweight

OBJECTIVE: We investigated associations between maternal postpartum distress covering anxiety, depression and stress and childhood overweight. METHODS: We performed a prospective cohort study, including 21,121 mother-child-dyads from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC). Maternal distress was measured 6 months postpartum by 9 items covering anxiety, depression and stress. Outcome was childhood overweight at 7-years-of age. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed and information on maternal age, socioeconomic status, pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain, parity, smoking during pregnancy, paternal BMI, birth weight, gestational age at birth, sex, breastfeeding and finally infant weight at 5 and 12 month were included in the analyses. RESULTS: We found, that postpartum distress was not associated with childhood risk of overweight, OR 1.00, 95%CI [0.98-1.02]. Neither was anxiety, depression, or stress exposure, separately. There were no significant differences between the genders. Adjustment for potential confounders did not alter the results. CONCLUSION: Maternal postpartum distress is apparently not an independent risk factor for childhood overweight at 7-years-of-age. However, we can confirm previous findings of perinatal determinants as high maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, and smoking during pregnancy being risk factors for childhood overweight

Short sleep duration and obesity among Australian children

Extent: 6p.Background: There is limited information on sleep duration and obesity among Australian children. The objective of the study is to cross-sectionally examine the relationship between sleep duration and obesity in Australian children aged 5 to 15 years. Methods: Data were collected using the South Australian Monitoring and Surveillance System between January 2004 and December 2008. Each month a representative random sample of South Australians are selected from the Electronic White Pages with interviews conducted using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI). Within each household, the person who was last to have a birthday was selected for interview. Parents reported the number of hours their children slept each day. Obesity was defined according to the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) definition based on BMI calculated from reported body weight and height. Results: Overall, parents of 3495 children aged 5-15 years (mean 10.7 years, 50.3% boys) were interviewed. The prevalence of obesity was 7.7% (8.9% in boys, 6.6% in girls). In multivariate analysis after adjusting for sociodemographic variables, intake of fruit and vegetables, physical activity and inactivity, the odds ratio (OR) for obesity comparing sleeping <9 hours with ≥10 hours was 2.23 (95% CI 1.04-4.76) among boys, 1.70(0.78-3.73) among girls, and 1.97(1.15-3.38) in both genders. The association between short sleep (<9 hours) and obesity was stronger in the younger age group. No significant association between short sleep and obesity was found among children aged 13-15. There was also an additive interaction between short sleep and low level of physical activity. Conclusion: Short sleep duration is associated with increased obesity in children especially among younger age groups and boys.Zumin Shi, Anne W Taylor, Tiffany K Gill, Jane Tuckerman, Robert Adams and James Marti