Longitudinal associations between television in the bedroom and body fatness in a UK cohort study

Objective:

To assess longitudinal associations between screen-based media use (television (TV) and computer hours, having a TV in the bedroom) and body fatness among UK children.

Methods:

Participants were 12 556 children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study who were followed from age 7 to age 11 years. Associations were assessed between screen-based media use and the following outcomes: body mass index (BMI), fat mass index (FMI), and overweight.

Results:

In fully adjusted models, having a bedroom TV at age 7 years was associated with significantly higher BMI and FMI (excess BMI for boys=0.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06–0.52; excess BMI for girls=0.57, 95% CI 0.31–0.84; excess FMI for boys=0.20, 95% CI 0.04–0.37; excess FMI for girls=0.39, 95% CI 0.21–0.57) and increased risk of being overweight (relative risk (RR) for boys=1.21, 95% CI 1.07–1.36; RR for girls=1.31, 95% CI 1.15–1.48) at age 11 years, compared with having no bedroom TV. Hours spent watching TV or digital versatile disks were associated with increased risk of overweight among girls only. Computer use at age 7 years was not related to later body fatness for either gender.

Conclusion:

Having a TV in the child’s bedroom was an independent risk factor for overweight and increased body fatness in this nationally representative sample of UK children. Childhood obesity prevention strategies should consider TVs in children’s bedrooms as a risk factor for obesity.

Social inequalities in clustering of oral health related behaviors in a national sample of British adults

OBJECTIVES

1. To assess clustering of oral health related behaviors among a sample of British adults. 2. To determine the variation in clustering of oral health related behaviors by socioeconomic position.

METHOD

We used secondary analysis of the Adult Dental Health Survey 2009 data. Health behaviors referred to smoking, tooth brushing frequency, dental visits and sugar consumption. Clustering was assessed by pairwise correlations, counts of clustering of health compromising behaviors and comparison of observed/expected ratios. Logistic regression was used to assess variation in clustering of oral health related behaviors by socioeconomic position crudely and adjusted for age, gender and self-rated oral health.

RESULTS

There were weak correlations between four health behaviors. Very low prevalence of clustering was reported. Higher observed to expected ratio was observed for clustering patterns with lower prevalence. Multivariate logistic regression showed clear, strong and significant educational gradients in associations between different clustering patterns of health compromising behaviors and educational attainment. These educational gradients remained significant after adjusting for age, gender and self-reported oral health.

CONCLUSION

Very clear and strong educational gradients were observed throughout patterns of clustering of oral health compromising behaviors, suggesting chances of having detrimental behavioral clustering are lower in more educated groups in population.

[Mitral stenosis and partial abnormal pulmonary venous return. 3 case reports]

The association of mitral stenosis with an abnormal pulmonary venous return in the absence of an atrial septal defect, is a rare occurrence, and three cases are reported here. If this diagnosis is suggested by the chest Xray, it is confirmed by haemodynamic investigation, which defines the abnormal pulmonary drainage, guages the size of the left-right shunt, and demonstrates the degree of mitral steonsis. If the defect is poorly tolerated, surgical treatment is required.

[Disputable thoracic pain with normal coronary arteries. Metabolic study]

The search for electrocardiographic, haemodynamic and above an metabolic criteria suggestive of "myocardial ischaemia" in the course of an atrial pacing test was found to be positive in three patients suffering from atypical thoracic pains, and in whom selective coronary arteriograms might be considered as normal. It appaear thus that the criterion of a normal coronary arteriography and a negative or unsignificant effort test is insufficient to discard the diagnosis of "myocardial ischaemia" when confronted with such pains habitually considered as anorganic. The accurate mechanism of these pains, probably identical to that or those of "angina with normal coronary arteriography" remains undecided.