scholarly journals Australian School Stakeholders’ Perceived Strategies for Preventing Adolescent Obesity

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 9387
Author(s):  
Kakale Buru ◽  
Theophilus I. Emeto ◽  
Aduli E. O. Malau-Aduli ◽  
Bunmi S. Malau-Aduli
Keyword(s):  
Parental Support ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Adolescent Obesity ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Sugary Drinks ◽  
School Stakeholders

Adolescent obesity is a complex multifactorial disease with a combination of environmental, behavioral, psychosocial, biological, cultural and genetic determinants. It remains a global public health issue that presents a major challenge to chronic disease prevention and health into adulthood. Schools have a rich opportunity to improve youth health and tackle obesity, yet they face barriers in fulfilling this function. This study investigated school stakeholders’ beliefs and perceptions of the barriers and enablers currently experienced by schools, as well as their recommendations towards preventing adolescent obesity. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study design was utilised with surveys administered for the quantitative phase and individual interviews for the qualitative phase. Descriptive statistics and inductive thematic analyses were utilised for the survey and interview data, respectively. Triangulation of findings from the quantitative and qualitative phases aided in the better understanding and integration of the overall results. In total, 60 school stakeholders (52 subject teachers, 3 senior teachers and 5 heads of department) from both independent and public high schools in Queensland, Australia responded to the survey, while 14 respondents participated in the interviews. The main perceived causes of obesity were poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyle. Highlighted barriers were busy timetables, shortage of trained staff and funding, lack of robustness in the introduction and implementation of school interventions and insufficient motivation of learners to participate in obesity prevention programs. Enabling factors included parental support, easy access to fitness equipment during recess, supportive government policies, provision of healthier school tuck shop menu options and elimination of sugary drinks from vending machines. A model for the prevention of adolescent obesity was developed based on participants’ perceptions. Tripartite collaboration between the school, government and parents was perceived as fundamental to preventing adolescent obesity. Strategies targeting nutrition, physical activity and overall health, including parental education on health, formal health talks in schools by health professionals and better-targeted advertisement encouraging healthy lifestyle choices, were identified as essential for improved adolescent health outcomes.

scholarly journals Dating Violence Victimization among Adolescents in Europe: Baseline Results from the Lights4Violence Project

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1414
Author(s):  
Carmen Vives-Cases ◽  
Belén Sanz-Barbero ◽  
Alba Ayala ◽  
Vanesa Pérez-Martínez ◽  
Miriam Sánchez-SanSegundo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dating Violence ◽  
Parental Support ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
School Programs ◽  
Probabilistic Sample ◽  
Socioeconomic Risk ◽  
Main Factor

Dating violence (DV) among adolescents is a public health issue because of its negative health consequences. In this study, we aimed to analyse the prevalence and the psychosocial and socioeconomic risk and protective factors associated DV among male and female adolescents in Europe. It was performed a cross-sectional study based on a non-probabilistic sample of 1555 students aged 13–16 years (2018–2019). The global prevalence of DV victimization was significantly greater among girls than boys (girls: 34.1%, boys: 26.7%; p = 0.012). The prevalence of DV in both girls and boys was greater for those over age 15 (girls: 48.5% p < 0.001; boys: 35.9%; p = 0.019). There was an increased likelihood of DV victimization among girls whose fathers did not have paid employment (p = 0.024), who suffered abuse in childhood, and reported higher Benevolent Sexism [PR (CI 95%): 1.01 (1.00–1.03)] and machismo [1.02 (1.00–1.05)]. In the case of boys, the likelihood of DV increased with abuse in childhood (p = 0.018), lower parental support [0.97 (0.96–0.99)], high hostile sexism scores (p = 0.019), lower acceptance of violence (p = 0.009) and high machismo (p < 0.001). Abuse in childhood was shown to be the main factor associated with being a victim of DV in both population groups, as well as sexism and machismo attitudes. These results may contribute to future DV prevention school programs for both, teenagers and children of elementary school ages.

scholarly journals Physical and Sedentary Activities and Childhood Overweight/Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study among First-Year Children of Primary Schools in Modena, Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3221
Author(s):  
Stefania Paduano ◽  
Antonella Greco ◽  
Lucia Borsari ◽  
Chiara Salvia ◽  
Stefano Tancredi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Family Characteristics ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
First Year ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sedentary Activities

Children obesity is a serious public health issue. This study aimed to investigate physical/sedentary activities of first-year primary schools children in Modena, and their association with overweight/obesity and dietary habits of children and family characteristics to identify the risk factors for unhealthy lifestyles. Child physical/sedentary activities were gathered through an anonymous questionnaire administered to parents, as well as family characteristics and weight/height of child and parents. Logistic regression models, eventually adjusted for parents’ sociodemographic characteristics, were used to analyze data. Questionnaires were delivered by 660 families (74.2%), of which 72 without anthropometric data were excluded. Three out of four children spent in physical activities less than 7 h/week, while 63.9% dedicated to sedentary activities two or more hours/day. From multivariate analysis, the habit significantly affecting children’s overweight/obesity was spending time on tablets/Personal Computers/mobile phones/videogames. Higher parental education level resulted in a protective factor for implementing unhealthy lifestyles in terms of time dedicated to physical/sedentary activities. Our results suggest the need of interventions to increase time for physical activity and to promote a responsible use of digital media involving the entire families to reach all parents regardless of their education and nationality with a possible relapse on other family members.

Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome Among Adolescents in India: a Population-Based Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sowmya Ramesh ◽  
Ransi Ann Abraham ◽  
Avina Sarna ◽  
Harshpal S Sachdev ◽  
Nizamuddin Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Hdl Cholesterol ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Multivariate Logistic Regression Model ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Bivariate Analysis ◽  
Nutrition Survey

Abstract Background: In India, the prevalence of overweight among adolescents is on the rise, setting the stage for an increase in metabolic syndrome (MS). This paper presents the national prevalence of MS in adolescents in India. Methods: A nationally representative data of adolescents (10–19 years) from the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey was used. MS was defined based on the NCEP–ATP III criteria for adolescents. Bivariate analysis was used to report socio-demographic differentials in prevalence and to assess interstate variability. Multivariate logistic regression model was constructed to measure the association between socio-demographic characteristics and prevalence of MS. Census data from 2011 was projected to 2017 to calculate burden.Results: The prevalence of MS was 5.2% among adolescents. 11.9%, 15.4%, 26.0%, 31.9% and 3.7% had central obesity, high blood pressure, hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL-cholesterol and high fasting glucose, respectively. The prevalence was higher among males (5.7% vs. 4.7%, adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0, 1.6), those residing in urban areas (7.9% vs 4.2%, AOR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1, 1.8), and from wealthier households as compared to their counterparts (8.3% vs. 2.4%, AOR: 3.4, 95% CI: 2.1, 5.5). There was wide interstate variability in the prevalence of MS (0.5% – 16.5%). In 2017, 14.2 million adolescents had MS in India.Conclusions: The prevalence of MS among adolescents in India is low and clustered in urban areas and richer households. Early prevention interventions promoting a healthy lifestyle, especially in high prevalence areas, are needed to keep MS from becoming a public health issue.

scholarly journals Early Parental Support as Predictor of Early Literacy Skills: A Study from Four Administrative Districts in Ghana

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Stephen Kwabena Ntim
Keyword(s):  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Parental Support ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Early Academic Achievement

<p>This study from four administrative districts in Ghana suggest that early parental involvement<br />in their children’s literacy practices is likely to predict better effects on these children in basic<br />reading skills. The benefits of parental involvement and support as predictor of literacy and<br />educational achievement are enormous. They go beyond early academic achievement in<br />pre-school. Early exposure to reading with parents from the homes predisposes children for<br />formal basic literacy instruction. Indeed, early involvement of parents in their child’s reading is<br />found to be the number one critical factor contributing positively to language and emergent<br />literacy. Home reading activities in which parents are involved significantly influence<br />achievements in reading as well as in language comprehension and expressive language skills.<br />This report also points to possible link between educational background of parents and<br />children’s reading achievement at the pre-school: the higher the parental education background,<br />the higher the level of home involvement predicting children’s early achievement in literacy<br />skills.</p>

scholarly journals Management of chronic kidney disease- an update

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-52
Author(s):  
Faruk Ahammad
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Kidney Disease ◽  
Kidney Disease ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Kidney Structure ◽  
Disease Epidemiology ◽  
Urine Albumin ◽  
Referral Criteria ◽  
Previous Definition ◽  
One Year

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global public health issue demanding continuous improvement in its management. Different international groups and organizations have now achieved a good progress in its definition, classification (staging), treatment and referral criteria to nephrologists. In definition of CKD, "CKD is defined as abnormalities of kidney structure or function, present for at least three months with implications for health", the phrase "with implications for health" has been added at the end of the previous definition, which reflects the concept that there may be certain abnormalities of kidney structure or function that do not have prognostic consequences (for example, a simple renal cyst). At staging of CKD, grade 3 has been subdivided into G3a and G3b, according to whether the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is (59 - 45) or (44 - 30) ml/min/1.73m2, respectively. Furthermore, albuminuria has been classified in any GFR grade, in to A1, A2 or A3 according to the albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) in an isolated urine sample for values <3, 3-30 or >30mg/mmol, respectively. The term "microalbuminuria" has now been replaced by the term "moderately increased albuminuria". For GFR measurement Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD- EPI) equation has been preferred than the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) study equation and new 2012 KDIGO guidelines consider the use of alternative formulas to be acceptable if they have been shown to improve accuracy when compared with the CKD-EPI formula. For detection of albuminuria ACR is preferred rather than conventional 24 hours urine albumin. The recommended BP control target is ?140/90mmHg (both diabetic and non-diabetic) if ACR <3mg/mmol and a stricter target is suggested, with BP ?130/80mmHg, (both in diabetic and non-diabetic) if the ACR is ? 3mg/mmol. Use of erythropoisis-stimulating agent (ESA) in anemia of CKD should be rational; to avoid its adverse effects like stroke, thrombosis or hypertension acceleration and hemoglobin goals should not exceed 11 g per dl. Treating dyslipidaemia in CKD with statins for all adults >50 years of age, irrespective of low density lipoprotien (LDL) cholesterol levels is recommended. Referral to nephrologist should be rational according to guidelines and at least one year prior to the start of renal replacement therapy (RRT).Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2014;9(1): 46-52

scholarly journals Modified U-Tube for Ruling out Naked DNA Transfer during Conjugation and Application in Antibiotic Resistance Genes Transfer Research

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1313
Author(s):  
Ning Zhang ◽  
Xiang Liu ◽  
Bing Li ◽  
Limei Han ◽  
Xuejiao Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Conjugative Transfer ◽  
Donor Strain ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Pseudomonas Putida Kt2440 ◽  
Naked Dna

Antibiotic resistance is currently a major global public health issue. In particular, the emergence and transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is a matter of primary concern. This study presented a method for ruling out the transfer of naked DNA (plasmid RP4 lysed from donor cells) during the cell-to-cell conjugation, using a modified “U-tube”. A series of gene transfer assays was conducted in both flask and modified U-tube, using Pseudomonas putida KT2440 (P. putida (RP4)) harboring the RP4 plasmid as the donor strain, Escherichia coli (E. coli, ATCC 25922) in pure culture as sole recipient, and bacteria from reclaimed water microcosms as multi-recipients. The verification experiments showed that the U-tube device could prevent direct contact of bacteria without affecting the exchange of free plasmid. In the experiments involving a sole recipient, the transconjugants were obtained in flask samples, but not in modified U-tube. Furthermore, in experiments involving multi-recipients, transfer of naked DNA in the modified U-tube accounted for 5.18% in the transfer frequency of the flask transfer experiment. The modified U-tube proved to be useful for monitoring the interference of naked DNA in the research of conjugative transfer and calculating the exact conjugative transfer rate. This device is identified as a promising candidate for distinguishing different gene transfers in practical application because of its convenient use and easy and simple manufacture.

scholarly journals Stunting Diagnostic and Awareness: Impact assessment study of sociodemographic factors of stunting among school-going children of Pakistan (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahvish Ponum ◽  
Saadia Khan ◽  
Osman Hasan ◽  
Muhammad Tahir Mahmood ◽  
Asad Abbas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Work Capacity ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
P Value ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Study Results

BACKGROUND Stunting is a major public health issue in most of developing countries. Although, its worldwide prevalence is decreasing slowly but the number of stunted children is still rising in Pakistan. Stunting is highly associated with several long-term consequences, including higher rate of mortality and morbidity, deficient cognitive growth, school performance, learning capacity, work capacity and work productivity. To prevent stunting, we proposed Stunting Diagnostic and Education app. This app includes detailed knowledge of stunting and it’s all forms, symptoms, causes, video tutorials and guidelines by the Pediatricians and Nutritionists. OBJECTIVE The aim and objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of stunting in school-going children in Multan District of Punjab Pakistan and to analyze the risk factors associated with stunting in children under and over 5 age. This study presents Stunting Diagnostic and Education app to prevent the stunting in children under 5 age and children over 5 age (where required). METHODS A cross-sectional study has been conducted in schools of Multan District, Pakistan for the period of January 2019 to June 2019. Sample data of 1420 children, aged 4 to 18 years using three age groups, were analyzed by using SPSS version 21.0 to assess the prevalence of stunting and to analyze the main factors associated with it. Chi square test was applied in comparison with rural and urban participants and p-value <0.05 was considered as significant. This study includes distribution of sociodemographic characteristics, parental education, working status of mothers, dietary patterns of school going children and prevalence of stunting in school going children. After getting study results, Stunting Diagnostic and Education app was developed according to the instructions of child experts and nutritionists. RESULTS 354 (24.93%) participants were stunted out of 1420, 11.9 % children were obese and 63.17% children were normal. Out of 354 stunted children, higher ratio of stunting was found in the age group of 8-11 years children with 51.98 percentage. 37.85% stunted children were found in the age group of 4-7 years and 10.17% stunting was found in the age group of 12-18 years children. It was observed in the study that male children were highly stunted than female with 57.91 % and 42.09% respectively. Children living in rural areas were more stunted affected as compared to the children living in urban society with percentage 58.76 and 41.24 respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our study concluded that 24.93% children were stunted, out of which, age group of 8-11 years children were highly stunted. The study showed that the literacy of mother or caregiver had high impact on children’s health. Therefore, Stunting Diagnostic and Education app was developed to educate mothers to prevent stunting.

scholarly journals A comparative study to assess the knowledge and beliefs regarding AIDS among higher secondary students in rural schools of South Kerala and South Tamil Nadu

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose P. Cyril ◽  
Baburaj Stephenson ◽  
Joy John ◽  
Anju Mirin Alex ◽  
Sony S. Paul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Students ◽  
Rural Schools ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Knowledge And Beliefs ◽  
Living With Hiv ◽  
Self Administered Questionnaire

Background: HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed 36.3 million lives so far.  India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world, with 2.1 million people living with HIV. Epidemiological data on AIDS suggests that in many cases, HIV infection was acquired during adolescence and lack of knowledge is one of the most important reasons.  Hence, an ardent need was felt to assess the knowledge and beliefs of adolescents regarding AIDS. The main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and beliefs regarding AIDS among higher secondary students of rural schools in South Kerala and in South Tamil Nadu.   Methods: After getting ethical committee clearance, the study was conducted among higher secondary students of twelfth standard using a predesigned and validated self-administered questionnaire. An educational intervention regarding AIDS lasting for 30 min was given after the test. Data analysis was done using appropriate software.Results: The mean knowledge scores of students from Kerala (11.57) and Tamil Nadu (11.51) were almost same. Television, newspaper and teachers were the main source of information about AIDS. Beliefs like Whiteman’s disease can spread through mosquito bite, sharing vessels and giving shake hands/touching were highly prevalent in the study subjects.Conclusions: Proper emphasis should be given to teachers on mentoring adolescents and imparting them with the needed knowledge on HIV/AIDS to enable them to overcome this period of stress and storm.

scholarly journals A Smart Contract-based Access Control Architecture for Telemedicine During Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
hideyat zerga ◽  
Asma AMRAOUI ◽  
badr BENMAMMAR
Keyword(s):  
Access Control ◽  
Fog Computing ◽  
Physiological Data ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Distributed Services ◽  
Patient Health ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Fundamental Requirement ◽  
Do So

Abstract In the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic that is currently a major global public health issue, social distancing has been imposed to prevent the massive transmission, thus doctors in hospitals have turned to telemedicine in order to be able to monitor their patient notably those suffering from chronic diseases. To do so, patients need to share their physiological data with doctors. In order to share this data safely, prevent malicious users from tampering with it and protect the privacy of patients, access control becomes a fundamental requirement. In order to set up a real-time (Internet of Thing) IoT enabled healthcare system (HS) scenario like telemedicine, Fog computing (FC) seems to be the best solution comparing to Cloud computing since it provides low latency, highly mobile and geo-distributed services and temporary storage. In this paper, the focus is on access control in the telemedicine systems. Our proposal is based, on one hand, the concept of Fog computing to ensure the distributed aspect needed in the monitoring of patient health remotely; and on the other hand Blockchain (BC) smart contracts, in order to provide a dynamic, optimized and self-adjusted access control.

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