Concrete and abstract concepts in school age children

The aim of this study is to highlight what kind of information distinguishes abstract and concrete conceptual knowledge in different aged children. A familiarity-rating task has shown that 8-year-olds judged concrete concepts as very familiar while abstract concepts were judged as much less familiar with ratings increasing substantially from age 10 to age 12, according to literature showing that abstract terms are not mastered until adolescence (Schwanenflugel, 1991). The types of relation elicited by abstract and concrete concepts during development were investigated in an association production task. At all considered age levels, concrete concepts mainly activated attributive and thematic relations as well as, to a much lesser extent, taxonomic relations and stereotypes. Abstract concepts, instead, elicited mainly thematic relations and, to a much lesser extent, examples and taxonomic relations. The patterns of relations elicited were already differentiated by age 8, becoming more specific in abstract concepts with age.

Peer Relationships in School-Age Children with Autism: Concurrent and Longitudinal Predictors

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Predicting physical activity intention and behavior in school-age children

Two studies were conducted to predict physical activity in school-aged children. Study 1 tested the utility of an integrated model in predicting physical activity (PA) intention and behavior-the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and self-efficacy theory. Six hundred and forty-five New Zealand children (aged 11-13 years) completed measures corresponding to the integrated model and a self-reported measure of PA one week later. Perceived behavioral control (PBC) and subjective norm were the two strongest predictors of intentions. Task efficacy and barrier efficacy were the two strongest predictors of PA. A second study (Study 2) was conducted to determine whether the self-efficacy measures could discriminate objectively measured PA levels. Sixty-seven Canadian children (aged 11-13 years) completed task and barrier self-efficacy measures. The following week, children classified as 'high' (n = 11) and 'lower' (n = 7) for both task and barrier efficacy wore an Actical® monitor for seven consecutive days to provide activity-related energy expenditure (AEE) data. Results showed that children with high efficacy expended significantly greater AEE than their lower efficacious counterparts. Findings from these two studies provide support for the use of self-efficacy interventions as a potentially useful means of increasing PA levels among school-aged children.

Analysis of the footprint in school age of 8-10 years old

Biomechanical problems in children, is an important subject currently, existing controversy in different areas, for example, the majority of children have a flattened footprint, or the hypermobility joint is linked to a musculoskeletal pain. The objective of the study was to determine what kind of footprint is most frequent in school-age children (8-10 years) in the area of Plasencia. This was taken as a sign 50 children, of whom 28 were males and 22 females. All the subjects in the study underwent an assessment of footprint planted in static as well as an exploration of different parameters through inspection in a standing position (formula digital, rearfoot). The results show that excavated footprint is present in a 72% cases of the population, 16% was belonging to an excavated footprint in which we find a higher percentage of weight related.For the digital formula we find that the most common is the Egyptian foot by 40% of the cases and that the prevalence in the rearfoot, is a normal hindfoot. In relation with the hypermobility joint, we check that it is more common in girls and that none of them presents an association to musculoskeletal pain. As a future line we could establish a more comprehensive study with new techniques and valuingchild’s statics and dynamics, to have a more accurate study of the different variables in the sample population studied.

Pertussis: A significant cause of prolonged acute cough in previously vaccinated school-aged children

No abstract available: Commentary on:
Wang KFry NKCampbell Het al. Whooping cough in school age children presenting with persistent cough in UK. BMJ 2014;348:g3668

Executive functions in school-aged children: age and socioeconomic status effects

Lately, the study of prefrontal executive functions in grade scholars has noticeably increased. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of age and socioeconomic status (sEs) on executive tasks performance and to analyze those socioeconomic variables that predict a better execution. A sample of 254 children aged between 7 and 12 years from the city of santa Fe, Argentina and belonging to different socioeconomic status were tested. A bat- tery of executive functions sensitive to prefrontal function was used to obtain the results. These in- dicate a significant influence of age and SES on executive functions. The cognitive patterns follow a different path according to the development and sEs effect. Besides, it is revealed a pattern of low cognitive functioning in low-sEs children in all executive functions. Finally, from the variables included in this study, it was found that only the educational level of the mother and the housing conditions are associated to the children’s executive function. The results are discussed in terms of the influence of the cerebral maturation and the envi- ronmental variables in the executive functioning.

A systematic review of the routine monitoring of growth in children of primary school age to identify growth-related conditions

Objectives: To clarify the role of growth monitoring in primary school children, including obesity, and to examine issues that might impact on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of such programmes. Data sources: Electronic databases were searched up to July 2005. Experts in the field were also consulted. Review methods: Data extraction and quality assessment were performed on studies meeting the review's inclusion criteria. The performance of growth monitoring to detect disorders of stature and obesity was evaluated against National Screening Committee (NSC) criteria. Results: In the 31 studies that were included in the review, there were no controlled trials of the impact of growth monitoring and no studies of the diagnostic accuracy of different methods for growth monitoring. Analysis of the studies that presented a 'diagnostic yield' of growth monitoring suggested that one-off screening might identify between 1: 545 and 1: 1793 new cases of potentially treatable conditions. Economic modelling suggested that growth monitoring is associated with health improvements [ incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) of pound 9500] and indicated that monitoring was cost-effective 100% of the time over the given probability distributions for a willingness to pay threshold of pound 30,000 per QALY. Studies of obesity focused on the performance of body mass index against measures of body fat. A number of issues relating to human resources required for growth monitoring were identified, but data on attitudes to growth monitoring were extremely sparse. Preliminary findings from economic modelling suggested that primary prevention may be the most cost-effective approach to obesity management, but the model incorporated a great deal of uncertainty. Conclusions: This review has indicated the potential utility and cost-effectiveness of growth monitoring in terms of increased detection of stature-related disorders. It has also pointed strongly to the need for further research. Growth monitoring does not currently meet all NSC criteria. However, it is questionable whether some of these criteria can be meaningfully applied to growth monitoring given that short stature is not a disease in itself, but is used as a marker for a range of pathologies and as an indicator of general health status. Identification of effective interventions for the treatment of obesity is likely to be considered a prerequisite to any move from monitoring to a screening programme designed to identify individual overweight and obese children. Similarly, further long-term studies of the predictors of obesity-related co-morbidities in adulthood are warranted. A cluster randomised trial comparing growth monitoring strategies with no growth monitoring in the general population would most reliably determine the clinical effectiveness of growth monitoring. Studies of diagnostic accuracy, alongside evidence of effective treatment strategies, could provide an alternative approach. In this context, careful consideration would need to be given to target conditions and intervention thresholds. Diagnostic accuracy studies would require long-term follow-up of both short and normal children to determine sensitivity and specificity of growth monitoring.

Parent initiated prednisolone for acute asthma in children of school age : randomised controlled crossover trial

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of a short course of parent initiated oral prednisolone for acute asthma in children of school age.

Design Double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, crossover trial in which episodes of asthma, rather than participants, were randomised to treatment.

Setting The Barwon region of Victoria, Australia.

Participants Children aged 5-12 years with a history of recurrent episodes of acute asthma.

Intervention A short course of parent initiated treatment with prednisolone (1 mg/kg a day) or placebo.

Main outcome measures The primary outcome measure was the mean daytime symptom score over seven days. Secondary outcome measures were mean night time symptom score over seven days, use of health resources, and school absenteeism.

Results 230 children were enrolled in the study. Over a three year period, 131 (57%) of the participants contributed a total of 308 episodes of asthma that required parent initiated treatment: 155 episodes were treated with parent initiated prednisolone and 153 with placebo. The mean daytime symptom score was 15% lower in episodes treated with prednisolone than in those treated with placebo (geometric mean ratio 0.85, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.98; P=0.023). Treatment with prednisolone was also associated with a 16% reduction in the night time symptom score (geometric mean ratio 0.84, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.00; P=0.050), a reduced risk of health resource use (odds ratio 0.54, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.86; P=0.010), and reduced school absenteeism (mean difference −0.4 days, 95% CI −0.8 to 0.0 days; P=0.045).

Conclusion A short course of oral prednisolone initiated by parents when their child experiences an episode of acute asthma may reduce asthma symptoms, health resource use, and school absenteeism. However, the modest benefits of this strategy must be balanced against potential side effects of repeated short courses of an oral corticosteroid.

What is a good play school? Recommended standards for the group care of children of elementary school age.

Mode of access: Internet.

Literacy, numeracy and learning in school-aged children identified as having speech and language impairment in early childhood

The progress of a nationally representative sample of 3632 children was followed from early childhood through to primary school, using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). The aim was to examine the predictive effects of different aspects of communicative ability, and of early vs. sustained identification of speech and language impairment, on children's achievement and adjustment at school. Four indicators identified speech and language impairment: parent-rated expressive language concern; parent-rated receptive language concern; use of speech-language pathology services; below average scores on the adapted Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III. School outcomes were assessed by teachers' ratings of language/literacy ability, numeracy/mathematical thinking and approaches to learning. Comparison of group differences, using ANOVA, provided clear evidence that children who were identified as having speech and language impairment in their early childhood years did not perform as well at school, two years later, as their non-impaired peers on all three outcomes: Language and Literacy, Mathematical Thinking, and Approaches to Learning. The effects of early speech and language status on literacy, numeracy, and approaches to learning outcomes were similar in magnitude to the effect of family socio-economic factors, after controlling for child characteristics. Additionally, early identification of speech and language impairment (at age 4-5) was found to be a better predictor of school outcomes than sustained identification (at aged 4-5 and 6-7 years). Parent-reports of speech and language impairment in early childhood are useful in foreshadowing later difficulties with school and providing early intervention and targeted support from speech-language pathologists and specialist teachers.

Waist circumference cut-off values for the prediction of cardiovascular risk factors clustering in Chinese school-aged children : a cross-sectional study

Background: Waist circumference has been identified as a valuable predictor of cardiovascular risk in children. The development of waist circumference percentiles and cut-offs for various ethnic groups are necessary because of differences in body composition. The purpose of this study was to develop waist circumference percentiles for Chinese children and to explore optimal waist circumference cut-off values for predicting cardiovascular risk factors clustering in this population.----- ----- Methods: Height, weight, and waist circumference were measured in 5529 children (2830 boys and 2699 girls) aged 6-12 years randomly selected from southern and northern China. Blood pressure, fasting triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and glucose were obtained in a subsample (n = 1845). Smoothed percentile curves were produced using the LMS method. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis was used to derive the optimal age- and gender-specific waist circumference thresholds for predicting the clustering of cardiovascular risk factors.----- ----- Results: Gender-specific waist circumference percentiles were constructed. The waist circumference thresholds were at the 90th and 84th percentiles for Chinese boys and girls respectively, with sensitivity and specificity ranging from 67% to 83%. The odds ratio of a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors among boys and girls with a higher value than cut-off points was 10.349 (95% confidence interval 4.466 to 23.979) and 8.084 (95% confidence interval 3.147 to 20.767) compared with their counterparts.----- ----- Conclusions: Percentile curves for waist circumference of Chinese children are provided. The cut-off point for waist circumference to predict cardiovascular risk factors clustering is at the 90th and 84th percentiles for Chinese boys and girls, respectively.

Preschool anxiety disorders predict different patterns of amygdala-prefrontal connectivity at school-age.

OBJECTIVE: In this prospective, longitudinal study of young children, we examined whether a history of preschool generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, and/or social phobia is associated with amygdala-prefrontal dysregulation at school-age. As an exploratory analysis, we investigated whether distinct anxiety disorders differ in the patterns of this amygdala-prefrontal dysregulation. METHODS: Participants were children taking part in a 5-year study of early childhood brain development and anxiety disorders. Preschool symptoms of generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, and social phobia were assessed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA) in the first wave of the study when the children were between 2 and 5 years old. The PAPA was repeated at age 6. We conducted functional MRIs when the children were 5.5 to 9.5 year old to assess neural responses to viewing of angry and fearful faces. RESULTS: A history of preschool social phobia predicted less school-age functional connectivity between the amygdala and the ventral prefrontal cortices to angry faces. Preschool generalized anxiety predicted less functional connectivity between the amygdala and dorsal prefrontal cortices in response to fearful faces. Finally, a history of preschool separation anxiety predicted less school-age functional connectivity between the amygdala and the ventral prefrontal cortices to angry faces and greater school-age functional connectivity between the amygdala and dorsal prefrontal cortices to angry faces. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that there are enduring neurobiological effects associated with a history of preschool anxiety, which occur over-and-above the effect of subsequent emotional symptoms. Our results also provide preliminary evidence for the neurobiological differentiation of specific preschool anxiety disorders.

Aflatoxin Exposure May Contribute to Chronic Hepatomegaly in Kenyan School Children

BACKGROUND: Presentation with a firm type of chronic hepatomegaly of multifactorial etiology is common among school-age children in sub-Saharan Africa.

OBJECTIVE: Aflatoxin is a liver toxin and carcinogen contaminating staple maize food. In this study we examined its role in chronic hepatomegaly.

METHODS: Plasma samples collected in 2002 and again in 2004 from 218 children attending two schools in neighboring villages were assayed for aflatoxin exposure using the aflatoxin-albumin adduct (AF-alb) biomarker. Data were previously examined for associations among hepatomegaly, malaria, and schistosomiasis.

RESULTS: AF-alb levels were high in children from both schools, but the geometric mean (95% confidence interval) in year 2002 was significantly higher in Matangini [206.5 (175.5, 243.0) pg/mg albumin] than in Yumbuni [73.2 (61.6, 87.0) pg/mg; p < 0.001]. AF-alb levels also were higher in children with firm hepatomegaly [176.6 (129.6, 240.7) pg/mg] than in normal children [79.9 (49.6, 128.7) pg/mg; p = 0.029]. After adjusting for Schistosoma mansoni and Plasmodium infection, we estimated a significant 43% increase in the prevalence of hepatomegaly/hepatosplenomegaly for every natural-log-unit increase in AF-alb. In 2004, AF-alb levels were markedly higher than in 2002 [539.7 (463.3, 628.7) vs. 114.5 (99.7, 131.4) pg/mg; p < 0.001] but with no significant difference between the villages or between hepatomegaly and normal groups [539.7 (436.7, 666.9) vs. 512.6 (297.3, 883.8) pg/mg], possibly because acute exposures during an aflatoxicosis outbreak in 2004 may have masked any potential underlying relationship.

CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to aflatoxin was associated with childhood chronic hepatomegaly in 2002. These preliminary data suggest an additional health risk that may be related to aflatoxin exposure in children, a hypothesis that merits further testing.