Promotion of a Healthy Weight and Lifestyle among Children: The ‘Be Active, Eat Right’ Study

Overweight and obesity among children has become a public health issue. This thesis aimed to describe interventions promoting a healthy weight and lifestyle among children and provide insight in elements that may be related to intervention improvement. Health care has an important role in early detection of overweight and obesity among children. The prevention protocol is an intervention that can be implemented in the youth health care setting. The in this thesis described evaluation of the prevention protocol showed limited effects of the intervention on health behaviors and BMI of the children. However, the prevention protocol may be used to create awareness of the child’s overweight among parents and motivate them to change health behavior. The prevention protocol offers the opportunity to discuss potential negative health outcomes such as insecure feelings the child may be experiencing, which was shown in two studies in this thesis. Also, parents may be assisted in learning skills to promote healthy behavior of the child and to create a healthy home environment. Individual focused interventions such as the prevention protocol, should be implemented in combination with interventions targeting the general population. A study in this thesis showed that interventions among the general population of children can help decrease sedentary behavior and BMI. A local integrated approach to prevent and care for children with overweight and obesity is recommended; care providers have working arrangements with regard to detection, care and follow-up of children with overweight and obesity and all health care professionals are committed to providing local prevention and care. This integrated approach will promote sustainable health behavior change and the development of a healthy lifestyle among children and their families

Modification of chiral dimethyl tartrate through transesterification : immobilisation on POSS and enantioselectivity reversion in Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation

Modification of dimethyl tartrate has been investigated through transesterification with aminoalcohols to provide reactive functionalities for the covalent bonding of chiral tartrate to polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes. The transesterification of dimethyl tartrate has been widely studied by means of using different catalytic systems and reaction conditions. Through the proper selection of both, the catalytic system and the reaction conditions, it is possible to achieve the mono- or the bis-substituted tartrate derivative as sole products. All the intermediate chiral tartrate-derived ligands were successfully used in the homogeneous enantioselective epoxidation of allylic alcohols providing moderate enantiomeric excess over the products. Attached amine groups have been used to support the modified tartrate ligands onto a haloaryl-functionalized silsesquioxane moiety. This final chiral tartrate ligand displays enantioselectivity reversion in the asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols with regards to the starting dimethyl tartrate ligand, having both molecules them the same chiral sign. However, the POSS-containing ligand can be easily recovered in almost quantitative yield and reused in asymmetric epoxidation reactions. In addition, recovered silsesquioxane-pendant ligand, though displaying decreasing catalytic activity in recycling epoxidation tests, showed very stable enantioselective behavior

Fast analysis of decabrominated diphenyl ether using low-pressure gas chromatography electron-capture negative ionization mass spectrometry

Peer reviewe

Assessment of the water soluble ionic species of suspended particulate matter, collected at a coastal spot, De Haan, Belgium

Chemical characterisation of suspended particulate matter (SPM) is very useful for broadening the knowledge concerning processes which are active in the atmosphere (e.g. Lin, 2002). Continental air-masses were found to contain high levels of anthropogenic emitted species, while these levels decreased when the influence changed to an oceanic atmosphere. The high levels of NH4 +, NO3 - and non-sea-salt (NSS) SO4 2- in the fine SPM fraction of continental air-masses (0.38, 0.15μg.N.m-3 and 0.59μg.m-3, respectively) stresses the importance of secondary aerosol formation as a source for SPM. The dominant appearances of Na+, Cl-, Mg2+ and Ca2+ in coarse maritime air masses show the presence of sea-salts and soil dust in the atmosphere at the coastal region. Neutralisation ratios higher than unity (1.20-1.59) for the fine SPM fraction suggested an excess of NH4 +, which was most probably present in the form of NH4Cl due neutralisation of HCl. The latter was formed in atmospheric reactions with sea-salt particles (Kadowaki, 1977), during which HCl escapes (0.13 and 0.58% lost sea-salt chloride for winter and summer, respectively). Correlation analysis showed that warm and dry summer conditions eliminated some influence of sea-salts on atmospheric processes, that where found to be active during winter. NSS SO4 2- was the dominant S-contributor in the fine fraction (83%). During winter, a total SOR value of 0.61 was reached, while summer gave a significant lower value (0.24). These values classified the sampling-site at the Belgian coast as a combined receptor-source area, accepting pollution from the continent and its local surroundings (Shaw and Rodhe, 1982)

Fingerprinting the origin of fluvial suspended sediment in the Demer basin, Belgium: a preliminary assessment of spatial provenance

C

Electron Probe Micro-Analysis and Laser Microprobe Mass Analysis of Material Leached from a Limestone Cathedral

Electron probe X-ray micro-analysis (EPXMA) and Laser microprobe mass analysis (LAMMA), were applied to characterize the leachate of sandy limestones of a Belgian cathedral. Individual suspended particles, found in water that was sprayed over the cathedral walls ( 1 each ate water ), were sized and analyzed by automated EPXMA-analysis, and classified with hierarchical cluster methods. LAMMA was used to gather more information about particles, present in the solution, as well as in suspension. It was found that the leachate from black walls, had a high sulphate concentration and a large variety of particles in suspension, with different morphology and composition, with silicates as most abundant group. The leachate from white walls is characterized by a predominant Ca-rich suspension, with both original and recrystallized calcite particles, and by a much lower sulphate-ion concentration in the solution. LAMMA-analysis revealed that the organic group of the EPXMA-analysis, consists mostly of carbon-containing fly-ash particles. Hence, in general, it could be concluded that walls which are not subject to direct rainfall are generally covered with a gypsum crust, that turns black due to adhesion of soil dust and fly-ash particles, while white walls become thinner due to rainwater erosion of weathering products and original stone components

Adolescents' Views on Seeking Help for Emotional and Behavioral Problems: A Focus Group Study

This study aimed to get insight into adolescents' views on help-seeking for emotional and behavioral problems. Fourteen focus groups were conducted. Two vignettes, depicting one healthy adolescent with few issues and one adolescent with severe psychosocial problems, were used to structure the focus groups. The focus groups were framed within a youth help-seeking model. Adolescents (mean age of 15.0 years) generally reported seeking help from friends or the internet for mild issues and from a person they trust like a parent or school mentor, for more severe problems. Adolescents correctly recognized the issues in vignette one as surmountable and the problems in vignette two as severe. A bond of trust with a help source was regarded as the main facilitator for the decision to seek help. Adolescents reported a preference for help sources who clearly displayed their expertise for the issue at hand and for informal help-sources, particularly friends

Parenting style, the home environment, and screen time of 5-year-old children; the 'be active, eat right' study

Introduction: The global increase in childhood overweight and obesity has been ascribed partly to increases in children's screen time. Parents have a large influence on their children's screen time. Studies investigating parenting and early childhood screen time are limited. In this study, we investigated associations of parenting style and the social and physical home environment on watching TV and using computers or game consoles among 5-year-old children. Methods: This study uses baseline data concerning 5-year-old children (n = 3067) collected for the 'Be active, eat right' study. Results: Children of parents with a higher score on the parenting style dimension involvement, were more likely to spend >30 min/day on computers or game consoles. Overall, families with an authoritative or authoritarian parenting style had lower percentages of children's screen time compared to families with an indulgent or neglectful style, but no significant difference in OR was found. In families with rules about screen time, children were less likely to watch TV>2 hrs/day and more likely to spend >30 min/day on computers or game consoles. The number of TVs and computers or game consoles in the household was positively associated with screen time, and children with a TV or computer or game console in their bedroom were more likely to watch TV>2 hrs/day or spend >30 min/day on computers or game consoles. Conclusion: The magnitude of the association between parenting style and screen time of 5-year-olds was found to be relatively modest. The associations found between the social and physical environment and children's screen time are independent of parenting style. Interventions to reduce children's screen time might be most effective when they support parents specifically with introducing family rules related to screen time and prevent the presence of a TV or computer or game console in the child's room

Multidimensional energy poverty and acute respiratory infection in children under 5 years of age:evidence from 22 low-income and middle-income countries

Background:In low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), energy poverty has predominantly been studied from the unidimensional perspective of indoor air pollution. Acute respiratory infection (ARI) in children under 5 years of age is the most important disease associated with indoor air pollution attributable to solid fuel use in LMICs. This study aimed to extend the existing knowledge on the association between energy poverty and ARI among children under 5 years of age in LMICs, by adopting a multidimensional perspective.Methods:Using Demographic and Health Surveys from 22 LMICs, data from 483 088 children were analysed (mean age 2.00 years (SD 1.41); 51.3% male). Energy poverty was measured using the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI) (range 0–1), which comprises five dimensions of essential energy services. Binary logistic regression models were conducted to study the association between MEPI and ARI, adjusting for child, maternal, household and environmental characteristics.Results:A 0.1 increase in MEPI score was associated with greater odds of ARI (aOR 1.05; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.07). Likewise, MEPI indicators using biomass for cooking (aOR 1.15; 95% CI 1.07 to 1.23) and lack of access to electricity (aOR 1.17; 95% CI 1.10 to 1.26), entertainment/education appliances (aOR 1.07; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.13) and household appliances (aOR 1.12; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.21) were associated with greater odds of ARI.Conclusion:Multidimensional energy poverty was associated with greater odds of ARI in children under 5 years of age living in 22 LMICs. Hence, our findings justify the design and implementation of interventions that address energy poverty from a multidimensional perspective, integrating energy affordability and accessibility