JAMA pediatrics
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Severe obesity is increasingly common in the adolescent population but, as of yet, very little information exists regarding cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks in this group. ⋯ Numerous CVD risk factors are apparent in adolescents undergoing weight-loss surgery. Increasing body mass index and male sex increase the relative risk of specific CVD risk factors. These data suggest that even among severely obese adolescents, recognition and treatment of CVD risk factors is important to help limit further progression of disease.
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Comparative Study
Association of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes With Glyburide vs Insulin in Women With Gestational Diabetes.
Glyburide is thought to be safe for use during pregnancy for treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). However, there are limited data on the effectiveness of glyburide when compared with insulin as used in a real-world setting. ⋯ Newborns from privately insured mothers treated with glyburide were more likely to experience adverse outcomes than those from mothers treated with insulin. Given the widespread use of glyburide, further investigation of these differences in pregnancy outcomes is a public health priority.
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Addressing the childhood obesity epidemic continues to be a challenge. Given that once obesity develops it is likely to persist, there has been an increasing focus on prevention at earlier stages of the life course. ⋯ In fall 2013, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases convened a multidisciplinary workshop to summarize the current state of knowledge regarding the prevention of infant and early childhood obesity and to identify research gaps and opportunities. The questions addressed included (1) "What is known regarding risk for excess weight gain in infancy and early childhood?" (2) "What is known regarding interventions that are promising or have been shown to be efficacious?" and (3) "What are the challenges and opportunities in implementing and evaluating behavioral interventions for parents and other caregivers and their young children?"
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It is difficult for neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) to determine the overall efficacy of multiple continuous quality improvement (CQI) projects aimed at reducing very low-birth-weight (VLBW) infant morbidities. It is challenging to know whether a NICU is becoming more proficient, and it is not usually apparent whether concurrent resource use is changing. ⋯ We have created the first, to our knowledge, web-based tool for NICUs to calculate their own composite morbidity and resource utilization scores that estimate NICU CQI proficiency. In our structured group CQI over 12 years, both metrics revealed significant improvement, but increases in length of stay (resource use) blunted value improvement. Why some NICUs improve their scores more successfully than others remains a crucial challenge. Future CQI efforts should explore strategies that cost-efficiently reduce intertwined VLBW infant morbidities, emphasizing whole cultures of proficient care rather than the traditional emphasis on single-morbidity reduction.