Physical Activity Among Immigrant Children: A Systematic Review.

Background: The health benefits of physical activity (PA) for children are well documented. However, little is known about PA patterns among immigrant children.

Methods: The authors reviewed research on PA patterns of immigrant children.

Psychosocial Stress, Sedentary Behavior, and Physical Activity during Pregnancy among Canadian Women: Relationships in a Diverse Cohort and a Nationwide Sample.

Background: Past research shows that psychosocial stress and distress predict sedentary behavior and physical activity, but few studies focus on pregnant women. Our objective was to analyze relationships between psychosocial stress and distress with sedentary behavior and physical activity among pregnant women in Canada.

Methods: We analyzed objectively-measured sedentary behavior and physical activity at 16-18, 24-26, and 32-24 weeks pregnancy in a sociodemographically diverse cohort of 70 women in Montreal, Canada.

Relationships between psychological distress and health behaviors among Canadian adults: Differences based on gender, income, education, immigrant status, and ethnicity.

Objective: Psychosocial health predicts physical health outcomes in both clinical samples and the general population. One mechanism is through relationships with health behaviors. Results might differ based on sociodemographic characteristics such as education, income, ethnicity, and immigrant status.

Device-Assessed Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors in Canadians with Chronic Disease(s): Findings from the Canadian Health Measures Survey.

Physical activity and sedentary behaviors (SB) are major determinants of quality of life in adults with one or more chronic disease(s). The aim of this study is to compare objectively measured physical activity and SB in a representative sample of Canadian adults with and without chronic disease(s). The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) (2007-2013) was used in this study.

Prenatal stress and child development: A scoping review of research in low- and middle-income countries.

Introduction: Past research has shown relationships between stress during pregnancy, and related psychosocial health measures such as anxiety and depressive symptoms, with infant, child, and adult outcomes. However, most research is from high-income countries. We conducted a scoping review to identify research studies on prenatal stress and outcomes of the pregnancy or offspring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and to synthesize the stress measures and outcomes assessed, the findings observed, and directions for future research.

Cognitive behavior therapy combined with exercise for adults with chronic diseases: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The present meta-analysis aimed to determine the overall effect of cognitive behavior therapy combined with physical exercise (CBTEx) interventions on depression, anxiety, fatigue, and pain in adults with chronic illness; to identify the potential moderators of efficacy; and to compare the efficacy of CBTEx versus each condition alone (CBT and physical exercise).

Method: Relevant randomized clinical trials, published before July 2017, were identified through database searches in PubMed, PsycARTICLES, CINAHL, SportDiscus, and the Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials.

Results: A total of 30 studies were identified.

Perceptions of group exercise courses and instructors among Quebec adults.

Background: Group exercise courses are popular among adults, but dropout rates are high. Studies of relationships between participants' perceptions and their participation might highlight factors to target to improve adherence and re-enrolment.

Methods: We used a mixed-methods approach to analyse perceptions of group exercise courses and instructors among 463 adults.

Behavioral risk factors for obesity during health transition in Vanuatu, South Pacific.

Unlabelled: The South Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu, like many developing countries, is currently experiencing a shift in disease burdens from infectious to chronic diseases with economic development. A rapid increase in obesity prevalence represents one component of this "health transition."

Objective: To identify behaviors associated with measures of obesity in Vanuatu.

Brief communication: prenatal and early postnatal stress exposure influences long bone length in adult rat offspring.

Stress during the prenatal and early postnatal periods (perinatal stress, PS) is known to impact offspring cognitive, behavioral, and physical development, but effects on skeletal growth are not clear. Our objective was to analyze effects of variable, mild, daily PS exposure on adult offspring long bone length. Twelve pregnant rat dams were randomly assigned to receive variable stress from gestational days 14-21 (Prenatal group), postpartum days 2-9 (Postnatal), both periods (Pre-Post), or no stress (Control).

Prenatal exposure to a natural disaster increases risk for obesity in 5½-year-old children.

Introduction: An adverse environment in utero, including exposure to prenatal maternal stress (PNMS), can result in poor birth outcomes such as low birth weight, which increases risk of later cardiometabolic diseases such as hypertension and obesity. It is unclear to what extent PNMS influences obesity risk independent of its impact on birth characteristics, especially among humans. Our objective was to determine whether PNMS resulting from a natural disaster influenced risk of childhood obesity.

Behavioral changes associated with economic development in the South Pacific: health transition in Vanuatu.

Unlabelled: Health patterns are changing in developing countries; as diet and activity patterns change with economic development, chronic disease prevalence increases, which is a characteristic of health transition. The islands of Vanuatu (South Pacific) have varying rates of economic development and provide a natural experimental model of health transition.

Objectives: To characterize behavioral changes associated with modernization.

Characterizing genetic diversity of contemporary pacific chickens using mitochondrial DNA analyses.

Background: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable region (HVR) sequences of prehistoric Polynesian chicken samples reflect dispersal of two haplogroups--D and E--by the settlers of the Pacific. The distribution of these chicken haplogroups has been used as an indicator of human movement. Recent analyses suggested similarities between prehistoric Pacific and South American chicken samples, perhaps reflecting prehistoric Polynesian introduction of the chicken into South America.

Relationships between body size and percent body fat among Melanesians in Vanuatu.

Obesity is a global epidemic, and measures to define it must be appropriate for diverse populations for accurate assessment of worldwide risk. Obesity refers to excess body fatness, but is more commonly defined by body mass index (BMI). Body composition varies among populations: Asians have higher percent body fat (%BF), and Pacific Islanders lower %BF at a given BMI compared to Europeans.

Chronic radiation exposure in the Rivne-Polissia region of Ukraine: implications for birth defects.

Objectives: The health effects of chronic low-dose radiation exposure remains a controversial question. Monitoring after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine suggested that chronic low-dose radiation exposure was not linked to cancer mortality among the general population. However, elevated rates of birth defects in contaminated compared to uncontaminated regions suggest that exposure to radiation in utero might impact development and that chronic radiation exposure might represent an underestimated risk to human health.

Beer is the cattle of women: sorghum beer commercialization and dietary intake of agropastoral families in Karamoja, Uganda.

Karimojong agropastoralists of Uganda have employed a dual subsistence strategy of cattle herding and sorghum cultivation to survive in an unpredictable environment, one afflicted by a severe humanitarian crisis. Armed raiding since the 1970s has led to devastating cattle losses, high male mortality, and increased sedentarization of women and children in densely populated homesteads, where infectious diseases and malnutrition rates are prevalent. Fieldwork in 1998-1999 confirmed the detrimental effects of armed raiding on child growth and development.

Origins of the Moken Sea Gypsies inferred from mitochondrial hypervariable region and whole genome sequences.

The origins of the Moken 'Sea Gypsies,' a group of traditionally boat-dwelling nomadic foragers, remain speculative despite previous examinations from linguistic, sociocultural and genetic perspectives. We explored Moken origin(s) and affinities by comparing whole mitochondrial genome and hypervariable segment I sequences from 12 Moken individuals, sampled from four islands of the Mergui Archipelago, to other mainland Asian, Island Southeast Asian (ISEA) and Oceanic populations. These analyses revealed a major (11/12) and a minor (1/12) haplotype in the population, indicating low mitochondrial diversity likely resulting from historically low population sizes, isolation and consequent genetic drift.