Violence against children in schools harms the affected children, limits their learning and educational attainment, and extends its harms to families and the broader communities. However, to date, comparable cross-country data on violence against children in schools has not been available. We utilize the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) to estimate school-related violence against children in seven countries (Honduras, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAgriculture in the Sahel and much of sub-Saharan Africa remains to a large extent rainfed. At the same time, climate change is already causing less predictable rainfall patterns in the region, even as rising temperatures increase the amount of water needed for agricultural production. We assess to what extent irrigation can strengthen the climate resilience of farming communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI) sleep intervention halved obesity risk at 2 years of age. However, the intervention mechanisms are unclear. Consequently, the objective of the current work was to use exploratory analyses to investigate potential moderators and mediators of the sleep intervention on obesity outcomes at age 2 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Typically developing children who are sensitive to sensory stimulation appear to have more sleep difficulties than children with average sensory sensitivities; however, at what age sleep difficulties emerge and whether they extend to children outside of sleep clinics are unclear.
Objective: To investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between sleep and sensory processing in typically developing infants and toddlers.
Design: Observational; cross-sectional and longitudinal.
Background: Existing studies examining adherence to 24-h movement guidelines in young children are mostly cross sectional and have not assessed additional guidelines relating to activity intensity or regularity in sleep patterns. The aims of this study were to determine adherence to full sleep, activity, and sedentary behaviour guidelines from 1-5 years of age, whether adherence tracked over time, and how adherence was related to body composition cross sectionally and prospectively.
Subjects/methods: Data were obtained from 547 children who were participants in a randomised controlled trial.
Objective: Using data from a randomized controlled trial, this study investigated whether parent's consistent use of recommended bedtime strategies with infants was a mediating mechanism for improved child sleep.
Methods: Expectant mothers were allocated to 4 groups: usual care (Control); additional support regarding Food, (physical) Activity, and Breastfeeding (FAB); advice on infant sleep through 1 group educational session during the antenatal period and 1 home visit when the child was 3 weeks of age (Sleep), or both FAB and Sleep interventions (Combination). An index relating to parent's consistent use of strategies to encourage infant sleep self-settling was developed from data collected when infants were 4 and 6 months of age.
Background: The aim of the current study was to determine whether anthropometric data from the New Zealand B4 School Check (B4SC) universal health service assessments are comparable to research grade anthropometric data.
Methods: B4SC anthropometric data were obtained for a subsample (n=394) of children who participated in the Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI) randomised control trial. B4SC anthropometric measures were compared to POI anthropometric values that had been interpolated to align with the date of the B4SC assessment.
Background: New physical activity guidelines for children address all movement behaviors across the 24-h day (physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep), but how each component relates to body composition when adjusted for the compositional nature of 24-h data is uncertain.
Aims: To i) describe 24-h movement behaviors from 1 to 5 years of age, ii) determine cross-sectional relationships with body mass index (BMI) z-score, iii) determine whether movement behaviors from 1 to 5 years of age predict body composition and bone health at 5 years.
Methods: 24-h accelerometry data were collected in 380 children over 5-7 days at 1, 2, 3.
Background: Our Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI) study suggested that a brief sleep intervention in infancy reduced the risk of obesity at age 2 y. In contrast, we observed no benefit from the nutrition and activity intervention.
Objective: The objective of the study was to determine how these interventions influenced growth at ages 3.
Background/objectives: Early childhood is characterised by rapid development and is a critical period for the establishment of activity behaviours. We aim to examine how physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) track during the first 5 years of life, and to investigate associations between trajectories and body composition at 5 years of age.
Subjects/methods: A total of 438 participants (50% male) wore an Actical accelerometer for 5 days at at least two of 1, 2, 3.
We report our investigations into the first examples of copper-free 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (click) reactions of electrophiles with a PtIV azido complex. The Pt-IV azido complex trans, trans, trans-[PtIV(py)2(N3)2(OH)2] (1) was reactive towards dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD) (2), diethyl acetylenedicarboxylate DEACD (3), N-[(1R,8S,9s)-bicyclo[6.1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Despite the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommending that electronic media be avoided in children under two years of age, screen use is common in infants and toddlers. The aims of this study were to determine how parenting style, infant temperament, and family type are associated with television viewing in two-year-old children.
Study Design: Participants were from the Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI) randomized controlled trial (n = 802) (Dunedin, New Zealand).
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of sleep education delivered antenatally and at 3 weeks postpartum to prevent infant sleep problems at 6 months of age.
Design: Sleep intervention within a randomised controlled trial for the Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI) study.
Participants: 802 families were randomly allocated to one of four groups: usual care (control), sleep intervention (sleep), food, activity and breastfeeding intervention (FAB), and combined group receiving both interventions (combination).
Objective: The few existing early-life obesity prevention initiatives have concentrated on nutrition and physical activity, with little examination of sleep.
Methods: This community-based, randomized controlled trial allocated 802 pregnant women (≥16 years, <34 weeks' gestation) to: control, FAB (food, activity, and breastfeeding), sleep, or combination (both interventions) groups. All groups received standard well-child care.
Objective: Eating less frequently is associated with increased obesity risk in older children but data are potentially confounded by reverse causation, where bigger children eat less often in an effort to control their weight. Longitudinal data, particularly in younger children, are scarce. We aimed to determine whether eating frequency (meals and snacks) at 2 years of age is associated with past, current or subsequent BMI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI) study was a four-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) in 802 families which assessed whether additional education and support on sleep (Sleep group); food, physical activity and breastfeeding (FAB group); or both (Combination group), reduced excessive weight gain from birth to 2 years of age, compared to usual care (Control group). The study had high uptake at recruitment (58 %) and retention at 2 years (86 %). Although the FAB intervention produced no significant effect on BMI or weight status at 2 years, the odds of obesity were halved in those who received the sleep intervention, despite no apparent effect on sleep duration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Few physical activity interventions have been undertaken in infants and toddlers, despite concerns that they are insufficiently active. The Prevention of Overweight in Infancy trial encouraged parents to be physically active with their child from birth, including prone-based play ("tummy time"), while reducing time spent restrained in car seats and "strollers."
Methods: A total of 802 women, recruited in late pregnancy, were randomized to a physical activity intervention, which provided information antenatally, and active group sessions with their infant at 3, 9, and 18 months of age.
Study Objectives: The study aimed to determine if an automated algorithm, capable of batch scoring, could extract naps and other 24-h sleep-wake variables from actigraphy without the need for parental sleep diaries, which rely heavily on parental awareness of child sleep.
Design: A cross-sectional design was used for the study.
Setting: The study examined healthy infants/children in their home setting.
Background: Despite an extensive well-child health service, 30% of New Zealand's 2- to 4-y old children are overweight or obese. This suggests that additional intervention is necessary to establish healthy nutrition behaviors.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of intervention from 0 to 18 mo of age on food and nutrient intake, eating behaviors, and parental feeding practices in 18- to 24-mo-old children.
Background: Although the WHO recommends that complementary feeding in infants should begin at 6 mo of age, it often begins before this in developed countries.
Objective: Our objective was to determine whether lactation consultant (LC) support, with educational resources given at 4-mo postpartum, can delay the introduction of complementary foods until around 6 mo of age.
Methods: A total of 802 mother-infant pairs were recruited from the single maternity hospital serving Dunedin, New Zealand (59% response rate) and randomly assigned to the following: 1) usual care (control group); 2) infant sleep education intervention (Sleep); 3) food, activity, and breastfeeding intervention (FAB); or 4) combination (both) intervention (Combo).
Background: Interventions to prevent sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) have generally been population wide interventions instituted after case-control studies identified specific childcare practices associated with sudden death. While successful overall, in New Zealand (NZ), the rates are still relatively high by international comparison. This study aims to describe childcare practices related to SUDI prevention messages in a New Zealand community, and to develop and explore the utility of a risk assessment instrument based on international guidelines and evidence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Rapid weight gain during the first three years of life predicts child and adult obesity, and also later cardiovascular and other morbidities. Cross-sectional studies suggest that infant diet, activity and sleep are linked to excessive weight gain. As intervention for overweight children is difficult, the aim of the Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to define cardiovascular and heart rate variability (HRV) changes following head-up tilt (HUT) in children/adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in comparison to age- and gender-matched controls. Twenty-six children/adolescents with CFS (11-19 y) and controls underwent 70-degree HUT for a maximum of 30 min, but returned to horizontal earlier at the participant's request with symptoms of orthostatic intolerance (OI) that included lightheadedness. Using electrocardiography and beat-beat finger blood pressure, a positive tilt was defined as OI with 1) neurally mediated hypotension (NMH); bradycardia (HR <75% of baseline), and hypotension [systolic pressure (SysP) drops >25 mm Hg)] or 2) postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS); HR increase >30 bpm, or HR >120 bpm (with/without hypotension).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Appl Physiol (1985)
March 2006
To assess the influence of intrauterine growth retardation and postnatal development on heart rate variability (HRV) and cardiac reflexes, we studied 27 healthy small for gestational age (SGA) and 23 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants during a nap study. Resting HRV was assessed by point dispersion of Poincaré plots for overall (SDRR) and instantaneous beat-to-beat variability (SDDeltaRR) and the ratio (SDRR/SDDeltaRR). Heart rate reflex and arousal responses to a 60 degrees head-up tilt were determined.
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