American journal of preventive medicine
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Longitudinal data on the normal development of blood lipids and its relationships with body fatness in children and adolescents are limited. Objectives of the current analysis were to estimate trajectories related to age for four blood lipid components and to examine the impact of change in body fatness on blood lipid levels, comparing estimated effects among adiposity indices, in children and adolescents. ⋯ Patterns of change with age in blood lipid components vary significantly among gender and racial groups. Increase in body fatness among children is consistently associated with adverse change in blood lipids. Evaluation of blood lipid level should take into account variation by age, gender, and race. Intervention through body-fat control should help prevent adverse lipid levels in children and adolescents.
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Body composition and fat distribution change dramatically during adolescence. Data based on longitudinal studies to describe these changes are limited. The aim of this study was to describe age-related changes in fat free-mass index (FFMI) and fat mass index (FMI), which are components of BMI, and waist circumference (WC) in participants of Project HeartBeat!, a longitudinal study of children. ⋯ The extent to which each component of BMI contributes to the changes in BMI depends on the gender, race, and age of the individual. Healthcare providers need to be aware that children who show upward deviation of BMI or BMI percentiles may have increases in their lean body mass rather than in adiposity.
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Parental obesity and TV viewing are risk factors for childhood obesity. This study assessed the association of children's TV viewing and computer use with body mass and examined whether parental weight status modified the association. ⋯ These study findings are consistent with a genetic contribution of parental weight; however, overweight/obese parents may also exhibit behavior patterns that negatively influence children's TV viewing and have an impact on child overweight status. The effect of parental BMI on children's BMI may have both a genetic and an environmental linkage.
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Primary care physicians (hereafter, physicians) play a critical role in the delivery of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in the U.S. This study describes the CRC screening recommendations and practices of U.S. physicians and compares them to findings from a 1999-2000 national provider survey. ⋯ Physicians' CRC screening recommendations and practices have changed substantially since 1999-2000. Colonoscopy is now the most frequently recommended test. Most physicians do not recommend the full menu of test options prescribed in national guidelines. Few perform sigmoidoscopy. Office systems to support CRC screening are lacking in many physicians' practices. Given ongoing changes in CRC screening technologies and guidelines, the continued monitoring of physicians' CRC screening recommendations and practices is imperative.
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Users of smokeless tobacco (chew or snuff) in the U.S. are viewed demographically as being homogeneous. Prior studies have demonstrated such homogeneity in national survey data but have not utilized latent-variable methods. The objective of this study was to determine whether a single group or underlying subgroups best characterize users of smokeless tobacco. ⋯ While users of smokeless tobacco in the U.S. are predominantly white men, they are more heterogeneous with respect to education, occupation, and residency than commonly is perceived.