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Sample records for healthy japanese children

  1. The Integration of Religious Traditions in Japanese Children's View of Death and Afterlife

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    Sagara-Rosemeyer, Miharu; Davies, Betty

    2007-01-01

    Open and public discussion of death, particularly among children, remains one of the greatest Japanese societal taboos; therefore, little is known about Japanese children's perceptions of death. To explore Japanese children's notions of life and death, 16 healthy children (7 girls and 9 boys, mean age 8.9) were each interviewed 3 times and asked…

  2. Integration of religious traditions in Japanese children's view of death and afterlife.

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    Sagara-Rosemeyer, Miharu; Davies, Betty

    2007-03-01

    Open and public discussion of death, particularly among children, remains one of the greatest Japanese societal taboos; therefore, little is known about Japanese children's perceptions of death. To explore Japanese children's notions of life and death, 16 healthy children (7 girls and 9 boys, mean age 8.9) were each interviewed 3 times and asked to draw and describe pictures of what "to live" and "to die" meant to them. Transcribed interviews were interpreted based on thematic analysis, incorporating paradigm cases and exemplars within the hermeneutical tradition. The children perceived life as an evolving process that leads to death, and regarded death as a transitional point to an afterlife. Some children perceived this process, or flow, as linear; others as circular. Their notions of death and the afterlife incorporated three main religious traditions in Japan (Shintoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism) as well as Christianity, as illustrated by 3 case examples and children's drawings.

  3. Seaweed intake and blood pressure levels in healthy pre-school Japanese children

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    Yamamoto Keiko

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Few studies have examined whether dietary factors might affect blood pressure in children. We purposed to investigate whether seaweed intake is associated with blood pressure level among Japanese preschool children. Methods The design of the study was cross-sectional and it was conducted in autumn 2006. Subjects were healthy preschoolers aged 3-6 years in Aichi, Japan. Blood pressure and pulse were measured once by an automated sphygmomanometer, which uses oscillometric methods. Dietary data, including seaweed intake, were assessed using 3-day dietary records covering 2 consecutive weekdays and 1 weekend day. Of a total of 533 children, 459 (86.1 percent agreed to be enrolled in our study. Finally, blood pressure measurement, complete dietary records and parent-reported height and weight were obtained for 223 boys and 194 girls. Results When we examined Spearman's correlation coefficients, seaweed intake was significantly negatively related to systolic blood pressure in girls (P = 0.008. In the one-way analysis of covariance for blood pressure and pulse after adjustments for age and BMI, the boys with the lowest, middle and highest tertiles of seaweed intake had diastolic blood pressure readings of 62.8, 59.3 and 59.6 mmHg, respectively (P = 0.11, trend P = 0.038. Girls with higher seaweed intake had significantly lower systolic blood pressure readings (102.4, 99.2 and 96.9 mmHg for girls with the lowest, middle and highest tertiles of seaweed intake, respectively; P = 0.037, trend P = 0.030. Conclusion Our study showed that seaweed intake was negatively related to diastolic blood pressure in boys and to systolic blood pressure in girls. This suggests that seaweed might have beneficial effects on blood pressure among children.

  4. Developmental trajectories for attention and working memory in healthy Japanese school-aged children.

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    Egami, Chiyomi; Yamashita, Yushiro; Tada, Yasuhiro; Anai, Chiduru; Mukasa, Akiko; Yuge, Kotaro; Nagamitsu, Shinichiro; Matsuishi, Toyojiro

    2015-10-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the developmental trajectories of attention, short-term memory, and working memory in school-aged children using a 10 min test battery of cognitive function. Participants comprised 144 typically developing children (TDC) aged 7-12 years and 24 healthy adults, divided according to age into seven groups (12 males and 12 females for each age group). Participants were assessed using CogHealth, which is a computer-based measure composed of five tasks. We measured attention, short-term memory, and working memory (WM) with visual stimulation. Each task was analyzed for age-related differences in reaction time and accuracy rate. Attention tasks were faster in stages from the age of 7-10 years. Accuracy rate of short-term memory gradually increased from 12 years of age and suddenly increased and continued to increase at 22 years of age. Accuracy rate of working memory increased until 12 years of age. Correlations were found between the ages and reaction time, and between ages and accuracy rate of the tasks. These results indicate that there were rapid improvements in attention, short-term memory, and WM performance between 7 and 10 years of age followed by gradual improvement until 12 years of age. Increase in short-term memory continued until 22 years of age. In our experience CogHealth was an easy and useful measure for the evaluation of cognitive function in school-age children. Copyright © 2015 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Serum biotin in Japanese children: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay measurement.

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    Wakabayashi, Kenji; Kodama, Hiroko; Ogawa, Eishin; Sato, Yasuhiro; Motoyama, Kahoko; Suzuki, Mitsuyoshi

    2016-09-01

    Biotin deficiency has been reported in Japanese infants fed special formulas for medical reasons, including those with milk allergy and congenital metabolic diseases, because these formulas contain little biotin. Serum biotin measurement is useful for diagnosing biotin deficiency. We applied a simple and rapid method to analyze serum biotin, and established normal ranges for children and adults. Serum biotin in 188 healthy Japanese children aged 0-4 years and in 25 healthy adults was analyzed using a Biotin ELISA Kit (immundiagnostik). The effects of various conditions on the measurement of serum biotin were also examined. Median biotin in children aged 0-4 years was 10.4 ng/dL (IQR, 7.9-13.4 ng/dL), and that in adults was 12.9 ng/dL (IQR, 10.8-15.8 ng/dL). Normal range was 4.7-22.0 ng/dL in children and 8.4-20.5 ng/dL in adults (calculated using two-sided 95%CI). Measurements obtained with this method were not affected by frozen storage, freeze-thaw, or hemolysis, indicating that serum biotin can be analyzed accurately under these conditions, with a possible application to plasma samples. Serum biotin was significantly lower in children than in adults, with the normal range being 4.7-22.0 ng/dL in children and 8.4-20.5 ng/dL in adults. This simple and accurate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method is useful for diagnosing biotin deficiency. © 2016 The Authors. Pediatrics International published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japan Pediatric Society.

  6. Changes in healthy childhood lifestyle behaviors in Japanese rural areas.

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    Nakano, Takahiro; Kasuga, Kosho; Murase, Tomohiko; Suzuki, Kazuhiro

    2013-04-01

    Unhealthy lifestyles during childhood constitute a public health problem in Japan. However, current health education in Japan is ineffective in counteracting them. Previous studies contend that healthy lifestyles in children vary by academic grade and sex. This study examined changes throughout childhood suggests some intervention points for lifestyle education. The participants were 2833 elementary and junior high school students living in Japanese rural areas. Data on 26 variables assigned to 5 subfactors were collected. We estimated the composite score of each subfactor on the basis of item response theory. A 2-way ANOVA and a graph review were performed to explore the differences and changes by sex and grade. Most of the main effects for sex and grade were statistically significant. Lifestyle behaviors acquired early in elementary school were lost as students progressed to higher grades. The research indicated the following emphases: (1) Physical activity and leisure habits should be focused on girls and hygiene habits on boys; (2) Continuous education for a healthy lifestyle is essential to maintain good health among children; (3) Education for healthy lifestyle can be classified into 2 important stages such as for dietary and sleeping habits, education from the upper grades of elementary school is important, whereas for other routine activities, reeducation in junior high school is effective. © 2013, American School Health Association.

  7. Mathematics achievement of Chinese, Japanese, and American children

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    Stevenson, H.W.; Lee, S.Y.; Stigler, J.W.

    1986-01-01

    American kindergarten children lag behind Japanese children in their understanding of mathematics; by fifth grade they are surpassed by both Japanese and Chinese children. Efforts to isolate bases for these differences involved testing children on other achievement and cognitive tasks, interviewing mothers and teachers, and observing children in their classrooms. Cognitive abilities of children in the three countries are similar, but large differences exist in the children's life in school, the attitudes and beliefs of their mothers, and the involvement of both parents and children in schoolwork

  8. Japanese Children's Understanding of Notational Systems

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    Takahashi, Noboru

    2012-01-01

    This study examined Japanese children's understanding of two Japanese notational systems: "hiragana" and "kanji". In three experiments, 126 3- to 6-year-olds were asked to name words written in hiragana or kanji as they appeared with different pictures. Consistent with Bialystok ("Journal of Experimental Child…

  9. Communication attitudes of Japanese school-age children who stutter.

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    Kawai, Norimune; Healey, E Charles; Nagasawa, Taiko; Vanryckeghem, Martine

    2012-01-01

    Past research with the Communication Attitude Test (CAT) has shown it to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing speech-associated attitude of children who stutter (CWS). However, in Japan, the CAT has not been used extensively to examine the communication attitude of CWS. The purpose of this study was to determine if a Japanese version of the CAT could differentiate between the communication attitude of Japanese elementary school CWS and children who do not stutter (CWNS). A Japanese translation of the 1991 version of the Communication Attitude Test-Revised (CAT-R) was used in this study. Eighty Japanese CWS and 80 gender- and grade level-matched CWNS participated in the study. The results showed that CWS had a significantly more negative communication attitude than CWNS. Both CWS and CWNS in 1st grade showed significantly more positive communication attitudes than children in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Furthermore, a link between stuttering severity and CWS' communication attitude was found. Additional research is needed to confirm the results of the current study, which indicate that the communication attitude of Japanese CWS becomes more negative as they get older. The reader will be able to: (1) Describe the process that was used to develop a Japanese version of the Communication Attitude Test (CAT-J). (2) Discuss attitude differences between Japanese children who stutter and those who do not and how grade level impacts a negative attitude toward communication. (3) Explain the link between stuttering severity and attitudes of Japanese children who stutter. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Psychosomatic problems and countermeasures in Japanese children and adolescents

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    Tanaka Hidetaka

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract In Japan there are a number of children and adolescents with emotion-related disorders including psychosomatic diseases (orthostatic dysregulation, anorexia nervosa, recurrent pains, behavior problems and school absenteeism. According to our previous report, the Japanese children had significantly higher score of physical symptoms and psychiatric complaints than did the Swedish children, and these were more strongly influenced by school-related stress than by home-related stress. To enforce countermeasures for psychosomatic problems in children, the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Pediatrics (established in 1982 have started several new projects including multi-center psychosomatic researches and society-based activities. In this article, we present an outline of our study on mental health in Japanese children in comparison with Swedish children. Countermeasures including clinical guidelines for child psychosomatic diseases are reviewed and discussed.

  11. Mind perception of God in Japanese children.

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    Moriguchi, Yusuke; Takahashi, Hideyuki; Nakamata, Tomoko; Todo, Naoya

    2018-03-05

    There is a theoretical debate regarding whether children represent God with reference to a human. Most previous studies have assessed this issue focusing on knowledge/omniscience in western children. This study used a theoretical framework characterising mental capacities in terms of motivational/emotional (experience) and cognitive (agency) mental capacities and tested whether Japanese children discriminated between God, a human, a baby and an invisible agent according to these capacities. Three- to 6-year-old children were asked about the experience and agency of the agents. The results revealed that children discriminated God from a human in terms of mental capacities including experience and agency in 3-year-old children. On the other hand, 4- to 6-year-old children, but not 3-year-old children, discriminated a human from a baby and an invisible person. The results suggest that the Japanese children's representations of God differed from their representation of a human during preschool years. © 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

  12. Anthropometric differences in preschool children of Japanese ancestry in Lima, Peru.

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    Shimabuku, Roberto; Teruya, Alberto; Nakachi, Graciela

    2009-08-01

    Ethnic differences in the pattern and trend of growth and weight have been described in studies of migrant populations. Our objective was to compare anthropometric parameters and overweight prevalence in third and fourth generation Japanese descendant preschoolers within the Peruvian preschool population. A total of 337 measurements of height and weight from 284 children, three to five years of age, were taken over three years in one Japanese-Peruvian preschool center in Lima, Peru. The data of each parameter were classified into three ethnic groups according to their parents' surnames: Japanese descendant children (n = 104), with both parents with Japanese surnames; Japanese-Peruvian descendant (n = 93), one parent with a Japanese surname and one with a non-Japanese surname; and Peruvian descendant (n = 140), both parents with non-Japanese surnames. We used the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) 2000 growth charts as reference values to obtain centiles, Z scores, and body mass index (BMI). In boys, the three groups differed significantly in height, weight, BMI, Z scores, and overweight prevalence. Peruvian descendant boys were taller and heavier than Japanese-Peruvian and Japanese descendants. Moreover, Japanese-Peruvian descendant boys were taller and heavier than Japanese descendant boys. In girls, there were no significant differences in height and weight and in overweight prevalence among the three ethnic groups. Japanese descendants in Peru have height, weight and BMI values similar to those of Japanese children in Japan but lesser than Peruvian children. These findings may be related to differences in ethnic background.

  13. Construction of a short form of the healthy eating behaviour inventory for the Japanese population.

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    Shimazaki, Takashi; Iio, Misa; Lee, Ying-Hua; Suzuki, Akiko; Konuma, Kayo; Teshima, Yoko; Takenaka, Koji

    2016-09-01

    The present study constructed a short form of the Healthy Eating Behavior Inventory suitable for use in the Japanese culture (HEBI-J) and confirmed the scale's preliminary reliability and validity. In Study 1, Japanese adults (N=75) completed a free-response questionnaire about healthy eating behaviours. Thematic analysis was used to identify three factors-balance, pattern, and restriction-associated with healthy eating behaviours and 12 items related to these healthy eating behaviours. In Study 2, Japanese office workers (N=784) completed two questionnaires regarding 12 items of healthy eating behaviours and the dietary stages of change. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the three-factor model was appropriate (GFI=.94, AGFI=.90, CFI=.90, RMSEA=.08, SRMR=.53). Reliability was confirmed by alpha coefficients and the Spearman-Brown formula. Concurrent validity was confirmed by the relationship between the healthy eating stages. This study demonstrated the preliminary reliability and validity of the HEBI-J. Copyright © 2015 Asia Oceania Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Determination of kinetic parameters for 123-I thyroid uptake in healthy Japanese

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    Kusuhara, Hiroyuki; Maeda, Kazuya

    2017-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the kinetic parameters for iodide thyroid accumulation in Japanese today with previously reported values. We determined the thyroid uptake of 123-I at 24 hours after the oral administration in healthy male Japanese without any diet restriction. The mean value was 16.1±5.4%, which was similar or rather lower than those previously reported in Japan (1958-1972). Kinetic model analysis was conducted to obtain the clearance for thyroid uptake from the blood circulation. The thyroid uptake clearance of 123-I was 0.540±0.073 ml/min, which was almost similar to those reported previously. There is no obvious difference in the thyroid uptake for 24 hours, and kinetic parameters in healthy Japanese for these 50 years. The fraction of distributed to the thyroid gland is lower than the ICRP reference man, and such difference must be taken into consideration to estimate the radiation exposure upon Fukushima accident in Japan.

  15. Sequential-Simultaneous Analysis of Japanese Children's Performance on the Japanese McCarthy.

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    Ishikuma, Toshinori; And Others

    This study explored the hypothesis that Japanese children perform significantly better on simultaneous processing than on sequential processing. The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) served as the criterion of the two types of mental processing. Regression equations to predict Sequential and Simultaneous processing from McCarthy…

  16. No association between catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genotype and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Japanese children.

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    Yatsuga, Chiho; Toyohisa, Daiki; Fujisawa, Takashi X; Nishitani, Shota; Shinohara, Kazuyuki; Matsuura, Naomi; Ikeda, Shinobu; Muramatsu, Masaaki; Hamada, Akinobu; Tomoda, Akemi

    2014-08-01

    This study ascertained the association between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Japanese children and a polymorphism of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), a dopamine-control gene. The secondary aim of the study was the evaluation of a putative association between methylphenidate (MPH) effect/adverse effects and the COMT genotype. To ascertain the distribution of the Val158Met variant of COMT, 50 children meeting ADHD inclusion criteria were compared with 32 healthy children. Clinical improvement and the occurrence of adverse effects were measured before and 3 months after MPH administration in children with ADHD, and analyzed for genotype association. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III), age, MPH dose were included as co-variables. The occurrence of the COMT Val/Val genotype was significantly higher in children with ADHD (χ(2)(1)=7.13, pADHD rating scale scores, after correcting for the interaction between disorder and COMT genotype. Furthermore, no significant difference in MPH effect/adverse effects was observed in association with the COMT genotype in the ADHD group. These results showed a lack of association between the COMT Val/Val genotype and ADHD in Japan. Copyright © 2013 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Aronia juice suppresses the elevation of postprandial blood glucose levels in adult healthy Japanese

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    Takuya Yamane

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Aronia has various functions toward human health, including the beneficial effect on hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. Recently, we identified cyanidin-3,5-O-diglucoside as DPP IV inhibitor from Aronia juice. We also found its beneficial effect on hyperglycemia in KKAy mice fed aronia juice. In this study, to examine the effect of aronia juice on postprandial blood glucose levels in Japanese, we performed an oral meal tolerance test (OMTT. We found that postprandial blood glucose levels were reduced in aronia juice-administered adult healthy Japanese. We also found that there was no difference of reduction levels of postprandial blood glucose between male and female. We also found that activities of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV, α-glucosidase and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE were reduced by aronia juice. These results suggest that aronia juice suppresses the elevation of postprandial blood glucose levels through inhibition of these enzyme activities and may be useful for prevention of metabolic diseases in adult healthy Japanese.

  18. The traditional Japanese dietary pattern and longitudinal changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors in apparently healthy Japanese adults.

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    Niu, Kaijun; Momma, Haruki; Kobayashi, Yoritoshi; Guan, Lei; Chujo, Masahiko; Otomo, Atsushi; Ouchi, Eriko; Nagatomi, Ryoichi

    2016-02-01

    Few epidemiological studies have assessed the relationship between the traditional Japanese dietary pattern and longitudinal changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors among Japanese people. We designed a 3-year longitudinal study of 980 subjects living in Japan to evaluate how the Japanese dietary pattern is related to longitudinal changes in well-recognized risk factors for cardiovascular disease among apparently healthy Japanese adults. Dietary consumption was assessed via a validated food frequency questionnaire. Principal component analysis was used to derive three major dietary patterns-"Japanese," "sweets-fruits-cooked wheaten food," and "Izakaya (Japanese Pub)" from 39 food groups. After adjustment for potential confounders, the mean (95% confidence interval) for the change per year in diastolic blood pressure for men, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure for women related to the "Japanese" dietary pattern factor score tertiles were 0.89 (0.10, 1.68), 2.25 (0.19, 4.31), and 0.75 (-1.00, 2.50) for the lowest tertile, 0.77 (-0.02, 1.56), 1.01 (-1.13, 3.15), and 0.44 (-1.38, 2.26) for the middle tertile and - 0.04 (-0.81, 0.72), -0.48 (-2.52, 1.56), and -0.77 (-2.51, 0.96) for the highest tertile (trend P value = 0.03, pattern factor score tertiles and the longitudinal change in serum triglyceride concentration only in men (trend P value = 0.02). Greater adherence to a traditional Japanese diet was independently related to a decreased change every year in diastolic blood pressure in men and women and in systolic blood pressure in women over a 3-year follow-up period. The findings suggest that the "Japanese" dietary pattern appeared to be related to a fall in blood pressure, which might have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease. A randomized trial is required to clarify the underlying mechanism.

  19. Gender Role Orientation with Health Literacy and Self-Efficacy for Healthy Eating among Japanese Workers in Early Adulthood.

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    Hosokawa, Chizuru; Ishikawa, Hirono; Okada, Masafumi; Kato, Mio; Okuhara, Tsuyoshi; Kiuchi, Takahiro

    2016-01-01

    Gender role, independent of biological sex, affects health. However, research on healthy eating that considers the importance of gender norms is scarce. People who are androgynous and have high masculinity and femininity are reported to have better health practices than other people. The present study aimed to examine the differences in health literacy (HL) and self-efficacy for healthy eating by gender role in Japanese men and women. Participants were 629 men and women aged 25-34 years, recruited via a Japanese Internet research company database. Participants were categorized into four gender role groups using the Japanese Gender Role Index. HL and self-efficacy for healthy eating were assessed using the healthy eating literacy (HEL) scale and the healthy eating and weight self-efficacy (HEWSE) scale. Analysis of variance with Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc tests and hierarchical multiple regression were used to test the research hypotheses. We found that the Androgynous group had significantly higher HEL and HEWSE scores than the Feminine and Undifferentiated groups. The Masculine group scored significantly higher on both measures than the Undifferentiated group. Being Androgynous (HEL: β = 0.34, p gender role orientation and individual HL and self-efficacy for healthy eating. These findings may be relevant for promoting healthy eating from the perspective of gender norms.

  20. New Education for Underprivileged Children: The Codification of Children's Rights in Japanese Law

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    Ito, Toshiko

    2012-01-01

    This article examines the educational concepts that were pursued for the benefit of underprivileged children in the era of the New Education Movement. Children's rights in Japanese modernity, as represented by the struggle to apply New Education principles to underprivileged children, are contrasted with the conventional view of childhood in the…

  1. Predicting the reading skill of Japanese children.

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    Ogino, Tatsuya; Hanafusa, Kaoru; Morooka, Teruko; Takeuchi, Akihito; Oka, Makio; Ohtsuka, Yoko

    2017-02-01

    To clarify cognitive processes underlining the development of reading in children speaking Japanese as their first language, we examined relationships between performances of cognitive tasks in the preschool period and later reading abilities. Ninety-one normally developing preschoolers (41 girls and 50 boys; 5years 4months to 6years 4months, mean 5years 10months) participated as subjects. We conducted seven cognitive tasks including phonological awareness tasks, naming tasks, and working memory tasks in the preschool period. In terms of reading tasks, the hiragana naming task was administered in the preschool period; the reading times, which is a composite score of the monomoraic syllable reading task, the word and the non-word reading tasks, and the single sentence reading task, was evaluated in first and second grade; and the kanji reading task (naming task) was tested in second grade. Raven's colored progressive matrices and picture vocabulary test revised were also conducted in first grade. Correlation analyses between task scores and stepwise multiple regression analyses were implemented. Tasks tapping phonological awareness, lexical access, and verbal working memory showed significant correlations with reading tasks. In the multiple regression analyses the performances in the verbal working memory task played a key role in predicting character naming task scores (the hiragana naming task and the kanji reading task) while the digit naming task was an important predictor of reading times. Unexpectedly, the role of phonological (mora) awareness was modest among children speaking Japanese. Cognitive functions including phonological awareness, digit naming, and verbal working memory (especially the latter two) were involved in the development of reading skills of children speaking Japanese. Copyright © 2016 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Sleep patterns of Japanese preschool children and their parents: implications for co-sleeping.

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    Iwata, Sachiko; Iwata, Osuke; Matsuishi, Toyojiro

    2013-06-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the direct relationship of sleep schedule and sleep quality variables between healthy preschool children and their parents, focusing on the influence of the difference in bedtime between each other. Forty-seven Japanese 5-year-old children and their primary parent were studied. The parents completed questionnaires including the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The children wore an actigraph for one week. Although sleep patterns of children were generally independent of their parents, late sleep end time and bedtime of children were associated with parents' late sleep end time on weekends. For 87% of children and parents who shared a bedroom, sleep quality was negatively affected by a shorter difference in bedtimes between child and parent, but not by co-sleeping. Sleep behaviours of parents can influence those of their children. For parents and children who share a bedroom, the timing of bedtime rather than co-sleeping may be a key factor in modulating sleep patterns. Trying to get children asleep and subsequently falling asleep at a similar time may disturb parents' sleep quality, which may subsequently affect that of their children. ©2013 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  3. Children's On-Line Processing of Scrambling in Japanese

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    Suzuki, Takaaki

    2013-01-01

    This study investigates the on-line processing of scrambled sentences in Japanese by preschool children and adults using a combination of self-paced listening and speeded picture selection tasks. The effects of a filler-gap dependency, reversibility, and case markers were examined. The results show that both children and adults had difficulty in…

  4. Orthographic Reading Deficits in Dyslexic Japanese Children: Examining the Transposed-Letter Effect in the Color-Word Stroop Paradigm.

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    Ogawa, Shino; Shibasaki, Masahiro; Isomura, Tomoko; Masataka, Nobuo

    2016-01-01

    In orthographic reading, the transposed-letter effect (TLE) is the perception of a transposed-letter position word such as "cholocate" as the correct word "chocolate." Although previous studies on dyslexic children using alphabetic languages have reported such orthographic reading deficits, the extent of orthographic reading impairment in dyslexic Japanese children has remained unknown. This study examined the TLE in dyslexic Japanese children using the color-word Stroop paradigm comprising congruent and incongruent Japanese hiragana words with correct and transposed-letter positions. We found that typically developed children exhibited Stroop effects in Japanese hiragana words with both correct and transposed-letter positions, thus indicating the presence of TLE. In contrast, dyslexic children indicated Stroop effects in correct letter positions in Japanese words but not in transposed, which indicated an absence of the TLE. These results suggest that dyslexic Japanese children, similar to dyslexic children using alphabetic languages, may also have a problem with orthographic reading.

  5. Efficacy of a 3-month lifestyle intervention program using a Japanese-style healthy plate on body weight in overweight and obese diabetic Japanese subjects: a randomized controlled trial.

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    Yamauchi, Keiko; Katayama, Tomomi; Yamauchi, Takahiro; Kotani, Kazuhiko; Tsuzaki, Kokoro; Takahashi, Kaoru; Sakane, Naoki

    2014-11-24

    The portion size of food is a determinant of energy intake, linking with obese traits. A healthy plate for portion control has recently been made in a Japanese style. The aim of the current study was to assess the efficacy of a lifestyle intervention program using the Japanese-style healthy plate on weight reduction in overweight and obese diabetic Japanese subjects. We randomized overweight and obese diabetic subjects (n = 19, 10 women) into an intervention group including educational classes on lifestyle modification incorporating the healthy plate (n = 10) or a waiting-list control group (n = 9). The intervention period was three months, and the educational classes using the healthy plate were conducted monthly in a group session for the intervention group. The body weight, blood glycemic and metabolic measures, and psychosocial variables were measured at the baseline and after the 3-month intervention in both groups. The impression of the intervention was interviewed using a structured questionnaire. There was one drop-out in the control group. No adverse events were reported in the groups. Subjects in the intervention group had a greater weight change from baseline to the end of the 3-month intervention period (-3.7 +/- 2.5 [SD] kg in the intervention group vs. -0.1 +/- 1.4 kg in the control group, P = 0.002). Most subjects recorded that the use of a healthy plate could be recommended to other people. The lifestyle intervention program using the Japanese-style healthy plate, which was developed for portion control, may effectively reduce body weight in overweight and obese diabetic subjects in Japan. Further studies are needed to establish the efficacy of this methodology on weight management.

  6. Diameter of the thoracic and abdominal aorta in healthy Japanese

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    Matsunaga, Wakako

    1989-01-01

    In 300 cases, diameter of thoracic and abdominal aorta in healthy Japanese is measured by computed tomography (CT) and the values are analyzed in relation to the age, sex and the level of the aorta on CT scan. Aorta becomes dilated with age. In female diameter of the aorta is correlated with age, on the other hand, diameter of those is not correlated with age in male. Diameter in male is larger than in female. Aorta tapers off and the ratio of tapering of the thoracic aorta is more prominent than that of the abdominal aorta. Therefore the calculations of the landmarks of tapering of the aorta and the ratio of diameter of the aorta to transverse diameter of the vertebral body at the levels of 10th thoracic and 3rd lumber vertebrae on CT scan are useful for judgement of normal range of diameter of the aorta. Calcifications of the wall of the aorta are seen initially at the age of 5th decade in the abdominal aorta and 6th decade in the thoracic aorta in healthy Japanese. They are noted in almost of the persons after the age of seventy years old. The presence of calcification is not correlated with diameter of the aorta at the same level on CT scan. (author)

  7. Selective Learning and Teaching among Japanese and German Children

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    Kim, Sunae; Paulus, Markus; Sodian, Beate; Itakura, Shoji; Ueno, Mika; Senju, Atsushi; Proust, Joëlle

    2018-01-01

    Despite an increasing number of studies demonstrating that young children selectively learn from others, and a few studies of children's selective teaching, the evidence almost exclusively comes from Western cultures, and cross-cultural comparison in this line of work is very rare. In the present research, we investigated Japanese and German…

  8. Disability and stigma: how Japanese educators help parents accept their children's differences.

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    Kayama, Misa; Haight, Wendy

    2014-01-01

    In this report, part of a larger ethnographic study, the authors examined the support Japanese elementary school educators provide to parents of children with relatively mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities, such as learning disabilities, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, and high-functioning autism. Conditions that affect children's learning and behaviors are widespread, but cultures vary in responses to children with such difficulties and their families. In many cultures, disability remains a sensitive issue due to lingering stigma. Japan's recent implementation of special education services for children with mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities provided a unique context in which to examine otherwise taken-for-granted beliefs and practices related to disability. Participant observations in a Japanese elementary school and individual interviews with educators and parents suggest that parents' sensitivity to other people's "eyes," or stigma, can be an obstacle to their acceptance of their children's need for special education, permission for their children to receive services, and collaboration with educators. Educators supported parents through a steadfast focus on emotional support, communication, relationship building, and partnerships. Japanese practices and adults' reflections on stigma provide a broader context for international, school, and other social workers to reflect on their own beliefs and practices with families of children with disabilities.

  9. Physical Settings and Materials Recommended for Play Therapy with Japanese Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Yuanhong; Ramirez, Sylvia Z.; Kranz, Peter L.

    2008-01-01

    This article describes a number of important issues to consider in play therapy with Japanese children. They include the waiting room and playroom decor, toys, and other materials, as well as terminology that are commonly used in Japan. The layout of the small and large playrooms, use of the "Wa-Shitsu" (a traditional Japanese room…

  10. Omalizumab in Japanese children with severe allergic asthma uncontrolled with standard therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odajima, Hiroshi; Ebisawa, Motohiro; Nagakura, Toshikazu; Fujisawa, Takao; Akasawa, Akira; Ito, Komei; Doi, Satoru; Yamaguchi, Koichi; Katsunuma, Toshio; Kurihara, Kazuyuki; Kondo, Naomi; Sugai, Kazuko; Nambu, Mitsuhiko; Hoshioka, Akira; Yoshihara, Shigemi; Sato, Norio; Seko, Noriko; Nishima, Sankei

    2015-10-01

    Omalizumab has demonstrated clinical benefits in children with moderate to severe allergic asthma. However, no studies have been performed in Japanese asthmatic children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy including free IgE suppression and safety of omalizumab in Japanese children with severe allergic asthma. The primary objective was to examine whether omalizumab decreases serum free IgE levels to less than 25 ng/ml (target level of suppression). Thirty-eight Japanese children (6-15 years) with uncontrolled severe allergic asthma despite inhaled corticosteroids (>200 μg/day fluticasone propionate or equivalent) and two or more controller therapies received add-on treatment with omalizumab in a 24-week, multicenter, uncontrolled, open-label study. The geometric mean serum free IgE level at 24 weeks was 15.6 ng/mL. Compared with baseline, total asthma symptom scores, daily activity scores and nocturnal sleep scores at 24 weeks were significantly improved. The rates of asthma exacerbation and hospitalization due to asthma were reduced by 69.2% and 78.2%, respectively (p omalizumab decreased free IgE levels to less than 25 ng/mL. Omalizumab improved asthma control and was well-tolerated, as well. Copyright © 2015 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Single-dose pharmacokinetic study comparing the pharmacokinetics of recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin in healthy Japanese and Caucasian women and recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin and urinary human chorionic gonadotropin in healthy Japanese women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagchus, Wilhelmina; Wolna, Peter; Uhl, Wolfgang

    2018-01-01

    Recombinant hCG (r-hCG) was approved in Japan in 2016. As a prerequisite for a Phase III study in Japan related to this approval, the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of r-hCG was investigated. An open-label, partly randomized, single-center, single-dose, group-comparison, Phase I PK-bridging study was done that compared a single 250 μg dose of r-hCG with a single 5000 IU dose of urinary hCG (u-hCG) in healthy Japanese women, as well as comparing a single 250 μg dose of r-hCG in Japanese and Caucasian women. The Japanese participants were randomized 1:1 to receive either r-hCG or u-hCG, while the Caucasian participants were weight-matched to the Japanese participants who were receiving r-hCG in a 1:1 fashion. The primary PK parameters were the area under the serum concentration-time curve from time 0 extrapolated to infinity (AUC 0-∞ ) and the maximum serum concentration (C max ). The mean serum hCG concentration-time profiles of r-hCG in the Japanese and Caucasian participants were a similar shape, but the level of overall exposure was ~20% lower in the Japanese participants. For the Japanese participants, r-hCG resulted in an 11% lower C max but a 19% higher AUC 0-∞ compared with u-hCG. No new safety signal was identified. This study cannot exclude a potential difference in the PK profile of r-hCG between Japanese and Caucasian participants. However, this study does not indicate that there are clinically relevant differences in the serum PK of r-hCG and u-hCG in the Japanese participants.

  12. Healthy Children, Healthy Lives: The Wellness Guide for Early Childhood Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergen, Sharon; Robertson, Rachel

    2013-01-01

    Early childhood is a critical time in human development. Understanding and supporting children's wellness early on can make the greatest impact on physical, social and emotional, and cognitive health throughout childhood and adulthood. "Healthy Children, Healthy Lives" provides a comprehensive collection of checklists and research ­based…

  13. Japanese children's family drawings and their link to attachment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrens, Kazuko Y; Kaplan, Nancy

    2011-09-01

    This study explored the applicability of family drawings as a tool to estimate attachment security in a sample of Japanese six-year-olds (N = 47), applying Kaplan and Main's ( 1986 ) Family Drawing system. Maternal secure/insecure attachment status judged by the Adult Attachment Interview predicted family drawings' secure/insecure distinction produced by Japanese six-year-olds. However, insecure Japanese drawings took forms not seen in the original Berkeley drawings, such as a lineup of faces alone. Further examination of the Japanese children's drawings using global rating scales (Fury, Carlson, & Sroufe, 1997 ) yielded significant gender differences, rarely reported in the attachment literature, with girls scoring higher in scales that predict attachment security and boys scoring higher in scales that predict attachment insecurity. However, attachment security, as captured in the drawings, was not related to attachment security, observed behaviorally using Main and Cassidy's ( 1988 ) sixth-year reunion system. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of measurements, gender, and culture.

  14. Japanese and American Children's Moral Evaluations of Reporting on Transgressions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu Loke, Ivy; Heyman, Gail D.; Itakura, Shoji; Toriyama, Rie; Lee, Kang

    2014-01-01

    American and Japanese children's evaluations of the reporting of peers' transgressions to authority figures were investigated. Seven-, 9-, and 11-year-old children (N = 160) and adults (N = 62) were presented with vignettes and were asked to evaluate the decisions of child observers who reported their friend's either major or relatively minor…

  15. Reciprocity of Prosocial Behavior in Japanese Preschool Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujisawa, Keiko K.; Kutsukake, Nobuyuki; Hasegawa, Toshikazu

    2008-01-01

    This study investigated the reciprocity of prosocial behavior among 3- and 4-year-old Japanese preschool children during free-play time. Matrix correlation tests revealed positive correlations between the frequencies of object offering given and received within dyads and between the frequencies of helping given and received within dyads. These…

  16. Sunao (Cooperative) Children: How Japanese Teachers Nurture Autonomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izumi-Taylor, Satomi

    2008-01-01

    The author discusses the Japanese cultural concept of sunao (perhaps best translated as one's honest, gentle, cooperative nature) in relation to early childhood education in Japan. She explains the cultural belief that during early childhood, children need to learn to connect with one another and build a willingness and capacity to live…

  17. Socializing Children to Honorifics in Japanese: Identity and Stance in Interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burdelski, Matthew

    2013-01-01

    This paper examines socialization of honorifics in Japanese. Drawing upon audiovisual recordings of interaction in households and a preschool, the paper details ways caregivers use honorifics with children and ways children use honorifics with caregivers and peers. The analysis shows ways caregivers use referent and addressee honorifics within…

  18. International political socialization of sixth grade elementary children: What and how do Japanese and Thai children know about the world?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sweeney, Jo Ann Cutler; Zandan, Peter A.

    1981-09-01

    This study investigates cognitive and affective components of Japanese and Thai children's attitudes toward international political socialization. The survey results report how children feel about people from other nations, international political institutions, and their country's involvement with the world community. An important concern of the study is the assessment of how much accurate knowledge Japanese and Thai elementary school children have about other nations. This study includes information on children's feelings about, and knowledge of such problems as warfare between nations, world government, stereotypic thinking about people not belonging to one's own culture and awareness of cross-cultural diffusion between Japan, Thailand and other nations.

  19. High incidence of sleep problems in children with developmental disorders: results of a questionnaire survey in a Japanese elementary school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuoka, Michiko; Nagamitsu, Shinichiro; Iwasaki, Mizue; Iemura, Akiko; Yamashita, Yushiro; Maeda, Masaharu; Kitani, Shingo; Kakuma, Tatsuyuki; Uchimura, Naohisa; Matsuishi, Toyojiro

    2014-01-01

    The aim of the present school-based questionnaire was to analyze the sleep problems of children with developmental disorders, such as pervasive developmental disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The sleep problems of 43 children with developmental disorders were compared with those of 372 healthy children (control group). All children attended one public elementary school in Kurume, Japan; thus, the study avoided the potential bias associated with hospital-based surveys (i.e. a high prevalence of sleep disturbance) and provided a more complete picture of the children's academic performance and family situation compared with a control group under identical conditions. Children's sleep problems were measured with the Japanese version of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Children with developmental disorders had significantly higher total CSHQ scores, as well as mean scores on the parasomnias and sleep breathing subscales, than children in the control group. The total CSHQ score, bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, and daytime sleepiness worsened with increasing age in children with developmental disorders; in contrast, these parameters were unchanged or became better with age in the control group. In children with developmental disorders, there was a significant association between a higher total CSHQ score and lower academic performance, but no such association was found in the control group. For both groups, children's sleep problems affected their parents' quality of sleep. There were no significant differences in physical, lifestyle, and sleep environmental factors, or in sleep/wake patterns, between the two groups. Children with developmental disorders have poor sleep quality, which may affect academic performance. It is important for physicians to be aware of age-related differences in sleep problems in children with developmental disorders. Further studies are needed to identify the association between sleep quality and

  20. Assessment of Growth Disturbance in Japanese Children with IBD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tetsuo Shono

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In Japan, there is as yet no report on growth retardation in children with IBD. We therefore investigated the cause of growth retardation in Japanese children with IBD. We investigated the height, body weight, serum levels of albumin, IGF-I, CRP, and cytokines, and the amount of corticosteroid administered in children with Crohn's disease (CD, =15 and ulcerative colitis (UC, =18. Our results suggest that growth retardation is already present before the initial visit in children with CD, and chronic inflammation may be responsible this growth disturbance. Moreover, the amount of PSL used may contribute to growth retardation by decreasing the serum levels of IGF-I in children with IBD.

  1. Age-related effects and gender differences in Japanese healthy controls for [123I] FP-CIT SPECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamoto, Hideo; Arimura Shinichi; Nakanishi, Atsushi; Shimo, Yasushi; Motoi, Yumiko; Ishiguro, Koichi; Murakami, Koji; Hattori, Nobutaka; Aoki, Shigeki

    2017-01-01

    Dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging with [ 123 I]FP-CIT (DaTSCAN) is a widely used diagnostic tool for Parkinsonism and dementia. Since it was approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in 2013, there have been no articles focusing on a Japanese normal population. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of aging and gender on DAT availability in Japanese people. SPECT imaging of 30 healthy Japanese controls (17 males, 13 females; range 50-86 years, mean 70 years) was performed SPECT images were reconstructed using a three-dimensional order subset expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithm with correction of the point spread function and scatter correction, without attenuation correction. The specific binding ratio (SBR) was calculated by DAT view software. Statistical analyses were performed using linear regression analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple comparison analysis. A strong correlation between the SBR and age was observed. The correlation coefficient in males and females were -0.566 and -0.502, respectively. The analysis of variance revealed that aging led to a decline of the SBR, and a significant difference (p = 0.005) was observed among generations. Gender also affected the SBR, and there was a significant difference between males and females (p = 0.036). The SBR in females was higher than in males. Consequently, the multiple comparison revealed a significant difference between 50s and 70s (p = 0.015) and 50s and 80s (p = 0.006). This is the first [ 123 I]FP-CIT SPECT study on subjects with normal dopamine function in Asian countries. This study provides a database of [ 123 I]FP-CIT SPECT in Japanese healthy controls. Higher DAT availability was found in women than in men. An average age-related decline in DAT availability of 8.9% was found in both genders. The data collected in this study would be helpful for Japanese physicians to make a differential diagnosis in Parkinsonian syndrome. The registration identification

  2. An investigation into kana reading development in normal and dyslexic Japanese children using length and lexicality effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sambai, Ami; Uno, Akira; Kurokawa, Suzuko; Haruhara, Noriko; Kaneko, Masato; Awaya, Noriko; Kozuka, Junko; Goto, Takashi; Tsutamori, Eishi; Nakagawa, Kazumi; Wydell, Taeko N

    2012-06-01

    This is the first study to report differences between Japanese children with and without dyslexia in the way string-length and lexicality effects are manifested when reading Japanese kana. These children were asked to read kana words and non-words consisting of either two or five kana characters. The results showed that the error rates of the normal Preschoolers and Primary-School children with dyslexia were higher than those of the normal Primary-School children. Further, the reading latencies of the normal Preschoolers, First-graders and dyslexics were significantly longer than those of the normal Second, Third and Fifth/Sixth graders. Moreover, reading latencies became shorter as the age of the participants increased. Both normal and dyslexic children showed significant effects of length and lexicality on reading latencies. However, the interaction between the length and lexicality was only seen in normal children from the Second-grade onwards. These results suggest that (1) normal First-graders reach a ceiling in terms of reading accuracy and that (2) as Japanese normal children become older, they become better at lexical reading processes, which leads to fluent kana reading, but that (3) the dyslexics, even at Fifth/Sixth grades, have not developed sufficient lexical reading processes. Copyright © 2011 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. All rights reserved.

  3. Music and Movement for Young Children's Healthy Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izumi-Taylor, Satomi; Morris, Vivian Gunn; Meredith, Cathy D.; Hicks, Claire

    2012-01-01

    Young children enjoy moving around when they hear music. Children take pleasure in physical activities that contribute to their healthy development. Physical activities are vital to retain healthy bodies, and inactivity is one cause of obesity in young children (Dow, 2010; Izumi-Taylor & Morris, 2007). This article describes how teachers and…

  4. Recovery Responses to Maximal Exercise in Healthy-Weight Children and Children with Obesity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Easley, Elizabeth A.; Black, W. Scott; Bailey, Alison L.; Lennie, Terry A.; Sims, Wilma J.; Clasey, Jody L.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine differences in heart rate recovery (HRRec) and oxygen consumption recovery (VO2 recovery) between young healthy-weight children and children with obesity following a maximal volitional graded exercise test (GXTmax). Method: Twenty healthy-weight children and 13 children with obesity completed body…

  5. An understanding of Japanese children's perceptions of fun, barriers, and facilitators of active free play.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, YingHua; Takenaka, Koji; Kanosue, Kazuyuki

    2015-09-01

    Physical activity contributes to children's physical and mental well-being. Research suggests that active free play helps to maintain and increase physical activity in children and also contributes to social and emotional well-being. To date, these studies have focused on Western countries. Thus, this study was conducted to gain insights into the factors of perceptions of fun, barriers, and facilitators affecting active free play from the perspective of Japanese children using focus group interviews. In Japan, 12 focus groups were conducted with 60 children aged 9-11 years. Children's perceptions of fun in active free play were categorized into socializing, achievement, emotions, and freedom. Additionally, active boys' groups were interested in free play and adventure play; girls' groups were interested in free play with less physical movement and challenges; inactive boys' groups were interested in relaxing and competitive play with bodily contact. However, children mentioned that busy schedules, weather, and health-related factors acted as main barriers. Lastly, children noted facilitators include setting schedules, having access to equipment and playgrounds, and holding special events. The findings provide insights into active free play-related factors for active and inactive Japanese children and also clarify the differences between Japanese and Western children. Such findings will contribute to designing interventions to increase active free play. © The Author(s) 2013.

  6. Diet quality of children post-liver transplantation does not differ from healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alzaben, Abeer S; MacDonald, Krista; Robert, Cheri; Haqq, Andrea; Gilmour, Susan M; Yap, Jason; Mager, Diana R

    2017-09-01

    Little has been studied regarding the diets of children following LTX. The study aim was to assess and compare dietary intake and DQ of healthy children and children post-LTX. Children and adolescents (2-18 years) post-LTX (n=27) and healthy children (n=28) were studied. Anthropometric and demographic data and two 24-hour recalls (one weekend; one weekday) were collected. Intake of added sugar, HFCS, fructose, GI, and GL was calculated. DQ was measured using three validated DQ indices: the HEI-C, the DGI-CA, and the DQI-I. Although no differences in weight-for-age z-scores were observed between groups, children post-LTX had lower height-for-age z-scores than healthy children (P.05). The majority of children in both groups (>40%) had low DQ scores. No significant interrelationships between dietary intake, anthropometric, and demographic were found (P>.05). Both healthy and children post-LTX consume diets with poor DQ. This has implications for risk of obesity and metabolic dysregulation, particularly in transplant populations on immunosuppressive therapies. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Communication Attitudes of Japanese School-Age Children Who Stutter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawai, Norimune; Healey, E. Charles; Nagasawa, Taiko; Vanryckeghem, Martine

    2012-01-01

    Past research with the Communication Attitude Test (CAT) has shown it to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing speech-associated attitude of children who stutter (CWS). However, in Japan, the CAT has not been used extensively to examine the communication attitude of CWS. The purpose of this study was to determine if a Japanese version…

  8. Evaluating Preschool Children Knowledge about Healthy Lifestyle: Preliminary Examination of the Healthy Lifestyle Evaluation Instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grammatikopoulos, Vasilis; Konstantinidou, Elisavet; Tsigilis, Nikolaos; Zachopoulou, Evridiki; Tsangaridou, Niki; Liukkonen, Jarmo

    2008-01-01

    The aim of this study was to develop an instrument to evaluate the knowledge of preschool children about healthy lifestyle behavior. The innovation was that the instrument was designed to get direct evidence about healthy lifestyle from children aged 4-6 years old. Usually, children knowledge is estimated indirectly (parents, teachers), but the…

  9. Globalization, localization and food culture: perceived roles of social and cultural capitals in healthy child feeding practices in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goto, Keiko; Ominami, Chihiro; Song, Chunyan; Murayama, Nobuko; Wolff, Cindy

    2014-03-01

    The current study examined parental perceptions of sociocultural factors associated with healthy child feeding practices among parents of preschool-age children in rural Japan. Fifteen Japanese mothers of preschool-age children participated in this qualitative study. These participants were aged 22-39 years and resided in a rural town in western Japan. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews to assess parental perceptions of healthy child feeding practices and their relationships with globalization and localization. These interviews were transcribed, translated into English and coded, based on the principles of grounded theory. A codebook was developed and pre-identified, and the newly-identified themes from this codebook were examined and compared. Overall, local and seasonal foods, along with traditional Japanese foods and simple foods (soshoku), were considered to be beneficial for children. Participants also noted that children were expected to be mindful and exhibit good table manners that reflect cultural values related to meal-time socializing or family bonding, and food appreciation. On the other hand, the majority of the participants stated that foods containing food additives and imported foods were unsuitable for children. Participants noted that strong social capital, especially social support from their mothers or mothers-in-law, as well as social networks for obtaining fresh local foods, contributed to healthy child feeding practices. Cultural capital (including the preservation of traditional Japanese dietary habits, eating rules and inter-generational commensality), was also identified as being key to healthy feeding practices. Identifying and promoting the social and cultural capital that positively support healthy child feeding practices may be an important component of nutrition education programs.

  10. Maximal Strength Testing in Healthy Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faigenbaum, Avery D.; Milliken, Laurie A.; Westcott, Wayne L.

    2003-01-01

    Evaluated the safety and efficacy of 1 repetition maximum (1RM) strength testing in healthy children age 6-12 years. Data were collected on 96 children who performed a 1RM test on one upper body and one lower body exercise using child-sized weight machines. Findings indicated that children could safely perform 1RM strength tests provided…

  11. Effects of a Danish Student‐Centered Prosocial Intervention Program Among Japanese Children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Umino, Ayumi; Dammeyer, Jesper

    2017-01-01

    Japan and Denmark represent two different educational cultures. Where Danish students in general report high scores on self-esteem, Japanese children report low. A student-centered and interaction-based prosocial intervention program that was designed according to Danish educational culture......, Japanese boys’ scores on the declarative knowledge of metacognitive regulation declined. The teachers’ attitudes towards the intervention program were analyzed by use of interviews. The effect of the student-centered intervention program is discussed with respect to the educational cultures in Japan....

  12. Amoxicillin-resistant oral streptococci identified in dental plaque specimens from healthy Japanese adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masuda, Katsuhiko; Nemoto, Hirotoshi; Nakano, Kazuhiko; Naka, Shuhei; Nomura, Ryota; Ooshima, Takashi

    2012-05-01

    Infective endocarditis (IE) is known to be a life-threatening disease and invasive dental procedures are considered to be important factors. Oral amoxicillin (AMPC) is widely used for prophylaxis in patients with heart disorders who are at risk for IE. However, there is only limited information regarding the inhibition of oral bacteria by AMPC. Dental plaque specimens were obtained from 120 healthy Japanese adult subjects, then diluted and streaked onto selective medium for oral streptococci. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AMPC was evaluated using a macro-dilution method by Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (2006). Seven strains with an MIC of AMPC of 16μg/mL or more were isolated from 5 subjects. The bacterial species were confirmed by sequence analysis of 16S rRNA from each strain, which demonstrated that most were Streptococcus sanguinis, followed by Streptococcus oralis. Dental plaque specimens collected from these 5 subjects again after an interval of 2-3 months possessed no strains with an MIC of AMPC of 16μg/mL or more. These findings suggest that strains with a high MIC of AMPC are present in the oral cavities of Japanese adults, though they may be transient rather than inhabitants. Copyright © 2012 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Healthy children, healthy nation — tackling the obesity problem ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2016-04-26

    Apr 26, 2016 ... ... restricting sales of unhealthy food and drink in the vicinity of schools, and ... Read the full story of change: Caribbean health: Healthy children, ... the Caribbean by the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund, ...

  14. The characteristic features of moral socialization: A comparison of Japanese and Australian children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ban, Tsunenobu

    1995-01-01

    The object of this study, based on surveys conducted in Japan and Australia, is to examine how certain factors in family and school affect the socialmoral behaviour of pupils. Such factors include relations with teachers, after-school activities, friendships, and time spent helping parents with the housework. To measure the effect of these factors, the study used three indices of social-moral behaviour, showing: (1) the degree to which children conformed to social norms; (2) their behaviour in relation to teachers, family and friends; (3) their ability to find appropriate moral responses in different situations. A number of interesting contrasts were revealed between Australian and Japanese schools. The results showed that the moral education received by Japanese children is not translated into their own behaviour. The author concludes that there is an urgent need to establish moral education based on investigations into the real experiences of children.

  15. Changes in Healthy Childhood Lifestyle Behaviors in Japanese Rural Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakano, Takahiro; Kasuga, Kosho; Murase, Tomohiko; Suzuki, Kazuhiro

    2013-01-01

    Background: Unhealthy lifestyles during childhood constitute a public health problem in Japan. However, current health education in Japan is ineffective in counteracting them. Previous studies contend that healthy lifestyles in children vary by academic grade and sex. This study examined changes throughout childhood suggests some intervention…

  16. The prevalence and antibiotic sensitivity of oral Viridans streptococci in healthy children and children with disabilities in Kuwait.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salako, Nathanael O; Rotimi, Vincent; Philip, Leeba; Haidar, Hussien A; Hamdan, Hussien M

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of Viridans streptococci (VS) isolated from the oral cavity of healthy children and children with disabilities in Kuwait. Plaque samples were collected from the tooth and tongue surfaces of 102 healthy children and 102 children who were intellectually disabled and institutionalized. The resistance to seven antibiotics (amoxicillin, cephalothin, clindamycin, erythromycin, penicillin G, tetracycline, and vancomycin) was tested. A total of 330 (44.5%) VS were isolated from the children who were healthy and 411 (55.5%) from children with disabilities. The most common isolates were S. salivarius (27.3%) in healthy children; S. sanguis (22.6%) was predominant among children who were disabled. S. mutans was found in 12.1% of the healthy children and in 16.5% of the children who were disabled. The combined percentage of resistant strains (healthy and disabled) was found to be highest with amoxicillin (43%) and lowest with vancomycin (12%). S. sanguis, S. mitis and S. oralis were more resistant in healthy children (45%, 56%, and 55% respectively) than in children with disabilities (40%, 47% and 47% respectively). S. mutans was the least resistant species to all antibiotics in both groups of children. About 56% of all streptococci isolated from both groups were resistant to at least one of the antibiotics tested. The data showed that there was a difference in the level of resistance of oral VS isolated from healthy children and children with disabilities to some antibiotics commonly used in dentistry.

  17. Differences Between Japanese and U.S. Children's Performance on "Zoo U": A Game-Based Social Skills Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Craig, Ashley B; DeRosier, Melissa E; Watanabe, Yayoi

    2015-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to test whether and how performance on a digital game-based social skills assessment tool, "Zoo U" (3C Institute, Durham, NC), differed for children in the United States and Japan across six core social skills. "Zoo U" was administered to 497 third and fourth grade children from the United States and Japan (46 percent Japanese) by teachers and researchers, respectively. U.S. children received the original version of "Zoo U," and Japanese children received a fully translated Japanese version of the program. Scoring of each of the six social skills is built into the "Zoo U" software, with specific scoring algorithms for each grade level that provide both a continuous scale score and cutoffs for three distinct performance categories: high, average, and low. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to assess differences by cultural group on each of the six continuous social skill scores, controlling for gender and grade level. Results revealed significant differences on four of the six skills in expected directions. Chi-squared and odds ratios analyses were then conducted on the assignment of children into each of the performance categories by cultural group, revealing additional nuance to the cultural differences identified in the MANOVA consistent with existing literature. We were able to replicate known cultural differences between U.S. and Japanese children with a simple direct translation of a Web-based social skills assessment game, "Zoo U." Our results provide preliminary support for the potential of game-based assessment methods to provide efficient and valid social skill assessments to children around the world.

  18. Post-licensure, phase IV, safety study of a live attenuated Japanese encephalitis recombinant vaccine in children in Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chotpitayasunondh, Tawee; Pruekprasert, Pornpimol; Puthanakit, Thanyawee; Pancharoen, Chitsanu; Tangsathapornpong, Auchara; Oberdorfer, Peninnah; Kosalaraksa, Pope; Prommalikit, Olarn; Tangkittithaworn, Suwimon; Kerdpanich, Phirangkul; Techasaensiri, Chonnamet; Korejwo, Joanna; Chuenkitmongkol, Sunate; Houillon, Guy

    2017-01-05

    Japanese encephalitis is a mosquito-borne viral disease endemic in most countries in Asia. A recombinant live, attenuated Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine, JE-CV, is licensed in 14 countries, including Thailand, for the prevention of Japanese encephalitis in adults and children. This was a prospective, phase IV, open-label, multicentre, safety study of JE-CV conducted from November 2013 to April 2015, to evaluate rare serious adverse events (AEs). JE-CV was administered to 10,000 healthy children aged 9months to vaccination. Serious AEs (SAEs), including AEs of special interest, up to 60days after administration were evaluated. Immediate Grade 3 systemic AEs up to 30min after JE-CV administration were also described. The median age of participants was 1.1years in Group 1 and 3.8years in Group 2. SAEs were reported in 204 (3.0%) participants in Group 1 and 59 (1.9%) participants in Group 2. Among a total of 294 SAEs in 263 participants, only three events occurring in two participants were considered related to vaccination. All three cases were moderate urticaria, none of which met the definition of AEs of special interest for hypersensitivity. AEs of special interest were reported in 28 (0.4%) participants in Group 1 and 4 (0.1%) participants in Group 2; none were considered related to vaccination. Febrile convulsion was the most frequently reported AE of special interest: 25 (0.4%) participants in Group 1; and 2 (vaccination. Our study did not identify any new safety concerns with JE-CV and confirms its good safety profile. This study was registered on www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01981967; Universal Trial Number: U1111-1127-7052). Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  19. Muscle development in healthy children evaluated by bioelectrical impedance analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uchiyama, Tomoka; Nakayama, Takahiro; Kuru, Satoshi

    2017-02-01

    This study aimed to use bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to generate a new muscle density index (MDI), the MDI_BIA, to evaluate muscle development, and to demonstrate the changes that occur in the BIA-based muscle cross-sectional area index (MCAI_BIA) that accompany growth. We also sought to determine the traceability of chronological changes in the MDI_BIA and MCAI_BIA. Healthy children (n=112) aged 8.68±3.16years (0.33-14.00years) underwent bioelectrical impedance (BI) measurements of their upper arms, thighs, and lower legs. The MDI_BIA and MCAI_BIA were calculated, and cross-sectional investigations were conducted into the changes in these indices that accompanied growth. Data collected after 1.10±0.08years from 45 participants determined the traceability of the chronological changes in the MDI_BIA and MCAI_BIA. The MDI_BIA and MCAI_BIA were significantly positively correlated with age and height at all locations (Pchildren, and they showed significant chronological increases. Hence, these indices could be used to represent muscle development and muscle mass increases. BIA is non-invasive, convenient, and economical and it may be useful in evaluating muscle development and muscle cross-sectional areas in children. Copyright © 2016 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Theory of mind and language development in Japanese children with hearing loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujino, Hiroshi; Fukushima, Kunihiro; Fujiyoshi, Akie

    2017-05-01

    This study investigates the development of theory of mind (ToM) in Japanese children with hearing loss (HL) and its relationship with language abilities using the data of a large sample size. Participants were 369 children with HL, ranging from 4 to 12 years of age. The mean hearing level of the better ear was 100.7 dB. A "change in location"-type false belief task similar to the "Sally-Anne test" was given to the participants. The pass rates for the false belief task were in the 20% range for 4 to 6-year-olds, 35.6% for 7-year-olds, 47.6% for 8-year-olds, and 63.6% for 9-year-olds. However, no children, even 12-year-olds, achieved a pass rate of 70%. A logistic regression analysis showed that the significant independent predictors of the false belief task performance were vocabulary age and syntactic comprehension level, and chronological age, hearing level, syntactic production level, and nonverbal intelligence were excluded. The results demonstrate that there is a delay in the development of ToM in Japanese children with HL. This finding is consistent with findings in English-speaking countries. Additionally, it is suggested that language abilities play an important role in the acquisition of ToM for children with HL. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Parenting Role's Tasks as Parents of Healthy and Disabled Children

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    Azade Riyahi

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background The purpose of this study was to determine how to do parenting role's tasks as parents of healthy and disabled children younger than 7 years old in Iran (Arak. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study, the parenting role tasks questionnaire was completed for 120 parents of healthy children and 120 parents of disabled children with at least one child with disability and the parents were selected by convenience sampling method. T-test, Mann-Whitney test and analysis of variances was used to compare the scores between parents of healthy and disabled children based on studied variables including child age, parent age, child gender, parent education, family economic status, history of trauma and seizure in children was applied to perform the role of parents. Results: There was a significant difference of parent role in both groups of parents. There was observed a significant relationship between role of healthy children's parents and age of child (r=0.21, P=0.016, but not observed in disabled children's parents. In healthy children, there was no significant correlation between parent's role and maternal age. In contrast, in disabled children, there was found a significant difference (P= 0.04 with correlation coefficient of -0.18 representing the inverse relationship. Moreover, no relationship was found between history of seizure and performance of parenting role's tasks in the group of disabled children (P>0.05. Conclusion The performance of tasks of parenting role in two groups of parents of healthy children and disabled ones in four areas of primary care, education, leisure and improving cognitive level had significant difference. This difference in the area of improving the cognitive level was higher. Due to complications of disability, parents of these children pay more attention to other areas of care except of improving cognitive level. Therefore presence of disabled child has negative effect on the balance of the

  2. Reading of kana (phonetic symbols for syllables) in Japanese children with spastic diplegia and periventricular leukomalacia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yokochi, K

    2000-01-01

    In 31 Japanese children with spastic diplegia and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), the age at which they could read Hiragana (phonetic symbols for syllables) and psychometric data were examined. Reading of Hiragana was achieved between 2 and 8 years of age in all subjects except one. Four children could read Hiragana at 2 to 3 years of age, an age which is considered early among Japanese children. Performance IQs of the Wechsler Scale were lower than Verbal IQs in 18 of 19 children who were administered this test, and DQs of the cognitive adaptive (C-A) area of the K-form developmental test (a popular test in Japan) were lower than those of the language social area in all 12 children taking this test. Among eight children having performance IQs or DQs of C-A less than 50, seven acquired reading ability of Hiragana at 8 years of age or below. A visuoperceptual disorder manifested by diplegic children with PVL does not affect the acquisition of Kana-reading ability.

  3. Healthy children's perceptions of medicines: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hämeen-Anttila, Katri; Bush, Patricia J

    2008-06-01

    Chronically ill children's perceptions of medicines have been widely studied, but healthy children's less often. However, information on healthy children's beliefs and attitudes about medicine use is needed to be able to target health education messages about medicines appropriately. A literature review was performed to determine schoolchildren's attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge about medicines; autonomy in using medicines; expectations of using medicines; and questions about medicines, so as to guide the development of a medicine education curriculum and to inform health care professionals who communicate with children. This study was a review of literature from 17 countries. The review indicated that children of school age tend to view medicines cautiously. Although age is a factor, children have very limited ideas about how medicines work and issues around medicine efficacy are confusing to them. Even young children recognize that medicines may have harmful effects and, children of all ages and cultures studied want to learn more about medicines. Autonomy in medicine use is surprisingly high and disturbing given that knowledge of medicines is poor. Primary conclusions drawn are (1) children of the same age in different cultures appear similar in their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and desires to learn about medicines; (2) children lack information about medicines, especially in view of their levels of autonomy; and (3) health educators and health care professionals should educate children about rational medicine use, at appropriate cognitive development levels, before the children become independent medicine users.

  4. Expression of "Kawaii" ("Cute"): Gender Reinforcement of Young Japanese Female School Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines the Japanese word "kawaii" "cute". Teachers frequently use "kawaii" to show positive feelings toward objects in the classroom. Female children also are primary users of the word, which suggests that they are acquiring "kawaii" as an index of female gender identity. From a linguistic…

  5. Sleep promotes consolidation of emotional memory in healthy children but not in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Prehn-Kristensen

    Full Text Available Fronto-limbic brain activity during sleep is believed to support the consolidation of emotional memories in healthy adults. Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD is accompanied by emotional deficits coincidently caused by dysfunctional interplay of fronto-limbic circuits. This study aimed to examine the role of sleep in the consolidation of emotional memory in ADHD in the context of healthy development. 16 children with ADHD, 16 healthy children, and 20 healthy adults participated in this study. Participants completed an emotional picture recognition paradigm in sleep and wake control conditions. Each condition had an immediate (baseline and delayed (target retrieval session. The emotional memory bias was baseline-corrected, and groups were compared in terms of sleep-dependent memory consolidation (sleep vs. wake. We observed an increased sleep-dependent emotional memory bias in healthy children compared to children with ADHD and healthy adults. Frontal oscillatory EEG activity (slow oscillations, theta during sleep correlated negatively with emotional memory performance in children with ADHD. When combining data of healthy children and adults, correlation coefficients were positive and differed from those in children with ADHD. Since children displayed a higher frontal EEG activity than adults these data indicate a decline in sleep-related consolidation of emotional memory in healthy development. In addition, it is suggested that deficits in sleep-related selection between emotional and non-emotional memories in ADHD exacerbate emotional problems during daytime as they are often reported in ADHD.

  6. Sleep Promotes Consolidation of Emotional Memory in Healthy Children but Not in Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prehn-Kristensen, Alexander; Munz, Manuel; Molzow, Ina; Wilhelm, Ines; Wiesner, Christian D.; Baving, Lioba

    2013-01-01

    Fronto-limbic brain activity during sleep is believed to support the consolidation of emotional memories in healthy adults. Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is accompanied by emotional deficits coincidently caused by dysfunctional interplay of fronto-limbic circuits. This study aimed to examine the role of sleep in the consolidation of emotional memory in ADHD in the context of healthy development. 16 children with ADHD, 16 healthy children, and 20 healthy adults participated in this study. Participants completed an emotional picture recognition paradigm in sleep and wake control conditions. Each condition had an immediate (baseline) and delayed (target) retrieval session. The emotional memory bias was baseline–corrected, and groups were compared in terms of sleep-dependent memory consolidation (sleep vs. wake). We observed an increased sleep-dependent emotional memory bias in healthy children compared to children with ADHD and healthy adults. Frontal oscillatory EEG activity (slow oscillations, theta) during sleep correlated negatively with emotional memory performance in children with ADHD. When combining data of healthy children and adults, correlation coefficients were positive and differed from those in children with ADHD. Since children displayed a higher frontal EEG activity than adults these data indicate a decline in sleep-related consolidation of emotional memory in healthy development. In addition, it is suggested that deficits in sleep-related selection between emotional and non-emotional memories in ADHD exacerbate emotional problems during daytime as they are often reported in ADHD. PMID:23734235

  7. Sleep promotes consolidation of emotional memory in healthy children but not in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prehn-Kristensen, Alexander; Munz, Manuel; Molzow, Ina; Wilhelm, Ines; Wiesner, Christian D; Baving, Lioba

    2013-01-01

    Fronto-limbic brain activity during sleep is believed to support the consolidation of emotional memories in healthy adults. Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is accompanied by emotional deficits coincidently caused by dysfunctional interplay of fronto-limbic circuits. This study aimed to examine the role of sleep in the consolidation of emotional memory in ADHD in the context of healthy development. 16 children with ADHD, 16 healthy children, and 20 healthy adults participated in this study. Participants completed an emotional picture recognition paradigm in sleep and wake control conditions. Each condition had an immediate (baseline) and delayed (target) retrieval session. The emotional memory bias was baseline-corrected, and groups were compared in terms of sleep-dependent memory consolidation (sleep vs. wake). We observed an increased sleep-dependent emotional memory bias in healthy children compared to children with ADHD and healthy adults. Frontal oscillatory EEG activity (slow oscillations, theta) during sleep correlated negatively with emotional memory performance in children with ADHD. When combining data of healthy children and adults, correlation coefficients were positive and differed from those in children with ADHD. Since children displayed a higher frontal EEG activity than adults these data indicate a decline in sleep-related consolidation of emotional memory in healthy development. In addition, it is suggested that deficits in sleep-related selection between emotional and non-emotional memories in ADHD exacerbate emotional problems during daytime as they are often reported in ADHD.

  8. Determination of adrenal volume by MRI in healthy children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mouritsen, Annette; Johansen, Marie Lindhardt; Wohlfahrt-Veje, Christine

    2014-01-01

    , to estimate adrenal size in healthy children and to evaluate determinants of adrenal volume such as age, gender, body size, pubic hair stage and serum levels of adrenal androgens. DESIGN: Two hundred and thirty-five healthy children (116 girls and 119 boys) (age range 10.0-14.8 years) were examined by MRI......% of healthy children aged 10-15 years. Adrenal volume increased with age and Tanner stage of pubic hair. Future studies will unravel whether adrenal MRI is useful when evaluating children with adrenal diseases....... (estimate B = 0.34 ml/year, P = 0.03), age (estimate B = 0.05 ml/year, P = 0.021) and pubic hair stage (estimate B = 0.05 ml/stage, P = 0.075). No associations between adrenal size and serum levels of adrenal androgens were observed. CONCLUSION: It was possible to determine adrenal volume by MRI in only 50...

  9. Comparison of Serum Apolipoprotein Levels of Diabetic Children and Healthy Children with or without Diabetic Parents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Hashemi

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. The association of diabetes and atherosclerosis with disorders of lipids and lipoproteins, notably high apolipoprotein B (apoB and low apolipoprotein A1(apoA1 is well established. Because of the beginning of the atherosclerosis' process from early life, in this study, the plasma levels of apoA1 and apoB were compared in diabetic children with type I diabetes mellitus(DM, healthy children with diabetic parents (HDPs,and healthy children with nondiabetic parents (HNDPs. Methods. This case-control study was conducted among 90 children aged 9–18 years. Serum levels of apoA and apoB were compared among 30 diabetic children (DM, 30 healthy children with diabetic parents (HDPs, and 30 healthy children with nondiabetic parents (HNDP. Results. The mean serum apoA1 was higher in DM (153±69 mg/dL followed by HNDPs (138±58 mg/dL and HDPs (128±56 mg/dl, but the difference was not statistically significant. The mean apoB value in HNDPs was significantly lower than DM and HDPs (90±21 mg/dL versus 127±47 and 128±38 mg/dL, P0.05. Conclusions. Diabetic children and healthy children with diabetic parent(s are at higher risk of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. Thus for primordial and primary prevention of atherosclerosis, we suggest screening these children for low plasma apoA1 and high plasma apoB levels.

  10. Examination of validity of fall risk assessment items for screening high fall risk elderly among the healthy community-dwelling Japanese population

    OpenAIRE

    DEMURA, Shinichi; SATO, Susumu; YAMAJI, Shunsuke; KASUGA, Kosho; NAGASAWA, Yoshinori

    2010-01-01

    We aimed to examine the validity of fall risk assessment items for the healthy community-dwelling elderly Japanese population. Participants were 1122 healthy elderly individuals aged 60 years and over (380 males and 742 females). The percentage who had experienced a fall was 15.8%. This study used fall experience and 50 fall risk assessment items representing the five risk factors (symptoms of falling, physical function, disease and physical symptom, environment, and behavior and character), ...

  11. Tips for Healthy Children and Families

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... singles tennis Vacuuming Moving furniture Playing basketball or soccer Playing with children Weight lifting In-line skating ... Crisis Situations Pets and Animals myhealthfinder Food and Nutrition Healthy Food Choices Weight Loss and Diet Plans ...

  12. Reference interval for the disc-macula distance to disc diameter ratio in a large population of healthy Japanese adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Ken-ichi

    2017-01-01

    Abstract This study presents the calculated reference interval for the disc-to-macula distance to disc diameter ratio (DM:DD) based on a large population of healthy Japanese adults. A total of 308 consecutive, healthy Japanese adults were examined in this prospective observational study. Eighteen subjects were also excluded because of poor quality of the fundus photograph of one or both eyes; 290 (161 men and 129 women) were included in this study. For each subject, a color fundus photograph of one eye, either the right or left, was randomly selected and used for analysis. On the photograph, the distances between the fovea and the nearest temporal margin of the optic disc (Dft), and the two kinds of disc diameters (D1 and D2), which bisected at right angles and one of which was directed to the fovea (D1), were measured. DM:DD was estimated using the formula: (2Dft + D1)/(D1 + D2). The mean ± standard deviation of DM:DD was 2.91 ± 0.49 for men and 2.96 ± 0.54 for women; there was no sex difference (P = .78, Mann–Whitney U test). Also, almost no relationship was found between DM:DD and age (ρ = −.12, P = .04, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient). The data did not fit a normal distribution (P < .001, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test). The estimated reference interval for DM:DD corresponding to the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles was 2.12 to 4.18. Using a nonparametric approach, the reference interval for DM:DD of a large population of healthy Japanese adults was calculated to be 2.12 to 4.18, regardless of age or sex. PMID:28403107

  13. Catching-up: Children with developmental coordination disorder compared to healthy children before and after sensorimotor therapy.

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    Mats Niklasson

    Full Text Available The aims of the present study were to (a compare healthy children in terms of sensorimotor maturity to untreated children diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (DCD and (b compare healthy children to diagnosed children following completed treatment with sensorimotor therapy. Participants were 298 children, 196 boys and 102 girls, distributed into a Norm group of healthy children (n = 99 and a group of children diagnosed with DCD (n = 199 with a total mean age of 8.77 years (SD = 2.88. Participants in both groups were assessed on instruments aimed to detect sensorimotor deviations. The children in the DCD group completed, during on average 36 months, sensorimotor therapy which comprised stereotypical fetal- and infant movements, vestibular stimulation, tactile stimulation, auditory stimulation, complementary play exercises, gross motor milestones, and sports-related gross motor skills. At the final visit a full assessment was once more performed. Results showed that the Norm group performed better on all sensorimotor tests as compared to the untreated children from the DCD group, with the exception of an audiometric test where both groups performed at the same level. Girls performed better on tests assessing proprioceptive and balance abilities. Results also showed, after controls for natural maturing effects, that the children from the DCD group after sensorimotor therapy did catch up with the healthy children. The concept of "catching-up" is used within developmental medicine but has not earlier been documented with regard to children and youth in connection with DCD.

  14. Diet qualities: healthy and unhealthy aspects of diet quality in preschool children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Sarah E; Ramsden, Megan; Kaye, Gail

    2016-06-01

    Diet quality indexes combine the healthy and unhealthy aspects of diet within a single construct, but few studies have evaluated their association. Emerging evidence suggests that predictors differ for the more and less healthy components of children's diets. Our objectives were to determine whether preschool-aged children's frequency of eating healthy foods was inversely related to their intake of unhealthy foods and to determine whether this differed by household income, maternal education, or child race-ethnicity. We analyzed data from a representative sample of 8900 US children (mean age: 52.5 mo) who were born in 2001 and participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. Primary caregivers reported the frequency with which children consumed fruit, vegetables, milk, juice, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), fast food, sweets, and salty snacks in the past week. Response options ranged from none to ≥4 times/d. We created healthy (fruit, vegetables, milk) and unhealthy (SSBs, fast food, sweets, salty snacks) diet scores. Healthy diet behaviors were defined as ≥2 daily servings of fruit, vegetables, and milk. The prevalence of consuming fruit, vegetables, and milk ≥2 times/d (i.e., having 3 healthy diet behaviors) was 18.5%, and a similar proportion (17.6%) of children had none of these healthy behaviors. Contrary to our hypotheses, children with more healthy diet behaviors did not have lower unhealthy diet scores. The intake of healthy foods was not inversely associated with unhealthy foods overall or within any subgroup. Overall, the Spearman rank correlation between healthy and unhealthy diet scores was positive (r = 0.09). From the lowest to the highest strata of household income, these correlations were 0.12, 0.14, 0.14, 0.05, and 0.00, respectively. No evidence was found in US preschool-aged children of an inverse association between eating healthy and unhealthy foods. The implications of combining healthy and unhealthy aspects of diet

  15. Promoting Healthy Weight among Children with Developmental Delays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natale, Ruby R.; Camejo, Stephanie T.; Asfour, Lila; Uhlhorn, Susan B.; Delamater, Alan; Messiah, Sarah E.

    2017-01-01

    An extensive body of research demonstrates a higher prevalence of obesity among children with developmental delays (DD) versus children without delays. This analysis examined the effectiveness of a randomized controlled trial to promote healthy weight in a subsample of preschool-age children with DD (n = 71) on the adoption of quality nutrition…

  16. Genetic basis for childhood interstitial lung disease among Japanese infants and children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayasaka, Itaru; Cho, Kazutoshi; Akimoto, Takuma; Ikeda, Masahiko; Uzuki, Yutaka; Yamada, Masafumi; Nakata, Koh; Furuta, Itsuko; Ariga, Tadashi; Minakami, Hisanori

    2018-02-01

    BackgroundGenetic variants responsible for childhood interstitial lung disease (chILD) have not been studied extensively in Japanese patients.MethodsThe study population consisted of 62 Japanese chILD patients. Twenty-one and four patients had pulmonary hypertension resistant to treatment (PH) and hypothyroidism, respectively. Analyses of genetic variants were performed in all 62 patients for SFTPC and ABCA3, in all 21 PH patients for FOXF1, and in a limited number of patients for NKX2.1.ResultsCausative genetic variants for chILD were identified in 11 (18%) patients: SFTPC variants in six, NKX2.1 variants in three, and FOXF1 variants in two patients. No patients had ABCA3 variants. All three and two patients with NKX2.1 variants had hypothyroidism and developmental delay, respectively. We found six novel variants in this study.ConclusionMutations in SFTPC, NKX2.1, and FOXF1 were identified among Japanese infants and children with chILD, whereas ABCA3 mutations were rare.

  17. Pharmacokinetics, Safety and Cognitive Function Profile of Rupatadine 10, 20 and 40 mg in Healthy Japanese Subjects: A Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jörg Täubel

    Full Text Available Rupatadine is a marketed second generation antihistamine, with anti-PAF activity, indicated for symptomatic treatment of allergic rhinitis and urticaria. This study was conducted to evaluate the pharmacokinetics (PK, pharmacodynamics (PD, safety and tolerability of rupatadine in healthy Japanese subjects after single and multiple oral doses.In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 27 male and female healthy Japanese subjects were administered single and multiple escalating rupatadine dose of 10, 20 and 40 mg or placebo. Blood samples were collected at different time points for PK measurements and subjects were assessed for safety and tolerability. The effect of rupatadine on cognitive functioning was evaluated by means of computerized cognitive tests: rapid visual information processing (RVP, reaction time (RT, spatial working memory (SWM and visual analogue scales (VAS.Exposure to rupatadine as measured by Cmax and AUC was found to increase in a dose dependent manner over the dose range of 10-40 mg for both single and multiple dose administration. The safety assessments showed that all treatment related side effects were of mild intensity and there were no serious adverse events (SAEs or withdrawals due to treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs in this study. The therapeutic dose of rupatadine did not show any CNS impairment in any of the cognitive tests.This study demonstrated that rupatadine is safe and well tolerated by Japanese healthy subjects. The PK-PD profile confirmed previous experience with rupatadine.

  18. Dietary adequacy of Egyptian children with autism spectrum disorder compared to healthy developing children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meguid, Nagwa A; Anwar, Mona; Bjørklund, Geir; Hashish, Adel; Chirumbolo, Salvatore; Hemimi, Maha; Sultan, Eman

    2017-04-01

    Although the etiology and pathology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is still poorly understood, a number of environmental, anthropological, neurobiological and genetic factors have been related to the pathophysiology of ASD, even the impact of oxidative stress response related to the environment and nutrition intake. Usual recommended dietary habits are based on the combination of behavioral and dietary or nutraceutical interventions together with pharmacotherapy. Investigations about a reliable relationship between diet and ASD are still lacking. The present study aimed at comparing dietary regimens and habits of normally developing apparently healthy children, without diagnosed ASD, with a pediatric population of individuals affected by autistic disorder. Assessments of nutritional and anthropometric data, in addition to biochemical evaluation for nutrient deficiencies, were performed. A total of 80 children with autistic disorder and 80 healthy, normally developing pediatric individuals were enrolled in the study. Parents were asked to complete the standardized questionnaire regarding the different types of food and the proportion of a serving for their children. Biochemical analysis of micro- and macronutrients were also done. Plotting on the Egyptian sex-specific anthropometric growth (auximetric) chart, absolute weights as well as weight-related for age classes, were significantly higher in cases than healthy controls. No differences between groups were observed in regard to total kilocalories (kcal), carbohydrates, and fat intake. A total of 23.8% of children with autistic disorder vs. 11.3% in the healthy control group had a nutrient intake with features below the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of protein. Children with autistic disorder showed low dietary intake of some micronutrients; calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), selenium (Se) and sodium (Na), also they had significantly high intake of potassium (K) and vitamin C compared to healthy

  19. Health attitudes and behaviors: comparison of Japanese and Americans of Japanese and European Ancestry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotay, Carolyn Cook; Shimizu, Hiroyuki; Muraoka, Miles; Ishihara, Yoko; Tsuboi, Koji; Ogawa, Hiroshi

    2004-06-01

    Adults living in Japan (N = 357) and the US (N = 223) completed semi-structured interviews assessing health-related attitudes and practices. The US respondents were of Japanese (N = 106) and European (N = 117) ancestry. Results indicated considerable similarity between the two US groups and significant differences between the Japanese and American respondents. The Japanese respondents placed less priority on health, had less belief in the efficacy of health screening tests, lower levels of internal health locus of control (HLOC), and higher levels of chance and powerful-others HLOC. While Japanese and Americans had similar overall levels of healthy behaviors, the Japanese were less likely to have obtained health screening tests (especially gynecologic exams). The findings have implications for adapting health promotion programs in the context of Japanese and American cultures.

  20. [Development of a training program for Japanese dyslexic children and its short-term efficacy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wakamiya, Eiji; Takeshita, Takashi; Nakanishi, Makoto; Mizuta, Mekumi; Kurimoto, Naoko; Okumura, Tomohito; Tamai, Hiroshi; Koeda, Tatsuya; Inagaki, Masumi

    2013-07-01

    The purpose of this study is to develop a computer training program of reading for the Japanese dyslexic children and to examine its short-term efficacy on their reading and writing abilities. Fifteen dyslexic children underwent two sets of training programs, one for single-hiragana and non-word reading, and the other for the reading of real words, in which each hiragana was followed by the correctly read sound. Subjects were required to use a given program for five minutes a day for three weeks, switching to the other program after a three-week interval. Four kinds of reading test and one writing test were done at the beginning and end of each program period. The averages reading speeds increased, and the single-hiragana reading error average was lower after the training. Hiragana-writing errors also decreased, even though no writing procedure was involved in the programs. The results indicate the usefulness of these training programs as an early intervention of reading and writing for the Japanese dyslexic children.

  1. Achievement of Target Blood Pressure Levels among Japanese Workers with Hypertension and Healthy Lifestyle Characteristics Associated with Therapeutic Failure.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nagako Kudo

    Full Text Available Few studies have examined Japanese with regard to the achievement rates for target blood pressure levels, or the relationship between these rates and healthy lifestyle characteristics in patients with hypertension as defined by the newly established hypertension management guidelines (JSH2014. The aim of this study was to elucidate achievement rates and examine healthy lifestyle characteristics associated with achievement status among Japanese.This cross-sectional study, conducted in January-December 2012, examined blood pressure control and healthy lifestyle characteristics in 8,001 Japanese workers with hypertension (mean age, 57.0 years; 78.8% were men who participated in a workplace health checkup. Data were collected from workplace medical checkup records and participants' self-administered questionnaires. We divided into 5 groups [G1; young, middle-aged, and early-phase elderly patients (65-74 years old without diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease (CKD (<140/90 mmHg, G2; late-phase elderly patients (≥75 years old without diabetes mellitus or CKD (<150/90 mmHg, G3; diabetic patients (<130/80 mmHg, G4; patients with CKD (<130/80 mmHg, and G5; patients with cerebrovascular and/or coronary artery diseases (<140/90 mmHg] according to JSH2014. And then, achievement rates were calculated in each group. Multivariate analysis identified healthy lifestyle characteristics associated with "therapeutic failure" of target blood pressure.Target blood pressures were achieved by 60.2% of young, middle-aged, and early-phase elderly patients (G1, 71.4% of late-phase elderly patients (G2, 30.5% of diabetic patients (G3, 33.4% of those with chronic kidney disease (G4, and 66.0% of those with cerebrovascular and/or coronary artery diseases (G5. A body mass index of 18.5-24.9 and non-daily alcohol consumption were protective factors, and adequate sleep was found to contribute to therapeutic success.We found low achievement rates for treatment goals

  2. Examining opportunities for promotion of healthy eating at children's sports clubs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Bridget; Baur, Louise A; Bauman, Adrian E; King, Lesley; Chapman, Kathy; Smith, Ben J

    2010-12-01

    Australian data indicate that 63% of children participated in sport in 2009, a 4% increase since 2000. Children's high participation in sport, and the association between sport and health, means that these settings provide an opportunity to promote other aspects of health, such as healthy eating, to children. This study aimed to determine healthy eating practices and policies at children's sports clubs. Sports clubs (n=108) for the nine most popular sports for children aged 5 to 14 were randomly sampled from three large geographical areas across one state and one territory in Australia. A purpose-designed telephone questionnaire for sports club officials was developed to determine the food and beverages sold, provided and promoted at sports clubs and the availability of healthy-eating policies. The most frequently sold item at canteens was water, followed by sports drinks, chocolate/confectionery and soft drink. Only 20% of canteens promoted healthy food. Thirty-nine per cent of clubs made recommendations on the food and beverages to be consumed during sport, mostly relating to water consumption. The majority (76%) engaged in fundraising; many in collaboration with chocolate/confectionery companies. Only three clubs had a written policy on healthy eating. Addressing the low uptake of healthy eating policies would be a useful strategy to improve the healthiness of sports clubs. Policies could seek to reduce the availability and promotion of unhealthy food and beverages through canteens, vending machines and fundraising. © 2010 The Authors. ANZJPH © 2010 Public Health Association of Australia.

  3. Normal distribution of standing balance for healthy Danish children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Line Kjeldgaard; Ghasemi, Habib; Rahbek, Ole

    2013-01-01

    Title: Normal distribution of standing balance for healthy Danish children – Reproducibility of parameters of balance. Authors Line Kjeldgaard Pedersen Habib Ghasemi Ole Rahbek Bjarne Møller-Madsen 1800 characters incl. spaces Background Pedobarographic measurements are increasingly used in child......Title: Normal distribution of standing balance for healthy Danish children – Reproducibility of parameters of balance. Authors Line Kjeldgaard Pedersen Habib Ghasemi Ole Rahbek Bjarne Møller-Madsen 1800 characters incl. spaces Background Pedobarographic measurements are increasingly used...

  4. Data on the safety of repeated MRI in healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scott K. Holland

    2014-01-01

    Conclusions: Examination of neurocognitive and biometric data from a decade-long, longitudinal fMRI study of normal language development in this small, longitudinal sample of healthy children in the age range of 5 to 18 years, who received up to 10 MRI scans, provides scientific evidence to support the belief that MRI poses minimal risk for use in research with healthy children.

  5. Relationship between motor coordination, cognitive abilities, and academic achievement in Japanese children with neurodevelopmental disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takuya Higashionna

    2017-12-01

    Conclusion: These findings stress that it is essential to accurately identify motor coordination impairments and the interventions that would consider motor coordination problems related to cognitive abilities and academic achievement in Japanese children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

  6. The Rate of Addiction in Parents of Children with Congenital Heart Disease Compared with Healthy Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tahereh Boryri

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundCongenital heart diseases (CHD are the most common congenital anomaly in children and also the leading cause of mortality from congenital anomalies. Various factors including smoking, drinking alcohol and addiction play role in development of congenital heart diseases. This study was conducted with the aim of investigation of the prevalence of addiction in parents of children with congenital heart disease compared with healthy children.Materials and MethodsThis was a case-control study conducted on 320 children with congenital heart disease aged 6 months to 16 years and 320 healthy children as control group. Children referring to Ali Asghar hospital or who were hospitalized in Imam Ali Hospital were included in the study and their demographic characteristics and their parents were collected. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.ResultsAverage age of diseased and healthy children was 4.08 ± 4.11 and 3.59 ± 2.36, respectively. The rate of addiction of father, mother and parents of children with congenital heart disease was higher than those of children in control group. The most common congenital heart disease was ventricular septal defect (VSD.ConclusionIn overall, this study showed addiction rate of parents in children with congenital heart disease was higher.

  7. [How to feed children? Healthy eating behaviors starting at childhood].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Black, Maureen M; Creed-Kanashiro, Hilary M

    2012-01-01

    Interventions to prevent malnutrition or overweight in children focus on the diet, and give little attention to the behaviors of their caretakers. In their first two years of life, children adopt practices that are embedded in their environment and the behaviors of their caretakers, thus turning into nutrition patterns that will persist during their lifetimes. Therefore, children and caretakers establish a relationship in which they recognize, construe and respond to verbal and non verbal communication signs. Feeding a child by adopting a "responsive" behavior in which caretakers provide guidance and structure, and respond to children's signs of hunger and satiety promotes self-regulation and children's awareness of healthy nutrition. In this article, we give recommendations to include responsive nutrition and model healthy eating behaviors in nutritional interventions.

  8. Language development in Japanese children who receive cochlear implant and/or hearing aid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwasaki, Satoshi; Nishio, Shinya; Moteki, Hideaki; Takumi, Yutaka; Fukushima, Kunihiro; Kasai, Norio; Usami, Shin-Ichi

    2012-03-01

    This study aimed to investigate a wide variety of factors that influence auditory, speech, and language development following pediatric cochlear implantation (CI). Prospective collection of language tested data in profound hearing-impaired children. Pediatric CI can potentially be effective to development of practical communication skills and early implantation is more effective. We proposed a set of language tests (assessment package of the language development for Japanese hearing-impaired children; ALADJIN) consisting of communication skills testing (test for question-answer interaction development; TQAID), comprehensive (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised; PVT-R and Standardized Comprehension Test for Abstract Words; SCTAW) and productive vocabulary (Word Fluency Test; WFT), and comprehensive and productive syntax (Syntactic processing Test for Aphasia; STA). Of 638 hearing-impaired children recruited for this study, 282 (44.2%) with >70 dB hearing impairment had undergone CI. After excluding children with low birth weight (11 points on the Pervasive Developmental Disorder ASJ Rating Scale for the test of autistic tendency, and those better than those in HA-only users. The scores for PVT-R (pbetter than those in HA-only users. STA and TQAID scores in CI-HA users were significantly (pbetter than those in unilateral CI-only users. The high correlation (r=0.52) has been found between the age of CI and maximum speech discrimination score. The scores of speech and language tests in the implanted children before 24 months of age have been better than those in the implanted children after 24 months of age. We could indicate that CI was effective for language development in Japanese hearing-impaired children and early CI was more effective for productive vocabulary and syntax. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Behavioral sensitivity of Japanese children with and without ADHD to changing reinforcer availability: an experimental study using signal detection methodology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furukawa, Emi; Shimabukuro, Shizuka; Alsop, Brent; Tripp, Gail

    2017-09-25

    Most research on motivational processes in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been undertaken in Western Europe and North America. The extent to which these findings apply to other cultural groups is unclear. The current study evaluated the behavioral sensitivity of Japanese children with and without ADHD to changing reward availability. Forty-one school-aged children, 19 diagnosed with DSM-IV ADHD, completed a signal-detection task in which correct discriminations between two stimuli were associated with different reinforcement frequencies. The response alternative associated with the higher rate of reinforcement switched twice during the task without warning. Both groups of children developed an initial bias toward the more frequently reinforced response alternative. When the reward contingencies switched the response allocation (bias) of the control group children followed suit. The response bias scores of the children with ADHD did not, suggesting impaired tracking of reward availability over time. Japanese children with ADHD adjust their behavioral responses to changing reinforcer availability less than their typically developing peers. This is not explained by poor attention to task or a lack of sensitivity to reward. The current results are consistent with altered sensitivity to changing reward contingencies identified in non-Japanese samples of children with ADHD. Irrespective of their country of origin, children with ADHD will likely benefit from behavioral expectations and reinforcement contingencies being made explicit together with high rates of reinforcement for appropriate behaviors.

  10. Predicting skeletal muscle mass from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in Japanese prepubertal children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Midorikawa, T; Ohta, M; Hikihara, Y; Torii, S; Sakamoto, S

    2017-10-01

    We aimed to develop regression-based prediction equations for estimating total and regional skeletal muscle mass (SMM) from measurements of lean soft tissue mass (LSTM) using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and investigate the validity of these equations. In total, 144 healthy Japanese prepubertal children aged 6-12 years were divided into 2 groups: the model development group (62 boys and 38 girls) and the validation group (26 boys and 18 girls). Contiguous MRI images with a 1-cm slice thickness were obtained from the first cervical vertebra to the ankle joints as reference data. The SMM was calculated from the summation of the digitized cross-sectional areas. Total and regional LSTM was measured using DXA. Strong significant correlations were observed between the site-matched SMM (total, arms, trunk and legs) measured by MRI and the LSTM obtained by DXA in the model development group for both boys and girls (R 2 adj =0.86-0.97, Pprediction equations were applied to the validation group, the measured total (boys 9.47±2.21 kg; girls 8.18±2.62 kg) and regional SMM were very similar to the predicted values for both boys (total SMM 9.40±2.39 kg) and girls (total SMM 8.17±2.57 kg). The results of the Bland-Altman analysis for the validation group did not indicate any bias for either boys or girls with the exception of the arm region for the girls. These results suggest that the DXA-derived prediction equations are precise and accurate for the estimation of total and regional SMM in Japanese prepubertal boys and girls.

  11. The Educational Aspirations and Expectations of Japanese Immigrant Mothers: Narratives of Raising Bicultural "Nikkei" Children in the Post-1965 Diaspora

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endo, Rachel

    2016-01-01

    This qualitative case study analyzed the diverse narratives of 10 Japanese immigrant mothers who reared their second-generation children in a midsize metropolitan community in the Midwest. The primary research questions are as follows: How have Japanese immigrant mothers envisioned academic success in relation to contemporary interpretations of…

  12. Changes in refractive characteristics in Japanese children with Down syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horio, Junna; Kaneko, Hiroki; Takayama, Kei; Tuzuki, Kinichi; Kakihara, Hiroko; Iwami, Miou; Kawase, Yoshikatsu; Tsunekawa, Taichi; Yamaguchi, Naoko; Nonobe, Norie; Terasaki, Hiroko

    2018-03-01

    To investigate the refractive characteristics of Japanese children with Down syndrome. Retrospective study. The clinical records of refractive errors and ocular manifestations in children with Down syndrome who visited the Aichi Children's Health and Medical Center between November 2001 and January 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. The children were divided into the 3 following groups depending on their age: group 1 (≤ 6 years), group 2 (7-12 years), and group 3 (13-19 years). The collection of refractive error data was performed only for the right eyes and only once for each child, when the children were last examined with their pupils dilated. The study included 416 children (224 boys, 192 girls; average age, 6.1 ± 4.1 years). Group 3 had significantly stronger myopia than did groups 1 and 2. The mean cylindrical power in all the children was - 2.1 ± 1.2 diopters (D), and cylindrical power ≤ - 1.0 D (stronger than - 1.0 D) was seen in 366 eyes (88%). No significant difference in cylindrical power was found among the 3 groups. The spherical equivalent refraction showed an age-dependent myopic shift. Given that the amount of astigmatism did not show age-dependent differences, the age-dependent myopic shift could be due mainly to the change in spherical power.

  13. Quality of life in healthy children and in children with tension headaches--a comparative analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talarska, D

    2005-01-01

    The aim of this study was the assessment of the quality of life of children and adolescents with tension headaches in comparison with healthy peers. The study was conducted on 135 middle school and high school students in Poznań and on 86 children with tension headaches, that were treated in the out-patient clinic of The Chair and Clinic of Development Age Neurology of Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences in Poznań. The research tool for both groups was Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, version 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0) questionnaire. In the analysed groups dominated 14- and 16-year-old children. Among children with tension headaches, the ailments usually appeared once or twice a week in 39 (45%) of them. With the use of the PedsQL 4.0 questionnaire the following fields of activity were analyzed: biological, emotional, social functioning and mood. The biggest discrepancies between the group of healthy children and those with headaches were noted in the field of emotional functioning and mood. Adolescents with tension headaches more frequently reported the feeling of fear and sleep disorders in comparison to healthy students. Children with headaches look at the future in a more pessimistic way and are less satisfied with their lives.

  14. Effects of a randomized intervention promoting healthy children's meals on children's ordering and dietary intake in a quick-service restaurant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anzman-Frasca, Stephanie; Braun, Abbey C; Ehrenberg, Sarah; Epstein, Leonard H; Gampp, April; Leone, Lucia A; Singh, Anita; Tauriello, Sara

    2018-08-01

    Children's consumption of restaurant foods is associated with higher energy intake and lower nutritional quality compared to foods prepared at home. The aim of this pilot study was to test whether an in-restaurant intervention promoting healthy children's meals (i.e. two meals that met nutrition recommendations and were thus healthier than typical children's meal offerings across leading restaurants) affected children's meal selection and intake. Families with 4-to-8-year-old children were recruited from one location of Anderson's Frozen Custard, a regional quick-service restaurant chain. Families were randomly assigned to return to the restaurant during an intervention or control period and were blinded to group assignment. All families received free meals. During the intervention period families also received placemats featuring two healthy "Kids' Meals of the Day" upon restaurant entry. After families finished dining, researchers recorded children's orders and collected leftovers for quantifying dietary intake via weighed plate waste. Poisson regression and chi-square tests were used to compare children's orders between study groups, and t-tests were used to test for differences in dietary intake among children ordering a promoted healthy entrée (main dish) versus those who did not. Fifty-eight families participated. Children who were exposed to the study placemats prior to ordering ordered a significantly greater number of healthy food components compared to controls (p = 0.03). Overall, in the intervention group, 21% of children ordered a healthy entrée or side dish, versus 7% of controls. Children who ordered one of the promoted healthy entrées consumed less saturated fat across the total meal compared to those who did not (p = 0.04). Manipulating the prominence of healthy choices in restaurants may shift children's meal selections. Future research should build on these initial promising results, aiming to increase the potency of the intervention

  15. Early Sprouts: Cultivating Healthy Food Choices in Young Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalich, Karrie; Bauer, Dottie; McPartlin, Deirdre

    2009-01-01

    Plant lifelong healthy eating concepts in young children and counteract the prevalence of childhood obesity with "Early Sprouts." A research-based early childhood curriculum, this "seed-to-table" approach gets children interested in and enjoying nutritious fruits and vegetables. The "Early Sprouts" model engages…

  16. The Effectiveness of Using Vocal Music as the Content Area of English Immersion Classes for Japanese Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, Steven Gene

    2012-01-01

    This study set out to determine if English can be taught effectively to Japanese children through a content-based instruction program that uses vocal music as the content area. A total of 240 children participated in the study. The treatment group at a private elementary school in Tokyo received weekly vocal music lessons taught in English for one…

  17. Galactose oxidation using 13C in healthy and galactosemic children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D.R. Resende-Campanholi

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Galactosemia is an inborn error of galactose metabolism that occurs mainly as the outcome of galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT deficiency. The ability to assess galactose oxidation following administration of a galactose-labeled isotope (1-13C-galactose allows the determination of galactose metabolism in a practical manner. We aimed to assess the level of galactose oxidation in both healthy and galactosemic Brazilian children. Twenty-one healthy children and seven children with galactosemia ranging from 1 to 7 years of age were studied. A breath test was used to quantitate 13CO2 enrichment in exhaled air before and at 30, 60, and 120 min after the oral administration of 7 mg/kg of an aqueous solution of 1-13C-galactose to all children. The molar ratios of 13CO2 and 12CO2 were quantified by the mass/charge ratio (m/z of stable isotopes in each air sample by gas-isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. In sick children, the cumulative percentage of 13C from labeled galactose (CUMPCD in the exhaled air ranged from 0.03% at 30 min to 1.67% at 120 min. In contrast, healthy subjects showed a much broader range in CUMPCD, with values from 0.4% at 30 min to 5.58% at 120 min. The study found a significant difference in galactose oxidation between children with and without galactosemia, demonstrating that the breath test is useful in discriminating children with GALT deficiencies.

  18. IQ Score of Children with Persistent or Perennial Allergic Rhinitis: A Comparison with Healthy Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghaffari, Javad; Abbaskhanian, Ali; Jalili, Masumeh; Yazdani Charati, Jamshid

    2014-01-01

    Prevalence of allergies is different around the world. Allergic rhinitis is a common chronic disease in children. Intelligence quotient (IQ) is an indicator of efficacy and many factors including chronic diseases may affect it. This study compares the IQs of children diagnosed with persistent or perennial allergic rhinitis with healthy children. This was a comparative study that was conducted from June 2011-May 2013 in an academic referral clinic. In this study, 90 patients aged 6- to 14-yearsold who were diagnosed with persistent or perennial allergic rhinitis and were compared to 90 age and gender match healthy patients from their respective families. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was used to divide and calculate overall IQ, verbal IQ, and practical IQ. The t-test and chi square were used to analyze quantitative variables and qualitative variables, respectively. In this study, out of total 180 children, 90 (50%) in the case group and 90 children (50%), the control group participated for IQ comparison. One hundred (57%) were male and 80 (43%) were female. The overall IQ for allergic rhinitis patients and healthy patients was 109.2 and 107.5, respectively. This difference was not considered significant. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between the IQ scores of males and females. Although allergic rhinitis is a chronic disease and effects quality of life, there were no identifiable negative effects on IQ.

  19. Japanese guidelines for childhood asthma 2017.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arakawa, Hirokazu; Hamasaki, Yuhei; Kohno, Yoichi; Ebisawa, Motohiro; Kondo, Naomi; Nishima, Sankei; Nishimuta, Toshiyuki; Morikawa, Akihiro

    2017-04-01

    The Japanese Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergic Diseases 2017 (JAGL 2017) includes a minor revision of the Japanese Pediatric Guideline for the Treatment and Management of Asthma 2012 (JPGL 2012) by the Japanese Society of Pediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The section on child asthma in JAGL 2017 provides information on how to diagnose asthma between infancy and adolescence (0-15 years of age). It makes recommendations for best practices in the management of childhood asthma, including management of acute exacerbations and non-pharmacological and pharmacological management. This guideline will be of interest to non-specialist physicians involved in the care of children with asthma. JAGL differs from the Global Initiative for Asthma Guideline in that JAGL emphasizes diagnosis and early intervention of children with asthma at asthma control levels, is easy to understand; thus, this guideline is suitable for the routine medical care of children with asthma. JAGL also recommends using a control test in children, so that the physician aims for complete control by avoiding exacerbating factors and appropriately using anti-inflammatory drugs (for example, inhaled corticosteroids and leukotriene receptor antagonists). Copyright © 2016 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Comparison between exercise performance in asthmatic children and healthy controls--Physical Activity Questionnaire application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos-Silva, Rita; Melo, Cláudia; Gonçalves, Daniel; Coelho, Janine; Carvalho, Fernanda

    2014-01-01

    The PAQ questionnaire (Physical Activity Questionnaire - Kowalski, Crocker, Donen) is a self-administered 7-day recall validated questionnaire that measures physical activity levels in young people. A final activity score is obtained (1 indicates low and 5 indicates high physical activity level). Our aim was to determine whether there was any difference between the level of physical activity of children with controlled allergic disease and healthy children. We used the PAQ questionnaire with a group of asthmatic children attending hospital outpatient clinic and a group of healthy children matched for age. 155 children with allergic disease (median age of 11 years; 63% males) and 158 healthy controls (median age of 10 years; 46% males) answered the questionnaire. There were no differences in the overall level of physical activity, estimated by PAQ score, between allergic and healthy children (2,40±0,7 vs 2,48±0,62; p=0,32). Performance in physical education classes and after school sports activity was found to be different between the study groups; healthy children were more active (p=0,011) and did more sports between 6 and 10 pm (p=0,036). No other statistically significant differences were found between the study groups. Despite the fact that a majority of the parents of allergic children stated that their child's disease was a barrier to physical activity, in our study there seems to be no difference between the level of physical activity of controlled asthmatic children and their healthy peers. Copyright © 2013 Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  1. Ataxia rating scales are age-dependent in healthy children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brandsma, Rick; Spits, Anne H.; Kuiper, Marieke J.; Lunsing, Roelinka J.; Burger, Huibert; Kremer, Hubertus P.; Sival, Deborah A.

    AIM: To investigate ataxia rating scales in children for reliability and the effect of age and sex. METHOD: Three independent neuropaediatric observers cross-sectionally scored a set of paediatric ataxia rating scales in a group of 52 healthy children (26 males, 26 females) aged 4 to 16 years (mean

  2. Diet quality and adherence to a healthy diet in Japanese male workers with untreated hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanauchi, Masao; Kanauchi, Kimiko

    2015-07-10

    As Japanese societies rapidly undergo westernisation, the prevalence of hypertension is increasing. We investigated the association between dietary quality and the prevalence of untreated hypertension in Japanese male workers. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 433 male workers who completed a brief food frequency questionnaire. Adherence to the WHO-based Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI), the American Heart Association 2006 Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, and Mediterranean-style diet was assessed using four adherence indexes (HDI score, AI-84 score, DASH score and MED score). Hypertension classes were classified into three categories: non-hypertension, untreated hypertension and treated hypertension (ie, taking antihypertensive medication). The prevalence of untreated hypertension and treated hypertension was 22.4% and 8.5%, respectively. Patients with untreated hypertension had significantly lower HDI and AI-84 scores compared with non-hypertension. DASH and MED scores across the three hypertension classes were comparable. After adjusting for age, energy intake, smoking habit, alcohol drinking, physical activity and salt intake, a low adherence to HDI and a lowest quartile of AI-84 score were associated with a significantly higher prevalence of untreated hypertension, with an OR of 3.33 (95% CI 1.39 to 7.94, p=0.007) and 2.23 (1.09 to 4.53, p=0.027), respectively. A lower dietary quality was associated with increased prevalence of untreated hypertension in Japanese male workers. Our findings support a potential beneficial impact of nutritional assessment using diet qualities. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  3. Ataxia rating scales are age-dependent in healthy children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brandsma, Rick; Spits, Anne H.; Kuiper, Marieke J.; Lunsing, Roelinka J.; Burger, Huibert; Kremer, Hubertus P.; Sival, Deborah A.; Barisic, N.; Baxter, P.; Brankovic-Sreckovic, V.; Calabrò, G. E.; Catsman-Berrevoets, C.; de Coo, Ifm; Craiu, D.; Dan, B.; Gburek-Augustat, J.; Kammoun-Feki, F.; Kennedy, C.; Mancini, F.; Mirabelli-Badenier, M.; Nemeth, A.; Newton, R.; Poll-The, B. T.; Steinlin, M.; Synofzik, M.; Topcu, M.; Triki, C.; Valente, E. M.

    2014-01-01

    To investigate ataxia rating scales in children for reliability and the effect of age and sex. Three independent neuropaediatric observers cross-sectionally scored a set of paediatric ataxia rating scales in a group of 52 healthy children (26 males, 26 females) aged 4 to 16 years (mean age 10y 5mo

  4. Evaluation of fat-free mass by whole-body counter in Japanese healthy young adults

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morita, N.; Takamura, N.; Murakami, T.; Jo, O.; Aoyagi, K.; Yamashita, S.; Okumura, Y.

    2007-01-01

    Whole-body counters (WBCs) are special instruments for measuring internal irradiation doses and are usually housed within or around nuclear facilities in the event of unexpected radiation emergencies. As a substantial proportion of total body potassium (TBK) is found in fat-free mass (FFM), FFM volume can be predicted from WBC-measured 40 K. We screened TBK in Japanese healthy young adults using a WBC and found strong linear correlations between TBK and lean body mass (LBM) and body mass index (r = 0.97, P<0.01 and r = 0.47, P<0.01, respectively). Multiple linear regression analysis, following adjustments for sex, indicates that only LBM has a significant correlation with TBK (P<0.01). These results strongly support the feasibility of using WBCs for estimating FFM. (authors)

  5. UnAdulterated - children and adults' visual attention to healthy and unhealthy food.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Junghans, Astrid F; Hooge, Ignace T C; Maas, Josje; Evers, Catharine; De Ridder, Denise T D

    2015-04-01

    Visually attending to unhealthy food creates a desire to consume the food. To resist the temptation people have to employ self-regulation strategies, such as visual avoidance. Past research has shown that self-regulatory skills develop throughout childhood and adolescence, suggesting adults' superior self-regulation skills compared to children. This study employed a novel method to investigate self-regulatory skills. Children and adults' initial (bottom-up) and maintained (top-down) visual attention to simultaneously presented healthy and unhealthy food were examined in an eye-tracking paradigm. Results showed that both children and adults initially attended most to the unhealthy food. Subsequently, adults self-regulated their visual attention away from the unhealthy food. Despite the children's high self-reported attempts to eat healthily and importance of eating healthily, children did not self-regulate visual attention away from unhealthy food. Children remained influenced by the attention-driven desire to consume the unhealthy food whereas adults visually attended more strongly to the healthy food thereby avoiding the desire to consume the unhealthy option. The findings emphasize the necessity of improving children's self-regulatory skills to support their desire to remain healthy and to protect children from the influences of the obesogenic environment. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  6. Reference Japanese man

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, G.-I.; Kawamura, H.; Nakahara, Y.

    1979-01-01

    The weight of organs from autopsy cases of normal Japanese adults, children, and infants is presented for the purpose of approaching a Reference Japanese Man. The skeletal content and the daily intake of alkaline earth elements are given. A lower rate of transfer (K 2 ) to the thyroid gland of ingested radioiodine, as well as a remarkably shorter biological half-life than the data adopted by ICRP, is also proved as a result of this study. (author)

  7. Understanding the Psychology of a Trickster Tale: 5-Year-Old Japanese Kindergarten Children Collaboratively Retelling a "Kitsune" Story

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oshiro, Aiko; Pihl, Agneta; Peterson, Louise; Pramling, Niklas

    2017-01-01

    How children understand the psychology of a story (i.e., the intentions and experiences of its characters) is pivotal to comprehending its point. In this study we investigate empirically how 5-year-old children in a Japanese kindergarten manage mental state verbs and adjectives when collaboratively retelling a tale heard. The tale, an example of a…

  8. ATTITUDES OF HEALTHY CHILDREN PARENTS TOWARDS HANDICAPPED CHILDREN AT THE PRE-SCHOOL AGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruzica KERAMICIEVA

    1997-03-01

    Full Text Available Since the 1970-ties, in the USA and Western and Eastern Europe, the model of segregated education has been abandoned, and nowadays the handicapped children attend regular schools all together with other healthy pupils. This , so called Integrative Pedagogy, proceeds from the mental hygiene aspects according to which the restrictive environment in special schools has not been a favorable one for the development of those children.The integrational process of these children in preschool institutions and schools has rather been difficult due to a number of reasons. As one of them, already mentioned and found in literature , has been the negative attitude of non-handicapped children parents towards those handicapped in their development.The problem of this research is to check and test the attitude of healthy children parents towards handicapped children at preschool age. This research shall also tend to analyze the origin of the such attitudes i. e. , whether they have been a result of an insufficient information and ignorance of the obstacles during development, or been produced by imitation of the environment, or due to an empathy, or even because of the fear that “ such a thing better never enter their home”, etc.We sincerely believe that, revealing the above parents’ attitudes and their origin, would certainly bring finding ways of their successful socialization and making the integrational process of handicapped children with their normal mates in preschool institutions easier.

  9. Kidney growth in 717 healthy children aged 0-18 months

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, Ida M; Main, Katharina M; Damgaard, Ida N

    2004-01-01

    Kidney size is an important parameter in the evaluation of children with renal disease. However, reference materials for kidney size in healthy children have been limited beyond the neonatal period. We performed a longitudinal cohort study of 717 healthy children born at term with normal birth...... weight. Kidney size and shape were determined by ultrasonography and related to gender, age, and body size (weight, length, body surface area, skinfold thickness) at 0, 3, and 18 months of age. Gender-differentiated reference charts were established. Boys had significantly larger kidney volumes than...... girls ( Page. The best single predictor of gender-differentiated kidney volume was weight. Relative kidney volume changed with increasing age and height in a two-phase pattern: an initial...

  10. Exhaled breath profiling using broadband quantum cascade laser-based spectroscopy in healthy children and children with asthma and cystic fibrosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Mastrigt, E; Reyes-Reyes, A; Brand, K; Bhattacharya, N; Urbach, H P; Stubbs, A P; de Jongste, J C; Pijnenburg, M W

    2016-04-08

    Exhaled breath analysis is a potential non-invasive tool for diagnosing and monitoring airway diseases. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and electrochemical sensor arrays are the main techniques to detect volatile organic compounds (VOC) in exhaled breath. We developed a broadband quantum cascade laser spectroscopy technique for VOC detection and identification. The objective of this study was to assess the repeatability of exhaled breath profiling with broadband quantum cascade laser-based spectroscopy and to explore the clinical applicability by comparing exhaled breath samples from healthy children with those from children with asthma or cystic fibrosis (CF). Healthy children and children with stable asthma or stable CF, aged 6-18 years, were included. Two to four exhaled breath samples were collected in Tedlar bags and analyzed by quantum cascade laser spectroscopy to detect VOCs with an absorption profile in the wavenumber region between 832 and 1262.55 cm(-1). We included 35 healthy children, 39 children with asthma and 15 with CF. Exhaled breath VOC profiles showed poor repeatability (Spearman's rho  =  0.36 to 0.46) and agreement of the complete profiles. However, we were able to discriminate healthy children from children with stable asthma or stable CF and identified VOCs that were responsible for this discrimination. Broadband quantum cascade laser-based spectroscopy detected differences in VOC profiles in exhaled breath samples between healthy children and children with asthma or CF. The combination of a relatively easy and fast method and the possibility of molecule identification makes broadband quantum cascade laser-based spectroscopy attractive to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic potential of volatiles in exhaled breath.

  11. Reference interval for the disc-macula distance to disc diameter ratio in a large population of healthy Japanese adults: A prospective, observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Ken-Ichi

    2017-04-01

    This study presents the calculated reference interval for the disc-to-macula distance to disc diameter ratio (DM:DD) based on a large population of healthy Japanese adults.A total of 308 consecutive, healthy Japanese adults were examined in this prospective observational study. Eighteen subjects were also excluded because of poor quality of the fundus photograph of one or both eyes; 290 (161 men and 129 women) were included in this study. For each subject, a color fundus photograph of one eye, either the right or left, was randomly selected and used for analysis. On the photograph, the distances between the fovea and the nearest temporal margin of the optic disc (Dft), and the two kinds of disc diameters (D1 and D2), which bisected at right angles and one of which was directed to the fovea (D1), were measured. DM:DD was estimated using the formula: (2Dft + D1)/(D1 + D2).The mean ± standard deviation of DM:DD was 2.91 ± 0.49 for men and 2.96 ± 0.54 for women; there was no sex difference (P = .78, Mann-Whitney U test). Also, almost no relationship was found between DM:DD and age (ρ = -.12, P = .04, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient). The data did not fit a normal distribution (P < .001, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). The estimated reference interval for DM:DD corresponding to the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles was 2.12 to 4.18.Using a nonparametric approach, the reference interval for DM:DD of a large population of healthy Japanese adults was calculated to be 2.12 to 4.18, regardless of age or sex.

  12. Different healthy habits between northern and southern Spanish school children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arriscado, Daniel; Knox, Emily; Zabala, Mikel; Zurita-Ortega, Félix; Dalmau, Jose Maria; Muros, Jose Joaquin

    2017-01-01

    Healthy habits are influenced by several factors such as geographical location. The aims of this study were to describe and compare healthy habits within two populations of sixth-grade primary school children (aged 11-12 years) from northern and southern Spain. A cross-sectional study using two representative samples of school children was conducted. Participants came from Logroño ( n  = 329) in the north and Granada ( n  = 284) in the south of Spain. Socio-demographic and anthropometric variables, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, aerobic fitness, and healthy lifestyles were recorded. Boys reported a higher level of physical activity and aerobic fitness than girls ( p  = 0.000). Southern school children reported significantly higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet (♀: p  = 0.041; ♂: p  = 0.008), lower aerobic fitness (♀: p  = 0.000; ♂: p  = 0.042) and hours of nightly sleep (♀: p  = 0.008, ♂: p  = 0.007) than northern school children. Southern boys also reported lower levels of physical activity ( p  = 0.013). There were slight or moderate correlations among all habits measured (physical activity, diet, screen and sleep time). Additionally, the physical activity level was inversely related to weight status. Overweight and obese northern boys reported less physical activity than healthy-weight northern boys ( p  = 0.020) and overweight and obese southern girls reported less physical activity than healthy-weight southern girls ( p  = 0.024). Results showed differences in physical activity, eating and sleep habits, and aerobic fitness according to geographical location. The relationships found among lifestyle habits indicate the need for health promotion interventions nationally and considering the differences discussed here.

  13. Immunogenicity and safety of a fully liquid aluminum phosphate adjuvanted Haemophilus influenzae type b PRP-CRM197-conjugate vaccine in healthy Japanese children: A phase III, randomized, observer-blind, multicenter, parallel-group study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Togashi, Takehiro; Mitsuya, Nodoka; Kogawara, Osamu; Sumino, Shuji; Takanami, Yohei; Sugizaki, Kayoko

    2016-08-31

    Broad use of monovalent Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccines based on the capsular polysaccharide polyribosyl-ribitol phosphate (PRP), has significantly reduced invasive Hib disease burden in children worldwide, particularly in children aged vaccine has been widely used since the initiation of public funding programs followed by a routine vaccination designation in 2013. We compared the immunogenicity and safety of PRP conjugated to a non-toxic diphtheria toxin mutant (PRP-CRM197) vaccine with the PRP-T vaccine when administered subcutaneously to healthy Japanese children in a phase III study. Additionally, we evaluated the immunogenicity and safety profiles of a diphtheria-tetanus acellular pertussis (DTaP) combination vaccine when concomitantly administered with either PRP-CRM197 or PRP-T vaccines. The primary endpoint was the "long-term seroprotection rate", defined as the group proportion with anti-PRP antibody titers ⩾1.0μg/mL, after the primary series. Long-term seroprotection rates were 99.3% in the PRP-CRM197 group and 95.6% in the PRP-T group. The intergroup difference (PRP-CRM197 group - PRP-T group) was 3.7% (95% confidence interval: 0.099-7.336), demonstrating that PRP-CRM197 vaccine was non-inferior to PRP-T vaccine (pvaccination was higher in the PRP-CRM197 group than in PRP-T. Concomitant administration of PRP-CRM197 vaccine with DTaP vaccine showed no differences in terms of immunogenicity compared with concomitant vaccination with PRP-T vaccine and DTaP vaccine. Although CRM197 vaccine had higher local reactogenicity, overall, both Hib vaccines had acceptable safety and tolerability profiles. The immunogenicity of PRP-CRM197 vaccine administered subcutaneously as a three-dose primary series in children followed by a booster vaccination 1year after the primary series induced protective levels of Hib antibodies with no safety or tolerability concerns. Registered on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01379846. Copyright © 2016 The Authors

  14. Gross motor skill development of kindergarten children in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aye, Thanda; Kuramoto-Ahuja, Tsugumi; Sato, Tamae; Sadakiyo, Kaori; Watanabe, Miyoko; Maruyama, Hitoshi

    2018-05-01

    [Purpose] The purposes of this study were to assess and explore the gender-based differences in gross motor skill development of 5-year-old Japanese children. [Subjects and Methods] This cross-sectional study recruited 60 healthy 5-year-old (third-year kindergarten, i.e., nencho ) children (34 boys, 26 girls) from one local private kindergarten school in Otawara city, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Gross motor skills, including six locomotor and six object control skills, were assessed using the test of gross motor development, second edition (TGMD-2). All subjects performed two trials of each gross motor skill, and the performances were video-recorded and scored. Assessment procedures were performed according to the standardized guidelines of the TGMD-2. [Results] The majority of subjects had an average level of overall gross motor skills. Girls had significantly better locomotor skills. Boys had significantly better object control skills. [Conclusion] The gross motor skill development of 5-year-old Japanese children involves gender-based differences in locomotor and object control skills. This study provided valuable information that can be used to establish normative references for the gross motor skills of 5-year-old Japanese children.

  15. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in healthy children with parental hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alpay, Harika; Ozdemir, Nihal; Wühl, Elke; Topuzoğlu, Ahmet

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this study was to compare ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) parameters in offspring with at least one hypertensive parent (HP) to offspring with normotensive parents (NP) and to determine whether gender of parent or child might influence the association between parental hypertension and blood pressure (BP). Eighty-nine healthy children (mean age 11.1 +/- 3.9 years) with HP and 90 controls (mean age 10.5 +/- 3.1 years) with NP were recruited. Age, gender, and height did not differ between the two groups, whereas children of HP had higher weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference compared with healthy controls. No difference was found in casual BP between the two groups. In contrast, during ABPM daytime and nighttime mean systolic and diastolic BP and mean arterial pressure (MAP) standard deviation scores (SDS) were significantly elevated in children with HP. The mean percentage of nocturnal BP decline (dipping) was not significantly different between the two groups. Children with hypertensive mothers had higher daytime systolic and MAP SDS than controls; no such difference was detected for children with hypertensive fathers. Daytime systolic and MAP SDS were significantly elevated in boys with HP compared with boys with NP but failed to be significant in girls. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that parental history of hypertension (B = 0.29) and BMI (B = 0.03) were independently correlated with increase of daytime MAP SDS. Early changes in ambulatory BP parameters were present in healthy children of HP. BP in HP offspring was influenced by the gender of the affected parent and the offspring.

  16. Comparison of health-related quality of life of children during maintenance therapy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia versus siblings and healthy children in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bansal, Minakshi; Sharma, Kamlesh K; Vatsa, Manju; Bakhshi, Sameer

    2013-05-01

    Data on quality of life (QOL) specifically in maintenance therapy of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are minimal. This study was done to assess various items listed in domains of QOL (physical, emotional, social and school health domains) of children with ALL during maintenance therapy, and compare the same with those of their siblings and other healthy children. Forty children on maintenance therapy of ALL, 40 siblings and 40 healthy children were assessed for QOL by child self-report using PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core in the local language. Means were computed and compared for each domain with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), wherein higher values reflected better QOL. Overall QOL of children with ALL in maintenance therapy (77.16 ± 10.98) was significantly poorer than that of siblings (93.56 ± 4.41) and healthy children (93.02 ± 3.76) (p fear, anger, sleeping problems) among children with ALL. In the social health domain, children with ALL reported difficulty in maintaining friendships and competing. QOL of siblings was as good as that of healthy children in physical, social and school health domains, but they had increased emotional problems such as anger and sadness. Healthy children reported significantly higher future worries and bullying than children with ALL and siblings. This study validated that the QOL of children with ALL during maintenance therapy was significantly poorer than that of siblings and healthy children. The study identified various items in each domain of QOL that were affected in these children, and thus would assist in guiding healthcare professionals to focus on these specific items so as to improve their overall QOL.

  17. Relationship between Reading/Writing Skills and Cognitive Abilities among Japanese Primary-School Children: Normal Readers versus Poor Readers (Dyslexics)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uno, Akira; Wydell, Taeko N.; Haruhara, Noriko; Kaneko, Masato; Shinya, Naoko

    2009-01-01

    Four hundred and ninety-five Japanese primary-school children aged from 8 (Grade-2) to 12 (Grade-6) were tested for their abilities to read/write in Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, for their size of vocabulary and for other cognitive abilities including arithmetic, visuo-spatial and phonological processing. Percentages of the children whose…

  18. The Healthy Children, Strong Families Intervention: Design and Community Participation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Alexandra K.; LaRowe, Tara L.; Cronin, Kate A.; Prince, Ronald J.; Wubben, Deborah P.; Parker, Tassy; Jobe, Jared B.

    2012-01-01

    Healthy Children, Strong Families (HCSF) is a 2-year, community-driven, family-based randomized controlled trial of a healthy lifestyles intervention conducted in partnership with four Wisconsin American Indian tribes. HCSF is composed of 1 year of targeted home visits to deliver nutritional and physical activity curricula. During Year 1, trained…

  19. Normative data and psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire among Japanese school-aged children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moriwaki, Aiko; Kamio, Yoko

    2014-01-21

    Although child mental health problems are among the most important worldwide issues, development of culturally acceptable mental health services to serve the clinical needs of children and their families is especially lacking in regions outside Europe and North America. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which was developed in the United Kingdom and is now one of the most widely used measurement tools for screening child psychiatric symptoms, has been translated into Japanese, but culturally calibrated norms for Japanese schoolchildren have yet to be established. To this end, we examined the applicability of the Japanese versions of the parent and teacher SDQs by establishing norms and extending validation of its psychometric properties to a large nationwide sample, as well as to a smaller clinical sample. The Japanese versions of the SDQ were completed by parents and teachers of schoolchildren aged 7 to 15 years attending mainstream classes in primary or secondary schools in Japan. Data were analyzed to describe the population distribution and gender/age effects by informant, cut-off scores according to banding, factor structure, cross-scale correlations, and internal consistency for 24,519 parent ratings and 7,977 teacher ratings from a large nationwide sample. Inter-rater and test-retest reliabilities and convergent and divergent validities were confirmed for a smaller validation sample (total n = 128) consisting of a clinical sample with any mental disorder and community children without any diagnoses. Means, standard deviations, and banding of normative data for this Japanese child population were obtained. Gender/age effects were significant for both parent and teacher ratings. The original five-factor structure was replicated, and strong cross-scale correlations and internal reliability were shown across all SDQ subscales for this population. Inter-rater agreement was satisfactory, test-retest reliability was excellent, and convergent

  20. Neck Circumference as a Predictor of Adiposity among Healthy and Obese Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nayera E. Hassan

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Obesity, particularly in the upper part of body, is a major health problem. Because body mass index (BMI does not adequately describe regional adiposity, other indices of body fatness are being explored. OBJECTIVES: To determine if neck circumference is a valid measure of adiposity (fat distribution among group of Egyptian children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This is a cross sectional study, included 50 obese subjects, aged 7 - 12 years recruited from Endocrine, obesity and Metabolism Pediatric Unit at Children Hospital, Cairo University and 50 healthy children, age and sex matched. All children were subjected to blood pressure assessment (systolic SBP and diastolic DBP, and anthropometric assessment (body weight, height, neck circumference (NC, waist (WC and hip (HC circumferences, and skin fold thicknesses at three sites: biceps, triceps and sub scapular. BMI [weight (kg/height (m2] was calculated. RESULTS: In healthy females, significant associations were detected between NC and SBP, DBP and all anthropometric measurements. However, in healthy males NC was not significantly associated with BMI, SBP and DBP. In the obese group; both sexes; insignificant association was found between NC and SBP, DBP, BMI and skinfold thickness. CONCLUSION: NC is related to fat distribution among normal healthy female children. However, this relation disappears with increasing adiposity. The results do not support the use of NC as a useful screening tool for childhood obesity.

  1. 76 FR 59706 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children's...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-27

    ... published in scientific journals and will be used for the development of future research initiatives... Request; Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children's Health (HCS) SUMMARY: Under the... control number. Proposed Collection: Title: Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children's...

  2. 76 FR 35452 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children's...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-17

    ... scientific journals and will be used for the development of future research initiatives targeting childhood... Request; Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children's Health (HCS) SUMMARY: In compliance... Collection: Title: Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children's Health (HCS). Type of...

  3. The joint effect of tangible and non-tangible rewards on healthy food choices in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grubliauskiene, Aiste; Verhoeven, Maxime; Dewitte, Siegfried

    2012-10-01

    This study investigated how a combination of tangible and non-tangible rewards can alter health-related decisions made by children. Children chose between an unhealthy food option (a bowl of potato crisps) and a healthy food option (a bowl of grapes) on two occasions. In the first round, we manipulated the expected tangible reward and praise. The tangible reward was manipulated by means of a game that the child received upon choosing the healthy product, and the praise was manipulated by means of the teacher's applause and smiles if the child selected the healthy option. The second trial occurred three days after the first trial using the same food item options. Neither tangible rewards nor praise influenced the children's choices by themselves, but combining the two substantially increased the children's likelihood of selecting the healthy food choice. The data were consistent with a reattribution process akin to social labelling. Although initially externally motivated to select the healthy option, the children who received praise appeared to interpret their choice as internally motivated and therefore continued to select the healthy option even in the absence of reward. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Randomized, controlled trial of oral ribavirin for Japanese encephalitis in children in Uttar Pradesh, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Rashmi; Tripathi, Piyush; Baranwal, Madan; Singh, Sudhakar; Tripathi, Sanjeev; Banerjee, Gopa

    2009-02-15

    Japanese encephalitis is associated with high rates of mortality and disabling sequelae. To date, no specific antiviral has proven to be of benefit for this condition. We attempted to determine the efficacy of oral ribavirin treatment for reducing early mortality among children with Japanese encephalitis in Uttar Pradesh, India. Children (age, 6 months to 15 years) who had been hospitalized with acute febrile encephalopathy (a syrup through nasogastric tube or by mouth. The primary outcome was early mortality; secondary outcome measures were early (at hospital discharge; normal or nearly normal, independent functioning, dependent, vegetative state, or death) outcome, time to resolution of fever, time to resumption of oral feeding, duration of hospitalization, and late outcome (> or =3 months after hospital discharge). The study was double-blind, and analysis was by intention to treat. A total of 153 patients were enrolled during a 3-year period; 70 patients received ribavirin, and 83 received placebo. There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in the early mortality rate: 19 (27.1%) of 70 ribavirin recipients and 21 (25.3%) of 83 placebo recipients died (odds ratio, 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 0.5-2.4). No statistically significant differences in secondary outcome measures were found. For the dosage schedule used in our study, oral ribavirin has no effect in reducing early mortality associated with Japanese encephalitis. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00216268 .

  5. Children's reaction to depictions of healthy foods in fast-food television advertisements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernhardt, Amy M; Wilking, Cara; Gottlieb, Mark; Emond, Jennifer; Sargent, James D

    2014-05-01

    Since 2009, quick-service restaurant chains, or fast-food companies, have agreed to depict healthy foods in their advertising targeted at children. To determine how children interpreted depictions of milk and apples in television advertisements for children's meals by McDonald's and Burger King (BK) restaurants. Descriptive qualitative study in a rural pediatric practice setting in Northern New England. A convenience sample of 99 children (age range, 3-7 years) was shown depictions of healthy foods in fast-food advertisements that aired from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011. The images from McDonald's and BK showed milk and apples. Children were asked what they saw and not prompted to respond specifically to any aspect of the images. Two still images drawn from advertisements for healthy meals at McDonald's and BK. Children's responses were independently content coded to food category by 2 researchers. Among the 99 children participating, only 51 (52%) and 69 (70%) correctly identified milk from the McDonald's and BK images, respectively, with a significantly greater percentage correct (P = .02 for both) among older children. The children's recall of apples was significantly different by restaurant, with 79 (80%) mentioning apples when describing the McDonald's image and only 10 (10%) for the BK image (P McDonald's was communicated adequately to the target audience. Representations of milk were inadequately communicated to preliterate children. Televised depictions of apple slices by BK misled the children in this study, although no action was taken by government or self-regulatory bodies.

  6. Qualitative Research on the Uneasiness of Japanese Working Married Women on the Decision of Having Children

    OpenAIRE

    山谷, 真名

    2011-01-01

    Japanese marriage was said to be followed by childbirth right after. Such trend is changing, and that some couples are having longer waiting time before having children. The desire to have children is also said to be on the decline (Sasai 1998 Iwama 2008). Women's difficulty in their work continuation after childbirth is well known and has not changed much (Nagase 1999 Higuchi 2007). The purpose of this paper is to bring forward qualitative reasons why more women are having longer waiting tim...

  7. Galactose oxidation using {sup 13}C in healthy and galactosemic children

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Resende-Campanholi, D.R. [Departamento de Puericultura e Pediatria, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP (Brazil); Porta, G. [Unidade de Hepatologia Pediátrica, Instituto da Criança Prof. Pedro de Alcântara, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP (Brazil); Ferrioli, E.; Pfrimer, K. [Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP (Brazil); Ciampo, L.A. Del; Junior, J.S. Camelo [Departamento de Puericultura e Pediatria, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP (Brazil)

    2015-01-20

    Galactosemia is an inborn error of galactose metabolism that occurs mainly as the outcome of galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT) deficiency. The ability to assess galactose oxidation following administration of a galactose-labeled isotope (1-{sup 13}C-galactose) allows the determination of galactose metabolism in a practical manner. We aimed to assess the level of galactose oxidation in both healthy and galactosemic Brazilian children. Twenty-one healthy children and seven children with galactosemia ranging from 1 to 7 years of age were studied. A breath test was used to quantitate {sup 13}CO{sub 2} enrichment in exhaled air before and at 30, 60, and 120 min after the oral administration of 7 mg/kg of an aqueous solution of 1-{sup 13}C-galactose to all children. The molar ratios of {sup 13}CO{sub 2} and {sup 12}CO{sub 2} were quantified by the mass/charge ratio (m/z) of stable isotopes in each air sample by gas-isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. In sick children, the cumulative percentage of {sup 13}C from labeled galactose (CUMPCD) in the exhaled air ranged from 0.03% at 30 min to 1.67% at 120 min. In contrast, healthy subjects showed a much broader range in CUMPCD, with values from 0.4% at 30 min to 5.58% at 120 min. The study found a significant difference in galactose oxidation between children with and without galactosemia, demonstrating that the breath test is useful in discriminating children with GALT deficiencies.

  8. Semantic Bias in the Acquisition of Relative Clauses in Japanese

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozeki, Hiromi; Shirai, Yasuhiro

    2010-01-01

    This study analyzes the acquisition of relative clauses in Japanese to determine the semantic and functional characteristics of children's relative clauses in spontaneous speech. Longitudinal data from five Japanese children are analyzed and compared with English data (Diessel & Tomasello, 2000). The results show that the relative clauses produced…

  9. Japan PGx Data Science Consortium Database: SNPs and HLA genotype data from 2994 Japanese healthy individuals for pharmacogenomics studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamitsuji, Shigeo; Matsuda, Takashi; Nishimura, Koichi; Endo, Seiko; Wada, Chisa; Watanabe, Kenji; Hasegawa, Koichi; Hishigaki, Haretsugu; Masuda, Masatoshi; Kuwahara, Yusuke; Tsuritani, Katsuki; Sugiura, Kenkichi; Kubota, Tomoko; Miyoshi, Shinji; Okada, Kinya; Nakazono, Kazuyuki; Sugaya, Yuki; Yang, Woosung; Sawamoto, Taiji; Uchida, Wataru; Shinagawa, Akira; Fujiwara, Tsutomu; Yamada, Hisaharu; Suematsu, Koji; Tsutsui, Naohisa; Kamatani, Naoyuki; Liou, Shyh-Yuh

    2015-06-01

    Japan Pharmacogenomics Data Science Consortium (JPDSC) has assembled a database for conducting pharmacogenomics (PGx) studies in Japanese subjects. The database contains the genotypes of 2.5 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 5 human leukocyte antigen loci from 2994 Japanese healthy volunteers, as well as 121 kinds of clinical information, including self-reports, physiological data, hematological data and biochemical data. In this article, the reliability of our data was evaluated by principal component analysis (PCA) and association analysis for hematological and biochemical traits by using genome-wide SNP data. PCA of the SNPs showed that all the samples were collected from the Japanese population and that the samples were separated into two major clusters by birthplace, Okinawa and other than Okinawa, as had been previously reported. Among 87 SNPs that have been reported to be associated with 18 hematological and biochemical traits in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), the associations of 56 SNPs were replicated using our data base. Statistical power simulations showed that the sample size of the JPDSC control database is large enough to detect genetic markers having a relatively strong association even when the case sample size is small. The JPDSC database will be useful as control data for conducting PGx studies to explore genetic markers to improve the safety and efficacy of drugs either during clinical development or in post-marketing.

  10. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide and multiple breath nitrogen washout in preschool healthy and asthmatic children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vilmann, Lea; Buchvald, Frederik; Green, Kent

    2017-01-01

    Introduction Objectively assessing pulmonary disease is challenging in preschool children with asthma. We evaluated the feasibility of measuring fractional exhaled nitrogen oxide (FeNO) and multiple breath nitrogen washout (N2MBW) in children. We compared their capacities for discriminating between...... children with asthma and healthy controls. Methods We measured FeNO and N2MBW-derived indices of lung clearance (LCI2.5) and conductive and acinar ventilation heterogeneity (Scond and Sacin) in 65 preschool children; 35 with physician-diagnosed asthma and 30 healthy. FeNO was measured with a portable.......023), but similar FeNO, LCI2.5 and Sacinvalues. Conclusion The feasibility of measuring FeNO was highly age-dependent and not applicable in children under age 4. N2MBW was feasible in the majority of preschool children. Scond, but not FeNO, could discriminate between children with asthma and healthy controls....

  11. Response profiles of oxygen uptake efficiency during exercise in healthy children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bongers, Bart C.; Hulzebos, Erik H J; Helbing, Willem A.; Ten Harkel, Arend D J; Van Brussel, Marco; Takken, Tim

    2015-01-01

    Background Oxygen uptake efficiency (OUE), the relation between oxygen uptake (VO2) and minute ventilation (VE), differs between healthy children and children with heart disease. This study aimed to investigate the normal response profiles of OUE during a progressive cardiopulmonary exercise test.

  12. Magazine adverts for healthy and less healthy foods: effects on recall but not hunger or food choice by pre-adolescent children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Lorraine; Hill, Andrew J

    2008-07-01

    The marketing of foods to children has been criticised by parents and academics alike and the control of such advertising is being considered by politicians. Much of the current research focuses on TV advertising. This study aimed to investigate the effects of exposure to printed advertisements for healthy, less healthy and non-food products on children's mood, hunger, food choice and product recall. Accordingly, 309 children (mean age 9.7 years) received booklets in a quasi-random order. Each booklet contained one of the three types of adverts, ratings of current self-perception and a food choice measure. The booklets were presented as a school-based media literacy exercise. Body weight, height and body satisfaction were assessed 1 week later. The three groups did not differ in the effect on current state or end of session food choice. However, children recalled more of the less healthy food products, even when accounting for recent exposure. Greater product recall of less healthy foods is relevant to future consumption but has a number of possible interpretations. The further exploration of non-TV food marketing is warranted at a time when marketing through these channels is increasing, not least as a result of greater TV advertising regulations.

  13. Perceptions of Healthy Eating: A Qualitative Study of School-Going Children in South India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swaminathan, S.; Thomas, T.; Kurpad, A. V.; Vaz, M.

    2009-01-01

    Objective: To document children's views on healthy eating, perceptions of healthy and unhealthy foods and health consequences of consuming unhealthy foods. Design: Baseline data from a three-year longitudinal study. Setting A purposive sample of 307 school children aged 7 to 15 years were recruited from three schools representing various…

  14. Preschool Children's Healthy Lifestyles: South African Parents' and Preschool Staff Perceptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniels, Karen; Forinder, Ulla; Clarke, Marina; Snyman, Stefanus; Ringsberg, Karin C.

    2016-01-01

    Background: The worldwide growth of non-communicable diseases requires important lifestyle adaptations. The earlier a healthy lifestyle is adopted, the better. Enabling a healthy lifestyle for children during the preschool years ideally involves the cooperation of parents and teachers. Health promotion with parents and teachers is most effective…

  15. Developmental outcomes of Japanese children born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in toddlerhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aoki, Sayaka; Hashimoto, Keiji; Ogawa, Kohei; Horikawa, Reiko; Sago, Haruhiko

    2018-05-01

    This study aimed to investigate developmental outcomes of Japanese babies born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) at ages 2 and 3. The data were gathered from 1085 children in a hospital-based cohort study conducted in Japan. The children's level of development was assessed through a parent-rated questionnaire, the Kinder Infant Development Scale, which consists of nine developmental domains. We compared the development of children born through ART and those born naturally by conducting analyses of covariance. For the analyses, the effect of maternal age, family income, parental education and multiple birth were controlled for. At 24 months, no significant difference was found between children born through ART and those born naturally in development in any domain. At 36 months, a significant difference was found in development of Receptive language (F (1, 845) = 6.148, P = 0.013), Expressive language (F (1, 845) = 4.060, P = 0.044) and Language concept (F (1, 845) = 6.968, P = 0.008). For these domains, children born through ART had a significantly higher developmental age compared to children born naturally. At age 2, no significant difference was found between the children born through ART and those born naturally in nine developmental domains, although at age 3, the children born through ART showed significantly better language development than the children born naturally. © 2018 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  16. Prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular and kidney disease in Brazilian healthy preschool children

    OpenAIRE

    da Silva, Adriana C?ndida; de Sousa Tavares, Marcelo; Penido, Maria Goretti Moreira Guimar?es

    2016-01-01

    AIM To investigate the prevalence of nutritional parameters of risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and kidney diseases in healthy preschool children. METHODS This is an observational cross-sectional study with 60 healthy children, of both genders, aged two to six years old and 56 mothers, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Preschool children and their families with regular activities at public schools were invited to paticipate in the study. The following characteristics were assessed...

  17. A Parental Health Education Model of Children's Food Consumption: Influence on Children's Attitudes, Intention, and Consumption of Healthy and Unhealthy Foods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lwin, May O; Shin, Wonsun; Yee, Andrew Z H; Wardoyo, Reidinar Juliane

    2017-05-01

    This study proposes that parental mediation of television advertising and parental guidance of food consumption differentially influence children's attitude, intention, and behavior toward the consumption of healthy and unhealthy foods. Structural equation modeling based on a survey of 1,119 children aged 9-12 supported our model, revealing that parental education strategies influence children's food consumption in a complex manner that is highly context-dependent. Parental guidance of food consumption enhanced children's healthy food attitude and intention to consume, while reducing the intention to consume unhealthy food. However, parental mediation of television advertising influenced unhealthy food attitude to a greater extent than healthy food attitude. Implications for health promotion and education, as well as parents and policy makers are discussed.

  18. Children in Asian cultures say yes to yes–no questions: Common and cultural differences between Vietnamese and Japanese children

    OpenAIRE

    Okanda, Mako; Itakura, Shoji

    2008-01-01

    We investigated whether children’s response tendency toward yes–no questions concerning objects is a common phenomenon regardless of languages and cultures. Vietnamese and Japanese 2- to 5-year-old (N = 108) were investigated. We also examined whether familiarity with the questioning issue has any effect on Asian children’s yes bias. As the result, Asian children showed a yes bias to yes–no questions. The children’s response tendency changes dramatically with their age: Vietnamese and Japanes...

  19. Parenting clinically anxious versus healthy control children aged 4-12 years

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Sluis, C.M.; van Steensel, F.J.A.; Bögels, S.M.

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated whether parenting behaviors differed between parents of 68 clinically anxious children and 106 healthy control children aged 4-12 years. The effects of parent gender, child gender and child age on parenting were explored. Mothers and fathers completed a questionnaire to

  20. Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of single doses of empagliflozin, a sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, in healthy Japanese subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarashina, Akiko; Koiwai, Kazuki; Seman, Leo J; Yamamura, Norio; Taniguchi, Atsushi; Negishi, Takahiro; Sesoko, Shogo; Woerle, Hans J; Dugi, Klaus A

    2013-01-01

    This randomized, placebo-controlled within dose groups, double-blind, single rising dose study investigated the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of 1 mg to 100 mg doses of empagliflozin in 48 healthy Japanese male subjects. Empagliflozin was rapidly absorbed, reaching peak levels in 1.25 to 2.50 h; thereafter, plasma concentrations declined in a biphasic fashion, with mean terminal elimination half-life ranging from 7.76 to 11.7 h. Increase in empagliflozin exposure was proportional to dose. Oral clearance was dose independent and ranged from 140 to 172 mL/min. In the 24 h following 100 mg empagliflozin administration, the mean (%CV) amount of glucose excreted in urine was 74.3 (17.1) g. The amount and the maximum rate of glucose excreted via urine increased with dose of empagliflozin. Nine adverse events, all of mild intensity, were reported by 8 subjects (7 with empagliflozin and 1 with the placebo). No hypoglycemia was reported. In conclusion, 1 mg to 100 mg doses of empagliflozin had a good safety and tolerability profile in healthy Japanese male subjects. Exposure to empagliflozin was dose proportional. The amount and rate of urinary glucose excretion were higher with empagliflozin than with the placebo, and increased with empagliflozin dose.

  1. Learned pleasure from eating: An opportunity to promote healthy eating in children?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marty, Lucile; Chambaron, Stéphanie; Nicklaus, Sophie; Monnery-Patris, Sandrine

    2018-01-01

    Across the lifespan, eating is a common everyday act driven by the search for pleasure and reinforced by experienced pleasure. Pleasure is an innate indicator of the satisfaction of physiological needs, in addition to other attributes. Pleasure from eating is also learned and contributes to the development of children's eating habits, which remain mostly stable until adulthood. Based on classical models of determinants of food consumption behaviour, we identified three dimensions of pleasure from eating learned during childhood: 1/the sensory dimension, i.e., pleasure from sensory sensations during food consumption; 2/the interpersonal dimension, i.e., pleasure from the social context of food consumption; and 3/the psychosocial dimension, i.e., pleasure from cognitive representations of food. The objective of this narrative review is to explore whether these three dimensions may play a role in promotion of healthy eating behaviour among children. Up to now, it was assumed that providing nutritional information, pointing out which types of foods are "good" or "bad" for health, would drive healthier food choices in children. Today, we know that such strategies based on a cognitive approach toward eating have a limited impact on healthy choices and can even be counter-productive, leading children to avoid healthy foods. In the context of increasing rates of childhood obesity, new perspectives are needed to build efficient interventions that might help children adopt a healthy diet. This review suggests new directions for further research to test the efficacy of novel interventions that emphasize pleasure from eating. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Healthy Start: a comprehensive health education program for preschool children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, C L; Squillace, M M; Bollella, M C; Brotanek, J; Campanaro, L; D'Agostino, C; Pfau, J; Sprance, L; Strobino, B A; Spark, A; Boccio, L

    1998-01-01

    Healthy Start is a 3-year demonstration and education research project designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a multidimensional cardiovascular (CV) risk reduction intervention in preschool centers over a 3-year period of time. Two primary interventions are employed. The first is the preschool food service intervention program designed to reduce the total fat in preschool meals and snacks to less than 30% of calories and reduce the saturated fat to less than 10% of calories. The second major intervention is a comprehensive preschool health education curriculum, focused heavily on nutrition. Effectiveness of the intervention will be determined through evaluation of changes in dietary intake of preschool children at school meals and snacks, especially with respect to intake of total and saturated fat. Evaluation of the education component will include assessment of program implementation by teachers, assessment of changes in nutrition knowledge by preschool children, and assessment of changes in home meals that children consume (total and saturated fat content). Blood cholesterol will be evaluated semiannually to evaluate changes that may be due to modification of dietary intake. Growth and body fatness will also be assessed. While substantial efforts have targeted CV risk reduction and health education for elementary school children, similar efforts aimed at preschool children have been lacking. The rationale for beginning CV risk reduction programs for preschool children is based upon the premise that risk factors for heart disease are prevalent by 3 years of age and tend to track over time, most commonly hypercholesterolemia and obesity, both related to nutrition. Since the behavioral antecedents for nutritional risk factors begin to be established very early in life, it is important to develop and evaluate new educational initiatives such as Healthy Start, aimed at the primary prevention of cardiovascular risk factors in preschool children. The purpose of this

  3. Japanese version of cutaneous body image scale: translation and validation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higaki, Yuko; Watanabe, Ikuko; Masaki, Tomoko; Kamo, Toshiko; Kawashima, Makoto; Satoh, Toshihiko; Saitoh, Shiroh; Nohara, Michiko; Gupta, Madhulika A

    2009-09-01

    Cutaneous body image, defined as the individual's mental perception of the appearance of their skin, hair and nails, is an important psychodermatological element in skin diseases. To measure individuals' cutaneous body image, a practical and accurate instrument is necessary. In this study, we translated the Cutaneous Body Image Scale (CBIS), a 7-item instrument originally created by Gupta et al. in 2004, into Japanese using a forward- and back-translation method and evaluated the reliability and validity of the instrument by psychometric tests. A total of 298 healthy adults (64 men and 234 women, aged 28.9 +/- 9.9 years) and 165 dermatology patients (56.7% eczema/dermatitis, 9.8% acne, 7.5% alopecia, 6.9% psoriasis, 19.1% skin tumor/fleck/other) (30 men and 135 women, aged 37.9 +/- 15.2 years) responded to the Japanese version of the CBIS. The internal-consistency reliability of the instrument was high (Cronbach's alpha, healthy adults 0.88, patients 0.84). The CBIS measure demonstrates good test-retest reliability (healthy adults gamma = 0.92, P emotions" and "global" scores of Skindex-16 in healthy adults (gamma = -0.397 and -0.373, respectively) and in patients (gamma = -0.431 and -0.38, respectively). A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that an emotional aspect of skin-condition related quality of life was the best predictor of cutaneous body image in both healthy adults and patients (beta = -0.31 and -0.41, respectively) followed by "body dissatisfaction" (beta = -0.17, and -0.23, respectively). Adjusted R(2) was 0.246 in healthy adults and 0.264 in patients. These were consistent with the results from the original the CBIS. These results suggest that the Japanese version of the CBIS is a reliable and valid instrument to measure the cutaneous body image of Japanese adults and also dermatology patients.

  4. Lateralized frontal activity for Japanese phonological processing during child development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takaaki eGoto

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Phonological awareness is essential for reading, and is common to all language systems, including alphabetic languages and Japanese. This cognitive factor develops during childhood, and is thought to be associated with shifts in brain activity. However, the nature of this neurobiological developmental shift is unclear for speakers of Japanese, which is not an alphabetical language. The present study aimed to reveal a shift in brain functions for processing phonological information in native-born Japanese children. We conducted a phonological awareness task and examined hemodynamic activity in 103 children aged 7 to 12 years. While younger children made mistakes and needed more time to sort phonological information in reverse order, older children completed the task quickly and accurately. Additionally, younger children exhibited increased activity in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which may be evidence of immature phonological processing skills. Older children exhibited dominant activity in the left compared with the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, suggesting that they had already acquired phonological processing skills. We also found significant effects of age and lateralized activity on behavioral performance. During earlier stages of development, the degree of left lateralization appears to have a smaller effect on behavioral performance. Conversely, in later stages of development, the degree of left lateralization appears to have a stronger influence on behavioral performance. These initial findings regarding a neurobiological developmental shift in Japanese speakers suggest that common brain regions play a critical role in the development of phonological processing skills among different languages systems, such as Japanese and alphabetical languages.

  5. [Developmental changes of rapid automatized naming and Hiragana reading of Japanese in elementary-school children].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Tomoka; Inagaki, Masumi; Gunji, Atsuko; Yatabe, Kiyomi; Kita, Yosuke; Kaga, Makiko; Gotoh, Takaaki; Koike, Toshihide

    2011-11-01

    Two hundred and seven Japanese elementary school children aged from 6 (Grade 1) to 12 (Grade 6) years old were tested for their abilities to name numbers and pictured objects along with reading Hiragana characters and words. These children all showed typical development and their classroom teachers judged that they were not having any problems with reading or writing. The children were randomly divided into two groups, the first group was assigned to two naming tasks;the rapid automatized naming (RAN) of "numbers" and "pictured objects," the second group was assigned to two rapid alternative stimulus (RAS) naming tasks using numbers and pictured objects. All children were asked to perform two reading tasks that were written in Hiragana script: single mora reading task and four syllable word reading task. The total articulation time for naming and reading and performance in terms of accuracy were measured for each task. Developmental changes in these variables were evaluated. The articulation time was significantly longer for the first graders, and it gradually shortened as they moved through to the upper grades in all tasks. The articulation time reached a plateau in the 5th grade for the number naming, while gradual change continued after drastic change in the lower grades for the pictured object naming. The articulation times for the single mora reading and RAN of numbers correlated strongly. The articulation time for the RAS naming was significantly longer compared to that for the RAN, though there were very few errors. The RAS naming showed the highest correlation with the four syllable word reading. This study demonstrated that the performance in rapid automatized naming of numbers and pictures were closely related with performance on reading tasks. Thus Japanese children with reading disorders such as developmental dyslexia should also be evaluated for rapid automatized naming.

  6. Low-income children's reported motivators of and barriers to healthy eating behaviors: a focus group study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaye, Lillian B; Tucker, Carolyn M; Bragg, Marie A; Estampador, Angela C

    2011-01-01

    Despite national attention to the childhood obesity epidemic, there are few US-based studies that directly ask children--especially children from low-income families and from multiple racial/ethnic groups--why they do or do not engage in healthy eating behaviors. The purpose of this study was to identify motivators of and barriers to healthy eating behaviors, as reported by black, Hispanic, and white children from low-income families. Six gender- and race/ethnicity-concordant focus groups were conducted with 37 children who were aged 9 to 12 years and from families with an annual household income of $40000 or less. Multiple strategies were used to employ a culturally sensitive approach to both data collection and data analysis (eg, a team of culturally diverse researchers utilized inductive qualitative analysis to analyze focus group transcripts). The motivators of and barriers to healthy eating behaviors most commonly reported across the 6 focus groups included social influence, taste, issues of availability, weight concerns, and the desire to be healthy. A variety of less commonly reported motivators and barriers were also discussed. Findings were generally similar across gender and race/ethnicity. Children in this age range can indeed identify a variety of motivators and barriers that influence their engagement in healthy eating behaviors. Interventions targeting obesity and eating behaviors should include an assessment of children's own perceived motivators of and barriers to healthy eating.

  7. The energy cost of playing active video games in children with obesity and children of a healthy weight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Donovan, C; Roche, E F; Hussey, J

    2014-08-01

    Increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour form a large part of the treatment of paediatric obesity. However, many children today spend prolonged periods of time playing sedentary video games. Active video games (AVGs) represent a novel and child friendly form of physical activity. To measure the energy cost of playing two AVGs in children with obesity and healthy age- and gender-matched children. The energy cost of gaming and heart rates achieved during gaming conditions were compared between groups. AVG play can result in light-to-moderate intensity physical activity (2.7-5.4 metabolic equivalents). When corrected for fat-free mass those with obesity expended significantly less energy than healthy weight peers playing Nintendo Wii Fit Free Jogging (P = 0.017). No significant difference was seen between groups in the energy cost of playing Boxing. Certain AVGs, particularly those that require lower limb movement, could be used to increase total energy expenditure, replace more sedentary activities, or achieve moderate intensity physical activity among children with obesity. There seems to be some differences in how children with obesity and children of a healthy weight play AVGs. This could result in those with obesity expending less energy than their lean peers during AVG play. © 2013 The Authors. Pediatric Obesity © 2013 International Association for the Study of Obesity.

  8. The Role of the Japanese Traditional Diet in Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Patterns around the World.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabriel, Ana San; Ninomiya, Kumiko; Uneyama, Hisayuki

    2018-02-03

    As incomes steadily increase globally, traditional diets have been displaced by diets that are usually animal-based with a high content of "empty calories" or refined sugars, refined fats, and alcohol. Dietary transition coupled with the expansion of urbanization and lower physical activity have been linked to the global growth in the prevalence of obesity, overweight and life style-related non-communicable diseases. The challenge is in how to reverse the trend of high consumption of less healthy food by more healthful and more environmentally sustainable diets. The increasing recognition that each individual has specific needs depending on age, metabolic condition, and genetic profile adds complexity to general nutritional considerations. If we were to promote the consumption of low-energy and low salt but nutritious diets, taste becomes a relevant food quality. The Japanese traditional diet (Washoku), which is characterized by high consumption of fish and soybean products and low consumption of animal fat and meat, relies on the effective use of umami taste to enhance palatability. There may be a link between Washoku and the longevity of the people in Japan. Thus Washoku and umami may be valuable tools to support healthy eating.

  9. The Role of the Japanese Traditional Diet in Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Patterns around the World

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana San Gabriel

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available As incomes steadily increase globally, traditional diets have been displaced by diets that are usually animal-based with a high content of “empty calories” or refined sugars, refined fats, and alcohol. Dietary transition coupled with the expansion of urbanization and lower physical activity have been linked to the global growth in the prevalence of obesity, overweight and life style-related non-communicable diseases. The challenge is in how to reverse the trend of high consumption of less healthy food by more healthful and more environmentally sustainable diets. The increasing recognition that each individual has specific needs depending on age, metabolic condition, and genetic profile adds complexity to general nutritional considerations. If we were to promote the consumption of low-energy and low salt but nutritious diets, taste becomes a relevant food quality. The Japanese traditional diet (Washoku, which is characterized by high consumption of fish and soybean products and low consumption of animal fat and meat, relies on the effective use of umami taste to enhance palatability. There may be a link between Washoku and the longevity of the people in Japan. Thus Washoku and umami may be valuable tools to support healthy eating.

  10. Demographic profile of healthy children with nasopharyngeal colonisation of Streptococcus pneumoniae: A research paper

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radhika Raman

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Pneumonia is a preventable cause of mortality in children. Streptococcus pneumoniae colonising the nasopharynx of healthy children can cause invasive diseases and the serotype distribution of colonisation isolates should be an indicator of invasive disease, antibiotic resistance profiles, and potential vaccine coverage. Identifying factors influencing nasopharyngeal colonisation, the serotypes and antimicrobial resistance pattern can improve rational preventive strategies. Objectives: Identify risk factors associated with nasopharyngeal colonisation of S.pneumoniae in healthy children between 6 months to 5 years of age. Determine the serotype and antibiotic sensitivity of S. pneumoniae isolated from nasopharynx of healthy children. Methods: This prospective observational included 500 healthy children, 6months to 5 years of age. Demographic features of the study population, the serotypes and antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of S.Pneumoniae isolated from cultures of nasopharyngeal swabs were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: S. pneumoniae was isolated in 9% of 450 children. Increased nasopharyngeal carriage rate was associated with overcrowding 48.8% and poor ventilation 35.5%. 6B (n=16 was the most common serotype isolated. 69% were serogroups known to cause invasive disease All S. pneumoniae isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and linezolid. Antimicrobial susceptibility of PCV 7 serotypes were greater than non PCV 7 serotypes for almost all antimicrobials tested. Penicillin resistance was 11 % and MDR 51%

  11. Comparison of six-minute walk test in children with moderate/severe asthma with reference values for healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lívia Barboza de Andrade

    2014-05-01

    Conclusions: asthmatic children's performance in the 6MWT evaluated through distance walked is significantly lower than the predicted values for healthy children of the same age, and is directly influenced by sedentary life style.

  12. Measuring adjustment in Japanese juvenile delinquents with learning disabilities using Japanese version of Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children II.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumagami, Takashi; Kumagai, Keiko

    2014-10-01

    The aim of this study was to create a profile of the cognitive and academic abilities of juvenile delinquents (JD) in Japan using the newly validated Japanese version of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II-J). We administered the KABC-II-J to 22 JD (Mage  = 15.9 years, standard deviation [SD] = 1.4), 28 typically developing high school students (Mage  = 16.0 years, SD = 0.08), and (as controls) 12 special education students (Mage  = 16.9, SD = 0.83) with mild intellectual disabilities. We observed significant differences between JD and typically developing students on learning index of the Mental Process Index, and the vocabulary, reading, writing, and mathematics indices on the Achievement Index. JD had lower scores than did typically developing high school students. Fourteen JD had a 1 SD discrepancy (43%) in scores on these indices. These cases were suspected of having learning disabilities. The KABC-II-J is a suitable means of assessing academic and cognitive problems in JD; professionals working in the field of juvenile delinquency should recognize that offenders might have severe academic delays and learning disabilities. © 2014 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2014 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

  13. Performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujino, Haruo; Sumiyoshi, Chika; Sumiyoshi, Tomiki; Yasuda, Yuka; Yamamori, Hidenaga; Ohi, Kazutaka; Fujimoto, Michiko; Umeda-Yano, Satomi; Higuchi, Arisa; Hibi, Yumiko; Matsuura, Yukako; Hashimoto, Ryota; Takeda, Masatoshi; Imura, Osamu

    2014-07-01

    Patients with schizophrenia have been reported to perform worse than non-schizophrenic populations on neuropsychological tests, which may be affected by cultural factors. The aim of this study was to examine the performance of a sizable number of patients with schizophrenia on the Japanese version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III) compared with healthy controls. Performance on the WAIS-III was evaluated in 157 Japanese patients with schizophrenia and in 264 healthy control subjects. All IQ scores and four indices from the WAIS-III were impaired for patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls. Processing Speed was markedly disturbed, approximately 2 SD below that of the healthy control group. Among the 13 subtests, Comprehension (z = -1.70, d = 1.55), Digit Symbol Coding (z = -1.84, d = 1.88), and Symbol Search (z = -1.85, d = 1.77) were profoundly impaired relative to the healthy controls. These results indicate that the pattern and degree of impairment, as evaluated by the WAIS-III, in Japanese patients are similar to those previously reported in English-speaking patients and that the deficits of some neuropsychological domains relevant to functional outcomes are universally characteristic of schizophrenia. © 2014 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2014 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

  14. Relationships between Dietary Intake and Cognitive Function in Healthy Korean Children and Adolescents

    OpenAIRE

    Kim, Jin Young; Kang, Seung Wan

    2017-01-01

    Background It has long been theorized that a relatively robust dietary intake impacts cognitive function. The aim of the study was to explore dietary intake and cognitive function in healthy Korean children and adolescents. Methods Three hundred and seventeen healthy children with no previous diagnosis of neurologic or psychiatric disorders were evaluated (167 girls and 150 boys with a mean age of 11.8 ? 3.3 years). Analysis indicators including food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) consisting...

  15. Healthy active living for children and youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-05-01

    Poor lifestyle habits, such as unhealthy eating and physical inactivity, are major contributors to increased adult morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases. Over the past decade there has been an increase in sedentary lifestyle and obesity in children and adolescents, both in North America and worldwide. Physicians need to be aware of the scope of this problem, provide anticipatory guidance to families and promote healthy active living in their practices.

  16. Intransparent German number words complicate transcoding - a translingual comparison with Japanese.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moeller, Korbinian; Zuber, Julia; Olsen, Naoko; Nuerk, Hans-Christoph; Willmes, Klaus

    2015-01-01

    Superior early numerical competencies of children in several Asian countries have (amongst others) been attributed to the higher transparency of their number word systems. Here, we directly investigated this claim by evaluating whether Japanese children's transcoding performance when writing numbers to dictation (e.g., "twenty five" → 25) was less error prone than that of German-speaking children - both in general as well as when considering language-specific attributes of the German number word system such as the inversion property, in particular. In line with this hypothesis we observed that German-speaking children committed more transcoding errors in general than their Japanese peers. Moreover, their error pattern reflected the specific inversion intransparency of the German number-word system. Inversion errors in transcoding represented the most prominent error category in German-speaking children, but were almost absent in Japanese-speaking children. We conclude that the less transparent German number-word system complicates the acquisition of the correspondence between symbolic Arabic numbers and their respective verbal number words.

  17. Oral lactic acid bacteria related to the occurrence and/or progression of dental caries in Japanese preschool children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimada, Ayumi; Noda, Masafumi; Matoba, Yasuyuki; Kumagai, Takanori; Kozai, Katsuyuki; Sugiyama, Masanori

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies have demonstrated that the presence of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), especially those classified into the genus Lactobacillus, is associated with the progression of dental caries in preschool children. Nevertheless, the kinds of species of LAB and the characteristics that are important for dental caries have been unclear. The aims of this study were: (1) to investigate the distribution of oral LAB among Japanese preschool children with various prevalence levels of caries; and (2) to reveal the characteristics of these isolated LAB species. Seventy-four Japanese preschool children were examined for caries scores and caries progression, and their dental cavity samples were collected for LAB isolation and identification. The saliva-induced agglutination rate and the resistance to acidic environments of the identified strains were measured. Statistical analysis showed that preschool children carrying Lactobacillus (L.) salivarius or Streptococcus mutans have a significantly higher prevalence of dental caries, the growth ability in acidic environments correlates with the caries scores of individuals with L. salivarius, and the caries scores exhibit positive correlation with saliva-induced agglutination in L. salivarius. These results show that specific Lactobacillus species are associated with dental caries based on the level of carious lesion severity. The present study suggests that these specific Lactobacillus species, especially those with easily agglutinated properties and acid resistance, affect the dental caries scores of preschool children, and that these properties may provide useful information for research into the prevention of dental caries.

  18. 76 FR 29769 - Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-23

    ...: Notice of a Noncompetitive Replacement Award to the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Department... University of Nevada School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, in order to continue Healthy Tomorrows supported prevention and intervention services to low-income, underserved women, children and adolescents in...

  19. Higher vitamin D intake during pregnancy is associated with reduced risk of dental caries in young Japanese children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Keiko; Hitsumoto, Shinichi; Miyake, Yoshihiro; Okubo, Hitomi; Sasaki, Satoshi; Miyatake, Nobuyuki; Arakawa, Masashi

    2015-08-01

    The intrauterine environment, including maternal nutrition status, may affect the development, formation, and mineralization of children's teeth. We assessed the relationship between self-reported maternal dietary vitamin D intake during pregnancy and the risk of dental caries among young Japanese children. This study is based on a prospective analysis of 1210 Japanese mother-child pairs. Information on maternal intake during pregnancy was collected using a validated diet history questionnaire. Data on oral examination at 36-46 months of age were obtained from the mothers, who transcribed the information from their maternal and child health handbooks to our self-administered questionnaire. Children were classified as having dental caries if one or more primary teeth had decayed or had been filled. Compared with the lowest quartile of maternal vitamin D intake during pregnancy, adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for quartiles 2, 3, and 4 were 1.06 (0.72-1.56), 0.53 (0.34-0.81), and 0.67 (0.44-1.02), respectively (P for trend = .01). When maternal vitamin D intake was treated as a continuous variable, the adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) was 0.94 (0.89-0.995). Higher maternal vitamin D intake during pregnancy may be associated with a lower risk of dental caries in children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Faecal calprotectin concentrations in apparently healthy children aged 0-12 years in urban Kampala, Uganda: a community-based survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grahnquist Lena

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Calprotectin is a calcium and zinc binding protein, abundant in neutrophils and is extremely stable in faeces. Faecal calprotectin is used as a non-specific marker for gastrointestinal inflammation. It has a good diagnostic precision to distinguish between irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Studies have established normal concentrations in healthy children; all these studies have been performed in high-income countries. The objective of this study was to determine the concentration of faecal calprotectin in apparently healthy children aged 0-12 years in urban Kampala, Uganda. Method We tested 302 apparently healthy children aged, age 0-12 years (162 female, 140 male in urban Kampala, Uganda. The children were recruited consecutively by door-to-door visits. Faecal calprotectin was analyzed using a quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Faeces were also tested for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori antigen, for growth of enteropathogens and microscopy was performed to assess protozoa and helminths. A short standardized interview with socio-demographic information and medical history was obtained to assess health status of the children. Results In the different age groups the median faecal calprotectin concentrations were 249 mg/kg in 0 H. pylori or having other pathogens in the stool. Conclusion Concentrations of faecal calprotectin among healthy children, living in urban Ugandan, a low-income country, are comparable to those in healthy children living in high-income countries. In children older than 4 years, the faecal calprotectin concentration is low. In healthy infants faecal calprotectin is high. The suggested cut-off concentrations in the literature can be used in apparently healthy Ugandan children. This finding also shows that healthy children living under poor circumstances do not have a constant inflammation in the gut. We see an opportunity to use this relatively inexpensive test for

  1. Total Breast-Feeding Duration and Dental Caries in Healthy Urban Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Peter D; Birken, Catherine S; Parkin, Patricia C; Venu, Isvarya; Chen, Yang; Schroth, Robert J; Maguire, Jonathon L

    2017-04-01

    To determine if there is an association between longer breast-feeding duration and dental caries in healthy urban children. We conducted a cross-sectional study of urban children aged 1 to 6 years recruited through The Applied Research Group for Kids (TARGet Kids!) practice-based research network between September 2011 and August 2013. The main outcome measure was parental report of dental caries. The adjusted predicted probability of dental caries was 7%, 8%, 11%, and 16% with total duration of breast-feeding duration of 12, 18, 24, and 36 months, respectively. In the adjusted logistic regression analyses, relative to breast-feeding 0 to 5 months, the odds of dental caries with total breast-feeding duration >24 months was 2.75 (95% confidence interval 1.61-4.72). Among healthy urban children, longer breast-feeding duration was associated with higher odds of dental caries. These findings support heightened awareness and enhanced anticipatory guidance for preventive dental care, particularly among children who breast-feed beyond 2 years of age. Copyright © 2016 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Cytogenetic damage in lymphocytes of healthy and thyroid tumor-affected children from the Gomel region (Belarus)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roberto, Barale; Gemignani, Federica; Morizzo, Carmela; Lori, Adriana; Rossi, Annamaria; Ballardin, Michela [Dipartimento di Scienze dell`Uomo e dell`Ambiente, Universita di Pisa, Via S. Giuseppe, n. 22, 56100 Pisa (Italy); Antonelli, Alessandro; Di Pretoro, Giancarlo [Clinica Medica II, Universita di Pisa, Via S. Giuseppe 22, Pisa (Italy); Panasiuk, Galina [CISAM, S. Piero a Grado, Pisa (Italy)

    1998-08-31

    During 1994, 19 thyroid tumor-affected children and 17 healthy children from the Gomel region, one of the areas most polluted by the Chernobyl fallout, were analysed for (1) the presence of in their urine and (2) chromosome aberrations (CA) in circulating lymphocytes. They were compared with 35 healthy children from Pisa, Italy. Tumor-affected children showed significantly (p<0.05) higher levels in their urine as compared to healthy controls from the Gomel region. No radioactivity was found in urine from the Pisa controls. CA frequency was significantly higher in tumor-affected children compared to the Gomel controls, but was not significantly different between Gomel and Pisa controls. However, dicentric chromosomes were found in a significantly (p<0.01) greater proportion in both affected and healthy Gomel children (3.4 and 1.3/1000 cells, respectively) as compared to the Pisa controls (0.4/1000 cells). Multiple regression analysis showed that the proportion of cells with acentric fragments, dicentric and ring chromosomes was significantly correlated (p<0.05) with the amount of excreted in their urine. These findings suggest that children from the Gomel region were still being exposed to radionuclides, which makes it possible to study a dose-effect relationship

  3. Cytogenetic damage in lymphocytes of healthy and thyroid tumor-affected children from the Gomel region (Belarus)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberto, Barale; Gemignani, Federica; Morizzo, Carmela; Lori, Adriana; Rossi, Annamaria; Ballardin, Michela; Antonelli, Alessandro; Di Pretoro, Giancarlo; Panasiuk, Galina

    1998-01-01

    During 1994, 19 thyroid tumor-affected children and 17 healthy children from the Gomel region, one of the areas most polluted by the Chernobyl fallout, were analysed for (1) the presence of in their urine and (2) chromosome aberrations (CA) in circulating lymphocytes. They were compared with 35 healthy children from Pisa, Italy. Tumor-affected children showed significantly (p<0.05) higher levels in their urine as compared to healthy controls from the Gomel region. No radioactivity was found in urine from the Pisa controls. CA frequency was significantly higher in tumor-affected children compared to the Gomel controls, but was not significantly different between Gomel and Pisa controls. However, dicentric chromosomes were found in a significantly (p<0.01) greater proportion in both affected and healthy Gomel children (3.4 and 1.3/1000 cells, respectively) as compared to the Pisa controls (0.4/1000 cells). Multiple regression analysis showed that the proportion of cells with acentric fragments, dicentric and ring chromosomes was significantly correlated (p<0.05) with the amount of excreted in their urine. These findings suggest that children from the Gomel region were still being exposed to radionuclides, which makes it possible to study a dose-effect relationship

  4. Contrast-enhanced MRI findings of the knee in healthy children; establishing normal values

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hemke, Robert; Maas, Mario [University of Amsterdam, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Berg, J.M. van den; Schonenberg-Meinema, Dieneke; Kuijpers, Taco W. [University of Amsterdam, Department of Pediatric Hematology, Immunology, Rheumatology and Infectious Diseases, Emma Children' s Hospital AMC, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Nusman, Charlotte M. [University of Amsterdam, Department of Pediatric Hematology, Immunology, Rheumatology and Infectious Diseases, Emma Children' s Hospital AMC, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis (OLVG), Department of Pediatrics, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Gulik, E.C. van; Barendregt, Anouk M. [University of Amsterdam, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands); University of Amsterdam, Department of Pediatric Hematology, Immunology, Rheumatology and Infectious Diseases, Emma Children' s Hospital AMC, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Dolman, Koert M. [Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis (OLVG), Department of Pediatrics, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Reade, Department of Pediatric Rheumatology, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2018-03-15

    To define normative standards for the knee in healthy children using contrast-enhanced MRI, focusing on normal synovial membrane thickness. Secondly, presence of joint fluid and bone marrow oedema was evaluated. For this study, children without disorders potentially resulting in (accompanying) arthritis were included. Patients underwent clinical assessments, followed by contrast-enhanced MRI. MRI features were evaluated in consensus using the Juvenile Arthritis MRI Scoring (JAMRIS) system. Additionally, the presence of joint fluid was evaluated. No cartilage lesions or bone abnormalities were observed. We included 57 healthy children. The overall mean thickness of the normal synovial membrane was 0.4 mm (min-max; 0.0-1.8mm). The synovium was thickest around the cruciate ligaments and retropatellar and suprapatellar regions. The mean overall diameter of the largest pocket of joint fluid was 2.8 mm (min-max; 0.9-8.0mm). Bone marrow changes were observed in three children (all in the apex patellae). The normal synovial membrane was maximally 1.8 mm thick, indicating that the JAMRIS cut-off value of 2 mm can be considered a valid measure for evaluating synovial hypertrophy. Some joint fluid and bone marrow changes suggestive of bone marrow oedema in the apex patellae can be seen in healthy children. (orig.)

  5. Contrast-enhanced MRI findings of the knee in healthy children; establishing normal values

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hemke, Robert; Maas, Mario; Berg, J.M. van den; Schonenberg-Meinema, Dieneke; Kuijpers, Taco W.; Nusman, Charlotte M.; Gulik, E.C. van; Barendregt, Anouk M.; Dolman, Koert M.

    2018-01-01

    To define normative standards for the knee in healthy children using contrast-enhanced MRI, focusing on normal synovial membrane thickness. Secondly, presence of joint fluid and bone marrow oedema was evaluated. For this study, children without disorders potentially resulting in (accompanying) arthritis were included. Patients underwent clinical assessments, followed by contrast-enhanced MRI. MRI features were evaluated in consensus using the Juvenile Arthritis MRI Scoring (JAMRIS) system. Additionally, the presence of joint fluid was evaluated. No cartilage lesions or bone abnormalities were observed. We included 57 healthy children. The overall mean thickness of the normal synovial membrane was 0.4 mm (min-max; 0.0-1.8mm). The synovium was thickest around the cruciate ligaments and retropatellar and suprapatellar regions. The mean overall diameter of the largest pocket of joint fluid was 2.8 mm (min-max; 0.9-8.0mm). Bone marrow changes were observed in three children (all in the apex patellae). The normal synovial membrane was maximally 1.8 mm thick, indicating that the JAMRIS cut-off value of 2 mm can be considered a valid measure for evaluating synovial hypertrophy. Some joint fluid and bone marrow changes suggestive of bone marrow oedema in the apex patellae can be seen in healthy children. (orig.)

  6. Parents' Agreement to Purchase Healthy Snack Foods Requested by Their Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carson, Diane E.; Reiboldt, Wendy

    2010-01-01

    Research shows that parents agree to purchase their children's food requests 45% to 65% of the time. This study examined an after-school nutrition education intervention in terms of its effects on parents' agreement to purchase healthy snack foods requested by their children. Survey data from 755 parents were analyzed. Of the 67% of parents asked…

  7. [Changes in food consumption pattern among Chilean school children after the implementation of a healthy kiosk].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bustos, Nelly; Kain, Juliana; Leyton, Bárbara; Vio, Fernando

    2011-09-01

    In Chilean school there is a kiosk that sells a large number of high-calorie products. The aim of this study was to determine the barriers that children have for buying healthy food and evaluate changes in the pattern of food purchases during a school year at a school where a "Healthy Space" was created. We designed implemented and assessed changes in food purchases by developing a "Healthy Space" which included a kiosk that incorporated a range of healthy food at affordable prices. The staff in charge of the kiosk was trained and we generate communication and marketing strategies to promote the consumption of healthy food. A validated survey to determine food purchases was applied to 9-12 year-old children from both schools at baseline and follow up 8 months later. The total number of schoolchildren was 477 (291 from the intervention and 115 from the control school). There weren't significant differences in the amount of money available to buy food between children of both schools. There was a significant increase in the purchase of fruit, milk, yoghurt, soft drinks and light juices, dried seeds, healthy sandwiches and non-fat ice cream (p increase in the supply of affordable healthy food, including communication and marketing strategies, significantly increases the consumption of these products among school children.

  8. in_focus - Healthy Lives for Vulnerable Women and Children ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    24 oct. 2017 ... Tremendous challenges remain to ensure that the most vulnerable populations, including women, children, and adolescents, are able to enjoy the healthy lives and well-being promised in the Sustainable Development Goals. Much of their poor health is caused by poverty, gender, lack of education, and ...

  9. Age Effects on Upper Limb Kinematics Assessed by the REAplan Robot in Healthy School-Aged Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilliaux, Maxime; Dierckx, Floriane; Vanden Berghe, Lola; Lejeune, Thierry M; Sapin, Julien; Dehez, Bruno; Stoquart, Gaëtan; Detrembleur, Christine

    2015-05-01

    The use of kinematics is recommended to quantitatively evaluate upper limb movements. The aims of this study were to determine the age effects on upper limb kinematics and establish norms in healthy children. Ninety-three healthy children, aged 3-12 years, participated in this study. Twenty-eight kinematic indices were computed from four tasks. Each task was performed with the REAplan, a distal effector robotic device that allows upper limb displacements in the horizontal plane. Twenty-four of the 28 indices showed an improvement during childhood. Indeed, older children showed better upper limb movements. This study was the first to use a robotic device to show the age effects on upper limb kinematics and establish norms in healthy children.

  10. Validity of the Pediatric Running-Based Anaerobic Sprint Test to Determine Anaerobic Performance in Healthy Children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bongers, Bart C.; Werkman, Maarten S.; Blokland, Donna; Eijsermans, Maria J. C.; van der Torre, Patrick; Bartels, Bart; Verschuren, Olaf; Takken, Tim

    Purpose: To determine criterion validity of the pediatric running-based anaerobic sprint test (RAST) as a nonsophisticated field test for evaluating anaerobic performance in healthy children and adolescents. Methods: Data from 65. healthy children (28 boys and 37 girls between 6 and 18 years of age,

  11. Ethnic comparison of pharmacokinetics of {sup 18}F-florbetaben, a PET tracer for beta-amyloid imaging, in healthy Caucasian and Japanese subjects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Senda, Michio; Sasaki, Masahiro; Yamane, Tomohiko; Shimizu, Keiji [Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation, Division of Molecular Imaging, 2-2 Minatojima-Minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe (Japan); Patt, Marianne; Barthel, Henryk; Sattler, Bernhard; Sabri, Osama [University of Leipzig, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig (Germany); Nagasawa, Toshiki; Aitoku, Yasuko [Bayer Yakuhin Ltd, Osaka (Japan); Schultze-Mosgau, Marcus [Bayer HealthCare AG, Berlin (Germany); Dinkelborg, Ludger [Piramal Imaging GmbH, Berlin (Germany)

    2015-01-15

    {sup 18}F-Florbetaben is a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer indicated for imaging cerebral beta-amyloid deposition in adult patients with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimer's disease and other causes of cognitive decline. The present study examined ethnic comparability of the plasma pharmacokinetics, which is the input to the brain, between Caucasian and Japanese subjects. Two identical phase I trials were performed in 18 German and 18 Japanese healthy volunteers to evaluate the plasma pharmacokinetics of a single dose of 300 MBq {sup 18}F-florbetaben, either of low (≤5 μg, LD) or high (50-55 μg, HD) mass dose. Pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated based on the total {sup 18}F radioactivity measurements in plasma followed by metabolite analysis using radio-HPLC. The pharmacokinetics of {sup 18}F-florbetaben was characterized by a rapid elimination from plasma. The dose-normalized areas under the curve of {sup 18}F-florbetaben in plasma as an indicator of the input to the brain were comparable between Germans (LD: 0.38 min/l, HD: 0.55 min/l) and Japanese (LD: 0.35 min/l, HD: 0.45 min/l) suggesting ethnic similarity, and the mass dose effect was minimal. A polar metabolite fraction was the main radiolabelled degradation product in plasma and was also similar between the doses and the ethnic groups. Absence of a difference in the pharmacokinetics of {sup 18}F-florbetaben in Germans and Japanese has warranted further global development of the PET imaging agent. (orig.)

  12. Child perceptions of parental care and overprotection in children with cancer and healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tillery, Rachel; Long, Alanna; Phipps, Sean

    2014-06-01

    The primary aims of this study were to: (a) examine child perceptions of overprotection; and (b) explore how these perceptions relate to child health and adjustment. Children with a prior diagnosis of cancer (n = 205) and children without a history of serious illness (n = 76) reported on parental overprotective and caring behaviors. Children with cancer were recruited from one of four strata based on the elapsed time since their cancer diagnosis (1-6 months; 6-24 months; 2-5 years; >5 years) Children also reported on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. Children with cancer did not differ from healthy children in their perceptions of parental care or overprotection. Child distress was more strongly related to perceptions of care and overprotection than child's health status. Children with cancer do not report their parents approach to care and protection differently than children without a cancer history. These findings mirror prior research examining parental perceptions of overprotection and suggest that, despite the challenges of parenting a child with serious illness, parental protection is not significantly altered.

  13. Primary bacterial peritonitis in otherwise healthy children: imaging findings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dann, Phoebe H.; Amodio, John B.; Rivera, Rafael; Fefferman, Nancy R. [New York University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, New York (United States)

    2005-02-01

    We report the imaging findings of two recent cases of primary bacterial peritonitis in otherwise healthy children with a clinical presentation mimicking acute appendicitis. Primary bacterial peritonitis is rare in the absence of underlying systemic disease. Although it has been described in the pediatric literature, the imaging findings have not been described in the radiological literature to the best of our knowledge. With imaging playing an increasing role in the evaluation of appendicitis in children, it is important for the radiologist to be familiar with this inflammatory process. (orig.)

  14. Skin temperature in the extremities of healthy and neurologically impaired children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svedberg, Lena E; Stener-Victorin, Elisabet; Nordahl, Gunnar; Lundeberg, Thomas

    2005-01-01

    Little emphasis has been accorded to peripheral skin temperature impairments in children with neurological disorders but attention has been paid to the significance of cold extremities (autonomic failure) for well-being and quality of life in adults stroke patients. Therefore, it seems important to investigate skin temperature in children with neurological disorder, especially when their communication is impaired. In the present study, we wanted to objectively verify any skin temperature differences between pre-school children with and without neurological disorders and also ascertain if any correlation existed between skin temperature and physical activity. Skin temperatures in 25 healthy children and 15 children with cerebral or spinal cord damages were assessed using infrared radiation. The temperatures were recorded on the palm and the dorsal surface of the hands and on the sole and dorsal surface of the feet three times at 15-minute intervals over 30min. A significant lower mean skin temperature in all measurement points was seen in non-walking children with cerebral damages compared to healthy controls. Also, the mean skin temperature was significantly lower in all foot measuring points in the children with cerebral damages that were unable to walk compared to those walking. In conclusion, as cold extremities may result in impaired well-being and hypothetically may be associated with other symptoms born by the child, further investigations of thermal dysfunction and autonomic function are of importance and treatment may be warranted.

  15. Pharmacokinetics After Single Ascending Dose, Food Effect, and Safety of Sacubitril/Valsartan (LCZ696), an Angiotensin Receptor and Neprilysin Inhibitor, in Healthy Japanese Subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akahori, Mizuki; Ayalasomayajula, Surya; Langenickel, Thomas; Pal, Parasar; Zhou, Wei; Sunkara, Gangadhar

    2017-06-01

    LCZ696 (sacubitril/valsartan) is a novel angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) that has been developed for treatment of heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction and approved in the US, Europe, and many other countries. This randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted in healthy Japanese male subjects (N = 50) to assess the pharmacokinetics and safety of single ascending oral doses (20-600 mg) of LCZ696. Food effect was also evaluated following administration of 200 mg dose. Plasma and urine samples from 40 subjects receiving LCZ696 were collected to assess pharmacokinetics of LCZ696 analytes (sacubitril, sacubitrilat, and valsartan). Following single oral dose administration of LCZ696, sacubitril and valsartan rapidly appeared in systemic circulation with a dose-linear increase in the exposure to the LCZ696 analytes. Of the administered dose, approximately 0.85 %, 54.0 %, and 8.19 % of sacubitril, sacubitrilat, and valsartan, respectively, were recovered in urine. Food reduced AUC of sacubitril, sacubitrilat, and valsartan by 21, 8, and 40 %, respectively, and C max by 72, 27, and 51 %, respectively. Single oral doses of up to 600 mg of LCZ696 were safe and generally well tolerated in healthy Japanese male subjects.

  16. A study of the Healthy Growth Charter in socially disadvantaged children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Massimo Musicco

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The Healthy Growth Charter is an educational and health-promoting project aimed at an active involvement of the primary school children in health surveillance and protection. Being duly acquainted of the matter, scholars are asked to fill by their own a questionnaire on height, weight, sport attendance and other items of medical and demographic interest. According to the project, problems suitable of corrective measures, such as amblyopia, are signalled to the families and dealt individually. The project has been previously tested on about 1500 boys and girls from various Italian regions, showing that, despite the limits of self-reported data, it provides information in line with literature. Health inequalities in children remain an important problem also in Italy, and a second test of the Healthy Growth Charter was launched in a group of socially disadvantaged children. As reported in this paper, overweight, reduced physical activity, visual problems and other items markedly differed in this with respect to the previous study. These results provide some indication on the potential role of social disadvantage and poverty on health status of children. To better tackle the problem of health inequalities, the actual surveillance systems should be empowered, preferably with an active educational involvement of children, translating the information into public health intervention policies.

  17. Proportion-corrected scaled voxel models for Japanese children and their application to the numerical dosimetry of specific absorption rate for frequencies from 30 MHz to 3 GHz

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagaoka, Tomoaki; Watanabe, Soichi; Kunieda, Etsuo

    2008-01-01

    The development of high-resolution anatomical voxel models of children is difficult given, inter alia, the ethical limitations on subjecting children to medical imaging. We instead used an existing voxel model of a Japanese adult and three-dimensional deformation to develop three voxel models that match the average body proportions of Japanese children at 3, 5 and 7 years old. The adult model was deformed to match the proportions of a child by using the measured dimensions of various body parts of children at 3, 5 and 7 years old and a free-form deformation technique. The three developed models represent average-size Japanese children of the respective ages. They consist of cubic voxels (2 mm on each side) and are segmented into 51 tissues and organs. We calculated the whole-body-averaged specific absorption rates (WBA-SARs) and tissue-averaged SARs for the child models for exposures to plane waves from 30 MHz to 3 GHz; these results were then compared with those for scaled down adult models. We also determined the incident electric-field strength required to produce the exposure equivalent to the ICNIRP basic restriction for general public exposure, i.e., a WBA-SAR of 0.08 W kg -1 .

  18. Ecological Strategies to Promote Healthy Body Image among Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Retta R.; Roy, Jane; Geiger, Brian F.; Werner, Karen A.; Burnett, Donna

    2008-01-01

    Background: Personal habits of children and adolescents related to healthy body image (BI) are influenced by various determinants in the micro- and macroenvironment. These include attitudes and behaviors about eating; exercise and physical appearance modeled by parents, teachers, and peers; as well as opportunities to learn new habits and social…

  19. Variability of pulmonary function test in healthy children, asthmatic and with chronicle lung disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodriguez Martinez, Carlos; Sossa, Monica Patricia; Cortez, Eliana; Mallol, Javier

    2004-01-01

    Comparison of sequential pulmonary function tests in the same individual can be used to assess progression of a disease, response to therapy, or response to bronchial provocation. These types of comparisons require an understanding of the factors influencing the variability normally in repeat measurements of lung function. To avoid misleading conclusions about changes in serial measurements, the degree of variability of each test must be considered in their interpretation. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of intrasubject variability for pulmonary function testing in healthy, asthmatic and children with chronic lung disease (CLD). The tests examined were spirometry, and body plethysmography determination of lung volumes. We studied 21 healthy children, 19 asthmatic patients and 19 children with CLD, testing were done on nine occasions, three times within a day, on three different days, over a period of two months. Short-term variability was defined as the coefficient of variation for the s ix measurements made on days 1 and 2, and the long-term variability as the CV of the nine measurements made on days 1, 2 and 3. Based on the CV measures, children with CLD had significantly more variability in all spirometric values compared with healthy and asthmatic children, except for PEF (P< 0.05) children with CLD had a significantly lower CV for TGV and FRC compared with the other two groups (p < 0.05). Asthmatic children had a significantly higher CV for RV and RV/TLC compared with healthy and children with CLD (p < 0.05). We propose a method to consider changes in pulmonary function tests as significant. The degree of variability and an estimate of the percent change for significance of spirometric and plethysmographic tests must be considered in the interpretation of data to avoid misleading conclusions. The variability of spirometric pulmonary function data in healthy subjects was smaller than that for patients with pulmonary disease, so larger

  20. Supporting Japanese mothers of children with ADHD: cultural adaptation of the New Forest Parent Training Programme

    OpenAIRE

    Shimabukuro, Shizuku; Daley, David; Thompson, Margaret; Laver-Bradbury, Cathy; Nakanishi, Emi; Tripp, Gail

    2017-01-01

    International practice guidelines recommend medication and behavioral intervention as evidenced-based treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Currently in Japan, the availability of non pharmacological interventions for ADHD is limited. We report the results of a pilot and a proof-of-concept study for a new behavioral intervention for Japanese mothers of children with ADHD. The pilot study delivered a standard six-session behavioral intervention and two parent-support ...

  1. Maternal feeding practices and children's eating behaviours: A comparison of mothers with healthy weight versus overweight/obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haycraft, Emma; Karasouli, Eleni; Meyer, Caroline

    2017-09-01

    This study aimed to explore differences between mothers with healthy weight versus overweight/obesity in a wide range of their reported child feeding practices and their reports of their children's eating behaviours. Mothers (N = 437) with a 2-6-year-old child participated. They comprised two groups, based on their BMI: healthy weight (BMI of 18.0-24.9, inclusive) or overweight/obese (BMI of 25.0 or more). All mothers provided demographic information and completed self-report measures of their child feeding practices and their child's eating behaviour. In comparison to mothers with healthy weight, mothers with overweight/obesity reported giving their child more control around eating (p obesity reported their children to have a greater desire for drinks (p = 0.003), be more responsive to satiety (p = 0.007), and be slower eaters (p = 0.034). Mothers with overweight/obesity appear to engage in generally less healthy feeding practices with their children than mothers with healthy weight, and mothers with overweight/obesity perceive their children as more avoidant about food but not drinks. Such findings are likely to inform future intervention developments and help health workers and clinicians to better support mothers with overweight/obesity with implementing healthful feeding practices and promoting healthy eating habits in their children. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Healthy characters? An investigation of marketing practices in children's food advertising.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castonguay, Jessica; Kunkel, Dale; Wright, Paul; Duff, Caroline

    2013-01-01

    To determine the nutritional quality of foods advertised with familiar children's characters and health-related messages. Children's programming aired on the most popular broadcast and cable channels during 2011 was sampled to form a composite weekday and weekend day. All food advertisements (ads) included in this programming were content analyzed. Five hundred seventy-seven food ads. Familiar characters promoting products were either trade or licensed characters. A product's nutritional quality was determined using the United States Department of Health and Human Services' categorizations, based on the frequency foods should be consumed. Health cues were present when a food was claimed to be healthy, physical activity was depicted, or the product was associated with fruit. Frequencies and chi square analyses were conducted; P targeting children use a familiar character. The majority of these ads (72%) promote foods of low nutritional quality, yet 53% employ a health-related message. Familiar characters proliferate in food advertising to children, yet marketers do not adhere to recommendations that characters promote strictly healthy foods. Future research is needed to investigate effects and inform policy decisions in this realm. Copyright © 2013 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Effect of organic school meals to promote healthy diet in 11–13 year old children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    He, Chen; Breiting, Søren; Perez-Cuetoa, Federico J.A.

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate whether organic school meals can be an effective strategy to pro- vide healthy food to children and promote their healthy eating habits. Furthermore, the study aimed to examine pupils’ attitudes predicting intention and behaviours in relation to organic food...... to consume organic food but not on their behaviour. In addition, all participants were willing to adopt healthier eating habits in the future both at school and in the home. These findings suggest that children attending schools where meals include organic ingredients might be more aware of healthy foods......, organic foods and healthy eating habits....

  4. Sampling Modification Effects in the Subgingival Microbiome Profile of Healthy Children

    OpenAIRE

    Santigli, Elisabeth; Trajanoski, Slave; Eberhard, Katharina; Klug, Barbara

    2017-01-01

    Background: Oral microbiota are considered major players in the development of periodontal diseases. Thorough knowledge of intact subgingival microbiomes is required to elucidate microbial shifts from health to disease. Aims: This comparative study investigated the subgingival microbiome of healthy children, possible inter- and intra-individual effects of modified sampling, and basic comparability of subgingival microprints. Methods: In five 10-year-old children, biofilm was collected from th...

  5. Intransparent German number words complicate transcoding - A translingual comparison with Japanese

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Korbinian eMoeller

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Superior early numerical competencies of children in several Asian countries have (amongst others been attributed to the higher transparency of their number word systems. Here, we directly investigated this claim by evaluating whether Japanese children’s transcoding performance when writing numbers to dictation (e.g., twenty five  25 was less error prone than that of German-speaking children; both in general as well as when considering language-specific attributes of the German number word system such as the inversion property, in particular. In line with this hypothesis we observed that German-speaking children committed more transcoding errors in general than their Japanese peers. Moreover, their error pattern reflected the specific inversion intransparency of the German number-word system. Inversion errors in transcoding represented the most prominent error category in German-speaking children, but were almost absent in Japanese-speaking children. We conclude that the less transparent German number-word system complicates the acquisition of the correspondence between symbolic Arabic numbers and their respective verbal number words.

  6. The effect of modifiable healthy practices on higher-level functional capacity decline among Japanese community dwellers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rei Otsuka

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to clarify the effects of the accumulation of 8 modifiable practices related to health, including smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, sleeping hours, body mass index, dietary diversity, ikigai (life worth living, and health checkup status, on higher-level functional capacity decline among Japanese community dwellers. Data were derived from the National Institute for Longevity Sciences - Longitudinal Study of Aging. Subjects comprised 1269 men and women aged 40 to 79 years at baseline (1997–2000 who participated in a follow-up postal survey (2013. Higher-level functional capacity was measured using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (total score and 3 subscales: instrumental self-maintenance, intellectual activity, and social role. The odds ratio (OR and 95% confidence interval (CI for a decline in higher-level functional capacity in the follow-up study according to the total number of healthy practices were analyzed using the lowest category as a reference. Multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CIs for the total score of higher-level functional capacity, which declined according to the total number of healthy practices (0–4, 5–6, 7–8 groups were 1.00 (reference, 0.63 (0.44–0.92, and 0.54 (0.31–0.94. For the score of social role decline, multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CIs were 1.00 (reference, 0.62 (0.40–0.97, and 0.46 (0.23–0.90, respectively (P for trend = 0.04. Having more modifiable healthy practices, especially in social roles, may protect against a decline in higher-level functional capacity among middle-aged and elderly community dwellers in Japan.

  7. The effect of modifiable healthy practices on higher-level functional capacity decline among Japanese community dwellers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otsuka, Rei; Nishita, Yukiko; Tange, Chikako; Tomida, Makiko; Kato, Yuki; Nakamoto, Mariko; Ando, Fujiko; Shimokata, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Takao

    2017-03-01

    This study aimed to clarify the effects of the accumulation of 8 modifiable practices related to health, including smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, sleeping hours, body mass index, dietary diversity, ikigai (life worth living), and health checkup status, on higher-level functional capacity decline among Japanese community dwellers. Data were derived from the National Institute for Longevity Sciences - Longitudinal Study of Aging. Subjects comprised 1269 men and women aged 40 to 79 years at baseline (1997-2000) who participated in a follow-up postal survey (2013). Higher-level functional capacity was measured using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (total score and 3 subscales: instrumental self-maintenance, intellectual activity, and social role). The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for a decline in higher-level functional capacity in the follow-up study according to the total number of healthy practices were analyzed using the lowest category as a reference. Multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for the total score of higher-level functional capacity, which declined according to the total number of healthy practices (0-4, 5-6, 7-8 groups) were 1.00 (reference), 0.63 (0.44-0.92), and 0.54 (0.31-0.94). For the score of social role decline, multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CIs) were 1.00 (reference), 0.62 (0.40-0.97), and 0.46 (0.23-0.90), respectively (P for trend = 0.04). Having more modifiable healthy practices, especially in social roles, may protect against a decline in higher-level functional capacity among middle-aged and elderly community dwellers in Japan.

  8. [Developmental changes in reading ability of Japanese elementary school children--analysis of 4 kana reading tasks].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Tomoka; Inagaki, Masumi; Gunji, Atsuko; Yatabe, Kiyomi; Kaga, Makiko; Goto, Takaaki; Koike, Toshihide; Wakamiya, Eiji; Koeda, Tatsuya

    2010-01-01

    Five hundred and twenty-eight Japanese elementary school children aged from 6 (Grade 1) to 12 (Grade 6) were tested for their abilities to read Hiragana characters, words, and short sentences. They were typically developing children whom the classroom teachers judged to have no problems with reading and writing in Japanese. Each child was asked to read four tasks which were written in Hiragana script: single mora reading task, four syllable non-word reading task, four syllable word reading task, and short sentence reading task. The total articulation time for reading and performance in terms of accuracy were measured for each task. Developmental changes in these variables were evaluated. The articulation time was significantly longer for the first graders, and it gradually shortened as they moved through to the upper grades in all tasks. The articulation time reached a plateau in the 4th grade for the four syllable word and short sentence reading tasks, while it did so for the single mora and four syllable non-word reading tasks in the 5th grade. The articulation times for the four syllable word and short sentence reading tasks correlated strongly. There were very few clear errors for all tasks, and the number of such errors significantly changed between the school grades only for the single mora and four syllable word reading tasks. It was noted that more than half of the children read the beginning portion of the word or phrase twice or more, in order to read it accurately, and developmental changes were also seen in this pattern of reading. This study revealed that the combination of these reading tasks may function as a screening test for reading disorders such as developmental dyslexia in children below the age of ten or eleven years old.

  9. The influence of parental encouragement and caring about healthy eating on children's diet quality and body weights.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faught, Erin; Vander Ploeg, Kerry; Chu, Yen Li; Storey, Kate; Veugelers, Paul J

    2016-04-01

    In order to mitigate childhood obesity, evidence on what influences children's health behaviours is needed to inform new health promotion strategies. The present study investigated the association between parental practices and their child's diet and body weight status. Grade 5 students and their parents completed health surveys. Parents were asked how much they 'encourage their child to eat healthy foods' and how much they 'personally care about healthy eating'. Children's diet quality and vegetable and fruit intake were assessed using an FFQ. Children's heights and weights were measured to determine body weight status. Mixed-effects regression models were used to determine the influence of parental responses on the outcomes of interest. Elementary schools across the province of Alberta, Canada. Grade 5 students (aged 10 and 11 years; n 8388) and their parent(s). Most parents reported caring about healthy eating and encouraging their child to eat healthy foods at least quite a lot. Children whose parents who cared or encouraged 'very much' compared with 'quite a lot' were more likely have better diet quality and were less likely to be overweight. Children whose parents both cared and encouraged 'very much' compared with 'quite a lot' scored an average of 2·06 points higher on the diet quality index (β=2·06; 95 % CI 1·45, 2·66). Health promotion strategies that aim for a high level of parental interest and encouragement of their children to eat healthy foods may improve diet quality and prevent overweight among children.

  10. Developmental trajectories of body mass index among Japanese children and impact of maternal factors during pregnancy.

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    Chiyori Haga

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to 1 determine the distinct patterns of body mass index (BMI trajectories in Japanese children, and 2 elucidate the maternal factors during pregnancy, which contribute to the determination of those patterns. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: All of the children (1,644 individuals born in Koshu City, Japan, between 1991 and 1998 were followed in a longitudinal study exploring the subjects' BMI. The BMI was calculated 11 times for each child between birth and 12 years of age. Exploratory latent class growth analyses were conducted to identify trajectory patterns of the BMI z-scores. The distribution of BMI trajectories were best characterized by a five-group model for boys and a six-group model for girls. The groups were named "stable thin," "stable average," "stable high average," "progressive overweight," and "progressive obesity" in both sexes; girls were allocated to an additional group called "progressive average." Multinomial logistic regression found that maternal weight, smoking, and skipping breakfast during pregnancy were associated with children included in the progressive obesity pattern rather than the stable average pattern. These associations were stronger for boys than for girls. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Multiple developmental patterns in Japanese boys and girls were identified, some of which have not been identified in Western countries. Maternal BMI and some unfavorable behaviors during early pregnancy may impact a child's pattern of body mass development. Further studies to explain the gender and regional differences that were identified are warranted, as these may be important for early life prevention of weight-associated health problems.

  11. Comparison of Motivational Factors between Japanese and United States High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kavanaugh, Debbie

    2009-01-01

    Spanning multiple subjects and age groups, U.S. students rate poorly while Japanese students rate highly when subject to international testing. Japanese children complete twice as much homework as their U.S. counterparts and sometimes attend school on Saturdays. The literature review looks at motivation in both U.S. American and Japanese students…

  12. Healthy Diet in Children: Facts and Keys

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    Gholam Hasan Khodaee

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Consuming a healthy diet throughout the lifecourse helps prevent malnutrition in all its forms as well as a range of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs and conditions. But the increased production of processed food, rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles have led to a shift in dietary patterns. People are now consuming more foods high in energy, fats, free sugars or salt/sodium, and many do not eat enough fruit, vegetables and dietary fibre such as whole grains. In the first 2 years of a child’s life, optimal nutrition fosters healthy growth and improves cognitive development. It also reduces the risk of becoming overweight or obese and developing NCDs later in life. Nutrition for kids is based on the same principles as nutrition for adults. Everyone needs the same types of nutrients; such as vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, protein and fat. Children, however, need different amounts of specific nutrients at different ages

  13. COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF EMOTIONAL CONDITION OF HEALTHY SCHOOLCHILDREN AND CHILDREN WITH POLLINOSIS AT THE AGE OF 11–17 YEARS

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    O. I. Muradova

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The comparative characteristics of emotional condition of healthy schoolchildren and children with pollinosis at the age of 11–17 years old was performed with Spielberg-Hanin questionnaire on the basis of computer psychophysiological complex CPPC-99 «Psichomat».One hundred seventy-five healthy schoolchildren and 46 children with pollinosis at the age of 11–17 years old were included to the study. No significant difference in reactive anxiety between children with pollinosis and healthy children was found. It was shown, that pollinosis (in 35% significantly and concomitant diseases, such as bronchial asthma (in 57 significant influence on personality anxiety, in comparison with healthy children (significant personality anxiety was found in 3% of cases. It was revealed, that all children from control group with high anxiety rate (3% were 17-year-old adolescents.

  14. Validity of predictive equations for basal metabolic rate in Japanese adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyake, Rieko; Tanaka, Shigeho; Ohkawara, Kazunori; Ishikawa-Takata, Kazuko; Hikihara, Yuki; Taguri, Emiko; Kayashita, Jun; Tabata, Izumi

    2011-01-01

    Many predictive equations for basal metabolic rate (BMR) based on anthropometric measurements, age, and sex have been developed, mainly for healthy Caucasians. However, it has been reported that many of these equations, used widely, overestimate BMR not only for Asians, but also for Caucasians. The present study examined the accuracy of several predictive equations for BMR in Japanese subjects. In 365 healthy Japanese male and female subjects, aged 18 to 79 y, BMR was measured in the post-absorptive state using a mask and Douglas bag. Six predictive equations were examined. Total error was used as an index of the accuracy of each equation's prediction. Predicted BMR values by Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese (Japan-DRI), Adjusted Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese (Adjusted-DRI), and Ganpule equations were not significantly different from the measured BMR in either sex. On the other hand, Harris-Benedict, Schofield, and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization/United Nations University equations were significantly higher than the measured BMR in both sexes. The prediction error by Japan-DRI, Adjusted-DRI, and Harris-Benedict equations was significantly correlated with body weight in both sexes. Total error using the Ganpule equation was low in both males and females (125 and 99 kcal/d, respectively). In addition, total error using the Adjusted-DRI equation was low in females (95 kcal/d). Thus, the Ganpule equation was the most accurate in predicting BMR in our healthy Japanese subjects, because the difference between the predicted and measured BMR was relatively small, and body weight had no effect on the prediction error.

  15. Japanese language and Japanese science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanikawa, Kiyotaka

    2003-08-01

    Japanese mathematical scientists including astronomers, physicists, and mathematicians obtain ideas in Japanese, discuss their problems in Japanese, and arrive at conclusions in Japanese, and yet they write their results in foreign languages such as English. This uncomfortable situation has continued for nearly one hundred years and has had serious effects on Japanese science. In this short report, the author discusses and analyses these effects. In order to put Japanese science on a sound basis, the author proposes to increase the number of articles, reviews and textbooks in Japanese, first by translation and second by the voluntary efforts of scientists themselves. As centers devoted to this activity, the author proposes to construct "Airborne Libraries" which are maintained and accumulate in an electronic form the scientific documents written in Japanese.

  16. 78 FR 13350 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children's...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-27

    ... community-based initiatives; community characteristics (e.g., school environment); measurements of children... used for the development of future research initiatives targeting childhood obesity. Frequency of... Request Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children's Health (HCS) Summary: Under the...

  17. Efficacy of a compulsory homework programme for increasing physical activity and healthy eating in children: the healthy homework pilot study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Duncan Scott

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Most physical activity and nutrition interventions in children focus on the school setting; however, evidence suggests that children are less active and have greater access to unhealthy food at home. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the efficacy of a compulsory homework programme for increasing physical activity and healthy eating in children. Methods The six-week 'Healthy Homework' programme and complementary teaching resource was developed under the guidance of an intersectoral steering group. Eight senior classes (year levels 5-6 from two diverse Auckland primary schools were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. A total of 97 children (57 intervention, 40 control aged 9-11 years participated in the evaluation of the intervention. Daily step counts were monitored immediately before and after the intervention using sealed multiday memory pedometers. Screen time, sports participation, active transport to and from school, and the consumption of fruits, vegetables, unhealthy foods and drinks were recorded concurrently in a 4-day food and activity diary. Results Healthy Homework resulted in a significant intervention effect of 2,830 steps.day-1 (95% CI: 560, 5,300, P = 0.013. This effect was consistent between sexes, schools, and day types (weekdays and weekend days. In addition, significant intervention effects were observed for vegetable consumption (0.83 servings.day-1, 95% CI: 0.24, 1.43, P = 0.007 and unhealthy food consumption (-0.56 servings.day-1, 95% CI: -1.05, -0.07, P = 0.027 on weekends but not weekdays, with no interactions with sex or school. Effects for all other variables were not statistically significant regardless of day type. Conclusions Compulsory health-related homework appears to be an effective approach for increasing physical activity and improving vegetable and unhealthy food consumption in children. Further research in a larger study is required to confirm these initial

  18. A Community-based Healthy Living Promotion Program Improved Self-esteem Among Minority Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, William W; Ortiz, Christina L; Stuff, Janice E; Mikhail, Carmen; Lathan, Debra; Moore, Louis A; Alejandro, Mercedes E; Butte, Nancy F; Smith, Elliot O'Brian

    2016-07-01

    Improving self-esteem, dietary habits, and physical activity is essential for long-term success in childhood obesity prevention. The aim is to evaluate the effects of a healthy living promotion program, Healthy Kids-Houston, on BMI, dietary habits, self-esteem, and physical activity among minority children. The after-school program was implemented at community centers in low-income neighborhoods with close proximity to public schools. The program consisted of 3 6-week sessions. Each week, children attended 2 2-hour sessions. Each 2-hour session in the intervention included 90 minutes of structured physical activities and 30 minutes of nutrition and healthy habit lessons. The control group received typical enrichment programs. Outcomes were measured before the intervention and at the end of each 6-week session. We enrolled 877 children (age 10.2 ± 0.1 years (mean ± SE); body mass index z score: 1.49 ± 0.1; 52.0% boys; 72.6% Hispanic) in the program with 524 children received the intervention at 14 community centers and 353 children served as control at 10 community centers. The intervention led to no improvements in BMI z score (P = 0.78) and dietary habits (P = 0.46). Significant improvements (P ≤ 0.02) were detected in the amount of exercise that a child perceived to be required to offset a large meal and in several key self-esteem scores. No improvements were detected in physical activities (P ≥ 0.21). The improvement in some key self-esteem scores and nutrition knowledge may act as a mediator to motivate these children to adopt a healthier lifestyle in the future.

  19. Children with Congenital Hypothyroidism Have Similar Neuroradiological Abnormal Findings as Healthy Ones

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    Marianna Rachmiel

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To assess the neuroradiological findings of children with congenital hypothyroidism (CHT compared to healthy controls (HC. Patients and Methods. Thirty children with CHT, mean age 12.5 ± 1.6 years, 14 (44.8% males, were compared with 38 HC mean age 11.7 ± 1.7 years, 16 (45.7% males. Clinical data were collected from medical charts and questionnaires seeking information on family history, birth and perinatal period events, medications, and overall health history. Neurocognitive function was assessed for global intelligence, visual and verbal memory, and executive functioning using standardized tests. Neuroimaging was performed using 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging and assessed by two pediatric radiologists. Results. Children with CHT had a similar proportion of incidental findings as did the children in the HC group, at 43.3% and 39.5%, respectively, . Abnormalities of the sellar region were reported in 13.3% of CHT group and 7.9% of HC group, . Other incidental findings included cerebellar ectopia, choroidal fissure and pineal cysts, and multiple increased signal intensity foci. Neuroradiological findings were not associated with clinical and neurocognitive abnormalities. Conclusion. Neuroimaging of children with CHT demonstrated a similar incidence of structural abnormalities as in the healthy population. There is no association between those findings and neurocognitive function.

  20. Intestinal microbiota in healthy U.S. young children and adults--a high throughput microarray analysis.

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    Tamar Ringel-Kulka

    Full Text Available It is generally believed that the infant's microbiota is established during the first 1-2 years of life. However, there is scarce data on its characterization and its comparison to the adult-like microbiota in consecutive years.To characterize and compare the intestinal microbiota in healthy young children (1-4 years and healthy adults from the North Carolina region in the U.S. using high-throughput bacterial phylogenetic microarray analysis.Detailed characterization and comparison of the intestinal microbiota of healthy children aged 1-4 years old (n = 28 and healthy adults of 21-60 years (n = 23 was carried out using the Human Intestinal Tract Chip (HITChip phylogenetic microarray targeting the V1 and V6 regions of 16S rRNA and quantitative PCR.The HITChip microarray data indicate that Actinobacteria, Bacilli, Clostridium cluster IV and Bacteroidetes are the predominant phylum-like groups that exhibit differences between young children and adults. The phylum-like group Clostridium cluster XIVa was equally predominant in young children and adults and is thus considered to be established at an early age. The genus-like level show significant 3.6 fold (higher or lower differences in the abundance of 26 genera between young children and adults. Young U.S. children have a significantly 3.5-fold higher abundance of Bifidobacterium species than the adults from the same location. However, the microbiota of young children is less diverse than that of adults.We show that the establishment of an adult-like intestinal microbiota occurs at a later age than previously reported. Characterizing the microbiota and its development in the early years of life may help identify 'windows of opportunity' for interventional strategies that may promote health and prevent or mitigate disease processes.

  1. Effects of Food on the Pharmacokinetics of Omega-3-Carboxylic Acids in Healthy Japanese Male Subjects: A Phase I, Randomized, Open-label, Three-period, Crossover Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimada, Hitoshi; Nilsson, Catarina; Noda, Yoshinori; Kim, Hyosung; Lundström, Torbjörn; Yajima, Toshitaka

    2017-09-01

    Omega-3-carboxylic acids (OM3-CA) contain omega-3 free fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), as carboxylic acids. Food intake is known to affect the bioavailability of ethyl ester fatty acid formulations. We conducted a phase I study to investigate the effects of the timing of OM3-CA administration relative to food intake on the pharmacokinetics of EPA and DHA. In this randomized, open-label, three-period crossover study, Japanese healthy male subjects were administered 4×1 g OM3-CA capsules with continued fasting, before a meal, or after a meal. All subjects fasted for ≥10 h prior to drug/meal administration. The primary objective was to examine the effect of meal timing on the pharmacokinetics of EPA and DHA after OM3-CA administration. The secondary objectives were to examine the safety and tolerability of OM3-CA. A total of 42 Japanese subjects was enrolled in the study. The baseline-adjusted maximum concentration and area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 72 h for EPA, DHA, and EPA +DHA were lower in the fasting and before meal conditions than in the after meal condition. The maximum total EPA, total DHA, and total EPA+DHA concentrations were reached later when administered in fasting conditions than in fed conditions, indicating slower absorption in fasting conditions. Diarrhea was reported by five, six, and no subjects in the fasting, before meal, and after meal conditions, respectively. The timing of OM3-CA administration relative to food intake influences the systemic bioavailability of EPA and DHA in healthy Japanese male subjects. NCT02372344.

  2. Enfants en santé Ouganda - Healthy Children Uganda (HCU) | IDRC ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Depuis 2003, le partenariat canado-ougandais Enfants en santé Ouganda - Healthy Children Uganda (HCU) a mis en oeuvre un programme de bénévolat en santé dans 175 villages. ... A new website and resource library will help improve developing country registration and information systems for vital events.

  3. Counselling parents on young children's healthy diet: A modified scoping review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmberg Fagerlund, Bettina; Helseth, Sølvi; Owe, Jenny; Glavin, Kari

    2017-12-01

    To map and describe key information in existing research about counselling of parents of children aged 0-2 years on the child's healthy diet in preventive healthcare settings, particularly in public health nursing. Many parents are likely to be concerned with their infant's food-related happiness "here and now," disregarding the child's long-term health and development related to feeding practices. Hence, a focus on counselling parents in considering young children's healthy diet is important. A modified scoping review with an inductive qualitative content analysis of selected empirical studies. Systematic searches in EMBASE (1996-2015 Week 46), Ovid Nursing Database (1946-2015 November Week 1), Ovid MEDLINE and Ovid OLDMEDLINE (2000-18 November 2015) and CINAHL (2000-22 December 2015), using search terms based on aims. Eight included studies, with participants per sample ranging from 19->500. Research designs were focus group discussions and/or interview study (n = 2), cluster-randomised trials (n = 2), randomised controlled trials (n = 2), a follow-up interview study (n = 1) to a previous randomised controlled trial and a cross-sectional electronic questionnaire study (n = 1). The studies included a total sample of 2,025 participants, 42 of them in interview studies. Findings indicate parents' perceptions of inconsistency, misconceptions and uncertainty related to the recommendations on child feeding from the authorities. Thus, adapted advice could impact healthier child diet. Maternal knowledge on child feeding and reduced use of food as a reward are mediators for improved diet quality in children. Counselling on young children's healthy diet should be anticipatory, consistent and adapted to the family. Due to inconsistent recommendations and omitted focus on anticipatory counselling on child feeding, parents might perceive pressure and uncertainty related to the child's diet. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Voxel-based morphometric brain comparison between healthy subjects and major depressive disorder patients in Japanese with the s/s genotype of 5-HTTLPR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Igata, Natsuki; Kakeda, Shingo; Watanabe, Keita; Ide, Satoru; Kishi, Taro; Abe, Osamu; Igata, Ryouhei; Katsuki, Asuka; Iwata, Nakao; Yoshimura, Reiji; Korogi, Yukunori

    2017-06-21

    Individuals with s/s genotype of serotonin transporter gene-linked promotor region (5-HTTLPR), which appear with a high frequency in Japanese, exhibit more diagnosable depression in relation to stressful life events than those with the s/l or l/l genotype. We prospectively investigated the brain volume changes in first-episode and medication naïve major depression disorder patients (MDD) with the s/s genotype in Japanese. We assessed the differences between 27 MDD with the s/s genotype and 44 healthy subjects (HS) with the same genotype using a whole-brain voxel-by-voxel statistical analysis of MRI. Gray matter volume in a brain region with significant clusters obtained via voxel-based morphometry analysis were measured and, as an exploratory analysis, evaluated for relationships to the subcategory scores (core, sleep, activity, psychic, somatic anxiety, delusion) of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS). The brain volume in the left insula lobe was significantly smaller in the MDD than in the HS. The left insula lobe volume correlated negatively with the "psychic" score of HAM-D and the SRRS. In a Japanese population with the s/s genotype, we found an atrophy of the insula in the MDD, which might be associated with "psychic" symptom and stress events.

  5. Cognitive Outcomes for Congenital Hypothyroid and Healthy Children: A Comparative Study

    OpenAIRE

    Mahtab ORDOOEI; Hadi MOTTAGHIPISHEH; Razieh FALLAH*; Azar RABIEE

    2014-01-01

    How to Cite This Article: Ordooei M, MottaghiPisheh H, Fallah R, Rabiee A. Cognitive Outcomes for Congenital Hypothyroid andHealthy Children: A Comparative Study. Iran J Child Neurol. 2014 Autumn;8(4): 28-32.AbstractObjectiveEarly diagnosis and treatment of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) and the prevention of developmental retardation is the main goal of public health national screening programs. This study compares the cognitive ability of children with CH diagnosed by neonatal screening wit...

  6. The Relationship between Comprehension of Figurative Language by Japanese Children with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders and College Freshmen’s Assessment of Its Conventionality of Usage

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    Manabu Oi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Unlike their English-speaking counterparts, Japanese children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs perform as well as typically developing (TD children in comprehending metaphor, despite lacking 1st order theory of mind (ToM reasoning. Additionally, although Japanese sarcasm and “indirect reproach” appear theoretically to need 2nd order ToM reasoning, HFASD children without this comprehended these forms of language as well as TD children. To attempt to explain this contradiction, we asked college freshmen to evaluate the strangeness (unconventionality of these types of figurative language. We aimed to test the hypothesis that metaphor, sarcasm, and “indirect reproach” might be evaluated as more conventional than irony, which children with HFASDs do not comprehend as well as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The results for irony, metaphor, and “indirect reproach” supported the hypothesis, while those for sarcasm did not. Sarcasm is comprehended by HFASDs children as well as by TD children despite being evaluated as highly unconventional. This contradiction is discussed from a self-in-relation-to-other perspective. We postulate that a new explanation of disabilities of figurative language comprehension in children with HFASDs is needed instead of relying on a single cognitive process.

  7. A treat for the eyes. An eye-tracking study on children's attention to unhealthy and healthy food cues in media content.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spielvogel, Ines; Matthes, Jörg; Naderer, Brigitte; Karsay, Kathrin

    2018-06-01

    Based on cue reactivity theory, food cues embedded in media content can lead to physiological and psychological responses in children. Research suggests that unhealthy food cues are represented more extensively and interactively in children's media environments than healthy ones. However, it is not clear to this date whether children react differently to unhealthy compared to healthy food cues. In an experimental study with 56 children (55.4% girls; M age  = 8.00, SD = 1.58), we used eye-tracking to determine children's attention to unhealthy and healthy food cues embedded in a narrative cartoon movie. Besides varying the food type (i.e., healthy vs. unhealthy), we also manipulated the integration levels of food cues with characters (i.e., level of food integration; no interaction vs. handling vs. consumption), and we assessed children's individual susceptibility factors by measuring the impact of their hunger level. Our results indicated that unhealthy food cues attract children's visual attention to a larger extent than healthy cues. However, their initial visual interest did not differ between unhealthy and healthy food cues. Furthermore, an increase in the level of food integration led to an increase in visual attention. Our findings showed no moderating impact of hunger. We conclude that especially unhealthy food cues with an interactive connection trigger cue reactivity in children. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Emolabeling increases healthy food choices among grade school children in a structured grocery aisle setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Privitera, Gregory J; Phillips, Taylor E; Zuraikat, Faris M; Paque, Robert

    2015-09-01

    Health literacy, the ability to acquire health-related knowledge and make appropriate health-related decisions, is regarded as a key barrier to meaningfully convey health information to children and can impact food choice. Emolabeling is an image-based labeling strategy aimed at addressing this problem by conveying health information using emotional correlates of health using emoticons (happy = healthy; sad = not healthy). To test the utility of such a method to promote healthy food choices among children, 64 children (59% girls, foods in each of 2 aisles structured to mimic a grocery aisle - there were 12 identical foods placed in the same location in each aisle with half being low calorie and half high calorie snacks. Foods were emolabeled in one aisle; no emolabels were used in the other aisle; the order that children were brought in each aisle was counterbalanced. Results showed that adding emolabels increased the number (M ± SD) of healthy foods chosen (3.6 ± 0.7 with vs. 2.3 ± 1.1 without emolabels present [95% CI 1.0, 1.5], R(2) = .67) and reduced the total calories (M ± SD) of foods chosen (193.5 ± 88.5 Cal with vs. 374.3 ± 152.6 Cal without emolabels present [95% CI -212.6, -149.0], R(2) = .70). Hence, adding emolabels was associated with healthier food choices among children, thereby demonstrating one possible strategy to effectively overcome health literacy barriers at these ages. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Development of Text Reading in Japanese: An Eye Movement Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jincho, Nobuyuki; Feng, Gary; Mazuka, Reiko

    2014-01-01

    This study examined age-group differences in eye movements among third-grade, fifth-grade, and adult Japanese readers. In Experiment 1, Japanese children, but not adults, showed a longer fixation time on logographic kanji words than on phonologically transparent hiragana words. Further, an age-group difference was found in the first fixation…

  10. Comparison of pharmacokinetics of newly discovered aromatase inhibitors by a cassette microdosing approach in healthy Japanese subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kusuhara, Hiroyuki; Takashima, Tadayuki; Fujii, Hisako; Takashima, Tsutomu; Tanaka, Masaaki; Ishii, Akira; Tazawa, Shusaku; Takahashi, Kazuhiro; Takahashi, Kayo; Tokai, Hidekichi; Yano, Tsuneo; Kataoka, Makoto; Inano, Akihiro; Yoshida, Suguru; Hosoya, Takamitsu; Sugiyama, Yuichi; Yamashita, Shinji; Hojo, Taisuke; Watanabe, Yasuyoshi

    2017-12-01

    The aim of the present study is to investigate the pharmacokinetics of our newly developed aromatase inhibitors (cetrozole and TMD-322) in healthy subjects by a cassette microdose strategy. A cocktail of cetrozole and TMD-322 was administered intravenously or orally (1.98 μg for each drug) to six healthy volunteers in a crossover fashion. Anastrozole (1.98 μg) was also included in the oral cocktail. Total body clearance and bioavailability were 12.1 ± 7.1 mL/min/kg and 34.9 ± 32.3% for cetrozole, and 16.8 ± 3.5 mL/min/kg and 18.4 ± 12.2% for TMD-322, respectively. The area under the plasma concentration-time curves of cetrozole and TMD-322 after oral administration was markedly lower than that of anastrozole because of their high hepatic clearance. Two subjects out of six exhibited 4- and 17-fold larger exposure of cetrozole than the others following intravenous and oral administration, respectively. Such variation was not observed for TMD-322 and anastrozole. Extensive metabolism of cetrozole and TMD-322 was observed in the CYP2C19 expression system among the test CYP isoforms (CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4). We report the first clinical investigation of our aromatase inhibitors by a cassette microdose strategy in healthy Japanese subjects. This strategy offers an optional approach for candidate selection as a phase zero study in drug development. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  11. Reference Values for Inspiratory Muscle Endurance in Healthy Children and Adolescents.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristhiele Taís Woszezenki

    Full Text Available To generate reference values for two inspiratory muscle endurance (IME protocols in healthy children and adolescents.This is an observational, cross-sectional study, in healthy children and adolescents from 4 to 18 years of age. Weight, height, maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP and IME were measured using two protocols. A fixed load of 30% of MIP with a 10% increment every 2 minutes was used in the incremental threshold loading protocol. As for the maximal loading protocol, a fixed load of 70% of MIP was used and the time limit (Tlim achieved until fatigue was measured.A total of 462 participants were included, 281 corresponding to the incremental loading protocol and 181 to maximal loading. There were moderate and positive correlations between IME and age, MIP, weight and height in the incremental threshold loading. However, the regression model demonstrated that MIP and age were the best variables to predict the IME. Otherwise, weak and positive correlations with age, weight and height were found in the maximal loading. Only age and height influenced endurance in the regression model. The predictive power (r2 of the incremental threshold loading protocol was 0.65, while the maximal loading was 0.15. The reproducibility measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC was higher in the incremental loading (0.96 compared to the maximal loading test (0.69.IME in healthy children and adolescents can be explained by age, height and MIP. The incremental threshold loading protocol showed more reliable results and should be the model of choice to evaluate IME in the pediatric age group.

  12. Correlation among body height, intelligence, and brain gray matter volume in healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taki, Yasuyuki; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Sassa, Yuko; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Asano, Michiko; Asano, Kohei; Kotozaki, Yuka; Nouchi, Rui; Wu, Kai; Fukuda, Hiroshi; Kawashima, Ryuta

    2012-01-16

    A significant positive correlation between height and intelligence has been demonstrated in children. Additionally, intelligence has been associated with the volume of gray matter in the brains of children. Based on these correlations, we analyzed the correlation among height, full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ) and gray matter volume applying voxel-based morphometry using data from the brain magnetic resonance images of 160 healthy children aged 5-18 years of age. As a result, body height was significantly positively correlated with brain gray matter volume. Additionally, the regional gray matter volume of several regions such as the bilateral prefrontal cortices, temporoparietal region, and cerebellum was significantly positively correlated with body height and that the gray matter volume of several of these regions was also significantly positively correlated with full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ) scores after adjusting for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Our results demonstrate that gray and white matter volume may mediate the correlation between body height and intelligence in healthy children. Additionally, the correlations among gray and white matter volume, height, and intelligence may be at least partially explained by the effect of insulin-like growth factor-1 and growth hormones. Given the importance of the effect of environmental factors, especially nutrition, on height, IQ, and gray matter volume, the present results stress the importance of nutrition during childhood for the healthy maturation of body and brain. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Targeted vaccination in healthy school children - Can primary school vaccination alone control influenza?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thorrington, Dominic; Jit, Mark; Eames, Ken

    2015-10-05

    The UK commenced an extension to the seasonal influenza vaccination policy in autumn 2014 that will eventually see all healthy children between the ages of 2-16 years offered annual influenza vaccination. Models suggest that the new policy will be both highly effective at reducing the burden of influenza as well as cost-effective. We explore whether targeting vaccination at either primary or secondary schools would be more effective and/or cost-effective than the current strategy. An age-structured deterministic transmission dynamic SEIR-type mathematical model was used to simulate a national influenza outbreak in England. Costs including GP consultations, hospitalisations due to influenza and vaccinations were compared to potential gains in quality-adjusted life years achieved through vaccinating healthy children. Costs and benefits of the new JCVI vaccination policy were estimated over a single season, and compared to the hypothesised new policies of targeted and heterogeneous vaccination. All potential vaccination policies were highly cost-effective. Influenza transmission can be eliminated for a particular season by vaccinating both primary and secondary school children, but not by vaccinating only one group. The most cost-effective policy overall is heterogeneous vaccination coverage with 48% uptake in primary schools and 34% in secondary schools. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation can consider a modification to their policy of offering seasonal influenza vaccinations to all healthy children of ages 2-16 years. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Clonal structure of Staphylococcus aureus colonizing children with sickle cell anaemia and healthy controls

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schaumburg, F.; Biallas, B.; Alabi, A. S.; Grobusch, M. P.; Feugap, E. N.; Lell, B.; Mellmann, A.; Peters, G.; Kremsner, P. G.; Becker, K.; Adegnika, A. A.

    2013-01-01

    Children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) might carry hospital-associated bacterial lineages due to frequent hospital stays and antibiotic treatments. In this study we compared Staphylococcus aureus from SCA patients (n=73) and healthy children (n=143) in a cross-sectional study in Gabon. S. aureus

  15. Safety and immunogenicity of a live attenuated Japanese encephalitis chimeric virus vaccine (IMOJEV®) in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chokephaibulkit, K; Houillon, G; Feroldi, E; Bouckenooghe, A

    2016-01-01

    JE-CV (IMOJEV®, Sanofi Pasteur, France) is a live attenuated virus vaccine constructed by inserting coding sequences of the prM and E structural proteins of the Japanese encephalitis SA14-14-2 virus into the genome of yellow fever 17D virus. Primary immunization with JE-CV requires a single dose of the vaccine. This article reviews clinical trials of JE-CV in children aged up to 6 years conducted in countries across South-East Asia. Strong and persistent antibody responses were observed after single primary and booster doses, with 97% of children seroprotected up to five years after booster vaccination. Models of long-term antibody persistence predict a median duration of protection of approximately 30 years after a booster dose. The safety and reactogenicity profiles of JE-CV primary and booster doses are comparable to other widely used childhood vaccines.

  16. Healthy Living Behaviors Among Chinese-American Preschool-Aged Children: Results of a Parent Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chomitz, Virginia Rall; Brown, Alison; Lee, Victoria; Must, Aviva; Chui, Kenneth Kwan Ho

    2017-07-17

    Associations between diet, physical activity, parenting, and acculturation among Chinese-American children are understudied. Parents/caregivers of children attending child-care programs in Boston Chinatown completed a self-administered survey on demographics, child's diet, physical activities, anthropometrics, and parenting practices. Associations were evaluated in multivariable regression analysis, stratified by survey language preference, a proxy for acculturation. Responding Asian families = 132; 86.4% were immigrants; 75.8% completed the Chinese-version survey. Children (mean ± SD: 4.9 ± 1.1 years) did not eat vegetables (31.8%), or play actively outside (45.4%) daily, 64.8% watched television/screens daily; 32.6% were overweight/obese (based on parent report). Parenting practices associated with obesity were apparent. Although healthy-living behavioral outcomes were less prevalent among less acculturated parents; multivariable adjustment attenuated the observed significant differences. Findings suggest opportunities for improvement in study children's diet and healthy-living behaviors, and underscore the need for further research on acculturation, and parenting styles in this population.

  17. Is parenting style related to children's healthy eating and physical activity in Latino families?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arredondo, Elva M; Elder, John P; Ayala, Guadalupe X; Campbell, Nadia; Baquero, Barbara; Duerksen, Susan

    2006-12-01

    Parenting styles influence a child's risk for obesity. The goals of this study are to evaluate the influence of (i) parenting style on children's health behaviors (physical activity and dietary intake), (ii) children's sociodemographic characteristics on parenting style and on children's health behaviors and (iii) parents' sociodemographic characteristics on their use of controlling styles to promote a healthy home environment. Survey and anthropometric data were collected from a community sample of Latino parents (n = 812) and their children in kindergarten through second grade. Parental use of positive reinforcement and monitoring was associated with children's healthy eating and exercise. Also, parents' use of appropriate disciplining styles was associated with healthier eating, while parental use of control styles was associated with unhealthy eating. The daughters of parents who used controlling styles ate more unhealthy foods than did the sons. Older, employed and more acculturated parents used less controlling styles than their counterparts. Parenting interventions targeting children's dietary intake and physical activity should encourage parents to use more positive reinforcement and monitor their children's health behaviors as these parenting styles are associated with healthier behaviors. Moreover, intervention researchers may want to encourage Latino parents to use less controlling styles with girls as this parenting style increased girls' risk for unhealthy eating.

  18. Electrophoretic protein patterns and numerical analysis of Candida albicans from the oral cavities of healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boriollo Marcelo Fabiano Gomes

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research was to evaluate the protein polymorphism degree among seventy-five C. albicans strains from healthy children oral cavities of five socioeconomic categories from eight schools (private and public in Piracicaba city, São Paulo State, in order to identify C. albicans subspecies and their similarities in infantile population groups and to establish their possible dissemination route. Cell cultures were grown in YEPD medium, collected by centrifugation, and washed with cold saline solution. The whole-cell proteins were extracted by cell disruption, using glass beads and submitted to SDS-PAGE technique. After electrophoresis, the protein bands were stained with Coomassie-blue and analyzed by statistics package NTSYS-pc version 1.70 software. Similarity matrix and dendrogram were generated by using the Dice similarity coefficient and UPGMA algorithm, respectively, which made it possible to evaluate the similarity or intra-specific polymorphism degrees, based on whole-cell protein fingerprinting of C. albicans oral isolates. A total of 13 major phenons (clusters were analyzed, according to their homogeneous (socioeconomic category and/or same school and heterogeneous (distinct socioeconomic categories and/or schools characteristics. Regarding to the social epidemiological aspect, the cluster composition showed higher similarities (0.788 < S D < 1.0 among C. albicans strains isolated from healthy children independent of their socioeconomic bases (high, medium, or low. Isolates of high similarity were not found in oral cavities from healthy children of social stratum A and D, B and D, or C and E. This may be explained by an absence of a dissemination route among these children. Geographically, some healthy children among identical and different schools (private and public also are carriers of similar strains but such similarity was not found among other isolates from children from certain schools. These data may reflect a

  19. Evaluation of the thyroid blood flow with Doppler ultrasonography in healthy school-aged children

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yazici, Burhan; Simsek, Enver; Erdogmus, Besir; Bahcebasi, Talat; Aktas, Alev; Buyukkaya, Ramazan; Uzun, Hakan; Safak, Alp Alper

    2007-01-01

    Objective: To determine the relationship between thyroid blood flow and anthropometric measurements, pubertal stage, and thyroid and gonadotropic hormones. Materials and methods: We examined 123 healthy school-aged children prospectively (69 boys (56.1%) and 54 girls (43.9%), 7-17 years old). Their sex, age, body weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and pubertal stage were determined. Serum thyrotropin, free thyroxine, luteinizing hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone were measured in both genders, along with testosterone in boys and estradiol in girls. The peak systolic velocity (PSV), resistance index (RI), and pulsatility index (PI) of the superior thyroid artery were determined. The correlations between the Doppler parameters and these factors were investigated. Results: There were no differences in age, weight, height, BMI, thyroid volume, PSV, RI, or PI between boys and girls (P > 0.05). The PSV and PI showed strong correlations with age, height, weight, puberty stage, thyroid volume, and BMI. The RI showed a strong inverse correlation with age, height, weight, puberty stage, and thyroid volume and a weak inverse correlation with the BMI. Conclusion: Determination of the thyroid arterial flow in normal healthy children is important during a Doppler ultrasound (US) examination. Doppler US parameters and their percentiles should be described in healthy children from different age groups, and these percentiles will aid in interpreting Doppler US in children

  20. Evaluation of the thyroid blood flow with Doppler ultrasonography in healthy school-aged children

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yazici, Burhan [Department of Radiology, Duzce University School of Medicine, Konuralp, Duzce 81620 (Turkey)], E-mail: dryazici@yahoo.com; Simsek, Enver [Department of Pediatrics, Duzce University School of Medicine, Konuralp, Duzce (Turkey); Erdogmus, Besir [Department of Radiology, Duzce University School of Medicine, Konuralp, Duzce 81620 (Turkey); Bahcebasi, Talat [Department of Public Health, Duzce University School of Medicine, Konuralp, Duzce (Turkey); Aktas, Alev [Department of Pediatrics, Duzce University School of Medicine, Konuralp, Duzce (Turkey); Buyukkaya, Ramazan [Department of Radiology, Duzce University School of Medicine, Konuralp, Duzce 81620 (Turkey); Uzun, Hakan [Department of Pediatrics, Duzce University School of Medicine, Konuralp, Duzce (Turkey); Safak, Alp Alper [Department of Radiology, Duzce University School of Medicine, Konuralp, Duzce 81620 (Turkey)

    2007-08-15

    Objective: To determine the relationship between thyroid blood flow and anthropometric measurements, pubertal stage, and thyroid and gonadotropic hormones. Materials and methods: We examined 123 healthy school-aged children prospectively (69 boys (56.1%) and 54 girls (43.9%), 7-17 years old). Their sex, age, body weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and pubertal stage were determined. Serum thyrotropin, free thyroxine, luteinizing hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone were measured in both genders, along with testosterone in boys and estradiol in girls. The peak systolic velocity (PSV), resistance index (RI), and pulsatility index (PI) of the superior thyroid artery were determined. The correlations between the Doppler parameters and these factors were investigated. Results: There were no differences in age, weight, height, BMI, thyroid volume, PSV, RI, or PI between boys and girls (P > 0.05). The PSV and PI showed strong correlations with age, height, weight, puberty stage, thyroid volume, and BMI. The RI showed a strong inverse correlation with age, height, weight, puberty stage, and thyroid volume and a weak inverse correlation with the BMI. Conclusion: Determination of the thyroid arterial flow in normal healthy children is important during a Doppler ultrasound (US) examination. Doppler US parameters and their percentiles should be described in healthy children from different age groups, and these percentiles will aid in interpreting Doppler US in children.

  1. Japanese responses to social change--making the strange familiar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lock, M

    1983-12-01

    Understanding the concept of a "sense of coherence" can be useful in trying to account for successful and healthy adaptations to situations of social change and migration. Certain fundamental dynamics of social life in Japan contribute to a sense of coherence in the lives of Japanese today. Analysts of modern Japan have noted that it has not become a replica of western societies in that primary social groups take precedence over individual needs and autonomy. Moreover, although the Japanese personality may be characterized as multilayered, one dominant aspect is the tendency to suppress negative feelings-towards intimates, family and those in authority. This tendency has implications for the patient-physician relationship, which tends to be ritualized to protect a patient's innermost feelings. Because there has never been a split between mind and body in Japanese thinking there is no concept of mental health that is separate from physical health; rather, patients and physicians readily accept that illness is an expression of stress on the social level. As a corollary, the responsibility for healing is felt to be in the hands of patients and their families, with physicians playing the part of skilled and sympathetic technicians. Ascribing the origins of a cultural identity risks stereotyping, but understanding the reasons for the continuity of certain values in Japanese immigrants will enable physicians to use these values to advantage, and explains the healthy adaptation of these immigrants to the disruption of migration.

  2. The possible absence of a healthy-worker effect: a cross-sectional survey among educated Japanese women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishikitani, Mariko; Nakao, Mutsuhiro; Tsurugano, Shinobu; Yano, Eiji

    2012-01-01

    Despite being highly educated in comparison with women in other member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Japanese women are expected to assume traditional gender roles, and many dedicate themselves to full-time housewifery. Women working outside the home do so under poor conditions, and their health may not be better than that of housewives. This study compared the self-rated health status and health behaviours of housewives and working women in Japan. Cross-sectional survey. A national university in Tokyo with 9864 alumnae. A total 1344 women who graduated since 1985 and completed questionnaires in an anonymous mail-based survey. Health anxiety and satisfaction, receipt of health check-ups, eating breakfast, smoking, and sleep problems according to job status and family demands: housewives (n=247) and working women with (n=624) and without (n=436) family demands. ORs were used for risk assessment, with housewives as a reference. After adjustment for satisfaction with present employment status and other confounding factors, working women were more likely than housewives to feel health anxiety (with family demands, OR: 1.68, 95% CI1.10 to 2.57; without family demands, OR: 3.57, 95% CI 2.19 to 4.50) and health dissatisfaction (without family demands, OR: 3.50, 95% CI 2.35 to 5.21); they were also more likely than housewives to eat an insufficient breakfast (with family demands, OR: 1.91, 95% CI 1.22 to 3.00; without family demands, OR: 4.02, 95% CI 2.47 to 6.57) and to have sleep problems (ORs: 2.08 to 4.03). No healthy-worker effect was found among Japanese women. Housewives, at least those who are well educated, appear to have better health status and health-related behaviours than do working women with the same level of education.

  3. Tips for a Healthy Long-Life Learned from Space Medicine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohshima, Hiroshi; Yamada, Shin; Matsuo, Tomoaki; Yamamoto, Masafumi; Mukai, Chiaki

    2013-02-01

    The field of space medicine is responsible for maintaining astronauts’ health and optimizing their performance. A prolonged stay in space with little gravity results in weakening of the bones and muscles that otherwise support body weight, which is precisely the problem faced by elderly people on Earth. Space medicine provides the means of alleviating such problems. Bone loss, muscle atrophy, and disturbed circadian rhythms are common issues for both astronauts and the elderly alike and can be prevented, if the risks are addressed correctly. To have a healthy long-life, it is important to practice effective health improvement techniques and take preventive measures. The space medicine technologies a for astronauts will provide helpful information to people living in a super aging society. and Japanese medical societies for health promotion. With the aids of the Japanese Society of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine, the Japanese Orthopaedic Association, and the Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine, JAXA has made a leaflet titled for general citizen to show the tips for a healthy long-life learned from space medicine from the viewpoints of their respective expertise.

  4. Shhh… I Need Quiet! Children's Understanding of American, British, and Japanese-accented English Speakers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bent, Tessa; Holt, Rachael Frush

    2018-02-01

    Children's ability to understand speakers with a wide range of dialects and accents is essential for efficient language development and communication in a global society. Here, the impact of regional dialect and foreign-accent variability on children's speech understanding was evaluated in both quiet and noisy conditions. Five- to seven-year-old children ( n = 90) and adults ( n = 96) repeated sentences produced by three speakers with different accents-American English, British English, and Japanese-accented English-in quiet or noisy conditions. Adults had no difficulty understanding any speaker in quiet conditions. Their performance declined for the nonnative speaker with a moderate amount of noise; their performance only substantially declined for the British English speaker (i.e., below 93% correct) when their understanding of the American English speaker was also impeded. In contrast, although children showed accurate word recognition for the American and British English speakers in quiet conditions, they had difficulty understanding the nonnative speaker even under ideal listening conditions. With a moderate amount of noise, their perception of British English speech declined substantially and their ability to understand the nonnative speaker was particularly poor. These results suggest that although school-aged children can understand unfamiliar native dialects under ideal listening conditions, their ability to recognize words in these dialects may be highly susceptible to the influence of environmental degradation. Fully adult-like word identification for speakers with unfamiliar accents and dialects may exhibit a protracted developmental trajectory.

  5. Association of Healthy Food Intake with Psychiatric Distress in Children and Adolescents: the CASPIAN-IV study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hoda Zahedi

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Healthy dietary habits are known as a key factor for improving brain functions and cognitive ability in children and adolescents. The goal of this study was to evaluate the association of healthy food consumption with mental health in Iranian children and adolescents.Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from the fourth national school-based surveillance survey entitled CASPIAN-IV study. In this study, 14880 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years were selected by multistage, cluster sampling method from rural and urban areas. The students and their parents completed two sets of questionnaires. The psychiatric distress included depression, worry, insomnia, anxiety, aggression, confusion, and worthless and the violent behaviors comprised of physical fight, victim and bully. The healthy foods included fresh fruits, dried fruits, vegetables and dairy products.Results: The participants include 13,486 students from elementary, intermediate and high school degree. The prevalence of psychiatric distress was significantly higher among high school students, while violent behaviors were more prevalent in the middle school students. According to the multivariate model (model IV, the risk of psychiatric distress was significantly lower in students with daily consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables and milk. In addition, those with daily consumption of vegetables and milk had significantly lower risk for violent behaviors.Conclusion: Consumption of healthy foods may reduce the risk of psychiatric distress and violent behaviors. Therefore, in addition to its benefits, increasing healthy food consumption among children and adolescents can be useful in preventing mental health disorders.

  6. Craniofacial changes and symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing in healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Christina Thomé Pacheco

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: The main cause of mouth breathing and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB in childhood is associated with upper airway narrowing to varying degrees. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of morphological and functional craniofacial changes and the main clinical symptoms of SDB in healthy children. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted. A sample comprising 687 healthy schoolchildren, aged 7-12 years old and attending public schools, was assessed by medical history, clinical medical and dental examination, and respiratory tests. The self-perceived quality of life of mouth breathing children was obtained by a validated questionnaire. RESULTS: Out of the total sample, 520 children were nose breathers (NB while 167 (24.3% were mouth breathers (MB; 32.5% had severe hypertrophy of the palatine tonsils, 18% had a Mallampati score of III or IV, 26.1% had excessive overjet and 17.7% had anterior open bite malocclusion. Among the MB, 53.9% had atresic palate, 35.9% had lip incompetence, 33.5% reported sleepiness during the day, 32.2% often sneezed, 32.2% had a stuffy nose, 19.6% snored, and 9.4% reported having the feeling to stop breathing while asleep. However, the self-perception of their quality of life was considered good. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of facial changes as well as signs and symptoms of mouth breathing were found among health children, requiring early diagnosis and treatment to reduce the risk of SDB.

  7. Prevalence of alveolar bone loss in healthy children treated at private pediatric dentistry clinics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guimarães, Maria do Carmo Machado; de Araújo, Valéria Martins; Avena, Márcia Raquel; Duarte, Daniel Rocha da Silva; Freitas, Francisco Valter

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of alveolar bone loss (BL) in healthy children treated at private pediatric dentistry clinics in Brasília, Brazil. The research included 7,436 sites present in 885 radiographs from 450 children. The BL prevalence was estimated by measuring the distance from the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) to alveolar bone crest (ABC). Data were divided in groups: (I) No BL: distance from CEJ to ABC is 2 and 3 mm. Data were treated by the chi-square nonparametric test and Fisher's exact test (pchildren should never be underestimated because BL occurs even in healthy populations, although in a lower frequency.

  8. Safety and immunogenicity of a trivalent, inactivated, mammalian cell culture-derived influenza vaccine in healthy adults, seniors, and children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halperin, Scott A; Smith, Bruce; Mabrouk, Taoufik; Germain, Marc; Trépanier, Pierre; Hassell, Thomas; Treanor, John; Gauthier, Richard; Mills, Elaine L

    2002-01-15

    We performed randomized, double-blind, controlled trials to assess the safety and immunogenicity of an inactivated, Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK)-derived cell line produced influenza vaccine in healthy adults (19-50 years), children (3-12 years) and the elderly (> or =65 years). We studied three lots of cell culture-derived vaccine and one lot of licensed egg-derived vaccine in healthy adults (n=462), two lots of cell culture-derived vaccine and one lot of egg-derived vaccine in seniors (n=269), and one lot of each vaccine in children (n=209). Adverse events were collected during the first 3 days post-immunization; serum was collected before and 1 month after immunization. Rates of local and systemic adverse reactions were similar with both vaccines. An injection site adverse event rated at least moderate severity was reported by 21.9% of children who received the egg-derived vaccine and 25.0% of those who received the cell culture-derived vaccine. In healthy adults the proportions were 12.1 and 15.3%, respectively and 6.7 and 6.3%, respectively in seniors. Systemic events of at least moderate severity were 12.4 and 12.5% in children, 19.8 and 13.6% in healthy adults, and 14.1 and 9.7% in seniors; none of these differences were statistically significant. The antibody response against all three viruses was similar between the two vaccines. From 83 to 100% of children, healthy adults and seniors achieved hemagglutination inhibition titers in excess of 40 post-immunization. We conclude that the cell culture-derived vaccine was safe and immunogenic in children, healthy adults and seniors.

  9. Erosion or normal variant? 4-year MRI follow-up of the wrists in healthy children

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Avenarius, Derk F.M. [University of Tromsoe, Faculty of Health Sciences, Tromsoe (Norway); University Hospital of North Norway, Department of Radiology, Tromsoe (Norway); Ording Mueller, Lil-Sofie [Oslo University Hospital, Department for Radiology and Intervention, Oslo (Norway); Rosendahl, Karen [Haukeland University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Bergen (Norway); University of Bergen, Department of Clinical Medicine K1, Bergen (Norway)

    2016-03-15

    A large proportion of healthy children have wrist changes on MRI, namely carpal depressions, findings that have been described as pathological in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We performed follow-up imaging in a cohort of healthy children to evaluate carpal surface depressions over time, focusing on the presence of overlying cartilage as a potential discriminator between normal variants and true erosions. 74 of the initial cohort of 89 healthy children (83%) had a re-scan of their wrists using the same protocol, including coronal T1 and fat-saturated T2 sequences. A cartilage-selective sequence was added for this study. We registered number and location of bony depressions and presence of overlying cartilage. The total number of carpal depressions increased by age group and over time; their location was unchanged in 370 of 487 (76%) carpal sites and 91 of 117 (78%) metacarpal sites. In total, 426 of the 1,087 (39.2%) bony depressions were covered by cartilage, with a decreasing percentage by age (P = 0.001). Normal appearances during growth, such as bony depressions, should not be mistaken for pathology. There must be additional findings to support a diagnosis of disease. A cartilage sequence may add to the diagnostic image analysis. (orig.)

  10. Gender difference in work-family conflict among Japanese information technology engineers with preschool children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watai, Izumi; Nishikido, Noriko; Murashima, Sachiyo

    2008-01-01

    Since the Family Policy Act, which requires companies to develop action plans to support their employees who have children in an attempt to reverse the declining birthrate in Japan, was enacted in 2003, many Japanese organizations and occupational health staff have become interested in work-family conflict (WFC), especially WFC in employees with young children. A cross-sectional survey of regularly employed information technology (IT) engineers with preschool children in Japan was conducted to examine the gender difference in WFC, relationship of WFC with outcomes, and predictors of WFC by gender. Data from 78 male and 102 female respondents were analyzed. There was no significant gender difference in total level of WFC. However, the level of work interference with family (WIF) was significantly higher in males than in females and the level of family interference with work (FIW) was significantly higher in females. Regarding outcomes, WIF was significantly related to depression and fatigue in both genders. Moreover, different predictors were related to WIF and FIW by gender. A family-friendly culture in the company was related to WIF only in males. To prevent depression and cumulative fatigue in employees with young children, occupational practitioners have to pay attention to not only employees' work stress but also their family stress or amount of family role in both genders.

  11. The Healthy Lifestyles Programme (HeLP)--an overview of and recommendations arising from the conceptualisation and development of an innovative approach to promoting healthy lifestyles for children and their families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lloyd, Jenny; Wyatt, Katrina

    2015-01-20

    Despite the rise in childhood obesity, there remains a paucity of evidence for effective interventions that engage children and parents sufficiently to make and sustain lifestyle behaviour change. The Healthy Lifestyles Programme (HeLP) is a school-located obesity prevention programme, which has been developed with teachers, families and healthcare professionals. The underpinning assumption in the development of HeLP was to take a relational approach to changing behaviour, building relationships with the schools, children and their families to create supportive environments for healthy lifestyle choices. Thus, HeLP was conceptualised as a complex intervention within a complex system and developed as a dynamic, evolving set of processes to support and motivate children towards healthy behaviours. The delivery methods used are highly interactive and encourage identification with and ownership of the healthy lifestyle messages so that the children are motivated to take them home to their parents and effect change within the family. We have good evidence that HeLP engages schools and children such that they want to participate in the Programme. Results from an exploratory trial showed that the Programme is feasible and acceptable and has the potential to change behaviours and affect weight status. This paper presents an overview of and recommendations arising from the conceptualization; development and evaluation of the Healthy Lifestyles Programme as part of a special issue focusing on novel approaches to the global problem of childhood obesity.

  12. Twenty-four-hour urinary water-soluble vitamin levels correlate with their intakes in free-living Japanese schoolchildren.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsuji, Tomiko; Fukuwatari, Tsutomu; Sasaki, Satoshi; Shibata, Katsumi

    2011-02-01

    To examine the association between 24 h urinary water-soluble vitamin levels and their intakes in free-living Japanese schoolchildren. All foods consumed for four consecutive days were recorded accurately by a weighed food record. A single 24 h urine sample was collected on the fourth day, and the urinary levels of water-soluble vitamins were measured. An elementary school in Inazawa City, Japan. A total of 114 healthy, free-living, Japanese elementary-school children aged 10-12 years. The urinary level of each water-soluble vitamin was correlated positively to its mean intake in the past 2-4 d (vitamin B1: r = 0·42, P vitamin B2: r = 0·43, P vitamin B6: r = 0·49, P vitamin C: r = 0·39, P vitamin B12 (r = 0·10, P = NS). Estimated mean intakes of water-soluble vitamins calculated using urinary levels and recovery rates were 97-102 % of their 3 d mean intake, except for vitamin B12 (79 %). The results show that urinary levels of water-soluble vitamins, except for vitamin B12, reflected their recent intakes in free-living Japanese schoolchildren and could be used as a potential biomarker to estimate mean vitamin intake.

  13. Heritage-Language Literacy Practices: A Case Study of Three Japanese American Families

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashimoto, Kumi; Lee, Jin Sook

    2011-01-01

    This article documents the heritage-language (HL) literacy practices of three Japanese American families residing in a predominantly Anglo and Latino community. Through interviews and observations, this study investigates Japanese children's HL-literacy practices, parental attitudes toward HL literacy, and challenges in HL-literacy development in…

  14. Interleukin 1 beta promoter polymorphism is associated with keratoconus in a Japanese population

    OpenAIRE

    Mikami, Takenori; Meguro, Akira; Teshigawara, Takeshi; Takeuchi, Masaki; Uemoto, Riyo; Kawagoe, Tatsukata; Nomura, Eiichi; Asukata, Yuri; Ishioka, Misaki; Iwasaki, Miki; Fukagawa, Kazumi; Konomi, Kenji; Shimazaki, Jun; Nishida, Teruo; Mizuki, Nobuhisa

    2013-01-01

    Purpose Polymorphisms in the interleukin 1 alpha (IL1A) and IL1B gene regions were previously associated with keratoconus in a Korean population. In the present study, we investigated whether the IL1A and IL1B polymorphisms are associated with keratoconus in a Japanese population. Methods A total of 169 Japanese patients with keratoconus and 390 Japanese healthy controls were recruited. We genotyped one IL1A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs2071376) and two IL1B SNPs (rs1143627 and rs16...

  15. Family members’ roles in healthy-eating socialization based on a healthy-eating intervention

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Susanne; Grønhøj, Alice; Bech-Larsen, Tino

    2012-01-01

    Purpose - Healthy-eating socialization is often described as a bi-directional process, but there are only few studies on children and parent’s roles in the process. This paper investigates children and parents’ accounts of awareness and involvement in healthy eating and how they relate it to thei......Purpose - Healthy-eating socialization is often described as a bi-directional process, but there are only few studies on children and parent’s roles in the process. This paper investigates children and parents’ accounts of awareness and involvement in healthy eating and how they relate...... it to their roles in healthy-eating socialization. Design/methodology/approach - Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 families three months after a healthy-eating intervention involving dietary advice and SMS feedback. The interviews were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. Findings...... or a cooperative strategy helping the parents. Parents initiated dialogues with family members about healthy eating and felt responsible as role models often honouring the children’s demands and help. Research limitations/implications - Findings provide a concrete empirical account of the socialization process...

  16. A Japanese Stretching Intervention Can Modify Lumbar Lordosis Curvature

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kadono, Norio; Tsuchiya, Kazushi; Uematsu, Azusa; Kamoshita, Hiroshi; Kiryu, Kazunori; Hortobagyi, Tibor; Suzuki, Shuji

    Study Design: Eighteen healthy male adults were assigned to either an intervention or control group. Objectives: Isogai dynamic therapy (IDT) is one of Japanese stretching interventions and has been practiced for over 70 years. However, its scientific quantitative evidence remains unestablished. The

  17. Pharmacokinetic comparison and bioequivalence evaluation of losartan/ hydrochlorothiazide tablet between Asian Indian and Japanese volunteers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sudershan; Monif, Tausif; Khuroo, Arshad; Reyar, Simrit; Jain, Rakesh; Singla, Ajay K; Kurachi, Kazuya

    2014-01-01

    To demonstrate the bioequivalence between the test and reference formulations of losartan/hydrochlorothiazide 50 + 12.5 mg tablet and evaluate the effect of ethnicity on pharmacokinetics properties of losartan, losartan carboxylic acid and hydrochlorothiazide on healthy Asian Indian and Japanese volunteers. Randomized, open-label, crossover, bioavailability studies were conducted separately in healthy Asian Indian and Japanese volunteers. One tablet either of test or of reference product was administered after 10 hours of overnight fasting. After dosing, serial blood samples were collected for a period of 48 hours for both the studies. Plasma samples were analyzed for losartan, losartan carboxylic acid and hydrochlorothiazide by a validated liquid chromatographic and mass spectrometric method (LC-MS/MS). The pharmacokinetic parameters AUC0-t, AUC0-∞, Cmax, tmax, and other pharmacokinetics parameters were determined from plasma concentration-time profiles for both test and reference formulations of losartan/hydrochlorothiazide 50 + 12.5 mg tablets. Statistical evaluations were done to evaluate bioequivalence between generic test formulation (EPR0001) and Japanese reference product (Preminent®). Losartan, losartan carboxylic acid and hydrochlorothiazide were well tolerated by subjects in all periods of each study under fasted conditions. No serious adverse events were observed. The ratios of least square means for AUC0-t and Cmax and the affiliated 90% confidence intervals were within acceptance range recommended by PMDA. Marginal differences were observed in pharmacokinetic values of Asian Indian and Japanese volunteers. The results of these bioavailability studies indicate that the test formulation of losartan/hydrochlorothiazide 50 + 12.5 mg (EPR0001) tablets is bioequivalent to marketed Preminent® reference formulation in Asian Indian and Japanese volunteers, when administered under fasting conditions. Both test and reference formulations were well tolerated

  18. Do Healthy Preterm Children Need Neuropsychological Follow-Up? Preschool Outcomes Compared with Term Peers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dall'Oglio, Anna M.; Rossiello, Barbara; Coletti, Maria F.; Bultrini, Massimiliano; De Marchis, Chiara; Rava, Lucilla; Caselli, Cristina; Paris, Silvana; Cuttini, Marina

    2010-01-01

    Aim: The aim of this study was to determine neuropsychological performance (possibly predictive of academic difficulties) and its relationship with cognitive development and maternal education in healthy preterm children of preschool age and age-matched comparison children born at term. Method : A total of 35 infants who were born at less than 33…

  19. Epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus colonization in healthy Venezuelan children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Quintero, B.; Araque, M.; Gaast-de Jongh, C.E. van der; Escalona, F.; Correa, M.; Morillo-Puente, S.; Vielma, S.; Hermans, P.W.M.

    2011-01-01

    Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. We investigated both the colonization and co-colonization characteristics for these pathogens among 250 healthy children from 2 to 5 years of age in Merida, Venezuela, in 2007. The prevalence of

  20. Nordic Children's Conceptualizations of Healthy Eating in Relation to School Lunch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berggren, Linda; Talvia, Sanna; Fossgard, Eldbjørg; Arnfjörð, Unnur Björk; Hörnell, Agneta; Ólafsdóttir, Anna Sigríður; Gunnarsdóttir, Ingibjörg; Wergedahl, Hege; Lagström, Hanna; Waling, Maria; Olsson, Cecilia

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Pupils' perspective should be better taken into account when developing nutrition education at school. The purpose of this paper is to explore Nordic children's perspectives on the healthiness of meals in the context of school lunches. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 78 focus group discussions were conducted with 10-11-year-old…

  1. A Cultural Comparison of Conflict-Solution Styles Displayed in the Japanese, French, and German School Texts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomo, Rieko

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine the ways how to solve the conflicts between parents and children by statistical analyses displayed in Japanese, French, and German school texts published in 2000. The results were as follows: (1) Japanese parents and children acting in those texts have much more compromising tendency to avoid conflicts than…

  2. Health-related quality of life in Japanese children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia during and after chemotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Kyoko; Nakagami-Yamaguchi, Etsuko; Hayakawa, Akira; Adachi, Souichi; Hara, Junichi; Tokimasa, Sadao; Ohta, Hideaki; Hashii, Yoshiko; Rikiishi, Takeshi; Sawada, Machiko; Kuriyama, Kikuko; Kohdera, Urara; Kamibeppu, Kiyoko; Kawasaki, Hirohide; Oda, Megumi; Hori, Hiroki

    2017-02-01

    Quality of life (QOL) as a treatment outcome has not yet been evaluated among patients receiving a specific treatment regimen by treatment phase in a consistent manner. This exploratory cross-sectional study evaluated the QOL of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receiving one of the most popular treatment regimens in Japan (Japan Association of Childhood Leukemia Study ALL-02 revised protocol). Children aged 5-18 years with newly diagnosed B-cell precursor ALL were included. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory ™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQL-J) were completed by children with ALL and their siblings, as well as by age- and sex-matched healthy controls. PedsQL Cancer Module (PedsQL-C) scores were also collected from children with ALL. QOL in children with ALL of the consolidation phase group was significantly decreased compared with that of healthy controls, except in the area of emotional functioning. Regarding the maintenance phase group, QOL impairment was noted in the physical and school functioning, but no differences were noted in social functioning. The off-treatment group had a large effect size only for physical functioning, and the social functioning score was even better in children with ALL than in matched controls. QOL of children with ALL differed with treatment phase. Effect size varied with function and treatment phase. QOL may change with the progression of treatment, and the timing of these changes varied according to function and problem. © 2016 Japan Pediatric Society.

  3. The Influence of Lifestyle on the Incidence of Dental Caries among 3-Year-Old Japanese Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Masako; Wang, Da-Hong; Ijichi, Akihiro; Shirai, Chika; Zou, Yu; Kubo, Masayuki; Takemoto, Kei; Masatomi, Chie; Ogino, Keiki

    2014-01-01

    The present cohort study examined how lifestyle, household environment, and caries activity test score of Japanese children at age 1.5 years affected their dental caries incidence at age 3. Inclusion criteria were 1.5-year-old children with no dental caries. Dental examinations were performed for 33,655 children who participated in routine dental examinations at 1.5 years of age, and the exam was repeated approximately 21 months later (at age 3) at the Kobe City Public Health Center in Japan. After excluding 622 children who had caries at age 1.5 and 1831 children with missing lifestyle and household environment data in the questionnaires, the final data analysis was performed on a total of 31,202 children (16,052 boys, 15,150 girls).The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated a strong association of the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages/snacks, less frequent tooth brushing by the parents, lack of fluoride varnish, family history of smoking, with the risk of developing dental caries. A child’s late bedtime is also one of the major risk factors for dental caries development. Further investigation is needed to examine whether the short duration or the irregularity of the sleep-wake cycle would affect early childhood oral health and whether there is a relationship between late bedtime and late night snack intake. PMID:25489996

  4. The Influence of Lifestyle on the Incidence of Dental Caries among 3-Year-Old Japanese Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masako Watanabe

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The present cohort study examined how lifestyle, household environment, and caries activity test score of Japanese children at age 1.5 years affected their dental caries incidence at age 3. Inclusion criteria were 1.5-year-old children with no dental caries. Dental examinations were performed for 33,655 children who participated in routine dental examinations at 1.5 years of age, and the exam was repeated approximately 21 months later (at age 3 at the Kobe City Public Health Center in Japan. After excluding 622 children who had caries at age 1.5 and 1831 children with missing lifestyle and household environment data in the questionnaires, the final data analysis was performed on a total of 31,202 children (16,052 boys, 15,150 girls.The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated a strong association of the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages/snacks, less frequent tooth brushing by the parents, lack of fluoride varnish, family history of smoking, with the risk of developing dental caries. A child’s late bedtime is also one of the major risk factors for dental caries development. Further investigation is needed to examine whether the short duration or the irregularity of the sleep-wake cycle would affect early childhood oral health and whether there is a relationship between late bedtime and late night snack intake.

  5. A restaurant-based intervention to promote sales of healthy children's menu items: the Kids' Choice Restaurant Program cluster randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayala, Guadalupe X; Castro, Iana A; Pickrel, Julie L; Williams, Christine B; Lin, Shih-Fan; Madanat, Hala; Jun, Hee-Jin; Zive, Michelle

    2016-03-10

    Away-from-home eating is an important dietary behavior with implications on diet quality. Thus, it is an important behavior to target to prevent and control childhood obesity and other chronic health conditions. Numerous studies have been conducted to improve children's dietary intake at home, in early care and education, and in schools; however, few studies have sought to modify the restaurant food environment for children. This study adds to this body of research by describing the development and launch of an innovative intervention to promote sales of healthy children's menu items in independent restaurants in Southern California, United States. This is a cluster randomized trial with eight pair-matched restaurants in San Diego, California. Restaurants were randomized to a menu-only versus menu-plus intervention condition. The menu-only intervention condition involves manager/owner collaboration on the addition of pre-determined healthy children's menu items and kitchen manager/owner collaboration to prepare and plate these items and train kitchen staff. The menu-plus intervention condition involves more extensive manager/owner collaboration and kitchen staff training to select, prepare, and plate new healthy children's menu items, and a healthy children's menu campaign that includes marketing materials and server training to promote the items. The primary outcome is sales of healthy children's menu items over an 18-week period. In addition, dining parties consisting of adults with children under 18 years of age are being observed unobtrusively while ordering and then interviewed throughout the 18-week study period to determine the impact of the intervention on ordering behaviors. Manager/owner interviews and restaurant audits provide additional evidence of impact on customers, employees, and the restaurant environment. Our process evaluation assesses dose delivered, dose received, and intervention fidelity. Successful recruitment of the restaurants has been

  6. Body Mass Disorders in Healthy Short Children and in Children with Growth Hormone Deficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomaszewski, Paweł; Milde, Katarzyna; Majcher, Anna; Pyrżak, Beata; Tiryaki-Sonmez, Gul; Schoenfeld, Brad J

    2018-01-01

    The aim of the study was to determine the degree of adiposity and the incidence of body mass disorders, including abdominal obesity, in healthy short children and children with growth hormone deficiency. The study included 134 short children (height hormonal disorders and 71 patients (35 boys and 36 girls) with growth hormone deficiency. Basic somatic features were assessed and the study participants were categorized according to the percentage of body fat (%FAT), body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). We found that there were no significant differences in %FAT and the incidence of body weight disorders depending on gender or diagnosis. %FAT deficit was observed in 12-21% of the participants and underweight in almost every fourth child. Overweight involved 3-14% of the participants and obesity was diagnosed in isolated cases (0-3%); both were considerably lower compared to the estimates based on %FAT. Using the cut-off points of WHtR, abdominal adiposity was observed in 3-15% of the participants. In conclusion, quite a large number of short children (between 25 and 50%) are characterized by abnormal body fat or body mass index values. The results indicate a limited usefulness of BMI in evaluating the incidence of overweight and obesity in children characterized by a height deficit.

  7. Comparison of postmenopausal endogenous sex hormones among Japanese, Japanese Brazilians, and non-Japanese Brazilians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maciel Maria

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Differences in sex hormone levels among populations might contribute to the variation in breast cancer incidence across countries. Previous studies have shown higher breast cancer incidence and mortality among Japanese Brazilians than among Japanese. To clarify the difference in hormone levels among populations, we compared postmenopausal endogenous sex hormone levels among Japanese living in Japan, Japanese Brazilians living in the state of São Paulo, and non-Japanese Brazilians living in the state of São Paulo. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using a control group of case-control studies in Nagano, Japan, and São Paulo, Brazil. Participants were postmenopausal women older than 55 years of age who provided blood samples. We measured estradiol, estrone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS, testosterone and free testosterone by radioimmunoassay; bioavailable estradiol by the ammonium sulfate precipitation method; and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG by immunoradiometric assay. A total of 363 women were included for the present analyses, comprising 185 Japanese, 44 Japanese Brazilians and 134 non-Japanese Brazilians. Results Japanese Brazilians had significantly higher levels of estradiol, bioavailable estradiol, estrone, testosterone and free testosterone levels, and lower SHBG levels, than Japanese. Japanese Brazilians also had significantly higher levels of bioavailable estradiol, estrone and DHEAS and lower levels of SHBG and androstenedione than non-Japanese Brazilians. Levels of estradiol, testosterone and free testosterone, however, did not differ between Japanese Brazilians and non-Japanese Brazilians. These differences were observed even after adjustment for known breast cancer risk factors. We also found an increase in estrogen and androgen levels with increasing body mass index, but no association for most of the other known risk factors. Conclusions We found higher levels of

  8. Assessment of Parent Orientation towards Autonomy vs. Control in Promoting Children's Healthy Eating and Exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiang, Evelyn S; Padilla, Miguel A

    2012-07-01

    Self-determination theory has been widely applied to understanding individuals' health-related behaviors such as eating healthy foods and exercising. Different reasons for engagement are associated with varying levels of personal agency or autonomy. Authority figures in the environment can be supportive of autonomy or, in contrast, controlling. Although researchers have assessed individuals' perceptions of the autonomy-support in their environments, studies have not directly examined the authority figures' orientations to autonomy with respect to health contexts. A new scale, Parent Orientations to Health, was created to investigate parent orientation to autonomy and control with respect to healthy eating and exercise in children. One hundred and forty-three parents of elementary school-aged children responded to the scale. Scale validation and reliability results indicate that the scale successfully assessed parent orientation towards autonomy for children in health contexts. Furthermore, parent autonomy orientation varied according to child weight status and the healthiness of the child's diet. Parent orientation towards autonomy can be evaluated through the use of the Parent Orientations to Health scale. In addition, parent autonomy orientation is associated with both the healthiness of the child's diet (as perceived by the parent) and the child's body mass index. © 2012 The Authors. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being © 2012 The International Association of Applied Psychology.

  9. Facial skin photo-aging and development of hyperpigmented spots from children to middle-aged Japanese woman.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Y; Fukushima, Y; Kondo, K; Ichihashi, M

    2017-11-01

    Facial skin hyperpigmention caused by chronic sun exposure is a major skin complaint, however, its characteristics and influential factors are still limitedly known. A cross-sectional survey in healthy Japanese women aged from 6 to 62 years (n=169) was conducted using a facial image analyzer VISIA ™ for knowing onset age of hyperpigmented spot formation, its chronological changes, and influence of environmental factors. UV Pigmented Spot (PS) Score was positively correlated with age (R=.487, P=.000). Hyperpigmented spots appeared first around 18 years old in most subjects, and PS score remarkably increased at 20s then gradually increased by ages. The subjects with Skin Type I, one of the three grades of Japanese Skin Type (JST), whose melanin formation is genetically lower, showed higher PS score. A woman aged 31 years was subjected a weekly VISIA measurement for 2 years, and found no changes in the number, place, size and intensity of the pigment spots in this duration. Hyperpigmented spots developed in women over 20 years of age due to chronic sun exposure without sun protection during childhood and adolescent and it was stable afterwards, whose intensity was influenced by age and skin type. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Comparison of six-minute walk test in children with moderate/severe asthma with reference values for healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lívia Barboza de Andrade

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE:to compare physical performance and cardiorespiratory responses in the six-minute walk test (6MWT in asthmatic children with reference values for healthy children in the same age group, and to correlate them with intervening variables.METHODS:this was a cross-sectional, prospective study that evaluated children with moderate/severe asthma, aged between 6 and 16 years, in outpatient follow-up. Demographic and spirometric test data were collected. All patients answered the pediatric asthma quality of life (QoL questionnaire (PAQLQ and level of basal physical activity. The 6MWT was performed, following the American Thoracic Society recommendations. Comparison of means was performed using Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation to analyze the 6MWT with study variables. The significance level was set at 5%.RESULTS:40 children with moderate or severe asthma were included, 52.5% males, 70% with normal weight and sedentary. Mean age was 11.3 ± 2.1 years, mean height was 1.5 ± 0.1 m, and mean weight was 40.8 ± 12.6 Kg. The mean distance walked in the 6MWT was significantly lower, corresponding to 71.9% ± 19.7% of predicted values; sedentary children had the worst values. The difference between the distance walked on the test and the predicted values showed positive correlation with age (r = 0.373, p = 0.018 and negative correlation with cardiac rate at the end of the test (r = -0.518, p < 0.001. Regarding QoL assessment, the values in the question about physical activity limitations showed the worst scores, with a negative correlation with walked distance difference (r = -0.311, p = 0.051.CONCLUSIONS:asthmatic children's performance in the 6MWT evaluated through distance walked is significantly lower than the predicted values for healthy children of the same age, and is directly influenced by sedentary life style.

  11. The Healthy Lifestyles Programme (HeLP — An Overview of and Recommendations Arising from the Conceptualisation and Development of an Innovative Approach to Promoting Healthy Lifestyles for Children and Their Families

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenny Lloyd

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Despite the rise in childhood obesity, there remains a paucity of evidence for effective interventions that engage children and parents sufficiently to make and sustain lifestyle behaviour change. The Healthy Lifestyles Programme (HeLP is a school-located obesity prevention programme, which has been developed with teachers, families and healthcare professionals. The underpinning assumption in the development of HeLP was to take a relational approach to changing behaviour, building relationships with the schools, children and their families to create supportive environments for healthy lifestyle choices. Thus, HeLP was conceptualised as a complex intervention within a complex system and developed as a dynamic, evolving set of processes to support and motivate children towards healthy behaviours. The delivery methods used are highly interactive and encourage identification with and ownership of the healthy lifestyle messages so that the children are motivated to take them home to their parents and effect change within the family. We have good evidence that HeLP engages schools and children such that they want to participate in the Programme. Results from an exploratory trial showed that the Programme is feasible and acceptable and has the potential to change behaviours and affect weight status. This paper presents an overview of and recommendations arising from the conceptualization; development and evaluation of the Healthy Lifestyles Programme as part of a special issue focusing on novel approaches to the global problem of childhood obesity.

  12. Urinary growth hormone excretion in 657 healthy children and adults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Main, K; Philips, M; Jørgensen, M

    1991-01-01

    .0001) with maximum values in Tanner stage 3 for girls and 4 for boys. This corresponded to a peak in u-GH excretion between 11.5-14.5 years in girls and 12.5-16 years in boys. Additionally, u-GH excretion in adults was significantly higher than in prepubertal children (p less than 0.001). The day/night ratio of u......Urinary growth hormone (u-GH) excretion was measured in 547 healthy children and 110 adults by ELISA with a detection limit of 1.1 ng/l u-GH after prior concentration of the urine samples (20- to 30-fold). u-GH excretion values were significantly dependent on the pubertal stage (p less than 0...

  13. Peak expiratory flow rate in healthy children aged 6-17 years

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Høst, A; Høst, A H; Ibsen, T

    1994-01-01

    Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) was measured in a cross-sectional study in 861 healthy Danish schoolchildren aged 6-17 years using a Mini Wright peak flowmeter. We found a strong correlation between PEFR and height, age and sex. The results were comparable with those from previous studies using...... a Wright peak flowmeter. The equation for prediction of PEFR in boys was calculated as (3.8 x height) + (10.6 x age) - 313.2 (p age) - 143.9 (p ... coefficient in this large sample. Among healthy children without previous asthma, earlier episodes of recurrent wheezing were reported in 8.8% and a significantly lower PEFR was found in this group....

  14. Japanese scoring systems to predict resistance to intravenous immunoglobulin in Kawasaki disease were unreliable for Caucasian Israeli children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arane, Karen; Mendelsohn, Kerry; Mimouni, Michael; Mimouni, Francis; Koren, Yael; Simon, Dafna Brik; Bahat, Hilla; Helou, Mona Hanna; Mendelson, Amir; Hezkelo, Nofar; Glatstein, Miguel; Berkun, Yackov; Eisenstein, Eli; Aviel, Yonatan Butbul; Brik, Riva; Hashkes, Philip J; Uziel, Yosef; Harel, Liora; Amarilyo, Gil

    2018-05-24

    This study assessed the validity of using established Japanese risk scoring methods to predict intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance to Kawasaki disease in Israeli children. We reviewed the medical records of 282 patients (70% male) with Kawasaki disease from six Israeli medical centres between 2004-2013. Their mean age was 2.5 years. The risk scores were calculated using the Kobayashi, Sano and Egami scoring methods and analysed to determine if a higher risk score predicted IVIG resistance in this population. Factors that predicted a lack of response to the initial IVIG dose were identified. We found that 18% did not respond to the first IVIG dose. The three scoring methods were unable to reliably predict IVIG resistance, with sensitivities of 23-32% and specificities of 67-87%. Calculating a predictive score that was specific for this population was also unsuccessful. The factors that predicted a lacked of response to the first IVIG dose included low albumin, elevated total bilirubin and ethnicity. The established risk scoring methods created for Japanese populations with Kawasaki disease were not suitable for predicting IVIG resistance in Caucasian Israeli children and we were unable to create a specific scoring method that was able to do this. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  15. Emerald Dragon Bites vs Veggie Beans: Fun Food Names Increase Children's Consumption of Novel Healthy Foods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musher-Eizenman, Dara R.; Oehlhof, Marissa Wagner; Young, Kathleen M.; Hauser, Jessica C.; Galliger, Courtney; Sommer, Alyssa

    2011-01-01

    Caregivers often struggle with food neophobia on the part of young children. This study examined whether labeling novel healthy foods with fun names would increase children's willingness to try those foods and encourage them to eat more of those foods in a child care setting. Thirty-nine toddler and preschool age children (mean age = 3.9 years)…

  16. Healthy-lifestyle behaviors associated with overweight and obesity in US rural children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tovar Alison

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There are disproportionately higher rates of overweight and obesity in poor rural communities but studies exploring children’s health-related behaviors that may assist in designing effective interventions are limited. We examined the association between overweight and obesity prevalence of 401 ethnically/racially diverse, rural school-aged children and healthy-lifestyle behaviors: improving diet quality, obtaining adequate sleep, limiting screen-time viewing, and consulting a physician about a child’s weight. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on a sample of school-aged children (6–11 years in rural regions of California, Kentucky, Mississippi, and South Carolina participating in CHANGE (Creating Healthy, Active, and Nurturing Growing-up Environments Program, created by Save the Children, an independent organization that works with communities to improve overall child health, with the objective to reduce unhealthy weight gain in these school-aged children (grades 1–6 in rural America. After measuring children’s height and weight, we17 assessed overweight and obesity (BMI ≥ 85th percentile associations with these behaviors: improving diet quality18 (≥ 2 servings of fruits and vegetables/day, reducing whole milk, sweetened beverage consumption/day; obtaining19 adequate night-time sleep on weekdays (≥ 10 hours/night; limiting screen-time (i.e., television, video, computer,20 videogame viewing on weekdays (≤ 2 hours/day; and consulting a physician about weight. Analyses were adjusted 21 for state of residence, children's race/ethnicity, gender, age, and government assistance. Results Overweight or obesity prevalence was 37 percent in Mississippi and nearly 60 percent in Kentucky. Adjusting for covariates, obese children were twice as likely to eat ≥ 2 servings of vegetables per day (OR=2.0,95% CI 1.1-3.4, less likely to consume whole milk (OR=0.4,95% CI 0.2-0.70, Their parents are more likely to

  17. Alexithymia and Grief Reactions in Bereaved Japanese Women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakao, Mutsuhiro; Kashiwagi, Masayo; Yano, Eiji

    2005-01-01

    To examine the relationship between grief reactions and alexithymia, 54 Japanese women (33 outpatients attending a psychosomatic clinic and 21 normal healthy participants) completed the Texas Inventory of Grief (TIG), the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Each woman had experienced the death of a…

  18. Neural activation associated with the cognitive emotion regulation of sadness in healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andy C. Belden

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available When used effectively, cognitive reappraisal of distressing events is a highly adaptive cognitive emotion regulation (CER strategy, with impairments in cognitive reappraisal associated with greater risk for psychopathology. Despite extensive literature examining the neural correlates of cognitive reappraisal in healthy and psychiatrically ill adults, there is a dearth of data to inform the neural bases of CER in children, a key gap in the literature necessary to map the developmental trajectory of cognitive reappraisal. In this fMRI study, psychiatrically healthy schoolchildren were instructed to use cognitive reappraisal to modulate their emotional reactions and responses of negative affect after viewing sad photos. Consistent with the adult literature, when actively engaged in reappraisal compared to passively viewing sad photos, children showed increased activation in the vlPFC, dlPFC, and dmPFC as well as in parietal and temporal lobe regions. When children used cognitive reappraisal to minimize their experience of negative affect after viewing sad stimuli they exhibited dampened amygdala responses. Results are discussed in relation to the importance of identifying and characterizing neural processes underlying adaptive CER strategies in typically developing children in order to understand how these systems go awry and relate to the risk and occurrence of affective disorders.

  19. Early sugar-sweetened beverage consumption frequency is associated with poor quality of later food and nutrient intake patterns among Japanese young children: the Osaka Maternal and Child Health Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okubo, Hitomi; Miyake, Yoshihiro; Sasaki, Satoshi; Tanaka, Keiko; Hirota, Yoshio

    2016-06-01

    Evidence from Western countries shows that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with lower quality of young children's diets, but little is known about these relations in non-Western countries with relatively low consumption levels of SSBs. We hypothesized that SSB consumption in infancy would be associated with poor quality of later food and nutrient intake patterns among Japanese young children. The study subjects were 493 Japanese mother-child pairs from a prospective birth cohort study. Dietary data on children were collected from the mothers using self-administered questionnaires when the children were aged 16-24 months and 41-49 months. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between SSB consumption frequency in infancy and later intake of foods and nutrients. At 16-24 months of age, more than half of the children (56.4%) consumed SSBs less than once a week, whereas 11.6% consumed SSBs at least once daily. More frequent consumption of SSBs in infancy was associated with higher intake of confectionaries and SSBs and lower intake of fruits and vegetables at 41-49 months of age. These associations were still evident after adjustment for maternal SSB consumption and socioeconomic status. At the nutrient level, SSB consumption frequency was positively associated with energy intake and inversely associated with intake of many nutrients, such as protein, dietary fiber, and most of the micronutrients examined. In conclusion, higher consumption frequency of SSBs at an early age is associated with poor quality of overall dietary intake among young Japanese children 1.5-2.5 years later. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Gross morphometric study on the reproductive system of Japanese ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Quail farming is emerging in commercial poultry farming to provide alternatives to domestic chicken production and also strengthen the poultry production demands for animal protein. This study was conducted to determine the gross morphometry of the ovary and oviduct of inapparently healthy adult laying Japanese quail ...

  1. Developing an award program for children's settings to support healthy eating and physical activity and reduce the risk of overweight and obesity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Porter Creina

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper aimed to identify the best way to engage, motivate and support early childhood services (ECS and primary schools (PS to create policy and practise changes to promote healthy eating and physical activity. This information would be used to develop a suitable program to implement within these children's settings to reduce the risk of childhood overweight and obesity. Methods The Medical Research Council's (UK framework for the design and evaluation of complex interventions was used to guide the development of the healthy eating and physical activity program suitable for ECS and PS. Within this framework a range of evaluation methods, including stakeholder planning, in-depth interviews with ECS and PS staff and acceptability and feasibility trials in one local government area, were used to ascertain the best way to engage and support positive changes in these children's settings. Results Both ECS and PS identified that they had a role to play to improve children's healthy eating and physical activity. ECS identified their role in promoting healthy eating and physical activity as important for children's health, and instilling healthy habits for life. PS felt that these were health issues, rather than educational issues; however, schools saw the link between healthy eating and physical activity and student learning outcomes. These settings identified that a program that provides a simple guide that recognises good practise in these settings, such as an award scheme using a health promoting schools approach, as a feasible and acceptable way for them to support children's healthy eating and physical activity. Conclusion Through the process of design and evaluation a program - Kids - 'Go for your life', was developed to promote and support children's healthy eating and physical activity and reduce the risk of childhood overweight and obesity. Kids - 'Go for your life' used an award program, based on a health promoting

  2. Little enhancement of meal-induced glucagon-like peptide 1 secretion in Japanese

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yabe, Daisuke; Kuroe, Akira; Lee, Soushou

    2010-01-01

    with or without type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Seventeen Japanese healthy controls and 18 age-matched and untreated patients with T2DM of short duration participated in the present study. Fasting levels of total GPL-1 were similar between the two groups (approximately 15 pM), and intact GLP-1 levels were considerably...... are considerably low in the Japanese and that meal-induced enhancement of GLP-1 secretion is negligible in the Japanese. (J Diabetes Invest, doi: 10.1111/j.2040-1124.2010.00010.x, 2010).......Although glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) levels have been characterized previously, GLP-1 levels in Asians remain unclear. Here, we investigate total and intact levels of GLP-1, as well as GIP during oral glucose and meal tolerance tests (OGTT and MTT) in Japanese patients...

  3. Healthy Children, Strong Families 2: A randomized controlled trial of a healthy lifestyle intervention for American Indian families designed using community-based approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomayko, Emily J; Prince, Ronald J; Cronin, Kate A; Parker, Tassy; Kim, Kyungmann; Grant, Vernon M; Sheche, Judith N; Adams, Alexandra K

    2017-04-01

    Background/Aims Few obesity prevention trials have focused on young children and their families in the home environment, particularly in underserved communities. Healthy Children, Strong Families 2 is a randomized controlled trial of a healthy lifestyle intervention for American Indian children and their families, a group at very high risk of obesity. The study design resulted from our long-standing engagement with American Indian communities, and few collaborations of this type resulting in the development and implementation of a randomized clinical trial have been described. Methods Healthy Children, Strong Families 2 is a lifestyle intervention targeting increased fruit and vegetable intake, decreased sugar intake, increased physical activity, decreased TV/screen time, and two less-studied risk factors: stress and sleep. Families with young children from five American Indian communities nationwide were randomly assigned to a healthy lifestyle intervention ( Wellness Journey) augmented with social support (Facebook and text messaging) or a child safety control group ( Safety Journey) for 1 year. After Year 1, families in the Safety Journey receive the Wellness Journey, and families in the Wellness Journey start the Safety Journey with continued wellness-focused social support based on communities' request that all families receive the intervention. Primary (adult body mass index and child body mass index z-score) and secondary (health behaviors) outcomes are assessed after Year 1 with additional analyses planned after Year 2. Results To date, 450 adult/child dyads have been enrolled (100% target enrollment). Statistical analyses await trial completion in 2017. Lessons learned Conducting a community-partnered randomized controlled trial requires significant formative work, relationship building, and ongoing flexibility. At the communities' request, the study involved minimal exclusion criteria, focused on wellness rather than obesity, and included an active

  4. Arm trajectories and writing strategy in healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiappedi Matteo

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Evaluation of elementary writing skills in children is usually obtained with high resolution (and high cost techniques or with low resolution pen-and-paper tests. In this observational study we tested a quantitative method to obtain normative data to describe arm movement during a writing precursor gesture. Methods We recruited 226 healthy children (mean age 9,1 years [range: 6.3 – 11.4 years], attending primary schools belonging to the “Istituto Comprensivo” of Rivanazzano Terme (Pavia. We asked to drive a cursor through a polygonal path (labyrinth projected in front of them using a wireless mouse. Dartfish™ video analysis software was used to elaborate images and Excel™, MedCalc™ and Statistica 7™ to analyze values of shoulder, elbow and wrist ranges of motion, arm trajectories, execution times and gesture accuracy. Results Differences seen in motor strategies, when divided according to attended class, suggest a proximal-distal maturation of motor control. Obtained values were not significantly correlated with variables such as gender, ethnicity or cognitive functioning. Conclusions This type of approach to a study of arm movement during childhood represents a valid alternative to other tests, considering that it can differentiate children who perform similarly in the VMI test and is non-invasive, low-cost and easily reproducible.

  5. Radioimmunoassay of the androgen function at healthy children

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Milanov, S.; Grigorova, R.; Koparanova, O.

    1998-01-01

    The androgen function at 67 healthy children aged 1-18 years is studied. Three age groups (1-6 yrs., n=28; 7-12 yrs., n=19; 12-18 yrs., n=20) are examined. Measurements have been done of testosterone (T), Δ-4 androstenedione (Δ-4-A) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) by RIA kits of the Merieux. 17-α-hydroxyprogesterone (17α-OHP), the basic precursor os the androgens, has been measured in the serum by the same RIA kits. An increase in T and Δ-4-A levels with age is observed with significantly higher levels for 12-18 year, compared to those of 1 - 6 years (p<0.02, p<0.002) and 7-12 years (p<0.001). There is reliably higher secretion of T and Δ-4-A in boys, compared to that in 12-18 year girls (p<0.01), while in groups of smaller children only a tendency has been established, probably due to the higher SD. Decrease of the SHBG levels with age has been determined. The lowest levels belong to the binding protein in boys of 12-18 (35.93 ± 8.19 nmol/l)), compared to the other boys as well as in girls in the groups of smaller children (p<0.01). SHBG correlates strong inversely with the levels of T and (Δ-4-A in the 12-18 year boys (8.05 ± 4.4 nmol/l; 19.9 ± 5.7 nmol/l). Probably the higher levels of the two androgens determine the decrease to the binding capacity of the SHBG between 7 and 18 age during sexual development in boys. Reliable difference between the levels of 17α OHP in the smaller groups (1 month - 1 yrs.; 7 - 12 yrs.), compared to the group od 12 - 17 yrs. (p<0.01) have been found. The present study determines referent ranges of the serum levels of T, Δ-4-A, SHBG and 17α OHP in healthy children aged 1 - 18 yrs. and provides information about androgen function in this age period. These hormones are important markers of androgen profile in many endocrine diseases in both sexes and the established reference range will serve for a prompt diagnosis and a regular therapeutic control in CAN, PCOS, hyperandrogenism etc

  6. Sugar as part of a balanced breakfast? What cereal advertisements teach children about healthy eating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    LoDolce, Megan E; Harris, Jennifer L; Schwartz, Marlene B

    2013-01-01

    Marketing that targets children with energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods is a likely contributor to the childhood obesity crisis. High-sugar ready-to-eat cereals are the packaged food most frequently promoted in child-targeted food advertising on television. The authors combined content analysis of product nutritional quality and messages presented in cereal television advertisements with syndicated data on exposure to those ads. The analysis quantifies children's exposure to specific products and messages that appear in advertisements and compares it with adult exposure. Children viewed 1.7 ads per day for ready-to-eat cereals, and 87% of those ads promoted high-sugar products; adults viewed half as many ads, and ads viewed were equally likely to promote high- and low-sugar cereals. In addition, the messages presented in high-sugar ads viewed by children were significantly more likely to convey unrealistic and contradictory messages about cereal attributes and healthy eating. For example, 91% of high-sugar cereal ads viewed by children ascribed extraordinary powers to these products, and 67% portrayed healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors. Given children's vulnerability to the influence of advertising, the emotional and mixed messages used to promote high-sugar cereals are confusing and potentially misleading.

  7. An Interactive Web-Based Intervention to Achieve Healthy Weight in Young Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wald, Ellen R; Ewing, Linda J; Moyer, Stacey C L; Eickhoff, Jens C

    2018-05-01

    This prospective, randomized, controlled trial for parents of overweight and obese 3- to 7-year-olds was performed to assess the feasibility of a program promoting healthy eating and lifestyle by targeting parents as agents of change. The intervention was composed of 6-in-person group sessions and a customized website over 12 months. The control group received customary care. The primary outcome was feasibility of the intervention to promote healthy behavior change measured by attendance. The secondary outcome was effectiveness assessed by attaining reduced body mass index (BMI) z scores, healthy behavior changes and increased parent self-efficacy. Seventy-three child-parent dyads were enrolled; 14 parents never attended any sessions. Participation in follow-up assessments did not meet the hypothesized level. Ultimate BMI z scores did not differ between control and intervention groups. Parenting skills did not improve in the intervention group. This intervention to achieve healthy lifestyle changes in children via their parents as "change agents" was unsuccessful.

  8. Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jefferson, Tom; Rivetti, Alessandro; Di Pietrantonj, Carlo; Demicheli, Vittorio

    2018-02-01

    The consequences of influenza in children and adults are mainly absenteeism from school and work. However, the risk of complications is greatest in children and people over 65 years of age. This is an update of a review published in 2011. Future updates of this review will be made only when new trials or vaccines become available. Observational data included in previous versions of the review have been retained for historical reasons but have not been updated because of their lack of influence on the review conclusions. To assess the effects (efficacy, effectiveness, and harm) of vaccines against influenza in healthy children. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (the Cochrane Library 2016, Issue 12), which includes the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group Specialised Register, MEDLINE (1966 to 31 December 2016), Embase (1974 to 31 December 2016), WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP; 1 July 2017), and ClinicalTrials.gov (1 July 2017). Randomised controlled trials comparing influenza vaccines with placebo or no intervention in naturally occurring influenza in healthy children under 16 years. Previous versions of this review included 19 cohort and 11 case-control studies. We are no longer updating the searches for these study designs but have retained the observational studies for historical purposes. Review authors independently assessed risk of bias and extracted data. We used GRADE to rate the certainty of evidence for the key outcomes of influenza, influenza-like illness (ILI), complications (hospitalisation, ear infection), and adverse events. Due to variation in control group risks for influenza and ILI, absolute effects are reported as the median control group risk, and numbers needed to vaccinate (NNVs) are reported accordingly. For other outcomes aggregate control group risks are used. We included 41 clinical trials (> 200,000 children). Most of the studies were conducted in children over the

  9. Parenting clinically anxious versus healthy control children aged 4-12 years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Sluis, C M; van Steensel, F J A; Bögels, S M

    2015-05-01

    This study investigated whether parenting behaviors differed between parents of 68 clinically anxious children and 106 healthy control children aged 4-12 years. The effects of parent gender, child gender and child age on parenting were explored. Mothers and fathers completed a questionnaire to assess parenting behaviors in for children hypothetically anxious situations. Results showed that parents of clinically anxious children reported more anxiety-enhancing parenting (reinforcement of dependency and punishment) as well as more positive parenting (positive reinforcement). For the clinical sample, fathers reported using more modeling/reassurance than mothers, and parents reported using more force with their 4-7-year-olds than with their 8-12-year-olds. No interaction effects were found for child gender with child anxiety status on parenting. Results indicate that for intervention, it is important to measure parenting behaviors, and to take into account father and mother differences and the age of the child. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Promotion of a Healthy Weight and Lifestyle among Children: The ‘Be Active, Eat Right’ Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A. van Grieken (Amy)

    2013-01-01

    textabstractOverweight and obesity among children has become a public health issue. This thesis aimed to describe interventions promoting a healthy weight and lifestyle among children and provide insight in elements that may be related to intervention improvement. Health care has an important role

  11. Radioimmunological determination of somatomedin B in healthy children and in children with growth disturbances

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wirth, S.; Schoenberger, W.; Roth, A.; Grimm, W. (Children' s Hospital and Department of Clinical Radiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz, FRG)

    1983-01-01

    Serum somatomedin B levels were determined by radioimmunoassay in 209 healthy boys and girls from one month to 16 years of age. Low values were found up to the second year life. In the first year the mean level was 13.8 mg/l in girls and 11.5 mg/l in boys. In older children the values increased to levels between 13 and 22 mg/l in boys and between 13 and 18.5 mg/l in girls. They were independent of the stage of pubertal development. Somatomedin B levels were normal in 71 children with constitutional growth delay, primordial dwarfism, familial dwarfism and other forms of growth disturbance. The mean levels were between 12.1 and 14.4 mg/l. Values below 6 mg/l were present only in children with hGH deficiency. In these patients we could find an increase of the mean level from 4.3 mg/l without therapy to 9.4 mg/l under treatment. Thus the determination of somatomedin B seems to be useful for the diagnosis of hGH deficiency.

  12. Japanese wives in Japanese-Australian intermarriages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jared Denman

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The diasporic experiences of Japanese partners married to Australians and living in Australia are largely unexamined. This article is based on a study, conducted for an honours thesis, which invited four Japanese wives living in South East Queensland to describe, together with their Australian husbands, their family’s interactions with Japan, its language and culture, and the local Japanese community. It was recognised that the extensive social networks these wives had established and maintained with local Japanese women from other Japanese-Australian intermarriage families were an important part of their migrant experience. This article will firstly review the literature on contemporary Japanese- Australian intermarriage in Australia and Japanese lifestyle migration to Australia. It will then describe and examine the involvement and motivations of the four wives in their social networks. Entry into motherhood was found to be the impetus for developing and participating in informal, autonomous networks. Additionally, regular visits to Japan were focused on engagement with existing family and friendship networks. The contemporary experience of intermarriage for these women is decidedly transnational and fundamentally different from that of the war brides, or sensō hanayome.

  13. Discriminative capacity of bronchodilator response measured with three different lung function techniques in asthmatic and healthy children aged 2 to 5 years

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, K G; Bisgaard, H

    2001-01-01

    as compared with placebo in healthy control subjects. Lung function improved to a significantly greater extent in asthmatic children than in control subjects as reflected by all methods. sRaw provided the best discriminative power of such a bronchodilator response, with a sensitivity of 66% and specificity......The primary aim of this study was to quantify and compare bronchodilator responsiveness in healthy and asthmatic children aged 2 to 5 yr. The secondary aim of the study was to compare discriminative capacity (i.e., sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the reversibility test......) as measured with the impulse oscillation technique were assessed before and 20 min after inhalation of terbutaline from a pressurized metered-dose inhaler via a metal spacer by 92 children (37 healthy controls and 55 asthmatic subjects). The study of healthy children followed a randomized, double...

  14. Reliability and Validity of the Japanese Version of the Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire (KVIQ).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakano, Hideki; Kodama, Takayuki; Ukai, Kazumasa; Kawahara, Satoru; Horikawa, Shiori; Murata, Shin

    2018-05-02

    In this study, we aimed to (1) translate the English version of the Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire (KVIQ), which assesses motor imagery ability, into Japanese, and (2) investigate the reliability and validity of the Japanese KVIQ. We enrolled 28 healthy adults in this study. We used Cronbach’s alpha coefficients to assess reliability reflected by the internal consistency. Additionally, we assessed validity reflected by the criterion-related validity between the Japanese KVIQ and the Japanese version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised (MIQ-R) with Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the KVIQ-20 were 0.88 (Visual) and 0.91 (Kinesthetic), which indicates high reliability. There was a significant positive correlation between the Japanese KVIQ-20 (Total) and the Japanese MIQ-R (Total) (r = 0.86, p < 0.01). Our results suggest that the Japanese KVIQ is an assessment that is a reliable and valid index of motor imagery ability.

  15. Planting Seeds to Grow Healthy Children: Strategic Community Partnerships.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alicea-Planas, Jessica; Sullivan, Kelly; Tran, Hang; Cruz, Anna

    2018-02-01

    More than one third of U.S adults are considered obese, and childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past 30 years. Food security can influence obesity, in particular, within inner cities where access to healthy food is often limited. The use of a mobile food truck program (with refrigeration) was implemented in two large inner cities in Connecticut as part of an initiative aimed at helping low-income families with young children gain access to healthy food and nutrition education. Collaborating with community child care centers was used. The experiences of the families who participated in the program were assessed via focus groups. Main ideas derived from the focus groups were participant satisfaction with money saving suggestions, ideas for how to make healthier choices, and excitement about opportunities to receive foods that they would not normally buy. This innovative mobile food truck program demonstrated the value of strategic community partnerships to influence health.

  16. Three Independent Evaluations of Healthy Kids Programs Find Substantial Gains in Children's Dental Health Care. In Brief, September 2008, Number 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Dana; Howell, Embry; Trenholm, Christopher; Hill, Ian; Dubay, Lisa

    2008-01-01

    This brief presents highlights from rigorous, independent evaluations of the Healthy Kids programs in three California counties: Los Angeles, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. Launched by Children's Health Initiatives (CHIs) in these counties between 2001 and 2003, the three Healthy Kids programs provide children with comprehensive health insurance…

  17. Assessment of the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Safety of Single Doses of TV-1106, a Long-Acting Growth Hormone, in Healthy Japanese and Caucasian Subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen-Barak, Orit; Barkay, Hadas; Rasamoelisolo, Michele; Butler, Kathleen; Yamada, Kazumasa; Bassan, Merav; Yoon, Esther; Spiegelstein, Ofer

    2017-07-01

    TV-1106 is a human serum albumin genetically fused to recombinant human growth hormone, designed to provide a long-acting alternative to daily growth hormone (GH) injections in patients with GH deficiency. This study investigated the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of single subcutaneous doses of TV-1106 (7.5, 15, 50, and 100 mg) in Japanese (n = 44) and caucasian (n = 44) healthy subjects. TV-1106 pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics were comparable in Japanese and caucasian populations. TV-1106 demonstrated relatively slow absorption (median t max , 10-30 hours) and a mean elimination half-life of 26-36 hours. Apparent clearance and volume of distribution decreased with increasing TV-1106 doses in both populations and appeared to increase more than dose proportionality across the tested doses. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) increased in a dose-related manner, with maximum responses observed at 33-96 and 42-109 hours, respectively. IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 returned to baseline values at 168 hours following 7.5 and 15 mg of TV-1106, and 336 hours following 50 and 100 mg of TV-1106. TV-1106 appeared safe in both populations. There was no evidence of differences in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, or safety of TV-1106 between Japanese and caucasian populations. The data also demonstrate long-acting growth hormone properties of TV-1106 and support its potential for once-weekly dosing. © 2016, The Authors. Clinical Pharmacology in Drug Development Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

  18. The Academic and Psychological Benefits of Exercise in Healthy Children and Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasmussen, Martin; Laumann, Karin

    2013-01-01

    This review examines the psychological benefits exercise is connected to in healthy children and adolescents. Studies on the effect of exercise on academic performance, self-esteem, emotions, and mood were examined. Academic performance is found to be maintained when normal academic classes are reduced and replaced by an increase in exercise,…

  19. Prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular and kidney disease in Brazilian healthy preschool children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva, Adriana Cândida; de Sousa Tavares, Marcelo; Penido, Maria Goretti Moreira Guimarães

    2016-11-06

    To investigate the prevalence of nutritional parameters of risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and kidney diseases in healthy preschool children. This is an observational cross-sectional study with 60 healthy children, of both genders, aged two to six years old and 56 mothers, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Preschool children and their families with regular activities at public schools were invited to paticipate in the study. The following characteristics were assessed: Socio-demographic condictions, clinical health, anthropometric, biochemical, lifestyle and data on food consumption. The 56 healthy children were divided into two groups, overweight (C1) and non-overweight (C2), as well as their mothers, respectively, in overweight (M1) and non-overweight (M2). Nutritional status was defined according to results obtained through the Anthro ® Software for nutritional analysis. Thirty-five children were male, with mean age of 4.44 ± 1.0 years old. Eighty-nine percent of them were eutrophic, 86.7% were sedentary and they had five meals a day. Body mass index (BMI) for age and total cholesterol (TC) was higher on C1 ( P = 0.0001) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) was higher on C2. Mothers were 32.5 ± 7.1 years old, mostly married and employed. Eighty-six percent of them were sedentary and 62.5% were overweight with BMI = 26.38 ± 5.07 kg/m 2 . Eighteen percent of the overweight mothers had isolated total hypercholesterolemia (TC levels elevated) and 12.5% had low HDL-c levels. The present study showed an association between overweight and obesity during the preschool years and the correspondent mothers' nutritional status of overweight and obesity (OR = 4.96; 95%CI: 0.558-44.17). There was a positive correlation between the food risk associated with CVD by children and mothers when their consumption was 4 times/wk ( P = 0.049; r = 0.516) or daily ( P = 0.000008; r = 0.892). Analyzed children showed high rates of physical inactivity, high

  20. Reference values of bone stiffness index and C-terminal telopeptide in healthy European children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrmann, D; Intemann, T; Lauria, F; Mårild, S; Molnár, D; Moreno, L A; Sioen, I; Tornaritis, M; Veidebaum, T; Pigeot, I; Ahrens, W

    2014-09-01

    Quantitative ultrasound measurements and bone metabolic markers can help to monitor bone health and to detect impaired skeletal development. Population-based reference values for children may serve as a basis for preventive measures to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures in later life. This is the first paper providing age-, sex- and height-specific reference values for bone stiffness index (SI) and serum carboxy-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) in healthy, apparently prepubertal children. In the population-based IDEFICS baseline survey (2007-2008) and follow-up (2009-2010), 18,745 children from eight European countries were newly recruited. A total of 10,791 2-10.9-year-old and 1646 3-8.9-year-old healthy children provided data on SI of the right and left calcaneus and serum CTX, respectively. Furthermore, height and weight were measured. Percentile curves were calculated using the General Additive Model for Location Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) to model the distribution of SI and CTX depending on multiple covariates while accounting for dispersion, skewness, and the kurtosis of this distribution. SI was negatively associated with age and height in children aged 2-5 years, whereas a positive association was observed in children aged 6-10 years. The dip in SI occurred at older age for higher SI percentiles and was observed earlier in taller children than in smaller children. The CTX reference curves showed a linear-positive association with age and height. No major sex differences were observed for the SI and CTX reference values. These reference data lay the ground to evaluate bone growth and metabolism in prepubertal children in epidemiological and clinical settings. They may also inform clinical practice to monitor skeletal development and to assess adverse drug reactions during medical treatments.

  1. Nasal Carriage and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus in healthy preschool children in Ujjain, India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharma Megha

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There is increasing evidence that community acquired S. aureus infections are spreading among healthy children. Nasal colonization with S. aureus plays pivotal role in the increasing prevalence of resistant community acquired S. aureus infections worldwide. A regular surveillance system is important in ensuring quality of patient care. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of and the factors associated with nasal carriage of S. aureus and its antibiotic sensitivity pattern among healthy children in Ujjain, India. Methods A prospective study was done in paediatric outpatient clinics of R.D. Gardi medical college Ujjain, India. Healthy children from 1 month to 59 months of age were included. Information on previously known risk factors for nasal colonization was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Swabs from anterior nares were collected and transported in Amies transport media with charcoal and cultured on 5% sheep blood agar. Antibiotic sensitivity tests were performed using Kirby Bauer's disc diffusion method according to performance standards of Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute guidelines. Results Of the 1,562 children from 1-month up-to five years of age included in the study 98 children tested positive for nasal carriage of S. aureus. The prevalence of nasal carriage of S. aureus was 6.3% (95% CI 5.1-7.5 out of which 16.3% (95% CI 8.9-23.8 were methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA. The factors associated with nasal carriage were "child attending preschool" (OR 4.26, 95% CI 2.25-8.03; P = 0.007 or "school" (OR 3.02, 95% CI 1.27-7.18; P P = 0.03. The sensitivity pattern of isolated S. aureus showed resistance to commonly used oral antibiotics while resistance to glycopeptides was not noted. Conclusions We found a relatively low rate of nasal carriage of S. aureus in children below five years when compared to children of older age groups in India. Yet, prevalence of MRSA was relatively high.

  2. The Japanese Version of the Massachusetts General Hospital Acupuncture Sensation Scale: A Validation Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masako Nishiwaki

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Acupuncture sensations are considered essential in producing the treatment effect of acupuncture. The Massachusetts General Hospital Acupuncture Sensation Scale (MASS is a frequently used scale in acupuncture research to measure acupuncture sensations. We translated the MASS into Japanese (Japanese MASS based on Beaton’s guidelines. 30 acupuncturists evaluated the relevancy and meaning of the 12 descriptors included in the Japanese MASS. The content validity ratios for 10 of the 12 descriptors were 0.33 or greater. 42 healthy subjects then evaluated acupuncture sensations evoked by manual acupuncture at LI4 using the Japanese MASS. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.86. The correlation coefficient of total MASS scores and total Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire scores and MASS indices and sensory visual analogue scores were 0.78 and 0.80, respectively. Factor analysis loaded the 12 descriptors onto two meaningful factors. This study demonstrated that the Japanese MASS has good reliability, content validity, criterion-related validity, and construct validity. Therefore, the Japanese MASS is a valid and reliable instrument for use with Japanese populations.

  3. The Japanese Version of the Massachusetts General Hospital Acupuncture Sensation Scale: A Validation Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishiwaki, Masako; Takayama, Miho; Yajima, Hiroyoshi; Nasu, Morihiro; Kong, Jian; Takakura, Nobuari

    2017-01-01

    Acupuncture sensations are considered essential in producing the treatment effect of acupuncture. The Massachusetts General Hospital Acupuncture Sensation Scale (MASS) is a frequently used scale in acupuncture research to measure acupuncture sensations. We translated the MASS into Japanese (Japanese MASS) based on Beaton's guidelines. 30 acupuncturists evaluated the relevancy and meaning of the 12 descriptors included in the Japanese MASS. The content validity ratios for 10 of the 12 descriptors were 0.33 or greater. 42 healthy subjects then evaluated acupuncture sensations evoked by manual acupuncture at LI4 using the Japanese MASS. Cronbach's alpha was 0.86. The correlation coefficient of total MASS scores and total Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire scores and MASS indices and sensory visual analogue scores were 0.78 and 0.80, respectively. Factor analysis loaded the 12 descriptors onto two meaningful factors. This study demonstrated that the Japanese MASS has good reliability, content validity, criterion-related validity, and construct validity. Therefore, the Japanese MASS is a valid and reliable instrument for use with Japanese populations.

  4. Experiences of Japanese men during the transition to fatherhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwata, Hiroko

    2014-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of the lived experience of Japanese men during the transition to fatherhood. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used. Participants were 12 Japanese men who had a first-time healthy child younger than 1 year of age, who were sought by using a purposeful sampling technique. The following six themes were identified: (1) feeling like a father; (2) realizing oneself as a husband; (3) finding the wife's pregnancy and delivery for the first time to be an impressive experience; (4) sharing time and space with one's child; (5) being aware of a change and trying to adjust to a new life; and (6) being aware of the difference between oneself and one's wife. These six themes created essence of the phenomenon of "becoming a father." This study revealed Japanese men's own voice on becoming first-time fathers of infants.

  5. Summer treatment program for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Japanese experience in 5 years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamashita, Yushiro; Mukasa, Akiko; Anai, Chizuru; Honda, Yuko; Kunisaki, Chie; Koutaki, Junichi; Tada, Yahuhiro; Egami, Chiyomi; Kodama, Naoko; Nakashima, Masayuki; Nagamitsu, Shin-ichiro; Matsuishi, Toyojiro

    2011-03-01

    In 2005 we established the first American-style summer treatment program (STP) for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) located outside North America. This program was based on methods established by professor Pelham and has been used in a number of studies and at a number of sites in the USA. A total of 137 children diagnosed with ADHD, ranging in age from 6 to 12 years, participated in at least one of five annual summer treatment programs in Kurume city, Japan, during 2005-2009. The duration of the STP was 2 weeks in 2005, 2008, and 2009; 3 weeks in 2006 and 2007. A set of evidence-based behavioral modification techniques comprising the STP behavioral program (e.g., point system, daily report card, positive reinforcement, time out) was used. We also assessed the cognitive function of individual children before and after STP using the CogState(R) batteries. Every year, regardless of the duration of the STP, most children showed positive behavioral changes in multiple domains of functioning, demonstrated by significant improvement in points earned daily, which reflect behavior frequencies. Cognitive functions, particularly the rate of anticipatory errors in executive function, significantly improved after the STP, suggesting that STP has positive effects not only on behavioral aspects but also on some cognitive functions. Further studies are necessary to confirm this finding by studying sequential cognitive function of age-matched children who do not attend STP. Copyright © 2010 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Cultural differences in visual object recognition in 3-year-old children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuwabara, Megumi; Smith, Linda B

    2016-07-01

    Recent research indicates that culture penetrates fundamental processes of perception and cognition. Here, we provide evidence that these influences begin early and influence how preschool children recognize common objects. The three tasks (N=128) examined the degree to which nonface object recognition by 3-year-olds was based on individual diagnostic features versus more configural and holistic processing. Task 1 used a 6-alternative forced choice task in which children were asked to find a named category in arrays of masked objects where only three diagnostic features were visible for each object. U.S. children outperformed age-matched Japanese children. Task 2 presented pictures of objects to children piece by piece. U.S. children recognized the objects given fewer pieces than Japanese children, and the likelihood of recognition increased for U.S. children, but not Japanese children, when the piece added was rated by both U.S. and Japanese adults as highly defining. Task 3 used a standard measure of configural progressing, asking the degree to which recognition of matching pictures was disrupted by the rotation of one picture. Japanese children's recognition was more disrupted by inversion than was that of U.S. children, indicating more configural processing by Japanese than U.S. children. The pattern suggests early cross-cultural differences in visual processing; findings that raise important questions about how visual experiences differ across cultures and about universal patterns of cognitive development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Thymopoiesis and regulatory T cells in healthy children and adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Izabel Arismendi

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between T cell receptor excision circle levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and regulatory T cells that co-express CD25 and Foxp3 in healthy children and adolescents of different ages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The quantification of signal-joint T-cell receptor excision circle levels in the genomic DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells was performed using real-time quantitative PCR. The analysis of CD4, CD8, CD25, and Foxp3 expression was performed using flow cytometry. RESULTS: Ninety-five healthy controls (46 females and 49 males ranging in age from 1 to 18 years were analyzed. The mean T-cell receptor excision circle count in all individuals was 89.095¡36.790 T-cell receptor excision circles per microgram of DNA. There was an inverse correlation between T-cell receptor excision circles counts and age (r = -0.846; p<0.001 as well as between the proportion of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells and age (r = -0.467; p = 0.04. In addition, we observed a positive correlation between the amount of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells and the amount of Tcell receptor excision circles per microgram of DNA in individuals of all ages (r = -0.529; p = 0.02. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we observed a decrease in the thymic function with age based on the fact that the level of T-cell receptor excision circles in the peripheral blood positively correlated with the proportion of regulatory T cells in healthy children and adolescents. These findings indicate that although T-cell receptor excision circles and regulatory T cells levels decrease with age, homeostasis of the immune system and relative regulatory T cells population levels are maintained in the peripheral blood.

  8. Putting Children's Sleep Problems to Bed: Using Behavior Change Theory to Increase the Success of Children's Sleep Education Programs and Contribute to Healthy Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blunden, Sarah; Benveniste, Tessa; Thompson, Kirrilly

    2016-07-01

    Sleep is critical for the healthy development of children, yet most children simply don't get enough. Whilst school based sleep education programs have been developed for parents and their children, they have had mixed success. We consider how use of behavior change theory in existing school-based sleep education programs can be improved by applying and apply a broader model to these programs. We find that the mixed success of school-based sleep education programs may be due to a plausible but misleading assumption that simply increasing information about the importance of sleep and the risks of insufficient and/or inefficient sleep will necessarily result in improved sleep behaviors. We identify the potential benefits of using behavior change theory in the development of sleep education programs but in particular, there is a need for theories incorporate the multiple biological, environmental and social impacts on children's sleep. Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological model is presented to illustrate how one such behavior change theory could significantly improve the success of sleep education programs and ultimately support the healthy development of children.

  9. A Validation Study of the Japanese Version of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised

    OpenAIRE

    dos Santos Kawata, Kelssy Hitomi; Hashimoto, Ryusaku; Nishio, Yoshiyuki; Hayashi, Atsuko; Ogawa, Nanayo; Kanno, Shigenori; Hiraoka, Kotaro; Yokoi, Kayoko; Iizuka, Osamu; Mori, Etsuro

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this study was to validate the Japanese version of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) [Mori: Japanese Edition of Hodges JR’s Cognitive Assessment for Clinicians, 2010] designed to detect dementia, and to compare its diagnostic accuracy with that of the Mini-Mental State Examination. The ACE-R was administered to 85 healthy individuals and 126 patients with dementia. The reliability assessment revealed a strong correlation in both groups. The internal consistenc...

  10. Establishing and explaining the impact of characters on young children's healthy food choices

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Droog, S.M. de

    2013-01-01

    Worldwide the number of overweight children rises dramatically. One way to prevent overweight is by creating healthy eating habits from a very young age. This dissertation explores whether and how 4- to 6-year-olds’ fruit and vegetable choices can be stimulated by using an immensely popular

  11. Cognitive profile of patients with burning mouth syndrome in the Japanese population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuoka, Hirofumi; Himachi, Mika; Furukawa, Hirokazu; Kobayashi, Shiho; Shoki, Harumi; Motoya, Ryo; Saito, Masato; Abiko, Yoshihiro; Sakano, Yuji

    2010-07-01

    The present study investigated which cognitive characteristics, including cancer phobia, self-efficacy, pain-related catastrophizing, and anxiety sensitivity, affect burning mouth syndrome (BMS) symptoms in the Japanese population. A total of 46 BMS patients (44 women and 2 men; mean age, 59.98 +/- 9.57 years; range, 30-79 years) completed a battery of questionnaires, including measures of pain severity, oral-related quality of life (QOL), stress-response, pain-related catastrophizing, self-efficacy, anxiety sensitivity, and tongue cancer phobia. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) scores in the BMS patients were compared with the scores of Japanese healthy participants (PCS, n = 449; GSES, n = 278; ASI, n = 9603) reported in previous studies. Catastrophizing and anxiety sensitivity were significantly higher in the BMS patients than in the healthy subjects (P disability, social disability, and handicap. Cancer phobia was significantly correlated with psychological disability and handicap. Since catastrophizing showed a higher correlation with BMS symptoms than cancer phobia, catastrophizing might be a more significant cognitive factor affecting symptoms than cancer phobia in BMS patients in the Japanese population.

  12. Preventing Obesity among Preschool Children: How Can Child-Care Settings Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity? Research Synthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Nicole; Ward, Dianne; Neelon, Sara Benjamin; Story, Mary

    2011-01-01

    Child-care settings provide numerous opportunities to promote healthy eating and physical activity behaviors among preschool children. The majority of U.S. children are placed in some form of non-parental care during their preschool years. While approximately 15 percent of preschool children are primarily cared for by their relatives, most…

  13. Transgenerational healing: Educating children in genesis of healthy children, with focus on nutrition, emotion, and epigenetic effects on brain development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    House, Simon H

    2013-01-01

    Although our continuing evolution can never achieve our perfection, we long for our children's birth and health to be near-perfect. Many children are born healthy, though fewer than is possible. Birthing and health rapidly improved generally due to modern housing, sanitation and medicine, as well as birth interventions. Arguably interventions have exceeded the optimal level, without enough regard for natural physical and intuitive resources. Conception, often too easy, receives too little personal preparation unless a couple has problems. Nurturing the health of sperm and ovum seems hard to focus on, yet is needed by both parents - and even by the four grandparents. What are the key factors? Positive: The fields of hormones/emotions and of nutrition/metabolism. Negative: stress, poor nutrition, toxins, diseases; much being due to poverty. Positive and negative both have structural and also epigenetic effects. Interventions, essential or inessential, are seldom without negative side effects. Health can best, and most economically, be generated at the beginning of life, through healthy conception, gestation and birth. Understanding prime needs improves initial health. It also informs therapy of any early-life problems. Healing is therefore more efficient when transgenerational, and much more powerful than individual healing. My vision of healing is safeguarding our evolution in progress. Children's choices - eating, exercise, emotional attitudes and relationships - are already profoundly affecting any children they may have, their mental and physical health. The most practical starting point seems to be educating boys as well as girls. Childhood is therefore the time to educate them in choices. The correction of often unnoticed problems- nutrient deficits, toxins, uro-genital disease - has enabled nearly nine out of ten couples to bear fully healthy babies, even following severe problems - infertility, miscarriages, stillbirths and malformations. Correcting problems

  14. Short sleep duration is associated with poor performance on IQ measures in healthy school-age children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruber, Reut; Laviolette, Rachelle; Deluca, Paolo; Monson, Eva; Cornish, Kim; Carrier, Julie

    2010-03-01

    To examine the associations between habitual sleep duration and intellectual functioning in healthy, well-rested, school-age children. The study group consisted of 39 healthy children, aged 7-11 years old. Nightly actigraphic sleep recordings were taken for four consecutive nights to determine habitual week-night sleep duration in the home environment. Objective measures of cognitive functioning and sleepiness were used to measure daytime functioning. Longer habitual sleep duration in healthy school-age participants was associated with better performance on measures of perceptual reasoning and overall IQ, as measured by the WISC-IV, and on reported measures of competence and academic performance. No association between sleep duration and the studied behavioral measures was found. These findings support the hypothesis that sleep duration is differentially related to some components of cognitive functioning, even in the absence of evidence for sleep deprivation or attention deficits. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Mother employment status and nutritional patterns in Japanese junior high schoolchildren.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaina, A; Sekine, M; Chandola, T; Marmot, M; Kagamimori, S

    2009-07-01

    To investigate associations between mothers' employment (full, part time and no employment) and nutrition habits (regularity of breakfast, snack, dinner, meal speed and portion size) in a sample of Japanese junior high schoolchildren, 12-13 years of age. A total of 10 453 children aged 12-13 years from the Toyama birth cohort study (fourth phase) participated, of whom 8906 children (89% response rate) responded to all questions related to the examined variables. Nutrition habits consisted of breakfast, snack, dinner, meal speed and meal portion. Children's obesity/overweight was measured by body mass index (BMI). Fathers' employment had no effect on their children's nutrition patterns. Children of full-time employed mothers were the most likely to snack and to skip dinner. Children of part-time employed mothers ate larger meal portions, and those of non-employed mothers reported faster meal speeds. BMI was significantly (P<0.001) higher among children of full-time employed mothers (19.3), and lowest among non-employed mothers (19.00). Children of full-time employed mothers are more likely to be overweight, but not obese compared with other children. There was a strong relationship between mother's employment and nutrition patterns in this cohort of Japanese schoolchildren; special programs focused on children's nutrition patterns should take into account the mothers' employment status.

  16. Concordance of parent proxy report and child self-report of posttraumatic stress in children with cancer and healthy children: influence of parental posttraumatic stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clawson, Ashley H; Jurbergs, Niki; Lindwall, Jennifer; Phipps, Sean

    2013-11-01

    This study examined the relationships between parental posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), child PTSS, and parent-child concordance for child PTSS. Participants were children with cancer (n = 199), and healthy children (n = 108) and their parents. Children self-reported on PTSS and parents completed measures of child and parent PTSS. In the cancer group, child and parent reports of child PTSS were significantly correlated with no mean differences between reporters. In contrast, correlations were non-significant in the control group, and parents reported significantly lower levels of child PTSS than children. Increased parental PTSS was associated with better concordance in the cancer group but not in the control group. In fact, in the cancer group, parent-child concordance was strongest at the highest level of parental PTSS. Parents of children with cancer were found to be accurate reporters of their children's distress, even with high levels of reported personal distress. In contrast, parents of healthy children appear primarily influenced by personal distress when reporting child PTSS. Although multiple informant assessments are always desirable, it appears that utilization of a single informant may be reasonable in the cancer setting when access to informants is limited. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  17. Sex and cultural differences in spatial performance between Japanese and North Americans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakamoto, Maiko; Spiers, Mary V

    2014-04-01

    Previous studies have suggested that Asians perform better than North Americans on spatial tasks but show smaller sex differences. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between long-term experience with a pictorial written language and spatial performance. It was hypothesized that native Japanese Kanji (a complex pictorial written language) educated adults would show smaller sex differences on spatial tasks than Japanese Americans or North Americans without Kanji education. A total of 80 young healthy participants (20 native Japanese speakers, 20 Japanese Americans-non Japanese speaking, and 40 North Americans-non Japanese speaking) completed the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT), the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), and customized 2D and 3D spatial object location memory tests. As predicted, main effects revealed men performed better on the MRT and RCFT and women performed better on the spatial object location memory tests. Also, as predicted, native Japanese performed better on all tests than the other groups. In contrast to the other groups, native Japanese showed a decreased magnitude of sex differences on aspects of the RCFT (immediate and delayed recall) and no significant sex difference on the efficiency of the strategy used to copy and encode the RCFT figure. This study lends support to the idea that intensive experience over time with a pictorial written language (i.e., Japanese Kanji) may contribute to increased spatial performance on some spatial tasks as well as diminish sex differences in performance on tasks that most resemble Kanji.

  18. Brand name logo recognition of fast food and healthy food among children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arredondo, Elva; Castaneda, Diego; Elder, John P; Slymen, Donald; Dozier, David

    2009-02-01

    The fast food industry has been increasingly criticized for creating brand loyalty in young consumers. Food marketers are well versed in reaching children and youth given the importance of brand loyalty on future food purchasing behavior. In addition, food marketers are increasingly targeting the Hispanic population given their growing spending power. The fast food industry is among the leaders in reaching youth and ethnic minorities through their marketing efforts. The primary objective of this study was to determine if young children recognized fast food restaurant logos at a higher rate than other food brands. Methods Children (n = 155; 53% male; 87% Hispanic) ages 4-8 years were recruited from elementary schools and asked to match 10 logo cards to products depicted on a game board. Parents completed a survey assessing demographic and psychosocial characteristics associated with a healthy lifestyle in the home. Results Older children and children who were overweight were significantly more likely to recognize fast food restaurant logos than other food logos. Moreover, parents' psychosocial and socio-demographic characteristics were associated with the type of food logo recognized by the children. Conclusions Children's high recognition of fast food restaurant logos may reflect greater exposure to fast food advertisements. Families' socio-demographic characteristics play a role in children's recognition of food logos.

  19. Orthography and Learning to Decode in Japanese.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muraishi, Shozo

    The Language Play Method (LPM), a teaching method developed to systematically instruct preschool children in the structure of Japanese and Hiragana letters, is described in this paper. LPM develops three fundamental abilities which contribute to oral skill and literacy in kindergartners: the ability to recognize letters, the ability to decode…

  20. Relationships between Dietary Intake and Cognitive Function in Healthy Korean Children and Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jin Young; Kang, Seung Wan

    2017-01-01

    It has long been theorized that a relatively robust dietary intake impacts cognitive function. The aim of the study was to explore dietary intake and cognitive function in healthy Korean children and adolescents. Three hundred and seventeen healthy children with no previous diagnosis of neurologic or psychiatric disorders were evaluated (167 girls and 150 boys with a mean age of 11.8 ± 3.3 years). Analysis indicators including food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) consisting of 76 items and neurocognitive tests including symbol digit modalities (SDMT), verbal memory, visual memory, shift attention, reasoning, and digit span (forward and backward) tests were observed and recorded. The standard deviation in reaction time was significantly shorter in girls than in boys (p Coca-Cola showed negative correlation with the results of verbal memory tests (p < 0.05). The consumption of mushrooms showed positive correlation with visual memory and reasoning test results (p < 0.05). The consumption of nuts showed positive correlation with SDMT results (p < 0.01). Omission errors were negatively correlated with the intake of protein, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, and vitamin B6 (p < 0.05), as well as with vitamin D and zinc intake (p < 0.01). Reaction time showed positive correlation with caffeine intake (p < 0.05). Omission errors were positively correlated with the consumption of rice and ramyeon (p < 0.01). Reaction time showed positive correlation with the consumption of snacks (p < 0.05). Standard deviations in reaction times showed positive correlation with the consumption of rice (p < 0.01), snacks, and chocolate (p < 0.05). Omission errors were negatively correlated with the consumption of rice with mixed grains (p < 0.01) and eggs (p < 0.05). The relationship between dietary intake and cognitive function is generally better observed in girls than in boys. The consumption of healthy foods is correlated with good cognitive function. These results suggest that diet is

  1. Cytokine profile and proviral load among Japanese immigrants and non-Japanese infected with HTLV-1 in a non-endemic area of Brazil.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João Américo Domingos

    Full Text Available The lifetime risk of HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP development differs among ethnic groups. To better understand these differences, this prospective cohort study was conducted to investigate the cytokine profile and the HTLV-1 proviral load (PVL in Japanese and non-Japanese populations with HAM/TSP and asymptomatic carriers (ACs. The serum IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α, and IFN-γ levels were quantified using the Cytometric Bead Array in 40 HTLV-1-infected patients (11 HAM/TSP and 29 ACs and 18 healthy controls (HCs in Brazil. Among ACs, 15 were Japanese descendants and 14 were non-Japanese. Of 11 patients with HAM/TSP, only one was a Japanese descendant. The HTLV-1 PVL was quantified by real-time PCR. The HTLV-1 PVL was 2.7-fold higher in HAM/TSP patients than ACs. Regardless of the clinical outcome, the PVL was significantly higher in patients younger than 60 years than older patients. The HAM/TSP and ACs had higher IL-10 serum concentrations than that of HCs. The ACs also showed higher IL-6 serum levels than those of HCs. According to age, the IL-10 and IL-6 levels were higher in ACs non-Japanese patients older than 60 years. HAM/TSP patients showed a positive correlation between IL-6 and IL-17 and a negative correlation between the PVL and IL-17 and IFN-γ. In the all ACs, a significant positive correlation was observed between IL-2 and IL-17 and a negative correlation was detected between IL-10 and TNF-α. Only 6.25% of the Japanese patients were symptomatic carriers, compared with 41.67% of the non-Japanese patients. In conclusion, this study showed that high levels of HTLV-1 PVL was intrinsicaly associated with the development of HAM/TSP. A higher HTLV-1 PVL and IL10 levels found in non-Japanese ACs over 60 years old, which compared with the Japanese group depicts that the ethnic background may interfere in the host immune status. More researches also need to be undertaken regarding the host

  2. Shaping children's healthy eating habits with food placements? Food placements of high and low nutritional value in cartoons, Children's BMI, food-related parental mediation strategies, and food choice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Naderer, B.; Matthes, J.; Binder, A.; Marquart, F.; Mayrhofer, M.; Obereder, A.; Spielvogel, I.

    Research on media induced food choices of children has not sufficiently investigated whether food placements of snacks high in nutritional value can strengthen children's healthy eating behavior. Furthermore, we lack knowledge about the moderating role of children's individual characteristics such

  3. Short-term effect of American summer treatment program for Japanese children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamashita, Yushiro; Mukasa, Akiko; Honda, Yuko; Anai, Chizuru; Kunisaki, Chie; Koutaki, Jun-ichi; Motoyama, Satoko; Miura, Naoki; Sugimoto, Ami; Ohya, Takashi; Nakashima, Masayuki; Nagamitsu, Shin-ichiro; Gnagy, Elizabeth M; Greiner, Andrew R; Pelham, William E; Matsuishi, Toyojiro

    2010-02-01

    We reported the results of the 3-week summer treatment program (STP) for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 2006. The STP was based on methods established by Professor Pelham in Buffalo, NY and has been used in a number of studies and at a number of sites in the U.S. This is the first STP outside North America. Thirty-six children age 6-12 years with ADHD participated. The collection of evidence-based behavioral modification techniques that comprises the STP's behavioral program (e.g., point system, daily report card, positive reinforcement, time out) was used. Most children showed positive behavioral changes in multiple domains of functioning, demonstrated by significant improvement in points earned daily, which reflect behavior frequencies. Only one child with ADHD co-morbid with pervasive developmental disorder required an individualized program for excessive time outs. The ADHD rating scale, symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder, and hyperactivity/inattention in Strength and Difficulties Questionnaires evaluated by parents significantly improved after STP. Although the 3-week STP was much shorter than most STPs run in the U.S., the program is more intensive than typical outpatient treatment, providing 105h of intervenion in 3 weeks. The short-term effect of the STP was demonstrated for Japanese children with ADHD. 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Awareness of and compliance with healthy oral habits reported by children and their parents in Democratic People's Republic of Korea after a preventive programme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarvonen, Pirkko-Liisa; Sipilä, Kirsi; Ri, Yon Sil; Jang, Jong Hyon; Kim, Jong Hyok; Suominen, Anna L

    2016-10-01

    The study aimed to examine awareness of and compliance with healthy oral habits reported by children and their parents in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), after a preventive programme. The data were collected in 2013 with self-completed, partly structured questionnaires from 1994 children aged 10 and 13 years and from 200 parents. Association between awareness of and compliance with healthy oral habits reported by the children and their parents was evaluated using Chi square tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses, children's oral health habits according to themselves and their parents were analysed using McNemar's test. Both children and their parents seemed to be familiar with healthy oral habits, although the awareness was not directly related to the reports of the children's oral practices. Most of the children reported brushing their teeth at least twice a day, using fluoride toothpaste and drinking water for thirst but frequent sweet snacking was common. Children's and their parents' reports were consistent with regard to sweet snacking frequency (p = 0.736) and the main thirst quencher (p = 0.349). Awareness of healthy oral habits appeared to be good among children and their parents. Unhealthy oral habits seemed to coincide with one another.

  5. Cultural differences in visual object recognition in 3-year-old children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuwabara, Megumi; Smith, Linda B.

    2016-01-01

    Recent research indicates that culture penetrates fundamental processes of perception and cognition (e.g. Nisbett & Miyamoto, 2005). Here, we provide evidence that these influences begin early and influence how preschool children recognize common objects. The three tasks (n=128) examined the degree to which nonface object recognition by 3 year olds was based on individual diagnostic features versus more configural and holistic processing. Task 1 used a 6-alternative forced choice task in which children were asked to find a named category in arrays of masked objects in which only 3 diagnostic features were visible for each object. U.S. children outperformed age-matched Japanese children. Task 2 presented pictures of objects to children piece by piece. U.S. children recognized the objects given fewer pieces than Japanese children and likelihood of recognition increased for U.S., but not Japanese children when the piece added was rated by both U.S. and Japanese adults as highly defining. Task 3 used a standard measure of configural progressing, asking the degree to which recognition of matching pictures was disrupted by the rotation of one picture. Japanese children’s recognition was more disrupted by inversion than was that of U.S. children, indicating more configural processing by Japanese than U.S. children. The pattern suggests early cross-cultural differences in visual processing; findings that raise important questions about how visual experiences differ across cultures and about universal patterns of cognitive development. PMID:26985576

  6. Healthy caregivers-healthy children (HC2) phase 2: Integrating culturally sensitive childhood obesity prevention strategies into childcare center policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messiah, Sarah E; Lebron, Cynthia; Moise, Rhoda; Sunil Mathew, M; Sardinas, Krystal; Chang, Catherina; Palenzuela, Joanne; Walsh, Jennifer; Shelnutt, Karla P; Spector, Rachel; Altare, Fiorella; Natale, Ruby

    2017-02-01

    Despite the high prevalence of obesity among preschool-aged children, most states lack childcare center (CCC) nutrition and physical activity policies. The Healthy Caregivers, Healthy Children (HC) Phase 2 project is examining the relationship between the CCC nutrition and physical activity environment and child dietary intake/physical activity patterns and body mass index (BMI). A total of 24 "Quality Counts" (Miami Dade County, Florida's Quality Rating Improvement System [QRIS)]) CCCs serving low resource families with ≥50 2-to-5year olds attending have been randomized to either intervention (n=12) or control (n=12). The HC2 intervention arm CCCs receive implementation of a daily curricula for (1) teachers/parents; (2) children; (3) snack, beverage, physical activity, and screen time policies; and (4) technical assistance with menu modifications. Control arm schools receive an attention control safety curriculum. HC2 is delivered once a month in year 1, quarterly in year 2 and will be disseminated throughout the Quality Counts network in year 3. Primary outcome measures include the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation tool (EPAO), standardized dietary intake and physical activity patterns surveys, and child BMI. The 'Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM)' framework will guide the interpretation of outcome measures. CCCs are in need of evidence-based standardized nutrition and physical activity policies. The intersection of RE-AIM and early childhood obesity prevention in the childcare setting could generate robust and new information to the field about potential barriers, facilitators, adoption, and sustainability in this setting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Factors Associated with the Empowerment of Japanese Families Raising a Child with Developmental Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wakimizu, Rie; Fujioka, Hiroshi; Yoneyama, Akira; Iejima, Atsushi; Miyamoto, Shinya

    2011-01-01

    We identified factors associated with the empowerment of Japanese families using the Family Empowerment Scale (FES) to contribute to the improvement of empowerment in Japanese families raising a child with developmental disorders (DDs). The study was conducted in 350 caregivers who raised children aged 4-18 years with DDs in urban and suburban…

  8. Heritage Language Acquisition and Maintenance: Home Literacy Practices of Japanese-Speaking Families in Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nomura, Takako; Caidi, Nadia

    2013-01-01

    Introduction: In this study, we examine the case of Japanese-speaking families in Canada and their experiences with teaching a heritage language at home, along with the uses and perceived usefulness of public library resources, collections, and services in the process. Methods: We interviewed fourteen mothers who speak Japanese to their children.…

  9. Bisphenol A, phthalate metabolites and glucose homeostasis in healthy normal-weight children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amalie Carlsson

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Bisphenol A and several of the most commonly used phthalates have been associated with adverse metabolic health effects such as obesity and diabetes. Therefore, we analyzed these man-made chemicals in first morning urine samples from 107 healthy normal-weight Danish children and adolescents. Method: This was a cross-sectional study. Participants were recruited as part of the Copenhagen Puberty Study. The subjects were evaluated by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT, a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA scan, direct oxygen uptake measurement during cycle ergometry and fasting blood samples. First morning urine was collected and phthalate metabolites and BPA were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS with prior enzymatic deconjugation. Individual chemical concentrations were divided into tertiles and analyzed in relation to biological outcome. Results: Children in the lowest tertile of urinary BPA had significantly higher peak insulin levels during OGTT (P = 0.01, lower insulin sensitivity index (P < 0.01, higher leptin (P = 0.03, triglyceride (P < 0.01 and total cholesterol levels (P = 0.04, lower aerobic fitness (P = 0.02 and a tendency toward higher fat mass index (P = 0.1 compared with children in the highest tertile for uBPA. No significant differences in anthropometrics, body composition or glucose metabolism were associated with any of the phthalate metabolites measured. Conclusion: This pilot study on healthy normal-weight children suggests an inverse association between BPA and insulin resistance. Our findings contrast other cross-sectional studies showing a positive association for BPA, which may be due to confounding or reverse causation because diet is an important source of both BPA exposure and obesity.

  10. Young Children Expressing their Communicative Intents: A preliminary study of the interactions between Japanese children and their caregivers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiromi Tsuji

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports the pilot part of a study investigating the development of the expression of communicative intents of Japanese children interacting with their caregivers. The main purpose of this pilot was to identify and describe developmentally different features of children’s communicative acts in relation to mothers’ communicative acts. Ten children, of ages ranging from 11 months to 28 months and their mothers, participated in this pilot. Each mother / child dyad was observed in the two semi-structured contexts of joint book reading and toy play. The joint book reading refers to the activities where the dyads interacted with picture books and toy play refers to the activities where they interacted with given toys. Analyses were made of both mothers’ and children’s communicative acts including both gestural and speech activity, using an existing coding system called the Inventory of Communicative Acts-Abridged (INCA-A with an additional supplemental coding system. The results indicate that the adopted coding system seemed to capture developmentally different features of communicative acts in terms of quantity and quality. Examinations of the mothers’ communicative acts also suggested possibilities of identifying different interaction styles across dyads as well as changes within a dyad in which mothers deploy a variety of communicative acts in relation to their child’s developmental course.

  11. Barriers to healthy eating: Findings from the focus groups with older people and children/adolescents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kazbare, Laura; Bech-Larsen, Tino

    or potential behavioural change in terms of healthier eating, discussing pre-selected healthy and unhealthy food categories. The revised Social Cognitive Theory was used as a theoretical framework. Results: The study suggests that the main obstacles to change can be grouped into motivational and implementation......), "liking" remains the main food choice criterion, including the healthy foods. Conclusion: The study presented a number of barriers to healthy eating identified by older people and children/adolescents. Based on the results of the study, further investigations should be undertaken in this area...... barriers. The motivational barriers are unwillingness to change eating habits, satisfaction with current diets and misconception about their healthiness; relatively low health consciousness and unwillingness to become excessively health-oriented. Implementation barriers include remembering the change...

  12. Dental age estimation in Japanese individuals combining permanent teeth and third molars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramanan, Namratha; Thevissen, Patrick; Fleuws, Steffen; Willems, G

    2012-12-01

    The study aim was, firstly, to verify the Willems et al. model on a Japanese reference sample. Secondly to develop a Japanese reference model based on the Willems et al. method and to verify it. Thirdly to analyze the age prediction performance adding tooth development information of third molars to permanent teeth. Retrospectively 1877 panoramic radiographs were selected in the age range between 1 and 23 years (1248 children, 629 sub-adults). Dental development was registered applying Demirjian 's stages of the mandibular left permanent teeth in children and Köhler stages on the third molars. The children's data were, firstly, used to validate the Willems et al. model (developed a Belgian reference sample), secondly, split ino a training and a test sample. On the training sample a Japanese reference model was developed based on the Willems method. The developed model and the Willems et al; model were verified on the test sample. Regression analysis was used to detect the age prediction performance adding third molar scores to permanent tooth scores. The validated Willems et al. model provided a mean absolute error of 0.85 and 0.75 years in females and males, respectively. The mean absolute error in the verified Willems et al. and the developed Japanese reference model was 0.85, 0.77 and 0.79, 0.75 years in females and males, respectively. On average a negligible change in root mean square error values was detected adding third molar scores to permanent teeth scores. The Belgian sample could be used as a reference model to estimate the age of the Japanese individuals. Combining information from the third molars and permanent teeth was not providing clinically significant improvement of age predictions based on permanent teeth information alone.

  13. Intergenerational differences in beliefs about healthy eating among carers of left-behind children in rural China: A qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Nan; Bécares, Laia; Chandola, Tarani; Callery, Peter

    2015-12-01

    China's internal migration has left 61 million rural children living apart from parents and usually being cared for by grandparents. This study aims to explore caregivers' beliefs about healthy eating for left-behind children (LBC) in rural China. Twenty-six children aged 6-12 (21 LBC and 5 non-LBC) and 32 caregivers (21 grandparents, 9 mothers, and 2 uncles/aunts) were recruited in one township in rural China. Children were encouraged to keep food diaries followed by in-depth interviews with caregivers. Distinct intergenerational differences in beliefs about healthy eating emerged: the grandparent generation was concerned about not having enough food and tended to emphasise the importance of starchy foods for children's growth, due to their past experiences during the Great Famine. On the other hand, the parent generation was concerned about food safety and paid more attention to protein-source foods including meat, eggs and milk. Parents appeared to offer children high-energy food, which was viewed as a sign of economic status, rather than as part of a balanced diet. Lack of remittances from migrant parents may compromise LBC's food choices. These findings suggest the potential for LBC left in the care of grandparents, especially with experience of the Great Famine, may be at greater risk of malnutrition than children cared for by parents. By gaining an in-depth understanding of intergenerational differences in healthy eating beliefs for children, our findings could inform for the development of nutrition-related policies and interventions for LBC in rural China. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  14. Handling Japanese without a Japanese Operating System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatasa, Kazumi; And Others

    1992-01-01

    The Macintosh HyperCard environment has become a popular platform for Japanese language courseware because of its flexibility and ease of programing. This project created Japanese bitmap font files for the JIS Levels 1 and 2, and writing XFCNs for font manipulation, Japanese kana input, and answer correction. (12 references) (Author/LB)

  15. Test-retest reliability of speech-evoked auditory brainstem response in healthy children at a low sensation level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zakaria, Mohd Normani; Jalaei, Bahram

    2017-11-01

    Auditory brainstem responses evoked by complex stimuli such as speech syllables have been studied in normal subjects and subjects with compromised auditory functions. The stability of speech-evoked auditory brainstem response (speech-ABR) when tested over time has been reported but the literature is limited. The present study was carried out to determine the test-retest reliability of speech-ABR in healthy children at a low sensation level. Seventeen healthy children (6 boys, 11 girls) aged from 5 to 9 years (mean = 6.8 ± 3.3 years) were tested in two sessions separated by a 3-month period. The stimulus used was a 40-ms syllable /da/ presented at 30 dB sensation level. As revealed by pair t-test and intra-class correlation (ICC) analyses, peak latencies, peak amplitudes and composite onset measures of speech-ABR were found to be highly replicable. Compared to other parameters, higher ICC values were noted for peak latencies of speech-ABR. The present study was the first to report the test-retest reliability of speech-ABR recorded at low stimulation levels in healthy children. Due to its good stability, it can be used as an objective indicator for assessing the effectiveness of auditory rehabilitation in hearing-impaired children in future studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Regional outbreak of staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome in healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyun Jeong Do

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose : Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS is a relatively uncommon superficial blistering skin disease that is due to Staphylococcus aureus. We had experienced a regional outbreak of SSSS over 3 years in healthy children. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of those patients diagnosed as SSSS. Most of neonatal cases were nosocomial infections and excluded from the analysis. The clinical features, laboratory findings, the isolation and antibiotic resistance of S. aureus, the antibiotic management and other supportive treatments were analyzed. Results : Fifty-five patients with SSSS were admitted to our hospital from October 2001 to September 2004. The median age of patients was 3.0 years. Of the 55 patients, 9 were the generalized type, 13 were the intermediate type and 33 were the scarletiniform rash. All the patients were living in neighborhood of the Jinju area. S. aureus were isolated from 9 of the patients and all of the isolated S. aureus were methicillin resistant. All the patients except two were treated with intravenous flocloxacillin or nafcillin and/or cefotaxime. All the patients recovered during the follow-up period of 2 to 3 weeks. Conclusion : We experienced a regional outbreak of SSSS in previous healthy children. Further study for finding the carriers of S. aureus caused SSSS and preventing the spread of this disease is needed. Additionally, guidelines for treating SSSS due to methicillin resistant S. aureus should be established.

  17. Personality traits of Japanese patients in remission from an episode of primary unipolar depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Zerssen, D; Asukai, N; Tsuda, H; Ono, Y; Kizaki, Y; Cho, Y

    1997-07-01

    Personality traits were assessed by means of the Munich Personality Test (MPT) in 75 Japanese subjects, 27 patients in remission from an episode of moderate to severe primary unipolar depression, with melancholic features during one episode or more of the disorder, in 24 patients in remission from other non-organic mental disorders and in 24 healthy controls. Compared with healthy controls, unipolar depressives displayed decreased Frustration Tolerance and elevated Rigidity as well as a stronger Orientation towards Social Norms. No significant difference was found between patients in remission from either unipolar depression or other mental disorders. However, the increase in Rigidity in comparison with healthy subjects was significant in the depressives only whereas the other patients, in contrast to the depressives, had significantly lower scores in Extraversion than the healthy subjects. Our results in Japanese patients are similar to findings of previous German studies, including two high risk studies, in which the same assessment instrument was used. This suggests that, beyond cultural differences, Rigidity, possibly in combination with a strong Orientation towards Social Norms and a reduced Frustration Tolerance, is a stable vulnerability marker for at least the more severe forms of primary unipolar depression.

  18. Vitamin B12 absorption capacity in healthy children

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hjelt, K.; Krasilnikoff, P.A.

    1986-01-01

    B12 absorption was investigated in 47 healthy children aged 7 months to 15.8 years (median 4.9 years). The patients had either recovered from giardiasis, the post-gastroenteritis syndrome, or had celiac disease in remission (treated with a gluten-free diet). The B12 absorption was measured by a double-isotope technique using 57 CoB12 and 51 CrCl 3 , the latter being the inabsorbable marker. The radiation dose was minimal. The results were presented as fractional absorption of B12 (FAB12). Within the different age groups, the absorption test was performed by means of the following oral amounts of B12: 0- less than 1 year, 0.5 microgram; 1-3 years: 1.7 micrograms, 4-6 years, 2.5 micrograms; 7-10 years; 3.3 micrograms; and 11-15 years, 4.5 micrograms. When using these oral amounts of B12, the medians (and ranges) of FAB12 were found to be: 1-3 years (n = 18), 37% (16-80%); 4-6 years (n = 10), 27% (19-40%); 7-10 years (n = 9), 32% (21-44%); and 11-15 years (n = 8), 27% (19-59%). The FAB12 in two children aged 7 and 11 months was 31% and 32%, respectively. These results may be interpretated as reference values for B12 absorption in children. Further absorption tests were performed in seven children representing the four age groups from 1 to 15 years. When a high oral amount of B12 was given (i.e., three times the saturation dose), the FAB12 ranged from 0 to 20% (median 9%), whereas a low amount (i.e., one-ninth of the saturation dose) produced fractional absorptions from 65 to 82% (median 74%)

  19. Vitamin B12 absorption capacity in healthy children

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hjelt, K.; Krasilnikoff, P.A.

    1986-03-01

    B12 absorption was investigated in 47 healthy children aged 7 months to 15.8 years (median 4.9 years). The patients had either recovered from giardiasis, the post-gastroenteritis syndrome, or had celiac disease in remission (treated with a gluten-free diet). The B12 absorption was measured by a double-isotope technique using /sup 57/CoB12 and /sup 51/CrCl/sub 3/, the latter being the inabsorbable marker. The radiation dose was minimal. The results were presented as fractional absorption of B12 (FAB12). Within the different age groups, the absorption test was performed by means of the following oral amounts of B12: 0- less than 1 year, 0.5 microgram; 1-3 years: 1.7 micrograms, 4-6 years, 2.5 micrograms; 7-10 years; 3.3 micrograms; and 11-15 years, 4.5 micrograms. When using these oral amounts of B12, the medians (and ranges) of FAB12 were found to be: 1-3 years (n = 18), 37% (16-80%); 4-6 years (n = 10), 27% (19-40%); 7-10 years (n = 9), 32% (21-44%); and 11-15 years (n = 8), 27% (19-59%). The FAB12 in two children aged 7 and 11 months was 31% and 32%, respectively. These results may be interpretated as reference values for B12 absorption in children. Further absorption tests were performed in seven children representing the four age groups from 1 to 15 years. When a high oral amount of B12 was given (i.e., three times the saturation dose), the FAB12 ranged from 0 to 20% (median 9%), whereas a low amount (i.e., one-ninth of the saturation dose) produced fractional absorptions from 65 to 82% (median 74%).

  20. Behavioral factors to include in guidelines for lifelong oral healthiness: an observational study in Japanese adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shimozato Miho

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to determine which behavioral factors to include in guidelines for the Japanese public to achieve an acceptable level of oral healthiness. The objective was to determine the relationship between oral health related behaviors and symptoms related to oral disease and tooth loss in a Japanese adult community. Methods Oral health status and lifestyle were investigated in 777 people aged 20 years and older (390 men and 387 women. Subjects were asked to complete a postal questionnaire concerning past diet and lifestyle. The completed questionnaires were collected when they had health examinations. The 15 questions included their preference for sweets, how many between-meal snacks they usually had per day, smoking and drinking habits, presence of oral symptoms, and attitudes towards dental visits. Participants were asked about their behaviors at different stages of their life. The oral health examinations included examination of the oral cavity and teeth performed by dentists using WHO criteria. Odds ratios were calculated for all subjects, all 10 year age groups, and for subjects 30 years or older, 40 years or older, 50 years or older, and 60 years or older. Results Frequency of tooth brushing (OR = 3.98, having your own toothbrush (OR = 2.11, smoking (OR = 2.71 and bleeding gums (OR = 2.03 were significantly associated with number of retained teeth in males. Frequency of between-meal snacks was strongly associated with number of retained teeth in females (OR = 4.67. Having some hobbies (OR = 2.97, having a family dentist (OR = 2.34 and consulting a dentist as soon as symptoms occurred (OR = 1.74 were significantly associated with number of retained teeth in females. Factors that were significantly associated with tooth loss in both males and females included alcohol consumption (OR = 11.96, males, OR = 3.83, females, swollen gums (OR = 1.93, males, OR = 3.04, females and toothache (OR = 3.39, males, OR

  1. Impact of a family-oriented rehabilitation programme on behavioural and emotional problems in healthy siblings of chronically ill children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Besier, T; Hölling, H; Schlack, R; West, C; Goldbeck, L

    2010-09-01

    To evaluate the impact of a family-oriented inpatient rehabilitation programme on behavioural and emotional problems in healthy siblings of chronically ill children and to assess the association between these problems and quality of life. A total of 259 healthy children (4-16 years, M = 8.6 years, SD = 3.3) with a chronically ill sibling were enrolled in the study. Parents filled in the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, while the children answered a self-report quality of life instrument (LQ-KID) at the time of admission and discharge from the clinic and at a 6-month follow-up. Comparisons were performed with a matched control group from the German general population (n= 777). Significant behavioural or emotional symptoms were found in 30.5% of the healthy siblings, the relative risk of having elevated scores being 2.2 compared with the control group. Symptoms were inversely correlated with quality of life (r=-0.42). During the inpatient rehabilitation, symptoms decreased significantly to a normal level. Similarly, quality of life significantly improved, except in the dimension family relations. Family-oriented inpatient rehabilitation is a promising approach to improve the mental health of children with a chronically ill sibling.

  2. Physical Fitness and Metabolic Syndrome in Children with Repaired Congenital Heart Disease Compared with Healthy Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaqout, Mahmoud; Vandekerckhove, Kristof; Michels, Nathalie; Bove, Thierry; François, Katrien; De Wolf, Daniel

    2017-12-01

    To determine whether children who underwent surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) are as fit as their peers. We studied 66 children (6-14 years) who underwent surgery for ventricular septal defect (n = 19), coarctation of aorta (n = 10), tetralogy of Fallot (n = 15), and transposition of great arteries (n = 22); and 520 healthy children (6-12 years). All children performed physical fitness tests: cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, balance, flexibility, and speed. Metabolic score was assessed through z-score standardization using 4 components: waist circumference, blood pressure, blood lipids, and insulin resistance. Assessment also included self-reported and accelerometer-measured physical activity. Linear regression analyses with group (CHD vs control) as a predictor were adjusted for age, body mass index, physical activity, and parental education. Measured physical activity level, body mass index, cardiorespiratory fitness, flexibility, and total metabolic score did not differ between children with CHD and controls, whereas reported physical activity was greater in the CHD group than control group. Boys with CHD were less strong in upper muscular strength, speed, and balance, whereas girls with CHD were better in lower muscular strength and worse in balance. High-density lipoprotein was greater in boys and girls with CHD, whereas boys with CHD showed unhealthier glucose homeostasis. Appropriate physical fitness was achieved in children after surgery for CHD, especially in girls. Consequently, children with CHD were not at increased total metabolic risk. Lifestyle counseling should be part of every patient interaction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Bilingualism accentuates children's conversational understanding.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Siegal

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Although bilingualism is prevalent throughout the world, little is known about the extent to which it influences children's conversational understanding. Our investigation involved children aged 3-6 years exposed to one or more of four major languages: English, German, Italian, and Japanese. In two experiments, we examined the children's ability to identify responses to questions as violations of conversational maxims (to be informative and avoid redundancy, to speak the truth, be relevant, and be polite. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In Experiment 1, with increasing age, children showed greater sensitivity to maxim violations. Children in Italy who were bilingual in German and Italian (with German as the dominant language L1 significantly outperformed Italian monolinguals. In Experiment 2, children in England who were bilingual in English and Japanese (with English as L1 significantly outperformed Japanese monolinguals in Japan with vocabulary age partialled out. CONCLUSIONS: As the monolingual and bilingual groups had a similar family SES background (Experiment 1 and similar family cultural identity (Experiment 2, these results point to a specific role for early bilingualism in accentuating children's developing ability to appreciate effective communicative responses.

  4. Interaction between timolol eyedrops and oral nicardipine or oral diltiazem in healthy Japanese subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yatsuka, Y I; Tsutsumi, K; Kotegawa, T; Nakamura, K; Nakano, S; Nakatsuka, K

    1998-04-01

    Timolol is widely used for the topical therapy of glaucoma. Adverse cardiovascular effects include slowing of the heart rate and weakening of myocardial contractility. We investigated pharmacodynamic interactions with respect to cardiovascular and ocular responses between timolol ophthalmic solution and either nicardipine, which does not directly inhibit cardiac conduction, or diltiazem, which does. Two studies utilized a randomized, double-blind, Latin-square, placebo-controlled design involving four separate treatments given at least 1 week apart. Eight healthy male Japanese volunteers received a single drop of 0.5% timolol or artificial tears in each eye with or without a single oral dose of nicardipine (40 mg), and with or without a single oral dose of diltiazem (60 mg). Subjects exercised on a bicycle ergometer before and 1.5 and 3 h after dosing. At these times, heart rate and blood pressure were measured at rest and after exercise. The intraocular pressure was measured at rest. One drop of 0.5% timolol per eye significantly reduced the exercise-induced increase in heart rate and blood pressure, and intraocular pressure at rest. The timolol ophthalmic solution suppressed the reflex sympathetic cardiac stimulation that resulted from the primarily vasodilative action of nicardipine. No additional reduction in heart rate occurred when the ophthalmic timolol solution was administered in conjunction with diltiazem. The concomitant use of timolol and nicardipine or diltiazem did not induce an additional reduction in intraocular pressure. Oral nicardipine or diltiazem did not reduce intraocular pressure. Care should be taken when using topical timolol in patients with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases.

  5. The Effects of Acculturation on Healthy Lifestyle Characteristics among Hispanic Fourth-Grade Children in Texas Public Schools, 2004-2005

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lind, Catherine; Mirchandani, Gita G.; Castrucci, Brian C.; Chavez, Noel; Handler, Arden; Hoelscher, Deanna M.

    2012-01-01

    Background: Childhood obesity is a national epidemic that disproportionately affects Hispanic children. Evidence suggests that increased acculturation among this population adversely affects diet and other healthy lifestyle characteristics, leading to higher rates of overweight and obesity. Healthy lifestyle characteristics must be understood in…

  6. [Are children from resort spa healthy? The overweight and obesity in children from Kudowa-Zdrój].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Połubok, Joanna; Gonera, Aleksandra; Ubysz, Jakub; Wójcik, Maria; Kozicka, Marta; Barg, Ewa

    2015-12-15

    Overweight and obesity are becoming a more and more common problem among children and teenagers. . The aim of this study is to evaluate the development of children and teenagers from Kudowa-Zdroj and to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity in this population. . The study included 545 children, aged 5-16 years from Kudowa-Zdroj. The following anthropometric parameters were assessed: body weight and height, BMI, Quetelet index, Rohrer's index, waist circumference, hip circumference and waist to height ratio (WHtR). . Overweight or obesity diagnosed by BMI SDS were observed in 26.7% of children from grades 0-3, 22.02% of children from grades 4-6 and 22.52% of Junior High School students. Students in grades 0-3 (mean 0.95 ± 2.17) achieved higher BMI SDS compared to students in grades 4-6 (mean 0.37 ± 1.71) and secondary school (mean 0.65 ± 1.61) (p= 0.023).Overweight or obesity diagnosed by Rohrer index SDS and Quetelet index SDS were observed in 22,84% and 17,13% children. Elevated value of the hip circumference SDS was found in 19.48% of children and waist circumference SDS was increased in 17.5% of children. In the group of children with overweight and obesity 59.4% had elevated waist circumference SDS and 53.4% waist circumference SDS. WHtR was elevated in 8.3% of children, more often in boys (p overweight and obesity. Overweight and obesity are common disorders among children from Kudowa-Zdroj. It is recommended to educate children, adolescence and their family about healthy lifestyle in order to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity. © Polish Society for Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology.

  7. Pharmacokinetic Profiles of Active Ingredients and Its Metabolites Derived from Rikkunshito, a Ghrelin Enhancer, in Healthy Japanese Volunteers: A Cross-Over, Randomized Study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiroyuki Kitagawa

    Full Text Available Rikkunshito, a traditional Japanese (Kampo medicine, has been used to treat upper gastrointestinal disorders such as functional dyspepsia and gastroesophageal reflux. This study investigated the exposure and pharmacokinetics of the ingredients of rikkunshito in healthy volunteers.First, an exploratory nonrandomized, open-label, one-period, noncrossover study using four healthy Japanese volunteers to detect 32 typical ingredients of rikkunshito in plasma and urine. As a result, 18 or 21 of 32 ingredients was detected in plasma or urine samples after oral administration of rikkunshito (7.5 g/day. Furthermore, a randomized, open-label, three-arm, three-period, crossover study using 21 subjects was conducted to determine the amounts of exposure and pharmacokinetic parameters of nine ingredients derived from rikkunshito (atractylodin, atractylodin carboxylic acid, pachymic acid, 3,3',4',5,6,7,8-heptamethoxyflavone, naringenin, nobiletin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, and 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid after oral administration of rikkunshito at three different doses (2.5, 5.0, or 7.5 g/day during each period. The pharmacokinetic profiles of the nine ingredients in plasma were characterized. The geometric means (95% confidence interval for the Cmax of the ingredients at a dose of 7.5 g were 1570 (1210-2040, 14,300 (12,200-16,800, 91.0 (71.8-115, 105 (75.6-144, 1150 (802-1650, 35.9 (24.6-52.5, 800 (672-952, 42.8 (30.4-60.3, and 55,600 (39,600-78,100 pg/mL, respectively, and for the AUC0-last were 1760 (1290-2390, 12700 (11,100-14,600, 1210 (882-1650, 225 (157-322, 4630 (2930-7320, 35.7 (20.4-62.7, 4040 (3260-5010, 122 (88.2-168, and 832,000 (628,000-1,100,000 pg·h/mL respectively.We identified the ingredients of rikkunshito that are absorbed in humans. Furthermore, we determined the pharmacokinetics of nine ingredients derived from rikkunshito. This information will be useful for elucidating the pharmacological effects of rikkunshito

  8. Age- and gender-dependent values of skeletal muscle mass in healthy children and adolescents

    OpenAIRE

    Webber, Colin E.; Barr, Ronald D.

    2011-01-01

    Background Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) can be extracted from whole-body scans obtained by X-ray-based dual-photon absorptiometry (DXA). There is a need to establish expected age-dependent values for children and adolescents. Methods Appendicular lean tissue mass (ALM) was extracted from whole-body DXA scans in 140 healthy children and adolescents (68 females and 72 males). Whole-body SMM was calculated from ALM using equations developed by Kim et al. (Am J Clin Nutr 84:1014–1020, 2006). Age-de...

  9. Healthy Environments for Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... AND BE SURE EVERYONE WEARS A HELMET WHEN BIKING. IN THE CAR, CHILDREN SHOULD SIT IN THE BACK SEAT AND ALWAYS FASTEN THEIR SEAT BELTS! 14 AND CHILDREN SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO SWIM FROM THE TIME THEY’RE SMALL. IT’S GOOD FOR THEIR HEALTH AND THEIR SAFETY. PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM DANGERS IN ...

  10. Self-reported seafood intake and atopy in Japanese school-aged children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunitsugu, Ichiro; Okuda, Masayuki; Murakami, Natsuko; Hashimoto, Michio; Yamanishi, Rintaro; Bando, Noriko; Sasaki, Satoshi; Terao, Junji; Sugiyama, Shinichi; Hobara, Tatsuya

    2012-04-01

    The effects of fish consumption and n-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels on atopic disorders are inconsistent in previous reports, but few studies have investigated the effects of both fish and n-3 PUFA. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether erythrocyte fatty acids and the consumption of fish are associated with atopic diseases in pre- and early adolescents. A total of 135 students with eczema, 136 students with asthma, and 137 healthy control students were selected from fifth and eighth grades in Shunan, Japan. Atopic disorders and dietary intake were evaluated with questionnaires, and total serum IgE was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In addition, erythrocyte membrane levels of PUFA were assessed via gas chromatography. Total IgE was significantly elevated in the atopic subjects (P eczema (odds ratios of the highest quartiles: 0.46, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.22-0.94; 0.34, 95%CI: 0.16-0.71, respectively). Additionally, only erythrocyte eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) level had a negative association with eczema (P= 0.048). For asthma, the effect of fish consumption was not significant. Fish consumption was related to a low prevalence of eczema, but not asthma in Japanese pre- and early adolescents. EPA may be involved in this mechanism. © 2011 The Authors. Pediatrics International © 2011 Japan Pediatric Society.

  11. A randomized controlled trial for families with preschool children - promoting healthy eating and active playtime by connecting to nature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sobko, Tanja; Tse, Michael; Kaplan, Matthew

    2016-06-13

    Promotion of healthy lifestyles in children focuses predominantly on proper nutrition and physical activity, elements now widely recognised as essential for a healthy life. Systematic reviews have shown that nature-related activities also enhance general well-being as reflected in increased physical activity, a healthier diet, reduced stress and better sleep. Recent research suggests that many young children in Hong Kong between the ages of two and four in Hong Kong are more sedentary than recommended and seldom participate in active play, placing them at risk of becoming overweight or obese. The proposed project aims to investigate whether connecting families to nature positively influences physical activity (i.e., active playtime) and healthy eating routines in children aged 2 to 4. We recently conducted a pilot study in Hong Kong to develop a programme, Play & Grow, based on the most successful evidence-based international preschool interventions. In addition to adopting the healthy eating and physical activity elements of these interventions, this project will additionally include a third novel element of Connectedness to nature: discovering nature through games and awareness of sounds, touch, smells, and temperature. To test the effectiveness of this modified intervention, a randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving 240 families with children aged 2 to 4 will be conducted. Families and children will take part in weekly one-hour activity sessions for 10-weeks. Lifestyle-related habits will be assessed before and immediately after the 10-week intervention, with follow up testing at 6 and 12 months' post intervention. A novel measuring tool created specifically for assessing Connectedness to nature, Nature Relatedness Scale (NRS), will be validated and tested for reliability prior to the RCT. The results of the RCT are intended to be used to understand which components of the intervention are most effective. The objectives of this project will be achieved

  12. Can Earlier Literacy Skills Have a Negative Impact on Future Home Literacy Activities? Evidence from Japanese

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inoue, Tomohiro; Georgiou, George K.; Muroya, Naoko; Maekawa, Hisao; Parrila, Rauno

    2018-01-01

    We examined the cross-lagged relations between the home literacy environment and literacy skills in Japanese, and whether child's gender, parents' education and child's level of literacy performance moderate the relations. One hundred forty-two Japanese children were followed from Grades 1 to 2 and assessed on character knowledge, reading fluency…

  13. Socioeconomic status and number of children among Korean women: the Healthy Twin Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jinseob; Sung, Joohon

    2013-01-01

    This study aimed to evaluate whether the birth rate is associated with socioeconomic status in the women of the Republic of Korea, where the birth rate is rapidly decreasing. This study included 732 females from the Healthy Twin Study, a family-twin cohort. The participants were classified into 3 socioeconomic groups according to their average income, education, and occupation. The association between socioeconomic status and number of children was assessed using gamma regression analysis with a generalized linear mixed model, adjusting for the age group, smoking/alcohol status, and family relationships. The group with the highest education level had significantly fewer children compared with the group with the lowest education level (p=0.004). However, no significant associations were found according to household income level. The non-manual labor group had significantly fewer children compared with those working as homemakers (p=0.008). This study aimed to explain the causal relationship between socioeconomic status and number of children. Associations between some socioeconomic status and number of children were found in Korea.

  14. Effectiveness of brain-based learning and animated cartoons for enhancing healthy habits among school children in Khon Kaen, Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banchonhattakit, Pannee; Duangsong, Rujira; Muangsom, Niramon; Kamsong, Theppamon; Phangwan, Krittiya

    2015-03-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of brain-based learning (BBL) and animated cartoons on video compact discs (VCDs) in enhancing the healthy habits of school children. A representative sample of 1085 school children in the first through the third grades at 16 schools was selected by multistage random sampling. Knowledge of healthy habits and self-reported adoption of practices were assessed by a questionnaire. BBL and VCD, either combined or as single-intervention techniques, led to improved knowledge and practice of healthy behavior, whereas conventional teaching did not. As a single-intervention technique, BBL on its own led to a greater improvement in healthy practices than VCD, but the addition of BBL to VCD made no difference, and there was no difference between BBL and VCD in terms of improvements in knowledge. In conclusion, both BBL and VCD are effective, but VCD requires fewer resources. Recommendations are made for further research. © 2012 APJPH.

  15. Developmental change of visuo-spatial working memory in children: quantitative evaluation through an Advanced Trail Making Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kokubo, Naomi; Inagaki, Masumi; Gunji, Atsuko; Kobayashi, Tomoka; Ohta, Hidenobu; Kajimoto, Osami; Kaga, Makiko

    2012-11-01

    The present study aimed to investigate the developmental change in Visuo-Spatial Working Memory (VSWM) in typically developed children using a specially designed Advanced Trail Making Test for children (ATMT-C). We developed a new method for evaluating VSWM efficiency in children using a modified version ATMT to suit their shorter sustained attention. The ATMT-C consists of two parts; a number-based ATMT and a hiragana (Japanese phonogram)-based ATMT, both employing symbols familiar to young children. A total of 94 healthy participants (6-28 years of age) were enrolled in this study. A non-linear developmental change of VSWM efficiency was observed in the results from the ATMT-C. In the number-based ATMT, children under 8 years of age showed a relatively rapid increase in VSWM efficiency while older children (9-12 years) had a more gradual increase in VSWM efficiency. Results from the hiragana-based ATMT-C showed a slightly delayed increase pattern in VSWM efficiency compared to the pattern from the number-based ATMT. There were no significant differences in VSWM efficiency for gender, handedness and test order. VSWM in children gradually matures in a non steady-state manner and there is an important stage for VSWM maturation before reaching 12 years of age. VSWM efficiency may also vary depending on developmental condition of its cognitive subsystems. Copyright © 2012 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Common genetic determinants of glucose homeostasis in healthy children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kelliny, Clara; Ekelund, Ulf; Andersen, Lars Bo

    2009-01-01

    ) were genotyped in 2,025 healthy European children aged 9-11 and 14-16 years. Associations with fasting glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-insulin resistance (IR) and HOMA-B were investigated along with those observed for type 2 diabetes variants available in this study (CDKN2A/B, IGF....... A similar but weaker trend was observed for GCK (0.028 [-0.006 to 0.06] mmol/l, P = 0.11). All three variants were associated with lower beta-cell function (HOMA-B P = 9.38 x 10(-5), 0.004, and 0.04, respectively). SLC30A8 (rs13266634) was the only type 2 diabetes variant associated with higher fasting...

  17. Therapeutic Efficacy and Safety of GH in Japanese Children with Down Syndrome Short Stature Accompanied by GH Deficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meguri, Kyoko; Inoue, Masaru; Narahara, Koji; Sato, Takahiro; Takata, Ami; Ohki, Nobuhiko; Ozono, Keiichi

    2013-10-01

    In this study, we investigated the effects of GH treatment in children with Down syndrome who had been diagnosed with GH deficiency (GHD). A total of 20 subjects were investigated in this study. Fourteen Down syndrome children (5 boys and 9 girls) with short stature due to GHD were treated with GH at Okayama Red Cross General Hospital, and 6 Down syndrome children (4 boys and 2 girls) with short stature due to GHD were registered in the Pfizer International Growth Database (KIGS). Height SD score (SDS) increased throughout the three-year GH treatment period. The overall mean height SDS increased from -3.5 at baseline to -2.5 after 3 yr of treatment. The mean change in height SDS during these 3 yr was 1.1. In addition, height assessment of SD score based on Down syndrome-specific growth data in the Japanese population revealed that the height SDS (Down syndrome) also increased across the 3-yr GH treatment period. The mean change in height SDS (Down syndrome) during these three years was 1.3. GH therapy was effective for Down syndrome short stature accompanied by GHD, and no new safety concerns were found in this study.

  18. Healthy eating behaviors and the cognitive environment are positively associated in low-income households with young children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pieper, Joy Rickman; Whaley, Shannon E

    2011-08-01

    The purpose of this research was to examine relationships between eating behaviors and the cognitive environment in primarily Hispanic low-income households with young children receiving WIC benefits in Los Angeles County. Survey data were collected from 3645 low-income families with children age 12-65 mo in Los Angeles County. Eating behaviors were measured through questions about fruit, vegetable, milk, soft drink, and fast food intake. The cognitive environment was evaluated through questions on the home literacy environment (HLE), reading frequency, and preschool enrollment. All healthy eating behaviors measured were significantly and positively associated with reading frequency and HLE scores after adjustment for confounders. HLE and reading frequency scores were 18% and 14% higher, respectively, in children eating two or more servings of fruit per day and 12% and 9% higher, respectively, in children eating three or more servings of vegetables per day. Preschool enrollment was not significantly associated with any eating behavior. Outcomes varied by language-ethnic groups and child sex. Results suggest that healthy eating behaviors are positively associated with stronger cognitive environments in low-income Hispanic families with young children. Interventions to prevent childhood obesity in this group may therefore benefit from including a home literacy component. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus colonization in healthy Venezuelan children

    OpenAIRE

    Quintero, B.; Araque, M.; van der Gaast-de Jongh, C.; Escalona, F.; Correa, M.; Morillo-Puente, S.; Vielma, S.; Hermans, P. W. M.

    2010-01-01

    Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. We investigated both the colonization and co-colonization characteristics for these pathogens among 250 healthy children from 2 to 5?years of age in Merida, Venezuela, in 2007. The prevalence of S. pneumoniae colonization, S. aureus colonization, and S. pneumoniae?S. aureus co-colonization was 28%, 56%, and 16%, respectively. Pneumococcal serotypes 6B (14%), 19F (12%), 23F (12%), 15 (9%), 6...

  20. Bisphenol A, phthalate metabolites and glucose homeostasis in healthy normal-weight children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carlsson, Amalie; Sørensen, Kaspar; Andersson, Anna-Maria

    2018-01-01

    . RESULTS: Children in the lowest tertile of urinary BPA had significantly higher peak insulin levels during OGTT (P = 0.01), lower insulin sensitivity index (P triglyceride (P ... toward higher fat mass index (P = 0.1) compared with children in the highest tertile for uBPA. No significant differences in anthropometrics, body composition or glucose metabolism were associated with any of the phthalate metabolites measured. CONCLUSION: This pilot study on healthy normal...... and adolescents. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study. Participants were recruited as part of the Copenhagen Puberty Study. The subjects were evaluated by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan, direct oxygen uptake measurement during cycle ergometry and fasting...

  1. The influence of early feeding practices on healthy diet variety score among pre-school children in four European birth cohorts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Louise; Moschonis, George; Oliveira, Andreia; de Lauzon-Guillain, Blandine; Manios, Yannis; Xepapadaki, Paraskevi; Lopes, Carla; Moreira, Pedro; Charles, Marie Aline; Emmett, Pauline

    2015-07-01

    The present study examined whether maternal diet and early infant feeding experiences relating to being breast-fed and complementary feeding influence the range of healthy foods consumed in later childhood. Data from four European birth cohorts were studied. Healthy Plate Variety Score (HPVS) was calculated using FFQ. HPVS assesses the variety of healthy foods consumed within and across the five main food groups. The weighted numbers of servings consumed of each food group were summed; the maximum score was 5. Associations between infant feeding experiences, maternal diet and the HPVS were tested using generalized linear models and adjusted for appropriate confounders. The British Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), the French Etude des Déterminants pre et postnatals de la santé et du développement de L'Enfant study (EDEN), the Portuguese Generation XXI Birth Cohort and the Greek EuroPrevall cohort. Pre-school children and their mothers. The mean HPVS for each of the cohorts ranged from 2.3 to 3.8, indicating that the majority of children were not eating a full variety of healthy foods. Never being breast-fed or being breast-fed for a short duration was associated with lower HPVS at 2, 3 and 4 years of age in all cohorts. There was no consistent association between the timing of complementary feeding and HPVS. Mother's HPVS was strongly positively associated with child's HPVS but did not greatly attenuate the relationship with breast-feeding duration. Results suggest that being breast-fed for a short duration is associated with pre-school children eating a lower variety of healthy foods.

  2. Exposure to 'healthy' fast food meal bundles in television advertisements promotes liking for fast food but not healthier choices in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyland, Emma J; Kavanagh-Safran, Melissa; Halford, Jason C G

    2015-03-28

    Due to regulatory changes, fast food companies often depict healthy foods in their television advertisements to children. The present study examined how exposure to advertising for 'healthy' meal bundles to children influenced the selection of food in children. A total of fifty-nine children (thirty-seven males) aged 7-10 years (8·8 (SD 0·9) years) took part in the present study. The within-participant, counterbalanced design had two conditions: control (exposure to ten toy adverts across two breaks of five adverts each) and experimental (the middle advert in each break replaced with one for a McDonald's Happy Meal® depicting the meal bundle as consisting of fish fingers, a fruit bag and a bottle of mineral water). Following viewing of the adverts embedded in a cartoon, children completed a hypothetical menu task that reported liking for McDonald's food and fast food, in general. Nutritional knowledge, height and weight of the children were measured. There was no significant difference between the two advert conditions for the nutritional content of the meal bundles selected. However, children's liking for fast food, in general, increased after exposure to the food adverts relative to control (P= 0·004). Compared to children with high nutritional knowledge, those with low scores selected meals of greater energy content (305 kJ) after viewing the food adverts (P= 0·016). Exposure to adverts for 'healthy' meal bundles did not drive healthier choices in children, but did promote liking for fast food. These findings contribute to debates about food advertising to children and the effectiveness of related policies.

  3. Perancangan Interior Healthy Day Care Di Surabaya

    OpenAIRE

    Chandra, Shirley Vionita

    2017-01-01

    Healthy Day Care is a child care center which designed with priority of children's health that applied to all room elements which designed with healthy and attractive design that its application is done by making the formation, color, circulation space, lighting, which draw the attention of the child to can do their activities cheerfully but not excessive. Healthy Day Care is designed to solve the problem of any women who has some problems with her children, seeing the health of children toda...

  4. Comparison of visual field test results obtained through Humphrey matrix frequency doubling technology perimetry versus standard automated perimetry in healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kocabeyoglu, Sibel; Uzun, Salih; Mocan, Mehmet Cem; Bozkurt, Banu; Irkec, Murat; Orhan, Mehmet

    2013-10-01

    The aim of this study was to compare the visual field test results in healthy children obtained via the Humphrey matrix 24-2 threshold program and standard automated perimetry (SAP) using the Swedish interactive threshold algorithm (SITA)-Standard 24-2 test. This prospective study included 55 healthy children without ocular or systemic disorders who underwent both SAP and frequency doubling technology (FDT) perimetry visual field testing. Visual field test reliability indices, test duration, global indices (mean deviation [MD], and pattern standard deviation [PSD]) were compared between the 2 tests using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and paired t-test. The performance of the Humphrey field analyzer (HFA) 24-2 SITA-standard and frequency-doubling technology Matrix 24-2 tests between genders were compared with Mann-Whitney U-test. Fifty-five healthy children with a mean age of 12.2 ± 1.9 years (range from 8 years to 16 years) were included in this prospective study. The test durations of SAP and FDT were similar (5.2 ± 0.5 and 5.1 ± 0.2 min, respectively, P = 0.651). MD and the PSD values obtained via FDT Matrix were significantly higher than those obtained via SAP (P tests in terms of MD (r = 0.352, P = 0.008) and PSD (r = 0.329, P = 0.014) was observed. Children were able to complete both the visual test algorithms successfully within 6 min. However, SAP testing appears to be associated with less depression of the visual field indices of healthy children. FDT Matrix and SAP should not be used interchangeably in the follow-up of children.

  5. A healthy school start - Parental support to promote healthy dietary habits and physical activity in children: Design and evaluation of a cluster-randomised intervention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elinder Liselotte

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Childhood obesity is multi-factorial and determined to a large extent by dietary habits, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Previous research has shown that school-based programmes are effective but that their effectiveness can be improved by including a parental component. At present, there is a lack of effective parental support programmes for improvement of diet and physical activity and prevention of obesity in children. Methods/Design This paper describes the rationale and design of a parental support programme to promote healthy dietary habits and physical activity in six-year-old children starting school. The study is performed in close collaboration with the school health care and is designed as a cluster-randomised controlled trial with a mixed methods approach. In total, 14 pre-school classes are included from a municipality in Stockholm county where there is large variation in socio-economic status between the families. The school classes are randomised to intervention (n = 7 and control (n = 7 groups including a total of 242 children. The intervention is based on social cognitive theory and consists of three main components: 1 a health information brochure; 2 two motivational interviewing sessions with the parents; and 3 teacher-led classroom activities with the children. The primary outcomes are physical activity in the children measured objectively by accelerometry, children's dietary and physical activity habits measured with a parent-proxy questionnaire and parents' self-efficacy measured by a questionnaire. Secondary outcomes are height, weight and waist circumference in the children. The duration of the intervention is six months and includes baseline, post intervention and six months follow-up measurements. Linear and logistic regression models will be used to analyse differences between intervention and control groups in the outcome variables. Mediator and moderator analysis will be performed

  6. Mental-health-related stigma among Japanese children and their parents and impact of renaming of schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koike, Shinsuke; Yamaguchi, Sosei; Ohta, Kazusa; Ojio, Yasutaka; Watanabe, Kei-Ichiro; Ando, Shuntaro

    2017-03-01

    Mental-health-related stigma affects help-seeking behavior and service utilization among young people. Whether mental-health-related stigma is different or correlated between parents and their children is unknown. It is also unknown whether the name change of schizophrenia in 2002 has had long-term effects on reducing stigma for adults in the general population. We recruited 143 parent-child pairs (mean ages [SD]: 51.5 [3.6] and 21.2 [1.2] years, respectively) to complete self-report questionnaires regarding mental-health-related stigma and experience. We also assessed negative stereotypes for three psychiatric disease names (old and new names of schizophrenia, and depression), and for diabetes mellitus as a physical illness comparison. The questionnaires also asked respondents to identify the old and new names of schizophrenia and dementia, respectively, among 10 names for mental and physical illnesses and conditions. Parents showed lower stigma levels toward mental illness and diabetes mellitus, but similar or greater stigma levels toward schizophrenia, compared with their children. Stigma levels toward mental illness in parents and their children were significantly correlated. The rate of correct identification of the old and new names for schizophrenia was higher in parents than in their children (64.7% vs 41.4%, P stigma toward mental illness is shared between family members, and the name change of schizophrenia has effectively reduced stigma levels toward this disorder in adults of various ages. © 2016 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2016 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

  7. Beyond Silence: Giving Voice To Kure Mothers of Japanese-Australian Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathleen Cusack

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Within the complex process of historical production, silence is created, imposed and fostered. Encountering the existence of a cast of hitherto silent actors within history, therefore, is wholly unsurprising. This article draws focus to a cohort of Japanese women who have been excluded from conventional interpretations. Indeed, the experiences of the Kure women who bore children fathered by Australian servicemen during the occupation have been consistently marginalised to the periphery of existing scholarship on this period. By applying a gendered perspective to the analysis of a selection of previously unexamined newspaper articles, this article will demonstrate that a meaningful history can be written for those excluded from primary or secondary discourse. This article will show that these women do possess a historically significant past through revealing that they were active participants in the post-war period who influenced the conduct of the military operation. Most importantly, this article will confront some of the imposed barriers of silence through analysing certain aspects of the women’s experiences within limited available material. This examination will illuminate prevalent local attitudes towards women involved in relationships with foreign servicemen and the predominance of the socially and culturally derived construct of the feminine role.

  8. Reliability of radiographic measurement of lateral capitellohumeral angle in healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasegawa, Masaki; Suzuki, Taku; Kuroiwa, Takashi; Oka, Yusuke; Maeda, Atsushi; Takeda, Hiroki; Shizu, Kanae; Tsuji, Takashi; Suzuki, Katsuji; Yamada, Harumoto

    2018-04-01

    This retrospective cohort study was designed to validate the reliability of measurement of the lateral capitellohumeral angle (LCHA), an index of sagittal angulation of the elbow, in healthy children. The results were compared to the Baumann angle (BA), which is a similar concept to LCHA.Sixty-two radiographs of the elbow in healthy children (range, 2-11 years) were reviewed by 6 examiners at 2 sessions. The mean value and reliability of the measurement of LCHA and BA were assessed. Intraobserver reliability and interobserver reliability were calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).The mean LCHA value was 45° (range, 22° to 70°) and the mean BA was 71° (range, 56° to 86°). The ICCs for intraobserver reliability of the LCHA measurements were almost perfect for 2 examiners, substantial for 3 examiners, and moderate for 1 examiner with a mean value of 0.77 (range, 0.57-0.95). For BA measurements, the ICCs were almost perfect for 1 examiner and substantial for 5 examiners with a mean value of 0.74 (range, 0.66-0.83). The ICCs for interobserver reliability between the first and second measurements were both moderate for LCHA (0.56 and 0.51) and for BA (0.52 and 0.50).LCHA showed almost the same reliability in measurement as BA, which is the gold standard assessment for coronal alignment of the elbow. LCHA showed moderate-to-good reliability in the evaluation of sagittal plane elbow alignment.

  9. Maternal educational level and children's healthy eating behaviour: role of the home food environment (cross-sectional results from the INPACT study).

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Ansem, Wilke Jc; Schrijvers, Carola Tm; Rodenburg, Gerda; van de Mheen, Dike

    2014-09-12

    The aims of this study are 1) to investigate the association between maternal educational level and healthy eating behaviour of 11-year-old children (fruit, vegetables and breakfast consumption), and 2) to examine whether factors in the home food environment (parental intake of fruit, vegetables and breakfast; rules about fruit and vegetables and home availability of fruit and vegetables) mediate these associations. Data were obtained from the Dutch INPACT study. In total, 1318 parent-child dyads were included in this study. Multilevel regression models were used to investigate whether factors of the home food environment mediated the association between maternal educational level and children's healthy eating behaviour. Children of mothers with a high educational level consumed more pieces of fruit per day (B = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.04-0.22), more grams of vegetables per day (B = 23.81, 95% CI = 14.93-32.69) and were more likely to have breakfast on a daily basis (OR = 2.97, 95% CI: 1.38-6.39) than children of mothers with a low educational level. Home availability, food consumption rules and parental consumption mediated the association between maternal education level and children's fruit and vegetable consumption. Parental breakfast consumption mediated the association between maternal education level and children's breakfast consumption. Factors in the home food environment play an important role in the explanation of socio-economic disparities in children's healthy eating behaviour and may be promising targets for interventions.

  10. Sleep efficiency (but not sleep duration) of healthy school-age children is associated with grades in math and languages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruber, Reut; Somerville, Gail; Enros, Paul; Paquin, Soukaina; Kestler, Myra; Gillies-Poitras, Elizabeth

    2014-12-01

    The objective of this study was to examine the associations between objective measures of sleep duration and sleep efficiency with the grades obtained by healthy typically developing children in math, language, science, and art while controlling for the potential confounding effects of socioeconomic status (SES), age, and gender. We studied healthy typically developing children between 7 and 11 years of age. Sleep was assessed for five week nights using actigraphy, and parents provided their child's most recent report card. Higher sleep efficiency (but not sleep duration) was associated with better grades in math, English language, and French as a second language, above and beyond the contributions of age, gender, and SES. Sleep efficiency, but not sleep duration, is associated with academic performance as measured by report-card grades in typically developing school-aged children. The integration of strategies to improve sleep efficiency might represent a successful approach for improving children's readiness and/or performance in math and languages. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. A comparison of healthcare resource use for rotavirus and RSV between vulnerable children with co-morbidities and healthy children: a case control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pockett, Rhys D; Campbell, David; Carroll, Stuart; Rajoriya, Fiona; Adlard, Nick

    2013-01-01

    To quantify the differences in hospital length of stay (LOS) and cost between healthy and vulnerable children with cystic fibrosis (CF), insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), cancer, and epilepsy who contract rotavirus (RVGE) or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data were collected for England, for children consideration, as for rotavirus vaccines, evaluation of a vaccination programme should consider the potentially positive impact on vulnerable children. Limitations of the study include a dependency on accurate coding, an expectation that patients are identified through laboratory testing, and the possibility of unidentified underlying conditions affecting the burden.

  12. Criterion and construct validity of the CogState Schizophrenia Battery in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taisuke Yoshida

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The CogState Schizophrenia Battery (CSB, a computerized cognitive battery, covers all the same cognitive domains as the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery but is briefer to conduct. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the criterion and construct validity of the Japanese language version of the CSB (CSB-J in Japanese patients with schizophrenia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Forty Japanese patients with schizophrenia and 40 Japanese healthy controls with matching age, gender, and premorbid intelligence quotient were enrolled. The CSB-J and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia, Japanese-language version (BACS-J were performed once. The structure of the CSB-J was also evaluated by a factor analysis. Similar to the BACS-J, the CSB-J was sensitive to cognitive impairment in Japanese patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, there was a significant positive correlation between the CSB-J composite score and the BACS-J composite score. A factor analysis showed a three-factor model consisting of memory, speed, and social cognition factors. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study suggests that the CSB-J is a useful and rapid automatically administered computerized battery for assessing broad cognitive domains in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

  13. Examining the causal association of fasting glucose with blood pressure in healthy children and adolescents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Goharian, T S; Andersen, Lars Bo; Franks, P W

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the study was to determine whether genetically raised fasting glucose (FG) levels are associated with blood pressure (BP) in healthy children and adolescents. We used 11 common genetic variants of FG discovered in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including the rs560887 single...

  14. Impact of a Short-Term Nutrition Education Child Care Pilot Intervention on Preschool Children's Intention To Choose Healthy Snacks and Actual Snack Choices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Laura S; Gorin, Amy A; Mobley, Stacey L; Mobley, Amy R

    2015-10-01

    Novel interventions within child care settings are needed for childhood obesity prevention. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a short-term nutrition education pilot intervention on preschool-age children's snack food choices. Children ages 3-5 years (n = 49) from one child care setting participated in a short-term nutrition education intervention (nine 30-minute interactive lessons) taught over a 2-week period. Pre-post assessments included snack knowledge and snack preference questionnaires and an observed snack selection trial to allow children to choose between a healthy and unhealthy snack choice similar to the current food environment. Children's height and weight were measured and BMI z-scores calculated. Parental reports of demographics and child's food preferences were also collected at baseline. Children significantly improved their preference of healthier snacks (p = 0.03) and the ability to distinguish them (p = 0.03) from other snacks. However, they did not significantly improve (p > 0.05) their snack choice between a healthy and unhealthy choice immediately after the short-term nutrition education program. Children who were younger (p = 0.003) or who had higher nutrition knowledge scores (p = 0.002) were more likely to select the healthy snack after the intervention. This study provides evidence that a short-term nutrition education program improves preschool children's knowledge about healthy snacks, but does not translate to immediate healthier snack selections for all children. Future research should investigate the optimal duration of a nutrition education program in a child care setting and other external influences (parents, policy) most influential on snack choice and eventual obesity risk.

  15. Risk of Japanese carriers of hyperphosphorylated paratarg-7, the first autosomal-dominantly inherited risk factor for hematological neoplasms, to develop monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and multiple myeloma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grass, Sandra; Iida, Shinsuke; Wikowicz, Aleksandra; Preuss, Klaus-Dieter; Inagaki, Atsushi; Shimizu, Kazuyuki; Ziepert, Marita; Ueda, Ryuzo; Pfreundschuh, Michael

    2011-03-01

    Hyperphosphorylated paratarg-7 (pP-7) is a frequent target of paraproteins in German patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)/multiple myeloma (MM). The frequency of MGUS/MM is lower in Japan than in Europe. As pP-7, the first molecularly defined autosomal-dominant risk factor for any hematological neoplasm, is inherited in a dominant fashion, we determined the incidence of the pP-7 carrier state in a Japanese population, and compared the frequency of pP-7-specific paraproteins and the pP-7 carrier state in Japanese and German patients with MGUS/MM. Peripheral blood from 111 Japanese patients with MGUS/MM and 278 healthy blood donors was analyzed for the pP-7 carrier state by isoelectric focusing and for pP-7-specific antibodies by ELISA. The Japanese group was compared with 252 German MGUS/MM patients and 200 healthy controls. Five of 111 (4.5%) Japanese and 35/252 (13.9%) German IgA/IgG MGUS/MM patients had a pP-7-specific paraprotein (P=0.009). The prevalence of healthy pP-7 carriers in the Japanese study group was 1/278 (0.36%), whereas it was 4/200 in the German group (P=0.166). The relative risk for pP-7 carriers developing MGUS/MM had an odds ratio of 13.1 in the Japanese and 7.9 in the German group. In conclusion, the fraction of pP-7 carriers with a pP-7-specific paraprotein is lower among Japanese than in German patients with MGUS/MM, but pP-7 carriers in both ethnic groups have a high risk of developing MGUS/MM. © 2011 Japanese Cancer Association.

  16. Group and Gender in Japanese and American Elementary Classrooms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, V. Lee; And Others

    1991-01-01

    The individualism versus collectivism and androgynous versus gender-differentiated handling of children were studied in 10 Japanese (Chiba City) and 9 U.S. (Ann Arbor, Michigan) fifth grade classrooms with 407 and 246 students, respectively. Implications of the observed cultural variations in teacher behavior are discussed as they relate to…

  17. Effects of traditional Japanese massage therapy on gene expression: preliminary study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donoyama, Nozomi; Ohkoshi, Norio

    2011-06-01

    Changes in gene expression after traditional Japanese massage therapy were investigated to clarify the mechanisms of the clinical effects of traditional Japanese massage therapy. This was a pilot experimental study. The study was conducted in a laboratory at Tsukuba University of Technology. The subjects were 2 healthy female volunteers (58-year-old Participant A, 55-year-old Participant B). The intervention consisted of a 40-minute full-body massage using standard traditional Japanese massage techniques through the clothing and a 40-minute rest as a control, in which participants lie on the massage table without being massaged. Before and after an intervention, blood was taken and analyzed by microarray: (1) The number of genes whose expression was more than double after the intervention than before was examined; (2) For those genes, gene ontology analysis identified statistically significant gene ontology terms. The gene expression count in the total of 41,000 genes was 1256 genes for Participant A and 1778 for Participant B after traditional Japanese massage, and was 157 and 82 after the control, respectively. The significant gene ontology terms selected by both Participants A and B after massage were "immune response" and "immune system," whereas no gene ontology terms were selected by them in the control. It is implied that traditional Japanese massage therapy may affect the immune function. Further studies with more samples are necessary.

  18. Nasopharyngeal carriage, antibiogram & serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae among healthy under five children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K.L. Ravi Kumar

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background & objectives: Information related to nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae among healthy children is scanty in India. This prospective study was undertaken to determine the presence of asymptomatic nasopharyngeal colonization, assess serogroups/types (SGT and drug resistance of S. pneumoniae in children below five years of age. Methods: A total of 109 male and 81 female children in the age group of three months to five years belonging to different socio-economic classes were enrolled. They were recruited across all age groups from those attending paediatric OPD of a tertiary care and research centre for immunization program. Fifty three isolates identified as pneumococci were tested for their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern by Kirby-Bauer′s disc diffusion and E-Test methods. Serotyping was performed by detection of the quelling reaction with specific antiserum. Result: The pneumococcal carriage rate in the study population was 27.9 per cent. The isolation rate was associated with age being higher (49.2% in smaller children (3-12 months and among male (62.2%. The most prevalent SGTs were 19 followed by 10, 14 and 7; 21 per cent of isolates belonging to serotype 10 (n=7 were 11 (n=4 were not covered in any of the conjugate vaccines currently available in Indian market. Resistance to co-trimoxazole, tetracycline, penicillin and erythromycin was observed in 91 per cent (n=48, 36 per cent (n=19, 17 per cent (n=9 and 9 per cent (n=5 isolates, respectively. All the penicillin resistant isolates were found to be intermediately resistant by E-Test. Multidrug resistance was observed in 19 per cent (n=10 isolates. Interpretation & conclusions: High level of antibiotic resistance was present in S. pneumoniae isolated from healthy children below age five. A pneumococcal conjugate vaccine with the prevailing SGTs would help to reduce the pool of antibiotic resistant pneumococci. Continued surveillance of serotypes and tracking

  19. Role modeling as an early childhood obesity prevention strategy: effect of parents and teachers on preschool children's healthy lifestyle habits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natale, Ruby A; Messiah, Sarah E; Asfour, Lila; Uhlhorn, Susan B; Delamater, Alan; Arheart, Kris L

    2014-01-01

    To assess the effectiveness of a child care center-based parent and teacher healthy lifestyle role-modeling program on child nutrition and physical activity outcomes. Child care centers (N = 28) serving low-income families were randomized to intervention or control arms. Intervention centers (N = 12) implemented (1) menu modifications, (2) a child's healthy lifestyle curriculum, and (3) an adult (teacher- and parent-focused) healthy lifestyle role-modeling curriculum. Control centers (N = 16) received an attention control safety curriculum. Nutrition and physical activity data were collected at the beginning (T1) and at the end (T2) of the school year. Exploratory factor analysis identified positive and negative nutrition and physical activity practices by children, parents, and teachers. Intervention parents' baseline (β = .52, p consumption (β = .47, p consumption of fruits/vegetables from T1 to T2. Intervention parents significantly influenced a decrease in children's junk food consumption (β = -.04, p junk food consumption (β = .60, p junk food consumption (β = .11, p = .01) and sedentary behavior (β = .09, p consumption of fruits/vegetables, junk food, and level of sedentary behavior. Future obesity prevention intervention efforts targeting this age group should include parents as healthy lifestyle role models for their children.

  20. Identifying the factors and root causes associated with the unintentional usage of an adrenaline auto-injector in Japanese children and their caregivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sasaki, Kemal; Nakagawa, Tomoko; Sugiura, Shiro; Ebisawa, Motohiro; Ito, Komei

    2018-03-05

    The unintentional usage of adrenaline auto-injectors may cause injury to caregivers or patients. To prevent such incidents, we assessed the causative factors of these incidents. The Anaphylaxis Working Group of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology requested that society members register cases in which adrenaline auto-injectors were unintentionally used. One hundred cases were reported from June 2015 to March 2016. We identified the root causes of 70 child and 25 adult cases, separately. The incidents occurred with repeated prescriptions as well as the first prescription. Three cases resulted in a failure to administer an adrenaline auto-injector to children with anaphylaxis. Four caregivers used it with improper application (epilepsy or enteritis). Among the child cases, the median age at the time of the incident was 5.5 years (range, 2-14 years). Five children injected the adrenaline auto-injector on their own body trunk. Twenty children were not the allergic patients themselves. Improper management protocol of the device and the child's development were concomitantly involved in most of the cases. A variety of human behaviors were identified as the root causes in the adult cases. At least 34 cases were associated with mix-ups between the actual and training device. Health workers should provide sufficient education regarding safety use of adrenaline auto-injector for caregivers tailored to their experience levels at both first and repeated prescriptions. Such education must cover anticipatory behavior based on normal child development. Devices should also be further improved to prevent such incidents. Copyright © 2018 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. The decline in BMI among Japanese women after World War II.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maruyama, Shiko; Nakamura, Sayaka

    2015-07-01

    The body mass index (BMI) of the Japanese is significantly lower than is found in other high-income countries. Moreover, the average BMI of Japanese women is lower than that of Japanese men, and the age-specific BMI of Japanese women has decreased over time. The average BMI of Japanese women at age 25 decreased from 21.8 in 1948 to 20.4 in 2010 whereas that of men increased from 21.4 to 22.3 over the same period. We examine the long-term BMI trend in Japan by combining several historical data sources spanning eleven decades, from 1901 to 2012, to determine not only when but also how the BMI decline among women began: whether its inception was period-specific or cohort-specific. Our nonparametric regression analysis generated five findings. First, the BMI of Japanese women peaked with the 1930s birth cohort. This means that the trend is cohort-specific. Second, the BMI of men outpaced that of women in the next cohort. Third, the BMI of Japanese children, boys and girls alike, increased steadily throughout the 20th century. Fourth, the gender difference in the BMI trend is due to a gender difference in the weight trend, not the height trend. Fifth, these BMI trends are observed in urban and rural populations alike. We conclude that the BMI decline among Japanese women began with those who were in their late teens shortly after World War II. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. A Usage-Based Approach to Early-Discourse Pragmatic Functions of the Japanese Subject Markers "wa" and "ga"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uno, Mariko

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates the emergence and development of the discourse-pragmatic functions of the Japanese subject markers "wa" and "ga" from a usage-based perspective (Tomasello, 2000). The use of each marker in longitudinal speech data for four Japanese children from 1;0 to 3;1 and their parents available in the CHILDES…

  3. The Healthy Meal Index: A tool for measuring the healthfulness of meals served to children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasper, Nicole; Mandell, Cami; Ball, Sarah; Miller, Alison L; Lumeng, Julie; Peterson, Karen E

    2016-08-01

    Family meals have been associated with higher diet quality and reduced risk of obesity in children. Observational studies of the family meal have been employed with increasing frequency, yet there is currently no tool available for measuring the healthfulness of food served during the meal. Here we present the development and validation of the Healthy Meal Index (HMI), a novel tool for scoring the healthfulness of foods served to children during a meal, as well as sociodemographic predictors of meal scores. Parents of 233 children, aged 4-8 years, self-recorded three home dinners. A research assistant obtained a list of foods available during the meal (meal report) via phone call on the night of each video-recorded meal. This meal report was coded into component food groups. Subsequently, meals were scored based on the availability of more healthy "Adequacy foods" and the absence of "Moderation foods", (of which reduced consumption is recommended, according to pediatric dietary guidelines). Adjusted linear regression tested the association of sociodemographic characteristics with HMI scores. A validation study was conducted in a separate sample of 133 children with detailed meal data. In adjusted models, female children had higher HMI Moderation scores (p = 0.02), but did not differ in HMI Adequacy or Total scores. Parents with more education served meals with higher HMI Adequacy (p = 0.001) and Total scores (p = 0.001), though no significant difference was seen in HMI Moderation score (p = 0.21). The validation study demonstrated that the HMI was highly correlated with servings of foods and nutrients estimated from observations conducted by research staff. The HMI is a valuable tool for measuring the quality of meals served to children. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  4. A randomized controlled trial for families with preschool children - promoting healthy eating and active playtime by connecting to nature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tanja Sobko

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Promotion of healthy lifestyles in children focuses predominantly on proper nutrition and physical activity, elements now widely recognised as essential for a healthy life. Systematic reviews have shown that nature-related activities also enhance general well-being as reflected in increased physical activity, a healthier diet, reduced stress and better sleep. Recent research suggests that many young children in Hong Kong between the ages of two and four in Hong Kong are more sedentary than recommended and seldom participate in active play, placing them at risk of becoming overweight or obese. The proposed project aims to investigate whether connecting families to nature positively influences physical activity (i.e., active playtime and healthy eating routines in children aged 2 to 4. Methods We recently conducted a pilot study in Hong Kong to develop a programme, Play & Grow, based on the most successful evidence-based international preschool interventions. In addition to adopting the healthy eating and physical activity elements of these interventions, this project will additionally include a third novel element of Connectedness to nature: discovering nature through games and awareness of sounds, touch, smells, and temperature. To test the effectiveness of this modified intervention, a randomised controlled trial (RCT involving 240 families with children aged 2 to 4 will be conducted. Families and children will take part in weekly one-hour activity sessions for 10-weeks. Lifestyle-related habits will be assessed before and immediately after the 10-week intervention, with follow up testing at 6 and 12 months’ post intervention. Discussion A novel measuring tool created specifically for assessing Connectedness to nature, Nature Relatedness Scale (NRS, will be validated and tested for reliability prior to the RCT. The results of the RCT are intended to be used to understand which components of the intervention are most

  5. Development of Japanese voxel models and their application to organ dose calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Kaoru; Endo, Akira; Saito, Kimiaki

    2007-01-01

    Three Japanese voxel (volume pixel) phantoms in supine and upright postures, which are consisted of about 1 mm 3 size voxels, have been developed on the basis of computed tomography (CT) images of healthy Japanese adult male and female volunteers. Their body structures are reproduced more realistically in comparison with most existing voxel phantoms. Organ doses due to internal or external exposures were calculated using the developed phantoms. In estimation of radiation dose from radionuclides incorporated into body, specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) for low energy photon were significantly influenced by the changes in postures. In estimation of organ doses due to external exposures, the doses of some organs of the developed phantom were calculated and were compared with those of a previous Japanese voxel phantom (voxel size: 0.98x0.98x10 mm 3 ) and the reference values of ICRP Publication 74. (author)

  6. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: nutrition guidance for healthy children ages 2 to 11 years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogata, Beth N; Hayes, Dayle

    2014-08-01

    It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that children ages 2 to 11 years should achieve optimal physical and cognitive development, maintain healthy weights, enjoy food, and reduce the risk of chronic disease through appropriate eating habits and participation in regular physical activity. Rapid increases in the prevalence of childhood obesity during the 1980s and 1990s focused attention on young children's overconsumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and beverages and lack of physical activity. While recent data suggest a stabilization of obesity rates, several public health concerns remain. These include the most effective ways to promote healthy weights, the number of children living in food insecurity, the under-consumption of key nutrients, and the early development of diet-related risks for chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, and osteoporosis. This Position Paper reviews what children 2 to 11 years old in the United States are reportedly eating, explores trends in food and nutrient intakes, and examines the impact of federal nutrition programs on child nutrition. Current dietary recommendations and guidelines for physical activity are also discussed. The roles of parents and caregivers in influencing the development of life-long healthy eating behaviors are highlighted. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics works with other allied health and food industry professionals to translate dietary recommendations and guidelines into positive, practical health messages. Specific recommendations and sources of science-based nutrition messages to improve the nutritional well-being of children are provided for food and nutrition practitioners. Copyright © 2014 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. High plasma homocyst(e)ine levels in elderly Japanese patients are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk independently from markers of coagulation activation and endothelial cell damage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kario, K; Duell, P B; Matsuo, T; Sakata, T; Kato, H; Shimada, K; Miyata, T

    2001-08-01

    Elevated plasma homocyst(e)ine is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in many populations, but the relationship between homocyst(e)ine and CVD in Japanese subjects has been unclear. It has been hypothesized that the link between homocyst(e)ine and CVD may be mediated in part by activation of coagulation and endothelial cell injury in the elderly Japanese subjects. To further evaluate this hypothesis, the present cross-sectional study was designed to assess the relationships among plasma homocyst(e)ine concentrations, risk of CVD, and markers of coagulation (fibrinogen, FVII, F1+2, FVIIa and FXIIa) and endothelial cell damage (vWF and thrombomodulin) in 146 elderly Japanese subjects (79 healthy controls and 67 patients with CVD). The geometric mean (range) of plasma homocyst(e)ine concentrations was 10.2 (3.2--33) micromol/l in 79 Japanese healthy elderly subjects. As expected, healthy female and male elderly subjects had homocyst(e)ine levels that were 2.5 and 5.3 micromol/; higher, respectively, compared to healthy young control subjects (n=62). Healthy young and elderly men had homocyst(e)ine levels that were 1.7 and 4.5 micromol/l higher, respectively, compared to values in women. This higher plasma homocyst(e)ine levels in the elderly subjects were negatively correlated with levels of folic acid, albumin and total cholesterol, but were not significantly related to markers of coagulation or endothelial cell-damage. The results of multiple logistic regression analyses suggested that high homocyst(e)ine levels were independently related to CVD risk. In addition, levels of FVIIa, and F1+2 were significantly higher in elderly Japanese patients with CVD compared to elderly subjects without CVD, but were unrelated to plasma homocyst(e)ine concentrations. In summary, elevated plasma concentrations of homocyst(e)ine, FVIIa, and F1+2 were associated with increased risk of CVD in elderly male and female Japanese subjects, but the association between homocyst

  8. Comparison of penile length at 6–24 months between children with unilateral cryptorchidism and a healthy normal cohort

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    Dong Soo Ryu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Urologic diseases affected by testosterone can be associated with smaller penis size compared to the normal population. We sought to compare penile length in children with unilateral cryptorchidism and normative data from a cohort of healthy Korean boys. Materials and Methods: This study was performed in 259 Korean boys (212, normal cohort; 47, cryptorchidism aged 6–24 months, each of whom had been brought to an outpatient clinic at one of five tertiary hospitals (Gyeongsangnam-do Province between April 2014 and June 2015. Penile length was measured via stretched penile length (SPL and testicular size was measured using orchidometry (mL. Results: SPL in children with cryptorchidism was significantly shorter compared to a cohort of healthy Korean boys aged 6–24 months (3.7±0.5 cm and 4.3±0.8 cm, p<0.001, although there were no differences with regard to height, body weight and contralateral testicular size between the two groups. According to the stratified ages (6–12, 12–18, and 18–24 months, SPL in children with cryptorchidism was persistently shorter at their ages than those without. Conclusions: It might be that the penile length aged 6–24 months of children with unilateral cryptorchidism is shorter than that of a cohort of healthy Korean boys.

  9. Assessment of self-reported self-esteem in healthy and diabetic children and adolescents in Greece.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vlachioti, Efrosini; Petsios, Konstantinos; Boutopoulou, Barbara; Chrisostomou, Anthi; Galanis, Petros; Matziou, Vasiliki

    2010-06-01

    The aim of the present study was to evaluate any possible negative effect of diabetes on the self-esteem of children and adolescents with diabetes. Self-esteem was evaluated using the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory (CFSEI-2) in 144 patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM; 7-18 years of age) treated in a diabetes center and compared against that of 136 healthy children and adolescents. Self-esteem was correlated with age (P = 0.017), but not with diabetes (P = 0.886). The median CFSEI-2 score for both healthy and diabetic children was 22. There was no significant correlation between self-esteem and sex, body mass index (BMI), physical exercise, HbA1c or parental educational level. According to Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (r(s)), there was a significant association between age and self-esteem (r(s) = -0.15). Conversely, although BMI (r(s) = -0.09) and treatment duration (r(s) = -0.107) had a slight negative effect on self-esteem and the duration of physical exercise (r(s) = 0.11) and parental education (r(s) = 0.07) seemed to have a positive effect, the associations did not reach statistical significance. Self-esteem in diabetic children is mainly affected by their age, level of physical activity and level of family support. These findings emphasize the need to discriminate between glycemic control and diabetic adjustment. © 2010 Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  10. Attention to Context: U.S. and Japanese Children's Emotional Judgments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuwabara, Megumi; Son, Ji Y.; Smith, Linda B.

    2011-01-01

    A growing number of studies suggests cultural differences in the attention and evaluation of information in adults (Hedden, Ketay, Aron, Markus, & Gabrieli, 2008; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Masuda & Nisbett, 2001). One cultural comparison, between Westerners, such as Americans, and Easterners, such as the Japanese, suggests that…

  11. Comparison of visual field test results obtained through Humphrey matrix frequency doubling technology perimetry versus standard automated perimetry in healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sibel Kocabeyoglu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Aims : The aim of this study was to compare the visual field test results in healthy children obtained via the Humphrey matrix 24-2 threshold program and standard automated perimetry (SAP using the Swedish interactive threshold algorithm (SITA-Standard 24-2 test. Materials and Methods: This prospective study included 55 healthy children without ocular or systemic disorders who underwent both SAP and frequency doubling technology (FDT perimetry visual field testing. Visual field test reliability indices, test duration, global indices (mean deviation [MD], and pattern standard deviation [PSD] were compared between the 2 tests using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and paired t-test. The performance of the Humphrey field analyzer (HFA 24-2 SITA-standard and frequency-doubling technology Matrix 24-2 tests between genders were compared with Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: Fifty-five healthy children with a mean age of 12.2 ± 1.9 years (range from 8 years to 16 years were included in this prospective study. The test durations of SAP and FDT were similar (5.2 ± 0.5 and 5.1 ± 0.2 min, respectively, P = 0.651. MD and the PSD values obtained via FDT Matrix were significantly higher than those obtained via SAP (P < 0.001, and fixation losses and false negative errors were significantly less with SAP (P < 0.05. A weak positive correlation between the two tests in terms of MD (r = 0.352, P = 0.008 and PSD (r = 0.329, P = 0.014 was observed. Conclusion: Children were able to complete both the visual test algorithms successfully within 6 min. However, SAP testing appears to be associated with less depression of the visual field indices of healthy children. FDT Matrix and SAP should not be used interchangeably in the follow-up of children.

  12. HFE Gene Mutations and Iron Status in 100 Healthy Polish Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaczorowska-Hac, Barbara; Luszczyk, Marcin; Antosiewicz, Jedrzej; Ziolkowski, Wieslaw; Adamkiewicz-Drozynska, Elzbieta; Mysliwiec, Malgorzata; Milosz, Ewa; Kaczor, Jan J

    2017-07-01

    Iron participates in oxygen transport, energetic, metabolic, and immunologic processes. There are 2 main causes of iron overload: hereditary hemochromatosis which is a primary cause, is a metabolic disorder caused by mutations of genes that control iron metabolism and secondary hemochromatosis caused by multitransfusions, chronic hemolysis, and intake of iron rich food. The most common type of hereditary hemochromatosis is caused by HFE gene mutation. In this study, we analyzed iron metabolism in 100 healthy Polish children in relation to their HFE gene status. The wild-type HFE gene was predominant being observed in 60 children (60%). Twenty-five children (25%), presented with heterozygotic H63D mutation, and 15 children (15%), presented with other mutations (heterozygotic C282Y and S65C mutation, compound heterozygotes C282Y/S65C, C282Y/H63D, H63D homozygote). The mean concentration of iron, the level of ferritin, and transferrin saturation were statistically higher in the group of HFE variants compared with the wild-type group. H63D carriers presented with higher mean concentration of iron, ferritin levels, and transferrin saturation compared with the wild-type group. Male HFE carriers presented with higher iron concentration, transferrin saturation, and ferritin levels than females. This preliminary investigation demonstrates allelic impact on potential disease progression from childhood.

  13. Mass of organs and composition of the body of Japanese Reference Man

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, Gi-ichiro

    1990-01-01

    Reference Man as defined and described in ICRP Publication 23 is in the process of major revision, with an emphasis on the age and sex, and characteristics of non-European populations. Japanese Reference Man (or Woman) is to be defined as the subject, normal and healthy, 20 to 30 years of age, who inhabits in Japan and live on the 'standard diet'. He (or she) is a Mongoloid in race, and 170 (or 160) cm in height, and 60 (or 51) kg in weight. Physical properties such as masses of 114 organs, tissues and components, and their specific gravities of Japanese Reference Male are given. Body composition or body fat, LBM, skeleton, soft lean body mass (SLBM), body water, blood, muscle, ash, protein and specific gravity were also given as well as body surface. These data are primarily based on the data obtained for normal Japanese, and, where data unavailable, they were derived from ICRP Reference Man data by using a new concept of SLBM. Red bone marrow was estimated to be 1,000g as compared to 1,500g in Reference Man. Body fat was obtained by using Nagamine's equations, which showed a recent slight tendency of obesity. In conclusion, the present data for Japanese Reference Man could be used in designing appropriate phantoms, mathematical and real, for Japanese. Japanese Reference Man will also provide a basis for Asian Reference Man, which, in principle, should be consistent with ICRP concepts of Reference Man. (author)

  14. Instruments to assess self-care among healthy children: A systematic review of measurement properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urpí-Fernández, Ana-María; Zabaleta-Del-Olmo, Edurne; Montes-Hidalgo, Javier; Tomás-Sábado, Joaquín; Roldán-Merino, Juan-Francisco; Lluch-Canut, María-Teresa

    2017-12-01

    To identify, critically appraise and summarize the measurement properties of instruments to assess self-care in healthy children. Assessing self-care is a proper consideration for nursing practice and nursing research. No systematic review summarizes instruments of measurement validated in healthy children. Psychometric review in accordance with the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) panel. MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Open Grey were searched from their inception to December 2016. Validation studies with a healthy child population were included. Search was not restricted by language. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of included studies using the COSMIN checklist. Eleven studies were included in the review assessing the measurement properties of ten instruments. There was a maximum of two studies per instrument. None of the studies evaluated the properties of test-retest reliability, measurement error, criterion validity and responsiveness. Internal consistency and structural validity were rated as "excellent" or "good" in four studies. Four studies were rated as "excellent" in content validity. Cross-cultural validity was rated as "poor" in the two studies (three instruments) which cultural adaptation was carried out. The evidence available does not allow firm conclusions about the instruments identified in terms of reliability and validity. Future research should focus on generate evidence about a wider range of measurement properties of these instruments using a rigorous methodology, as well as instrument testing on different countries and child population. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Reference Japanese man

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, Giichiro

    1985-01-01

    To make real and accurate dose assessment method so far, it is necessitated to provide ''Reference Japanese Man'' based on anotomical, physiological and biochemical data of Japanese people instead of the Reference Man presented in ICRP Publications 23 and 30. This review describes present status of researched for the purpose of establishing of Reference Japanese Man. The Reference Japanese Man is defined as a male or female adult who lives in Japan with a Japanese life-style and food custom. His stature and body weight, and the other data was decided as mean values of male or female people of Japan. As for food custom, Japanese people take significantly smaller amount of meat and milk products than Western people, while larger intake amount of cereals and marine products such as fish or seaweeds. Weight of organs is a principal factor for internal dose assessment and mean values for living Japanese adult has been investigated and the value employable for dose assessment for organs and tissues are shown. To employ these values of Reference Japanese Man, it should be taken into account of age. Metabolic parameters should also be considered. Iodine metabolism in Japanese is quite different from that of Western people. The above-mentioned data are now tentatively employing in modification of table of MIRD method and others. (Takagi, S.)

  16. Comparative evaluation of oral hygiene status and gingival enlargement among epileptic and healthy children as related to various antiepileptic drugs

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    Neelam Hasmukhbhai Joshi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Epilepsy is a gathering of neurological disorders characterized by epileptic seizures. Epileptic children, who are on active treatment with antiepileptic drugs, have a well-recognized side effect of gingival enlargement. Therefore, all efforts should be made, particularly for the population who are diagnosed or affected by the systemic disease. This study was conducted with an aim to determine oral hygiene status and gingival enlargement among epileptic and healthy children as related to various antiepileptic drugs. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the department of pedodontics and attached general hospital. A sample size of 120 participants with 60 healthy and 60 epileptic children between age 2 and 14 years were included. Oral health status of participants was examined using oral hygiene simplified index and plaque index. Gingival enlargement was assessed using Miranda–Brunet index. For statistical analysis, one-way ANOVA test, independent t-test, and Pearson's Chi-square test were used. Results: From the total participants included in the study, 49% of participants had good oral hygiene from healthy group, and 28% participants had poor oral hygiene from the epileptic group. Sodium valproate was the most common drug used and was associated with increased gingival enlargement. Conclusion: Conclusion can be drawn that epileptic children under medication had poor oral hygiene and an increased risk for gingival enlargement as compared to their healthy counterparts. It must be stressed that the epileptic patients should be given dental care without conditions and provided with best possible care to restore esthetics and functions.

  17. [Serum calcium and phosphorus concentration and alkaline phosphatase activity in healthy children during growth and development].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savić, Ljiljana; Savić, Dejan

    2008-01-01

    Many changes happen during growth and development in an organism as a result of important hormon changes, especially biohumoral ones. These changes make a problem when interpreting biochemical results in pediatric population. The most important changes are intensive calcium and phosphorus metabolic turnover in bone tissue with changes in alkaline phosphatase activity as a result of osteoblast activity. The aim of this study was to follow the serum calcium and phosphorus concentration and alkaline phosphatase activity in children 1-15 years old in different growth and development period and of different sexes and to fortify the influence of growth and development dynamics on biohumoral status in healthy male and female children. We evaluated 117 healthy children of both sexes from 1-15 years of age and divided them into three age groups: 1-5, 6-10 and 11-15 years. We followed the serum calcium and phosphorus concentration and alkaline phosphatase activity in different groups and in different sexes. Our investigation found significantly higher values of serum calcium in boys than in girls with no important changes between the age groups and significantly higher values of serum phosphorus in the youngest age group in all children and in different sexes with no important sex differences. Alkaline phosphatase activity followed the growth spurt and was the biggest in 6-10 years group in girls and in 11-15 years group in boys.

  18. A transversal pilot study of oropharyngeal carriage of Kingella kingae in healthy children younger than 6 months.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spyropoulou, Vasiliki; Brändle, Gabriel; Maggio, Albane Bertha Rosa; Anderson Della Llana, Rebecca; Cherkaoui, Abdessalam; Renzi, Gesuele; Schrenzel, Jacques; Manzano, Sergio; Ceroni, Dimitri

    2017-12-01

    The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the extent of oropharyngeal Kingella kingae carriage during the first 6 months of life. We conducted a monocentric transversal pilot study on healthy children younger than 6 months in order to define the oropharyngeal carriage rate. Participants were recruited between December 2013 and September 2015 among children without symptoms or signs of invasive infections. We demonstrated an oropharyngeal carriage rate of 0.67% in children younger than 6 months. Due to the really low carriage rate, it was not possible to draw statistically significant conclusion about any other characteristic of our population. The present study suggests that the oropharyngeal carriage of Kingella kingae among a Swiss population of healthy infants younger than 6 months is exceptional. The scarcity of colonization and disease in the early months of life suggests thus that defense against mucosal carriage and invasive infection is above all provided by vertically acquired immunity. Limited exposure of the neonates due to limited social contacts may also represent another factor avoiding neonates' mucosal Kingella kingae carriage.

  19. A Healthy Lifestyle Intervention Delivered by Aspiring Physical Education Teachers to Children from Social Disadvantage: Study Protocol and Preliminary Findings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breslin, Gavin; Brennan, Deirdre

    2012-01-01

    We describe the design of a school-based healthy lifestyle intervention for eight-year-old to nine-year-old school children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, intended to increase physical activity, decrease sedentary behaviours, reduce screen-time behaviours, encourage healthy attitudes and behaviours to nutrition, and reduce body mass index.…

  20. Evaluation of frequency and intensity of asymptomatic anisocytosis in the Japanese dog breeds Shiba, Akita, and Hokkaido

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    Olga Aniołek

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Microcytosis is observed in healthy Japanese breed dogs. The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency and intensity of asymptomatic anisocytosis using a three-grade scale in Japanese dog breeds with special emphasis on the following indices: mean cell volume, mean cell haemoglobin, mean cell haemoglobin concentration, and red blood cell distribution width. The retrospective study included analyses of blood morphology and blood smear for clinically healthy Japanese dog breeds Shiba, Akita, and Hokkaido aged from 6 months to 14 years, performed as a part of preventative care. A total of 74 dogs of both sexes were qualified for the study. The group included both neutered and non-neutered animals (Akita – 17 females, 12 males, Shiba – 24 females, 18 males, Hokkaido – 2 females, 1 male. The blood smear revealed significant anisocytosis in 60.8% and mild anisocytosis in 28.4% of the tested dogs – 89.2% in total. Microcytosis was reported for 25.7% of the tested Japanese breed dogs. Reduced mean cell haemoglobin and mean cell haemoglobin concentration were diagnosed in 75.7% and 40.5% of dogs, respectively. Red blood cell distribution width as an anisocytosis indicator exceeded the norm in 12% of the tested dogs. Compared to mixed breed dogs, the Japanese breeds had a reduced mean cell volume, mean cell haemoglobin concentration and significant anisocytosis in the blood smear as well as a higher red blood cell distribution width indicator. Veterinarians should consider these differences when interpreting the results of morphological blood tests.

  1. Healthy Buddies[TM] Reduces Body Mass Index Z-Score and Waist Circumference in Aboriginal Children Living in Remote Coastal Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ronsley, Rebecca; Lee, Andrew S.; Kuzeljevic, Boris; Panagiotopoulos, Constadina

    2013-01-01

    Background: Aboriginal children are at increased risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Healthy Buddies [TM]-First Nations (HB) is a curriculum-based, peer-led program promoting healthy eating, physical activity, and self-esteem. Methods: Although originally designed as a pilot pre-/post-analysis of 3 remote Aboriginal schools that requested and…

  2. Memory consolidation of socially relevant stimuli during sleep in healthy children and children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder: What you can see in their eyes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prehn-Kristensen, Alexander; Molzow, Ina; Förster, Alexandra; Siebenhühner, Nadine; Gesch, Maxime; Wiesner, Christian D; Baving, Lioba

    2017-02-01

    Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) display deficits in sleep-dependent memory consolidation, and being comorbid with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), results in deficits in face processing. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of sleep in recognizing faces in children with ADHD+ODD. Sixteen healthy children and 16 children diagnosed with ADHD+ODD participated in a sleep and a wake condition. During encoding (sleep condition at 8p.m.; wake condition at 8a.m.) pictures of faces were rated according to their emotional content; the retrieval session (12h after encoding session) contained a recognition task including pupillometry. Pupillometry and behavioral data revealed that healthy children benefited from sleep compared to wake with respect to face picture recognition; in contrast recognition performance in patients with ADHD+ODD was not improved after sleep compared to wake. It is discussed whether in patients with ADHD+ODD social stimuli are preferentially consolidated during daytime. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. The mediating effects of family functioning on psychosocial outcomes in healthy siblings of children with sickle cell disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gold, Jeffrey I; Treadwell, Marsha; Weissman, Lina; Vichinsky, Elliott

    2011-12-01

    Children with siblings coping with chronic illness experience stresses and disruptions in daily life as families work together to care for the affected child. Research suggests that children and adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD) may be at risk for adjustment problems, impaired psychosocial functioning, and reduced quality of life. These potential stressors affect the child with SCD as well as their caregivers and other family members. This study examined the role of family functioning on the psychosocial functioning of healthy siblings of children with SCD. Participants were 65 healthy African-American siblings of children with SCD with a mean age of 11.19 years (range: 7-16) and their primary caregiver. Caregivers completed questionnaires assessing family functioning and child adjustment including demographic surveys, the Family Relations Scale (FRS), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Increased number of emergency room visits (β = -0.28, P Family functioning mediated this effect (β = 0.27; P family expressiveness (total score, r = -0.34; P family conflict (total score, r = 0.41; P family expressiveness, support, and conflict are indicated for this population. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  4. Active Healthy Kids Canada's Position on Active Video Games for Children and Youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaput, Jean-Philippe; Leblanc, Allana G; McFarlane, Allison; Colley, Rachel C; Thivel, David; Biddle, Stuart Jh; Maddison, Ralph; Leatherdale, Scott T; Tremblay, Mark S

    2013-12-01

    The effect of active video games (AVGs) on acute energy expenditure has previously been reported; however, the influence of AVGs on other health-related lifestyle indicators remains unclear. To address this knowledge gap, Active Healthy Kids Canada (AHKC) convened an international group of researchers to conduct a systematic review to understand whether AVGs should be promoted to increase physical activity and improve health indicators in children and youth (zero to 17 years of age). The present article outlines the process and outcomes of the development of the AHKC's position on active video games for children and youth. In light of the available evidence, AHKC does not recommend AVGs as a strategy to help children be more physically active. However, AVGs may exchange some sedentary time for light- to moderate-intensity physical activity, and there may be specific situations in which AVGs provide benefit (eg, motor skill development in special populations and rehabilitation).

  5. School grade and sex differences in domain-specific sedentary behaviors among Japanese elementary school children: a cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaori Ishii

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background It is vital to reduce the proportion of sedentary behavior in children. Understanding the duration and behavioral context is needed. The present study examined school-grade and sex differences in domain-specific sedentary times and concurrence with screen-time guidelines among Japanese elementary school children. Methods A total of 625 children (330 boys were surveyed in 2010 and 2014. Using a questionnaire, data regarding participants’ grade (first through third grades: lower grades; fourth through six grades: higher grades, sex, weight, and height were collected in addition to the time spent per day engaging in each specific sedentary behavior separately: (1 reading or listening to music, (2 TV or video viewing, (3 TV game use, (4 internet use excluding class, (5 homework, and (6 car travel. Two-way analysis of covariance and logistic regression analyses, adjusted for BMI and moderate to vigorous physical activity, were used to examine school-grade and sex differences in sedentary behaviors and the independent risk of exceeding recommended total daily screen time (< 2 h. Results On 625 children, mean minutes (SD of sedentary behavior per week in (1 – (6 were 90.3 (123.4, 535.0 (356.6, 167.3 (222.1, 23.9 (70.9, 264.9 (185.3, and 33.4 (61.2 in weekdays and 42.1 (70.0, 323.9 (232.0, 123.0 (96.4, 15.8 (49.9, 74.4 (96.4, and 71.3 (84.9 in weekends, respectively. There were differences in the minutes of sedentary behavior between participants of 2010 and 2014; e.g., TV game use and homework in weekdays and weekdays and car travel in weekends. Boys spent more time in TV game use, and girls spent more time reading, listening to music, doing homework, and car travel. Higher-grade students spent more time reading or listening to music, using a computer, and doing homework. Higher-grade students were 2.09 times (95% CI: 1.32 − 3.30 in whole week, 2.08 times (95% CI: 1.45 − 3.00 in weekday, and 1.88 times (95% CI: 1.29

  6. Pyrethroid insecticide exposure and reproductive hormone levels in healthy Japanese male subjects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yoshinaga, J; Imai, K; Shiraishi, H

    2014-01-01

    )] were explored in 322 male university students in suburban Tokyo. The subjects constituted part of a large cross-sectional survey on the reference value of semen quality of Japanese men. Urinary 3-PBA was detectable in 91% of the subjects demonstrating ubiquitous exposure among the general population....... However, there were no associations between urinary 3-PBA and serum hormone levels. This result was inconsistent with those reported in China and the USA for subjects who had similar levels of urinary 3-PBA to the present subjects. One of the possible reasons of the inconsistency might be different...

  7. The dilemma for Japanese students

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martinsen, Anders

    2014-01-01

    The Japanese job hunting system inhibits Japanese students from studying abroad. A Japanese professor says it is a huge dilemma for the students.......The Japanese job hunting system inhibits Japanese students from studying abroad. A Japanese professor says it is a huge dilemma for the students....

  8. Maternal feeding practices and children's eating behaviours : a comparison of mothers with healthy weight versus overweight/obesity.

    OpenAIRE

    Haycraft, Emma; Karasouli, Eleni; Meyer, Caroline

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to explore differences between mothers with healthy weight versus overweight/obesity in a wide range of their reported child feeding practices and their reports of their children's eating behaviours. Mothers (N = 437) with a 2-6-year-old child participated. They comprised two groups, based on their BMI: healthy weight (BMI of 18.0–24.9, inclusive) or overweight/obese (BMI of 25.0 or more). All mothers provided demographic information and completed self-report measures of thei...

  9. Maternal pain influences her evaluation of recurrent pain in 6- to 11-year-old healthy children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Graungaard, Anette Hauskov; Siersma, Volkert Dirk; Nielsen, Kirsten Lykke

    2016-01-01

    -based survey in Danish public schools. The participants were 131 healthy children aged 6-11 years and their mothers. The main outcome measures were the prevalence of recurrent pain reported by the mother and child, agreements between their reports and any associations between the child's pain, socio...

  10. A Validation Study of the Japanese Version of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dos Santos Kawata, Kelssy Hitomi; Hashimoto, Ryusaku; Nishio, Yoshiyuki; Hayashi, Atsuko; Ogawa, Nanayo; Kanno, Shigenori; Hiraoka, Kotaro; Yokoi, Kayoko; Iizuka, Osamu; Mori, Etsuro

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this study was to validate the Japanese version of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) [Mori: Japanese Edition of Hodges JR's Cognitive Assessment for Clinicians, 2010] designed to detect dementia, and to compare its diagnostic accuracy with that of the Mini-Mental State Examination. The ACE-R was administered to 85 healthy individuals and 126 patients with dementia. The reliability assessment revealed a strong correlation in both groups. The internal consistency was excellent (α-coefficient = 0.88). Correlation with the Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes score was significant (r(s) = -0.61, p Examination. The cut-off score of 80 showed a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 94%. Like the original ACE-R and the versions designed for other languages, the Japanese version of the ACE-R is a reliable and valid test for the detection of dementia.

  11. A Japanese Stretching Intervention Can Modify Lumbar Lordosis Curvature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kadono, Norio; Tsuchiya, Kazushi; Uematsu, Azusa; Kamoshita, Hiroshi; Kiryu, Kazunori; Hortobágyi, Tibor; Suzuki, Shuji

    2017-08-01

    Eighteen healthy male adults were assigned to either an intervention or control group. Isogai dynamic therapy (IDT) is one of Japanese stretching interventions and has been practiced for over 70 years. However, its scientific quantitative evidence remains unestablished. The objective of this study was to determine whether IDT could modify lumbar curvature in healthy young adults compared with stretching exercises used currently in clinical practice. None of previous studies have provided data that conventional stretching interventions could modify spinal curvatures. However, this study provides the first evidence that a specific form of a Japanese stretching intervention can acutely modify the spinal curvatures. We compared the effects of IDT, a Japanese stretching intervention (n=9 males), with a conventional stretching routine (n=9 males) used widely in clinics to modify pelvic tilt and lumbar lordosis (LL) angle. We measured thoracic kyphosis (TK) and LL angles 3 times during erect standing using the Spinal Mouse before and after each intervention. IDT consisted of: (1) hip joint correction, (2) pelvic tilt correction, (3) lumbar alignment correction, and (4) squat exercise stretch. The control group performed hamstring stretches while (1) standing and (2) sitting. IDT increased LL angle to 25.1 degrees (±5.9) from 21.2 degrees (±6.9) (P=0.047) without changing TK angle (pretest: 36.8 degrees [±6.9]; posttest: 36.1 degrees [±6.5]) (P=0.572). The control group showed no changes in TK (P=0.819) and LL angles (P=0.744). IDT can thus be effective for increasing LL angle, hence anterior pelvic tilt. Such modifications could ameliorate low back pain and improve mobility in old adults with an unfavorable pelvic position.

  12. [Understanding the symbolic values of Japanese onomatopoeia: comparison of Japanese and Chinese speakers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haryu, Etsuko; Zhao, Lihua

    2007-10-01

    Do non-native speakers of the Japanese language understand the symbolic values of Japanese onomatopoeia matching a voiced/unvoiced consonant with a big/small sound made by a big/small object? In three experiments, participants who were native speakers of Japanese, Japanese-learning Chinese, or Chinese without knowledge of the Japanese language were shown two pictures. One picture was of a small object making a small sound, such as a small vase being broken, and the other was of a big object making a big sound, such as a big vase being broken. Participants were presented with two novel onomatopoetic words with voicing contrasts, e.g.,/dachan/vs./tachan/, and were told that each word corresponded to one of the two pictures. They were then asked to match the words to the corresponding pictures. Chinese without knowledge of Japanese performed only at chance level, whereas Japanese and Japanese-learning Chinese successfully matched a voiced/unvoiced consonant with a big/small object respectively. The results suggest that the key to understanding the symbolic values of voicing contrasts in Japanese onomatopoeia is some basic knowledge that is intrinsic to the Japanese language.

  13. Japanese encephalitis: a review of the Indian perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarika Tiwari

    Full Text Available Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV causes Japanese encephalitis, which is a leading form of viral encephalitis in Asia, with around 50,000 cases and 10,000 deaths per year in children below 15 years of age. The JEV has shown a tendency to extend to other geographic regions. Case fatality averages 30% and a high percentage of the survivors are left with permanent neuropsychiatric sequelae. Currently, there is no cure for JEV, and treatment is mainly supportive. Patients are not infectious, but should avoid further mosquito bites. A number of antiviral agents have been investigated; however, none of these have convincingly been shown to improve the outcome of JEV. In this review, the current knowledge of the epidemiology and the pathogenesis of this deadly disease have been summarized.

  14. Japanese encephalitis: a review of the Indian perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarika Tiwari

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV causes Japanese encephalitis, which is a leading form of viral encephalitis in Asia, with around 50,000 cases and 10,000 deaths per year in children below 15 years of age. The JEV has shown a tendency to extend to other geographic regions. Case fatality averages 30% and a high percentage of the survivors are left with permanent neuropsychiatric sequelae. Currently, there is no cure for JEV, and treatment is mainly supportive. Patients are not infectious, but should avoid further mosquito bites. A number of antiviral agents have been investigated; however, none of these have convincingly been shown to improve the outcome of JEV. In this review, the current knowledge of the epidemiology and the pathogenesis of this deadly disease have been summarized.

  15. Perceived Parental Barriers to and Strategies for Supporting Physical Activity and Healthy Eating among Head Start Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ling, Jiying; B Robbins, Lorraine; Hines-Martin, Vicki

    2016-06-01

    Despite the need for parents to support their children's healthy behaviors, knowledge of factors preventing parents from doing so is still rudimentary. This study primarily aimed to explore perceived parental barriers to and strategies for supporting physical activity and healthy eating among Head Start children. A semi-structured interview format was used with four focus groups conducted at two urban Head Start centers in the Midwestern U.S. A qualitative content analysis of audio-recorded sessions was facilitated using ATLAS.ti7. A convenience sample of 32 parents (Mage = 34.97 years) participated. Over half were female (78.1 %), African Americans (65.6 %), and single (65.6 %). About 61.3 % reported an annual family income parent): lack of time and cooking skills and a tight family budget; and (3) environmental: inaccessible programs, lack of age-appropriate education, electronic media use, and unsafe environment. Parents across all groups expressed high interest in enrolling in a program with their children. Recommendations included: parents' support team; family outings at parks; taking a walk or enrolling in a class with children; and planting a garden. Many parents showed their preference for face-to-face meetings and a support group, but repulsion of counseling. To promote parental support in future interventions with Head Start children, their perceived intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental barriers should be considered as intervention targets. Involving parents through a support group and face-to-face meetings is recommended.

  16. Impact of Dental Rehabilitation on Oral Health-related Quality-of-life in Healthy Children and Those with Special Health Care Needs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farsi, Deema J; Farsi, Nada J; El-Housseiny, Azza A; Turkistani, Jihan M; Farsi, Najat M

    2018-04-01

    Aim: The aim of this study is to compare the effect of dental rehabilitation on oral health-related quality-of-life (OHRQoL) in children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and healthy children. Materials and methods: The prospective study's sample consisted of 213 parents of caries-affected children, who were aged 6 years or younger and were scheduled for dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia (DRGA). The parent-child dyads were recruited from three public hospitals in Jeddah between October 2014 and May 2016. They comprised healthy children (n = 133) and CSHCN (n = 80). Parents self-completed the early childhood oral health impact scale (ECOHIS) before and 1 month after DRGA. The parents also rated the overall oral health status of their children by answering a global question before and after DRGA. Results: At baseline, the CSHCN had significantly worse OHRQoL in most of the scale domains at 25.9 [standard deviation (SD) 11.3] and 19.9 (SD 10.3) respectively. The OHRQoL significantly improved in both groups postoperatively (p = 0.005, Wilcoxon rank-sum test). The effect size of the improvement in the CSHCN group (+1.8) was greater than that in the healthy group (+1.5) in all domains, except for the family impact and parental distress sections. Conclusion: The DRGA markedly improves OHRQoL in children aged 6 years or younger, and the improvement is even greater in CSHCN. Clinical significance: The substantial improvement in OHRQoL after DRGA highlights the importance of oral health care in young children, which should receive higher priority than it has been done to date. Keywords: Children with special health care needs, Dental caries, Early childhood oral health impact scale, General anesthesia, Oral health-related quality-of-life.

  17. Differences in UGT1A1, UGT1A7, and UGT1A9 polymorphisms between Uzbek and Japanese populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maeda, Hiromichi; Hazama, Shoichi; Shavkat, Abdiev; Okamoto, Ken; Oba, Koji; Sakamoto, Junichi; Takahashi, Kenichi; Oka, Masaki; Nakamura, Daisuke; Tsunedomi, Ryouichi; Okayama, Naoko; Mishima, Hideyuki; Kobayashi, Michiya

    2014-06-01

    Uridine-diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase 1A (UGT1A) is a key enzyme involved in irinotecan metabolism, and polymorphisms in the UGT1A gene are associated with irinotecan-induced toxicity. The aim of this study was to elucidate the allele frequencies of UGT1A polymorphisms in healthy Uzbek volunteers, and to compare them with those of the Japanese population. A total of 97 healthy volunteers from Uzbekistan were enrolled and blood samples were collected from each participant. Genotyping analysis was performed by fragment size analysis for UGT1A1*28, direct sequencing for UGT1A7*3 and UGT1A9*22, and TaqMan assays for UGT1A1*93, UGT1A1*6, UGT1A1*27, UGT1A1*60, and UGT1A7*12. The frequencies of polymorphisms were compared with the Japanese population by using the data previously reported from our study group. When the Uzbek and Japanese populations were compared, heterozygotes or homozygotes for UGT1A1*28, UGT1A1*60, and UGT1A1*93 were significantly more frequent in the Uzbek population (P Japanese population (P Japanese population. A comprehensive study of the influence of UGT1A1 polymorphisms on the risk of irinotecan-induced toxicity is necessary for optimal use of irinotecan treatment.

  18. The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Roger J., Ed.; Ikeno, Osamu, Ed.

    This collection of essays offers an overview of contemporary Japanese culture, and can serve as a resource for classes studying Japan. The 28 essays offer an informative, accessible look at the values, attitudes, behavior patterns, and communication styles of modern Japan from the unique perspective of the Japanese people. Filled with examples…

  19. Viral diarrhea in Japanese children: results from a one-year epidemiologic study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phan, Tung Gia; Nguyen, Tuan Anh; Kuroiwa, Toshimasa; Kaneshi, Kunio; Ueda, Yuichi; Nakaya, Shigekazu; Nishimura, Shuichi; Nishimura, Tadashi; Yamamoto, Atsuko; Okitsu, Shoko; Ushijima, Hiroshi

    2005-01-01

    A total of 557 fecal specimens from infants and children with acute gastroenteritis in five places (Maizuru, Tokyo, Sapporo, Saga and Osaka) in Japan from July 2002 to June 2003 were tested for the presence of diarrheal viruses by RT-PCR, PRHA, RNA-PAGE and latex agglutination methods. Of these, 56.4% (314) were found positive for diarrheal viruses. Among them, group A rotavirus was the most prevalent (43.6%, 137 of 314) followed by norovirus (29.9%, 94 of 314), adenovirus (7.6%, 24 of 314), group C rotavirus (6.4%, 20 of 314), sapovirus (5.1%, 16 of 314) and astrovirus (1.6%, 5 of 314), respectively. A high rate (7.4%, 19 of 314) of viral mixed infections, including one triple infection (adenovirus, norovirus and astrovirus) was demonstrated. Norovirus infection that usually has a peak during November and January in Japan was detected year-round and highest in September in our study. Norovirus was subjected to molecular genetic analysis by sequencing. The results clearly indicated that norovirus group II was a dominant genogroup (94.3%, 100 of 106). It is noteworthy that noroviruses detected in this study were classified into 8 genotypes (GI/1, GI/4, GII/2, GII/3, GII/4, GII/5, GII/6 and GII/12). Of these, NVGII/4 was the predominant genotype, followed by NVGII/6, and these presented 75.6% (80 of 106) and 11.3% (12 of 106), respectively. Another interesting feature in our study was the sudden appearance and disappearance of SaitamaU16-like strains belonging to NVGII/6 in the short period (January 2003 to June 2003). Our findings confirmed the presence of many diarrheal viruses co-circulating among Japanese infants and children and showed the great genetic diversity among norovirus.

  20. Rearticulating Japanese Cinematic Style : Exemplified by Contemporary Japanese Melodrama

    OpenAIRE

    Syversen, Robin

    2011-01-01

    Japanese cinema has always been valued by film theorists as an alternative filmic expression of the highest quality. Nevertheless, Japanese cinema is never described with the same respect as European and American filmic paradigms. Classical cinema, Russian montage, German expressionism, Italian neorealism and the French new wave are all regarded as distinctive filmic paradigms of their time. So why isn’t Japanese cinema discussed with the same reverence as above mentioned paradigms? ...

  1. Developmental trajectories of cerebrovascular reactivity in healthy children and young adults assessed with magnetic resonance imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, Jackie; Kosinski, Przemyslaw D; Croal, Paula L; Kassner, Andrea

    2016-05-15

    Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) reflects the vasodilatory reserve of cerebral resistance vessels. Normal development in children is associated with significant changes in blood pressure, cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral oxygen metabolism. Therefore, it stands to reason that CVR will also undergo changes during this period. The study acquired magnetic resonance imaging measures of CVR and CBF in healthy children and young adults to trace their changes with age. We found that CVR changes in two phases, increasing with age until the mid-teens, followed by a decrease. Baseline CBF declined steadily with age. We conclude that CVR varies with age during childhood, which prompts future CVR studies involving children to take into account the effect of development. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) reflects the vasculature's ability to accommodate changes in blood flow demand thereby serving as a critical imaging tool for mapping vascular reserve. Normal development is associated with extensive physiological changes in blood pressure, cerebral blood flow and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen, all of which can affect CVR. Moreover, the evolution of these physiological parameters is most prominent during childhood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to use non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to characterize the developmental trajectories of CVR in healthy children and young adults, and relate them to changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF). Thirty-four healthy subjects (17 males, 17 females; age 9-30 years) underwent CVR assessment using blood oxygen level-dependent MRI in combination with a computer controlled CO2 stimulus. In addition, baseline CBF was measured with a pulsed arterial spin labelling sequence. CVR exhibited a gradual increase with age in both grey and white matter up to 14.7 years. After this break point, a negative correlation with age was detected. Baseline CBF maintained a consistent negative linear correlation across the entire age range

  2. Effectiveness of Picture Books for Italian Instruction at Japanese Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yomo, Minoru; Uni, Kazuhito; Moore, Danièle; Kiyose, Takashi

    2014-01-01

    Recently, the use of children's picture books to teach English has been increasing in Japan. An advantage of these books is the high proportion of basic vocabulary they include. Can picture books also be useful for teaching Japanese students Italian and increasing their motivation? The present study analyses the effectiveness of employing a…

  3. Safety of Bifidobacterium animalis Subsp. Lactis (B. lactis) Strain BB-12-Supplemented Yogurt in Healthy Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Tina P; Ba, Zhaoyong; Sanders, Mary E; D'Amico, Frank J; Roberts, Robert F; Smith, Keisha H; Merenstein, Daniel J

    2017-02-01

    Probiotics are live microorganisms that may provide health benefits to the individual when consumed in sufficient quantities. For studies conducted on health or disease endpoints on probiotics in the United States, the Food and Administration has required those studies to be conducted as investigational new drugs. This phase I, double-blinded, randomized, controlled safety study represents the first requirement of this pathway. The purpose of the study was to determine the safety of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B lactis) strain BB-12 (BB-12)-supplemented yogurt when consumed by a generally healthy group of children. The secondary aim was to assess the effect of BB-12-supplemented yogurt on the gut microbiota of the children. Sixty children ages 1 to 5 years were randomly assigned to consume 4 ounces of either BB-12-supplemented yogurt or nonsupplemented control yogurt daily for 10 days. The primary outcome was to assess safety and tolerability, as determined by the number of reported adverse events. A total of 186 nonserious adverse events were reported, with no significant differences between the control and BB-12 groups. No significant changes due to probiotic treatment were observed in the gut microbiota of the study cohort. BB-12-supplemented yogurt is safe and well-tolerated when consumed by healthy children. The present study will form the basis for future randomized clinical trials investigating the potential effects of BB-12-supplemented yogurt in different disease states.

  4. Pediatric radiation therapy. A Japanese nationwide survey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nemoto, Kenji; Nagata, Yasushi; Hirokawa, Yutaka

    2006-01-01

    A national survey on the current status of pediatric radiation therapy was performed in October 2004. We sent questionnaires to 638 radiotherapy facilities in Japan (except for Kansai area) and 245 responses were analyzed. According to the database of committee of Japanese Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO), the number of pediatric patients who received radiation therapy during 2003 in Japan was 1,101. The most frequent pediatric malignancy was brain tumor, followed by leukemia and lymphoma. The total effort of radiation therapy for children was two to six times larger than that for adult patients. An additional fee seems to be necessary for the highly technical and laborious radiation therapy required for children. (author)

  5. Motor skills, haptic perception and social abilities in children with mild speech disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müürsepp, Iti; Aibast, Herje; Gapeyeva, Helena; Pääsuke, Mati

    2012-02-01

    The aim of the study was to evaluate motor skills, haptic object recognition and social interaction in 5-year-old children with mild specific expressive language impairment (expressive-SLI) and articulation disorder (AD) in comparison of age- and gender matched healthy children. Twenty nine children (23 boys and 6 girls) with expressive-SLI, 27 children (20 boys and 7 girls) with AD and 30 children (23 boys and 7 girls) with typically developing language as controls participated in our study. The children were examined for manual dexterity, ball skills, static and dynamic balance by M-ABC test, haptic object recognition and for social interaction by questionnaire completed by teachers. Children with mild expressive-SLI demonstrated significantly poorer results in all subtests of motor skills (psocial interaction (p0.05) in measured parameters between children with AD and controls. Children with expressive-SLI performed considerably poorer compared to AD group in balance subtest (psocial interaction are considerably more affected than in children with AD. Although motor difficulties in speech production are prevalent in AD, it is localised and does not involve children's general motor skills, haptic perception or social interaction. Copyright © 2011 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Utility of the UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment-Brief Japanese version: discriminative ability and relation to neurocognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chika Sumiyoshi

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment Brief (the UPSA-B has been widely used for evaluating functional capacity in patients with schizophrenia. The utility of the battery in a wide range of cultural contexts has been of concern among developers. The current study investigated the validity of the Japanese version of the UPSA-B as a measure of functional capacity and as a co-primary for neurocognion. Sixty-four Japanese patients with schizophrenia and 83 healthy adults entered the study. The Japanese version of the UPSA-B (UPSA-B Japanese version and the MATRICS Cognitive Consensus Battery Japanese version (MCCB Japanese version were administered. Normal controls performed significantly better than patients, with large effect sizes for the Total and the subscale scores of the UPSA-B. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC curve analysis revealed that the optimal cut-off point for the UPSA-B Total score was estimated at around 80. The UPSA-B Total score was significantly correlated with the MCCB Composite score and several domain scores, indicating the relationship between this co-primary measure and overall cognitive functioning in Japanese patients with schizophrenia. The results obtained here suggest that the UPSA-B Japanese version is an effective tool for evaluating disturbances of daily-living skills linked to cognitive functioning in schizophrenia, providing an identifiable cut-off point and relationships to neurocognition. Further research is warranted to evaluate the psychometrical properties and response to treatment of the Japanese version of the UPSA-B.

  7. Plasticity of illusory vowel perception in Brazilian-Japanese bilinguals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parlato-Oliveira, Erika; Christophe, Anne; Hirose, Yuki; Dupoux, Emmanuel

    2010-06-01

    Previous research shows that monolingual Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese listeners perceive illusory vowels (/u/ and /i/, respectively) within illegal sequences of consonants. Here, several populations of Japanese-Brazilian bilinguals are tested, using an explicit vowel identification task (experiment 1), and an implicit categorization and sequence recall task (experiment 2). Overall, second-generation immigrants, who first acquired Japanese at home and Brazilian during childhood (after age 4) showed a typical Brazilian pattern of result (and so did simultaneous bilinguals, who were exposed to both languages from birth on). In contrast, late bilinguals, who acquired their second language in adulthood, exhibited a pattern corresponding to their native language. In addition, an influence of the second language was observed in the explicit task of Exp. 1, but not in the implicit task used in Exp. 2, suggesting that second language experience affects mostly explicit or metalinguistic skills. These results are compared to other studies of phonological representations in adopted children or immigrants, and discussed in relation to the role of age of acquisition and sociolinguistic factors.

  8. Development of an educational intervention to promote healthy eating and physical activity in Mexican school-age children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amaya-Castellanos, Claudia; Shamah-Levy, Teresa; Escalante-Izeta, Ericka; Morales-Ruán, María Del Carmen; Jiménez-Aguilar, Alejandra; Salazar-Coronel, Araceli; Uribe-Carvajal, Rebeca; Amaya-Castellanos, Alejandra

    2015-10-01

    Mexico has the highest and most alarming rates of childhood obesity worldwide. A study conducted in the State of Mexico revealed that one of every three children presents overweight or obesity. The objective of this paper is to provide a step-by-step description of the design and implementation of an educational intervention to promote healthy eating and physical activity called "Healthy Recess". The educational intervention was designed using the six stages of the Health Communication Process. This methodological model allowed identifying the needs of school-age children on information and participation in activities. In order to improve the strategy, adjustments were made to the print and audiovisual materials as well as to assessment tools. Typography was modified as well as the color of the images in student's workbook and facilitator's; special effects of the videos were increased; the narration of the radio spots was improved and common words and phrases were included. The Health Communication Process is an effective tool for program planners to design interventions aimed at managing prevalent health problems such as overweight and obesity in school-age children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Mediation of the Physical Activity and Healthy Nutrition Behaviors of Preschool Children by Maternal Cognition in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Xianglong; Sharma, Manoj; Liu, Lingli; Hu, Ping; Zhao, Yong

    2016-09-13

    (1) OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore the role of social cognitive theory (SCT) of mothers in the physical activity and healthy nutrition behaviors of preschool children; (2) METHODS: We used a self-administered five-point Likert common physical activity and nutrition behaviors scale in Chinese based on a social cognitive theory scale in English with established validity and reliability in the USA. The current study adopted the proportional sampling method to survey mothers of preschool children in four areas-namely, Chongqing, Chengdu, Taiyuan, and Shijiazhuang-of China; (3) RESULTS: We included 1208 mothers (80.0% mothers of normal weight children, age 31.87 ± 4.19 years). Positive correlations were found between maternal social cognition and preschool children's physical activity (PA) behavior (p mediation of maternal social cognition on preschool children's ST behavior and the correlations between maternal social cognition and children's ST behavior.

  10. Assessment of mastication in healthy children and children with cerebral palsy: a validity and consistency study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remijn, L; Speyer, R; Groen, B E; Holtus, P C M; van Limbeek, J; Nijhuis-van der Sanden, M W G

    2013-05-01

    The aim of this study was to develop the Mastication Observation and Evaluation instrument for observing and assessing the chewing ability of children eating solid and lumpy foods. This study describes the process of item definition and item selection and reports the content validity, reproducibility and consistency of the instrument. In the developmental phase, 15 experienced speech therapists assessed item relevance and descriptions over three Delphi rounds. Potential items were selected based on the results from a literature review. At the initial Delphi round, 17 potential items were included. After three Delphi rounds, 14 items that regarded as providing distinctive value in assessment of mastication (consensus >75%) were included in the Mastication Observation and Evaluation instrument. To test item reproducibility and consistency, two experts and five students evaluated video recordings of 20 children (10 children with cerebral palsy aged 29-65 months and 10 healthy children aged 11-42 months) eating bread and a biscuit. Reproducibility was estimated by means of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). With the exception of one item concerning chewing duration, all items showed good to excellent intra-observer agreement (ICC students: 0.73-1.0). With the exception of chewing duration and number of swallows, inter-observer agreement was fair to excellent for all items (ICC experts: 0.68-1.0 and ICC students: 0.42-1.0). Results indicate that this tool is a feasible instrument and could be used in clinical practice after further research is completed on the reliability of the tool. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  11. A Confirmatory Model for Substance Use Among Japanese American and Part-Japanese American Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, John Kino Yamaguchi; Else, 'Iwalani R. N.; Goebert, Deborah A.; Nishimura, Stephanie T.; Hishinuma, Earl S.; Andrade, Naleen N.

    2013-01-01

    Few studies have examined the effect of ethnicity and cultural identity on substance use among Asian and Pacific Islander adolescents. A cross-sequential study conducted in Hawai'i with 144 Japanese American and part-Japanese American adolescents assessed a model integrating Japanese ethnicity, cultural identity, substance use, major life events, and social support. Japanese American adolescents scored higher on the Japanese Culture Scale and on the Peers’ Social Support than the part-Japanese American adolescents. Significant associations for substance use and impairment included culturally intensified events and Japanese cultural identity- behavior subset. Models had good overall fits and suggested that conflict surrounding cultural identity may contribute to substance use. PMID:23480213

  12. Caribbean health: Healthy children, healthy nation

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    sales of unhealthy food and drink in the vicinity of schools, and nutrition education. Between 2011 and 2014, the Farm to Fork .... Positive influence of nutrition education. During 2012-2013 in Trinidad, 297 children in four ... restricted. Measures to control the sale of such foods in the immediate vicinity of schools should also ...

  13. Effects of oxcarbazepine treatment on serum lipids and carotid intima media thickness in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yiş, Uluç; Doğan, Mustafa

    2012-03-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the carotid intima media thickness and serum lipids in pediatric patients with epilepsy treated with oxcarbazepine. The study included 21 pediatric epileptic and 22 healthy children. Intima media thickness and fasting lipid profile were assessed. Although the median value of total cholesterol was in normal limits in the oxcarbazepine group, it was significantly higher when compared with the control group. We did not observe any differences regarding triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and carotid intima media thickness. We suggest that oxcarbazepine treatment in children has a minor effect on serum lipids and it does not seem to have an atherogenic effect. Copyright © 2011 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Parent and child care provider partnerships: Protocol for the Healthy Me, Healthy We (HMHW) cluster randomized control trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hennink-Kaminski, Heidi; Vaughn, Amber E; Hales, Derek; Moore, Reneé H; Luecking, Courtney T; Ward, Dianne S

    2018-01-01

    Formation of diet and physical activity habits begins during early childhood. However, many preschool-aged children in the United States do not achieve recommendations for a nutritious diet or active lifestyle. Two important spheres of influence, home and child care, could ensure that children receive consistent health messages. Innovative approaches that engage both parents and child care providers in a substantial way are needed. Social marketing, a promising approach for health promotion targeting children, uses principles that recognize the need to engage multiple stakeholders and to emphasize benefits and overcome barriers associated with behavior change. Yet, application of social marketing principles in interventions for preschool-age children is limited. Healthy Me, Healthy We (HMHW) is 2-arm, cluster randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of a 8-month social marketing campaign on the diet and physical activity behaviors of preschool children (3-4years old), their parents, and child care providers. The campaign is delivered by the child care center and includes branded classroom and at-home activities and materials. Primary outcomes are children's diet quality (assessed with Healthy Eating Index scores) and minutes of non-sedentary activity (measured via accelerometers). Secondary outcomes assess children's body mass index, nutrition and physical activity practices at the child care center and at home, and health behaviors of child care providers and parents. HMHW is an innovative approach to promoting healthy eating and physical activity in preschool children. The campaign targets children during a key developmental period and leverages a partnership between providers and parents to affect behavior change. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Breakfast staple types affect brain gray matter volume and cognitive function in healthy children.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yasuyuki Taki

    Full Text Available Childhood diet is important for brain development. Furthermore, the quality of breakfast is thought to affect the cognitive functioning of well-nourished children. To analyze the relationship among breakfast staple type, gray matter volume, and intelligence quotient (IQ in 290 healthy children, we used magnetic resonance images and applied voxel-based morphometry. We divided subjects into rice, bread, and both groups according to their breakfast staple. We showed that the rice group had a significantly larger gray matter ratio (gray matter volume percentage divided by intracranial volume and significantly larger regional gray matter volumes of several regions, including the left superior temporal gyrus. The bread group had significantly larger regional gray and white matter volumes of several regions, including the right frontoparietal region. The perceptual organization index (POI; IQ subcomponent of the rice group was significantly higher than that of the bread group. All analyses were adjusted for age, gender, intracranial volume, socioeconomic status, average weekly frequency of having breakfast, and number of side dishes eaten for breakfast. Although several factors may have affected the results, one possible mechanism underlying the difference between the bread and the rice groups may be the difference in the glycemic index (GI of these two substances; foods with a low GI are associated with less blood-glucose fluctuation than are those with a high GI. Our study suggests that breakfast staple type affects brain gray and white matter volumes and cognitive function in healthy children; therefore, a diet of optimal nutrition is important for brain maturation during childhood and adolescence.

  16. Breakfast staple types affect brain gray matter volume and cognitive function in healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taki, Yasuyuki; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Sassa, Yuko; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Asano, Michiko; Asano, Kohei; Kawashima, Ryuta

    2010-12-08

    Childhood diet is important for brain development. Furthermore, the quality of breakfast is thought to affect the cognitive functioning of well-nourished children. To analyze the relationship among breakfast staple type, gray matter volume, and intelligence quotient (IQ) in 290 healthy children, we used magnetic resonance images and applied voxel-based morphometry. We divided subjects into rice, bread, and both groups according to their breakfast staple. We showed that the rice group had a significantly larger gray matter ratio (gray matter volume percentage divided by intracranial volume) and significantly larger regional gray matter volumes of several regions, including the left superior temporal gyrus. The bread group had significantly larger regional gray and white matter volumes of several regions, including the right frontoparietal region. The perceptual organization index (POI; IQ subcomponent) of the rice group was significantly higher than that of the bread group. All analyses were adjusted for age, gender, intracranial volume, socioeconomic status, average weekly frequency of having breakfast, and number of side dishes eaten for breakfast. Although several factors may have affected the results, one possible mechanism underlying the difference between the bread and the rice groups may be the difference in the glycemic index (GI) of these two substances; foods with a low GI are associated with less blood-glucose fluctuation than are those with a high GI. Our study suggests that breakfast staple type affects brain gray and white matter volumes and cognitive function in healthy children; therefore, a diet of optimal nutrition is important for brain maturation during childhood and adolescence.

  17. Fine and gross motor skills differ between healthy-weight and obese children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gentier, Ilse; D'Hondt, Eva; Shultz, Sarah; Deforche, Benedicte; Augustijn, Mireille; Hoorne, Sofie; Verlaecke, Katja; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Lenoir, Matthieu

    2013-11-01

    Within the obesity literature, focus is put on the link between weight status and gross motor skills. However, research on fine motor skills in the obese (OB) childhood population is limited. Therefore, the present study focused on possible weight related differences in gross as well as fine motor skill tasks. Thirty-four OB children (12 ♀ and 22 ♂, aged 7-13 years) were recruited prior to participating in a multidisciplinary treatment program at the Zeepreventorium (De Haan, Belgium). Additionally, a control group of 34 age and gender-matched healthy-weight (HW) children was included in the study. Anthropometric measures were recorded and gross and fine motor skills were assessed using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, second edition (BOT-2). Results were analyzed by independent samples t-tests, multivariate analysis of variance, and a chi-squared test. Being OB was detrimental for all subtests evaluating gross motor skill performance (i.e., upper-limb coordination, bilateral coordination, balance, running speed and agility, and strength). Furthermore, OB children performed worse in fine motor precision and a manual dexterity task, when compared to their HW peers. No group differences existed for the fine motor integration task. Our study provides evidence that lower motor competence in OB children is not limited to gross motor skills alone; OB children are also affected by fine motor skill problems. Further investigation is warranted to provide possible explanations for these differences. It is tentatively suggested that OB children experience difficulties with the integration and processing of sensory information. Future research is needed to explore whether this assumption is correct and what the underlying mechanism(s) could be. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Bioequivalence and food effect assessment for vildagliptin/metformin fixed-dose combination tablets relative to free combination of vildagliptin and metformin in Japanese healthy subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mita, Sachiko; Chitnis, Shripad D; Kulmatycki, Kenneth; Salunke, Atish; He, Yan-Ling; Zhou, Wei; Suzuki, Hikoe

    2016-04-01

    To assess the bioequivalence of vildagliptin/metformin fixeddose combination (FDC) tablets (50/250 mg and 50/500 mg) to free combinations of vildagliptin and metformin and the effect of food on the pharmacokinetics (PK) of vildagliptin and metformin following administration of 50/500 mg FDC tablets. Two openlabel, randomized, single-center, singledose, 2-period crossover studies were conducted in Japanese healthy male volunteers. Participants were administered vildagliptin/ metformin FDC tablets (study I: 50/250 mg, study II: 50/500 mg) or their free combinations under fasted condition. Food effect (standard Japanese breakfast: fat, 20 - 30% with ~ 600 kcal in total) was assessed during an additional period in study II (50/500 mg). PK parameters (AUC, C(max), t(max), t(1/2)) were calculated for vildagliptin and metformin. In both studies, vildagliptin/metformin FDC tablets were bioequivalent to their respective free combinations. Administration of FDC tablets after meals had no effect on vildagliptin PK parameters. The rate of absorption of metformin decreased when administered under fed condition, as reflected by a prolonged t(max) (3 hours in fasted state vs. 4 hours in fed state) and decrease in C(max) by 26%, however, the extent of absorption (AUC(last)) was similar to that in the fasted state. Vildagliptin/metformin FDC tablets were bioequivalent to their free combinations. Food decreased the C(max) of metformin by 26%, while AUC(last) was unchanged, consistent with previous reports. No food effect was observed on the C(max) or AUC(last) of vildagliptin. Thus, food had no clinically relevant effects on the PK of metformin or vildagliptin.

  19. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Status of Healthy, Low-Income, Minority Children in Atlanta, Georgia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Conrad R.; Grant, Frederick K.; Tangpricha, Vin; Swaby-Ellis, E. Dawn; Smith, Joy L.; Jacques, Anne; Chen, Huiping; Schleicher, Rosemary L.; Ziegler, Thomas R.

    2010-01-01

    OBJECTIVES The goals were to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among minority children in a southern US city, to examine differences in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels between non-Hispanic black and Hispanic children, and to determine dietary sources of vitamin D. METHODS Low-income, minority children (N = 290; mean age: 2.5 ± 1.2 years) were recruited during well-child clinic visits. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and calcium levels were measured and dietary information was assessed. RESULTS The mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 level was 26.2 ± 7.6 ng/mL, whereas 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 was not detected. Overall, 22.3% of children had deficient serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels (≤20 ng/mL), 73.6% had less-than-optimal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (≤30 ng/mL), and 1.4% had low serum calcium levels (≤9 mg/dL). A significantly larger proportion of non-Hispanic black children, compared with Hispanic children, had vitamin D deficiency (26% vs 18%; P<.05). Age and season of recruitment were significantly associated with vitamin D deficiency and low serum calcium levels. Older children (≥3 years) were less likely to have vitamin D deficiency (odds ratio [OR]: 0.89 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.81– 0.96]; P < .001). Study enrollment during spring and summer reduced the likelihood of vitamin D deficiency by ~20% (spring, OR: 0.85 [95% CI: 0.73– 0.98]; P = .03; summer, OR: 0.82 [95% CI: 0.73– 0.92]; P < .01). Fortified milk provided most dietary vitamin D (62%), with Hispanic children reporting greater intake. CONCLUSIONS Suboptimal vitamin D status was common among apparently healthy, low-income, minority children. Age and season were significant predictors of vitamin D deficiency. PMID:20351012

  20. Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis for evaluating zinc supplementation in prepubertal and healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Márcia Marília Gomes Dantas

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: The prevalence of abnormal nutritional status has increased in children and adolescents. Nutritional assessment is important for monitoring the health and nutritional status. Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA combines changes in tissue hydration and structure and body composition that can be assessed. Objectives: The objective of this study was to use BIVA to evaluate nutritional status in 60 prepubertal children, aged between 8 and 9 years, supplemented with zinc, to detect possible changes in body composition. Design: We performed a randomized, controlled, triple-blind study. The children were divided into the control group (CG; sorbitol 10%, n=29 or the experimental group (EG; 10 mg Zn/day, n=31, and the duration of the experiment was 3 months. Anthropometric assessments were performed for all of the children. Results: The body mass index-for-age increased after oral zinc supplementation in the EG (p=0.005. BIVA indicated that the CG demonstrated a tendency for dehydration and decreased soft tissue and the EG demonstrated a tendency for increased soft tissue, primarily the fat-free mass. After analyses of BIVA ellipses, we observed that this method could detect improvements in body composition in healthy children supplemented with zinc. Conclusions: These results suggest that BIVA could be an auxiliary method for studying a small population undergoing zinc intervention.

  1. Correlates of Healthy Lifestyle Beliefs and Behaviors in Parents of Overweight or Obese Preschool Children Before and After a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention With Text Messaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Militello, Lisa K; Melnyk, Bernadette Mazurek; Hekler, Eric; Small, Leigh; Jacobson, Diana

    2016-01-01

    Significant gaps exist in the published literature regarding the treatment of overweight/obesity in preschool-aged children, especially in primary care settings. Parental influence plays an important factor in the development of healthy behaviors in children, yet there is no consensus about why some behavior change intervention strategies for parents of young children are more influential and effective than others. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to assess correlations among the study variables (healthy lifestyle beliefs, perceived difficulty, and healthy lifestyle behaviors) in parents of overweight/obese preschool children. A second aim explored if the parent's level of cognitive beliefs and perceived difficulty of engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors correlated with text messaging cognitive behavioral support. Fifteen preschool-parent dyads from primary care clinics completed a 7-week cognitive behavioral skills building intervention. Beck's Cognitive Theory guided the intervention content, and Fogg's Behavior Model guided the implementation. The intervention was delivered using a combination of face-to-face clinic visits and ecological momentary interventions using text messaging. Supported are the interconnected relationships among the study variables, that is, parental healthy lifestyle beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors. At baseline, parental healthy lifestyle belief scores significantly correlated with perceived difficulty (rs = 0.598, p behaviors (rs = 0.545, p cognitive behavioral skills building and tailored text messaging, the need for general support via text messaging lessened, warranting additional research. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  2. Teaching of the Japanese and Chinese Language in Extracurricular Courses for Children, Adolescents and Adults in Slovenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karmen FEHER MALAČIČ

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The presentation includes a brief history of Japanese and Chinese teaching and learning at Pionirski dom and the current trends. On the one hand, it explores the reasons why so many youngsters decide to learn Japanese or Chinese, what is their main interest and what is they want to achieve. On the other hand, it tackles the points of view of teachers of the Japanese and Chinese language towards language teaching and the issues raised while teaching. Pionirski dom is probably the only institution in Slovenia with so many young learners and teenagers enrolled in Japanese courses and with a decade of experience in the area. Much attention is, therefore, put on quality programmes and the choice of suitable teachers.

  3. Emotional Experience, Expression, and Regulation of High-Quality Japanese Elementary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosotani, Rika; Imai-Matsumura, Kyoko

    2011-01-01

    The present study investigates the emotional experience, expression, and regulation processes of high-quality Japanese elementary school teachers while they interact with children, in terms of teachers' emotional competence. Qualitative analysis of interview data demonstrated that teachers had various emotional experiences including self-elicited…

  4. Set size and culture influence children's attention to number.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cantrell, Lisa; Kuwabara, Megumi; Smith, Linda B

    2015-03-01

    Much research evidences a system in adults and young children for approximately representing quantity. Here we provide evidence that the bias to attend to discrete quantity versus other dimensions may be mediated by set size and culture. Preschool-age English-speaking children in the United States and Japanese-speaking children in Japan were tested in a match-to-sample task where number was pitted against cumulative surface area in both large and small numerical set comparisons. Results showed that children from both cultures were biased to attend to the number of items for small sets. Large set responses also showed a general attention to number when ratio difficulty was easy. However, relative to the responses for small sets, attention to number decreased for both groups; moreover, both U.S. and Japanese children showed a significant bias to attend to total amount for difficult numerical ratio distances, although Japanese children shifted attention to total area at relatively smaller set sizes than U.S. children. These results add to our growing understanding of how quantity is represented and how such representation is influenced by context--both cultural and perceptual. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bond: focus on children in poverty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milteer, Regina M; Ginsburg, Kenneth R

    2012-01-01

    Play is essential to the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being of children beginning in early childhood. It is a natural tool for children to develop resiliency as they learn to cooperate, overcome challenges, and negotiate with others. Play also allows children to be creative. It provides time for parents to be fully engaged with their children, to bond with their children, and to see the world from the perspective of their child. However, children who live in poverty often face socioeconomic obstacles that impede their rights to have playtime, thus affecting their healthy social-emotional development. For children who are underresourced to reach their highest potential, it is essential that parents, educators, and pediatricians recognize the importance of lifelong benefits that children gain from play.

  6. Seroprevalence rate of Poliovirus antibodies among the Healthy and Protein Energy Malnutrition children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yousuf, Aliya; Syed Shah, Skindar Ali; Syed Jaffery, Imtiaz Ahmed; Ahmed, Syed Azher; Khan, M A Basit; Aslam, Mohammad

    2015-01-01

    To study the association between Protein energy malnutrition and polio-specific immunoglobulin G antibodies production among children in Gadap Town Karachi, Pakistan. Comparative cross sectional survey conducted at fixed EPI center and Pediatric OPD of a tertiary care hospital Karachi. Children were selected by convenient sampling method during the period from 17 March to 17 May 2013. It was ensured that they must have received more than seven oral polio vaccine doses as eligibility criteria for the study. A total of 170 blood samples were collected and tested for the presence of polio-specific IgG antibodies using Poliomyelitis IgG ELISA Test Kit produced. Statistically significant relation was found between PEM and IgG antibodies production OR (P = 0.000). Overall Seroprevalence rate among the study population was 98.8%, PEM group 97.6% and healthy group 100%. The study demonstrated that there is a need to focus on the protein energy malnutrition among the children as an immunization strategy for the 100% seroprevalence rate in all population against polio in Pakistan.

  7. USABILITY TESTING OF JAPANESE CAPTIONS SEGMENTATION SYSTEM TO SCAFFOLD BEGINNERS TO COMPREHEND JAPANESE VIDEOS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ya-Fei Yang

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available A major learning difficulty of Japanese foreign language (JFL learners is the complex composition of two syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, and kanji characters adopted from logographic Chinese ones. As the number of Japanese language learners increases, computer-assisted Japanese language education gradually gains more attention. This study aimed to adopt a Japanese word segmentation system to help JFL learners overcome literacy problems. This study adopted MeCab, a Japanese morphological analyzer and part-of-speech (POS tagger, to segment Japanese texts into separate morphemes by adding spaces and to attach POS tags to each morpheme for beginners. The participants were asked to participate in three experimental activities involvingwatching two Japanese videos with general or segmented Japanese captions and complete the Nielsen’s Attributes of Usability (NAU survey and the After Scenario Questionnaire (ASQ to evaluate the usability of the learning activities. The results of the system evaluation showed that the videos with the segmented captions could increase the participants’ learning motivation and willingness to adopt the word segmentation system to learn Japanese.

  8. Buddhism of Japanese Immigrants within the framework of Brazilian Buddhism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank Usarski

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The article reflects upon Buddhism of Japanese immigrants, which is the historically and numerically most important sub-segment of the so-called “ethnic Buddhism” in Brazil. The latter represents - in distinction from the “Buddhism of converts” - one of the two principles analytical subcategories of Buddhist universe of the country. The text starts with a reconstruction of the trajectory of the religious sub-segment in question by relating it to other observable tendencies in Brazil’s Buddhist field in general. For analytical reasons, the history of Buddhism of Japanese immigrants is subdivided into four phases. In the second part of the article the aforementioned data are interpreted from a sociological point of view. This interpretation refers mainly to the statistics of the National Census from 1950 onwards conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE. The data indicate a gradual decline of Japanese Immigrant Buddhism during the last decades that has cumulated into general crises of the Buddhist segment in question. As for factors possibly responsible for this negative development, the article discusses aspects such as logistical failures on the side of the Buddhist institutions or the difficulties of the families of Japanese descendants in handing down their cultural and religious heritage to their children.  

  9. Effectiveness of school-based interventions in Europe to promote healthy nutrition in children and adolescents: systematic review of published and 'grey' literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Cauwenberghe, Eveline; Maes, Lea; Spittaels, Heleen; van Lenthe, Frank J; Brug, Johannes; Oppert, Jean-Michel; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse

    2010-03-01

    The objective of the present review was to summarise the existing European published and 'grey' literature on the effectiveness of school-based interventions to promote a healthy diet in children (6-12 years old) and adolescents (13-18 years old). Eight electronic databases, websites and contents of key journals were systematically searched, reference lists were screened, and authors and experts in the field were contacted for studies evaluating school-based interventions promoting a healthy diet and aiming at primary prevention of obesity. The studies were included if they were published between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2007 and reported effects on dietary behaviour or on anthropometrics. Finally, forty-two studies met the inclusion criteria: twenty-nine in children and thirteen in adolescents. In children, strong evidence of effect was found for multicomponent interventions on fruit and vegetable intakes. Limited evidence of effect was found for educational interventions on behaviour, and for environmental interventions on fruit and vegetable intakes. Interventions that specifically targeted children from lower socio-economic status groups showed limited evidence of effect on behaviour. In adolescents, moderate evidence of effect was found for educational interventions on behaviour and limited evidence of effect for multicomponent programmes on behaviour. In children and adolescents, effects on anthropometrics were often not measured, and therefore evidence was lacking or delivered inconclusive evidence. To conclude, evidence was found for the effectiveness of especially multicomponent interventions promoting a healthy diet in school-aged children in European Union countries on self-reported dietary behaviour. Evidence for effectiveness on anthropometrical obesity-related measures is lacking.

  10. Examining the relationships between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and developmental coordination disorder symptoms, and writing performance in Japanese second grade students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noda, Wataru; Ito, Hiroyuki; Fujita, Chikako; Ohnishi, Masafumi; Takayanagi, Nobuya; Someki, Fumio; Nakajima, Syunji; Ohtake, Satoko; Mochizuki, Naoto; Tsujii, Masatsugu

    2013-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and developmental coordination disorder symptoms and writing performance in Japanese second grade students from regular classrooms. The second grade students (N=873) in Japanese public elementary schools participated in this study. We examined a variety of writing tasks, such as tracing, copying, handwriting (Hiragana and Katakana), and spelling (Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji). We employed the Japanese version of the home form ADHD-rating scale (ADHD-RS) and the Japanese version of the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ-J) to assess the developmental characteristics of the participating children. Seven writing performance scores were submitted to a principal component analysis with a promax rotation, which yielded three composite scores (Spelling Accuracy, Tracing and Copying Accuracy, and Handwriting Fluency). A multiple regression analysis found that inattention predicted Spelling Accuracy and Handwriting Fluency and that hyperactive-impulsive predicted Handwriting Fluency. In addition, fine motor ability predicted Tracing and Copying Accuracy. The current study offered empirical evidence suggesting that developmental characteristics such as inattention and fine motor skill are related to writing difficulties in Japanese typical developing children. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Mediators of the effects of rice intake on health in individuals consuming a traditional Japanese diet centered on rice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koga, Minori; Toyomaki, Atsuhito; Miyazaki, Akane; Nakai, Yukiei; Yamaguchi, Atsuko; Kubo, Chizuru; Suzuki, Junko; Ohkubo, Iwao; Shimizu, Mari; Musashi, Manabu; Kiso, Yoshinobu; Kusumi, Ichiro

    2017-01-01

    Although the Japanese diet is believed to be balanced and healthy, its benefits have been poorly investigated, especially in terms of effects on mental health. We investigated dietary patterns and physical and mental health in the Japanese population using an epidemiological survey to determine the health benefits of the traditional Japanese diet. Questionnaires to assess dietary habits, quality of life, sleep quality, impulsivity, and depression severity were distributed to 550 randomly selected middle-aged and elderly individuals. Participants with any physical or mental disease were excluded. Two-hundred and seventy-eight participants were selected for the final statistical analysis. We determined rice to be one of the most traditional foods in Japanese cuisine. Scores for each questionnaire were computed, and the correlations between rice intake and health indices were assessed. When analyzing the direct correlations between rice intake and health indices, we found only two correlations, namely those with quality of life (vitality) and sleep quality. Path analysis using structural equation modeling was performed to investigate the association between rice intake and health, with indirect effects included in the model. Additional associations between rice intake and health were explained using this model when compared to those using direct correlation analysis. Path analysis was used to identify mediators of the rice-health association. These mediators were miso (soybean paste) soup, green tea, and natto (fermented soybean) intake. Interestingly, these mediators have been major components of the Japanese diet since 1975, which has been considered one of the healthiest diets since the 1960s. Our results indicate that the combination of rice with other healthy foods, which is representative of the traditional Japanese diet, may contribute to improvements in physical and mental health.

  12. Mediators of the effects of rice intake on health in individuals consuming a traditional Japanese diet centered on rice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minori Koga

    Full Text Available Although the Japanese diet is believed to be balanced and healthy, its benefits have been poorly investigated, especially in terms of effects on mental health. We investigated dietary patterns and physical and mental health in the Japanese population using an epidemiological survey to determine the health benefits of the traditional Japanese diet. Questionnaires to assess dietary habits, quality of life, sleep quality, impulsivity, and depression severity were distributed to 550 randomly selected middle-aged and elderly individuals. Participants with any physical or mental disease were excluded. Two-hundred and seventy-eight participants were selected for the final statistical analysis. We determined rice to be one of the most traditional foods in Japanese cuisine. Scores for each questionnaire were computed, and the correlations between rice intake and health indices were assessed. When analyzing the direct correlations between rice intake and health indices, we found only two correlations, namely those with quality of life (vitality and sleep quality. Path analysis using structural equation modeling was performed to investigate the association between rice intake and health, with indirect effects included in the model. Additional associations between rice intake and health were explained using this model when compared to those using direct correlation analysis. Path analysis was used to identify mediators of the rice-health association. These mediators were miso (soybean paste soup, green tea, and natto (fermented soybean intake. Interestingly, these mediators have been major components of the Japanese diet since 1975, which has been considered one of the healthiest diets since the 1960s. Our results indicate that the combination of rice with other healthy foods, which is representative of the traditional Japanese diet, may contribute to improvements in physical and mental health.

  13. [A study of relation between hopelessness and causal attribution in school-aged children].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakurai, S

    1989-12-01

    This study was conducted to investigate the relation between hopelessness and causal attribution in Japanese school-aged children. In Study 1, the Japanese edition of hopelessness scale for children developed by Kazdin, French, Unis, Esveldt-Dawsan, and Sherick (1983) was constructed. Seventeen original items were translated into Japanese and they were administrated to 405 fifth- and sixth-graders. All of the items could be included to the Japanese edition of hopelessness scale. The reliability and validity was examined. In Study 2, the relation between hopelessness and causal attribution in children were investigated. The causal attribution questionnaire developed by Higuchi, Kambare, and Otsuka (1983) and the hopelessness scale developed by Study 1 were administered to 188 sixth-graders. Children with high scores in hopelessness scale significantly attributed negative events to much more effort factor than children with low scores. It supports neither the reformulated learned helplessness model nor the causal attribution theory of achievement motivation. It was explained mainly from points of self-serving attribution, cultural difference, and social desirability. Some questions were discussed for developing studies on depression and causal attribution in Japan.

  14. Audio-visual speech perception in prelingually deafened Japanese children following sequential bilateral cochlear implantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Ryosuke; Naito, Yasushi; Tona, Risa; Moroto, Saburo; Tamaya, Rinko; Fujiwara, Keizo; Shinohara, Shogo; Takebayashi, Shinji; Kikuchi, Masahiro; Michida, Tetsuhiko

    2017-11-01

    An effect of audio-visual (AV) integration is observed when the auditory and visual stimuli are incongruent (the McGurk effect). In general, AV integration is helpful especially in subjects wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants (CIs). However, the influence of AV integration on spoken word recognition in individuals with bilateral CIs (Bi-CIs) has not been fully investigated so far. In this study, we investigated AV integration in children with Bi-CIs. The study sample included thirty one prelingually deafened children who underwent sequential bilateral cochlear implantation. We assessed their responses to congruent and incongruent AV stimuli with three CI-listening modes: only the 1st CI, only the 2nd CI, and Bi-CIs. The responses were assessed in the whole group as well as in two sub-groups: a proficient group (syllable intelligibility ≥80% with the 1st CI) and a non-proficient group (syllable intelligibility effect in each of the three CI-listening modes. AV integration responses were observed in a subset of incongruent AV stimuli, and the patterns observed with the 1st CI and with Bi-CIs were similar. In the proficient group, the responses with the 2nd CI were not significantly different from those with the 1st CI whereas in the non-proficient group the responses with the 2nd CI were driven by visual stimuli more than those with the 1st CI. Our results suggested that prelingually deafened Japanese children who underwent sequential bilateral cochlear implantation exhibit AV integration abilities, both in monaural listening as well as in binaural listening. We also observed a higher influence of visual stimuli on speech perception with the 2nd CI in the non-proficient group, suggesting that Bi-CIs listeners with poorer speech recognition rely on visual information more compared to the proficient subjects to compensate for poorer auditory input. Nevertheless, poorer quality auditory input with the 2nd CI did not interfere with AV integration with binaural

  15. Japanese dreams

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sejrup, Jens

    2018-01-01

    This paper traces the history of a Japanese-funded annex to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam over the past twenty-five years. The analysis focuses on three key years in the building’s history: 1991, 1999, and 2015. Critically examining public debate and media coverage of the building in contempor......This paper traces the history of a Japanese-funded annex to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam over the past twenty-five years. The analysis focuses on three key years in the building’s history: 1991, 1999, and 2015. Critically examining public debate and media coverage of the building...... in contemporary Dutch- and Japanese-language sources, I argue that changing claims and public perceptions of Japan reflected the country’s shifting economic fortunes and international position during the period. The sources consistently framed the Japanese-designed building within a language of dreams. However...

  16. Colonization of the Tongue Surface in Japanese Independent Elders: A Preliminary Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomohisa Ohno

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Oral care is important to decrease oral bacteria, especially in the dependent elders. There have been some reports on oral microflora in the dependent elders. However, investigations involving healthy independent elders are limited. The purpose of this study was to obtain more information on the microflora in Japanese independent elders. One hundred Japanese independent elders aged 65 years or older participated in this study. Eighty-one independent elders (male: 44, female: 37, mean age: 72.7 ± 5.8 participated in this study. Their mean Barthel Index was 99.1 ± 3.1, and mean score of MMSE was 28.0 ± 2.3. The tongue bacterial flora was examinved to identify microorganisms by the culture method. The predominant aerobic organisms were Streptococcus spp. (detection rate: 100%, Neisseria spp. (96%, and Corynebacterium spp. (56%. Candida spp. was also isolated (32%. In this study, the oral microflora of the tongue in Japanese independent elders was clarified. The results of this investigation may contribute to research on oral bacteria in elder persons in the future.

  17. Assessment of bone age in prepubertal healthy Korean children: Comparison among the Korean standard bone age chart, Greulich-Pyle method, and Tanner-Whitehouse method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim Jeong Rye; Lee, Young Seok; Yu, Jee Suk

    2015-01-01

    To compare the reliability of the Greulich-Pyle (GP) method, Tanner-Whitehouse 3 (TW3) method and Korean standard bone age chart (KS) in the evaluation of bone age of prepubertal healthy Korean children. Left hand-wrist radiographs of 212 prepubertal healthy Korean children aged 7 to 12 years, obtained for the evaluation of the traumatic injury in emergency department, were analyzed by two observers. Bone age was estimated using the GP method, TW3 method and KS, and was calculated in months. The correlation between bone age measured by each method and chronological age of each child was analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient, scatterplot. The three methods were compared using one-way analysis of variance. Significant correlations were found between chronological age and bone age estimated by all three methods in whole group and in each gender (R2 ranged from 0.87 to 0.9, p < 0.01). Although bone age estimated by KS was slightly closer to chronological age than those estimated by the GP and TW3 methods, the difference between three methods was not statistically significant (p > 0.01). The KS, GP, and TW3 methods show good reliability in the evaluation of bone age of prepubertal healthy Korean children without significant difference between them. Any are useful for evaluation of bone age in prepubertal healthy Korean children.

  18. Poor outcomes of chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in non-Japanese adult patients

    OpenAIRE

    Sonke, Gabe; Ludwig, Inge; Oosten, Hannah; Baars, Joke; Meijer, Ellen; Kater, Arnon; Jong, Daphne

    2008-01-01

    textabstractChronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection manifests as a combination of persistent infectious mononucleosis-like symptoms and high viral load in apparently immunocompetent patients. It is closely related to Epstein-Barr virus-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. These 2 abnormal Epstein-Barr virus-associated diseases are seldom reported in individuals other than Japanese children and adolescents. We report a series of 2 adult non-Japanese patients with fatal chronic ac...

  19. Food intake patterns and cardiovascular risk factors in Japanese adults: analyses from the 2012 National Health and nutrition survey, Japan

    OpenAIRE

    Htun, Nay Chi; Suga, Hitomi; Imai, Shino; Shimizu, Wakana; Takimoto, Hidemi

    2017-01-01

    Background There is an increasing global interest in the role of Japanese diet as a possible explanation for the nation?s healthy diet, which contributes to the world?s highest life-expectancy enjoyed in Japan. However, nationwide studies on current food intake status among general Japanese population have not been established yet. This study examined the association between food intake patterns and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) such as waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), bl...

  20. Urinary Metabolic Phenotyping Reveals Differences in the Metabolic Status of Healthy and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD Children in Relation to Growth and Disease Activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francois-Pierre Martin

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Background: Growth failure and delayed puberty are well known features of children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, in addition to the chronic course of the disease. Urinary metabonomics was applied in order to better understand metabolic changes between healthy and IBD children. Methods: 21 Pediatric patients with IBD (mean age 14.8 years, 8 males were enrolled from the Pediatric Gastroenterology Outpatient Clinic over two years. Clinical and biological data were collected at baseline, 6, and 12 months. 27 healthy children (mean age 12.9 years, 16 males were assessed at baseline. Urine samples were collected at each visit and subjected to 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR spectroscopy. Results: Using 1H NMR metabonomics, we determined that urine metabolic profiles of IBD children differ significantly from healthy controls. Metabolic differences include central energy metabolism, amino acid, and gut microbial metabolic pathways. The analysis described that combined urinary urea and phenylacetylglutamine—two readouts of nitrogen metabolism—may be relevant to monitor metabolic status in the course of disease. Conclusion: Non-invasive sampling of urine followed by metabonomic profiling can elucidate and monitor the metabolic status of children in relation to disease status. Further developments of omic-approaches in pediatric research might deliver novel nutritional and metabolic hypotheses.

  1. Work-family spillover among Japanese dual-earner couples: a large community-based study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Shimada, K.; Shimazu, A.; Bakker, A.B.; Demerouti, E.; Kawakami, N.

    2010-01-01

    Objectives: To examine the effects of multiple types of work-family spillover (work-to-family negative spillover, WFNS; family-to-work negative spillover, FWNS; and work-family positive spillover, WFPS) on psychological distress among Japanese dual-earner couples with preschool children. Methods:

  2. Training of children’s healthy eating habits at primary school: teachers’ opinion

    OpenAIRE

    Strazdienė, Neringa

    2014-01-01

    The study analyzes the healthy nutrition education in younger school-age children. The focus is on healthy eating habits education at primary school level, emphasizing the importance of healthy eating habits and its education at primary school. The research studies conducted over recent years revealed that children nutrition nowadays is incomplete, insufficient or intemperate. It enforces to analyze the assumptions of healthy eating habits education in children and to investigate the effectiv...

  3. Active and Healthy Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ball, Stephen; Kovarik, Jessica; Leidy, Heather

    2015-01-01

    The Active and Healthy School Program (AHS) can be used to alter the culture and environment of a school to help children make healthier choices. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of AHS to increase physical activity while decreasing total screen time, increase healthy food choices, and improve knowledge about physical…

  4. Association of prenatal exposure to maternal smoking and postnatal exposure to household smoking with dental caries in 3-year-old Japanese children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Keiko; Miyake, Yoshihiro; Nagata, Chisato; Furukawa, Shinya; Arakawa, Masashi

    2015-11-01

    Epidemiological studies of the association between smoking exposure and dental caries are limited. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the association between prenatal and postnatal secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure and the prevalence of dental caries in primary dentition in young Japanese children. Study subjects were 6412 children aged 3 years. Information on exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy and postnatal SHS exposure at home was collected via parent questionnaire. Children were classified as having dental caries if one or more primary teeth had decayed or had been filled. Compared with never smoking during pregnancy, maternal smoking in the first trimester of pregnancy was significantly associated with an increased prevalence of dental caries in children (adjusted odds ratio=1.37, 95% confidence interval: 1.03-1.80). Postnatal SHS exposure was also positively associated with dental caries, with a significant positive exposure-response relationship. Compared with children not exposed to prenatal maternal smoking or postnatal SHS at home, those exposed to both prenatal and postnatal smoking had higher odds of dental caries (adjusted odds ratio=1.62, 95% confidence interval: 1.23-2.11). Our findings suggest that maternal smoking during pregnancy and postnatal SHS exposure may be associated with an increased prevalence of dental caries in primary dentition. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  5. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance and Japanese Expansionism 1902-1923.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-06-05

    Alienation 1919-1952. London: Cambridge University Press. 1982. • The Oriains of the Russo-Japanese War. London: Longman Group Limited. 1985. Nitobe ... Inazo . Bushido - The Soul of Japan. Tokyo: Tuttle. 1981. Okamoto, Shumpei. The Japan Oliaarchv and the Russo-Japanese War. New York: Columbia

  6. Motor Skills and Social Impairments in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shogo Hirata

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the Japanese version of the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ-J and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS in Japanese children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD. The participants were 19 children with ASD. The DCDQ-J is a parent questionnaire that can assess the degree of motor skill impairments, and the SRS assesses the severity of social impairments. To check the criterion-related validity of the DCDQ-J in children with ASD, the Japanese version of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC2-J was also conducted. The total score of the DCDQ-J was significantly negatively correlated with the SRS score in the same way as the MABC2-J total score. These results indicate that the severity of social impairments in children with ASD is related not only to the child’s fundamental motor abilities but also to practical motor skills in everyday life.

  7. Catch-Up Growth and Neurobehavioral Development among Full-Term, Small-for-Gestational-Age Children: A Nationwide Japanese Population-Based Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takeuchi, Akihito; Yorifuji, Takashi; Nakamura, Kazue; Tamai, Kei; Mori, Shigehiro; Nakamura, Makoto; Kageyama, Misao; Kubo, Toshihide; Ogino, Tatsuya; Kobayashi, Katsuhiro; Doi, Hiroyuki

    2018-01-01

    To examine the relationship between catch-up growth of full-term, small for gestational age (SGA) children and their neurobehavioral development. Data were obtained from a population-based nationwide Japanese longitudinal survey that started in 2001. Study participants were full-term children with information on height at 2 years of age (n = 32 533). Catch-up growth for SGA infants was defined as achieving a height at 2 years of age of more than -2.0 standard deviations for chronological age. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate ORs and 95% CIs for the associations of SGA and catch-up growth status with neurobehavioral development at 2.5 and 8 years of age, adjusting for potential infant- and parent-related confounding factors. Fifteen percent of term SGA infants failed to catch up in height. At 2.5 years of age, SGA children without catch-up growth were more likely to be unable to climb stairs (OR, 10.42; 95% CI, 5.55-19.56) and unable to compose a 2-word sentence (OR, 3.58; 95% CI, 1.81-7.08) compared with children with normal growth at birth. Furthermore, SGA children without catch-up growth were at increased risk for aggressive behaviors (OR, 3.85; 95% CI, 1.19-12.47) at 8 years of age. Continuous follow-up for full-term SGA infants with failure of catch-up growth or poor postnatal growth may be beneficial for early detection and intervention for behavioral problems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Healthy Start - Départ Santé: A pilot study of a multilevel intervention to increase physical activity, fundamental movement skills and healthy eating in rural childcare centres.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Froehlich Chow, Amanda; Leis, Anne; Humbert, Louise; Muhajarine, Nazeem; Engler-Stringer, Rachel

    2016-10-20

    In order to improve healthy behaviours among rural children in their early years, a physical activity and healthy eating intervention (Healthy Start - Départ Santé) was implemented in rural childcare centres throughout Saskatchewan. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the impact of a multimodal physical activity and healthy eating intervention on educators' provision of opportunities for children to improve their physical activity levels, fundamental movement skills and healthy eating behaviours. Six childcare centres (three Francophone and three Anglophone) located in five different rural and semi-rural communities in Saskatchewan participated in this intervention. A total of 69 children with a mean age of 4 years 9 months, and 19 female early childhood educators. Guided by an ecological framework, we implemented a population health controlled intervention, using a wait list control design (48 weeks delayed intervention), and evaluated its impact in rural childcare centres. Mixed methods were employed to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. Overall, educators felt that the intervention supported the provision of physical activity and healthy eating opportunities for children. Increases in children's physical activity levels were reported following the intervention. The lessons learned in this study can be used to improve the Healthy Start - Départ Santé intervention so that its implementation can be effectively expanded to childcare centres within and outside Saskatchewan, in turn, supporting the healthy development of early years (0-5) children in the province and beyond.

  9. Developing a reference of normal lung sounds in healthy Peruvian children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellington, Laura E; Emmanouilidou, Dimitra; Elhilali, Mounya; Gilman, Robert H; Tielsch, James M; Chavez, Miguel A; Marin-Concha, Julio; Figueroa, Dante; West, James; Checkley, William

    2014-10-01

    Lung auscultation has long been a standard of care for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases. Recent advances in electronic auscultation and signal processing have yet to find clinical acceptance; however, computerized lung sound analysis may be ideal for pediatric populations in settings, where skilled healthcare providers are commonly unavailable. We described features of normal lung sounds in young children using a novel signal processing approach to lay a foundation for identifying pathologic respiratory sounds. 186 healthy children with normal pulmonary exams and without respiratory complaints were enrolled at a tertiary care hospital in Lima, Peru. Lung sounds were recorded at eight thoracic sites using a digital stethoscope. 151 (81%) of the recordings were eligible for further analysis. Heavy-crying segments were automatically rejected and features extracted from spectral and temporal signal representations contributed to profiling of lung sounds. Mean age, height, and weight among study participants were 2.2 years (SD 1.4), 84.7 cm (SD 13.2), and 12.0 kg (SD 3.6), respectively; and, 47% were boys. We identified ten distinct spectral and spectro-temporal signal parameters and most demonstrated linear relationships with age, height, and weight, while no differences with genders were noted. Older children had a faster decaying spectrum than younger ones. Features like spectral peak width, lower-frequency Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, and spectro-temporal modulations also showed variations with recording site. Lung sound extracted features varied significantly with child characteristics and lung site. A comparison with adult studies revealed differences in the extracted features for children. While sound-reduction techniques will improve analysis, we offer a novel, reproducible tool for sound analysis in real-world environments.

  10. Comparison between exercise performance in asthmatic children and healthy controls – Physical Activity Questionnaire application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rita Santos-Silva

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: The PAQ questionnaire (Physical Activity Questionnaire - Kowalski, Crocker, Donen is a self-administered 7-day recall validated questionnaire that measures physical activity levels in young people. A final activity score is obtained (1 indicates low and 5 indicates high physical activity level.Our aim was to determine whether there was any difference between the level of physical activity of children with controlled allergic disease and healthy children. Patients and methods: We used the PAQ questionnaire with a group of asthmatic children attending hospital outpatient clinic and a group of healthy children matched for age. Results: 155 children with allergic disease (median age of 11 years; 63% males and 158 healthy controls (median age of 10 years; 46% males answered the questionnaire.There were no differences in the overall level of physical activity, estimated by PAQ score, between allergic and healthy children (2,40 ± 0,7 vs 2,48 ± 0,62; p = 0,32. Performance in physical education classes and after school sports activity was found to be different between the study groups; healthy children were more active (p = 0,011 and did more sports between 6 and 10 pm (p = 0,036. No other statistically significant differences were found between the study groups. Conclusion: Despite the fact that a majority of the parents of allergic children stated that their child's disease was a barrier to physical activity, in our study there seems to be no difference between the level of physical activity of controlled asthmatic children and their healthy peers. Resumo: Introdução: O questionário PAQ (Physical Activity Questionnaire - Kowalski, Crocker, Donen é um questionário validado, que mede os níveis de atividade física em jovens através de perguntas referentes aos últimos 7 dias. É obtido um resultado final (1 indica um nível de atividade física baixo e 5 um nível elevado

  11. Feeding behaviors and other motor development in healthy children (2-24 months).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carruth, Betty Ruth; Skinner, Jean D

    2002-04-01

    To monitor infant's gross, fine and oral motor development patterns related to feeding. An incomplete block design was used with 57 to 60 (sample = 98) mothers interviewed when their children were 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 and 24 months (within +/- 5 days of birth date). Each mother had 5 to 6 interviews. Selected developmental feeding behaviors were monitored using in-home interviews conducted by trained interviewers (n = 2). At each interview, mothers reported the child's age when behaviors first occurred, and anthropometric measurements were performed. Subjects were healthy white children who lived mostly in homes with educated two-parent families of upper socioeconomic status. Mean behavioral ages were within normal ranges reported in the literature, whereas individuals exhibited a wide diversity in reported ages. Examples of gross motor skills (age in months, +/- SD) included sitting without help (5.50+/-2.08) and crawling (8.00+/-1.55). Mean ages for self-feeding fine motor skills showed children reaching for a spoon when hungry (5.47+/-1.44), using fingers to rake food toward self (8.87+/-2.58) and using fingers to self-feed soft foods (13.52+/-2.83). Oral behaviors included children opening their mouth when food approached (4.46+/-1.37), eating food with tiny lumps (8.70+/-2.03) and chewing and swallowing firmer foods without choking (12.17+/-2.28). Mean ages for feeding behaviors occurred within expected age ranges associated with normal development. However, mothers reported that individual children exhibited a wide age range for achieving these behaviors. Our results should be considered in counseling mothers about infant feeding practices.

  12. Why are some vulnerable children healthy and others stunted? A case study of vulnerability and resilience among very young children in West Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grace, K.; Nagle, N.

    2014-12-01

    Stunting, when children are shorter than average for their age, poses serious problems for short- and long-term development of individuals, families and communities. Stunting is linked to increase risk or illness or death, reduced educational attainment, reduced earnings and increases the likelihood (for girls) that the next generation of children will be stunted. Stunting occurs as a result of a culmination of inadequate food/calories, experiences with frequent illness, poor care and low weight at birth. Because almost 40% of children under 5 in the developing world suffer from stunting, understanding the community, household and individual components that lead to stunting are vital as these countries aim to improve children's health and development. We focus this research on childhood stunting in the neighboring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso, two of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. The populations of both countries are heavily reliant on subsistence farming and the share of children under 5 who are stunted hovers around 30%. In this research we aim to explore child stunting with attention to biology, behavior and environment. Specifically we aim to determine why children in some food insecure communities are stunted while others in the same community are healthy and, as an extension, why some low birth weight babies grow into healthy children and others are stunted. Because of the significance of food and nutrition on stunting outcomes, and because no micro-level estimates of food production exist, we use high resolution remotely sensed imagery (~1m) combined with coarser resolution landscape data (rainfall, slope, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) to estimate community level food production for each year of the child's life. We construct a multi-level analysis through the linking of food production data to other community features gathered from Demographic and Health Survey and smaller scale community surveys gathered by USAID

  13. [Attempt for development of rapid word reading test for children--evaluation of reliability and validity].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashimoto, Ryusaku; Kashiwagi, Mitsuru; Suzuki, Shuhei

    2008-09-01

    We developed a rapid word reading test for examining the phonological processing ability of Japanese children. We prepared two versions of the test, version A and B. Each test has word and non-word tasks. Twenty-two healthy boys of third grade in primary schools participated in this validation study. For criterion related validity, we performed the serial Hiragana reading test, the sentence reading test, Raven's coloured progressive matrices (RCPM), the Token test for children, the Kana word dictation test, the standardized comprehension test of abstract words (SCTAW), and Trail Circle test. The reading times of the newly developed test correlated moderately or highly with those of the serial Hiragana reading test and the sentence reading test. However, the scores of the other tests (RCPM, Token test for children, Kana word dictation test, SCTAW, Trail Circle test) did not correlated with the reading time of the rapid word reading test. Test-retest reliabilities in the word tasks were more than moderate: 0.52 and 0.76 in versions A and B, while those in the non-word tasks were high: 0.91 and 0.88 in versions A and B. The correlation coefficient between versions A and B was 0.7 for the word tasks and 0.92 for the non-word tasks. This study showed that the rapid word reading test has substantial validity and reliability for testing the phonological processing ability of Japanese children. In addition, the non-word tasks were more suitable for selectively examining the speed of the grapheme to phoneme conversion process.

  14. Comparing Generativist and Constructivist Accounts of the Use of the Past Tense Form in Early Child Japanese

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tatsumi, Tomoko; Pine, Julian M.

    2016-01-01

    The present study investigated children's early use of verb inflection in Japanese by comparing a generativist account, which predicts that the past tense will have a special default-like status for the child during the early stages, with a constructivist input-driven account, which assumes that children's acquisition and use of inflectional forms…

  15. Description of Clean and Healthy Behavior of Food Borne Disease Among by School Children Age in Babat Jerawat I Elementary School, District Pakal Surabaya

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hidayat Heny Sholikhah

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Background: Incidence of food borne disease, such as diarrhea, typhoid and hookworm infection in school childrenwere still sufficient susceptible. Lack of clean and healthy behavior became primary cause, so that the agent can easilyenter to the body through the food consumed. The purpose of this study was to descript the clean and healthy behaviors by school children age at Babat Jerawat I Elementary School, District Pakal Surabaya. Methods: This study was a crosssectional study. The sample of this study were 112 of fifth grade students at Babat Jerawat I Elementary school, District Pakal Surabaya, selected by purposive sampling of 121 students who met the inclusion criteria. Data of clean and healthy behavior were collected by observation and interviews focused on a group of school children using questionnaires, checklists and interview guides. Data analysis was done by using descriptive analysis. Results: The results showed that the clean and healthy behaviors about food borne disease, the majority of school children in Elementary school Babat Jerawat I District Pakal Surabaya included in good criteria (51.8% and small portion of these included less category (48.2%. Conclusion:Clean and Healthy Behavior of food borne disease in school children age had good criteria, but still need attention formany factors that influence it, such as the availability of facilities, affordability snacks outside of school and examples ofunhealthy behaviors in family environment. Recommendation: Improve the cooperation between the school and localhealth officials to tighten rules on the management of snack vending around schools, and do continuous education both within the school and the child’s school community.

  16. A randomized study of the immunogenicity and safety of Japanese encephalitis chimeric virus vaccine (JE-CV) in comparison with SA14-14-2 vaccine in children in the Republic of Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dong Soo; Houillon, Guy; Jang, Gwang Cheon; Cha, Sung-Ho; Choi, Soo-Han; Lee, Jin; Kim, Hwang Min; Kim, Ji Hong; Kang, Jin Han; Kim, Jong-Hyun; Kim, Ki Hwan; Kim, Hee Soo; Bang, Joon; Naimi, Zulaikha; Bosch-Castells, Valérie; Boaz, Mark; Bouckenooghe, Alain

    2014-01-01

    A new live attenuated Japanese encephalitis chimeric virus vaccine (JE-CV) has been developed based on innovative technology to give protection against JE with an improved immunogenicity and safety profile. In this phase 3, observer-blind study, 274 children aged 12-24 months were randomized 1:1 to receive one dose of JE-CV (Group JE-CV) or the SA14-14-2 vaccine currently used to vaccinate against JE in the Republic of Korea (Group SA14-14-2). JE neutralizing antibody titers were assessed using PRNT50 before and 28 days after vaccination. The primary endpoint of non-inferiority of seroconversion rates on D28 was demonstrated in the Per Protocol analysis set as the difference between Group JE-CV and Group SA14-14-2 was 0.9 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.35; 4.68), which was above the required -10%. Seroconversion and seroprotection rates 28 days after administration of a single vaccine dose were 100% in Group JE-CV and 99.1% in Group SA14-14-2; all children except one (Group SA14-14-2) were seroprotected. Geometric mean titers (GMTs) increased in both groups from D0 to D28; GM of titer ratios were slightly higher in Group JE-CV (182 [95% CI: 131; 251]) than Group SA14-14-2 (116 [95% CI: 85.5, 157]). A single dose of JE-CV was well tolerated and no safety concerns were identified. In conclusion, a single dose of JE-CV or SA14-14-2 vaccine elicited a comparable immune response with a good safety profile. Results obtained in healthy Korean children aged 12-24 months vaccinated with JE-CV are consistent with those obtained in previous studies conducted with JE-CV in toddlers.

  17. Perceived effective and feasible strategies to promote healthy eating in young children: focus groups with parents, family child care providers and daycare assistants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandeweghe, Laura; Moens, Ellen; Braet, Caroline; Van Lippevelde, Wendy; Vervoort, Leentje; Verbeken, Sandra

    2016-10-04

    The aim of the current study is to identify strategies to promote healthy eating in young children that can be applied by caregivers, based on their own perceptions of effectiveness and feasibility. Whereas previous research mainly focused on parental influences on children's eating behavior, the growing role of other caregivers in the upbringing of children can no longer be denied. Four focus groups were conducted with three types of caregivers of post-weaning children under 6 years old: parents (n = 14), family child care providers (n = 9), and daycare assistants (n = 10). The audiotaped focus group discussions were transcribed and imported into Nvivo 10.0 for thematic analysis. The behaviors put forward by the caregivers were categorized within three broad dimensions: global influences, general behaviors, and specific feeding practices. Perceived effective strategies to promote healthy eating behavior in children included rewards, verbal encouragement, a taste-rule, sensory sensations, involvement, variation, modeling, repeated exposure, and a peaceful atmosphere. Participants mainly disagreed on the perceived feasibility of each strategy, which largely depended on the characteristics of the caregiving setting (e.g. infrastructure, policy). Based on former research and the current results, an intervention to promote healthy eating behaviors in young children should be adapted to the caregiving setting or focus on specific feeding practices, since these involve simple behaviors that are not hindered by the limitations of the caregiving setting. Due to various misconceptions regarding health-promoting strategies, clear instructions about when and how to use these strategies are necessary.

  18. Building Friendship Networks and Intercultural Spaces: The Case of Japanese Women in Spain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosalia Avila Tapies

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the associationism of Japanese women living in Spain who are members of the Tanpopo-no-kai/Sociedad Tanpopo, and their intercultural experiences through their written personal narratives. This associationism has resulted in attempts to create a social network and space for intercultural communication at a national level between Hispanic-Japanese families and Japanese residents in Spain. The research is based on numerical data and narrative data, however Japanese narratives from the quarterly association bulletins provide the main source of information. By using the narrative analysis method in the form of questions we have been able to study the writings in order to explore issues such as: their transcultural experiences, their processes of adapting to life in Spain, the evolution of their identity, their interpretation of the social reality around them and the passing on of their social and cultural heritage to their children, among others. The study of the Tanpopo association has demonstrated a close-knit and relaxed transcultural and female space for intraethnic communication. It reveals a joint strategy of emotional and instrumental support to overcome the isolation, the loss of social networks and the geographical separation from their own cultural region, resulting from the immigration through marriage of Japanese women living in Spain.

  19. [Healthy eating and the difficulties faced in making it a reality: perceptions of parents/guardians of pre-school children in Belo Horizonte/MG, Brazil].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bento, Isabel Cristina; Esteves, Juliana Maria de Melo; França, Thaís Elias

    2015-08-01

    A cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted to establish the perceptions of 77 guardians of preschool children enrolled in a Child Day Care Center in Belo Horizonte/Minas Gerais State, regarding what is a healthy diet and the difficulties faced in having a healthy diet. The instrument used was a pretested semi-structured questionnaire containing leading questions obtained in face-to-face interviews. For data analysis, the Collective Subject Discourse technique was used, which elicited data organization of a verbal nature. It was revealed that the guardians have a notion of what healthy diet is, however their answers implied inadequate eating habits. They attributed insufficient financial resources, lack of time and ingrained eating habits as being the main difficulties in having a healthy diet. These three difficulties are the reasons given by some guardians who do not believe they have a healthy diet. The conclusion drawn is that the guardians need to have a better diet, because their eating habits influence their children's eating habits. These findings revealed the need for food and nutrition education strategies to enable the guardians to recognize and have a healthy diet.

  20. Age- and gender-dependent values of skeletal muscle mass in healthy children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webber, Colin E; Barr, Ronald D

    2012-03-01

    Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) can be extracted from whole-body scans obtained by X-ray-based dual-photon absorptiometry (DXA). There is a need to establish expected age-dependent values for children and adolescents. Appendicular lean tissue mass (ALM) was extracted from whole-body DXA scans in 140 healthy children and adolescents (68 females and 72 males). Whole-body SMM was calculated from ALM using equations developed by Kim et al. (Am J Clin Nutr 84:1014-1020, 2006). Age-dependent patterns of increase in SMM were derived by fitting SMM values to equations that consisted of the sum of two logistic expressions, one accounting for SMM changes during growth and the other for SMM changes during puberty. Normal ranges were defined so that 95% of the SMM values were included. The reproducibility of SMM measurements was obtained from whole-body DXA scans repeated on three occasions in each of a separate group of 32 normal children with repositioning between scans. Normal ranges are presented as equations describing the age-dependent pattern of increase in SMM as well as population standard deviations that increased steadily with age. For 15 children below age 10, SMM reproducibility (95% CI) was 149 g (119-199 g) while for 17 children and adolescents over age 10, reproducibility was 170 g (138-223 g). DXA-based measurements of SMM in children and adolescents are reproducible and can be expressed in terms of age-dependent Z scores.

  1. Statistical Machine Translation of Japanese

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-03-01

    hiragana and katakana) syllabaries…………………….. 20 3.2 Sample Japanese sentence showing kanji and kana……………………... 21 3.5 Japanese formality example...syllabary. 19 Figure 3.1. Japanese kana syllabaries, hiragana for native Japanese words, word endings, and particles, and katakana for foreign...Figure 3.2. Simple Japanese sentence showing the use of kanji, hiragana , and katakana. Kanji is used for nouns and verb, adjective, and

  2. Relationship Between Dietary Sugar Intake and Dental Caries Among Japanese Preschool Children with Relatively Low Sugar Intake (Japan Nursery School SHOKUIKU Study): A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saido, Miyuki; Asakura, Keiko; Masayasu, Shizuko; Sasaki, Satoshi

    2016-03-01

    The WHO has recently proposed to halve the recommendation for free sugar intake from 10 to 5 % of energy intake to reduce the incidence of diseases such as obesity and dental caries. The Japanese population is suitable to confirm the appropriateness of this proposal, because dietary sugar intake in Japan is exceptionally low among developed countries. We sought to establish a method to estimate dietary sugar intake in Japan and to examine the relationship between sugar and the number of dental caries using data obtained from the Japan Nursery School SHOKUIKU study. Dietary intake during the preceding month and the number of caries was examined in children aged 5-6 years using a brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire for Japanese preschool children completed by their guardians and another questionnaire on lifestyle. Multivariate Poisson regression models were used for the analysis. When subjects were ranked into quintiles by the proportion of energy from free sugar, those in higher quintiles had more caries than those in the lowest quintile. On close analysis, the number of caries among children with a relatively small proportion of energy intake from free sugar (3.18-3.77 %) was not significantly different from that in the lowest group (0.95-3.17 %). The recent proposition of WHO might be valid, because the adverse effect of relatively small proportion (approximately less than 5 %) of energy intake from free sugar on caries was not detected among the subjects in this study. However, more study will be necessary to reach a conclusion.

  3. Acculturation of Personality: A Three-Culture Study of Japanese, Japanese Americans, and European Americans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Güngör, Derya; Bornstein, Marc H; De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Cote, Linda; Ceulemans, Eva; Mesquita, Batja

    2013-07-01

    The present study tests the hypothesis that involvement with a new culture instigates changes in personality of immigrants that result in (a) better fit with the norms of the culture of destination and (b) reduced fit with the norms of the culture of origin. Participants were 40 Japanese first-generation immigrants to the United States, 57 Japanese monoculturals, and 60 U.S. monoculturals. All participants completed the Jackson Personality Inventory (JPI) as a measure of the Big Five; immigrants completed the Japanese American Acculturation Scale. Immigrants' fits with the cultures of destination and origin were calculated by correlating Japanese American mothers' patterns of ratings on the Big Five with the average patterns of ratings of European Americans and Japanese on the same personality dimensions. Japanese Americans became more "American" and less "Japanese" in their personality as they reported higher participation in the U.S. culture. The results support the view that personality can be subject to cultural influence.

  4. Japanese supercomputer technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buzbee, B.L.; Ewald, R.H.; Worlton, W.J.

    1982-01-01

    In February 1982, computer scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory visited several Japanese computer manufacturers. The purpose of these visits was to assess the state of the art of Japanese supercomputer technology and to advise Japanese computer vendors of the needs of the US Department of Energy (DOE) for more powerful supercomputers. The Japanese foresee a domestic need for large-scale computing capabilities for nuclear fusion, image analysis for the Earth Resources Satellite, meteorological forecast, electrical power system analysis (power flow, stability, optimization), structural and thermal analysis of satellites, and very large scale integrated circuit design and simulation. To meet this need, Japan has launched an ambitious program to advance supercomputer technology. This program is described

  5. "How to have healthy children". Responses to the falling birth rate in Norway, c. 1900-1940.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blom, Ida

    2008-01-01

    This paper focuses on initiatives to improve infant health, as they developed in Norway especially during the interwar period. Falling birth rates were felt as a menace to the survival of the nation and specific initiatives were taken to oppose it. But crises engendered by the reduction in fertility strengthened opportunities for introducing policies to help the fewer children born survive and grow up to become healthy citizens. Legislation supporting mothers started in 1892 increased in the interwar years including economic features. Healthy mother and baby stations and hygienic clinics, aimed at controlling births were developed by voluntary organisations inspired from France and England respectively. A sterilization law (1934) paralleled some German policies.

  6. Is vegetarianism healthy for children?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cofnas, Nathan

    2018-02-23

    According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' influential position statement on vegetarianism, meat and seafood can be replaced with milk, soy/legumes, and eggs without any negative effects in children. The United States Department of Agriculture endorses a similar view. The present paper argues that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics ignores or gives short shrift to direct and indirect evidence that vegetarianism may be associated with serious risks for brain and body development in fetuses and children. Regular supplementation with iron, zinc, and B 12 will not mitigate all of these risks. Consequently, we cannot say decisively that vegetarianism or veganism is safe for children.

  7. Japanese men's success in altered fatherhood role in a foreign country.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taniguchi, Hatsumi; Shimada, Mieki; McIntyre, Meredith

    2015-01-01

    This study explores the meaning of the lived experience of childbirth and parenting of Japanese men who became fathers in a foreign country. Japanese men have been raised to maintain very strict gender roles, excluding them from sharing with their wives the experience of childbirth and the day-to-day parenting of young children. The study employed a descriptive phenomenological approach with in-depth interviews. Participants included nine Japanese men born and raised in Japan who were living in Honolulu. Three theme categories emerged from the data: "making active efforts in preparation for childbirth in a foreign country"; "challenges in pregnancy, childbirth, child care, and as husbands or partners"; and "challenges in transition to parenthood." Japanese men successfully altered their transitional and authoritarian gender role to a family orientated social structure, under the influence of Western values, when living in foreign country. By spending more time with their new family, they acknowledged the processes of becoming a father. The ability to adapt their expectations of fatherhood in line with Western values was enhanced by the support of coworkers, their mature age, rich educational background, and the personal financial resources of the male participants in the study. © The Author(s) 2014.

  8. The Healthy Children, Strong Families intervention promotes improvements in nutrition, activity and body weight in American Indian families with young children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomayko, Emily J; Prince, Ronald J; Cronin, Kate A; Adams, Alexandra K

    2016-10-01

    American Indian children of pre-school age have disproportionally high obesity rates and consequent risk for related diseases. Healthy Children, Strong Families was a family-based randomized trial assessing the efficacy of an obesity prevention toolkit delivered by a mentor v. mailed delivery that was designed and administered using community-based participatory research approaches. During Year 1, twelve healthy behaviour toolkit lessons were delivered by either a community-based home mentor or monthly mailings. Primary outcomes were child BMI percentile, child BMI Z-score and adult BMI. Secondary outcomes included fruit/vegetable consumption, sugar consumption, television watching, physical activity, adult health-related self-efficacy and perceived health status. During a maintenance year, home-mentored families had access to monthly support groups and all families received monthly newsletters. Family homes in four tribal communities, Wisconsin, USA. Adult and child (2-5-year-olds) dyads (n 150). No significant effect of the mentored v. mailed intervention delivery was found; however, significant improvements were noted in both groups exposed to the toolkit. Obese child participants showed a reduction in BMI percentile at Year 1 that continued through Year 2 (PChild fruit/vegetable consumption increased (P=0·006) and mean television watching decreased for children (P=0·05) and adults (P=0·002). Reported adult self-efficacy for health-related behaviour changes (P=0·006) and quality of life increased (P=0·02). Although no effect of delivery method was demonstrated, toolkit exposure positively affected adult and child health. The intervention was well received by community partners; a more comprehensive intervention is currently underway based on these findings.

  9. Peak expiratory flow rate in healthy rural school going children (5-16 years) of bellur region for construction of nomogram.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cb, Manjunath; Sc, Kotinatot; Babu, Manjunatha

    2013-12-01

    Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) recording is an essential measure in the management and evaluation of asthmatic children.It is helpful in monitoring disease progression and response to treatment. The PEFR can be measured by a simple instrument-peak expiratory flow meter. To construct nomogram of PEFR in healthy rural school going children from Mandya district of Karnataka state, India and to use these nomograms for comparison with that of children with obstructive lung diseases for this region. The study was conducted on Healthy rural school going children, both boys and girls between the age group of 5-16 years. For the determination of PEFR we used Mini Wright Peak Flow Meter. At three time measurement, the highest value of PEFR was recorded. Formula for prediction of PEFR was estimated by linear regression analysis after the correlation of PEFR with age and height for both boys and girls. PEFR was measured in 1028 children aged 5 to 16 years by using Wright's mini peak flow meter. Prediction equations were derived for PEFR with height in boys and girls. Normograms were plotted based on the observed values of PEFR in the study population. Significant linear correlation was seen of PEFR with height in boys (paffected by regional, environmental and anthropometric factors. Hence, it is necessary to have regional reference values for children. Among different factors affecting PEFR, height correlates better with PEFR than weight and sex. Hence nomograms constructed can be used for this region.

  10. Japanese Scholarship on the Sino-Japanese War, 2007–2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Duan Ruicong

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This article examines in detail the last five years of Japanese scholarship related to the Sino-Japanese War, highlighting its principle trends and achievements. Due to the broad range and large quantity of scholarship on the subject, Duan Ruicong focuses foremost on the 2007–2012 period, although by necessity this article also touches on pre-2007 scholarship. Additionally, this overview will primarily introduce Japanese-language, single-authored and co-authored books (monographs, collections of papers, and other single-issue publications; only when necessary will it refer to pertinent journal articles.

  11. A Healthy, Chubby Japanese Man ( genki na debu chan).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castro-Vázquez, Genaro

    2018-07-01

    In light of official reports indicating a still prevalent tendency to masculinized obesity and overweight in Japan (Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare, 2015), this article explores the experiences of 28 Japanese men grappling with bodyweight control. Aged between 24 and 67, 3 of the men were postgraduate or undergraduate students, 7 self-employed, 17 company workers and 1 retired. Fourteen hold a university degree, 1 completed senior high school and 10 finished 3-year junior college. Twelve were married and 16 were single. Ten of the participants have been requested to lose weight because of being at risk of developing metabolic diseases, the rest have been called "chubby" ( debu) and all of them have unsuccessfully tried to lose weight. A set of two, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant in Tokyo and Osaka in June and July 2015, 2016, and 2017. Grounded in symbolic interactionism, the interview analysis allows for a reading of the participants' embodied subjectivity in line with three axes: autodidact self, gendered self, and emotional self. The article highlights how the feminization of care has an effect on the participant's daily interactions. In conclusion, the article underscores the salience of "emotional attachment" to food (Lupton, 1998, p. 158), the "emotionalization" of food consumption and the emotionalization of the "fat body" in understanding their experiences dealing with corpulence in a country where slimness appears to be "ethnicized."

  12. Analysis of breath volatile organic compounds in children with chronic liver disease compared to healthy controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eng, Katharine; Alkhouri, Naim; Cikach, Frank; Patel, Nishaben; Yan, Chen; Grove, David; Lopez, Rocio; Rome, Ellen; Dweik, Raed A

    2015-04-20

    Breath testing is increasingly being used as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for disease states across medicine. The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as measured by mass spectrometry in healthy children and children with chronic liver disease (CLD). Patients between the ages of 6 and 21 were recruited for the study. Control subjects were recruited from a general pediatric population during well-child visits, while patients with CLD were recruited from pediatric gastroenterology clinic visits. The diagnosis of CLD was confirmed by clinical, laboratory, and/or histologic data. A single exhaled breath was collected and analyzed by means of selected-ion flow-tube mass spectrometry per protocol. A total of 104 patients were included in the study (49 with CLD and 55 healthy controls). Of the patients with CLD, 20 had advanced liver fibrosis (F3-F4). In the CLD cohort, levels of exhaled 1-decene, 1-heptene, 1-octene and 3 methylhexane were found to be significantly higher when compared to the control population (p CLD patients when compared to controls (p CLD was excellent (AUROC = 0.97). Our study demonstrates that children with CLD have a unique pattern of exhaled VOCs. Utilization of a combination of these VOCs represents a promising non-invasive diagnostic tool and may provide further insight into the pathophysiologic processes and pathways leading to pediatric liver disease. Further analysis of these compounds in external cohorts are needed to validate our findings.

  13. Safety of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B. lactis) strain BB-12®-supplemented yogurt in healthy children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Tina P.; Ba, Zhaoyong; Sanders, Mary Ellen; D’Amico, Frank J.; Roberts, Robert F.; Smith, Keisha Herbin; Merenstein, Daniel J.

    2016-01-01

    Objectives Probiotics are live microorganisms that may provide health benefits to the individual when consumed in sufficient quantities. For studies conducted on health or disease endpoints on probiotics in the United States, the Food and Administration (FDA) has required those studies to be conducted as investigational new drugs. This phase I, double-blinded, randomized, controlled safety study represents the first requirement of this pathway. The purpose of the study was to determine the safety of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B. lactis) strain BB-12® (BB-12®)-supplemented yogurt when consumed by a generally healthy group of children. The secondary aim was to assess the effect of BB-12®-supplemented yogurt on the gut microbiota of the children. Methods Sixty children aged 1–5 years were randomly assigned to consume four ounces of either BB-12®-supplemented yogurt or non-supplemented control yogurt daily for 10 days. The primary outcome was to assess safety and tolerability, as determined by the number of reported adverse events. Results A total of 186 non-serious adverse events were reported, with no significant differences between the control and BB-12® groups. No significant changes due to probiotic treatment were observed in the gut microbiota of the study cohort. Conclusions BB-12®-supplemented yogurt is safe and well-tolerated when consumed by healthy children. This study will form the basis for future randomized clinical trials investigating the potential effects of BB-12®-supplemented yogurt in different disease states. PMID:28114246

  14. Gender differences of social interactions and their effects on subjective well-being among Japanese elders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okabayashi, Hideki; Hougham, Gavin W

    2014-01-01

    Gender differences of social interactions and their effects on subjective well-being among Japanese elders over three years were examined. Repeated measurements of 498 elders over a three-year survey interval were obtained from a baseline mail survey and two- and three-year follow-up surveys. Outcomes were analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Male elders were more likely to have a spouse and work at paid jobs, while female elders were likely to have more frequent contacts with their child/children and more interactions with friends. As the elders aged over three years, life satisfaction decreased, while depression did not show any significant overall trend. There were no beneficial effects of social interactions on change in well-being, although social participation, interaction with friends, and conversation with spouse were beneficially related to baseline levels of both depressive tendency and life satisfaction. Among female elders only, the number of children had beneficial effects on life satisfaction. There are modest gender differences of the impact of social interactions on the well-being of Japanese elders, and the number of children seems to be more important as potential sources of support for female rather than male elders. Spousal conversation and non-obligatory social interaction such as unpaid social activities and friendship seem to be important for both male and female elders in Japan. These findings suggest that social relations among Japanese elders may be moving away from more gender dependent patterns seen in the past.

  15. Japanese Encephalitis in Malaysia: An Overview and Timeline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Kiven; Arshad, Siti Suri; Selvarajah, Gayathri Thevi; Abu, Jalila; Toung, Ooi Peck; Abba, Yusuf; Yasmin, A R; Bande, Faruku; Sharma, Reuben; Ong, Bee Lee

    2018-05-29

    Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a vector-borne zoonotic disease caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). It causes encephalitis in human and horses, and may lead to reproductive failure in sows. The first human encephalitis case in Malaya (now Malaysia) was reported during World War II in a British prison in 1942. Later, encephalitis was observed among race horses in Singapore. In 1951, the first JEV was isolated from the brain of an encephalitis patient. The true storyline of JE exposure among humans and animals has not been documented in Malaysia. In some places such as Sarawak, JEV has been isolated from mosquitoes before an outbreak in 1992. JE is an epidemic in Malaysia except Sarawak. There are four major outbreaks reported in Pulau Langkawi (1974), Penang (1988), Perak and Negeri Sembilan (1998-1999), and Sarawak (1992). JE is considered endemic only in Sarawak. Initially, both adults and children were victims of JE in Malaysia, however, according to the current reports; JE infection is only lethal to children in Malaysia. This paper describes a timeline of JE cases (background of each case) from first detection to current status, vaccination programs against JE, diagnostic methods used in hospitals and factors which may contribute to the transmission of JE among humans and animals in Malaysia. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. Promoting sustainable consumption and healthy eating

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    He, Chen

    and food cultures. The questionnaire researched the attitude, policies and serving practices regarding promoting organic foods and healthy eating habits through school food service and classroom activities. The data illustrated that schools with organic supply or policies children tend to behave healthier......The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children is currently increasing as trend of globalization. Schools as a setting may play a crucial role in preventing children from becoming obese and overweight, through providing healthy school foods and curricular activities. The current study aims...... to investigate the effectiveness of organic food intervention in school meals and nutritional curricular activities results in healthier eating behaviours among children. The research was conducted among school food coordinators (school staff in charge of the school food service) in the public primary...

  17. Early Education for Asian American Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitano, Margie K.

    1980-01-01

    A review of early education for Asian American children (Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Koreans, Hawaiians, and Samoans) focuses on the 1975 Asian American Education Project, a study of the learning characteristics of preschool age children and its educational implications. (CM)

  18. Prepare Healthy Foods with Toddlers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izumi-Taylor, Satomi; Rike, Cheryl

    2011-01-01

    Toddlers--from about 16 to 36 months--can learn a variety of skills as they prepare food and follow recipes in developmentally appropriate ways. Early childhood teachers are encouraged to support young children's healthy eating habits by offering simple food preparation experiences. When toddlers--and preschoolers--safely prepare healthy snacks,…

  19. Sampling Modification Effects in the Subgingival Microbiome Profile of Healthy Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santigli, Elisabeth; Trajanoski, Slave; Eberhard, Katharina; Klug, Barbara

    2017-01-01

    Background: Oral microbiota are considered major players in the development of periodontal diseases. Thorough knowledge of intact subgingival microbiomes is required to elucidate microbial shifts from health to disease. Aims: This comparative study investigated the subgingival microbiome of healthy children, possible inter- and intra-individual effects of modified sampling, and basic comparability of subgingival microprints. Methods: In five 10-year-old children, biofilm was collected from the upper first premolars and first molars using sterilized, UV-treated paper-points inserted into the subgingival sulcus at eight sites. After supragingival cleaning using an electric toothbrush and water, sampling was performed, firstly, excluding (Mode A) and, secondly, including (Mode B) cleansing with sterile cotton pellets. DNA was extracted from the pooled samples, and primers targeting 16S rRNA hypervariable regions V5 and V6 were used for 454-pyrosequencing. Wilcoxon signed rank test and t-test were applied to compare sampling modes. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and average agglomerative hierarchical clustering were calculated with unweighted UniFrac distance matrices. Sample grouping was tested with permutational MANOVA (Adonis). Results: Data filtering and quality control yielded 67,218 sequences with an average sequence length of 243bp (SD 6.52; range 231–255). Actinobacteria (2.8–24.6%), Bacteroidetes (9.2–25.1%), Proteobacteria (4.9–50.6%), Firmicutes (16.5–57.4%), and Fusobacteria (2.2–17.1%) were the five major phyla found in all samples. Differences in microbial abundances between sampling modes were not evident. High sampling numbers are needed to achieve significance for rare bacterial phyla. Samples taken from one individual using different sampling modes were more similar to each other than to other individuals' samples. PCoA and hierarchical clustering showed a grouping of the paired samples. Permutational MANOVA did not reveal sample

  20. Sampling Modification Effects in the Subgingival Microbiome Profile of Healthy Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santigli, Elisabeth; Trajanoski, Slave; Eberhard, Katharina; Klug, Barbara

    2016-01-01

    Background: Oral microbiota are considered major players in the development of periodontal diseases. Thorough knowledge of intact subgingival microbiomes is required to elucidate microbial shifts from health to disease. Aims: This comparative study investigated the subgingival microbiome of healthy children, possible inter- and intra-individual effects of modified sampling, and basic comparability of subgingival microprints. Methods: In five 10-year-old children, biofilm was collected from the upper first premolars and first molars using sterilized, UV-treated paper-points inserted into the subgingival sulcus at eight sites. After supragingival cleaning using an electric toothbrush and water, sampling was performed, firstly, excluding (Mode A) and, secondly, including (Mode B) cleansing with sterile cotton pellets. DNA was extracted from the pooled samples, and primers targeting 16S rRNA hypervariable regions V5 and V6 were used for 454-pyrosequencing. Wilcoxon signed rank test and t -test were applied to compare sampling modes. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and average agglomerative hierarchical clustering were calculated with unweighted UniFrac distance matrices. Sample grouping was tested with permutational MANOVA (Adonis). Results: Data filtering and quality control yielded 67,218 sequences with an average sequence length of 243bp (SD 6.52; range 231-255). Actinobacteria (2.8-24.6%), Bacteroidetes (9.2-25.1%), Proteobacteria (4.9-50.6%), Firmicutes (16.5-57.4%), and Fusobacteria (2.2-17.1%) were the five major phyla found in all samples. Differences in microbial abundances between sampling modes were not evident. High sampling numbers are needed to achieve significance for rare bacterial phyla. Samples taken from one individual using different sampling modes were more similar to each other than to other individuals' samples. PCoA and hierarchical clustering showed a grouping of the paired samples. Permutational MANOVA did not reveal sample grouping by

  1. Sabin and wild polioviruses from apparently healthy primary school children in northeastern Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baba, M M; Oderinde, B S; Patrick, P Z; Jarmai, M M

    2012-02-01

    Despite significant success of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in Nigeria, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, wild poliovirus still occurs due to persistently high proportions of under and unimmunized children. The study aimed at determining the type of poliovirus often excreted into the environment. Four hundred nine fecal samples collected from apparently healthy school children aged 5-16 years in Borno and Adamawa States, northeastern Nigeria, were tested for poliovirus by tissue culture technique. The isolates were characterized further by intratypic differentiation testing and genetic sequencing. Three wild poliovirus type, 11 Sabin type, combination of Sabin-types 1 + 2 and 2 + 3 poliovirus, and 22 non-polio enteroviruses were obtained. The continued excretion of wild-type poliovirus among children above 5 years old vaccinated with oral polio vaccine contributes to the persistent circulation of these viruses in the environment and may limit the population immunity. However, the excreted Sabin poliovirus is capable of immunizing the unvaccinated children and promotes herd immunity. Similarly, the excretion of combination of two polio serotypes indicates the child susceptibility to the missing serotype (s) and therefore indicates an immunity gap. The common unhygienic practices in the environment could aid the spread of these viruses through oral-fecal route. Asymptomatic transmission of wild poliovirus among older oral polio vaccine-vaccinated children poses a serious threat to polio eradication program in Nigeria and therefore, environmental and serological surveillance with larger sample size are important for monitoring poliovirus circulation in Nigeria. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  2. Tools for healthy tribes: improving access to healthy foods in Indian country.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleischhacker, Sheila; Byrd, Randi R; Ramachandran, Gowri; Vu, Maihan; Ries, Amy; Bell, Ronny A; Evenson, Kelly R

    2012-09-01

    There is growing recognition that policymakers can promote access to healthy, affordable foods within neighborhoods, schools, childcare centers, and workplaces. Despite the disproportionate risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes among American Indian children and adults, comparatively little attention has been focused on the opportunities tribal policymakers have to implement policies or resolutions to promote access to healthy, affordable foods. This paper presents an approach for integrating formative research into an action-oriented strategy of developing and disseminating tribally led environmental and policy strategies to promote access to and consumption of healthy, affordable foods. This paper explains how the American Indian Healthy Eating Project evolved through five phases and discusses each phase's essential steps involved, outcomes derived, and lessons learned. Using community-based participatory research and informed by the Social Cognitive Theory and ecologic frameworks, the American Indian Healthy Eating Project was started in fall 2008 and has evolved through five phases: (1) starting the conversation; (2) conducting multidisciplinary formative research; (3) strengthening partnerships and tailoring policy options; (4) disseminating community-generated ideas; and (5) accelerating action while fostering sustainability. Collectively, these phases helped develop and disseminate Tools for Healthy Tribes-a toolkit used to raise awareness among participating tribal policymakers of their opportunities to improve access to healthy, affordable foods. Formal and informal strategies can engage tribal leaders in the development of culturally appropriate and tribe-specific sustainable strategies to improve such access, as well as empower tribal leaders to leverage their authority toward raising a healthier generation of American Indian children. Copyright © 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Developing a Reference of Normal Lung Sounds in Healthy Peruvian Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellington, Laura E.; Emmanouilidou, Dimitra; Elhilali, Mounya; Gilman, Robert H.; Tielsch, James M.; Chavez, Miguel A.; Marin-Concha, Julio; Figueroa, Dante; West, James

    2018-01-01

    Purpose Lung auscultation has long been a standard of care for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases. Recent advances in electronic auscultation and signal processing have yet to find clinical acceptance; however, computerized lung sound analysis may be ideal for pediatric populations in settings, where skilled healthcare providers are commonly unavailable. We described features of normal lung sounds in young children using a novel signal processing approach to lay a foundation for identifying pathologic respiratory sounds. Methods 186 healthy children with normal pulmonary exams and without respiratory complaints were enrolled at a tertiary care hospital in Lima, Peru. Lung sounds were recorded at eight thoracic sites using a digital stethoscope. 151 (81 %) of the recordings were eligible for further analysis. Heavy-crying segments were automatically rejected and features extracted from spectral and temporal signal representations contributed to profiling of lung sounds. Results Mean age, height, and weight among study participants were 2.2 years (SD 1.4), 84.7 cm (SD 13.2), and 12.0 kg (SD 3.6), respectively; and, 47 % were boys. We identified ten distinct spectral and spectro-temporal signal parameters and most demonstrated linear relationships with age, height, and weight, while no differences with genders were noted. Older children had a faster decaying spectrum than younger ones. Features like spectral peak width, lower-frequency Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, and spectro-temporal modulations also showed variations with recording site. Conclusions Lung sound extracted features varied significantly with child characteristics and lung site. A comparison with adult studies revealed differences in the extracted features for children. While sound-reduction techniques will improve analysis, we offer a novel, reproducible tool for sound analysis in real-world environments. PMID:24943262

  4. Dynamic QT Interval Changes from Supine to Standing in Healthy Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dionne, Audrey; Fournier, Anne; Dahdah, Nagib; Abrams, Dominic; Khairy, Paul; Abadir, Sylvia

    2018-01-01

    QT-interval variations in response to exercise-induced increases in heart rate have been reported in children and adults in the diagnosis of long QT syndrome (LQTS). A quick standing challenge has been proposed as an alternative provocative test in adults, with no pediatric data yet available. A standing test was performed in 100 healthy children (mean age, 9.7 ± 3.1 years) after 10 minutes in a supine position with continuous electrocardiographic recording. QT intervals were measured at baseline, at maximal heart rate, at maximal QT, and at each minute of a 5-minute recovery while standing. Measurements were taken in leads II/V 5 and were corrected for heart rate (QTc). On standing, the heart rate increased by 29 ± 10 beats per minute (bpm). The QT interval was similar at baseline and on standing (394 ± 34 ms vs 394 ± 34 ms; P = 1.0). However, QTc increased from 426 ± 21 to 509 ± 41 ms (P < 0.001). The 95th percentile for QTc at baseline and maximal heart rate was 457 ms and 563 ms, respectively. At 1 minute of recovery, the QT interval was shorter (375 ± 31 ms) compared with baseline (394 ± 34 ms; P < 0.001) and standing (394 ± 34 ms; P < 0.001). QTc reached baseline values after 1 minute of recovery and remained stable thereafter (423 ± 23 ms at 1 minute; 426 ± 22 ms at 5 minutes; P = 1.0). This first characterization of QTc changes on standing in children shows substantial alterations, which are greater than those seen in adults. Two-thirds of the children would have been misclassified as having LQTS by adult criteria, indicating the need to create child-specific standards. Copyright © 2017 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Exposure to air pollution is associated with lung hyperinflation in healthy children and adolescents in Southwest Mexico City: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calderón-Garcidueñas, L; Mora-Tiscareño, A; Chung, C J; Valencia, G; Fordham, L A; García, R; Osnaya, N; Romero, L; Acuña, H; Villarreal-Calderón, A; Devlin, R B; Koren, H S

    2000-06-01

    Air pollution produces adverse health effects. The consequences of lifelong daily exposures to atmospheric pollutants upon the respiratory apparatus of healthy children are of considerable clinical importance. We investigated the association between exposure to a highly polluted urban environment with a complex mixture of air pollutants-ozone and particulate matter the predominant ones-and chest x-ray abnormalities in 59 healthy Mexican children who are lifelong residents of Southwest Metropolitan Mexico City (SWMMC), with a negative history of tobacco exposure and respiratory illnesses. Their clinical results and x-ray findings were compared to those of 19 Mexican control children, residents of a low-pollution area, with a similar negative history of tobacco exposure and respiratory illnesses. Ozone concentrations in SWMMC exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for O(3): 0.08 ppm as 1-h maximal concentration, not to be exceeded more than 4 times a year, on 71% of days in 1986 and 95% in 1997, with values as high as 0.48 ppm. Ozone maximal peaks are usually recorded between 2 and 5 pm coinciding with children's outdoor physical activities. Children in the control group reported no upper or lower respiratory symptomatology. Every SWMMC child complained of upper and/or lower respiratory symptoms, including epistaxis, nasal dryness and crusting, cough, shortness of breath, and chest discomfort. Children aged 7-13 yr had the most symptomatology, while 5- to 6-year olds and adolescents with the lowest number of statistically significant outdoor exposure hours had less respiratory symptoms. Bilateral symmetric mild lung hyperinflation was significantly associated with exposure to the SWMMC atmosphere (p = .0004). Chronic and sustained inhalation of a complex mixture of air pollutants, including ozone and particulate matter (PM), is associated with lung hyperinflation, suggestive of small airway disease

  6. Physical inactivity associated with the risk of non-communicable diseases in Japanese working mothers with young children: A cross-sectional study in Nagano city, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Yoshio; Sakuraba, Keishoku; Shinjo, Tokiko; Maruyama-Nagao, Asako; Nakaniida, Atsuko; Kadoya, Haruka; Shibata, Marika; Matsukawa, Takehisa; Itoh, Hiroaki; Yokoyama, Kazuhito

    2017-06-01

    Physical activity helps to prevent the development of chronic non-communicable diseases. However, childbearing generally reduces parents' level of physical activity, particularly in mothers. Therefore, mothers with young children generally have lower levels of physical activity and have a higher risk of developing non-communicable diseases. The aim of the present study was to examine this risk in Japanese working mothers with young children. A cross-sectional study was conducted in four nursery schools in Nagano city, Japan. All mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding abnormal findings at their proximate annual medical examination, and were asked to record their normal physical activity. A total of 182 mothers completed the questionnaires, and 36 reported having abnormal findings (ABN group). Mothers in the ABN group were significantly older than those without abnormal findings (NOR; P=0.043). No significant differences in physical activity were observed between the two groups; however, mothers in the ABN group spent a significantly longer time sitting than those in the NOR group (P=0.028). Regarding socioeconomic characteristics, mothers in the ABN group had a significantly higher educational background (P=0.040) and a higher annual family income (P<0.001) compared with those in the NOR group, and significantly more mothers held full-time jobs (55.9 vs. 36.0%; P=0.005). Full-time working mothers typically had a significantly higher family income (P<0.001) and spent a significantly longer time sitting (P<0.001) compared with mothers in part-time and other work. Therefore, the results of the present study suggest that sedentary lifestyles, namely the amount of time spent sitting, may increase the risk of Japanese working mothers with young children developing non-communicable diseases.

  7. Synesthetic Colors for Japanese Scripts in Japanese Synesthetes

    OpenAIRE

    Kazuhiko Yokosawa; Michiko Asano

    2011-01-01

    The determinants of synesthetic colors for Japanese scripts were studied in six Japanese grapheme-color synesthetes. We investigated the influence of linguistic properties such as phonology, orthography, and meaning on synesthetic colors for logographic characters (Kanji), phonetic characters (hiragana and katakana), and digits. From a palette of 138 colors, the synesthetes selected colors for 79 Kanji, 71 hiragana, and 71 katakana characters, and 9 digits. The results revealed that the color...

  8. Children with ADHD Show No Deficits in Plantar Foot Sensitivity and Static Balance Compared to Healthy Controls

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlee, Gunther; Neubert, Tom; Worenz, Andreas; Milani, Thomas L.

    2012-01-01

    The goal of this study was to investigate plantar foot sensitivity and balance control of ADHD (n = 21) impaired children compared to age-matched healthy controls (n = 25). Thresholds were measured at 200 Hz at three anatomical locations of the plantar foot area of both feet (hallux, first metatarsal head (METI) and heel). Body balance was…

  9. Epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus colonization in healthy Venezuelan children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quintero, B; Araque, M; van der Gaast-de Jongh, C; Escalona, F; Correa, M; Morillo-Puente, S; Vielma, S; Hermans, P W M

    2011-01-01

    Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. We investigated both the colonization and co-colonization characteristics for these pathogens among 250 healthy children from 2 to 5 years of age in Merida, Venezuela, in 2007. The prevalence of S. pneumoniae colonization, S. aureus colonization, and S. pneumoniae-S. aureus co-colonization was 28%, 56%, and 16%, respectively. Pneumococcal serotypes 6B (14%), 19F (12%), 23F (12%), 15 (9%), 6A (8%), 11 (8%), 23A (6%), and 34 (6%) were the most prevalent. Non-respiratory atopy was a risk factor for S. aureus colonization (p = 0.017). Vaccine serotypes were negatively associated with preceding respiratory infection (p = 0.02) and with S. aureus colonization (p = 0.03). We observed a high prevalence of pneumococcal resistance against trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (40%), erythromycin (38%), and penicillin (14%). Semi-quantitative measurement of pneumococcal colonization density showed that children with young siblings and low socioeconomic status were more densely colonized (p = 0.02 and p = 0.02, respectively). In contrast, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole- and multidrug-resistant-pneumococci colonized children sparsely (p = 0.03 and p = 0.01, respectively). Our data form an important basis to monitor the future impact of pneumococcal vaccination on bacterial colonization, as well as to recommend a rationalized and restrictive antimicrobial use in our community.

  10. Systemic inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and activation in clinically healthy children exposed to air pollutants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calderón-Garcidueñas, L; Villarreal-Calderon, R; Valencia-Salazar, G; Henríquez-Roldán, C; Gutiérrez-Castrellón, P; Torres-Jardón, R; Osnaya-Brizuela, N; Romero, L; Torres-Jardón, R; Solt, A; Reed, W

    2008-03-01

    Mexico City children are chronically exposed to significant concentrations of air pollutants and exhibit chronic respiratory-tract inflammation. Epidemiological, controlled human exposures, laboratory-based animal models, and in vitro/in vivo studies have shown that inflammatory, endothelial dysfunction, and endothelial damage mediators are upregulated upon exposure to particulate matter (PM). Endothelial dysfunction is a critical event in cardiovascular disease. The focus of this work was to investigate whether exposure to ambient air pollution including PM(2.5) produces systemic inflammation and endothelial injury in healthy children. We measured markers of endothelial activation, and inflammatory mediators in 52 children age 8.6+/-0.1 yr, residents of Mexico City (n: 28) or of Polotitlán (n: 24), a city with low levels of pollutants. Mexico City children had significant increases in inflammatory mediators and vasoconstrictors, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)alpha, prostaglandin (PG) E2, C-reactive protein, interleukin-1beta, and endothelin-1. There was a significant anti-inflammatory response, and a downregulation of vascular adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and -2, and selectins sE and sL. Results from linear regression found TNF a positively associated with 24- and 48-h cumulative levels of PM(2.5), while the 7-d PM(2.5) value was negatively associated with the numbers of white blood cells in peripheral blood in highly exposed children. Systemic subclinical inflammation, increased endothelin- 1, and significant downregulation of soluble adhesion molecules are seen in Mexico City children. Children chronically exposed to fine PM above the standard could be at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis, stroke, and other systemic effects later in life.

  11. MR Detection of microhemorrhages in neurologically healthy adults

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsushima, Y.; Tanizaki, Y.; Aoki, J.; Endo, K.

    2002-01-01

    T2*-weighted gradient-echo (GE) magnetic resonance images frequently demonstrate small hypointense lesions in patients with systemic hypertension and spontaneous hematomas. These lesions have been suspected to represent subclinical microhemorrhages. We examined the incidence of these lesions in neurologically healthy adults, and the factors associated with them. Axial T2*-weighted GE images (TR = 1,000 ms, TE = 30 ms, flip angle = 20 ) were obtained in addition to conventional T1- and T2-weighted spin echo images in 450 neurologically healthy Japanese adults (289 men and 161 women; age 52.9±7.7 years, range 24-84). The overall incidence of small hypointense lesions was 3.1% (14/450), and these lesions were closely related to systemic hypertension (P 20 cigarettes per day; P=0.003). Although the incidence of hypointense lesions was lower in neurologically healthy adults than in the reported incidence in patients with a hemorrhagic history, the presence of these lesions was related to the risk factors for primary intracerebral hemorrhage even in the neurologically healthy adults. (orig.)

  12. Japanese Families' Educational Challenges in the US: Strategies and Attitudes for Language and Cultural Maintenance While in American and Hosuko Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamada, Hideki

    2008-01-01

    Many Japanese families come to the US because the fathers are dispatched to work at Japanese companies in the US, and they return to Japan after a 3-4 year stay. Many children attend an American local school as well as a supplementary Saturday school, hoshuko, in order to keep up academically after they return to Japan. However, balancing an…

  13. Do healthy preterm children need neuropsychological follow-up? Preschool outcomes compared with term peers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dall'oglio, Anna M; Rossiello, Barbara; Coletti, Maria F; Bultrini, Massimiliano; DE Marchis, Chiara; Ravà, Lucilla; Caselli, Cristina; Paris, Silvana; Cuttini, Marina

    2010-10-01

    the aim of this study was to determine neuropsychological performance (possibly predictive of academic difficulties) and its relationship with cognitive development and maternal education in healthy preterm children of preschool age and age-matched comparison children born at term. a total of 35 infants who were born at less than 33 weeks' gestational age and who were free from major neurosensory disability (16 males, 19 females; mean gestational age 29.4wk, SD 2.2wk; mean birthweight 1257g, SD 327g) and 50 term-born comparison children (25 males, 25 females; mean birthweight 3459g, SD 585g) were assessed at 4 years of age. Cognition was measured using the Griffiths Mental Development scales while neuropsychological abilities (language, short-term memory, visual-motor and constructive spatial abilities, and visual processing) were assessed using standardized tests. Multivariable regression analysis was used to explore the effects of preterm birth and sociodemographic factors on cognition, and to adjust neuropsychological scores for cognitive level and maternal education. the mean total Griffiths score was significantly lower in preterm than in term children (97.4 vs 103.4; psiblings or a twin (β=4.0; 95% CI 0.5-7.6). At neuropsychological assessment, preterm children scored significantly lower than term comparison children in all tests except lexical production (Boston Naming Test) and visual-processing accuracy. After adjustment for cognitive level and maternal education, differences remained statistically significant for verbal fluency (pchildren to identify strengths and challenges before school entry, and to plan interventions aimed at maximizing academic success.

  14. Comparison of hepatitis A and E virus infections among healthy children in Mongolia: evidence for infection with a subgenotype IA HAV in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsatsralt-Od, Bira; Takahashi, Masaharu; Endo, Kazunori; Agiimaa, Dondog; Buyankhuu, Osorjin; Okamoto, Hiroaki

    2007-01-01

    To compare the epidemiologic profiles of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections in children in Mongolia, the prevalence of HAV and HEV infections was investigated serologically and molecularly among 717 apparently healthy individuals of 0-20 years of age (mean +/- standard deviation, 8.6 +/- 4.9 years) using serum samples obtained between October 2005 and January 2006. Total antibody against HAV (anti-HAV [total]) was detected in 494 (68.9%) of the 717 subjects, while IgG antibody against HEV (anti-HEV IgG) was detected in only five subjects (0.7%) (P hepatitis or jaundice. In conclusion, HEV infection was uncommon, but HAV infection lacking overt clinical features was prevalent among children in Mongolia.

  15. Lifestyle Knowledge and Preferences in Preschool Children: Evaluation of the "Get up and Grow" Healthy Lifestyle Education Programme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiseman, Nicola; Harris, Neil; Lee, Patricia

    2016-01-01

    Objective: Early childhood is considered a window of opportunity for lifestyle interventions, as this is a critical life-stage at which children accumulate knowledge and skills around behaviours such as eating and physical activity. This study examined how exposure to a settings-based healthy lifestyle programme influences knowledge and preference…

  16. The intramuscular glucagon stimulation test does not provide good discrimination between normal and inadequate ACTH reserve when used in the investigation of short healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tenenbaum, Ariel; Phillip, Moshe; de Vries, Liat

    2014-01-01

    Few studies have addressed the role of the glucagon stimulation test (GST) in evaluating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in children. We investigated the diagnostic value of the GST in evaluating the adrenocortical response in short healthy children. The GST was performed in 190 children investigated for short stature. A peak cortisol >500 nmol/l was considered a normal response. In the 45 (23.7%) with subnormal response, a 250-μg ACTH test was done. The rate of subnormal adrenal response to GST was higher among boys (33.9 vs. 8.9%, p 500 nmol/l in all the patients undergoing an ACTH stimulation test. Since adrenal response to GST is age- and gender-related and the false-positive rate is high, its routine performance in healthy children warrants reconsideration. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  17. Japanese Encephalitis: Frequently Asked Questions

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... the vaccine, what should I do? What is Japanese encephalitis? Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a potentially severe ... cause inflammation of the brain (encephalitis). Where does Japanese encephalitis occur? JE occurs in Asia and parts ...

  18. If we offer it, will children buy it? Sales of healthy foods mirrored their availability in a community sport, commercial setting in Alberta, Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olstad, Dana Lee; Goonewardene, Laksiri A; McCargar, Linda J; Raine, Kim D

    2015-04-01

    Community sports settings are often sources of unhealthy foods for children. Many managers in these settings are reluctant to increase availability of healthy food options because they perceive that healthy foods are not profitable. This study assessed the independent contribution of increased availability of healthy foods to their sales in a community sport, commercial context. Change in revenues per patron was also examined. The availability of healthy items was increased from 9.1% at baseline (35 days) to 25.0% during the intervention period (40 days), returning to 9.1% postintervention (6 days). Purchases of all patrons who bought foods/beverages (n=17,262 items sold) from two concessions at an outdoor community pool were assessed from baseline to postintervention. Chi-square analyses assessed differences in the proportion of healthy and unhealthy items sold, as well as in the proportion of total revenues per patron across periods. A trained observer also recorded qualitative observations pertaining to a subset of patrons' (n=221) dietary behaviors and activities. Healthy items represented 7.7%, 22.7%, and 9.8% of sales during the preintervention, intervention, and postintervention periods, respectively (ppatron did not differ by period. Food availability was an important environmental determinant of food purchasing behaviors in this community commercial context, given that sales of healthy foods closely mirrored their availability. Increased availability of healthy foods in community and commercial settings is important because concurrent changes within multiple environments will be required to improve children's dietary behaviors.

  19. Urinary excretion of phthalate metabolites in 129 healthy Danish children and adolescents: Estimation of daily phthalate intake

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frederiksen, Hanne; Aksglaede, Lise; Sørensen, Kaspar

    2011-01-01

    Background Phthalates are a group of chemicals with widespread use in the industrial production of numerous consumer products. They are suspected to be involved in male reproductive health problems and have also been associated with several other health problems in children including obesity...... and asthma. Objectives To study the urinary excretion of phthalate metabolites in Danish children recruited from the general population, and to estimate the daily intake of phthalates in this segment of the population. Method One 24 h urine sample and to consecutive first morning urine samples were collected...... from 129 healthy Danish children and adolescents (range 6–21 yrs). The concentrations of 11 phthalate metabolites of 5 different phthalate diesters were analyzed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Results The analyzed metabolites were detectable in almost all 24 h urine samples...

  20. Right anterior cingulate cortical thickness and bilateral striatal volume correlate with child behavior checklist aggressive behavior scores in healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ducharme, Simon; Hudziak, James J; Botteron, Kelly N; Ganjavi, Hooman; Lepage, Claude; Collins, D Louis; Albaugh, Matthew D; Evans, Alan C; Karama, Sherif

    2011-08-01

    The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and basal ganglia have been implicated in pathological aggression. This study aimed at identifying neuroanatomical correlates of impulsive aggression in healthy children. Data from 193 representative 6- to 18-year-old healthy children were obtained from the National Institutes of Health Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Normal Brain Development after a blinded quality control. Cortical thickness and subcortical volumes were obtained with automated software. Aggression levels were measured with the Aggressive Behavior scale (AGG) of the Child Behavior Checklist. AGG scores were regressed against cortical thickness and basal ganglia volumes using first- and second-order linear models while controlling for age, gender, scanner site, and total brain volume. Gender by AGG interactions were analyzed. There were positive associations between bilateral striatal volumes and AGG scores (right: r = .238, p = .001; left: r = .188, p = .01). A significant association was found with right ACC and subgenual ACC cortical thickness in a second-order linear model (p right ACC cortex. An AGG by gender interaction trend was found in bilateral OFC and ACC associations with AGG scores. This study shows the existence of relationships between impulsive aggression in healthy children and the structure of the striatum and right ACC. It also suggests the existence of gender-specific patterns of association in OFC/ACC gray matter. These results may guide research on oppositional-defiant and conduct disorders. Copyright © 2011 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.