Preventive medicine
-
Preventive medicine · Sep 2016
Drunkenness and heavy drinking among 11year olds - Findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.
Heavy drinking among young people is linked to negative consequences including other risky behaviours, educational failure and premature mortality. There is a lack of research examining factors that influence heavy and binge drinking in early adolescence as prior work has focused on older teenagers. The objective of this paper was to identify individual and family factors associated with drunkenness and episodes of heavy drinking in early adolescence. ⋯ Associated with higher odds of drunkenness were: having friends who drank (OR=5.17); having positive expectancies towards alcohol (OR 2+=2.02); ever having smoked cigarettes (OR=5.32); the mother-child relationship not being close (OR=2.17). Associated with a reduced odds of drunkenness was having a heightened perception of harm from drinking 1-2 drinks daily (OR - some risk=0.48, great risk=0.40). Our findings support policies aimed at multiple levels, starting in the preadolescent years, which incorporate individual, family, and peer factors.
-
Preventive medicine · Sep 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of a smoking cessation intervention for women in subsidized neighborhoods: A randomized controlled trial.
To evaluate the effectiveness of a community based participatory research (CBPR) developed, multi-level smoking cessation intervention among women in subsidized housing neighborhoods in the Southeastern US. ⋯ This CBPR developed intervention showed potential to engage smokers and reduce smoking among women in these high-poverty neighborhoods. Effectiveness in promoting cessation in communities burdened with fiscal, environmental and social inequities remains a public health priority.
-
Preventive medicine · Sep 2016
The impact of neighborhood on physical activity in the Jackson Heart Study.
Physical inactivity is an independent risk factor for many diseases. Most research has focused on individual-level factors for physical activity (PA), but evidence suggests that neighborhood is also important. We examined baseline data collected between 2000 and 2004 from 5236 participants in the Jackson Heart Study to determine the effects of neighborhood on 2 types of PA: Active Living (AL), and Sports and Exercise (Sport) in an all-African American cohort. ⋯ There was an inverse interaction effect between individual and lower neighborhood education (p=0.01), as well as between age and urban neighborhoods (p=0.02) on AL. Individual level education (OR=1.30) and per capita income (OR=1.07) increased the odds of moderate-to-high sports. Future studies should focus on what contextual aspects of urban or less educated neighborhoods are influential in determining PA, as well as longitudinal multilevel analyses of neighborhood effects on PA.
-
Preventive medicine · Sep 2016
Importance of taste, nutrition, cost and convenience in relation to diet quality: Evidence of nutrition resilience among US adults using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2010.
Concerns with taste, nutrition, cost, and convenience are said to be key influences on food choices. This study examined the importance of food-related attitudes in relation to diet quality using US national level data. Interactions by socioeconomic status (SES), gender and race/ethnicity were tested. ⋯ Those who prioritized nutrition during food shopping had higher-quality diets regardless of gender, education and income in the US. Certain racial/ethnic groups managed to eat healthy despite attaching importance to cost and convenience. This is the first evidence of nutrition resilience among US adults using national data, which has huge implications for nutrition interventions.
-
Preventive medicine · Sep 2016
Serum uric acid as a predictor of future hypertension: Stratified analysis based on body mass index and age.
Serum uric acid level is a predictor of future hypertension. However, its dependence on body mass index or age is unclear. ⋯ High serum uric acid level was associated with future hypertension in young and middle-aged Japanese males. This association was stronger among subjects ≥40years old.