A feminist cultural studies framework was employed to better understand the relationships among body image, eating, and exercise in female exercisers and athletes. Participants (N=18) engaged in focus group interviews regarding their ideal body image, eating and exercise patterns, and feelings associated with eating and exercising. The athlete interviews also included questions concerning their coach, performance issues, and comfort with their uniforms. Results revealed that most of the women in this study desired an unrealistic ideal body: a toned body with minimal fat. The exercisers emphasized being toned, yet they also avoided too much muscularity. These women constantly were balancing their physical activity and eating: if they exercised, they gave themselves permission to eat and if they ate too much, they punished themselves with exercise. The athletes’ ideal body was dependent upon the social context. Their body satisfaction and concomitant mental states and self-presentation varied depending upon whether the athletes were considering their bodies as athletes or as culturally female.

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ObjectivesLack of consensus regarding the semantics and definitions of pediatric polypharmacy challenges researchers and clinicians alike. We conducted a scoping review to describe definitions and terminology of pediatric polypharmacy.MethodsMedline, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, and the Web of Science Core Collection databases were searched for English language articles with the concepts of “polypharmacy” and “children”. Data were extracted about study characteristics, polypharmacy terms and definitions from qualifying studies, and were synthesized by disease conditions.ResultsOut of 4,398 titles, we included 363 studies: 324 (89%) provided numeric definitions, 131 (36%) specified duration of polypharmacy, and 162 (45%) explicitly defined it. Over 81% (n = 295) of the studies defined polypharmacy as two or more medications or therapeutic classes. The most common comprehensive definitions of pediatric polypharmacy included: two or more concurrent medications for ≥1 day (n = 41), two or more concurrent medications for ≥31 days (n = 15), and two or more sequential medications over one year (n = 12). Commonly used terms included polypharmacy, polytherapy, combination pharmacotherapy, average number, and concomitant medications. The term polypharmacy was more common in psychiatry literature while epilepsy literature favored the term polytherapy.ConclusionsTwo or more concurrent medications, without duration, for ≥1 day, ≥31 days, or sequentially for one year were the most common definitions of pediatric polypharmacy. We recommend that pediatric polypharmacy studies specify the number of medications or therapeutic classes, if they are concurrent or sequential, and the duration of medications. We propose defining pediatric polypharmacy as “the prescription or consumption of two or more distinct medications for at least one day”. The term “polypharmacy” should be included among key words and definitions in manuscripts.

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