The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Sex Ratio at Birth in Ireland.

Objectives: The sex ratio at birth (SRB), calculated as male divided by total live births, is an important indicator of population health. Typically, male live births slightly outnumber female live births. Population events, including pandemics, can alter the SRB, with effects sometimes evident 9 months post-event, potentially due to changes in sexual behavior and/or stress levels.

Sporting tournaments and changed birth rates 9 months later: a systematic review.

Introduction: Major sporting tournaments may be associated with increased birth rates 9 months afterwards, possibly due to celebratory sex. The influence of major sporting tournaments on birth patterns remains to be fully explored.

Methods: Studies that examined the relationship between such events and altered birth metrics (number of births and/or birth sex ratio (male/total live births)) 9(±1) months later were sought in PubMed and Scopus and reported standard guidelines.

COVID-19 induced birth sex ratio changes in England and Wales.

Background: The sex ratio at birth (male live births divided by total live births) may be a sentinel health indicator. Stressful events reduce this ratio 3-5 months later by increasing male fetal loss. This ratio can also change 9 months after major population events that are linked to an increase or decrease in the frequency of sexual intercourse at the population level, with the ratio either rising or falling respectively after the event.

COVID-19 onset reduced the sex ratio at birth in South Africa.

Background: The sex ratio at birth (defined as male/(male+female) live births) is anticipated to approximate 0.510 with a slight male excess. This ratio has been observed to decrease transiently around 3-5 months following sudden unexpected stressful events.

A very-hot food and beverage thermal exposure index and esophageal cancer risk in Malawi and Tanzania: findings from the ESCCAPE case-control studies.

Background: Consumption of very-hot beverages/food is a probable carcinogen. In East Africa, we investigated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) risk in relation to four thermal exposure metrics separately and in a combined score.

Methods: From the ESCCAPE case-control studies in Blantyre, Malawi (2017-20) and Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (2015-19), we used logistic regression models adjusted for country, age, sex, alcohol and tobacco, to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for self-reported thermal exposures whilst consuming tea, coffee and/or porridge.

The association between caesarean section delivery and later life obesity in 21-24 year olds in an Urban South African birth cohort.

Background: Obesity is an important public health problem and rates have reached epidemic proportions in many countries. Studies have explored the association between infants delivered by caesarean section and their later life risk of obesity, in many countries outside Africa. As a result of the increasing caesarean section and obesity rates in South Africa, we investigated the association in this country.

Caesarean section delivery and childhood obesity in a British longitudinal cohort study.

Background: Several studies reported an association between Caesarean section (CS) birth and childhood obesity. However, there are several limitations in the current literature. These include an inability to distinguish between planned and emergency CS, small study sample sizes and not adjusting for pre-pregnancy body-mass-index (BMI).

Caesarean section delivery and childhood obesity: evidence from the growing up in New Zealand cohort.

Background: Epidemiological studies have reported conflicting results in the association between Caesarean section (CS) birth and childhood obesity. Many of these studies had small sample sizes, were unable to distinguish between elective/planned and emergency CS, and did not adjust for the key confounder maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI). We investigated the association between CS delivery, particularly elective/planned and childhood obesity, using the Growing Up in New Zealand prospective longitudinal cohort study.

Association between caesarean section delivery and obesity in childhood: a longitudinal cohort study in Ireland.

Objectives: To investigate the association between caesarean section (CS) birth and body fat percentage (BF%), body mass index (BMI) and being overweight or obese in early childhood.

Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study.

Setting: Babies After Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints: Evaluating the Longitudinal Impact on Neurological and Nutritional Endpoints cohort.

The Most Influential Medical Journals According to Wikipedia: Quantitative Analysis.

Background: Wikipedia, the multilingual encyclopedia, was founded in 2001 and is the world's largest and most visited online general reference website. It is widely used by health care professionals and students. The inclusion of journal articles in Wikipedia is of scholarly interest, but the time taken for a journal article to be included in Wikipedia, from the moment of its publication to its incorporation into Wikipedia, is unclear.

The Impact of Caesarean Section on the Risk of Childhood Overweight and Obesity: New Evidence from a Contemporary Cohort Study.

Caesarean section (CS) rates are increasing globally and exceed 50% in some countries. Childhood obesity has been linked to CS via lack of exposure to vaginal microflora although the literature is inconsistent. We investigated the association between CS birth and the risk of childhood obesity using the nationally representative Growing-Up-in-Ireland (GUI) cohort.

Temporal trends in the epidemiology of cervical cancer in South Africa (1994-2012).

Cervical cancer (CC) is the leading cause of cancer death among female South Africans (SA). Improved access to reproductive health services following multi-ethnic democracy in 1994, HIV epidemic, and the initiation of CC population-based screening in early 2000s have influenced the epidemiology of CC in SA. We therefore evaluated the trends in CC age-standardised incidence (ASIR) (1994-2009) and mortality rates (ASMR) (2004-2012) using data from the South African National Cancer Registry and the Statistics South Africa, respectively.

The Terrorist Attacks and the Human Live Birth Sex Ratio: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Aim: The live birth sex ratio is defined as male/total births (M/F). Terrorist attacks have been associated with a transient decline in M/F 3-5 months later with an excess of male losses in ongoing pregnancies. The early 21st century is replete with religious/politically instigated attacks.

Evolution of Wikipedia's medical content: past, present and future.

As one of the most commonly read online sources of medical information, Wikipedia is an influential public health platform. Its medical content, community, collaborations and challenges have been evolving since its creation in 2001, and engagement by the medical community is vital for ensuring its accuracy and completeness. Both the encyclopaedia's internal metrics as well as external assessments of its quality indicate that its articles are highly variable, but improving.

Fake news of baby booms 9months after major sporting events distorts the public's understanding of early human development science.

Introduction: In France on 27/6/16, Iceland's men's national football team won 2-1, knocking England out of the UEFA European Championship.

Result: Nine months after this momentous Icelandic victory, Ásgeir Pétur Þorvaldsson a medical doctor in Iceland, posted a tweet in jest suggesting that a baby boom had occurred as a result of increased celebratory coital activity following the win. The media covered this widely but statistical analysis shows otherwise and this was confirmed by the original tweet source.

The sex ratio at birth in South Africa may be a sentinel health indicator.

Introduction: The sex ratio at birth is commonly expressed as M/T, denoting male births divided by total births. Males are almost invariably born slightly in excess. Stress and negative socioeconomic conditions lower M/T and this has been mooted as a possible reason for the observed low M/T for Black births worldwide.

The sex ratio at birth in France was unchanged 9months after the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Introduction: Positive psychological phenomena such as increased feelings of belonging linked to hosting the FIFA World Cup were observed in France 1998 and South Africa 2010. Approximately nine months after South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup the sex ratio at birth increased significantly. Given the similarity of positive psychological phenomena between the two countries, this study sought to determine if the sex ratio at birth increased in France circa nine months after the 1998 World Cup.