Our study showed that an intervention programme could be feasible in schools in Beijing, China. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was reduced in schoolchildren in Beijing through an intervention focused on nutrition education and physical activity. Overweight and obesity children as well as normal weight children and their parents should be involved in such an intervention programme.

Background: Childhood obesity has become a nutritional problem in China since the 1990s. Aims: A family based behavioural treatment was developed and tested, to see if its use was feasible in China and to evaluate its impact on obese schoolchildren. Methods: In a single school in Beijing, 33 obese children were randomly assigned to a treatment group and 35 to a control group. The treatment group participated in a family based behavioural treatment programme for two years. Height and weight were measured every six months for all participants. Blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were measured at baseline and after two years of programme implementation. Results: Body mass index (BMI, kg/m 2 ) was significantly reduced in the treatment group (from 26.6 (1.7) to 24.0 (0.9), 95% CI 2.06 to 3.18) but not in the control group (from 26.1 (1.5) to 26.0 (1.6)). Total cholesterol decreased 5.5% and triglycerides 9.7% in the treatment group. There was a significant correlation between change in BMI and change in triglycerides. There were no significant changes in plasma lipids in the controls. Blood pressure values also decreased significantly in the treatment, but not the control group. Conclusions: A family based behavioural intervention was feasible to use in treating obesity in schoolchildren in Beijing, China. After two years of implementation, it successfully decreased the degree of obesity, reduced levels of blood pressure, and decreased serum lipids in treatment; there were no significant changes among control children.

Grandparents were dominant in shaping children's eating behavior in some three-generation families in Chinese urban areas. Nutrition education involving grandparents is a potential framework for developing a healthy dietary behavior in young children.

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Overweight prevalence among Chinese preschool children in Beijing is comparable to some European countries. Prevention strategies should include identified lifestyle risk factors.

An anisotropic elastoplastic bounding surface model with non-associative flow rule is developed for simulating the mechanical behavior of different types of clays. The non-associative flow rule allows for the simulation of not only strain-hardening but also strain-softening response. The theoretical framework of the model is given, followed by the verification of the model as applied to the experimental results of a strain-hardening Kaolin tested under different undrained stress paths. The undrained behavior of Boston Blue clay, which exhibits a strain-softening behavior, is also simulated. It is shown that the non-associative nature of the model gives more accurate results than those of the same model employing an associative flow rule, especially for normally consolidated Kaolin specimens. The results show that the model is also capable of simulating the strain-softening behavior of Boston blue clay with reasonable accuracy.

ObjectivesTo investigate the early determinants of overweight and obesity status at age two years.MethodsA total of 1098 healthy neonates (563 boys and 535 girls) were involved in this community-based prospective study in China. Data on body weight and length were collected at birth, the 3rd and 24th month. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on social demography and feeding patterns of children, etc. Three multivariable logistic regression models were employed to make various comparisons of weight status, i.e., model 1 (obesity vs. non-obesity), model 2 (combined overweight and obesity vs. normal weight, and model 3 (obesity, overweight and normal weight).ResultsPrevalences of overweight/obesity (95th >BMI ≥85th p and BMI ≥95th p, referring to WHO BMI standards) at 2 years of age are 15.8%/11.2% for boys and 12.9%/9.0% for girls, respectively. Being born with macrosomia (OR: 1.80–1.88), relatively greater BMI increment in the first 3 months (OR: 1.15–1.16) and bottle emptying by encouragement at age two (OR: 1.30–1.57) were found in all three models to be significant risk factors for higher BMI status at 2 years. Pre-pregnancy maternal BMI (OR: 1.09–1.12), paternal BMI (OR: 1.06), and mixed breastfeeding (OR: 1.54–1.57) or formula feeding (OR: 1.90–1.93) in the first month were identified as significant in models 2 and 3. Child-initiated bottle emptying at age two was observed to increase the risk of obesity by 1.31 times but only in model 1.ConclusionFetal and early postnatal growth and feeding pattern appear to have significant impacts on early childhood overweight and obesity status independent of parental BMI. Policy-based and multidisciplinary approaches to promote breastfeeding and enhancement of feeding skills of care takers may be promising intervention strategies.

Background: Childhood obesity has become a major public health problem in many countries. To explore the risk factors of overweight in infants and young children might be helpful in developing an early overweight intervention strategy. Objective: To assess the prevalence of overweight and the relationship of parental characteristics and feeding practices to overweight in infants and young children in Beijing, China. Design: Data on weight and length/height were collected on 4654 children aged 1-35 months in twelve communities in Beijing from a cross-sectional study. Overweight was defined as weight-for-length/height $2SD above the median of the WHO reference. Two hundred and fifteen families with overweight children and 215 families with normal-weight children were interviewed using a questionnaire to obtain feeding practices.Results: The overall prevalence of overweight was 4?7 %. Both parental overweight and low parental education were significantly higher among overweight than normal-weight children. The total energy intake was significantly higher in overweight than in normal-weight children at 12-35 months of age. Compared with normal-weight children, significantly fewer overweight children were breastfed for at least 4 months. Overweight children were also more likely to have been introduced to infant formula and semi-solid foods during the first 4 months. Conclusion: Early prevention strategies should include feeding practices identified as putting children at risk of obesity. These include early cessation of breast-feeding and premature introduction of other foods.