Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2008
Socio-demographic factors as correlates of active commuting to school in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Report frequencies of adolescents' active commuting to school in an inner city environment in the Netherlands, and to explore potential socio-demographic correlates of active commuting to school. ⋯ Almost 50% of the adolescents reported to actively commute to school on most school days, and mode of commuting was associated with ethnicity and distance. Further research is needed to examine main barriers to active commuting among adolescents from non-Western ethnic background.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialOne-year follow-up evaluation of Project Towards No Drug Abuse (TND-4).
This paper describes the one-year outcomes of the fourth experimental trial of Project Towards No Drug Abuse. Two theoretical content components of the program were examined to increase our understanding of the relative contribution of each to the effectiveness of the program. ⋯ The lack of main effects of the program on dichotomous outcomes was contrary to previous studies. An effect on an ordinal count measure of hard drug use among both intervention conditions replicates previous work and suggests that this program effect may have been due to changes in cognitive misperception of drug use rather than behavioral skill.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2008
Controlled Clinical TrialReliability of doctors' anthropometric measurements to detect obesity.
To evaluate the reliability of anthropometric measurements (weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), waist and hip circumferences (WC; HC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)) performed by doctors to assess obesity. ⋯ BMI remains the most reliable measure to detect obesity in medical practice, whereas WC, HC and WHR are less reliable. These results challenge current recommendations on obesity-related cardio-vascular risk management based on WC and WHR and underline the need for further research to improve the reliability of anthropometric measurements by doctors.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2008
Walking and inflammatory markers in individuals screened for type 2 diabetes.
To investigate the association of walking activity with inflammatory markers and fasting insulin in a bi-ethnic population screened for type 2 diabetes in Leicester, United Kingdom, between 2005 and 2006. ⋯ Walking activity, independent of other forms of physical activity, is associated with lower levels of circulating pro-inflammatory markers.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2008
Walking one hour or more per day prevented mortality among older persons: results from ilSIRENTE study.
Maintaining or increasing physical activity in late-middle age has been shown to be associated with a reduction in mortality. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between regular walking and the risk of all-cause death in a large population of frail and very old people living in community. ⋯ Our results obtained from a representative sample of very old and frail elderly subjects expand the knowledge that high levels of walking activity are associated with better survival.