Global trends in child obesity: Are figures converging?

Childhood obesity has become one of the most serious global health challenges of our time. The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity has rapidly increased worldwide during the last two decades, especially in some developing countries where obesity is reaching levels on a par with some industrialized countries, or even higher. This fast growth has occurred especially in countries in the midst of rapid social-economic transitions. Most international comparisons focus on the adult population while analyses focusing on the child population are more limited. Using the methodology developed by Phillips and Sul, this paper studies the worldwide evolution of children’s body mass index (BMI), overweight and obesity prevalence for a large sample of countries during the period 1975–2016. Our results indicate that the figures for BMI or the prevalence of obesity in different countries do not converge, while the opposite is the case for overweight prevalence in children. Furthermore, there is a non-linear relationship between obesity and income or human capital, indicating that low and middle-income countries require a strong initiative for health policies targeting obesity prevention

Nuevos nematicidas: valoración de residuos de la producción semiindustrial de aceites esenciales

PublishedEste trabajo ha sido financiado por fondos de del MINECO al Proyecto CTQ2012-38219-C03-0

Desarrollo de métodos de bioensayo con garrapatas aplicados a la detección de potenciales bioplaguicidas botánicos

Este capítulo trata de comparar la metodología usada de forma rutinaria para evaluar la actividad de agentes garrapaticidas, no adaptada a la evaluación de extractos y productos naturales, desarrolladas en el contexto del proyecto CYTED P307AC0512 específicas para la aplicación de extractos y productos de origen botánico. En primer lugar se describen los métodos utilizados y descritos en la bibliografía y después se describe la metodología desarrollada y algunos resultados obtenidos como ejemplosPublishe

Registro continuado de datos sobre lactancia desde Atención Primaria

Targets: Discover the prevalence and sociosanitary factors of breastfeeding (BF) at a health center (HC) belonging to a sector with a referral hospital with a BFHI (baby Friendly health Initiative). Material and methods: Longitudinal descriptive study of cohort of children born in the HC from 2011 to 2014. Data are collecte a from the patient and mother during of the Child Health Program visits. Results: Total sample 420 children with 28.6% immigrant mothers, 70.5% were eutectic and 8.1% instrumented deliveries 21.4% were cesarean sections. The prevalence of BF at 6,12,18 and 24 months where as 62.4%, 48.3%, 33,3% and 15.7%, respectively. Statistically, significant differences were found between having an immigrant mother (p <0.05), being born in the BFHI hospital (p <0.05) and previous breastfeeding by mother (p <0.05) with the BF at 6,12 and 18 months. There is a significant associations between eutectic birth and BF (p <0.05) at 6 and 12 months, and being maintained between mother aged 31-35 years and BF at 24 month. Conclusions: There is a growing improvement in BF records in our health district, facilitating knowledge of the prevalence of BF and related sociosanitary factors.Objetivos: Conocer la prevalencia y los factores sociosanitarios de la lactancia materna (LM) en un centro de salud (CS) de un sector con hospital de referencia con acreditación IHAN (Iniciativa para la Humanización de la Asistencia al Nacimiento y la Lactancia). Material y métodos: Estudio descriptivo longitudinal de una cohorte de niños del CS nacidos entre 2011-2014. Recogida de datos del paciente y su madre durante las visitas del Programa de Salud Infantil. Resultados: Muestra total, 420 niños, un 28,6% de madres inmigrantes. Un 70,5% fueron partos eutócicos, 8,1% instrumentados y 21,4% cesáreas. Las prevalencias de LM a los 6, 12, 18 y 24 meses son de 62,4%, 48,3%, 33,3% y 15,7%, respectivamente. Se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los inmigrantes (p < 0,05), los nacidos en el hospital IHAN (p < 0,05) y los que han recibido amamantamiento anterior (p < 0,05) con mantenimiento de la LM a los 6, 12 y 18 meses. Existe asociación significativa entre parto eutócico y LM (p < 0,05) a los 6 y 12 meses, y entre la edad de la madre entre 31-35 años y LM a los 24 meses de vida. Conclusiones: Existe una mejoría creciente en el registro de datos de LM en nuestra área de salud, lo que facilita el conocimiento de las prevalencias de LM y los factores sociosanitarios relacionados

Biocidal effects of extracts from Artemisia assoana cultivated under different environmental conditions

Trabajo presentado en el European Congress on Natural Products and Biocontrol celebrado en Perpignan (Francia) del 24 al 26 de septiembre de 2014.The genus Artemisia L. (Asteraceae) comprises about 500 species mostly distributed in the Northern Hemisphere (Bora and Sharma, 2011). Some of the species of this genus have shown to be antiparasitic, antihelmintic, acaricidal and insect repellent (see Gonzalez-Coloma, 2012). As part of our ongoing taxonomically-oriented bioprospection of Artemisia sp (Gonzalez-Coloma, 2012) we have selected A.assoana, a rare plant with an Ibero-Mediterranean distribution that grows in degraded grazed land in continental climate at 900-2000 m. A. assoana has been reported to contain phenolic and acetylenic metabolites (Martinez et al., 1987). Similarly, artificially cultivated A.granatensis has been reported as a strong aphid-repellent based on its content in poliacetylenic spiroacetals (Barrero et al., 2013). Plant material and cuttings were obtained from a wild population growing in Teruel (Spain). These cuttings have been kept in a greenhouse and further multiplied to establish artificial (Aeroponic and in vitro transformed root), greenhouse and field cultivations. Volatile (Clevenger distillation) and organic extracts (Sohxlet ethanolic extraction) have been obtained from wild aerial, aeroponic aerial and root, in vitro transformed root, and field aerial parts and the extracts have been tested against herbivorous insects (Myzus persicae, Rhopalosiphum padi and Spodoptera littoralis), plant parasitic nematodes (Meloidogyne javanica), plants (Latuca sativa and Lolium perenne) and the insect vector Rhodnius prolixus, (vector of Chagas disease). Additionally, the trypanocidal activity of these extracts on epimastigote forms of Trypanosorna cruzi Y strain has been tested. In this presentation we will discuss on the sustainable production of A. assoana plant biomass to generate bioactive extracts. The metabolic profiles of these extracts will be correlated with their bioactivity.Peer Reviewe

Chemical composition and biological effects of essential oils from Artemisia absinthium L. cultivated under different environmental conditions

The objective of this study was the valorization of the essential oils from Spanish Artemisia absinthium domesticated plants from Teruel and Sierra Nevada (Spain). These populations were experimentally cultivated in the field and under controlled conditions. The insect antifeedant properties of their essential oils collected yearly from two locations were tested against Spodoptera littoralis, Myzus persicae and Rhopalosiphum padi. Additionally we studied their phytotoxic, antifungal and antiparasitic effects. The oils from cultivated A. absinthium were characterized by the presence of cis-epoxyocimene, chrysanthenol, and chrysanthenyl acetate. The variations observed in oil composition were mostly quantitative but also qualitative. (Z)-2,6-Dimethyl-5,7-octadien-2,3-diol has been isolated and identified by NMR. Among the oil samples, these rich in cis-epoxyocimene and sesquiterpenes were the most active ones against S. littoralis. (Z)-2,6-Dimethyl-5,7-octadien-2,3-diol showed moderate activity against S. littoralis. The strongest antifeedant effects were found for commercial A. absinthium oil samples rich in thujones and sabinyl acetate. F. oxysporum and F. solani were affected by oils from cultivated A. absinthium and commercial oil samples. Oils from cultivated A. absinthium showed antiparasitic effects against Leishmania infantum and Trypanosoma cruzi with better results than the commercial samples. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.Peer Reviewe

Targeting CB2 receptor for AD treatment

43 p.-6 fig.-3 tab.BACKGROUND:Alzheimer's disease is a multifactorial disorder for which there is no disease-modifying treatment yet. CB2 receptors have emerged as a promising therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease because they are expressed in neuronal and glial cells and their activation has no psychoactive effects.OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to investigate whether activation of the CB2 receptor would restore the aberrant enhanced proliferative activity characteristic of immortalized lymphocytes from patients with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. It is assumed that cell-cycle dysfunction occurs in both peripheral cells and neurons in patients with Alzheimer's disease, contributing to the instigation of the disease.METHODS:Lymphoblastoid cell lines from patients with Alzheimer's disease and age-matched control individuals were treated with a new, in-house-designed dual drug PGN33, which behaves as a CB2 agonist and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor. We analyzed the effects of this compound on the rate of cell proliferation and levels of key regulatory proteins. In addition, we investigated the potential neuroprotective action of PGN33 in β-amyloid-treated neuronal cells.RESULTS:We report here that PGN33 normalized the increased proliferative activity of Alzheimer's disease lymphoblasts. The compound blunted the calmodulin-dependent overactivation of the PI3K/Akt pathway, by restoring the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 levels, which in turn reduced the activity of the cyclin-dependent kinase/pRb cascade. Moreover, this CB2 agonist prevented β-amyloid-induced cell death in neuronal cells.CONCLUSION:Our results suggest that the activation of CB2 receptors could be considered a useful therapeutic approach for Alzheimer's disease.This work has been supported by a Grant from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CTQ2015-66313-R). FB is supported by a Sara Borrell fellowship from the Spanish Instituto de Salud Carlos III.Peer reviewe