How is adults' screen time behaviour influencing their views on screen time restrictions for children? A cross-sectional study

Published: 1 March 2016High screen time in children and its detrimental health effects is a major public health problem. How much screen time adults think is appropriate for children remains little explored, as well as whether adults' screen time behaviour would determine their views on screen time restrictions for children. This study aimed to investigate how adults' screen time behaviour influences their views on screen time restrictions for children, including differences by gender and parental status.In 2013, 2034 Australian adults participated in an online survey conducted by the Population Research Laboratory at Central Queensland University, Rockhampton. Adult screen time behaviour was assessed using the Workforce Sitting Questionnaire. Adults reported the maximum time children aged between 5-12 years should be allowed to spend watching TV and using a computer. Ordinal logistic regression was used to compare adult screen time behaviour with views on screen time restrictions for children.Most adults (68 %) held the view that children should be allowed no more than 2 h of TV viewing and computer use on school days, whilst fewer adults (44 %) thought this screen time limit is needed on weekend days. Women would impose higher screen time restrictions for children than men (p  2 h on watching TV and using the computer at home on work days (66 %) and non-work days (88 %). Adults spending ≤ 2 h/day in leisure-related screen time were less likely to permit children > 2 h/day of screen time. These associations did not differ by adult gender and parental status.Most adults think it is appropriate to limit children's screen time to the recommended ≤ 2 h/day but few adults themselves adhere to this screen time limit. Adults with lower screen use may be more inclined to limit children's screen time. Strategies to reduce screen time in children may also need to target adult screen use.Stephanie Schoeppe, Amanda L. Rebar, Camille E. Short, Stephanie Alley, Wendy Van Lippevelde and Corneel Vandelanott

TaylorActive - Examining the effectiveness of web-based personally-tailored videos to increase physical activity: a randomised controlled trial protocol

BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity levels are unacceptably high and effective interventions that can increase physical activity in large populations at low cost are urgently needed. Web-based interventions that use computer-tailoring have shown to be effective, though people tend to 'skim' and 'scan' text on the Internet rather than thoroughly read it. The use of online videos is, however, popular and engaging. Therefore, the aim of this 3-group randomised controlled trial is to examine whether a web-based physical activity intervention that provides personally-tailored videos is more effective when compared with traditional personally-tailored text-based intervention and a control group. METHODS/DESIGN: In total 510 Australians will be recruited through social media advertisements, e-mail and third party databases. Participants will be randomised to one of three groups: text-tailored, video-tailored, or control. All groups will gain access to the same web-based platform and a library containing brief physical activity articles. The text-tailored group will additionally have access to 8 sessions of personalised physical activity advice that is instantaneously generated based on responses to brief online surveys. The theory-based advice will be provided over a period of 3 months and address constructs such as self-efficacy, motivation, goal setting, intentions, social support, attitudes, barriers, outcome expectancies, relapse prevention and feedback on performance. Text-tailored participants will also be able to complete 7 action plans to help them plan what, when, where, who with, and how they will become more active. Participants in the video-tailored group will gain access to the same intervention content as those in the text-tailored group, however all sessions will be provided as personalised videos rather than text on a webpage. The control group will only gain access to the library with generic physical activity articles. The primary outcome is objectively measured physical activity. Secondary outcomes include website engagement and retention, quality of life, depression, anxiety, stress, sitting time, sleep and psychosocial correlates of physical activity. Outcomes will be measured at baseline, 3, and 9 months. DISCUSSION: This study presents an ideal opportunity to study the effectiveness of an isolated feature within a web-based physical activity intervention and the knowledge generated from this study will help to increase intervention effectiveness. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New-Zealand Clinical Trial Registry: ACTRN12615000057583 . Registered 22 January 2015. CQUniversity Ethics Project Number: H14/07-163.C. Vandelanotte, C. Short, R. C. Plotnikoff, C. Hooker, D. Canoy, A. Rebar, S. Alley, S. Schoeppe, W. K. Mummery, and M. J. Dunca

The dopamine D2 receptor gene and depressive and anxious symptoms in childhood: Associations and evidence for gene-environment correlation and gene-environment interaction

ObjectiveS: Research implicates the A1 allele of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) Taq1A polymorphism in the development of depression and anxiety. Furthermore, recent papers suggest that children with A1 allele of this gene may receive less positive parenting, and that the effects of this gene on child symptoms may be moderated by parenting. We sought to replicate and extend these findings using behavioral measures in a nonclinical sample of young children. Methods: In a sample of 473 preschool-aged children and their mothers, structured clinical interview measures and maternal reports of child symptoms were collected, and standardized observations of parent-child interactions were conducted. Results: An association was detected between the DRD2 A1 allele and symptoms of depression and anxiety indexed using interview and parent report methods. As found in previous reports, children with the DRD2 A1 allele received less supportive parenting and displayed higher levels of negative emotionality during parent-child interactions. Tests of mediation and moderation were conducted. Conclusion: We found associations between the DRD2 A1 allele and early-emerging anxious and depressive symptoms in a community sample of preschool-aged children, and evidence of a gene-environment correlation and moderation of the main effect of child genotype on child symptoms by parenting. © 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Mapping Drug Physico-Chemical Features to Pathway Activity Reveals Molecular Networks Linked to Toxicity Outcome

The identification of predictive biomarkers is at the core of modern toxicology. So far, a number of approaches have been proposed. These rely on statistical inference of toxicity response from either compound features (i.e., QSAR), in vitro cell based assays or molecular profiling of target tissues (i.e., expression profiling). Although these approaches have already shown the potential of predictive toxicology, we still do not have a systematic approach to model the interaction between chemical features, molecular networks and toxicity outcome. Here, we describe a computational strategy designed to address this important need. Its application to a model of renal tubular degeneration has revealed a link between physico-chemical features and signalling components controlling cell communication pathways, which in turn are differentially modulated in response to toxic chemicals. Overall, our findings are consistent with the existence of a general toxicity mechanism operating in synergy with more specific single-target based mode of actions (MOAs) and provide a general framework for the development of an integrative approach to predictive toxicology

Grammaspektrometrische und flammenphotometrische Untersuchungen über Kaliumgehalt und Kaliumverteilung im Menschen

Bei gesunden Normalpersonen wurde gammaspektrometrisch über die Gamma-Emission des im natürlichen Kalium enthaltenen Isotops 40 der Gesamtkörper kaliumgehalt gemessen. Der Mittelwert von GKK betrug bei Männern 1,68 gK/kg, bei Frauen 1,51 gK/kg mit einer Schwankungsbreite ≤± 15% (n=92). Die flammenphotometrisch gemessene Kaliumkonzentration im Plasma von Normalpersonen war 4,03 mäq/l±0,26, die gleichzeitig gemessene Kaliumkonzentration im Erythrozytensediment 90,9 mäq/l Sediment±2,6 (n=57). Bei gesunden Versuchspersonen wurden die drei genannten Kaliumparameter gleichzeitig gemessen und die Veränderung dieser Größen bei der durch ein Saluretikum verursachten experimentellen Kaliumverarmung verfolgt. Während einer Versuchsperiode von 7 Tagen nahm der Gesamtkörperkaliumgehalt bei Einnahme vonChlorthalidon (2×100 mg/Tag) im Mittel um 7,7%, die Kaliumkonzentration in Plasma bzw. Erythrozyten um 27,5% bzw. 3,1% ab. Erythrozyten stellen unter den hier gewählten Versuchsbedingungen ein Zellsystem dar, das qualitativ Änderungen der Kaliumkonzentration des intrazellulären Raumes anzeigt. Das Ausmaß des Kaliumverlustes ist jedoch bei anderen Zellsystemen größer, wie sich aufgrund der Bestimmung des Gesamtkörperkaliumgehaltes nachweisen läßt. Die Bedeutung der Bestimmung verschiedener Kaliumparameter beim Menschen für die klinische Beurteilung pathologischer Zustände wird diskutiert