Impact of neighborhood income inequality on adolescents' mental health. Results from the STARS study.

Over recent decades, there has been a simultaneous increase in income inequality and adverse mental health outcomes among adolescents in Western countries and especially in Sweden. Prior research on the relationship between income inequality and mental health has primarily focused on studies involving adults, yielding diverse findings regarding the nature of their association. Given the importance of relationships and comparisons to peers in immediate vicinity, we aimed to investigate the impact of neighborhood income inequality on mental health problems among seven-graders in Western Sweden.

Socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental health in the Nordic countries in the 2000s - A study using cross-sectional data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study.

Background: Adolescents in Sweden experience more mental health problems and lower mental well-being than adolescents in other Nordic countries. According to the literature, one possible explanation may be differences in income inequality. The at-risk-of-poverty rate varies significantly across the Nordic countries, and the highest rate is found in Sweden.

Childhood BMI trajectories predict cardiometabolic risk and perceived stress at age 13 years: the STARS cohort.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine BMI trajectories from birth throughout childhood, associations with health outcomes at age 13 years, and time frames during which early-life BMI influenced adolescent health.

Methods: Participants (1902, 44% male) reported perceived stress and psychosomatic symptoms and were examined for waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), pulse wave velocity, and white blood cell counts (WBC). BMI trajectory was analyzed using group-based trajectory modeling of retrospective data of weight/height from birth throughout childhood.

Move for Your Heart, Break a Sweat for Your Mind: Providing Precision in Adolescent Health and Physical Activity Behaviour Pattern.

Purpose: Adolescent health benefits of different physical activity (PA) intensities, especially of lower intensities, are debated due to challenges in accelerometer data processing and analyses. Using a new accelerometer data processing method and multivariate pattern analysis, this study investigated the association of PA intensities with indicators of cardiovascular and mental health.

Methods: Adolescents (n = 1,235, mean age 13.

Association between childhood BMI trajectories and cardiometabolic risk and mental health problems at the age of 13 years: the cohort STudy of Adolescence Resilience and Stress (STARS).

Background: Research on BMI trajectories has been focused mainly on childhood and adolescence, missing birth and infancy, which are also relevant in the development of cardiometabolic disease in adulthood. We aimed to identify trajectories of BMI from birth throughout childhood, and to examine whether BMI trajectories predict health outcomes at the age of 13 years; and, if so, whether differences exist among trajectories regarding timeframes during which BMI in early life influences health outcomes.

Methods: Participants recruited from schools in the Västra Götaland region of Sweden completed questionnaires of perceived stress and psychosomatic symptoms and were examined for the following cardiometabolic risk factors: BMI, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, pulse-wave velocity, and white blood cell counts.

Hair glucocorticoid concentration, self-perceived stress and their associations with cardiometabolic risk markers in Swedish adolescents.

Background: While hair cortisol is proposed as a biomarker for chronic stress and a possible mediator linking chronic stress and cardiovascular risk in adults, studies in adolescents are scarce. We explored the associations between self-perceived stress, hair cortisol (HairF) and cortisone (HairE), and cardiometabolic risk markers in adolescents. Further, we examined whether association between self-perceived stress and HairF may depend on the use of the coping strategies "shift-persist".

The inclusion of health in major global reports on climate change and biodiversity.

This article argues that human health has become a key consideration in recent global reports on climate change and biodiversity produced by various international organisations; however, greater attention must be given to the unequal health impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss around the world and the different health adaptation measures that are urgently required.

Does the family affluence scale reflect actual parental earned income, level of education and occupational status? A validation study using register data in Sweden.

Aim: To examine the external validity of the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) among adolescents in Sweden by using register data for parental earned income, level of education and occupational status.

Methods: Data from the baseline (2015-2019) of the Study of Adolescence Resilience and Stress (STARS), comprising 2283 13-year-olds in the region of Västra Götaland, were used. The FAS III consists of six items: unshared bedroom, car ownership, computer/tablet ownership, dishwasher, number of bathrooms and number of holidays abroad.

The use of coping strategies "shift-persist" mediates associations between physical activity and mental health problems in adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Self-perceived mental health problems among adolescents has had an upward trend. Concurrently, adolescents' physical activity (PA) has been falling whilst sedentary time (SED) has increased. There is a lack of research using accelerometer measured PA and SED to study their relationships to perceived stress and psychosomatic symptoms, both frequently observed mental health problems among adolescents.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and health behaviors in Swedish adolescents.

Aims: There is an urgent need to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent mental health and health behaviours. To date, there are no such studies on Swedish adolescents. As COVID-19 emerged in the middle of our ongoing 2-year follow-up examination of the Study of Adolescence Resilience and Stress, we had the unique opportunity to use the corona outbreak as a 'natural experiment' to study the impact of COVID-19 on 15-year-old adolescents in Sweden.

Subjective health complaints in early adolescence reflect stress: A study among adolescents in Western Sweden.

Mental health problems are common among Swedish adolescents and are sometimes referred to as 'stress-related'. The overall aim of this study is to do an analysis of subjective health complaints (SHCs) and perceived general stress among adolescents in Sweden, both their prevalence and association, by gender, migration background, family structure and socioeconomic conditions. Data from the baseline (comprising 2283 adolescents aged 13) of the STudy of Adolescence Resilience and Stress (STARS) study in Västra Götaland in Sweden were used.

Climate change and child health: a scoping review and an expanded conceptual framework.

Climate change can have detrimental effects on child health and wellbeing. Despite the imperative for a fuller understanding of how climate change affects child health and wellbeing, a systematic approach and focus solely on children (aged <18 years) has been lacking. In this Scoping Review, we did a literature search on the impacts of climate change on child health from January, 2000, to June, 2019.

International collaboration and covid-19: what are we doing and where are we going?

The mixed patchwork of achievements and mis-steps in responding to covid-19 show powerful nations are not living up to their commitment to solidarity and equity, argue

Covid-19-a rehearsal to build a greener and healthier society.

argue that reducing the severe health risks from the climate crisis requires political commitment and funding like that mobilised to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2

Global strategies and local implementation of health and health-related SDGs: lessons from consultation in countries across five regions.

Evidence on early achievements, challenges and opportunities would help low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) accelerate implementation of health and health-related sustainable development goals (HHSDGs). A series of country-specific and multicountry consultative meetings were conducted during 2018-2019 that involved 15 countries across five regions to determine the status of implementation of HHSDGs. Almost 120 representatives from health and non-health sectors participated.

Associations among neurophysiology measures in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and their relevance for IBS symptoms.

Abnormal gut-brain interactions are common in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but the associations between neurophysiological measures and their relation to gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are poorly understood. Our aim was to explore these relationships and define the most relevant neurophysiology measures for GI symptom severity in IBS. IBS patients underwent small intestinal motility (manometry; fasted and fed contraction frequency, phase III time) and secretion (transmural potential difference), rectal sensorimotor (barostat; sensory thresholds, tone response, compliance), autonomic nervous system (baroreceptor sensitivity and effectiveness), and colonic motor function (transit time) examinations.

Placing children and adolescents at the centre of the Sustainable Development Goals will deliver for current and future generations.

Child health is taking the back seat in development strategies. In summarising a newly released collaborative report, this paper calls for a novel conceptual model where child health takes centre stage in relation to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. It lays out five principles by which renewed effort and focus would yield the most benefit for children and adolescents.