Agreement between self-/home-measured and assessor-measured waist circumference at three sites in adolescents/children.

The objective of this study was to assess the validity of the self-/home-measured waist circumference (WC) method in children/adolescents at three sites: at the level of the umbilicus, immediately above the iliac crest, and at the midpoint of the lower margin of the last palpable rib and top of the iliac crest. A cross-sectional study of 3360 Hong Kong Chinese children/adolescents was conducted, with 2980 (88.7%) participants included in the final analysis.

The impact of immigration on the breastfeeding practices of Mainland Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong.

Background: Researchers have found breastfeeding disparities between immigrant and native-born women in many countries. However, most studies on immigration and breastfeeding practices have been in Western countries. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of length of time since immigration on the breastfeeding practices of Mainland Chinese immigrants living in Hong Kong.

Associations of pubertal stage and body mass index with cardiometabolic risk in Hong Kong Chinese children: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Puberty is associated with a clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) during adolescence that are manifested in later life. Although anthropometric variables such as body mass index (BMI) can predict cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents, it is not clear whether there is an interaction between pubertal stage and BMI associated with cardiometabolic risk in this age group. This paper examines the association of pubertal stage and BMI with CMRFs in Hong Kong Chinese children.

Effect on Baby-Friendly Hospital Steps When Hospitals Implement a Policy to Pay for Infant Formula.

Background: The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative requires hospitals to pay market price for infant formula. No studies have specifically examined the effect of hospitals paying for infant formula on breastfeeding mothers' exposure to Baby-Friendly steps.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of hospitals implementing a policy of paying for infant formula on new mothers' exposure to Baby-Friendly steps and examine the effect of exposure to Baby-Friendly steps on breastfeeding rates.

Self-reported body weight and height: an assessment tool for identifying children with overweight/obesity status and cardiometabolic risk factors clustering.

Body mass index (BMI) is commonly used for assessing body fat. Self-reported body weight and height derived BMI (SRDBMI) is a simple, low cost and non-invasive assessment tool and it may be a useful self-reported assessment tool to monitor the prevalence of overweight/obesity in community settings and for epidemiological research. We assessed the agreement of BW and BH between assessor measured and child self-reported values and evaluated the diagnostic ability of SRDBMI to identify children with overweight/obesity status and cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) clustering.

Measurement of pubertal status with a Chinese self-report Pubertal Development Scale.

This cross sectional study of 290 Chinese children aged 8-18 years, evaluated a Chinese version of the self-reported Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) against both raters' and self-reported Tanner assessment of pubertal status. Children completed both the self-reported PDS and self-reported Tanner pubertal questionnaire prior to physical examination through visual depiction by a same gender rater. Puberty Category Scores (PCS) which were derived from the PDS, was used to categorize children into one of five pubertal development stages.

Reliability of pubertal self-assessment in Hong Kong Chinese children.

Aim: To validate a Tanner stages self-assessment questionnaire using gender-specific line drawings and brief explanatory text in Chinese.

Design: A cross sectional study design.

Setting: One primary and two secondary schools.