Publications by authors named "Russell Simon"

Individuals with excess weight are at a higher risk for various physical and mental health conditions. Interventions targeting weight loss can improve health, with modest weight loss of five to ten percent of body weight often considered clinically meaningful for enhancing health outcomes. However, the benefits of achieving low-level weight loss ( < 5% body weight) are poorly understood.

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: Low quality diets are a risk factor for non-communicable diseases; therefore, improving diet quality is a public health and policy priority in the UK and elsewhere. Reformulating food/beverage products to make them healthier may be an effective approach. Evidence suggests that fiscal interventions, notably taxes/levies on soft drinks, can lead to reformulation but the evidence for voluntary or mandated non-fiscal interventions is less clear.

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Purpose: Detection of molecular residual disease (MRD) allows for the identification of breast cancer patients at high-risk of recurrence, with the potential that early initiation of treatment at early stages of relapse could improve patient outcomes. The Invitae Personalized Cancer Monitoring™ assay (PCM) is a newly developed next-generation sequencing approach that utilizes up to 50 patient-specific, tumor-informed DNA variants, to detect circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). The ability of the PCM assay to detect MRD before clinical relapse was evaluated.

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Background: Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a feeding and eating disorder with known acute and longstanding physical health complications in children and young people (CYP) and commonly presents to paediatricians.

Objective: To systematically review the published literature on physical health complications in CYP with ARFID using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library was performed on 14 February 2024.

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Objectives: Childhood obesity rates in the UK are high. The early years of childhood are critical for establishing healthy behaviours and offer interventional opportunities. We aimed to identify studies evaluating the impact of UK-based obesity interventions in early childhood.

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Background: The effects of the systematic delivery of treatments for obesity are unknown. We aimed to estimate the potential effects on the prevalence of childhood obesity of systematically offering preventive and treatment interventions to eligible children in England, based on weight or health status.

Methods: For this modelling study, we developed a cross-sectional simulation model of the child and young adult population in England using data from multiple years of the Health Survey of England conducted between Jan 1, 2010, and Dec 31, 2019.

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Background And Objectives: Young people are exposed to an abundance of advertising for unhealthy products (eg, unhealthy foods, tobacco, alcohol). Because of their developing cognition, children may not be able to understand the intent of advertising. However, advertising restrictions often assume that adolescents have critical reasoning capacity and can resist the effects of advertising.

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Front-of-pack labels (FOPLs) provide simplified nutritional information that aims to inform consumer choice and encourage reformulation. We conducted an online randomised controlled experiment on a representative British sample to test the effectiveness of FOPLs across a range of outcomes. The primary outcomes have been published; here, we present the secondary outcomes: the ability to rank the healthiest product and the time to complete the rankings by comparing the FOPL groups and a no-label control, as well as a descriptive analysis of the perceptions.

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Celebrities, including influencers, are commonly used to market products that are high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) to children but the impact on dietary outcomes has been unclear. The primary aim of this study was to systematically review the literature and quantify the impact of celebrities in HFSS marketing on children's dietary outcomes. We searched eight databases and included studies from all countries and languages published from 2009 until August 2021.

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Licensed and brand equity characters are used to target children in the marketing of products high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS), but the impact of characters on dietary outcomes is unclear. The primary aim of this review was to quantify the impact of both licensed and brand equity characters on children's dietary outcomes given that existing regulations often differentiates between these character types. We systematically searched eight interdisciplinary databases and included studies from 2009 onwards until August 2021, including all countries and languages.

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Background: Simulated interventions using observational data have the potential to inform policy and public health interventions where randomised controlled trials are not feasible. National childhood obesity policy is one such area. Overweight and obesity are primarily caused by energy-rich and low-nutrient diets that contribute to a positive net energy imbalance.

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Importance: School closures as part of broader social lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic may be associated with the health and well-being of children and adolescents.

Objective: To review published reports on the association of school closures during broader social lockdown with mental health, health behaviors, and well-being in children and adolescents aged 0 to 19 years, excluding associations with transmission of infection.

Evidence Review: Eleven databases were searched from inception to September 2020, and machine learning was applied for screening articles.

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Background: In the United Kingdom, rates of childhood obesity are high and inequalities in obesity have widened in recent years. Children with obesity face heightened risks of living with obesity as adults and suffering from associated morbidities. Addressing population prevalence and inequalities in childhood obesity is a key priority for public health policymakers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

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Objectives: To systematically reivew the observational evidence of the effect of school closures and school reopenings on SARS-CoV-2 community transmission.

Setting: Schools (including early years settings, primary schools and secondary schools).

Intervention: School closures and reopenings.

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Front of pack food labels (FOPLs) provide accessible nutritional information to guide consumer choice. Using an online experiment with a large representative British sample, we aimed to examine whether FOPLs improve participants' ability to identify the healthiness of foods and drinks. The primary aim was to compare ability to rank between FOPL groups and a no label control.

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Background: Restrictions on the advertising of less-healthy foods and beverages is seen as one measure to tackle childhood obesity and is under active consideration by the UK government. Whilst evidence increasingly links this advertising to excess calorie intake, understanding of the potential impact of advertising restrictions on population health is limited.

Methods And Findings: We used a proportional multi-state life table model to estimate the health impact of prohibiting the advertising of food and beverages high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) from 05.

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Background: Evidence indicates that early life is critical for determining future obesity risk. A sharper policy focus on pregnancy and early childhood could help improve obesity prevention efforts. This study aimed to systematically identify and categorise policy levers used in England with potential to influence early life course (pregnancy, 0-5 years) and identify how these interface with energy balance behaviours.

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Importance: The degree to which children and adolescents are infected by and transmit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is unclear. The role of children and adolescents in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is dependent on susceptibility, symptoms, viral load, social contact patterns, and behavior.

Objective: To systematically review the susceptibility to and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among children and adolescents compared with adults.

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Introduction: Disruptive behaviour disorders, including oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder, are a common set of diagnoses in childhood and adolescence, with global estimates of 5.7%, 3.6% and 2.

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Background: Front of pack labelling (FOPL) provides visible nutritional information and appears to influence knowledge and reformulation. However, a recent Cochrane review found limited and inconsistent evidence for behaviour change. The present review aimed to examine studies published subsequent the Cochrane review, focusing on prepackaged foods, examining the impact of FOPL on purchasing and consumption.

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Introduction: Definition of the tumor bed (TB) is currently guided by intraoperatively placed metal clips. However, this traditional planning method may not be sufficient for tumor cavity defect refilled with modern oncoplastic breast surgery. We explored the impact of a close cooperation between surgeon and oncologist on the accuracy of TB contouring after partial breast reconstruction with chest wall perforator flaps (CWPF).

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In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, 107 countries had implemented national school closures by March 18, 2020. It is unknown whether school measures are effective in coronavirus outbreaks (eg, due to severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS], Middle East respiratory syndrome, or COVID-19). We undertook a systematic review by searching three electronic databases to identify what is known about the effectiveness of school closures and other school social distancing practices during coronavirus outbreaks.

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During obesity, macrophages infiltrate the visceral adipose tissue and promote inflammation that contributes to type II diabetes. Evidence suggests that the rewiring of cellular metabolism can regulate macrophage function. However, the metabolic programs that characterize adipose tissue macrophages (ATM) in obesity are poorly defined.

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Objective: Bronchoscopy is an essential therapeutic modality in the treatment of pulmonary bleeding. Although numerous endoscopic treatments exist, topical ε-aminocaproic acid has not been described in the literature. This study documents the use of this novel treatment for pulmonary bleeding and compares it to available evidence for tranexamic acid, a similar anti-fibrinolytic agent.

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Importance: Current treatment cures most cases of early-stage, primary breast cancer. However, better techniques are required to identify which patients are at risk of relapse.

Objective: To assess the clinical validity of molecular relapse detection with circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis in early-stage breast cancer.

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