Body Mass Index or Waist Circumference: Which Is the Better Predictor for Hypertension and Dyslipidemia in Overweight/Obese Children and Adolescents? Association of Cardiovascular Risk Related to Body Mass Index or Waist Circumference

Background: In order to assess the relationship between hypertension or dyslipidemia and obesity, the body mass index (BMI) is usually used. Unlike waist circumference (WC), BMI does not reflect body fat distribution. The aim of this study is to investigate whether BMI or WC is a better predictor of hypertension or dyslipidemia in overweight/obese children and adolescents. Methods: As of November 2012, the APV database contained data on 81,819 patients from 189 specialized pediatric obesity institutions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Logistic regression analysis was conducted using odds ratios (OR) with 95% CI. Results: The average age of the youths (n = 5.978) was 13.9 ± 1.8 years. Mean BMI-SDS was 2.0 ± 0.5, and mean WC-SDS was 2.2 ± 0.5. Both BMI-SDS and WC-SDS are significant predictors of hypertension and dyslipidemia: BMI-SDS is a better predictor (OR = 2.60) for hypertension than WC-SDS (OR = 1.85), while WC-SDS (OR = 1.90) was slightly superior to BMI-SDS (OR = 1.86) in predicting adverse lipid profiles. Compared to normal-weight patients, obese patients (BMI ≥97th percentile) exhibited increased systolic (+6.3 mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (+3.9 mm Hg). However, this difference was only +4.8 mm Hg (systolic) and +2.6 mm Hg (diastolic) if WC >97th percentile was used. Conclusion: BMI-SDS is more closely associated with hypertension, while WC-SDS is more closely associated with dyslipidemia. However, the additional measurement of WC has only a small benefit in obese youths. © In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0

HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR OBESITY PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Childhood obesity is becoming an alarming issu with implications affecting the society and the healthcare sector. In response, multi-professional programs with physical activity, nutritional and psychological components have been proposed. Still, du to limited resources only small number of patients can be included in these programs. Health information systems (HIS) have the potential to tackle these challenges. Yet little is known about the design and effects of HIS in the domain of multi-professional obesity programs, in particular those tailored to children and adolescents. In order to address this problem we have built a HIS prototype with a goal to support obesity interventions for children and adolescents. The prototype provides several contributions to theory and practice. First, it fits to the concept of multi-professional obesity interventions not present in most of existing commercial and research-based applications. Second, it provides an instrument that is co-designed by patients, IS researchers, computer scientists and obesity experts, thus tailored to the specific needs of children and adolescents. Third, it provides a possibility to gain evidence-based knowledge about the potentials and the effects of HIS over obesity therapy outcomes through longitudinal field studies

DESIGN OF A HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF OBESITY EXPERT AND CHILDREN TEAMS

The globally increasing prevalence of childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the twenty-first century. Du to the need for multi-professional therapies that require a high amount of personnel and financial resources, IT-supported interventions promise help. So far, meta-studies show their limited impact on health outcomes. This work presents therefore a design theory that helps constructing health information systems (HIS) that positively impact the performance of obesity expert and children teams. Team performance is measured through self-reports, patients´ adherence to therapy and positive health outcomes. In order to assess the utility of the proposed design theory, its underlying design process was adopted by an interdisciplinary team of therapists, patients, their parents, IS researcher and computer scientists. This team developed and evaluated several HIS services collaboratively over the course of two years. Results of this design process show first evidence of the utility of the HIS design theory. However, challenges with regard to the design process still exist and are discussed

Recent progress on flexible and stretchable piezoresistive strain sensors: From design to application

Flexible and stretchable piezoresistive strain sensors which can translate mechanical stimuli (strain changes) into electrical signals (resistance changes) provide a simple and feasible detection tool in the field of health/damage monitoring, human motion detection, personal healthcare, human-machine interfaces, and electronic skin. Herein a detailed overview is presented on both strategies for sensing performance improvement and progress to medium or largescale fabrication. A broad range of matrices/substrates and incorporated nanomaterials is covered and attention is paid to the current state-of-the-art of feasible but low-cost manufacturing methods. The sensor design parameters include sensitivity (gauge factor), stretchability, linearity, hysteresis, biocompatibility, and self-healing potential. Starting from fundamental sensing mechanisms, i.e. the tunneling effect, the disconnection mechanism, and the crack propagation mechanism, examples are provided from lab to application scale