A regulação ética da investigação e os desafios postos às práticas etnográficas

Face à crescente tendência de institucionalização de mecanismos de regulação ética da investigação com sujeitos humanos, discute-se com este artigo os impactos que a regulação prospetiva dos projetos de investigação tem tido nas ciências sociais e, mais concretamente, os desafios que tem colocado à investigação etnográfica. A partir de uma revisão histórica, quer da origem da regulação ética da investigação quer da própria antropologia, analisa-se o que se constitui como ética na prática etnográfica, salientando as incomensurabilidades que este tipo de investigação tem encontrado nos modelos de regulação fundados na ética biomédica. Através de noções como a noção de risco ou da primazia do princípio de consentimento informado, ilustra-se como é mobilizado um entendimento da investigação com humanos que é redutor para a investigação social, qualitativa e etnográfica, substancialmente diferente da investigação das ciências exatas ou da experimentação clínica.Given the growing tendency of institutionalizing regulatory ethical procedures for research with human subjects, this article discusses the impacts of prospective research in the social sciences, and in particular in ethnographic research. Departing from a historic revision both of research regulation and of anthropology, we analyze what constitutes ethics in ethnographic practice, highlighting the incommensurability that this type of research has been facing in biomedical-based regulation models. Through notions such as risk and the primacy of informed consent we illustrate how the understanding of research with human subjects being mobilized is a reducing one when looked from the angle of social, qualitative or ethnographic research, which is substantially different from research in exact sciences or clinical experimentation

Parent and child screen-viewing time and home media environment

Background: Screen-viewing time has been associated with adverse health outcomes. Data on the predictors of youth screen-viewing time is predominately from older children in North America. Parental and home media environment factors that are associated with screen-viewing time could be targeted in interventions. Purpose: Examine if parental screen-viewing time and electronic media (access to game equipment, TVs, PCs, and laptops) environment factors were associated with Portuguese children’s screen-viewing time and if associations differed by child age (< 7 vs ≥ 7 years); gender; or type of screen viewing. Methods: Data are reported for 2965 families with children aged 3–10 years. Data were collected in 2009–2010 and analyzed in 2011. Outcomes were child spending ≥ 2 hours watching TV and ≥ 1 hour per day playing with combined other media. Exposures were mothers and fathers watching ≥ 2 hours of TV and electronic media variables. Results: Parental TV-viewing time was strongly associated with child weekday and weekend TV-viewing time across all four gender and age subgroups. Maternal TV-viewing time was a stronger predictor of child TV-viewing time than paternal TV-viewing time. There was very limited evidence that parental TV-viewing time was associated with combined other media time among boys or girls. Access to electronic game equipment increased the likelihood that children spent > 1 hour using combined other media on weekdays and weekend days. Conclusions: Parental TV-viewing time was associated with Portuguese children’s TV-viewing time. The numbers of TVs in the household and electronic games equipment access were also associated with TV- and combined other media-viewing/usage time

Associations between indicators of screen time and adiposity indices in Portuguese children

Objectives: To examine associations between three types of screen time (TV, electronic games (EG), and personal computer (PC)) and two proxies of adiposity (body mass index (BMI) and sum of skinfolds) in children. Design: The sample comprised 17,509 children aged 2-13. years who participated in the 2009/10 Portuguese Prevalence Study of Obesity in Childhood. Methods: Complex samples generalised linear models, using school as a cluster variable were ran separately for each combination of ST predictor and adiposity-related outcome, adjusting for covariates including age, sex, physical activity, diet, and parental factors. Missing values in predictors and covariates were imputed. Results: Watching TV for >. 2. h/day compared to <. 1. h/day was associated with higher age- and sex-specific BMI standard deviation score (coefficient: 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.12, linear trend p. =. 0.008) and sum of skinfolds (logged and back transformed 0.04, 0.02 to 0.07, p. =. <. 0.001). We also found weak evidence for an inverse association between PC and BMI. Conclusions: Associations between ST and adiposity differ by both type of ST and type of adiposity marker. Only TV viewing was consistently associated with adiposity. Studies using a single adiposity marker looking at total screen time or total sedentary behaviour time may miss or confound type-specific associations. © 2013 Elsevier Inc

Association between parental perceptions of residential neighbourhood environments and childhood obesity in Porto, Portugal

Portugal has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in Europe. Few studies have explored the relationship between parents’ perceptions of their residential neighbourhood (safety concerns and amenities of the built environment) and their children’s weight status. This study aims to examine the associations between parents’ perceptions of their residential neighbourhood and overweight/obesity among their children. Methods: Anthropometric measures of height and weight were taken for 2690 children in preschools and elementary schools in Porto. Body mass index (kg/m2 ) was calculated, and the International Obesity Taskforce (IOTF) cut-offs were used. Parents completed the ‘Environmental Module’ standard questionnaire of the International Physical Activity Prevalence Study. Chi-square tests and the logistic regression model adjusted for age, gender, maternal education and school cluster were used to examine the associations between parents’ perceptions of their residential neighbourhood and overweight/obesity among their children. Results: In this sample, 31.8% of the children were overweight (including obese). Significant associations were found between child obesity and the following residential environmental characteristics: the odds of children being obese were lower if their parents believed that it was safe (low/no crime rate) to walk/cycle at night (OR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.54–0.79) and during the day (OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.55–0.86) and that it was easy and pleasant (pedestrian safety) to walk in their neighbourhoods (OR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.58–0.90) and when local sidewalks were well maintained and unobstructed (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.01–1.40). Conclusion: Parental perceptions of neighbourhood safety and the quality of local sidewalks are significantly associated with obesity values

Age and menarcheal status do not influence metabolic response to aerobic training in overweight girls

BACKGROUND: Multidisciplinary intervention is an alternative for the treatment of children and adolescent obese. However, the influence of age and menarcheal status in the pattern of metabolic response of obese girls has not been investigated. The following study examined the effects of a 12-week multidisciplinary intervention on metabolic health in overweight girls and the contribution of age and menarcheal status on the resulting changes. METHODS: Eighty-eight overweight girls (10 - 16 years) were considered initially for this study and randomly assigned (intervention group: n = 58; control group: n = 30). Forty-six girls completed the intervention program and 16 girls completed the follow-up for the control group. The 12-week intervention included aerobic exercises (three times per week) and nutritional intervention. Anthropometrical measures (body mass, body mass index and waist circumference), menarcheal status and metabolic profiles including glucose, insulin, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were assessed in the beginning and after of intervention. Additionally, were calculated homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI). RESULTS: After 12-week, girls decreased significantly the body mass (76.6 ± 14.7 to 75.7 ± 14.6 kg) body mass index (30.1 ± 4.0 to 29.4 ± 4.0 kg/m(2)) and waist circumference (98.9 ± 10.9 to 96.5 ± 11.4 cm). There were differences in HDL-C (43.1 ± 8.2 to 50.3 ± 9.4 mg/dl), TG (120.9 ± 64.3 to 93.3 ± 47.9 mg/dl) and insulin (16.9 ± 7.6 to 15.6 ± 9.8 mg/dl). Relative contribution of age was significant only for within-subject variability in waist circumference. CONCLUSIONS: The multidisciplinary based on aerobic training intervention used in this study produced substantial benefits on metabolic health indicators in overweight girls. The changes observed were not related to inter-individual variability in age and maturity status

BMI and self-perceived body shape in Portuguese children

Objectives: This study examined the relationship between Portuguese children's self-perceived body shape and body mass index (BMI) by gender, and BMI values were determined for each silhouette. Method: A sample of 4,211 children aged 7-10 was used. Their body image was assessed using Collins's body image silhouettes, while cole et al.'s cutoffs were used to define obesity. Results: The higher the number of the selected silhouette, the higher the mean BMI, except in the case of silhouettes 2 and 7 for boys and 7 for girls. Most of the individuals who selected silhouette number 5 or higher were obese. For both sexes, the ANOVA showed significant differences in the BMI depending on the selected figures (p < .001). The correlation coefficient between the body image silhouettes and the BMI was .54 (p < .001) for the total sample, .50 (p < .001) for males and .57 (p < .001) for females, in the regression models, the percentage of variance in the BMI explained by the selected images was 25.6% in boys and 30.8% in girls. Conclusion: The study suggested that in childhood (7-10 years), no stable awareness of body shape has been developed, with girls being more accurate than boys. The body shape obtained with the scale was moderately correlated with the BMI, suggesting that Collins' silhouettes could be a valid measure for assessing obesity in Portuguese children

Association between the perceived environment and overweight in adults and elderly: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Overweight is a global issue of epidemic proportions, and its negative influence on individual health is clear. However, the relation between environment and overweight is not thoroughly clear, especially concerning to the perceived environment and the physical and social aspects. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze potential associations between the perceived environment and overweight in adults and elderly in a medium-sized city. Methods A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted with 808 adult and elderly individuals. Overweight was defined as body mass index ≥25 kg/m2 based on the World Health Organization criteria. The Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale was used evaluating the perceived environment. Poisson regression was performed evaluating the relationships between the perceived environment and overweight. Results The frequency of overweight was 50.4 %. Adjusted models showed association between overweight and the variable of surrounding neighborhood as follows: “1- to 3-story apartments or condos” (most category; PR = 0.30; CI 0.12–0.76) and “4- to 6-story apartments or condos” (all categories) (PR ranged 0.40 to 0.46; p &lt; 0.05), and also, “land-use mix-diversity” was associated with overweight in this population (PR 0.81; CI 0.66–0.99). Conclusions In addition to individual characteristics, the environmental aspects are relevant to the occurrence of overweight in this population. Population-based studies using primary data on overweight remain scarce in Brazil. Finally, this study contributes to improve the understanding of the complex relationship between perceived environment and overweight, and we believe that our findings provide further justification for the development of future interventions and health promotion strategies. </jats:sec