Introduction Although the prevalence of underweight is declining among Indian women, the prevalence of overweight/obesity is increasing. This study examined the prevalence and factors associated with underweight and overweight/obesity among reproductive-aged (i.e., 15–49 years) women in India. Methods This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the 2015–16 National Family Health Survey. The Asian and World Health Organization (WHO) recommended cutoffs for body mass index (BMI) were used to categorize body weight. The Asian and WHO BMI cutoffs for combined overweight/obesity were ≥ 23 and ≥ 25 kg/m 2 , respectively. Both recommendations had the same cutoff for underweight, < 18.5 kg/m 2 . After prevalence estimation, logistic regression was applied to investigate associated factors. Results Among 647,168 women, the median age and BMI was 30 years and 21.0 kg/m 2 , respectively. Based on the Asian cutoffs, the overall prevalence of underweight was 22.9%, overweight was 22.6%, and obesity was 10.7%, compared to 15.5% overweight and 5.1% obesity as per WHO cutoffs. The prevalence and odds of underweight were higher among young, nulliparous, contraceptive non-user, never-married, Hindu, backward castes, less educated, less wealthy, and rural women. According to both cutoffs, women who were older, ever-pregnant, ever-married, Muslims, castes other than backwards, highly educated, wealthy, and living in urban regions had higher prevalence and odds of overweight/obesity. Conclusion The prevalence of both non-normal weight categories (i.e., underweight and overweight/obesity) was high. A large proportion of women are possibly at higher risks of cardiovascular and reproductive adverse events due to these double nutrition burdens. Implementing large-scale interventions based on these results is essential to address these issues. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s41256-019-0117-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Key Points Question What is the change in prevalence of hypertension among adults in Nepal due to lowering the blood pressure threshold in the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) hypertension guideline? Findings Using data from the nationally representative 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, the estimated prevalence of hypertension was 44.2% according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline, 23% higher than the estimate under previous guidelines (21.2%). Meaning The new estimates suggest that nearly half of adults in Nepal may have hypertension; these results support the need for public health programs to increase awareness and minimize complications of hypertension.

BackgroundSuccessful treatment of diabetes includes patient self-management behaviors to prevent or delay complications and comorbid diseases. On the basis of findings from large clinical trials and professional guidelines, diabetes education programs and health providers prescribe daily regimens of glucose monitoring, healthy eating, stress management, medication adherence, and physical activity. Consistent, long-term commitment to regimens is challenging. Mobile health is increasingly being used to assist patients with lifestyle changes and self-management behaviors between provider visits. The effectiveness of mobile health to improve diabetes outcomes depends on patient engagement with a technology, content, or interactions with providers.ObjectivesIn the current analysis, we aimed to identify patient engagement themes in diabetes messaging with diabetes providers and determine if differences in engagement in the Mobile Diabetes Intervention Study (MDIS) influenced changes in glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) over a 1-year treatment period (1.9% absolute decrease in the parent study).MethodsIn the primary MDIS study, 163 patients were enrolled into 1 of 3 mobile intervention groups or a usual care control group based on their physician cluster randomization assignment. The control group received care from their physicians as usual. Participants in each intervention group had access to a patient portal where they could record monitoring values for blood glucose, blood pressure, medication changes, or other self-management information while also assigned to varying levels of physician access to patient data. Intervention participants could choose to send and receive messages to assigned certified diabetes educators with questions or updates through the secure Web portal. For this secondary analysis, patient engagement was measured using qualitative methods to identify self-care themes in 4109 patient messages. Mixed methods were used to determine the impact of patient engagement on change in HbA1c over 1 year.ResultsSelf-care behavior themes that received the highest engagement for participants were glucose monitoring (75/107, 70.1%), medication management (71/107, 66.4%), and reducing risks (71/107, 66.4%). The average number of messages sent per patient were highest for glucose monitoring (9.2, SD 14.0) and healthy eating (6.9, SD 13.2). Compared to sending no messages, sending any messages about glucose monitoring (P=.03) or medication (P=.01) led to a decrease in HbA1c of 0.62 and 0.72 percentage points, respectively. Sending any messages about healthy eating, glucose monitoring, or medication combined led to a decrease in HbA1c of 0.54 percentage points compared to not sending messages in these themes (P=.045).ConclusionsThe findings from this study help validate the efficacy of the mobile diabetes intervention. The next step is to determine differences between patients who engage in mobile interventions and those who do not engage and identify methods to enhance patient engagement.Trial RegistrationClinical...

We analyzed the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011 data to examine absolute differences in hypertension prevalence according to the hypertension definition of the "2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (2017 ACC/AHA) Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults" and "Seventh Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC7)" 2003 guidelines. Among 7839 participants ≥35 years, the JNC7 and 2017 ACC/AHA classified 25.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 24.5-27.0%) and 48.0% (95% CI: 46.4-49.7%) people hypertensive, respectively. The JNC7 prevalence was 19.4% (95% CI: 18.0-21.0%) among males and 31.9% (95% CI: 30.1-33.6%) among females. The prevalence was 41.4% (95% CI: 39.4-43.5%) among males and 54.5% (95% CI: 52.4-56.4%) among females as per the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline. From JNC7 to 2017 ACC/AHA, the overall difference in prevalence was 22.3% (95% CI: 19.8-24.8%). Males and females had similar differences, 22.0% (95% CI: 18.3-25.7%) and 22.6% (95% CI: 19.4-26.0%), respectively. As per the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline, >50% prevalence was observed among people with body mass index ≥25 kg/m, college-level education, co-morbid diabetes, richest wealth quintile, females, age ≥55 years, urban residence, or living in Khulna, Rangpur or Dhaka divisions; the absolute difference was >20% in most categories. We found a substantial increase in the prevalence of hypertension due to change in blood pressure thresholds as per the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline. We recommend conducting more comprehensive population-based studies to estimate the recent burden of hypertension in Bangladesh. Future studies should estimate similar prevalence in other countries.

IntroductionChildhood hypertension is associated with higher risks of cardiovascular disease during adulthood. This study estimated the prevalence of hypertension and high blood pressure among children aged 8 to 17 years in the United States per the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guideline and compared that with the 2004 National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH/NHLBI) guideline’s prevalence estimate during 2005–2008 and 2013–2016.MethodsThis cross-sectional study analyzed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. High blood pressure included hypertension and elevated blood pressure (per the 2017 AAP guideline)/prehypertension (per the 2004 NIH/NHLBI guideline).ResultsThe analysis included 3,633 children in 2005–2008 and 3,471 children in 2013–2016. Per the 2004 NIH/NHLBI guideline, 3.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3%–4.3%) had hypertension in 2005–2008 and 1.9% (95% CI, 1.4%–2.6%) had hypertension in 2013–2016. Per the 2017 AAP guideline, prevalence was 5.7% (95% CI, 4.6%–7.1%) in 2005–2008 and 3.5% (95% CI, 2.7%–4.5%) in 2013–2016. About 2.5% (95% CI, 2.0%–3.1%) children in 2005–2008 and 1.5% (95% CI, 0.9%–2.0%) children in 2013–2016 were reclassified as hypertensive. We observed a similar change in prevalence for high blood pressure after application of the new guideline. The prevalence of high blood pressure also declined from 2005–2008 to 2013–2016 per both guidelines.ConclusionAlthough the new guideline would reclassify a small proportion of children as having hypertension or high blood pressure, the prevalence declined from 2005–2008 to 2013–2016.