JAMA pediatrics
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Although children's media consumption has been one of the most robust risk factors for childhood obesity, effects of specific parenting influences, such as parental media monitoring, have not been effectively investigated. ⋯ These findings suggest that parental behaviors related to children's media consumption may have long-term effects on children's BMI in middle childhood. They underscore the importance of targeting parental media monitoring in efforts to prevent childhood obesity.
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Obesity affects health in children and adolescents. Television viewing is an established risk factor for obesity in youth. No prospective study has assessed whether a bedroom television confers an additional risk for obesity in youth. ⋯ Having a bedroom television is associated with weight gain beyond the effect of television viewing time. This association could be the result of uncaptured effects of television viewing or of disrupted sleep patterns. With the high prevalence of bedroom televisions, the effect attributable to this risk factor among US children and adolescents is excess weight of 8.7 million kg/y.
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Since 2009, quick-service restaurant chains, or fast-food companies, have agreed to depict healthy foods in their advertising targeted at children. ⋯ Of the 4 healthy food images, only depiction of apples by McDonald's was communicated adequately to the target audience. Representations of milk were inadequately communicated to preliterate children. Televised depictions of apple slices by BK misled the children in this study, although no action was taken by government or self-regulatory bodies.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Disease mechanisms and clonidine treatment in adolescent chronic fatigue syndrome: a combined cross-sectional and randomized clinical trial.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disabling condition with unknown disease mechanisms and few treatment options. ⋯ Adolescent CFS is associated with enhanced sympathetic nervous activity, low-grade systemic inflammation, attenuated hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis function, cognitive impairment, and large activity reduction, but not with common microorganisms. Low-dose clonidine attenuates sympathetic outflow and systemic inflammation in CFS but has a concomitant negative effect on physical activity; thus, sympathetic and inflammatory enhancement may be compensatory mechanisms. Low-dose clonidine is not clinically useful in CFS.