Early-life exposure to multiple persistent organic pollutants and metals and birth weight: Pooled analysis in four Flemish birth cohorts.

Background And Aims: Prenatal chemical exposure has frequently been associated with reduced fetal growth although results have been inconsistent. Most studies associate single pollutant exposure to this health outcome, even though this does not reflect real life situations as humans are exposed to many pollutants during their life time. The objective of this study is to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to a mixture of persistent environmental chemicals and birth weight using multipollutant models.

Pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors in raw and cooked seafood from European market: Concentrations and human exposure levels.

Pharmaceuticals (PhACs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are chemicals of emerging concern that can accumulate in seafood sold in markets. These compounds may represent a risk to consumers through effects on the human reproductive system, metabolic disorders, pathogenesis of breast cancer or development of microbial resistance. Measuring their levels in highly consumed seafood is important to assess the potential risks to human health.

Residential landscape as a predictor of psychosocial stress in the life course from childhood to adolescence.

Background: The effects of residential landscape, i.e., land use and traffic, on psychosocial stress in children are unknown, even though childhood stress might negatively affect normal development.

Prenatal and postnatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder: a pooled analysis of seven European birth cohort studies.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is increasing worldwide for reasons largely unknown and environmental chemicals with neurotoxic properties, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), have been proposed to play a role. We investigated the association between prenatal and postnatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyl-153 (PCB-153), p-p´-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p-p'-DDE) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and ADHD in childhood.

Methods: We pooled seven European birth cohort studies encompassing 4437 mother-child pairs from the general population with concentrations of PCB-153, p-p´-DDE and HCB measured in cord blood, maternal blood or milk.

Longitudinal association between psychosocial stress and retinal microvasculature in children and adolescents.

Background: Retinal microvessels provides a window to assess the microcirculation of heart and brain, and might reflect cardio- or cerebrovascular disease risk. Limited information exist on the relation between psychosocial stress and the microcirculation, even though psychosocial stress might trigger vascular diseases. This study investigates whether childhood psychosocial stress is a predictor of retinal microvasculature.

Associations of leptin, insulin and lipids with retinal microvasculature in children and adolescents.

Background: We investigated whether cardiometabolic risk factors measured in serum (total cholesterol [TC], high-density lipoprotein [HDL], triglyceride, leptin, insulin, glucose and insulin resistance) are associated with the retinal microvasculature, a marker of cardiovascular aging, in healthy children and adolescents. Moreover, we tested whether these associations are due to direct biological effects or more indirectly due to adiposity-related side effects.

Methods: We recruited 168 healthy Flemish children (7-16 years old, 54.

Consumer response to health and environmental sustainability information regarding seafood consumption.

Seafood consumption has an impact on both consumers' health and on the marine environment, making the integration of health and sustainability aspects in information and recommendation messages for consumers highly topical. This study presents the results of a consumer study in terms of the impact of exposure to a message about health and sustainability aspects of seafood on 986 participants from Belgium and Portugal. Possible drivers for behavioural change regarding seafood consumption frequency and sustainable seafood buying frequency are studied following exposure to the message.

Occurrence of cyclic imines in European commercial seafood and consumers risk assessment.

Cyclic imines constitute a quite recently discovered group of marine biotoxins that act on neural receptors and that bioaccumulate in seafood. They are grouped together due to the imino group functioning as their common pharmacore, responsible for acute neurotoxicity in mice. Cyclic imines (CIs) have not been linked yet to human poisoning and are not regulated in the European Union (EU), although the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) requires more data to perform conclusive risk assessment for consumers.

Hand-to-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis to measure fat mass in healthy children: A comparison with air-displacement plethysmography.

Aim: To identify children at risk of overweight, assessing children's body composition in a valid way is crucial. The present cross-sectional study examines the comparability of children's fat mass percentage obtained by hand-to-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) versus BodPod air-displacement plethysmography as a reference method.

Methods: The body composition of 206 Belgian children (7-13 years; 7.

Parent-Reported BIS/BAS Scales for Children: Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Age and Gender.

The present study examined the factor structure and measurement invariance of the Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Approach System (BIS/BAS) scales parent-report in children and adolescents ( = 1,444, 58% girls) across age (Group 1, 2-5 years; Group 2, 6-9 years; Group 3, 10-13 years; Group 4, 14-18 years old) and gender. The results consistently underscored a four-factor structure, resembling the original factor structure, with one BIS-factor and three BAS-factors. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis showed full measurement invariance across gender as well as across Group 1 and 2, and Group 2 and 3.

Children's cortisol and externalizing stress symptoms are predictors of adiponectin evolution over two years.

Background: Adiponectin is an anti-inflammatory, insulin-sensitizing and energy-regulating adipocytokine. Consequently, the link between psychosocial stress and inflammatory diseases like the metabolic syndrome might be partially explained by lower adiponectin levels in stress. Nevertheless, the stress-adiponectin association has seldom been tested and no clarity exists about the directionality.

Systematic Review on N-3 and N-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Intake in European Countries in Light of the Current Recommendations - Focus on Specific Population Groups.

Background: Earlier reviews indicated that in many countries adults, children and adolescents consume on an average less polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) than recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organisation/World Health Organisation.

Summary: The intake of total and individual n-3 and n-6 PUFAs in European infants, children, adolescents, elderly and pregnant/lactating women was evaluated systematically.

Results: The evaluations were done against recommendations of the European Food Safety Authority.

Phthalate-induced oxidative stress and association with asthma-related airway inflammation in adolescents.

Background: In Belgium, around 8.5% of the children have asthmatic symptoms. Increased asthma risk in children has been reported in relation to exposure to phthalate plasticizers but the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown.

Three cycles of human biomonitoring in Flanders - Time trends observed in the Flemish Environment and Health Study.

To follow time trends in exposure to environmental chemicals, three successive campaigns of the Flemish Environment and Health Study (FLEHS) have recruited and sampled in total 5825 participants between 2002 and 2014. Cord samples from newborns, urine and blood samples from 14 to 15 years old adolescents and from adults between 50 and 65 years old were analysed in geographical representative samples of the Flemish population. The data of the different campaigns were considered per age group and per biomarker after adjustment for predefined covariates to take into account differences in characteristics of the study populations over time.

Palatable food consumption in children: interplay between (food) reward motivation and the home food environment.

Unlabelled: To understand the importance of the home food environment on unhealthy food consumption in children high in reward sensitivity, this study tested the hypothesis that the home availability of unhealthy food moderates the effect of reward sensitivity on children's fast-food consumption frequency, exerted via food cue responsiveness. Children between 7.5 and 14 years (n = 174, 50.

Fat Tissue Accretion in Children and Adolescents: Interplay between Food Responsiveness, Gender, and the Home Availability of Snacks.

The appetitive trait "food responsiveness" is assumed to be a risk factor for adiposity gain primarily in obesogenic environments. So far, the reported results are inconsistent in school-aged children, possibly because these studies did not take into account important moderators such as gender and the food-environment. In order to better inform caregivers, clinicians and the developers of targeted obesity-prevention interventions on the conditions in which food responsiveness precedes adiposity gain, the current study investigated if this relationship is stronger in girls and in children exposed to a higher home availability of energy-dense snacks.

Social inequality in adolescents' healthy food intake: the interplay between economic, social and cultural capital.

Background: Current explanations of health inequalities in adolescents focus on behavourial and economic determinants and rarely include more meaningful forms of economic, cultural, and social capital. The aim of the study was to investigate how the interplay between capitals constitutes social inequalities in adolescent healthy food intake.

Methods: Data were collected in the 2013/14 Flemish Health Behavior among School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, which is part of the international WHO HBSC survey.

Occurrence of halogenated flame retardants in commercial seafood species available in European markets.

PBDEs (congeners 28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154, 183, 209), HBCD (α, β, γ), emerging brominated flame retardants (PBEB, HBB and DBDPE), dechloranes (Dec 602, 603, 604, syn- and anti-DP), TBBPA, 2,4,6-TBP and MeO-PBDEs (8 congeners) were analysed in commercial seafood samples from European countries. Levels were similar to literature and above the environmental quality standards (EQS) limit of the Directive 2013/39/EU for PBDEs. Contaminants were found in 90.

Risk assessment of methylmercury in five European countries considering the national seafood consumption patterns.

Although seafood is a nutritious protein source, due to marine environmental pollution, seafood may also be a source of contaminants. The results obtained within the FP7-ECsafeSEAFOOD-project show that among the range of studied environmental contaminants certainly methylmercury (MeHg) requires deeper investigation. This paper presents the results of a probabilistic risk assessment for MeHg based on: (1) primary concentration data, as well as secondary data from published papers, and (2) primary species-specific consumption data collected in five European countries (Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain).

Fat and lean tissue accretion in relation to reward motivation in children.

'Reward sensitivity' explains inter-individual differences in the motivation to obtain rewards when reward cues are perceived. This psychobiological trait has been linked to higher consumption of palatable food when exposed to palatable food cues. The current study aims to examine if reward sensitivity explains differences in patterns of fat and lean tissue accretion over time in children.

Environmental exposure to human carcinogens in teenagers and the association with DNA damage.

Background: We investigated whether human environmental exposure to chemicals that are labeled as (potential) carcinogens leads to increased (oxidative) damage to DNA in adolescents.

Material And Methods: Six hundred 14-15-year-old youngsters were recruited all over Flanders (Belgium) and in two areas with important industrial activities. DNA damage was assessed by alkaline and formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg) modified comet assays in peripheral blood cells and analysis of urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels.

Urinary t,t-muconic acid as a proxy-biomarker of car exhaust and neurobehavioral performance in 15-year olds.

Introduction: Traffic-related air pollution has been shown to induce neurotoxicity in rodents. Several recent epidemiological studies reported negative associations between residential outdoor air pollution and neurobehavioral performance. We investigated in a population of non-smoker adolescents the associations between the urinary concentration of trans, trans-muconic acid (t,t-MA-U), a metabolite of benzene and used as proxy-biomarker of traffic exposure, and two neurobehavioral domains, i.

Metabolic targets of endocrine disrupting chemicals assessed by cord blood transcriptome profiling.

Early life exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has been frequently associated with impaired perinatal growth, an important risk factor for later onset of metabolic disorders. We analyzed whether the cord blood transcriptome showed early indications of alterations in metabolic processes in 195 human samples in relation to cord blood levels of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE), polychlorinated biphenyl-153 (PCB-153), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). Overall, 39 metabolically relevant transcription factors were significantly enriched (31 by p,p'-DDE, 10 by PCB-153, 8 by PFOA, and 2 by PFOS).

Children's psychosocial stress and emotional eating: A role for leptin?

Objective: Psychosocial stress can be a health threat by stimulating unhealthier eating behaviors. We aim to test the role of the hormone leptin in the association between stress and diet/emotional eating as detected in primary school children.

Method: In a two-wave longitudinal study with 308 Belgian children (5-12y) in 2010-2012, the association of fasting serum leptin with reported stress (negative events and emotional problems), measured stress by salivary cortisol (overall cortisol output and awakening response), emotional eating and food consumption frequency was examined.