Body image dissatisfaction and its relationship with physical activity and body mass index in Brazilian adolescents

Objective: To evaluate body image dissatisfaction and its relationship with physical activity and body mass index in a Brazilian sample of adolescents. Methods: A total of 275 adolescents (139 boys and 136 girls) between the ages of 14 and 18 years completed measures of body image dissatisfaction through the Contour Drawing Scale and current physical activity by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Weight and height were also measured for subsequent calculation of body mass index. Results: Boys and girls differed significantly regarding body image dissatisfaction, with girls reporting higher levels of dissatisfaction. Underweight and eutrophic boys preferred to be heavier, while those overweight preferred be thinner and, in contrast, girls desired to be thinner even when they are of normal weight. Conclusion: Body image dissatisfaction was strictly related to body mass index, but not to physical activity.

Impact of a Cleft Lip and/or Palate on Maternal Stress and Attachment Representations.

Objective : The announcement, prenatally or at birth, of a cleft lip and/or palate represents a challenge for the parents. The purpose of this study is to identify parental working internal models of the child (parental representations of the child and relationship in the context of attachment theory) and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in mothers of infants born with a cleft. Method : The study compares mothers with a child born with a cleft (n  =  22) and mothers with a healthy infant (n  =  36). Results : The study shows that mothers of infants with a cleft more often experience insecure parental working internal models of the child and more posttraumatic stress symptoms than mothers of the control group. It is interesting that the severity or complexity of the cleft is not related to parental representations and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The maternal emotional involvement, as expressed in maternal attachment representations, is higher in mothers of children with a cleft who had especially high posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, as compared with mothers of children with a cleft having fewer posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Discussion : Mothers of children with a cleft may benefit from supportive therapy regarding parent-child attachment, even when they express low posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms.

Weekly sport practice and adolescent well-being.

OBJECTIVE: Sport practice is widely encouraged, both in guidelines and in clinical practice, because of its broad range of positive effects on health. However, very limited evidence directly supports this statement among adolescents and the sport duration that we should recommend remains unknown. We aimed to determine sport durations that were associated with poor well-being. METHODS: We conducted a survey including 1245 adolescents (16-20 years) from the general Swiss population. Participants were recruited from various settings (sport centres, peers of sport practicing adolescents, websites) and asked to complete a web-based questionnaire. Weekly sport practice was categorised into four groups: low (0-3.5 h), average (≈ recommended 7 h (3.6-10.5)), high (≈14 h (10.6-17.5)) and very high (>17.5 h). We assessed well-being using the WHO-5 Well-Being Index. RESULTS: Compared with adolescents in the average group, those in the very high group had a higher risk of poor well-being (OR 2.29 (95% CI 1.11 to 4.72)), as did those in the low group (OR 2.33 (1.58 to 3.44)). In contrast, those in the high group had a lower risk of poor well-being than those in the average group (OR 0.46 (0.23 to 0.93)). CONCLUSIONS: We found an inverted, U-shaped relationship between weekly sport practice duration and well-being among adolescents. The peak scores of well-being were around 14 h per week of sport practice, corresponding to twice the recommended 7 h. Practicing higher sport durations was an independent risk factor of poor well-being.

Mothers' and Fathers' Early Relationship With Their Infant: Similar Yet Temporally Discordant Themes [La relation initiale des parents avec leur nourrisson: Thèmes similaires quoique temporellement discordants]

Objective: To examine first-time mothers' and fathers' themes in their relationship with their infant, how these themes change during the first four months postpartum, and similarities and differences in mothers' and fathers' themes. Participants: Eighteen first-time mother-father couples were separately interviewed at one; six and 16 weeks postpartum. Data Analysis: Audio-taped, transcribed interviews were analysed using a Grounded Theory approach. Results: Our findings reveal a common set of themes for mothers and fathers in relation to the infant : 1: Discovery, 2: Physical Proximity, 3: Emotional Closeness, 4: Initiation of Complementary Interactions and 5: Commitment to Love and Care. However, there was a striking lack of concordance between mothers and fathers for these themes at each point in time. Conclusions: Mothers' and fathers' experience of the early relationship with their infant is unique. Focussing on maternal as well as paternal ways of experiencing the early relationship with their infant sets the way to understanding early developing relationships in the family context.

The relationship between muscle strength and physiological age: a cross-sectional study in boys aged from 11 to 15.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationships between isokinetic knee flexor and extensor muscle strength and physiological and chronological age in young soccer players. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seventy-nine young, healthy, male soccer players (mean+/-standard deviation age: 12.78+/-2.88, range: 11 to 15) underwent a clinical examination (age, weight, height, body mass index and Tanner puberty stage) and an evaluation of bilateral knee flexor and extensor muscle strength on an isokinetic dynamometer. Participation in the study was voluntary. RESULTS: The peak torque increased progressively (by 50%) between the ages of 11 and 15 and most significantly between 12 to 14. The knee flexor/extensor ratios only decreased significantly between 14 and 15 years of age. Puberty stage was the most important determinant of the peak torque level (ahead of chronological age, weight and height) for all angular velocities (p<0.0001). Muscle strength increased significantly between Tanner stages 1 and 5, with the greatest increase between stages 2 and 4. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that isokinetic muscle strength increases most between 12 and 13 years of age and between Tanner stages 2 and 3. There was strong correlation between muscle strength and physiological age.

Adult consequences of late adolescent alcohol consumption: a systematic review of cohort studies.

Alcohol is responsible for a significant portion of the global burden of disease. There is widespread concern reported in the media and other sources about drinking trends among young people, particularly heavy episodic or “binge” drinking. Prominent among policy responses, in the UK and elsewhere, have been attempts to manage antisocial behaviour related to intoxication in public spaces. Much less attention has been given to the longer term effects of excessive drinking in adolescence on later adult health and well-being. Some studies suggest that individuals “mature out” of late adolescent drinking behaviour, whilst others identify enduring effects on drinking and broader health and social outcomes in adulthood. If adolescent drinking does not cause later difficulties in adulthood then intervention approaches aimed at addressing the acute consequences of alcohol, such as unintentional injuries and anti-social behaviour, may be the most appropriate solution. If causal relationships do exist, however, this approach will not address the cumulative harms produced by alcohol, unless such intervention successfully modifies the long-term relationship with alcohol, which seems unlikely. To address this issue a systematic review of cohort studies was conducted, as this approach provides the strongest observational study design to evaluate evidence for causal inference.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Alcohol and nonlethal injuries: a Swiss emergency department study on the risk relationship between acute alcohol consumption and type of injury.

BACKGROUND: Acute alcohol consumption has been reported to be an important risk factor for injury, but clear scientific evidence on issues such as injury type is not available. The present study aims to improve the knowledge of the importance of alcohol consumption as an injury determinant with regards to two dimensions of the type of injury, namely the nature and the body region involved. METHODS: Risk relationships between two injury type components and acute alcohol use were estimated through multinomial and logistic regression models based on data from 7,529 patients-among whom 3,682 had injury diagnoses-gathered in a Swiss emergency department. RESULTS: Depending on the type of injury, between 31.1% and 48.7% of casualties report alcohol use before emergency department attendance. The multinomial regression models show that even low alcohol levels are consistently associated with nearly all natures of injury and body regions. A persistent dose-response effect between alcohol levels and risk associations was observed for almost all injury types. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the importance and consistency of the risk association between low and moderate levels of acute alcohol consumption and all types of injury. None of the body regions and natures of injury could pride on absence of association between alcohol and injury. Public health, prevention, and care implications are considered.

Behaviour evaluation for risk-taking adolescents (BERTA): an easy to use and assess instrument to detect adolescent risky behaviours in a clinical setting.

To create an instrument to be used in an outpatient clinic to detect adolescents prone to risk-taking behaviours. Based on previous research, five identified variables (relationship with parents and teachers, liking going to school, average grades, and level of religiosity) were used to create a screening tool to detect at least one of ten risky behaviours (tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and other illegal drugs use; sexual intercourse and sexual risky behaviour; driving while intoxicated, riding with an intoxicated driver, not always using a seat belt, and not always using a helmet). The instrument was tested using the Barcelona Adolescent Health Survey 1993. A Receiver Operating Characteristics curve was used to find the best cut-off point between high and low risk score. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to detect at least one risky behaviour and for each individual behaviour. In order to assess its predictive value, the analysis was repeated using the Barcelona Adolescent Health Survey 1999. In both cases, analyses were conducted for the whole sample and for younger and older adolescents. Adolescents with a high-risk score were more likely to take at least one risky behaviour both when the whole sample was analysed and by age groups. With very few exceptions, the Behaviour Evaluation for Risk-Taking Adolescents showed significant odds ratios for each individual variable. CONCLUSION: The Behaviour Evaluation for Risk-Taking Adolescents has shown its potential as an easy to use instrument to screen for risk-taking behaviours. Future research must aim towards assessing this instrument's predictive value in the clinical setting and it's application to other populations.

The outcome of acute schistosomiasis infection in adult mice with postnatal exposure to maternal malnutrition

Maternal malnutrition during the lactation period in early development may have long-term programming effects on adult offspring. We evaluated the combined effects of parasitological behaviour and histopathological features and malnutrition during lactation. Lactating mice and their pups were divided into a control group (fed a normal diet of 23% protein), a protein-restricted group (PR) (fed a diet containing 8% protein) and a caloric-restricted group (CR) (fed according to the PR group intake). At the age of 60 days, the offspring were infected with Schistosoma mansoni cercariae and killed at nine weeks post-infection. Food intake, body and liver masses, leptinaemia, corticosteronaemia, collagen morphometry and neogenesis and the cellular composition of liver granulomas were studied. PR offspring showed reduced weight gain and hypophagia, whereas CR offspring became overweight and developed hyperphagia. The pre-patent period was longer (45 days) in both programmed offspring as compared to controls (40 days). The PR-infected group had higher faecal and intestinal egg output and increased liver damage. The CR-infected group showed a lower number of liver granulomas, increased collagen neogenesis and a higher frequency of binucleate hepatocytes, suggesting a better modulation of the inflammatory response and increased liver regeneration. Taken together, our findings suggest that neonatal malnutrition of offspring during lactation affects the outcome of schistosomiasis in mice.

Perinatal assessment of infant, parents, and parent-infant relationship: prematurity as an example.

This article reviews the stresses for parents, infants, and other caregivers during the period surrounding the birth of the premature infant. Principles of assessment of infant discomfort, parental stress, the parent-infant relationship, and the match of the medical caregiving environment to the individual infant's needs are discussed. Relevant tools to aide in these aspects of assessment are reviewed. The role of early assessment as preventive intervention and the indication for subsequent intervention in complicated cases of premature infants and their parents are further discussed. The article offers detailed clinical examples to illustrate these and other points throughout.

Linguistic and maternal genetic diversity are not correlated in native mexicans

Mesoamerica, defined as the broad linguistic and cultural area from middle southern Mexico to Costa Rica, might have played a pivotal role during the colonization of theAmerican continent. It has been suggested that the Mesoamerican isthmus could have played an important role in severely restricting prehistorically gene flow between North and SouthAmerica. Although the Native American component has been already described in admixedMexican populations, few studies have been carried out in native Mexican populations. In thisstudy we present mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data for the first hypervariable region (HVR-I) in 477 unrelated individuals belonging to eleven different native populations from Mexico. Almost all the Native Mexican mtDNAs could be classified into the four pan-Amerindian haplogroups (A2, B2, C1 and D1); only three of them could be allocated to the rare Native American lineage D4h3. Their haplogroup phylogenies are clearly star-like, as expected from relatively young populations that have experienced diverse episodes of genetic drift (e.g. extensive isolation, genetic drift and founder effects) and posterior population expansions. In agreement with this observation is the fact that Native Mexican populations show a high degree of heterogeneity in their patterns of haplogroup frequencies. HaplogroupX2a was absent in our samples, supporting previous observations where this clade was only detected in the American northernmost areas. The search for identical sequences in the American continent shows that, although Native Mexican populations seem to show a closer relationship to North American populations, they cannot be related to a single geographical region within the continent. Finally, we did not find significant population structure on the maternal lineages when considering the four main and distinct linguistic groups represented in our Mexican samples (Oto-Manguean, Uto-Aztecan, Tarascan, and Mayan), suggesting that genetic divergence predates linguistic diversification in Mexico.

Self-reported social class in adolescents: validity and relationship with gradients in self-reported health

Background: Analyzing social differences in the health of adolescents is a challenge. The accuracy of adolescent's report on familial socio-economic position is unknown. The aims of the study were to examine the validity of measuring occupational social class and family level of education reported by adolescents aged 12 to 18, and the relationship between social position and self-reported health.Methods: A sample of 1453 Spanish adolescents 12 to 18 years old from urban and rural areas completed a self-administered questionnaire including the Child Health and Illness Profile-Adolescent Edition (CHIP-AE), and data on parental occupational social class (OSC) and level of education (LE). The responsible person for a sub-sample of teenagers (n = 91) were interviewed by phone. Kappa coefficients were estimated to analyze agreement between adolescents and proxy-respondents, and logistic regression models were adjusted to analyze factors associated with missing answers and disagreements. Effect size (ES) was calculated to analyze the relationship between OSC, LE and the CHIP-AE domain scores.Results: Missing answers were higher for father's (24.2%) and mother's (45.7%) occupational status than for parental education (8.4%, and 8.1% respectively), and belonging to a non-standard family was associated with more incomplete reporting of social position (OR = 4,98; 95%CI = 1,3–18,8) as was agreement between a parent and the adolescent. There were significant social class gradients, most notably for aspects of health related to resilience to threats to illness.ConclusionAdolescents can acceptably self-report on family occupation and level of education. Social class gradients are present in important aspects of health in adolescents.

A U-shaped association between intensity of Internet use and adolescent health.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between different Internet-use intensities and adolescent mental and somatic health. METHODS: Data were drawn from the 2002 Swiss Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health, a nationally representative survey of adolescents aged 16 to 20 years in post-mandatory school. From a self-administered anonymous questionnaire, 3906 adolescent boys and 3305 girls were categorized into 4 groups according to their intensity of Internet use: heavy Internet users (HIUs; >2 hours/day), regular Internet users (RIUs; several days per week and <= 2 hours/day), occasional users (<= 1 hour/week), and non-Internet users (NIUs; no use in the previous month). Health factors examined were perceived health, depression, overweight, headaches and back pain, and insufficient sleep. RESULTS: In controlled multivariate analysis, using RIUs as a reference, HIUs of both genders were more likely to report higher depressive scores, whereas only male users were found at increased risk of overweight and female users at increased risk of insufficient sleep. Male NIUs and female NIUs and occasional users also were found at increased risk of higher depressive scores. Back-pain complaints were found predominantly among male NIUs. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides evidence of a U-shaped relationship between intensity of Internet use and poorer mental health of adolescents. In addition, HIUs were confirmed at increased risk for somatic health problems. Thus, health professionals should be on the alert when caring for adolescents who report either heavy Internet use or very little/none. Also, they should consider regular Internet use as a normative behavior without major health consequence. Pediatrics 2011;127:e330-e335