Associations of the Oral Microbiota with Obesity and Menarche in Inner City Girls.

Objective: Alterations of the oral microbiome have been associated with obesity, possibly based on inflammatory processes mediated by bacteria. Specific bacterial strains have been associated with obesity and periodontal disease. Little is known about the oral microbiome in children.

Peripubertal dietary flavonol and lignan intake and age at menarche in a longitudinal cohort of girls.

BackgroundDietary phytoestrogens may alter hormonal activity in childhood. Flavonols and lignans are the most prevalent phytoestrogens in the Western diet. We examined whether higher intake of flavonols and lignans was associated with later age at menarche in a prospective study of young girls.

Big and disparate data: considerations for pediatric consortia.

Purpose Of Review: Increasingly, there is a need for examining exposure disease associations in large, diverse datasets to understand the complex determinants of pediatric disease and disability. Recognizing that children's health research consortia will be important sources of big data, it is crucial for the pediatric research community to be knowledgeable about the challenges and opportunities that they will face. The present review will provide examples of existing children's health consortia, highlight recent pooled analyses conducted by children's health research consortia, address common challenges of pooled analyses, and provide recommendations to advance collective research efforts in pediatric research.

Thyroid Antagonists (Perchlorate, Thiocyanate, and Nitrate) and Childhood Growth in a Longitudinal Study of U.S. Girls.

Background: Perchlorate, thiocyanate, and nitrate are sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) inhibitors that block iodide uptake into the thyroid, thus affecting thyroid function. Thyroid dysfunction can adversely affect somatic growth and development in children. To our knowledge, no studies have examined effects of NIS inhibitors on body size measures.

Dietary predictors of urinary environmental biomarkers in young girls, BCERP, 2004-7.

Background: Exposures of children to phthalates, parabens, and bisphenol-A (BPA) are of concern because of their hormonal potential. These agents are found in a wide range of foods and packaging. We investigated whether intake of certain foods predict exposures to these chemicals in young girls.

Dietary flavonol intake is associated with age of puberty in a longitudinal cohort of girls.

Lignans and flavonols are dietary phytoestrogens found at high concentrations in the Western Diet. They have potential to influence the timing of puberty. We hypothesized that greater consumption of these 2 phytoestrogens would be related to later age at pubertal onset among girls.

Dietary and physical activity behaviors of New York City children from different ethnic minority subgroups.

Objective: To examine racial/ethnic differences in diet and physical activity behaviors in ethnic minority New York City children.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from a community-based study of 486 6- to 8-year-old children were used. Race/ethnicity was derived using a caregiver's report of child's race and Hispanic ancestry.

Associations between phthalate metabolite urinary concentrations and body size measures in New York City children.

Objective: To examine prospectively associations between urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations and body size measures in children.

Methods: Urinary concentrations of nine phthalate metabolites: monoethyl (MEP); mono-n-butyl (MBP); mono-(3-carboxypropyl) (MCPP); monobenzyl (MBzP); mono-isobutyl (MiBP); mono-(2-ethylhexyl) (MEHP); mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) (MEOHP); mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) (MECPP); and mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP) and the molar sum of the low molecular-weight phthalate metabolites (low MWP: MEP, MBP and MiBP) and high molecular-weight phthalate metabolites (high MWP: MECPP, MEHHP, MEOHP, MEHP and MBzP) and of four di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) metabolites (ΣDEHP: MEHP, MEHHP, MEOHP, MECPP) and anthropometry, including body mass index and waist circumference were measured among 387 Hispanic and Black, New York City children who were between six and eight years at cohort enrollment (2004-2007). Relationships between baseline metabolite concentrations and body size characteristics obtained one year later were examined using multivariate-adjusted geometric means for each body size characteristic by continuous and categories of phthalate metabolite concentrations.

Temporal variability in urinary concentrations of perchlorate, nitrate, thiocyanate and iodide among children.

Perchlorate, nitrate and thiocyanate are ubiquitous in the environment, and human exposure to these chemicals is accurately measured in urine. Biomarkers of these chemicals represent a person's recent exposure, however, little is known on the temporal variability of the use of a single measurement of these biomarkers. Healthy Hispanic and Black children (6-10-year-old) donated urine samples over 6 months.

Mercury derived from dental amalgams and neuropsychologic function.

There is widespread concern regarding the safety of silver-mercury amalgam dental restorations, yet little evidence to support their harm or safety. We examined whether mercury dental amalgams are adversely associated with cognitive functioning in a cross-sectional sample of healthy working adults. We studied 550 adults, 30-49 years of age, who were not occupationally exposed to mercury.