OBJECTIVE: to identify the prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among nursing personnel, and its association with occupational stress, anxiety and depression. METHOD: a descriptive correlational study undertaken with 226 nursing personnel from a teaching hospital. Data collection was undertaken through application of the Job Stress Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and a sociodemographic questionnaire, with variables of Metabolic Syndrome. Univariate analyses and Chi-squared and Pearson tests were used for correlation between the variables, with a level of significance of 5%. RESULTS: 86 (38.1%) workers presented Metabolic Syndrome, of whom 183 (81.1%) were female, and 43 (19.9%) male, aged between 23 and 66 years old. In relation to anxiety and depression, 154 (68.1%) presented anxiety, with 48 (31.2%) also presenting Metabolic Syndrome; 185 (81.8%) presented depression, of whom 62 (33.5%) also had Metabolic Syndrome. It was ascertained that 61 (27.0%) workers presented stress and that of these, 14 (22.9%) presented Metabolic Syndrome. CONCLUSION: a correlation was observed between the variables of anxiety and Metabolic Syndrome and stress and Metabolic Syndrome, there being no correlation between the variables of depression and Metabolic Syndrome.

No abstract

Bone turnover is affected by exercise throughout the lifespan, especially during childhood and adolescence. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of different sports on total and regional bone mineral density in male Brazilian adolescent athletes. Forty-six adolescents aged 10-18 years participated in the study: 12 swimmers, 10 tennis players, 10 soccer players, and 14 sedentary individuals. The athletes had engaged in physical activities for more than 10 h per week in the previous 6 months. Bone mineral density of the lumbar spine (L1-L4), left proximal femur region, and whole body was evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results showed higher mean values in the proximal femur region of tennis and soccer players (1.02 ± 0.18; 0.96 ± 0.16, respectively) than swimmers and controls (0.91 ± 0.14 and 0.87 ± 0.06, respectively) (P < 0.05). In relation to the impact of sporting activities based on bone age determination, we observed significant differences in bone mineral density at all evaluated sites at the end of puberty (16-18 years) compared with 10-12 years, with increases of 78% in the lumbar spine, 47% in the proximal femur, and 38% in the whole body.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the characteristics of infant mortality at the extremes of maternal age. METHOD: Retrospective, cross-sectional quantitative study using data from Live Birth Certificates, Death Certificates and from Child Death Investigation records in Londrina, Paraná, in the years of 2000-2009. RESULTS: During the 10-year study period, there were 176 infant deaths among mothers up to 19 years of age, and 113 deaths among mothers aged 35 years or more. The infant mortality rate among young mothers was 14.4 deaths per thousand births, compared to 12.9 deaths in the other age group. For adolescent mothers, the following conditions prevailed: lack of a stable partner (p<0.001), lack of a paid job (p<0.001), late start of prenatal care in the second trimester of pregnancy (p<0.001), fewer prenatal visits (p<0.001) and urinary tract infections (p<0.001). On the other hand, women aged 35 or more had a higher occurrence of hypertension during pregnancy (p<0.001), and of surgical delivery (p<0.001). Regarding the underlying cause of infant death, congenital anomalies prevailed in the group of older mothers (p=0.002), and external causes were predominant in the group of young mothers (p=0.019). CONCLUSION: Both age groups deserve the attention of social services for maternal and child health, especially adolescent mothers, who presented a higher combination of factors deemed hazardous to the child's health.

The quality of life scores, in general, were not high, especially in physical aspects. Therefore, measures need to be implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of work adjustments and adaptations, in order to improve occupational health.

No abstract

Objective: To verify the behavior of the mineral bone content and density in male adolescents according to age and secondary sexual characters.Methods: 47 healthy adolescents between 10 and 19 years old were assessed according to weight, height, body mass index, puberty stage, calcium intake, bone mineral density and content in the lumbar spine and in the proximal femur. The bone mass was measured through bone densitometries. The intake of calcium was calculated through a 3-day diet. The BMI (body mass index) was calculated with the Quetelet Index and the puberty stage was defined according to Tanners criteria. The analysis used descriptive statistics such as average and standard deviation, and variance estimates to compare the different age groups. Moreover, the Tukey test was used to determine the significant differences.Results: It was evident that the calcium intake in the different ages assessed has not reached the minimum value of 800 mg. The bone mineral density and content showed an increase after the age of 14, as well as when the teenagers reached the sexual maturation stage G4. The mineralization parameters showed a high level when the teenagers were in the G3 stage, however, without statistical significance. Conclusion:The results indicate an important level of bone mineralization during adolescence. Maturation levels superior to G3 have shown more mineralization. This study proves that the critical years for bone mass gain start after the 14-15 years old or older.J Pediatr (Rio J). 2004;80(6):461-7: Adolescence, puberty stage, secondary sex characters, bone mass, bone mineral density.

Both age groups deserve the attention of social services for maternal and child health, especially adolescent mothers, who presented a higher combination of factors deemed hazardous to the child's health.