Search Results (11)

Background and Objectives: Age at menarche is related to various biological and socioeconomic factors in childhood. The aim of the study was to examine the association of age at menarche with general and abdominal obesity in young women. Materials and Methods: A transversal anthropometric survey was conducted with 102 females from 21 to 25 years of age. The surveyed traits included height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC). General obesity was assessed using the body mass index (BMI) and abdominal obesity by WC, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). A retrospective method was used for collecting age at menarche data. Results: The average age at menarche is 12.80 years. Early menarcheal age (<12 years) is detected in 25.5% of young females, while late onset of menarche (>14 years) is recorded for 20.6% of subjects. Early menarche age subjects exhibit significantly higher BMI, WC and WHtR in comparison with their late menarche age peers. There is a significant negative correlation between BMI, WC and WHtR values and menarcheal age. Late age at menarche is associated with higher probability of underweight status (BMI < 18.5 and/or WHtR < 0.4). Conclusions: Age at menarche has a negative correlation with general and abdominal obesity. Young women with early age at menarche show statistically higher values of BMI, WC and WHtR, while those with late menarcheal age show greater susceptibility to becoming underweight. Full article

Background: Evidence in adults suggests that exposure to artificial light-at-night (ALAN) leads to obesity. However, little is known about whether this effect exists in children and adolescents. We aimed to investigate whether ALAN exposure was associated with overweight and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents and whether this association varied with socioeconomic status. Methods: Data on the height and weight of 129,500 children and adolescents aged 10–18 years from 72 cities were extracted from the 2014 Chinese National Survey on Students’ Constitution and Health (CNSSCH). The ALAN area percentage and average ALAN intensity were calculated using the Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite. The subjects were separated into three categories based on the cities’ gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC). A mixed-effect logistic regression model and generalized additive model (GAM) were utilized to evaluate the association between ALAN exposure and overweight and obesity in children and adolescents stratified by municipal GDPPC. Results: Both ALAN area (OR = 1.194, 95% CI: 1.175–1.212) and ALAN intensity (OR = 1.019, 95% CI: 1.017–1.020) were positively associated with overweight and obesity in children and adolescents, and the associations remained robust after adjusting for covariates. ORs for overweight and obesity and ALAN area decreased as GDPPC level increased (first tertile: OR = 1.457, 95% CI: 1.335–1.590; second tertile: OR = 1.350, 95% CI: 1.245–1.464; third tertile: OR = 1.100, 95% CI: 1.081–1.119). Similar results were observed for ALAN intensity. In the GAM models, thresholds existed in almost all these spline trends, indicating that ALAN might have a nonlinear association with overweight and obesity. Conclusions: ALAN contributed to the development of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents and this effect differed with GDPPC. Future longitudinal studies should confirm the causal relationship between ALAN and obesity. Moreover, reducing unnecessary exposure to artificial light at night may have beneficial implications for controlling childhood and adolescent obesity, particularly in low-income areas. Full article

Tailored obesity management includes understanding physical activity (PA) and its context, ideally in childhood before the onset of health risk. This cross-sectional study determined, by sex and population, the PA of Southern African pre-adolescent urban primary school children. PA was measured objectively (step count: pedometer) and subjectively (Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children [PAQ-C]), taking confounders (phenotype, school-built environment, and socio-economic environment) into account. Body composition was measured with multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (Seca mBCA). PA was adjusted for phenotypic confounders (body size and composition) using multivariate regression. Sex and population differences in PA were determined with two-way ANOVA. Ninety-four healthy pre-adolescents (60% girls, 52% black) with a similar socio-economic status and access to PA participated. Amidst phenotypic differences, average steps/day in girls (10,212) was lower than in boys (11,433) (p = 0.029), and lower in black (9280) than in white (12,258) (p < 0.001) participants. PAQ-C scores (5-point rating) were lower for girls (2.63) than boys (2.92) (p < 0.001) but higher for black (2.89) than white (2.58) (p < 0.001) participants. Objective and subjective measurements were, however, not significantly (r = −0.02; p = 0.876) related and PAQ-C failed to identify reactive changes in the step count. Objectively measured PA of black participants and of girls was consistently lower than for white participants and boys. Target-group specific interventions should therefore be considered. Full article

Childhood exposure to nitrogen oxides (NOx) is considered a risk factor for the onset of asthma. However, associations of this exposure with other atopic diseases and factors that modify this association are less clear. We aimed to study associations between exposure to NOx and the prevalence of atopic diseases in Israeli adolescents using a cross-sectional design. The study population comprised all Israeli-born adolescents whose medical status was evaluated for mandatory military recruitment during 1967–2017 (n = 2,523,745), of whom 5.9% had prevalent asthma. We based the exposure assessments on a land-use regression model and estimated associations using multivariable logistic regression models. Across all periods, mean exposure to NOx from birth to adolescence was associated with prevalent asthma at the examination in a dose-response manner, with an odds ratio for the upper quintile of 1.61 (95% CI: 1.56–1.67), in comparison to the lowest quintile. Associations were stronger in males and in lower socioeconomic strata. We found the strongest associations for asthma with comorbid rhinitis, with an almost twofold increase in the odds of upper versus lower quintile of exposure (odds ratio = 1.96, 95% CI: 1.82–2.11). Rhino-conjunctivitis and allergic atopic dermatitis suggested a possible threshold level with NOx. Capsule Summary: Research indicates that half of the global population will suffer from an allergic condition at some point in life. Childhood exposure to nitrogen oxides is a risk factor for the onset of asthma. The association between exposure and allergic diseases other than asthma is unclear. We demonstrate a strong, dose-response relationship between exposure and a group of allergic outcomes, using data comprising 2.5 million subjects over 50 years. The large health benefits from clean air should motivate governments to prioritize mitigation measures. Full article

Based on the life history theory, this study is aimed at examining the associations among childhood subjective socioeconomic status, adulthood pro-environmental behavior, and commercial insurance purchase. We used the data from the 2013 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS2013) and obtained a sample of 11,172 respondents, with ages ranging from 18 to 97 years old. The respondents were selected using multistage stratified sampling. Correlational, mediational and moderational analyses were conducted using SPSS. The results show that the childhood subjective socioeconomic status is positively associated with adulthood pro-environmental behavior, independent of the current subjective socioeconomic status. In addition, commercial insurance purchase acts as a mediator of the association between childhood subjective socioeconomic status and adulthood pro-environmental behavior. Using conditional process analysis, we demonstrated that age moderated both the path where childhood subjective socioeconomic status influenced adulthood pro-environmental behavior and the path where childhood subjective socioeconomic status influenced commercial insurance purchase. Theoretically, the results provide empirical support for evolutionary perspective on sustainable behavior and demonstrate that childhood environment can constrain individual consumer choices and lifestyle. Practically, positioning target customers to commercial insurance clients may be an effective marketing strategy to increase consumers’ actual purchase of ethical products. Moreover, to realize environmental goals, social policy makers can make efforts to publicize the importance of insurance and expand the coverage of insurance by increasing the corresponding financial subsidies for low socioeconomic status families. Full article

Childhood and adolescence represent critical periods where beverage and food consumption behaviors are learned and developed. Mexican mothers’ presence and influence are instrumental in shaping such behaviors. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and risk associations of maternal factors for unhealthy patterns of beverage intake. This study analyzed data from a population-based cross-sectional study of healthy children and adolescents from Mexico City. Data of subject’s total water intake (TWI) and its’ sources were collected using two 24-h recall surveys. Patterns of beverage intake were constructed based on the guidance system of beverage consumption in the US. Maternal factors of interest included age, body mass index (BMI), mother’s educational level (MEL), socioeconomic status (SES), and belongingness to the paid workforce (BPW). Data of 1532 subject–mother dyads informed that 47% of subjects did not meet the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations for TWI, and 94.6% showed an unhealthy beverage intake pattern, mainly consisting in a lower intake of water and a higher intake of caloric beverages with some nutrients; and calorically sweetened beverages. The major sources of hydration were caloric beverages with some nutrients (i.e., whole milk, fruit water, and flavored milk). The highest risk association for an unhealthy beverage intake pattern was seen in those subjects with mothers in the cluster with lower SES, lower MEL, lower proportion of BPW, higher BMI, and younger age (OR = 9.3, 95% CI 1.2–72.8, P = 0.03). Thus, there is a remarkably high prevalence of an unhealthy pattern of beverage intake, and specific maternal factors may be implicated as enablers of such behaviors, which is also addressable for future interventions. Full article

Considerable research has suggested that low socioeconomic status (SES) negatively influences brain structure, including but not limited to decreased amygdala volume. Considering race and ethnicity as sociological rather than biological constructs, this study was built on minorities’ diminished returns (MDRs) to test if the effects of family SES on the total amygdala volume is weaker for black and Latino children than white and non-Latino children. We borrowed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a national multi-center brain imaging investigation of childhood brain development in the US. The total sample was 9380 9–10-year-old children. The independent variables were subjective family SES and parental education. The primary outcome was total amygdala volume. High subjective SES and parental education were independently associated with larger total amygdala size. The association between high subjective SES and larger total amygdala volume was less pronounced for black and Latino children than white and non-Latino children. For American children, family SES has unequal effects on amygdala size and function, a pattern that is consistent with MDRs. This result suggests that SES loses some of its expected effects for racial and ethnic minority families. Full article

Birth cohort studies are the most appropriate type of design to determine the causal relationship between potential risk factors during the prenatal or postnatal period and the health status of the newborn up to childhood and potentially adulthood. To date, there has been a growth in interest regarding observational population-based studies which are performed to provide answers to specific research questions for defined populations, for instance, assessing the exposure to environmental pollutants or drugs on the risk of developing a disease. Birth cohorts based on the recruitment and active follow-up of mothers and children allow the collection of biological material, and specific clinical and genetic information. However, they require a considerable amount of time and resources and, besides being usually of limited size, they are exposed to the risk of the loss of subjects to follow-up, with decreased statistical power and possible selection bias. For these reasons, linking the medical birth register with administrative health records for mothers and babies is increasingly being used in countries with a universal healthcare system, allowing researchers to identify large and unselected populations from birth, and to reconstruct relevant traits and care pathways of mothers and newborns. This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health focuses on the current state of knowledge on perinatal and postnatal exposures and adverse pregnancy, maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes through population-based birth cohort studies, with a specific focus on real-word data. The 12 accepted articles covered a wide range of themes that can be addressed specifically through birth cohort study design; however, only three were based on real word data with record-linkage to health administrative databases. In particular, two papers have addressed the topic of socioeconomic status considering several indicators both at the individual and contextual level. Two papers focused on inflammatory bowel diseases, both as an outcome of perinatal and antibiotic exposure in early life and as a condition associated with asthma, among children identified in a birth cohort based on a Regional Medical Birth Register. Three articles focused on medication use during pregnancy and its impact on maternal and fetal health. The effect of exposure to prenatal environmental risk factors on perinatal and childhood outcomes has been considered in two papers. Two papers analyzed ad hoc nationwide prospective birth cohorts set in Japan and UK. Finally, we included a systematic review with meta-analysis to evaluate the relation between growth restriction at birth and congenital heart defects. We think that this Special Issue may contribute to enriching the discussion of future challenges, opportunities, strengths and limitations for all research topics that can be investigated using a population-based birth cohort study design. Full article

This study aimed to determine whether breastfeeding duration and the timing of solid food were independently associated with being overweight or obese in early childhood. Subjects were 953 children participating in the Study of Mothers and Infants Life Events Affecting Oral Health (SMILE) birth cohort study, based in Adelaide, Australia. Socio-demographic information and data on breastfeeding duration and age of introduction of solid food were collected at birth, 3, 4, 6, 12, and 24 months via mailed or online questionnaires completed by mothers. The weight and height of children were measured at a dental examination when children were aged between 24 and 36 months. Body mass index was calculated, and children were categorised into weight groups according to the World Health Organization growth standards. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted, adjusting for maternal age at birth, education, socio-economic status, pre-pregnancy weight, smoking in pregnancy, method of delivery, and child’s birthweight. Risk of overweight/obesity was independently associated with maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, smoking in pregnancy, and birthweight. Children that were breastfed for 12 months or more had a significantly lower risk of being overweight/obese than those breastfed for less than 17 weeks (AOR 0.49; 95%CI 0.27, 0.90; p for trend =0.009). Age of introduction of solid food, however, was not associated with the risk of being overweight/obese at 24 to 36 months. This study provides further evidence of an inverse relationship between breastfeeding and risk of overweight/obesity, however, no association with the timing of solid food was detected. Full article

Malnutrition in childhood is a dramatic indicator of poor socio-economical status worldwide. To recognize and reveal the socio-demographic features is crucial, especially for developing countries. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and association with sociodemographic variables of malnutrition in 0-5 years old children in Van, Turkey. A total of 702 children are included in this cross-sectional study. Demographic features of subject including age, gender, family characteristics and other data were obtained. Nutritional assessment was done using anthropometric indices including weight-for-age, height-for-age, weight-for-height, head circumference and body mass index-for-age. Multivariate logistic regressions were carried out to assess malnutrition- associated factors. Prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting were 19.7, 17.7 and 16.2%, respectively. Socio-demographic variables that statistical significantly in association with malnutrition were low monthly family income, educational level and employment status of father, parental consanguinity, number of pregnancies, regular intake of vitamin D and history of prematurity. The prevalence of children with head circumference-z score ≤−2SD and body mass index-for-age ≤−2SD were 9.8 and 16.3%, respectively. Multivariate analysis detected following risk factors for these indices; low monthly family income, history of prematurity, unemployed father and the period between pregnancies (1- 2 years). We found that prevalence of malnutrition in the city of Van, was still higher than more developed regions of Turkey. The associated risk factors of malnutrition should be specifically interpreted by health professionals and also by government authorities that are responsible for making practical politics of public health. Full article

In their recent article [1], Chari et al. call attention to the important subject of setting National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to provide requisite protection for public health, including the health of sensitive groups, as specified under the Clean Air Act (73 FR 66965) [2]. The authors focus on consideration of susceptibility to inform policy choices, using lead (Pb)-related neurocognitive effects and children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families in the context of alternative Pb standard levels. Our comments focus on the authors’ analysis of the scientific evidence and not on policy. We agree with the authors that the health effects evidence for Pb indicates a role (or roles) for SES-related factors in influencing childhood Pb exposure and associated health effects. We disagree, however, with the authors’ interpretation of the literature on SES influence on the shape of the concentration-response (C-R) relationship between children’s blood Pb and IQ (e.g., steepness of the slope). We further address aspects of the scientific evidence that are important to the consideration of sensitive populations in the context of the Pb NAAQS, and how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considered this evidence in setting the Pb NAAQS in 2008. Full article