Impact of the 2017 American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology hypertension guideline in aged individuals.

Objectives: The AHA/ACC-2017 hypertension guideline recommends an age-independent target blood pressure (BP) of less than 130/80 mmHg. In an elderly cohort without established cardiovascular disease (CVD) at baseline, we determined the impact of this guideline on the prevalence of hypertension and associated CVD risk.

Methods: Nineteen thousand, one hundred and fourteen participants aged at least 65 years from the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) study were grouped by baseline BP: 'pre-2017 hypertensive' (BP ≥140/90 mmHg and/or on antihypertensive drugs); 'reclassified hypertensive' (normotensive by pre-2017 guidelines; hypertensive by AHA/ACC-2017 guideline), and 'normotensive' (BP <130 and <80 mmHg).

Genetic influences on trajectories of systolic blood pressure across childhood and adolescence.

Background: Blood pressure (BP) tends to increase across childhood and adolescence, but the genetic influences on rates of BP change are not known. Potentially important genetic influences could include genetic variants identified in genome-wide association studies of adults as being associated with BP, height, and body mass index. Understanding the contribution of these genetic variants to changes in BP across childhood and adolescence could yield understanding into the life course development of cardiovascular risk.

Association between common variation at the FTO locus and changes in body mass index from infancy to late childhood: the complex nature of genetic association through growth and development.

An age-dependent association between variation at the FTO locus and BMI in children has been suggested. We meta-analyzed associations between the FTO locus (rs9939609) and BMI in samples, aged from early infancy to 13 years, from 8 cohorts of European ancestry. We found a positive association between additional minor (A) alleles and BMI from 5.

Variants near CCNL1/LEKR1 and in ADCY5 and fetal growth characteristics in different trimesters.

Context: A recent genome-wide association study identified variants near CCNL1/LEKR1 (rs900400) and in ADCY5 (rs9883204) to be associated with birth weight. We examined the associations of these variants with fetal growth characteristics in different trimesters, with a main interest in the timing of the associations and the affected body proportions.

Methods: We used data from two prospective cohort studies from fetal life onward in The Netherlands and Australia.

Omega-3 Index correlates with healthier food consumption in adolescents and with reduced cardiovascular disease risk factors in adolescent boys.

The Omega-3 Index, a measure of long-chain omega-3 fats in red blood cell membranes, predicts heart disease mortality in adults, but its association with cardiovascular risk factors in younger populations is unknown. We determined the Omega-3 Index in adolescents participating in the Western Australian Pregnancy (Raine) Cohort, assessed associations with diet, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors, and investigated independent associations with cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors. Red blood cell fatty acid analysis was determined for 1,301 adolescents aged 13-15 years.

Lifestyle and demographic correlates of poor mental health in early adolescence.

Aim: To determine the constellation of lifestyle and demographic factors that are associated with poor mental health in an adolescent population.

Methods: The Raine Study 14-year follow-up involved primary care givers and their adolescent children (n= 1860). The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess adolescent mental health.

Dietary intake and food sources of fatty acids in Australian adolescents.

Background: Dietary fat consumed during childhood and adolescence may be related to the development of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases in adulthood; however, there is a lack of information on specific fatty acid intakes and food sources in these populations. Our study aimed to assess fatty acid intakes in Australian adolescents, compare intakes with national guidelines, and identify major food sources of fatty acids.

Methods: Dietary intake was assessed using measured 3-d records in 822 adolescents aged 13-15 y participating in The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, Australia.

Television, computer use, physical activity, diet and fatness in Australian adolescents.

Purpose: To examine sedentary behaviours (including television viewing, playing computer games and computer use), diet, exercise and fitness in relation to overweight/obesity in Australian adolescents.

Methods: Questionnaires elicited food frequency data, time spent in TV-viewing, using computers, other sedentary occupations and physical activity recall. Weight, height and fitness (laps completed in the Leger test) were measured.

Moderators and mediators of behaviour change in a lifestyle program for treated hypertensives: a randomized controlled trial (ADAPT).

We aimed to examine moderators and mediators of behaviour change in a cognitive lifestyle program for drug-treated overweight hypertensives in Perth, Australia. We collected data at baseline, 4 months (post-intervention) and 1-year follow-up in a randomized controlled trial of a program that focused on weight loss, diet, and exercise. Mediation analysis used regression models that estimate indirect effects with bootstrapped confidence limits.

Predictors of type 2 diabetes and diabetes-related hospitalisation in an Australian Aboriginal cohort.

Predictors of diabetes and diabetes-related hospitalisations were examined in 15-88-year-old Aboriginal Australians (256 women, 258 men), surveyed in 1988-1989. Linkage to death records and hospitalisations to 2002 allowed proportional hazards or negative binomial modelling. Forty-five men (18%) and 59 women (24%) developed diabetes.

Long-term follow-up of participants in a health promotion program for treated hypertensives (ADAPT).

Background And Aims: Improvements in a lifestyle modification program for hypertensives were maintained 1 year later. Longer follow-up in such studies is limited; we therefore re-assessed participants after an additional 2 years in which there was no contact with program facilitators.

Methods And Results: Participants randomised to usual care (N=118) or a 4-month lifestyle program (N=123) were previously assessed after 4 months and 1 year.

A lifestyle program for treated hypertensives improved health-related behaviors and cardiovascular risk factors, a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To assess effects of a cognitively based program on health-related behaviors and cardiovascular risk factors in overweight drug-treated hypertensives.

Study Design And Setting: In a clinical trials center, volunteers, recruited by advertisement, were randomized to usual care (N=118) or to a 4-month program (N=123) incorporating weight loss; a low-sodium diet, high in fruit, vegetables, and fish; and increased physical activity. Diet, physical activity, weight, blood lipids, glucose, and insulin were measured at 4 and 16 months.

Chocolate craving among children: implications for disordered eating patterns.

The aim was to test the validity of a multidimensional model of chocolate craving among children, and to examine if the dimensions underlying the model predict consumption and eating disordered symptoms. Participants were 602 children (53% female) aged 11, 12, and 13 from 11 schools in Western Australia. Measures included the Orientation to Chocolate Questionnaire (OCQ) designed to assess three components of chocolate craving (approach, avoidance, and guilt), questions assessing body image dissatisfaction and dieting, and body mass index (BMI).

Breastfeeding and overweight: longitudinal analysis in an Australian birth cohort.

Objective: To examine adiposity in relation to breastfeeding using longitudinal analysis in an Australian birth cohort.

Study Design: Repeated surveys from 16 weeks gestation to 8 years in a cohort (N = 2087) recruited through antenatal clinics. Overweight was defined by National Center for Health Statistics 95th percentiles for weight-for-length at 1 year and body mass index (BMI) at 3, 6, and 8 years.

Effects of a lifestyle programme on ambulatory blood pressure and drug dosage in treated hypertensive patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To assess effects of multifactorial lifestyle modification on antihypertensive drug needs in treated hypertensive individuals.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Research studies unit.

Changes in health-related behaviours and cardiovascular risk factors in young adults: associations with living with a partner.

Objective: To examine changes in cardiovascular risk factors and health-related behaviours in young Australian adults at a stage of transition from the family environment.

Study Design: Repeated surveys between 9 and 25 years of age in a community-based group that included 569 eighteen-year-olds and 600 twenty-five-year-olds.

Results: There were significant increases (P < 0.

Urinary 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid is associated with endothelial dysfunction in humans.

Background: 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) is a cytochrome P450 (omega-hydroxylase) metabolite of arachidonic acid with vasoconstrictor activity that may be involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension. In humans, there are few data relating 20-HETE to vascular pathophysiology. This study aimed to determine whether urinary 20-HETE excretion is related to blood pressure or vascular endothelial function in humans.

Changes in cognitive measures in a randomized controlled trial of a health promotion program for couples targeting diet and physical activity.

Purpose: To examine cognitive responses to a 4-month health promotion program targeting diet and physical activity in recently cohabiting couples.

Design: A three-group randomized controlled trial: no intervention (Controls), interactive group sessions and mail-outs (Interactive), and one group session followed by mail-outs (Mail).

Setting: Australian research studies unit.

Indicators of fetal growth do not independently predict blood pressure in 8-year-old Australians: a prospective cohort study.

Inverse associations between size at birth and blood pressure (BP) in later life are commonly statistically significant only after adjustment for current size, consistent with change in size as the determinant. Few studies have been prospective or have included a range of potential confounders. Using regression models, including maternal and demographic variables, we examined associations between size at birth and BP in Australian children followed from week 16 of gestation to the age of 8 years.

Physical activity and nutrition programs for couples: a randomized controlled trial.

Diet and physical activity habits may deteriorate after cohabitation, leading to weight gain and increased risk of lifestyle diseases. We carried out a 4-month, randomized controlled trial of a diet and physical activity program for couples with a 1-year follow-up, comparing two methods of delivery. The program used six modules, which, after an initial group session, were mailed to the low-level intervention group.

Effects of a general practice-based intervention on diet, body mass index and blood lipids in patients at cardiovascular risk.

Background: General practice-based health-promotion programmes implemented by nurse-counsellors may reduce cardiovascular risk factors, particularly in patients at increased risk.

Design: In a randomized controlled trial, trained nurse-counsellors delivered cognitive behavioural programmes aiming to reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with hypertension, Type 2 diabetes mellitus or coronary heart disease. Of 591 eligible patients from seven general practices in Perth, Western Australia, 212 agreed to participate and were randomized to one of three groups.

The independent and combined effects of 16 weeks of vigorous exercise and energy restriction on body mass and composition in free-living overweight men--a randomized controlled trial.

This study assessed the effects of 16 weeks of energy restriction and vigorous exercise on body mass and body composition. Sixty sedentary men, mean body mass (mean +/- SD) 96.3 (13.

An innovative program for changing health behaviours.

Health-related behaviours affecting diet, weight control and physical activity are important for long-term cardiovascular health but behaviour change is difficult to initiate and even more difficult to maintain. We have developed a health promotion program, in which social support has a key role, to encourage a prudent diet, weight control and physical activity. Behaviour change is based on evaluating initial behaviour, weighing up costs and benefits, assessing barriers to change and goal-setting.

Accuracy of blood pressure measurement and anthropometry among volunteer observers in a large community survey.

The Busselton Survey is a population survey that is held about every three years. In 1994-1995 a re-survey was held of all past participants and 8,502 attended. Financial constraints precluded employing staff for data collection for blood pressure and anthropometry, these therefore were collected by unpaid lay volunteers.