Structured diet and exercise guidance in pregnancy to improve health in women and their offspring: study protocol for the Be Healthy in Pregnancy (BHIP) randomized controlled trial

BackgroundEvidence from epidemiological and animal studies support the concept of programming fetal, neonatal, and adult health in response to in utero exposures such as maternal obesity and lifestyle variables. Excess gestational weight gain (GWG), maternal physical activity, and sub-optimal and excess nutrition during pregnancy may program the offspring\u27s risk of obesity. Maternal intake of dairy foods rich in high-quality proteins, calcium, and vitamin D may influence later bone health status. Current clinical practice guidelines for managing GWG are not founded on randomized trials and lack specific active intervention ingredients. The Be Healthy in Pregnancy (BHIP) study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to test the effectiveness of a novel structured and monitored Nutrition + Exercise intervention in pregnant women of all pre-pregnancy weight categories (except extreme obesity), delivered through prenatal care in community settings (rather than in hospital settings), on the likelihood of women achieving recommended GWG and a benefit to bone status of offspring and mother at birth and sixmonths postpartum.MethodsThe BHIP study is a two-site RCT that will recruit up to 242 participants aged \u3e18years at 12-17 weeks of gestation. After baseline measures, participants are randomized to either a structured and monitored Nutrition + Exercise (intervention) or usual care (control) program for the duration of their pregnancy. The primary outcome of the study is the percent of women who achieve GWG within the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines. The secondary outcomes include: (1) maternal bone status via blood bone biomarkers during pregnancy; (2) infant bone status in cord blood; (3) mother and infant bone status measured by dual-energy absorptiometry scanning (DXA scan) at sixmonths postpartum; (4) other measures including maternal blood pressure, blood glucose and lipid profiles, % body fat, and postpartum weight retention; and (5) infant weight z-scores and fat mass at sixmonths of age.DiscussionIf effective, this RCT will generate high-quality evidence to refine the nutrition guidelines during pregnancy to improve the likelihood of women achieving recommended GWG. It will also demonstrate the importance of early nutrition on bone health in the offspring

Effect of sex/gender on obesity traits in Canadian first year university students: The GENEiUS study.

BackgroundWhile weight gain during first year of university has been well documented in North America, literature on sex-specific effects is scarce and inconsistent. The objective of this investigation was to explore sex-specific changes in obesity traits during first year of university at McMaster University (Ontario, Canada).Methods245 first-year students (80.4% females) were followed longitudinally with data collected early in the academic year and towards the end of the year. Obesity parameters including weight, waist and hip circumferences, BMI, and waist to hip ratio were investigated. The Mann-Whitney U test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used for pairwise comparison of traits in the absence of adjustments. Additionally, the repeated-measures ANOVA test was used with covariate adjustments to investigate the interaction between sex and time.ResultsOverall sample trends indicated a significant increase in mean weight by 1.55 kg (95% CI: 1.24-1.86) over the school year (p0.05).ConclusionWhile our study confirms significant weight gain in both male and female first year university students in Ontario, Canada, it does not show sex specific differences within this context. Our investigation highlights the importance of accounting for sex and gender in health research and supports the need of further studies in this area

Effect of living arrangement on anthropometric traits in first-year university students from Canada: The GENEiUS study.

BackgroundThe transition to university often involves a change in living arrangement for many first-year students. While weight gain during first year of university has been well documented, Canadian literature on the impact of living arrangement within this context is limited. The objective of this investigation was to explore the effect of living arrangement on anthropometric traits in first-year university students from Ontario, Canada.Methods244 first-year undergraduate students were followed longitudinally with data collected early in the academic year and towards the end of the year. Anthropometric parameters including weight, waist and hip circumference, body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were examined. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for pairwise comparison of traits from the beginning to end the year in the absence of adjustments. Additionally, linear regression models with covariate adjustments were used to investigate effect of the type of living arrangement (i.e. on-campus, off-campus, or family home) on the aforementioned traits.ResultsIn the overall sample, a significant weight increase of 1.55kg (95% CI: 1.24-1.86) was observed over the school year (pConclusionOur findings indicate that living arrangement is associated with different weight gain trajectories in first-year university students

EPIDEMIOLOGIA MOLECOLARE DEI NOROVIRUS IN FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA NEGLI ANNI 2005-2011

OBIETTIVI: I Norovirus sono virus a RNA responsabili di epidemie di gastroenteriti di origine alimentare o nosocomiale e sono caratterizzati da una notevole variabilit\ue0 genetica legata a fenomeni di drift e shift antigenico. La variabilit\ue0 genetica \ue8 responsabile di una diversa sensibilit\ue0 dei test diagnostici convenzionali nell\u2019identificazione delle diverse varianti del virus e rende quindi necessario l\u2019impiego combinato di tecniche immunoenzimatiche e molecolari. A partire dal 2005 l\u2019UCO Igiene dell\u2019Universit\ue0 di Trieste collabora con i Dipartimenti di Prevenzione allo studio delle epidemie di gastroenteriti virali (GeV) nel Friuli Venezia Giulia. Inoltre dalla stagione 2010/2011 ha attivato un progetto di sorveglianza virologica delle GeV nella citt\ue0 di Trieste in collaborazione con alcuni pediatri di libera scelta e con il Pronto Soccorso dell\u2019Ospedale Infantile IRCCS \u201cBurlo Garofolo\u201d. METODI: Le indagini di laboratorio comprendono un test immunoenzimatico (R-Biopharm) e tecniche di amplificazione genica (Argene; home made RTPCR). I campioni positivi sono stati tipizzati mediante sequenziamento parziale delle regioni genomiche ORF1 e ORF2. RISULTATI: Tra il 2005 ed il 2011 sono state studiate 7 epidemie da Norovirus: tre nosocomiali e quattro alimentari. Dal 2007 il sottotipo pi\uf9 frequentemente identificato \ue8 stato il GII.; nel 2005/2006 sono stati isolati i genotipi GII.7 e GII.2 mentre il genotipo GII.14 \ue8 stato riscontrato in maniera episodica. Nella stagione 2010/2011 dalla rete della sorveglianza sono stati analizzati 65 campioni. 14 campioni sono risultati positivi mediante real time PCR, di questi soltanto 6 sono risultati positivi al solo test EIA. Il sequenziamento ha permesso di identificare 3 genotipi circolanti: GII.1, che non era stato precedentemente rilevato nella nostra area, GII.3 e GII.4, cui apparteneva la met\ue0 dei virus identificati. CONCLUSIONI: I risultati emersi dallo studio sottolineano l\u2019importanza dell\u2019impiego simultaneo di diverse tecniche diagnostiche nei casi di sospetta infezione da Norovirus per la possibilit\ue0 di ottenere risultati falsi negativi anche con test ad elevata sensibilit\ue0. Inoltre la sorveglianza virologica delle infezioni da Norovirus sia in ambito istituzionale che territoriale \ue8 importante per individuare precocemente le varianti circolanti per conoscere la predittivit\ue0 dei test in uso e per potenziare le misure di prevenzione delle epidemie nelle strutture a rischio