The influence of natural disasters on violence, mental health, food insecurity, and stunting in the Philippines: Findings from a nationally representative cohort.

Background: Climate change is leading to an increased number of natural disasters. Children from low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected. The impacts of exposure to multiple natural disasters on the development of children are not well understood.

Stunting, IQ, and final school attainment in the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey birth cohort.

School attainment is an important aspect of human capital, and a key determinant of long-term health and well-being. Early life deprivation and poor nutritional status are well known predictors of school entry and progression. We examine the persistence of early life influences and subsequent socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) across the multiple school continuation decisions that lead to final school attainment.

Evolutionary life history theory as an organising framework for cohort studies: insights from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey.

By tracking a group of individuals through time, cohort studies provide fundamental insights into the developmental time course and causes of health and disease. Evolutionary life history theory seeks to explain patterns of growth, development, reproduction and senescence, and inspires a range of hypotheses that are testable using the longitudinal data from cohort studies. Here we review two decades of life history theory-motivated work conducted in collaboration with the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS), a birth cohort study that enrolled more than 3000 pregnant women in the Philippines in 1983 and has since followed these women, their offspring and grandoffspring.

C-reactive protein response to influenza vaccination predicts cardiovascular disease risk in the Philippines.

Inflammation is associated with increased risk for chronic degenerative diseases, as well as age-related functional declines across many systems and tissues. Current understandings of inflammation, aging, and human health are based on studies conducted almost exclusively in high-income nations that rely primarily on baseline measures of chronic inflammation. This analysis investigates the inflammatory response to vaccination as a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among older women in the Philippines, a lower-middle income nation with rising rates of overweight/obesity and relatively high burdens of infectious disease.

Maternal birth weight is associated with milk epidermal growth factor in Filipino women.

Objectives: Lactational programming, through which milk-borne bioactives influence both neonatal and long-term biological development, is well established. However, almost no research has investigated how developmental stimuli during a mother's early life may influence her milk bioactives in adulthood. Here, we investigated the association between maternal birth weight and milk epidermal growth factor (EGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) in later life.

Associations of autozygosity with a broad range of human phenotypes.

In many species, the offspring of related parents suffer reduced reproductive success, a phenomenon known as inbreeding depression. In humans, the importance of this effect has remained unclear, partly because reproduction between close relatives is both rare and frequently associated with confounding social factors. Here, using genomic inbreeding coefficients (F) for >1.

Double burden for women in mid- and later life: evidence from time-use profiles in Cebu, the Philippines.

Using data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2012), we utilize latent class analysis (LCA) to develop time use class membership to characterize the degree to which women in Cebu are subject to the double burden of work and family responsibilities in mid and later life. Results suggest that close to a third of the sample are engaged in high intensity work for pay (either outside or home-based) over eighteen years, while combining it with a substantial amount of household chores and with low level of personal time in a span of eighteen years. Our latent transition analysis (LTA) also shows that, with the addition of grandchildren into the household, some women experience a shift in time use class membership by becoming high intensity caregivers or by completely transitioning out of work arena, while others remain double-burdened with active involvement in both work and family responsibilities.

Profiles of gene expression in maternal blood predict offspring birth weight in normal pregnancy.

The association between lower birth weight and increased disease risk in adulthood has drawn attention to the physiological processes that shape the gestational environment. We implement genome-wide transcriptional profiling of maternal blood samples to identify subsets of genes and associated transcription control pathways that predict offspring birth weight. Female participants (N = 178, mean = 27.

Exome-Derived Adiponectin-Associated Variants Implicate Obesity and Lipid Biology.

Circulating levels of adiponectin, an adipocyte-secreted protein associated with cardiovascular and metabolic risk, are highly heritable. To gain insights into the biology that regulates adiponectin levels, we performed an exome array meta-analysis of 265,780 genetic variants in 67,739 individuals of European, Hispanic, African American, and East Asian ancestry. We identified 20 loci associated with adiponectin, including 11 that had been reported previously (p < 2 × 10).

Regulation of inflammation during gestation and birth outcomes: Inflammatory cytokine balance predicts birth weight and length.

Objectives: The maternal environment during gestation influences offspring health at birth and throughout the life course. Recent research has demonstrated that endogenous immune processes such as dysregulated inflammation adversely impact birth outcomes, increasing the risk for preterm birth and restricted fetal growth. Prior analyses examining this association suggest a relationship between maternal C-reactive protein (CRP), a summary measure of inflammation, and offspring anthropometric outcomes.

Ankle brachial index (ABI) in a cohort of older women in the Philippines: Prevalence of peripheral artery disease and predictors of ABI.

Objective: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is rising in low and middle-income countries, but studies of CVD epidemiology in such settings often focus on risk factors rather than measures of disease progression. Here we use the ankle brachial index (ABI) to assess the prevalence of peripheral artery disease (PAD) among older women living in Metropolitan Cebu, Philippines, and relationships between ABI and CVD risk factors and body composition.

Methods: ABI was measured using the Doppler technique in 538 female participants in the 2015 Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (mean age 58 years, range 47-78 years).

Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation in relation to socioeconomic status during development and early adulthood.

Objectives: Socioeconomic status (SES) is a powerful determinant of health, but the underlying biological mechanisms are poorly understood. This study investigates whether levels of DNA methylation at CpG sites across the genome are associated with SES in a cohort of young adults in the Philippines.

Methods: DNA methylation was assayed with the Illumina HumanMethylation450 Bead Chip, in leukocytes from 489 participants in the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (mean age = 20.

How Overweight and Obesity Relate to the Development of Functional Limitations among Filipino Women.

As life expectancy and obesity increase in low and middle-income countries, the relationship of weight status to functional outcomes in older adults in these settings requires attention. We examined how overweight (BMI > 25 kg/m), obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m), and high waist circumference (WC > 80 cm) related to grip strength, timed up-and-go, and development of limitations in mobility, activities of daily living (ADL), and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) among Filipino women. We analyzed data from seven rounds of the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (1994, = 2279 to 2015, = 1568, age 49-78 years) to examine how women's reports of functional limitations related to their prior WC, and how their grip strength and timed up-and-go related to concurrently measured overweight and obesity, adjusted for age, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity.

Seventeen-Year Changes in Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference, Elevated Blood Pressure, and Diabetes Phenotypes in a Cohort of Filipino Women.

Obesity, hypertension, and diabetes have risen dramatically in Asia, but few cohort studies track age and secular trends in these conditions. We use Cebu (The Philippines) Longitudinal Health and Nutrition survey data to document 1998 to 2015 prevalence and co-occurrence of body mass index (BMI; >25 kg/m), high waist circumference (WC; >80 cm), elevated blood pressure (EBP; systolic ⩾130 or diastolic ⩾85 mm Hg), and type 2 diabetes among ~2000 women aged 29 to 62 years in 1998; and identify their relationship to community, household, and individual factors using longitudinal logistic regression. Prevalence (1998-2015) rates were 35% to 49%, BMI >25 kg/m; 32% to 58% high WC; 21% to 59% EBP; and 2% to 14% diabetes.

Adolescent reserve capacity, socioeconomic status and school achievement as predictors of mortality in Finland - a longitudinal study.

Background: Despite robust evidence on the inverse relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and mortality, deviations from expected results have been observed likely due to school achievement and psychosocial resources, termed as "reserve capacity." Since adolescence is a critical period in developing sound psychological and behavioural patterns and adolescent markers of SES were seldom used, we determine if family SES in adolescence predicts later mortality. We also study how reserve capacity (perceived health, health-promoting behaviour and social support) and school achievement modify this relationship and reduce the negative effects of low SES.

Correction: Genome-wide physical activity interactions in adiposity - A meta-analysis of 200,452 adults.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.

Is early postnatal growth velocity, a proxy of minipubertal androgen action, related to adult second-to-fourth digit (2D:4D) ratios in men? A test in Cebu, Philippines.

Objectives: The ratio of the length of the second to the fourth digit (2D:4D) of the hand is often used as an index of prenatal androgen exposure but it might also be affected by androgens during "minipuberty," a period of temporarily high testosterone (T) production in the first few months of life. To examine this, we tested the prediction that men with lower 2D:4D ratios had greater weight growth velocities during the first months of life-a metric recently shown to correlate with concurrent T levels.

Methods: We related early growth data to 2D:4D ratios of both hands measured in 756 men (25-26 years) from Cebu, The Philippines.

Social and physical environments early in development predict DNA methylation of inflammatory genes in young adulthood.

Chronic inflammation contributes to a wide range of human diseases, and environments in infancy and childhood are important determinants of inflammatory phenotypes. The underlying biological mechanisms connecting early environments with the regulation of inflammation in adulthood are not known, but epigenetic processes are plausible candidates. We tested the hypothesis that patterns of DNA methylation (DNAm) in inflammatory genes in young adulthood would be predicted by early life nutritional, microbial, and psychosocial exposures previously associated with levels of inflammation.

Prenatal care and child growth and schooling in four low- and medium-income countries.

Background: The effectiveness of prenatal care for improving birth and subsequent child outcomes in low-income countries remains controversial, with much of the evidence to date coming from high-income countries and focused on early-life outcomes. We examined associations between prenatal care visits and birth weight, height-for-age at 24 months and attained schooling in four low- and middle-income countries.

Methods: We pooled data from prospective birth-cohort studies from Brazil, Guatemala, Philippines and South Africa.

Early life infection, but not breastfeeding, predicts adult blood telomere lengths in the Philippines.

Objectives: Telomeres are repetitive DNA at chromosomes ends that shorten with age due to cellular replication and oxidative stress. As telomeres shorten, this can eventually place limits on cell replication and contribute to senescence. Infections are common during early development and activate cellular immune responses that involve clonal expansion and oxidative stress.