Association between growth and blood pressure during the life course in children and adolescents

Background: Little is known on the relative importance of growth at different periods between birth and adolescence on blood pressure (BP). Objective: To assess the association between birth weight, change in body weight (growth) and BP across the entire span of childhood and adolescence. Methods: School-based surveys were conducted annually between 1998 and 2006 among all children in four school grades (kindergarten, 4th, 7th, and 10th year of compulsory school) in the Seychelles, Indian Ocean. Height and weight and BP were measured. Three cohorts of children examined twice were analyzed: 1606 children surveyed at age 5.5 and 9.1, 2557 at age 9.2 and 12.5, and 2065 at age 12.5 and 15.5, respectively. Weights at birth and at one year were extracted from medical files. Weights were expressed as Z-scores and growth was defined as a change in weight Z-scores (corresponding to weight centile crossing). The association between BP (at age 5.5, 9.2, 12.5, and 15.5) and weight at different times was assessed by linear regression. Using results of regression models of BP on all successive weights, life course plots were drawn by plotting regression coefficients against age at which weight was measured. The figure shows a life course plot of systolic BP in boys aged 15.5. Results: Without adjustment for current weight (at the time of BP measurement), birth weight was not associated with current BP, irrespective of age, excepted for girls at age 15.5 for whom a modest positive association was found. When adjusted for current weight, birth weight was negatively and modestly associated with current BP. BP was strongly associated with current weight, irrespective of age. Life course plots showed that BP was strongly associated with growth during the few preceding years but not with growth during earlier years, except for growth during the first year of life which tended to be associated with systolic BP. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that BP during childhood and adolescence is mainly determined by current body weight and recent growth.

A comparison of injuries among children and adult football (soccer) players

Football is a universal and an affordable game but we need to minimize the incidence of accidents among the increasing number of young football players. Our 11 year retrospective epidemiological study (1990-2000) of football injuries in children (N= 1000) was compared with those of adult players in the 2006 European Championship. This comparative study confirmed that the anatomical, biomechanical and biological conditions differ between adults and children and that they warrant particular attention to protect the latter vulnerable group against bone avulsions, overuse pathologies and fatigue-fractures. Injuries were shown to increase significantly with age up to 16 years (P=0.005). Children suffer mainly from contusions, fractures and sprain injuries. Head injuries were more common in boys (P=0.070), while girls were more prone to sprains. The types of injuries differ between adults and children (sprain versus fractures), the anatomical location of injuries is different (lower limbs in adults, lower and upper limbs in children), the circumstances of the injuries are different (contact in adults versus non-contact in children), and teenage girls have different types of injuries than teenage boys. An increased incidence of injuries is due to changes in the position of the center of gravity and in the morphotype during rapid growth. For these reasons it is mandatory to adapt the training to the age and sex of the players. It is unsafe to train children the same way as adults. The height, the weight and the speed of growth must be taken into account by the multidisciplinary team when organising the training programmes. -- Le football fait partie des sports les plus pratiqués au monde en raison de sa popularité et de son accessibilité économ ique. L'incidence des blessures liées à cette pratique doit être diminuée surtout chez les jeunes joueurs en raison de la croissance exponentielle du nombre de joueurs féminins et masculins. Une étude épidémiologique rétrospective sur 11 ans (1990-2000) a été réalisée chez les enfants victimes de blessures liées au football (N==1000), puis a été comparée aux données recueillies de l'UEFA lors d'un Championnat Européen en 2006 sur les lésions des joueurs adultes. Cette étude comparative confirme que les structures anatomiques, biologiques et les tensions biomécaniques chez l'enfant diffèrent de celles de l'adulte. Les enfants ont un risque plus élevé de souffrir d'avulsion osseuse et de fractures de fatigue que les adultes. Les blessures augmentent significativement avec l'âge jusqu'à 16 ans (P==0,005). Les traumatismes crâniens sont plus fréquents chez les garçons tandis que les entorses sont plus à risque chez les filles. Les adultes font plus souvent des entorses tandis que les enfants font plus de fractures. La localisation anatomique diffère également entre ces deux groupes (les membres inférieurs chez l'adulte et les membres inférieurs et supérieurs chez l'enfant). La circonstance des blessures diffère également (choc avec un autre joueur chez l'adulte et des blessures sans contact chez l'enfant). Chez les adolescents, les blessures des filles diffèrent de celles des garçons. L'augmentation chez les enfants de cette incidence est liée au déplacement lors de la croissance du centre de gravité, avec une maladresse accrue lors des phases de croissance. Pour toutes ces raisons, il est justifié d'adapter les entraînements de football en fonction de l'âge, du sexe et du morphotype. L'entrainement des enfants doit être différent de celui des adultes. Le poids, la taille et la vitesse de croissance doit être prise en compte dans des structures multidisciplinaires afin de permettre une meilleure longévité sportive des jeunes joueurs de football.

The role of emotional state, sexual arousal, and alcohol intoxication as situational factors associated with adults’ online sexual contact with children and adolescents

In the present study we explored whether and how the situational factors; emotional states, sexual arousal, and alcohol intoxication influenced the propensity in adults to engage in online sexual contact with children (13 or younger) and adolescents (14 – 17 year olds). The results were compared to a group of adults that had engaged in online sexual contact with adults only (18 or older). We also looked at the variation over time within these situational factors during the online sexual contact with a child, an adolescent, or an adult. The present study was an online self-report survey to the adult populations in Finland, Sweden, and Germany, with a final sample (N = 776) of women and men who were active on the Internet. The participants were asked to report whether, how, and with whom they had engaged in online sexual contact. The results showed that more men than women reported online sexual contact with persons of all age groups, and that the situational factors; emotional states and sexual arousal influenced the propensity in both women and men to engage in online sexual contact with children and adolescents. However, the effects of alcohol intoxication were small and significant only for men. These results indicate that higher levels of emotional state and sexual arousal might increase the propensity to go against social norms and contact children and adolescents online for sexual purposes, but it can also imply that that those who look for online sexual contact online with children and adolescents, are more emotionally and/or sexually aroused than the group that only seek adult company or that these are post-hoc explanations for such sexual activities.

Sexual Violence Against Women as a Strategy to Dispossess Land in the Colombian Armed Conflict

This article reviews the evidence collected by diverse national and international organizations regarding the relationship between sexual violence against women, forced displacement, and dispossession in the context of the Colombian armed conflict. To this end, it uses the concept of “sexual violence regimes” to highlight that the endspursued by sexual violence are not always exhausted by simple consummation (that is, the act of sexual violence itself), but depending on the context, can be connected with broader strategic goals of armed actors. At the same time, this document admits the difficulty of proving this relationship with respect to judicial procedures, and thus sets out the possibility of creating a rebuttable presumption, in the framework of “unconstitutional state of affairs” created by judgment T-025 of 2004, that alleviates the burden of proof of the victims, and serves as a catalyst to promote new genderbased mechanisms of reparations.

Psycological violence against women in Colombia

Although violence against women has gain attention, there is little evidence of studies about phycological violence against a partner. This paper uses data from Encuesta Nacional de Demografíay Salud (ENDS) to assess empirically models of violence against a partner. One of the main findingsis that the higher the economic independence of the women, the lower the phycologicalviolence against a partner. Some other results show that women with higher education level, belongingto a violent or low income family and living in cities different from Bogotá is correlatedwith higher probability of phycological violence.

Youth justice reform: redressing age discrimination against children?

This article considers whether the system of reprimands and final warnings in the youth justice system in England and Wales constitutes age discrimination for the purposes of human rights law. Whilst much youth justice discourse has addressed the use of diversionary measures that steer children away from formal justice processes, little attention has been paid to measures which negatively discriminate against children, in comparison to adults, without reasonable justification. The discussion contextualizes the issue within discourses on the sociology of childhood and youth justice, and considers why there is a general reluctance to recognize children as ‘victims’ of age discrimination.

Partially identified treatment effects under imperfect compliance: the case of domestic violence

The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment (MDVE) is a randomized social experiment with imperfect compliance which has been extremely influential in how police officers respond to misdemeanor domestic violence. This paper re-examines data from the MDVE, using recent literature on partial identification to find recidivism associated with a policy that arrests misdemeanor domestic violence suspects rather than not arresting them. Using partially identified bounds on the average treatment effect I find that arresting rather than not arresting suspects can potentially reduce recidivism by more than two-and-a-half times the corresponding intent-to-treat estimate and more than two times the corresponding local average treatment effect, even when making minimal assumptions on counterfactuals.

Can Children Distinguish Between Thoughts and Behaviours?

Abstract. The extent to which cognitive behaviour therapy can be used with children is unclear. In meta analyses older children and teenagers seem to derive greater benefit than young children. This may be because the cognitive immaturity of young children means that they cannot manage the cognitive demands of cognitive behaviour therapy. This paper seeks to establish how well children aged 7–8 and aged 10–11 can complete a task requiring them to distinguish between thoughts and behaviours (based on Greenberger & Padesky, 1995). Half of the children were provided with a visual cue and half were not. The effects of age, the visual cue, and verbal IQ on performance were examined. Seventy-two children were randomized to the cue and no-cue condition and individually tested during school time. Both age groups performed well and there was a significant difference between older and younger children, with the older children performing better. Visual cues did not aid performance. Verbal IQ was significantly associated with performance in the younger but not the older children. The implications of these results for the delivery of cognitive behaviour therapy with children and future research are discussed. Keywords: Children, thoughts, behaviours, cognitive, development

Pedagoger i det sociala uppdragets gränstrakter : Att hantera familjerättsliga processer, hot och våld

Pedagogues in the borderland of their social task: dealing with family law proceedings, threats and violence Drawing upon an explorative study of family law proceedings from a school perspective, the aim of this paper is to examine the school staff’s strategies for solving or coping with problematic situations in this context. Gendered conflicts between adults and violence are extreme cases for pedagogues in school and preschool. How do the staff cope with their own and the children’s vulnerability? Based upon interviews with 22 informants, the staff’s strategies are outlined and discussed in relation to organizational and professional circumstances and intersecting social relations of power. An analytical construction of six types of proactive and reactive strategies, ranging from distance keeping to normalization of own exposure, is utilized in the analysis. Findings suggest that the staff’s strategies to handle challenging events in this context vary with the parent’s gender, class position and ethnicity. Further, it is argued that creating a sense of safety and promoting learning among the children may be obstructed by lack of support from the school’s organization, demands on staff to perform customer oriented attitudes towards parents and lack of clarity concerning the limits of the social task. Conflicts between the organization and profession on the one hand and the educational and the social task on the other hand, are thus illuminated. In conclusion, a further aim of this article is to contribute to broader discussions on men’s violence against women and children – in families as well as in workplaces and in the intersection between these two areas. 

Os anjos podem ferir: um estudo sobre a violência intrafamiliar

This work considers the comprehension of the intrafamiliar violence emphasizing violent mothers relationships with their children. The purpose is to understand the development of these relationships which turn into aggressive behavior of the mothers regarding family education. The research was carried out focusing on two aspects: analysis of the theoretical references and empirical research. The theoretical research was done through a bibliographic survey of subjects related to this study such as: the history of the family, motherhood and children, the intrafamiliar violence practiced by mothers against their children; as well as how those violent relationships emerge from family environment. We point out the Foucault s concept of discipline (FOUCAULT, 1975) and Caldeira s concept of circumscribed body (CALDEIRA, 2000). It was selected a sample of ten women to investigate the relationship between mother and son through a detailed interviews. Five mothers from this sample were denounced to the Tutelary Council and they were set in a so called Denounced Group. Similarly, the other five mothers, who live in the same social and cultural context of the selected families assisted by the Tutelary Council, were set in the Non-Denounced Group. Therefore, we work with representations of the own interviewers about the meaning of the pedagogic socializing discipline in their lives. Our priority was the study of case carried out with the denounced families for physical violence and with the other group in order to develop a comparative analysis of both groups. Such methodological choice is explained by the interest for understanding the violence between mothers and children. It is common to all mothers not to consider aggressive their behavior against their children. We observe that physical punishment is considered a way to discipline children and teenagers, hence that is perceived as necessary to repress, to control, and to adapt them. Thus, it is considered a necessary practice for education. However, the reason that made the community denounced against the mothers of the Denounced Group was due to those did not correspond to an ideal example of what was expected to be a mother (they took drugs, alcohol, and had several sexual partners), that is denounces were not for the physical violence itself. Therefore, those mothers were not denounced because they were not morally able to manage their children s education. The community tolerates the punishment against children, but not the amorality of the women, and they were denounced for disregarding their role as mothers

O sistema de garantia dos direitos da criança e do adolescente: análise da trajetória e do processo de resolubilidade dos casos de violência doméstica sexual em Recife PE (2007-2011)

This work discourses about the child and adolescent s Guaranty System of Rights (GSR), on the intervention in cases of juvenile domestic sexual violence, in Recife. The course (trajectory) is analyzed, where circulate cases of sexual violence, until its resolution, in (GSR). Actually, the violence represents a serious problem of public health. Was thought about the difficulties and the limits that make GSR become a full field of contradictions and challenges for the effectiveness of the children and adolescents rights. Therefore, it was verified the treatments that are developed by GSR, how this system is structured and articulated and how occurs the resolution of the sexual violence cases against children and adolescents. Proceedings of the quantitative and qualitative research were used, was done observation, directed interview and analysis of documents. Thus, the field research was the visits in these institutions: Restauração Hospital, Police Management of the Child and Adolescent (PMCA) three Guardianship Councils, Dom Helder Camara Center of Studies and Social Action (CENDHEC) and the Tribunal of Childhood and Adolescence. The research subjects were seven professionals of GSR. The theoretical discussion is guided in reflections about the children and youth rights, in the violence theme and in the construction and institutionalization process of GSR. In this experiment, was noticed there are many difficulties for working together the GSR, because many obstacles are found when we call the responsible institutions, besides some violence cases happen again. This system is not totally institutionalized and articulated, faces structural problems, material, poorly qualified professionals, underinvestment, low transfer of public resources, among other difficulties, causing many losses in the implementation of public policies that enforce secured rights by legislation

Formação e atitude dos professores de educação infantil sobre violência familiar contra criança

A violência contra crianças é apontada como uma das principais causas de morbi-mortalidade na infância e deve ser identificada por todos os profissionais que lidam com esse público, inclusive os professores. Objetivou-se avaliar o preparo dos professores de educação infantil, no que se refere à percepção e notificação dos casos de violência contra criança. Foram visitadas todas as instituições de ensino infantil de Araçatuba-SP, e os profissionais que consentiram (n=236), os quais responderam a um questionário sobre o tema. Os dados foram analisados quanti-qualitativamente. 91,1% se consideram responsáveis pela notificação e 86,9% se dizem capazes de identificar agressões. 80,9% declararam ter recebido informações a respeito da violência contra criança, entretanto, 67,7% sentem-se inseguros quanto à identificação dos casos. Conclui-se que, mesmo possuindo formação para proceder ante a violência, a maioria dos pesquisados ainda não se sente preparada, o que pode gerar negligência.

The United Nations Regional Commissions: Enhancing Capacities To Eradicate Violence Against Women

This study captures the significant regional and national knowledge that has been accumulated on measuring violence against women through the interregional project "Enhancing capacities to eradicate violence against women through networking of local knowledge communities". Supported by the United Nations Development Account, this two-year project was coordinated by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), through its Division for Gender Affairs, and implemented by the five regional commissions of the United Nations, in cooperation with the United Nations Statistical Division and UN-Women. Through the project, more than 30 countries worldwide have been engaged in the development, dissemination and testing of core indicators endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission. This process has made a decisive contribution to designing and building consensus around a common methodology to measure and document violence against women. Furthermore, the inclusion of all five regions in piloting the newly-developed tools to measure violence has also ensured that these tools capture a more comprehensive and complex vision of violence as experienced by women across cultures and regions. This report presents an overview of the activities that have taken place in the five regions, and outlines the key outcomes and lessons learned. Through its activities, the interregional project has made the cumulative body of existing knowledge in terms of policies, findings, innovative practices, processes and statistical data available to policymakers, activists and women's organizations. New knowledge was also produced through national studies that examined underexplored sources of data on violence against women. National capacities to collect information on violence against women through official statistics were strengthened through targeted training activities as well as through participation in expert meetings which provided the space for an effective exchange of best practices.

Occurrence of traumatic dental injury in cases of domestic violence

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and types of traumatic dental injuries in situations of domestic violence. A coross-sectional study was conducted and data were collected from the police occurrence records to domestic physical aggression between 2001 and 2005. Of the 1,844 subjects who underwent medical evaluation, 15 had information pertaining to traumatic dental injuries. From the medical records, the forensic medical reports completed by the forensic medical experts who examined the victims after the aggression were reviewed and data of individuals with dental injuries (e.g., fractures, luxation and avulsion) were collected. In the selected sample, there was a predominance of individuals with injuries to the head and neck region (38.7%), and the frequency of traumatic dental injuries among all injuries to the head and neck region was 2.0%. The most frequently injured teeth were the maxillary incisors (31.8%), followed by the mandibular incisors (27.3%) and the maxillary canines (9.1%). In 31.8% of the injured teeth, the forensic experts did not specify the nomenclature. Of the dental trauma cases, 59.1% were fractures, 27.2% were luxations and 13.7% were avulsions. In conclusion, domestic violence was an important etiologic factor of traumatic dental injury. The aggression in all cases occurred in the form of punches and slaps. Fracture was the most common type of traumatic dental injury, and the most frequently injured teeth were the incisors.