Change in children''s smoking from age 9 to age 15 years: The Dunedin study

Studies have shown that the rate at which children take up smoking is still very high, particularly for female adolescents. While some progress has been made in determining the factors related to the initiation of smoking, an issue that still requires investigation is the relationship between early smoking patterns and later smoking behaviour. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study which examined the continuity between smoking at an early age and later smoking behaviour. The smoking behaviour of a cohort of New Zealand children was followed from age 9 to age 15 years. Results showed that children's smoking pattern at age 9 years was not highly related to their smoking behaviour at age 15. The children most likely to become daily smokers by age 15 were those who had smoked within the last year at ages 11 and 13. It was concluded that the formative period for children's daily smoking at age 15 was from 10 to 13 years of age.     

Neutralizing antibody against Enterovirus-A71 in Thai children: A longitudinal study from birth to age 4 years

Thailand is one of the countries in the Asia-pacific region that has been most affected by the Enterovirus-A71 (EV-A71) epidemic. An individual who is susceptible to EV-A71 may also be infected asymptomatically, thus, a serological assay is a useful tool to estimate the cumulative incidence of infection in the community and to provide guidance for vaccination scheduling. There have been several candidate EV-A71 vaccines, of which three have been approved and licensed in China. The population target for EV-A71 vaccine is children younger than three years of age. In Thailand, there are limited data available on the seroprevalence of EV-A71 neutralizing (NT) antibodies and the timing of seroconversion in children. This study aims to investigate the seroprevalence and seroconversion rate of EV-A71 NT antibody in a cohort of Thai children. Sera were collected at the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand from 100 children between 2015 and 2020. Maternal sera were collected on the day of delivery. Serum samples from children were collected at birth (month 0) and at 2, 7, 18, 24, 36, and 48 months of age to test for EV-A71 NT antibody titers using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based microneutralization test. The seroprotection rate (NT antibody ≥1:16) in children at months 0, 2, 7, 18, 24, 36, and 48 was 81.0%, 60.0%, 9.0%, 10.0%, 13.0%, 17.0%, and 37.1%, respectively. The seroprotection rate was lowest at month 7 due to waning of the maternal antibody and the immunity of children increased with increasing age. At 48 months of age, less than 40% of children were seroprotected. Children at the age of 6 months should be considered a primary target for vaccination.     

Protection from sun exposure in US white children ages 6 months to 11 years

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of protection from sun exposure among US white children ages 6 months to 11 years. METHODS: During the summer of 1998, using telephone directory lists supplemented by random-digit dialing, the authors surveyed parents living in the contiguous United States. They calculated weighted prevalence estimates for protection methods and conducted logistic regression analyses to determine parent and child characteristics predictive of protection behaviors. RESULTS: Parents of 1,055 white children were interviewed. Children spent a median of 20 hours per week outdoors during the summer, of which 10 hours were at school. Sunscreen (61.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 57%, 66%) and shade (26.5%, 95% CI 22%, 31%) were the most frequently reported protection methods. Parents reported higher rates of protection for younger children and children who sunburn easily. CONCLUSIONS: Parents report that a large proportion of white children is protected from sun exposure by one or more methods. Health care providers and educators might encourage the use of all methods of protection, not just sunscreen use, and educate older children to protect themselves from the sun.     

6月龄～6 岁儿童屈光筛查界值点的研究

目的 运用伟伦spot双目视力筛查仪对 6月龄～6 岁儿童进行屈光状态的筛查与分析,寻找各年龄组的屈光筛查界值点。方法 对2018年3—9 月来南京医科大学附属妇产医院门诊就诊的15 342例6月龄～6岁儿童使用伟伦spot双目视力筛查仪进行屈光筛查,按照年龄分组进行统计学描述与分析,寻找合适的界值点。结果 各年龄组等效球镜x-±2s 和柱镜P₉₅的界值点分别是6～12月龄-1.50 D～+2.00 D,2.75 D;1～3 岁-1.25 D～+1.75 D,2.00 D;3～6岁-0.75 D～+1.25 D,1.25 D。各个年龄段柱镜绝对值随年龄增加逐渐减小(H=739.449,P<0.05),等效球镜正视构成比逐渐增高(χ²＝585.048,P<0.01)。结论 6月龄～6 岁儿童屈光筛查结果的判断需结合儿童年龄特点,等效球镜数值偏离出x-±2s和柱镜绝对值度数偏离出P₉₅者应列为视力低常和弱视的可疑,给予恰当的转诊,完善进一步相关的眼科检查。     

The relationship between state abortion-restrictions and homicide deaths among children under 5 years of age: a longitudinal study

The purpose of this study is to explore whether, in the U.S., there are associations between state-level variations in mortality among young children and state abortion restriction policies - such as parental-consent requirements, parental-notification requirements, mandatory delay laws, and restrictions on Medicaid funding for abortion. To investigate this, we used NCHS Multiple Cause of Deaths public-use data files for the period 1983-2002, and compiled data on children ages 0-4 identified as having died as a result of assault/homicide in each state and year. Medicaid funding of abortion, mandatory delay laws, and parental involvement laws for minors seeking abortions were included as the main predictor variables of interest. Multivariate count data models using pooled state-year-age cohort data, with state and time fixed effects and other state-level controls, were estimated. Results indicated that, between 1983 and 2002, the average increase in the number of homicide deaths for children under 5 years of age was 5.70 per state among states that implemented stricter abortion policies over that time, and 2.00 per state for states that did not. In the count data models, parental-consent laws were associated with a 13 percent increase in child homicide deaths; parental-notification laws were associated with an 8 percent increase in child homicide deaths though the results were less robust to alternate model specifications; mandatory delay requirements were associated with a 13 percent increase in child homicide deaths. While these data do not allow us to discern precise pathways via which state abortion-restrictions can lead to more child homicide deaths, we speculate that state restrictions on abortion may result in a disproportionate increase in children born into relatively high-risk environments. Additional research is called for to explore the association of state abortion-restrictions with other measures of infant/child health and well-being.     

Picky eating during childhood: A longitudinal study to age 11 years

Picky eating is a common disorder during childhood often causing considerable parental anxiety. This study examined the incidence, point prevalence, persistence and characteristics of picky eating in a prospective study of 120 children and their parents followed from 2 to 11 years. At any given age between 13% and 22% of the children were reported to be picky eaters. Incidence declined over time whereas point prevalence increased indicating that picky eating is often a chronic problem with 40% having a duration of more than 2 years. Those with longer duration differed from those with short duration having more strong likes and dislikes of food and not accepting new foods. Parents of picky eaters were more likely to report that their children consumed a limited variety of foods, required food prepared in specific ways, expressed stronger likes and dislikes for food, and threw tantrums when denied foods. They were also more likely to report struggles over feeding, preparing special meals, and commenting on their child's eating. Hence, picky eating is a prevalent concern of parents and may remain so through childhood. It appears to be a relatively stable trait reflecting an individual eating style. However no significant effects on growth were observed.     

Factors associated with sunburn in white children aged 6 months to 11 years

OBJECTIVE: To determine the sunburn experience and factors associated with sunburn among white children aged 6 months to 11 years. METHODS: Telephone interviews were conducted with parents and primary caretakers of children, selected by random, stratified sampling, in the contiguous United States in the summer of 1998. Information was gathered on demographic characteristics of parents and children, and children's sunburn experience during the past year, protection from sun exposure, and hours per week spent outdoors. The proportion of children experiencing sunburn in the past year was calculated. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine factors associated with sunburn. Information for 1052 white children was available for the analyses. RESULTS: An estimated 42.6% of U.S. white children experienced one or more sunburns within the past year (95% CI 38.2-47.0). Sunburn was less common among children who ever wore hats (adjusted OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.40-0.87) and more common among children who did not always wear sunscreen (OR for using sunscreen sometimes compared with always, 2.25; 95% CI 1.31-3. 86). Sunburn was also more common among children with sun-sensitive skin and older children. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of U.S. white children experience sunburns. Parents and children may benefit from education about protection from sun exposure.     

Antibodies to measles,mumps, and rubella virus in Thai children after two-dose vaccination at 9 months and 2.5 years: A longitudinal study

IntroductionThailand changed the schedule of childhood measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccination in 2014, moving the second dose from the age of 6 years to 2.5 years. There are currently no data on antibody responses to the MMR vaccine since this recommendation.Material and methodsWe investigated antibody responses in a cohort of children who received two doses of MMR vaccine at the ages of 9 months and 2.5 years that was originally established to evaluate antibody levels to Bordetella pertussis antigens (ClinicalTrials.gov no. NCT02408926). Infants were born to mothers who previously received tetanus–diphtheria–acellular pertussis vaccine at 27–36 weeks of gestation. Anti-measles, -mumps, and -rubella virus IgG levels were measured at birth (cord blood) and the ages of 2 and 7 months (before the first MMR vaccination); 18 and 24 months (9 and 15 months, respectively, after the first dose); and 36 months (6 months after the second dose) using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits.ResultsAt 7 months of age, 96.2%, 99.6%, and 98.8% of infants had no protection against measles, mumps, and rubella, respectively. Levels of antibody against all three antigens increased significantly after the first but not the second dose. At 6 months after two-dose vaccination, 97.4%, 84.8%, and 78.7% of children remained seroprotected against measles, mumps, and rubella, respectively.ConclusionsMaternally derived antibodies to measles, mumps, and rubella virus disappeared by the age of 7 months in Thai children. Two-dose MMR vaccination at 9 months and 2.5 years of age induced robust immune responses against these viruses.     

Vision testing of young children in the age range 18 months to 4½ years

Four hundred and twenty-five normal children in the age range 18 months to 4 1/2 years have been studied to determine the percentage of children according to age who can be expected to cooperate in a letter-matching vision test using a key card; to see whether the use of plastic letters to replace the key card lowers the age at which a letter-matching test can be achieved, and to show that children in this age range can do a vision test at 20ft (6m). Acceptance of occlusion using a patch occluder was also examined. The study shows that children effectively begin to cooperate in letter-matching vision tests using a key card from 33 months of age. Replacement of the key card with plastic letters lowers the age to 30 months and thereafter there is a gain of some 25% of children up to 39 months. All children were successfully tested at 20ft (6m). The most difficult age for occlusion was in the age group around the second birthday.     

The mental health of women 6 months after they give birth to an unwanted baby: a longitudinal study

This study reports a longitudinal prospective study of the impact of an unwanted pregnancy on the mental health of the mother. Data are derived from a Brisbane, Australian sample of 8556 mothers who were enrolled at their first clinic visit (mean gestation 18 weeks) and then interviewed again some 3-5 days after the birth and when the baby was 6 months of age. Standard scales of mental health were administered on each of these occasions and mothers whose babies were unwanted were compared with the rest of the sample. The results indicate that mothers of unwanted children have somewhat higher rates of anxiety and depression than the comparison group, but that the magnitude of the mental health differences between the two groups: (a) diminishes over the period of the follow-up, (b) may be partly attributable to the prior poor mental health of women giving birth to an unplanned and unwanted baby, (c) is such that relatively few women who give birth to an unwanted baby experience mental health problems. The paper considers the implications of these results for health planners, notes the absence of contrary data and the need to acknowledge that these results may reflect situational factors which are characteristic of but not necessarily limited to Brisbane.     

The relation of breastfeeding and body mass index to asthma and atopy in children: a prospective cohort study to age 6 years

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the relationship between breastfeeding, asthma and atopy, and child body mass index (BMI). METHODS: From a prospective birth cohort (n = 2860) in Perth, Western Australia, 2195 children were followed up to age 6 years. Asthma was defined as doctor-diagnosed asthma and wheeze in the last year, and atopy was determined by skin prick test of 1596 children. Breastfeeding, BMI, asthma, and atopy were regressed allowing for confounders and the propensity score for overweight. RESULTS: Using fractional polynomials, we found no association between breastfeeding and overweight. Less exclusive breastfeeding was associated with increased asthma and atopy, and BMI increased with asthma. CONCLUSIONS: Less exclusive breastfeeding leads to increases in child asthma and atopy and a higher BMI is a risk factor for asthma.     

上海地区0～6岁儿童体块指数的参考值

【目的】提出上海地区0～6岁儿童体块指数的参考值。【方法】利用上海市枫林街道1988～1990年出生的0～6岁儿童健康监测资料，提出上海市区儿童体块指数参考值。【结果】研究发现儿童的体块指教在出生后几个月内增加迅速．于6个月左右达峰值．以后逐渐下降。BMI值在儿童时期男女童之间的变化规律是一致的，各年龄组男童的BMI值均大于女童。上海儿童的BMI均值与瑞典同龄儿有着明显的差异。【结论】需要制订体块指数参考量表，为儿童健康监测和儿科临床提供一个新的评价工具。     

Malnutrition in critically ill children: from admission to 6 months after discharge

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Little is known about the nutritional status of critically ill children during hospitalisation in and after discharge from an intensive care unit. We set up a prospective, observational study to evaluate the nutritional status of children in an intensive care unit from admission up to 6 months after discharge. A secondary aim was identifying patient characteristics that influence the course of the various anthropometric parameters. METHODS: The nutritional status of 293 children--104 preterm neonates, 96 term neonates and 93 older children--admitted to our multidisciplinary tertiary pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit was evaluated by anthropometry upon and during admission, at discharge and 6 weeks and 6 months following discharge. RESULTS: Upon admission, 24% of all children appeared to be undernourished. Preterm and term neonates, but not older children, showed a decline in nutritional status during admission. At 6 months after discharge almost all children showed complete recovery of nutritional status. Length of stay and history of disease were the parameters that most adversely affected the nutritional status of preterm and term neonates at discharge and during follow-up. CONCLUSION: While malnutrition is a major problem in pediatric intensive care units, most children have good long-term outcome in terms of nutritional status after discharge.     

乐清市6个月～13岁儿童铁缺乏症调查分析

【目的】了解乐清市6个月~13岁儿童铁缺乏症状况及相关因素。【方法】采用分层整群抽样的方法,检测末梢血红蛋白(Hb)、锌原卟啉(ZPP)、血清铁蛋白(SF)的指标。【结果】6个月~13岁儿童隐性铁缺乏(latentiron depletion,LID)29.8%,缺铁性贫血(iron deficienay anemia,IDA)12.6%;6~12个月LID 47.1%,IDA 29.7%;13~36个月LID 40.2%,IDA 18.3%;37个月~6岁LID 28.4%,IDA 10.3%;7~13岁LID 18.4%,IDA 4.8%。各年龄组LID均高于IDA,6~12个月暂住户口儿童IDA 48.4%,常住户口儿童IDA 17.2%,两者差异有显著性(χ2=17.32,P<0.01)。辅食添加、零食、早餐是IDA的影响因素。IDA儿童比无IDA儿童的反复呼吸道感染(repeated respiratory infec-tion,RRI)患病率高,RRI儿童比非RRI儿童的IDA患病率高。IDA儿童的热性惊厥发生率高于非IDA儿童。【结论】及时正确添加辅食,合理均衡的膳食是预防儿童贫血的重要措施,及时纠正缺铁,减少RRI和热性惊厥的发生。     

Marital history from age 15 to 40 years and subsequent 10-year mortality: a longitudinal study of Danish males born in 1953

BACKGROUND: The aims of the present study are to analyse the association between marital status at age 24, 29, 34, and 39 years and subsequent mortality in a cohort of men born in 1953 (sensitive period); to study the impact of number of years married, number of years divorced/widowed, and number of marital break-ups on mortality (cumulative effect), and to examine whether these effects were independent of marital status at age 39 (proximity effect). METHODS: Prospective birth cohort study with follow-up of mortality from 1992 to 2002. Participants were 10891 men born within the metropolitan area of Copenhagen, Denmark. Marital status in 1992 as well as start and termination of all previous marital status events from 1968 to 1992 were retrieved from the Danish Civil Registration System. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Were hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality from age 40 to 49 years. RESULTS: We found a strong protective effect of being married compared with never being married or divorced/widowed at every age. The association increased in strength with increasing age. Number of years divorced was associated with increased mortality risk in a dose-dependent manner at age 34 and 39 years. One or more marital break-ups was associated with higher mortality, whereas increasing number of years married was associated with lower mortality. Inclusion of current marital status attenuated the strength of the associations but most of them remained statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Marital status and cumulated marital periods, especially cumulated periods divorced/widowed are strong independent predictors of mortality among younger males.     

Number of days needed to assess energy and nutrient intake in infants and young children between 6 months and 2 years of age

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the minimum number of days of recorded dietary intake needed to place infants and young children into thirds of a population distribution with an acceptable degree of accuracy. DESIGN: Dietary intake data collected from 5-day weighed food records for 72 infants and young children up to 2 y of age, collected during a cross-sectional study, were analysed to estimate the number of recording days necessary to assess intake of energy and 10 nutrients. SETTING: Community study among healthy infants and children. SUBJECTS: Parents attended recruitment sessions in local community areas. In total, 72 subjects were entered into the study and all completed the 5-day dietary assessment period. INTERVENTIONS: A 5-day weighed record of children's dietary intake was made by the parents or regular carer. RESULTS: Mean within subject standard deviations were smaller than mean between subject standard deviations with respect to energy (778 vs 824 kJ/day), macronutrient subclasses: protein (8 vs 9.4 g/day); fat (9 vs 10 g/day); and carbohydrate (26 vs 29 g/day) and for specific micronutrients: calcium (163 vs 236 mg/day); phosphorus (143 vs 270 mg/day); magnesium (25 vs 43 mg/day); iron (2 vs 3 mg/day); zinc (1 vs 1.3 mg/day); ascorbic acid (27 vs 64 mg/day) and retinol equivalents (281 vs 424 microg/day). Estimated number of days of food records necessary to assess intake of energy, protein, fat and carbohydrate with acceptable degree of accuracy were 5,4,4 and 3, respectively. For all the micronutrients included in this analysis 2 days of recording were necessary. CONCLUSION: Compared with adults and older children, fewer days are needed to classify this age group into thirds of the distribution with an acceptable degree of accuracy according to intake of energy and specific nutrients. SPONSORSHIP: The data collection phase of this study was supported by a grant from the Procter and Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH, USA.     

北京市2～6岁肥胖儿童睡眠状况流行病学研究

【目的】了解北京市肥胖儿童睡眠状况。【方法】抽取北京市4个区678名2～6岁肥胖儿童，由医生对其家长进行儿童睡眠问卷调查。【结果】3～6岁肥胖儿童平均每日睡眠时间分别为10．90h、10．71h、10．55h、10．33h；2～6岁肥胖儿童睡眠障碍发生率为25．7％，其中鼾症发生率12．4％，睡眠不安6．6％、磨牙5．9％．张口呼吸4．9％．梦呓3．2％，大于5岁儿童遗尿2．4％，睡眠中肢体抽动2．1％，喉头哽咽1．9％，睡眠呼吸暂停1．2％，梦魇1．0％．梦游0．3％。儿童鼾症发生的主要危险因素有父母打鼾、腺样体肥大、仰卧睡眠、肥胖。【结论】本组肥胖儿童鼾症、喉头哽咽、睡眠呼吸暂停等气道梗阻症状发生率明显高于一般儿童，应引起重视。