Bmc Public Health
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There is a high prevalence of mental health problems amongst adolescents. In addition there is a high prevalence of spinal pain in this population. Evidence suggests that these conditions are related. This study sought to extend earlier findings by examining the relationship between mental health problems as measured by the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) and the experience of back and neck pain in adolescents. ⋯ These findings strongly support the need to consider both psychological and pain symptoms when providing assessments and treatment for adolescents. Further research is required to inform causal models.
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Overweight and obesity are recognised nationally and internationally as key public health challenges. Food and drink advertising is one of the array of factors that influence both diet and physical activity choices and, hence, body weight and obesity. Little previous work has focused on food and drink advertising in magazines. We studied food and drink advertising in a wide range of popular UK monthly women's magazines published over a full year. We explored differences in the prevalence of food and drink advertising and the type of food and drinks advertised according to season, magazine type and socio-economic profile of readers. ⋯ Food and drink advertisements represented only a small proportion of advertisements in UK women's monthly magazines. Food and drink advertisements in these magazines feature a high proportion of 'less healthy' foods. There were a number of differences across season, magazine type and according to the socio-economic profile of readers in the prevalence of food and drink advertisements. Fewer differences were seen in the type of food and drinks advertised.
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Obesity has increased since the early 1980s, and despite numerous attempts, effective strategies to counter this worldwide epidemic are lacking. Food preferences are established early in life and are difficult to change later. There is therefore a need to identify factors that influence the development of food preferences. Our aim was therefore, to investigate cross-sectional and prospective associations between TV viewing habits and food preferences and habits, respectively. We hypothesized that more TV viewing was associated with less healthy concomitant and future food preferences and food habits. ⋯ Long time spent on TV viewing, and possibly to a lesser degree, frequent consumption of meals during TV viewing, seem to be associated with generally having unhealthy food preferences and food habits among school-aged children. These associations, however, were not generally persistent after 6 years of follow-up.
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The Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) is an interesting set of tools for primary care research. A very short version could inform policy makers about consumer experiences with primary care (PC) through health surveys. This work aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of a selection of items from the child short edition (CS) of the PCAT. ⋯ This very short questionnaire obtained from the PCAT-CE yields information about five attributes of PC and a summary score. It has shown evidence of validity and reliability for judgments about experiences with primary care overall. If space on surveys is at a premium, the instrument could be useful as a measure of PC experiences.
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African Americans have higher rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality than other ethnic groups. Young adults are prime targets for intervention strategies to prevent and reduce disease risk. The study purpose was to determine the level of knowledge of lifestyle risk factors for CVD among young African American adults in Phoenix. The results will be used to guide the development of CVD outreach programs targeted to this population. The Health Belief Model was used as a conceptual framework. ⋯ Evaluation of baseline knowledge of CVD is essential before designing and implementing health promotion programs. Existing strengths and weaknesses in knowledge can guide tailoring of programs to be more effective. Further research would help to identify the range of other characteristics that determine knowledge and risk perception.