Diferencias en los hábitos de alimentación y ejercicio físico en una muestra de preadolescentes en función de su categoría ponderal

Fundamentos: La obesidad es un problema con graves repercusiones para la salud física, psicológica y social que afecta a millones de niños y adolescentes en todo el mundo. Los objetivos de este estudio son obtener datos actualizados de la prevalencia de la obesidad y el sobrepeso en preadolescentes de 10 a 12 años de la provincia de Alicante, obtener información sobre los hábitos alimentarios, la actividad física y determinadas variables sociodemográficas, y examinar su relación con la obesidad y el sobrepeso infantil o el riesgo de padecerlos. Método: Participaron 623 preadolescentes, el 49,9% de sexo masculino y el 50,1% femenino. El IMC se determinó siguiendo los criterios de la WHO Child Growth Standards. Resultados: Se ha encontrado una alta prevalencia de obesidad y sobrepeso en nuestra provincia, el 20,4% y 34% respectivamente. Los resultados no mostraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre las categorías ponderales en las variables sexo, edad y nivel de estudios de los progenitores. Respecto a los hábitos de alimentación y ejercicio físico, los resultados sugieren que los niños y niñas con normopeso hacen un mayor número de comidas al día y, los niños con normopeso comen con mayor frecuencia en comedores escolares. Y apuntan a que los niños con normopeso realizan con mayor frecuencia ejercicio físico que los que presentan sobrepeso y obesidad, y que las niñas obesas utilizan más horas de ocio sedentario que las que presentan sobrepeso. Conclusión: Los resultados refuerzan la necesidad de desarrollar programas eficaces de prevención e intervención temprana para la obesidad infantil.

Child-to-parent violence: the role of exposure to violence and its relationship to social-cognitive processing

Research suggests that child-to-parent violence (CPV) is related to a previous history of violence within the family setting. The current study was aimed to explore the exposure to violence in different settings (school, community, home, and TV) and its relationship to some variables of the social-cognitive processing (hostile social perception, impulsivity, ability to anticipate the consequences of social behaviors and to select the appropriate means to achieve the goals of social behaviors) in a group of juveniles who assaulted their parents. It is also examined how they differ from other young offenders and non-offender adolescents. The sample included 90 adolescents from Jaén (Spain). Thirty of them were juveniles who had been reported by their parents for being violent towards them and 30 were juveniles who had committed other types of offences. The third group was made up of 30 adolescents without any criminal charge. Adolescents answered measures of exposure to violence, perception of criticism/rejection from parents, hostile social perception, and social problem- solving skills. Results revealed that juveniles who abused their parents reported higher levels of exposure to violence at home when comparing to the other groups. In addition, exposure to violence at home was significantly correlated to the hostile social perception of adolescents in CPV cases. Implications for prevention and treatment are discussed

Unpacking insanity defence standards: an experimental study of rationality and control tests in criminal law

The present study investigated the impact of different legal standards on mock juror decisions concerning whether a defendant was guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity. Undergraduate students (N = 477) read a simulated case summary involving a murder case and were asked to make an insanity determination. The cases differed in terms of the condition of the defendant (rationality deficit or control deficit) and the legal standard given to the jurors to make the determination (Model Penal Code, McNaughten or McNaughten plus a separate control determination). The effects of these variables on the insanity determination were investigated. Jurors also completed questionnaires measuring individualism and hierarchy attitudes and perceptions of facts in the case. Results indicate that under current insanity standards jurors do not distinguish between defendants with rationality deficits and defendants with control deficits regardless of whether the legal standard requires them to do so. Even defendants who lacked control were found guilty at equal rates under a legal standard excusing rationality deficits only and a legal standard excluding control and rationality deficits. This was improved by adding a control test as a partial defence, to be determined after a rationality determination. Implications for the insanity defence in the Criminal Justice System are discussed.