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- Mishra, A, et al.
(author)
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Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents' growth and development
- 2023
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 615:7954, s. 874-883
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified.
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| 5. |
- Zamora, Juan Carlos, et al.
(author)
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Considerations and consequences of allowing DNA sequence data as types of fungal taxa
- 2018
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In: IMA Fungus. - : INT MYCOLOGICAL ASSOC. - 2210-6340 .- 2210-6359. ; 9:1, s. 167-185
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), allowing DNA sequences alone (of any region and extent) to serve as types of taxon names for voucherless fungi (mainly putative taxa from environmental DNA sequences), have been submitted to be voted on at the 11th International Mycological Congress (Puerto Rico, July 2018). We consider various genetic processes affecting the distribution of alleles among taxa and find that alleles may not consistently and uniquely represent the species within which they are contained. Should the proposals be accepted, the meaning of nomenclatural types would change in a fundamental way from physical objects as sources of data to the data themselves. Such changes are conducive to irreproducible science, the potential typification on artefactual data, and massive creation of names with low information content, ultimately causing nomenclatural instability and unnecessary work for future researchers that would stall future explorations of fungal diversity. We conclude that the acceptance of DNA sequences alone as types of names of taxa, under the terms used in the current proposals, is unnecessary and would not solve the problem of naming putative taxa known only from DNA sequences in a scientifically defensible way. As an alternative, we highlight the use of formulas for naming putative taxa (candidate taxa) that do not require any modification of the ICN.
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- De Miguel-Etayo, P., et al.
(author)
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Reliability of anthropometric measurements in European preschool children : the ToyBox-study
- 2014
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In: Obesity Reviews. - : Wiley. - 1467-7881 .- 1467-789X. ; 15:Suppl 3, s. 67-73
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ToyBox-study aims to develop and test an innovative and evidence-based obesity prevention programme for preschoolers in six European countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Spain. In multicentre studies, anthropometric measurements using standardized procedures that minimize errors in the data collection are essential to maximize reliability of measurements. The aim of this paper is to describe the standardization process and reliability (intra- and inter-observer) of height, weight and waist circumference (WC) measurements in preschoolers. All technical procedures and devices were standardized and centralized training was given to the fieldworkers. At least seven children per country participated in the intra- and inter-observer reliability testing. Intra-observer technical error ranged from 0.00 to 0.03 kg for weight and from 0.07 to 0.20 cm for height, with the overall reliability being above 99%. A second training was organized for WC due to low reliability observed in the first training. Intra-observer technical error for WC ranged from 0.12 to 0.71 cm during the first training and from 0.05 to 1.11 cm during the second training, and reliability above 92% was achieved. Epidemiological surveys need standardized procedures and training of researchers to reduce measurement error. In the ToyBox-study, very good intra- and-inter-observer agreement was achieved for all anthropometric measurements performed.
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| 7. |
- Pil, L, et al.
(author)
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Establishing a method to estimate the cost-effectiveness of a kindergarten-based, family-involved intervention to prevent obesity in early childhood : the ToyBox-study
- 2014
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In: Obesity Reviews. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1467-7881 .- 1467-789X. ; 15:Suppl 3, s. 81-89
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Overweight and obesity in children are recognized as a major health problem. The ToyBox-intervention was developed with the aim of preventing obesity in pre-schoolers. Because it is increasingly important to inform policy makers not only on the effects of prevention interventions, but also on their costs and cost-effectiveness, our purpose was to establish a method to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the ToyBox-intervention. In order to estimate the long-term impact of the ToyBox-intervention on health and societal costs, extrapolations of the intervention effect will be conducted to predict children's weight status (based on the body mass index) at adult age. Effects of the adult weight status on the prevalence of obesity-related complications will be modelled through a Markov model, with a total time horizon of 70 years and a cycle length of 1 year. The model will be conducted in six European countries participating in the ToyBox-intervention, based on country-specific economic and epidemiological data. This study describes the methodological rationale and implementation of an analytic model to examine the cost-effectiveness of the ToyBox-intervention for six European countries, in order to inform decision-makers on the value for money of this intervention in the prevention of obesity in pre-schoolers.
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- De Miguel-Etayo, P, et al.
(author)
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Physical fitness reference standards in European children: the IDEFICS study.
- 2014
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In: International Journal of Obesity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0307-0565 .- 1476-5497. ; 38:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: A low fitness status during childhood and adolescence is associated with important health-related outcomes, such as increased future risk for obesity and cardiovascular diseases, impaired skeletal health, reduced quality of life and poor mental health. Fitness reference values for adolescents from different countries have been published, but there is a scarcity of reference values for pre-pubertal children in Europe, using harmonised measures of fitness in the literature. The IDEFICS study offers a good opportunity to establish normative values of a large set of fitness components from eight European countries using common and well-standardised methods in a large sample of children. Therefore, the aim of this study is to report sex- and age-specific fitness reference standards in European children. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Children (10,302) aged 6-10.9 years (50.7% girls) were examined. The test battery included: the flamingo balance test, back-saver sit-and-reach test (flexibility), handgrip strength test, standing long jump test (lower-limb explosive strength) and 40-m sprint test (speed). Moreover, cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by a 20-m shuttle run test. Percentile curves for the 1st, 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 97th and 99th percentiles were calculated using the General Additive Model for Location Scale and Shape (GAMLSS). RESULTS: Our results show that boys performed better than girls in speed, lower- and upper-limb strength and cardiorespiratory fitness, and girls performed better in balance and flexibility. Older children performed better than younger children, except for cardiorespiratory fitness in boys and flexibility in girls. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide for the first time sex- and age-specific physical fitness reference standards in European children aged 6-10.9 years.
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