OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of physical activity, television program viewing and other forms of video viewing with the prevalence of obesity among school children. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: 712 children, 9 ± 16 y old, from a low-and a middle-income town in the Mexico City area. MEASUREMENTS: Children completed a self administered questionnaire to assess time spent in physical activity and television viewing, and diet. Height weight and triceps skinfolds were measured. The outcome variable was obesity, and the covariates were hours of television programs and other video viewing, physical activity, energy intake, percentage of energy from fat, town of location of school, age, gender and perception of mother's weight status. RESULTS: Among 461 children with complete information, 24% were classi®ed as obese. Children reported an average of 4.1 AE 2.2 had watching television (2.4 AE 1.5 had for TV programs and 1.7 AE 1.5 had for video cassette recorder (VCR) or videogames), and 1.8 AE 1.3 had in moderate and vigorous physical activities. Odds ratios (OR) of obesity were 12% higher for each hour of television program viewing per day (OR 1.12, 95% con®dence interval (CI) 1.02, ± 1.22), and 10% lower for each hour of moderateavigorous physical activity per day (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83 ± 0:98), controlling for age, gender, town and perception of mother's weight status. Children in the middle-income town had higher adjusted odds of obesity (OR 2.58, 95% CI 1.47 ± 4.54). CONCLUSION: Physical activity and television viewing, but not VCRavideogames use, were related to obesity prevalence in Mexican children 9 ± 16 y old.

(34.3 ± 1.8 and 34.3 ± 1.5 cm, respectively) at birth. Offspring of supplemented primigravidae (n = 370) were heavier (difference, 99.4 g; 95% CI, 5.5 to 193.4) and had larger head circumferences (difference, 0.5 cm; 95% CI, 0.1 to 0.9) than controls; the differences in multigravidae

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These results support efficacy of n-3 LCPUFA intake in early visual system development, although supplementation safety issues still must be addressed through larger randomized trials. Whether n-3 intake confers lasting advantage in visually based process development across the life-span is still to be determined.

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DHA supplementation during pregnancy decreased the occurrence of colds in children at 1 month and influenced illness symptom duration at 1, 3, and 6 months.

Nutritional demands for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are high during pregnancy. Diets low in DHA and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty-acids (LC-PUFA) in pregnancy are associated with poorer DHA status and slower reestablishment of maternal stores. To assess intakes of LC-PUFA among urban pregnant women in Central Mexico, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in Prenatal Clinic at the General Hospital No. 1 of the Mexican Society Security Institute, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. We ascertained intakes over past three months of 110 food items using a food frequency questionnaire developed for this population. Among 1364 pregnant women 18-35 years of age (mean age 26.2 ± 4.7 years) who were interviewed at 18-22 weeks gestation, median (inter-quartile range) daily intakes of linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid (LA), arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid and DHA were 17.6 (13.6; 22.2) g, 1.4 (1.0; 2.0) g, 137 (102; 174) mg, 18 (10; 38) mg, and 55 (37; 99) mg respectively. The median ratio of n-6 to n-3 PUFA was 11.8:1. The main dietary contributions to DHA intake were eggs, chicken, and fresh canned fish. Intakes of PUFAs were higher among women who had completed high school (p<0.01). We conclude that intakes of DHA were much lower than recommended values; the high n-6 to n-3 ratio suggests a suboptimal balance of these PUFAs. Very few sources of DHA are commonly eaten.

Objective. To determine prevalence of hyperuricemia and its relation with intake of sweetened beverages (SB) and metabolic syndrome (MS) in low income urban Mexican population. aterials and methods. A cross-sectional analysis of The Mexico City Diabetes Study, a prospective population-based investigation (1 173 participants) was performed. We used logistic egression, adjusted by pertinent variables. We determined prevalence of hyperuricemia and explored associations of uric acid levels with MS and intake of SB. Results. Prevalence of hyperuricemia was 26.5 and 19.8% in males and females respectively. In an djusted multivariate model, body mass index, waist circumference,and triglyceride were higher as uric acid quartiles increased (p<0.005-0.001). The odds ratio for MS was 1.48 for 3rd uric acid quartile and 2.03 for 4th quartile. Higher consumption of SB was associated with higher uric acid levels (p<0.001). Conclusion. Prevalence of hyperuricemia is high. Potential association with intake of SB, resulting in metabolic altera- tions should be considered.