Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2016
Waist circumference, body mass index and waist-height ratio: Are two indices better than one for identifying hypertension risk in older adults?
To investigate if the combination of Waist Circumference (WC) and Body Mass Index (BMI) or Waist to Height Ratio (WHtR) and BMI measures is superior to the separate indicators in identifying hypertension risk in older adults from southern Brazil. ⋯ The associated indicators differed between the sexes. The combination of BMI+WC and BMI+WHtR using current cut-off points may provide an improved measure of hypertension risk.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2016
Prevalence, co-occurrence, and clustering of health-risk behaviors among people with different socio-economic trajectories: A population-based study.
Only a few previously published studies have investigated the co-occurrence and clustering of health-risk behaviors in people with different socio-economic trajectories from childhood to adulthood. This study was based on data collected through the Stockholm County Council's public health surveys. We selected the 24,241 participants aged 30 to 65years, who responded to a postal questionnaire in 2010. ⋯ Accordingly, having three or four co-occurring health-risk behaviors were much more likely (up to 4 times, in terms of odds ratios) in these groups as compared to the women and men with an upwardly mobile or a stable high socio-economic trajectory. However, clustering of the health-risk behaviors was not found to be stronger in those with a downwardly mobile or stable low socio-economic trajectory. Thus, the fact that women and men with a disadvantageous socio-economic career were found to have co-occurring health-risk behaviors more often than people with an advantageous socio-economic career seemed to be generated by differences in prevalence of the health-risk behaviors, not by differences in clustering of the behaviors.
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E-cigarette use has increased rapidly among U. S. adults. However, reasons for use among adults are unclear. ⋯ Tank use was associated with greater prevalence of citing every assessed reason except convenience and curiosity. Cessation- and health-related factors are primary reasons cited for e-cigarette use among adults, and flavorings are more commonly cited by younger adults. Efforts are warranted to provide consumers with accurate information on the health effects of e-cigarettes and to ensure that flavoring and other unregulated features do not promote nicotine addiction, particularly among young adults.
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The overall burden of gun violence death and injury in the US is now well understood. However, no study has shown the extent to which gun violence is associated with the individual lives of Americans. ⋯ Nearly all Americans of all racial/ethnic groups are likely to know a victim of gun violence in their social network during their lifetime.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2016
Observational StudyPlaces where children are active: A longitudinal examination of children's physical activity.
Using two-year longitudinal data, we examined locations where children spent time and were active, whether location patterns were stable, and relationships between spending time in their home neighborhood and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). At two time points (2007-2009 and 2009-2011), children living in the metropolitans areas of either San Diego, CA or Seattle, WA wore an accelerometer, and parents recorded their child's locations for seven days. Across two years, global average proportion of time spent in each location was stable, but total time and proportion of time in each location spent in MVPA decreased significantly across all locations. Children spent the largest proportion of time in MVPA in their home neighborhood at both time points, although they spent little time in their home neighborhood.