Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m 2 . In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, the...

ABSTRACT:Objective: To analyze the occurrence of sleep-related disorders among adults from Presidente Prudente, Brazil, as well as to identify associations with behavioral, socio-demographic and nutritional status variables. Methods: After random selection of the sample, interviews were performed with 743 adults of both genders, living in Presidente Prudente, Brazil. Sleep-related disorders, demographic variables (sex, age, ethnicity and schooling), behavioral variables (leisure physical activity, alcohol consumption, and smoking) and nutritional status were analyzed by questionnaires. Results: The prevalence of sleep-related disorders was 46.7%, with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 43.1 -50.2. In the multivariate analysis, female sex, with odds ratio (OR) 1.74 (95%CI 1.26 -2.40), schooling (OR = 0.49; 95%CI 0.28 -0.82), overweight (OR = 1.99; 95%CI 1.39 -2.85) and obesity (OR = 2.90; 95%CI 1.94 -4.35) were associated with sleep-related disorders. Conclusion: There is high occurrence of sleep-related disorders in this sample, which was associated with female sex, lower schooling, overweight and obesity.

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The frequency of overweight and physical inactivity increased with increasing screen time in a trending manner and independently of the main confounders. The relationship between high screen time and poor eating habits was particularly relevant for adolescent girls.

The Omron HEM 742 monitor was proved valid for blood pressure measurement in adolescents according to the criteria suggested by the British Hypertension Society.

BackgroundNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a disorder associated with excessive fat accumulation, mainly in the intra-abdominal region. A simple technique to estimate abdominal fat in this region could be useful to assess the presence of NAFLD, in obese subjects who are more vulnerable to this disease. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to verify the reliability of waist circumference and body composition variables to identify the occurrence of NAFLD in obese children and adolescents.MethodsSample was composed of 145 subjects, aged 11 to 17 years. Assessments of waist circumference (WC), trunk fat mass (TFM) and fat mass (FM) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and ultrasound for diagnosis of NAFLD and intra-abdominal adipose tissue (IAAT) were used. Correlation between variables was made by Spearman’s coefficients; ROC curve parameters (sensitivity, specificity, area under curve) were used to assess the reliability of body composition variables to assess the presence of NAFLD. Statistical significance was set at 5%.ResultsSignificant correlations were observed between NAFLD and WC (p = 0.001), TFM (p = 0.002) and IAAT (p = 0.001). The higher values of area under the ROC curve were for WC (AUC = 0.720), TFM (AUC = 0.661) and IAAT (AUC = 0.741).ConclusionsOur findings indicated that TFM, IAAT and WC present high potential to identify NAFLD in obese children and adolescents.

Background: The prevalence of dyslipidemia is increasing in many parts of Brazil, but it is yet unclear how much exercise is needed to attain beneficial effects on plasma lipoprotein levels.

BackgroundHigh resting heart rate is considered an important factor for increasing mortality chance in adults. However, it remains unclear whether the observed associations would remain after adjustment for confounders in adolescents.ObjectivesTo analyze the relationship between resting heart rate, blood pressure and pulse pressure in adolescents of both sexes.MethodsA cross-sectional study with 1231 adolescents (716 girls and 515 boys) aged 14-17 years. Heart rate, blood pressure and pulse pressure were evaluated using an oscillometric blood pressure device, validated for this population. Weight and height were measured with an electronic scale and a stadiometer, respectively, and waist circumference with a non-elastic tape. Multivariate analysis using linear regression investigated the relationship between resting heart rate and blood pressure and pulse pressure in boys and girls, controlling for general and abdominal obesity.ResultsHigher resting heart rate values were observed in girls (80.1 ± 11.0 beats/min) compared to boys (75.9 ± 12.7 beats/min) (p ≤ 0.001). Resting heart rate was associated with systolic blood pressure in boys (Beta = 0.15 [0.04; 0.26]) and girls (Beta = 0.24 [0.16; 0.33]), with diastolic blood pressure in boys (Beta = 0.50 [0.37; 0.64]) and girls (Beta = 0.41 [0.30; 0.53]), and with pulse pressure in boys (Beta = -0.16 [-0.27; -0.04]).ConclusionsThis study demonstrated a relationship between elevated resting heart rate and increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both sexes and pulse pressure in boys even after controlling for potential confounders, such as general and abdominal obesity.