child obesity

Parental feeding practices, such as the use of food to soothe, can be shaped by various factors, including the family environment and parents' psychological characteristics and capacities. To our knowledge, the combined effect of these factors has not been studied. Furthermore, parental feeding practices have mainly been studied in women, resulting in a gender gap in the research. This study aims to investigate the combined effect of family environment and parental characteristics on the likelihood of using food to soothe children, taking the gender of both parents into account...

Background: Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health epidemics of the 21st century. Observational studies report that increases in portion size (PS) have occurred in parallel with levels of obesity. Increased PSs of high-energy-dense foods can promote overeating, and without compensatory behaviours, can contribute to childhood obesity. Caregivers make decisions about PSs for children in the home and nursery environment, thus are gatekeepers to child food intake. Understanding caregiver PS decisions can aid in the best practice of PS provision to young children...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The infant diet represents one of the main modifiable determinants of early growth. This study aimed to investigate the associations of infant feeding practices with body mass index (BMI) until 7.5 years. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Analyses were based on data from the French nationwide ELFE birth cohort. Data on breastfeeding (BF) and complementary feeding (CF) were collected monthly from 2 to 10 months. Infant feeding practices were characterized using principal component analyses (PCA) and hierarchical ascendant classification...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the preliminary effects of a theory-based, multi-component intervention on improving healthy lifestyle behaviours and preventing obesity amongst low-income preschoolers. METHODS: A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted at 10 daycare centres. The 16-week FirstStep2Health intervention, grounded in the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model and the Social Cognitive Theory, included five components: a Facebook-based parent programme, three virtual parent meetings, three weekly motivational text messages, parent-child learning via weekly child letters and daycare centre-based child programme...

Background: The built environment can impact health outcomes. Our purpose was to examine relationships between built environment variables related to physical activity and excess weight in preschoolers. Methods: In this retrospective, population-level study of 4- to 6-year-olds, anthropometric measurements were taken between 2009 and 2017 in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Based on BMI z-scores (BMIz), children were classified as normal weight (-2 ≤ BMIz <1) or excess weight (BMIz ≥1; overweight and obesity)...

Background: While studies have identified the negative cardiovascular effects of obesity, the effects of obesity on youth athletes are less studied. This study investigates the associations between obesity in youth athletes and exercise activity and exertional cardiac symptoms. Methods: The HeartBytes National Youth Database produced by Simon's Heart, a nonprofit that organizes adolescents' sports pre-participation examinations (PPEs), was used. This database contains demographic data, exercise-related symptoms, and electrocardiogram data obtained during PPEs...

OBJECTIVES: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and obesity are major pediatric public health problems. The present study aimed to examine the association between these two health parties in our pediatric populations. MATERIALS & METHODS: This study is a single group retrospective cohort study about Body Mass Index (BMI) changes in 149 children and adolescents between 3-18 years old with a diagnosis of ADHD based on one child and adolescent psychiatrist interview according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition criteria (DSM-IV-TR)...

There is an increasing demand for the assessment of sleep-disordered breathing in children of all ages to prevent the deleterious neurocognitive and behaviour consequences of the under-diagnosis and under-treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea [OSA]. OSA can be considered in three broad categories based on predominating contributory features: OSA type 1 [enlarged tonsils and adenoids], type II [Obesity] and type III [craniofacial abnormalities, syndromal, storage diseases and neuromuscular conditions]. The reality is that sleep questionnaires or calculations of body mass index in isolation are poorly predictive of OSA in individuals...

Obesity has a multifactorial origin. Among the behavioural risk factors, excessive consumption of unhealthy foods, skipping breakfast and reduced physical activity stand out. The main objective of this article was to identify trends in dietary habits and their association with overweight/obesity over a 12-year period in schoolchildren aged 7 to 10 years in Florianópolis, southern Brazil. A cross-sectional panel analysis study, using anthropometric, sociodemographic, physical activity and food consumption data of schoolchildren aged 7 to 10 years, collected in three waves of the Study of Prevalence of Obesity in Children and Adolescents (EPOCA), carried out during the years 2007, 2012/2013 and 2018/2019, was performed...

PURPOSE: We investigated whether socioeconomic inequalities in young adolescents' mental health are partially due to the unequal distribution of childhood obesity across socioeconomic positions (SEP), i.e. differential exposure, or due to the effect of obesity on mental health being more detrimental among certain SEPs, i.e. differential impact. METHODS: We studied 4660 participants of the Generation R study, a population-based study in the Netherlands. SEP was estimated by mother's education and household income at age five of the child...

OBJECTIVES: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been suggested to play a role in congenital defects. This study investigated the association of MetS and its components with orofacial clefts (OFCs). METHODS: We conducted a case-control study in Northeast Thailand. Ninety-four cases with cleft lip, with or without cleft palate, were frequency matched with 94 controls on the infant's age and mother's education. We administered a mother's health questionnaire and collected anthropometric measurements and blood samples...

Mozambique has one of the highest child undernutrition rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to characterize the profile of children from 1 to 14 years old hospitalized for undernutrition and to explore associated risk factors. Clinical, demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental data were collected. Anthropometric measurements and stool samples were collected from a child and their caretaker. The wealth index was determined using Principal Components Analysis. A total of 449 children and their caretakers were enrolled...

Information on the effects of government nutrition programmes provided to socially vulnerable children to improve their nutritional status is scarce. We analysed the effectiveness of a nutritional programme, including food supplementation with infant formula, on the evolution of the weight and height of socially vulnerable children from Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon. This study included 7752 children aged 12-24 months admitted to the programme between 2017 and 2020. Weight and height measurements at admission and every three months thereafter were extracted from the programme database...

This study examines the impact of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) on various aspects of children's health-from the realms of growth and puberty to the nuanced characteristics of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, liver pathology, carcinogenic potential, and cardiovascular disorders. A comprehensive literature review was conducted using PubMed, with a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method employing specific keywords related to child health, obesity, and insulin-like growth factors...

During pregnancy and in the post-partum period, several diseases may arise or become exacerbated. Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease with an increasing incidence in Western countries. The incidence of acute pancreatitis during pregnancy is not different with respect to the general population, but this incidence increases in the first 2 years after delivery. Biliary sludge and stones are the most frequent aetiologies, followed by hypertriglyceridemia. Taking care of the mother and foetus through a potentially severe disease requires a team consisting of an obstetrician, a gastroenterologist, an anaesthesiologist, and a surgeon...

BACKGROUND: Prenatal or early childhood secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure increases obesity risk. However, the potential mechanisms underlying this association are unclear, but obesogenic eating behaviors are one pathway that components of SHS could perturb. Our aim was to assess associations of prenatal and early childhood SHS exposure with adolescent eating behaviors. METHODS: Data came from a prospective pregnancy and birth cohort (N = 207, Cincinnati, OH)...

PURPOSE: Obesity rates are rising, and the gestational weight gain (GWG) of most women does not comply with current guidelines. This study assesses the association of pre-pregnancy BMI (ppBMI) and GWG with the child's weight development and investigates whether associations with GWG differ depending on ppBMI. METHODS: Data were obtained from the cohort study LIFE Child (Germany), comprising 691 mother-child pairs. Children's weight was followed until age five. Associations between maternal ppBMI, GWG, and children's weight were evaluated using regression analyses...

Innovation around cheese is constant in attempts to meet ever-increasing consumer demands. Retail packaging provides a canvas to communicate to consumers added value from innovations or inherent properties of cheese. Packaging itself may also be the subject of cheese-related innovation. This systematic review of literature organizes research over the past 10 years related to cheese packaging innovation that consumers experience in the marketplace and during consumption of cheese products. The review discusses shipping, displaying cheese at grocery stores, the value of branding, purchasing preferences by demographics, health and nutrition claims, opportunities to highlight protein in cheese, marketing to children, issues of obesity and cheese, diet cheeses, allergens and non-dairy or vegan cheese, opening cheese packaging, cutting of cheese, cooking with cheese, eating cheese, the growing trend of snacking and convenience, and flavor preferences...

BACKGROUND: In recent years, China has adjusted its fertility policies to optimize the population structure by implementing the two-child and three-child policies. Some patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are considering the possibility of having a second child. The issue is whether the offspring from the second childbirth will have favorable long-term developmental outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The research aims to investigate the long-term physical, neurological, and social-emotional development outcomes of children born to mothers with SLE at different parities...

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome consists of cardiometabolic risk factors that promote the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, type 2 'DM' and obesity. These are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Metabolic disorders (MD) are becoming more prevalent both in developing countries and developed countries and are now considered as lifestyle diseases. In women of reproductive age group, especially pregnancy, the blood glucose level is increasing which adversely affects the health of mother and child...