Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Screen-Related Sedentary Behavior And Its Contributing Factors Among School-Aged Children: A Social-Ecologic Exploration, Meizi He, Stewart Harris, Leonard Piché, Charlene Beynon

Leonard Piché

Purpose: To explore the factors that contribute to children's screen-related sedentary (S-RS) behaviors. Settings: Elementary schools. Subjects: A random sample of children in grades five and six and their parents. Measures: The outcome measure was children's S-RS activity level measured by a self-administered questionnaire. A full spectrum of potential contributing factors for children's S-RS behaviors was obtained through surveys. Multilevel linear regression methods were used to determine the associations between these factors and children's screen time (hours per day) and results were expressed as regression coefficients (g). Results: Of 955 child-parent pairs in 14 participating schools, 508 pairs (53%) completed …

Sedentary Behavior And Obesity In A Large Cohort Of Children, Jonathan A. Mitchell, Calum Mattocks, Andy R. Ness, Sam D. Leary, Russell R. Pate, Marsha Dowda, Steven N. Blair, Chris Riddoch

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between sedentary behavior and obesity among 12-year-old children, while adjusting for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and other potential confounding variables.

Cross-sectional analyses were carried out with data from 5434 children who participated in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Fat mass was derived using dual x-ray emission absorptiometry (DXA), and height and weight measurements were used to calculate body mass index (BMI; kg/m²). The children wore an accelerometer for seven days. The cut points for sedentary behavior and MVPA were ≤199 cpm and ≥3600 cpm, …

Revisiting The Regulation Debate: The Effect Of Food Marketing On Childhood Obesity, Nicole E. Hunter

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Despite the widespread concern regarding childhood obesity, there is broad divergence of opinion regarding responsibility for the crisis. Whether the government, food industry, or parents are accountable has become the focus of much debate. Public health groups have attempted various strategies to confront childhood obesity, such as litigation, legislation, and government regulation. While many researchers and advocates agree that government should play an affirmative role with respect to childhood obesity, they are very much divided over what that role should be. For example, although none of these acts has become law, eighty-six bills have been proposed regarding obesity since …

The Influence Of The Physical Environment And Sociodemographic Characteristics On Children's Mode Of Travel To And From School, Kristian Larsen, Jason Gilliland, Peter Hess, Patricia Tucker, Jennifer Irwin, Meizi He

Geography & Environment Publications

Objectives: We examined whether certain characteristics of the social and physical environment influence a child's mode of travel between home and school.

Methods: Students aged 11 to 13 years from 21 schools throughout London, Ontario, answered questions from a travel behavior survey. A geographic information system linked survey responses for 614 students who lived within 1 mile of school to data on social and physical characteristics of environments around the home and school. Logistic regression analysis was used to test the influence of environmental factors on mode of travel (motorized vs "active") to and from school.

Results: Over 62% of …

The Association Between Bully Victimization And Risky Behaviors Among Youth, Shane Nives Isaiah Fernando

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

In 2005, the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported 21.9% of males and 26.1% of females were bullied in schools. Little research has been conducted into showing an association between childhood bully victimization and risky behaviors. In addition, knowledge is limited about the connection between victimization and risky behaviors among different ethnic groups. We propose to assess the association between victimization and risky behaviors, using the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey among 3,116 students in grades 9 through 12 in 2007. Data was obtained by self-administered questionnaire, and victimization was considered as a single dichotomous variable. Victimization was assessed as …

Hospital Readmissions For Childhood Asthma: The Role Of Individual And Neighborhood Factors., Sze Yan Liu, Deborah Pearlman

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Objectives

This study used a Cox proportional hazards model to determine whether neighborhood characteristics are associated with risk of readmission for childhood asthma independently of individual characteristics.

Methods

Rhode Island Hospital Discharge Data from 2001 to 2005 were used to identify children younger than 19 years of age at the time of the index (i.e., first) asthma admission, defined as a primary diagnosis of asthma or a primary diagnosis of respiratory illness with a secondary or tertiary diagnosis of asthma (n=2,919). Hazard ratios of repeat hospitalizations for childhood asthma from 2001 to 2005 were estimated, controlling for individual- …

Lead Poisoning: An Alarming Public Health Problem In Bangladesh, Amal K. Mitra, Akhlaque Haque, Manirul Islam, S.A. M.K. Bashar

Faculty Publications

To assess the risk of lead poisoning among preschool and school-aged children in Bangladesh, 345 children were screened for blood lead levels (BLLs) from one rural and two urban areas in Bangladesh from September 2007 through January 2008. An urban industrial area at Tongi was identified as a disaster area, where 99% (104/105) of those tested had BLLs >= 10 mu g/dL. Industrial emissions and use of leaded gasoline by two-stroke engine vehicles were identified as possible sources of lead in that area. A rural nonindustrial area at Chirirbandar, Dinajpur was identified as another high-risk area, where 14% of the …

Kawasaki Syndrome In Texas, Alberto Coustasse, Julius J. Larry, Witold Migala, Cody Arvidson, Karan P. Singh

Management Faculty Research

The authors examined hospitalization rates of Kawasaki Syndrome (KS) among Texas children to isolate clusters, identify demographic disparities, and suggest possible causative factors. Using a retrospective cross-sectional study design, they studied 330 KS cases from 2,818,460 hospital discharges. The majority of the cases (61.5%) occurred within the 1-4-years-old category, representing the highest hospitalization rate (14.3 per 100,000 children). Almost 75% of the KS population was less than 5 years old, with hospitalization rates approximately 8 times higher than that of all other children (p < .05). KS diagnosis occurred for only 49.4% of all KS cases upon admission. Along with high-density clusters identified in major metropolitan areas, the authors found the highest rates of KS among Asian and Pacific Islander and non-Hispanic black children. Genetic predispositions and access to healthcare issues may explain the results. The authors recommend improving educational initiatives with healthcare providers and establishing KS as a reportable condition.

Hazards And Gender In Children's Work: An Egyptian Perspective, Nadia Zibani

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Girls and boys can and do work. They work for a variety of reasons related to poverty or failures in educational systems, and they work to support themselves and their families or to learn skills for future careers. The types of work carried out by children often differ according to the gender of the child. Additionally, the hazards they face in their work can also be differentiated on the basis of gender. The present study attempts to develop a better understanding of the gender aspects of children’s work with a particular focus on the gender-differentiated hazards that exist therein. This …

An Evaluation Of Lead Hazards In Pre-1978 Residental Housing Within Clark County, Nevada, Usa, Erika Raquel Torres

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lead poisoning remains a public health concern due to leads persistence in the environment from anthropogenic uses. Initial efforts to address the impacts of lead on vulnerable communities have included secondary prevention measures which typically occur after a child has been poisoned. However, in recent years there has been a pragmatic shift toward primary prevention efforts.

This study evaluates lead hazards identified through primary prevention activities in residential housing within Clark County, Nevada, USA. It is the first study to systematically address and evaluate pre-1978 housing in Southern Nevada. Risk assessments were conducted in 81 dwellings built prior to 1979 …

Characteristics Of Children Attending Asthma Camp -- American Lung Association (Ala) In Nevada, 2008, Priyank Shetty

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study is based on data provided by American Lung Association (ALA) on the children participating in summer asthma camp in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. 56 children participated in the camp in 2008. Universal Health History Form was used which is a comprehensive form to be filled out by parent and physician. Pre-test and Post-test Asthma forms were used to ascertain asthma knowledge before and after the camp.

The purpose of this study was to assess the trigger knowledge of the camp attendees and the measure of agreement between Physician and Parent report of child's asthma severity. In Nevada, …

Measurements Of Adiposity And High Blood Pressure Among Children And Adolescents Living In Belo Horizonte, Paulo A. Lotufo

Paulo A Lotufo

Abstract Objective: To verify an association, if it exists, between obesity and blood pressure raised beyond the 90th percentile in children and adolescents, and to determine the measure of adiposity that best correlates with blood pressure in these subjects. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: A school-based study in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Participants: We selected randomly 1,403 students, aged from 6 to 18 years, from 545,046 students attending 521 public and private schools. Those selected completed the study. Main measures of outcome: We recorded the weight, height, skin fold in the triceps, subscapular, and suprailiac areas, waist and hip circumference, body-mass index, …