Profiling ultra-processed foods in Thailand: sales trend, consumer expenditure and nutritional quality.

Background: Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are associated with adverse health outcomes. This study aimed to analyse the national trends in retail sales, consumer expenditure and nutritional quality of UPFs in Thailand.

Methods: The study used data from the Euromonitor Passport database for analysis of retail sales and consumer expenditure, and from the Mintel Global New Products Database for nutritional analysis using the WHO Southeast Asian Region nutrient profile model.

Choosing an effective food classification system for promoting healthy diets in Thailand: a comparative evaluation of three nutrient profiling-based food classification systems (government, WHO, and Healthier Choice Logo) and a food-processing-based food classification system (NOVA).

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the nutritional quality of food and beverage products in Thailand by comparing four different food classification systems: the nutrient profiling-based food classification systems by the Department of Health (DOH), the WHO South-East Asia Region (WHO SEA), the Healthier Choice Logo (HCL), and the food-processing-based food classification system, NOVA.

Methods: This study used secondary data from the Mintel Global New Products Database ( = 17,414). Food subgroups were classified differently based on these four systems.

Body-Fat-Percentile Curves for Thai Children and Adolescents.

This study aimed to generate sex-specific percentile curves for the percentage of body fat (PBF) in Thai children using a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). The secondary objective of this study was to determine the association between body fat and other anthropometric measurements. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 3455 Thai school children aged 6-18 years.

Coexisting Iron Deficiency Anemia and Thalassemia Traits in Infants: Implication for an Anemia Screening Program.

Objectives: To study the prevalence of anemia among healthy infants, and outcomes of giving a therapeutic trial of iron to anemic infants in thalassemia-endemic area.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in 6-9-month-old, full-term healthy infants who attended the well child clinics at 2 tertiary care centers in southern Thailand. Complete blood count and serum ferritin were performed in every infant, and hemoglobin typing was performed only in anemic cases.

A Bayesian approach to combining multiple information sources: Estimating and forecasting childhood obesity in Thailand.

We estimate and forecast childhood obesity by age, sex, region, and urban-rural residence in Thailand, using a Bayesian approach to combining multiple source of information. Our main sources of information are survey data and administrative data, but we also make use of informative prior distributions based on international estimates of obesity trends and on expectations about smoothness. Although the final model is complex, the difficulty of building and understanding the model is reduced by the fact that it is composed of many smaller submodels.

Progress towards Achieving the Recommendations of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis of Current Policies, Actions and Implementation Gaps in Thailand.

Despite a significant commitment to tackling childhood overweight and obesity, questions remain about the progress the Thai Government has made in implementing childhood obesity prevention policies and actions. This study aimed to review and assess the implementation of the government's policies and actions for childhood obesity prevention in Thailand compared with the recommendations of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity and to identify the implementation gaps. Policy data were collected from governmental and NGO websites and publications and via direct contact with government officials.

Determinants of Lung Function at Age 8.5 Years in a Birth Cohort of Thai Children.

Background And Aims: Early life factors have reported the associations with impaired lung function in later life. In the present study, the birth cohort was followed up longitudinally to investigate the determinants of lung function in Thai children.

Methods: Cohort subjects were recruited from children born in Songkhla Province in southern Thailand.

Progression from impaired glucose tolerance to type 2 diabetes in obese children and adolescents: a 3-6-year cohort study in southern Thailand.

Background: Childhood obesity is associated with abnormal glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study evaluated the prevalence of abnormal glucose metabolism in asymptomatic obese children and adolescents, and determined the percentage of T2DM development after 3-6 years of follow-up.

Methods: During 2007-2013, 177 obese children and adolescents who had normal fasting plasma glucose (FPG<100 mg/dL) were given an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

Comparison of Prevalence of Nutritional Status of Thai Children in the First 2 Years of Life Using National and International Growth Charts.

Objective: Identify the difference of the nutritional status of Thai children from birth to 24 months of age using the national and international growth charts.

Material And Method: The analytic sample was of 4,224 children from the Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children (PCTC). Age-specific prevalence of malnutrition was estimated using the NCHS, WHO, and Thai growth charts.

Computer Game Use and Television Viewing Increased Risk for Overweight among Low Activity Girls: Fourth Thai National Health Examination Survey 2008-2009.

Studies of the relationship between sedentary behaviors and overweight among children and adolescents show mixed results. The fourth Thai National Health Examination Survey data collected between 2008 and 2009 were used to explore this association in 5,999 children aged 6 to 14 years. The prevalence of overweight defined by the age- and gender-specific body mass index cut-points of the International Obesity Task Force was 16%.

Prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity in Thailand: a review.

Background: Obesity in children and adolescents is a major public health problem in many countries including Thailand However the use of different growth references applied to the data could contribute to the difference in magnitude of problem.

Objective: To examine the prevalence rate of overweight and obesity among Thai children and adolescents between 1995 and 2012.

Material And Method: Relevant published articles and nutrition survey reports were obtained by a systematic search through multiple electronic databases published between 1995 and 2012.

Allergic family history as a protective determinant to helminthic infection.

Objective: Investigate the resistance to helminths in children with an allergic family history.

Material And Method: The study was undertaken as part of the Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children (PCTC) that followed all births in the year 2001 from rural districts in Thailand. The family histories of allergic diseases were validated by the physicians'diagnoses and medical record reviews.

Duration and practices of television viewing in Thai infants and toddlers.

Background: Television viewing is discouraged in infants; however its magnitude and pattern in Thailand is still unknown

Material And Method: Data on magnitude of TV viewing and viewing practices from 4,157 children in Prospective Cohort of Thai Children were obtained between 2001 and 2005.

Results: At 1, 2, 2.5, and 3 years of age, the percentage of children watching TV was 77%, 90%, 92%, and 95%, respectively.

Effect of television viewing on social-emotional competence of young Thai children.

Exposure time, program content and cultural context may affect the impact of television (TV) on the social-emotional competence (SEC) of children. This study examined the effects of TV viewing on the SEC of Thai infants. The study was based on a Thai birth cohort study from which duration and content of TV viewing and data from the Modified Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment instrument at 1 and 3 years of age were available.

Sleep quality in infants with atopic dermatitis: a community-based, birth cohort study.

Background: Sleep disturbance has been reported in both pre-school and older children with atopic dermatitis (AD). There have been no studies examining whether sleep disturbance occurs at the onset of the AD, or develops later.

Objective: To evaluate sleep characteristics in infants with AD.

Prevalence and incidence of child stunting from birth to two years of life in Thai children: based on the Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children (PCTC).

Objective: To determine the percentages of prevalence and incidence in child stunting at birth, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age and to investigate the association between factors and child stunting outcome

Material And Method: The Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children (PCTC) was carried out during 2000-2002, data from five districts were examined, and anthropometric measurements were performed by the physician and research assistants. WHO's growth reference standard year 2005 was used.

Results: Four thousand two hundred forty five children were included at the start of the present study of which 3,898 were in the final analysis.

Effect of helminthic infections together with mite allergen exposure on the risk of wheeze in preschool children.

Although some studies have indicated that helminthic infections and house dust mite exposure may have an alleviating effect on wheeze, an interaction effect of both risk factors has not been examined in Thailand. The objective of this study was to investigate whether exposure to helminthic infections together with house dust mite allergen was associated with wheeze in children aged 18-36 months, living in an area of southem Thailand where helminthic infections are endemic. This study was undertaken as a part of The Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children which recruited 1,076 children born between December 2000 and November 2001.

Early language delay and predictive factors in children aged 2 years.

Objective: To investigate the predictive factors for early language delay (ELD) at age 2 years based on the Prospective Cohort Study of Thai children (PCTC).

Study Design: A prospective cohort study: secondary data retrieving.

Subjects: Three thousand nine hundred five children were recruited from four communities and one hospital in five areas of Thailand.

Television viewing in Thai infants and toddlers: impacts to language development and parental perceptions.

Background: Effects of television to language development in infants and toddlers, especially in the Asian children, are inconclusive. This study aimed to (a) study time spent on television in Thai infants and toddlers (age < 2 years), (b) investigate the association between time spent on television (as recommended by the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP), < 2 hours per day) and language development in Thai 2-year-old children, and (c) explore parental perceptions on television toward their child's development.

Methods: Two hundred and sixty children and their parents were recruited into the study.

Perinatal death pattern in the four districts of Thailand: findings from the Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children (PCTC).

Objective: To determine the magnitude and investigate causes of perinatal deaths of a cohort of the Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children.

Material And Method: A semi-structured verbal autopsy questionnaire and review of medical records were used to ascertain the causes of deaths during the perinatal period in four districts of Thailand.

Results: The total numbers of 3,522 babies (with 28 pairs of twins) were born from 3,494 pregnant women.

Hospitalized infant morbidity in the Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children Project.

Background: Infant morbidity causes a substantial resource burden, however, its magnitude and pattern in developing countries is still unknown.

Material And Method: The authors prospectively followed a cohort of 2,739 children over a one-year period in three rural areas of Thailand to detect the hospitalized infant morbidity.

Results: The incidence of morbidity was 454.

Prevalence and associated factors of passive smoking in Thai infants.

Background: Passive smoking or exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is associated with an increased risk of several respiratory illnesses for infants.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and the associated factors of ETS exposure in Thai infants.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey based on interviews with parents of infants aged 1 year old, conducted during October 2001-August 2003, under the Prospective Cohort study of Thai Children.

A population-based cohort study of effect of maternal risk factors on low birthweight in Thailand.

Objectives: To determine the maternal risk factors of low birthweight (LBW) in Thailand and to address the possible activities to reduce the incidence of LBW.

Material And Method: The data were obtained from the Prospective Cohort Study in Thai Children (PCTC). Three thousand five hundred twenty two pregnancies initiated the follow-up in the year 2000 at four districts across Thailand The birthweight was retrieved from the Delivery Summary Sheet of the hospitals.

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke among infants in southern Thailand: a study of urinary cotinine.

We performed a survey to assess the exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in 1-year-old infants in Thailand. Of the 725 infants, it was reported that 73.3% had household smoking and 40.

Night waking in Thai infants at 3 months of age: association between parental practices and infant sleep.

Background And Purpose: Night waking is common among infants and can create sleep deficit in both parents and infants. Sleep practices are influenced by cultural variations which may affect the prevalence and associated factors of frequent night waking. Our objective was to determine whether differences in parental practices related to infant sleep are associated with frequent night waking in Thai infants.