Publications by authors named "Soren Harnois-Leblanc"

Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the relationship between green space and childhood obesity by using advanced metrics like NDVI and street-view imagery, rather than solely relying on BMI.
  • Participants were assessed from mid-childhood through late adolescence to analyze how green space exposure relates to various measures of adiposity, including BMI and fat mass index.
  • The research aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how green environments may influence children's health outcomes over time, factoring in socio-economic and demographic variables.
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Embedded in the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis, maternal hyperglycemia in utero, from pre-existing diabetes or gestational diabetes mellitus, predisposes the offspring to excess adiposity and heightened risk of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes development. This transmission creates a vicious cycle increasing the presence of diabetes from one generation to another, leading to the question: how can we interrupt this vicious cycle? In this Perspective article, we presented the current state of knowledge on the intergenerational transmission of diabetes from epidemiological life course studies. Then, we discussed the potential mechanisms implicated in the intergenerational transmission of diabetes with a focus on epigenetics.

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Background: Youth obesity and depression are public health concerns. Although meta-analyses suggest a positive association between those conditions in adults and adolescents, evidence remains unclear in prepubertal children. We examined the bidirectional associations between levels of depressive symptoms and weight status in 8-10-year-old children with a parental history of obesity, over two years, and whether they differ by sex.

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Objectives: Early prevention strategies are needed to mitigate the high risk of cardiovascular disease in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Residential neighbourhood features can promote healthy lifestyle behaviours and reduce cardiovascular risk, but less is known about their role in lifestyle behaviours in adolescents with T1D, and no studies used comparisons to healthy controls.

Methods: We examined associations between residential neighbourhood features and lifestyle behaviours in adolescents with T1D and healthy controls.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study aimed to investigate the links between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and early signs of heart disease in adolescents with and without type 1 diabetes.
  • The research involved 197 participants (100 with type 1 diabetes and 97 healthy) ages 14-18, measuring various heart health indicators and physical activity levels using accelerometers and questionnaires.
  • Results showed that increased physical activity positively affected heart health in both groups, but healthy control adolescents benefited more, while those with type 1 diabetes needed better blood sugar control to gain similar benefits.
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Objective: To examine the associations of abnormal maternal glucose regulation in pregnancy with offspring adiposity, insulin resistance, adipokine, and inflammatory markers during childhood and adolescence.

Study Design: Project Viva is a prospective prebirth cohort (n = 2128 live births) initiated from 1999 through 2002 in Eastern Massachusetts, US. During the second trimester of pregnancy, clinicians used 2-step oral glucose challenge testing to screen for gestational diabetes mellitus.

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Few longitudinal studies have investigated the role of weight-loss attempts or weight-related stress on body image during childhood. We examined whether weight-loss attempts and weight-related stress are associated with weight misperception and body dissatisfaction across childhood and adolescence. Data were drawn from the Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle InvesTigation in Youth (QUALITY) cohort of Canadian children with parental obesity (8-10 years:  = 630; 10-12 years:  = 564; 15-17 years:  = 377).

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The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred an unprecedented demand for interventions that can reduce disease spread without excessively restricting daily activity, given negative impacts on mental health and economic outcomes. Digital contact tracing (DCT) apps have emerged as a component of the epidemic management toolkit. Existing DCT apps typically recommend quarantine to all digitally-recorded contacts of test-confirmed cases.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how physical activity and sedentary behavior affects the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in children, focusing on those with a family history of obesity.
  • It utilized data from the QUALITY cohort involving children aged 8-17, measuring physical activity and screen time over multiple evaluations to assess their impact on diabetes-related health markers.
  • The findings indicated that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity had positive effects on insulin sensitivity and negative effects on insulin secretion, suggesting lifestyle factors play a significant role in diabetes risk.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examined how children transition between normal glucose tolerance and dysglycemia, particularly focusing on factors affecting this change from childhood to late adolescence in a sample of White Canadian children with obesity in their families.
  • - It found that 21% of children who had normal glucose levels initially developed dysglycemia, while a significant proportion (up to 75%) of those with dysglycemia reverted to normal glucose tolerance during puberty.
  • - Key predictors for developing dysglycemia were higher fasting and 2-hour glucose levels, with no significant demographic or lifestyle factors linked to increased risk, while beta-cell function notably decreased in children with excess weight.
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Context: First-degree relatives of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) present hormonal and metabolic alterations compared to girls unrelated to PCOS. It is unknown whether glucose intolerance in the PCOS proband confers a more severe metabolic predisposition on their first-degree relatives.

Objective: To determine whether glucose tolerance status in women with PCOS is associated with worsened glucose metabolism and sex hormone levels in their peripubertal daughters or sisters.

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Objectives: To confirm that World Health Organization weight-for-length z scores (zWFL) and World Health Organization body mass index z scores (zBMI) in infancy are associated with adiposity and cardiometabolic measures at 8-10 years old and to compare the predictive ability of the 2 methods.

Study Design: zWFL and zBMI at 6, 12, and 18 months of age were computed using data extracted from health booklets, among participants in the Québec Adipose and Lifestyle InvesTigation in Youth prospective cohort (n = 464). Outcome measures at 8-10 years included adiposity, lipid profile, blood pressure, and insulin dynamics.

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Objective: Weight loss attempts occur as early as childhood. The impacts of weight loss attempts and weight-related stress on the occurrence of obesity during childhood remain unknown. We aimed to: (a) assess the prevalence of self-reported weight loss attempts and weight-related stress in 8-10 year-old children and (b) determine associations with adiposity 2 years later.

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Background/objectives: Physical activity is beneficial to lipid profiles; however, the association between sedentary behavior and sleep and pediatric dyslipidemia remains unclear. We aimed to investigate whether sedentary behavior or sleep predicted lipid profiles in children over a 2-year period.

Subjects/methods: Six hundered and thirty children from the QUALITY cohort, with at least one obese parent, were assessed prospectively at ages 8-10 and 10-12 years.

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Background: Identifying dietary factors that determine insulin sensitivity and secretion in children entering puberty may provide valuable information for the early prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Objectives: We assessed whether macronutrients and food groups are longitudinally associated with insulin sensitivity and secretion over a 2-y period in children with a family history of obesity, and whether associations differ by level of adiposity.

Methods: Data were derived from the Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth (QUALITY) Study, an ongoing prospective cohort including 630 children recruited at ages 8-10 y, with ≥1 obese parent, and followed 2 y later (n = 564).

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Background: We and others have observed that young girls predisposed to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) display defective insulin sensitivity, beta-cell function and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) suppressibility during early pubertal years, compared to controls. Our objective is to assess whether these differences in glucose and NEFA metabolisms persist after 5 years in late/post-puberty.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study between 2007 and 2015 with 4-6 years of follow-up in an academic institution research center.

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