Cheating and the effect of promises in Indian and German children

Cheating is harmful to others and society at large. Promises have been shown to increase honesty in children, but their effectiveness has not been compared between different cultural contexts. In a study (2019) with 7- to 12-year-olds (N = 406, 48% female, middle-class), voluntary promises reduced cheating in Indian, but not in German children. Children in both contexts cheated, but cheating rates were lower in Germany than in India. In both contexts, cheating decreased with age in the (no-promise) control condition and was unaffected by age in the promise condition. These findings suggest that there may exist a threshold beyond which cheating cannot be further reduced by promises. This opens new research avenues on how children navigate honesty and promise norms.

Urban environment as an independent predictor of insulin resistance in a South Asian population

Background

Developing countries, such as India, are experiencing rapid urbanization, which may have a major impact on the environment: including worsening air and water quality, noise and the problems of waste disposal. We used health data from an ongoing cohort study based in southern India to examine the relationship between the urban environment and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

Methods

We utilized three metrics of urbanization: distance from urban center; population density in the India Census; and satellite-based land cover. Restricted to participants without diabetes (N = 6350); we built logistic regression models adjusted for traditional risk factors to test the association between urban environment and HOMA-IR.

Results

In adjusted models, residing within 0–20 km of the urban center was associated with an odds ratio for HOMA-IR of 1.79 (95% CI 1.39, 2.29) for females and 2.30 (95% CI 1.64, 3.22) for males compared to residing in the furthest 61–80 km distance group. Similar statistically significant results were identified using the other metrics.

Conclusions

We identified associations between urban environment and HOMA-IR in a cohort of adults. These associations were robust using various metrics of urbanization and adjustment for individual predictors. Our results are of public health concern due to the global movement of large numbers of people from rural to urban areas and the already large burden of diabetes.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12942-019-0169-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Urbanization as a risk factor for aortic stiffness in a cohort in India

Urbanization is associated with higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Aortic stiffness, as measured by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity is a validated predictor of cardiovascular disease. Our objective was to determine the association between urbanization and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity. The analysis included 6166 participants enrolled in an ongoing population-based study (mean age 42 years; 58% female) who live in an 80 × 80 km region of southern India. Multiple measures of urbanization were used and compared: 1) census designations, 2) satellite derived land cover (crops, grass, shrubs or trees as rural; built-up areas as urban), and 3) distance categories based on proximity to an urban center. The association between urbanization and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was tested in sex-stratified linear regression models. People residing in urban areas had significantly (p < 0.05) elevated mean carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity compared to non-urban populations after adjustment for other risk factors. There was also an inverse association between distance from the urban center and mean carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity: each 10 km increase in distance was associated with a decrease in mean carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity of 0.07 m/s (95% CI: -0.09, -0.06 m/s). The association was stronger among older participants, among smokers, and among those with other cardiovascular risk factors. Further research is needed to determine which components in the urban environment are associated with higher carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity.

Abstract 410: High Sensitive C-Reactive Protein Independently Predicts Insulin Resistance in Women in a South Asian Population, With a Stronger Association in Urban Areas

Objectives: Insulin resistance (IR), which plays a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus, is associated with serum levels of inflammatory markers and abdominal obesity. Whether the association of inflammation with IR is independent of obesity remains unresolved; moreover, whether this association varies with gender and urban living is not known. We therefore conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the gender specific association between IR and high sensitive C-reactive protein (HsCRP), independent of abdominal obesity, in urban and rural communities in a South Asian population.

Methods: We conducted a population-based cross-sectional survey in 8,080 South Indians above the age of 20 years in both urban and rural environments. The study assessed of waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), socioeconomic status, family history, anxiety and stress levels, and fasting blood for plasma glucose, insulin, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and HsCRP. IR was calculated using the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR). After the exclusion of individuals with diabetics, 6,309 subjects (mean age 42 years; 58% women) were eligible and constituted the study sample.

Results: The HOMA-IR level (mean ± SD) was higher in women (1.98 ± 1.62), when compared to men (1.71 ± 1.38), and HsCRP levels were 4.00 ± 5.14 and 3.42 ± 7.22 mg/dl in women and men, respectively. There was stronger correlation of HsCRP with HOMA-IR in women (r= 0.371) when compared to men (r= 0.203). In a multiple regression analysis, after adjusting for WC and other co-variants such as, BP, TC, LDL, TG, socioeconomic status, physical activity and family history of diabetes, HsCRP continued to be a significant predictor only in women (p<0.001). In women with elevated HsCRP levels (≥ 3 mg/dl), after multivariate adjustments, the odds ratio of elevated HOMA-IR (≥ 2.86) was 2.13 [CI: 1.66, 2.74; p <0.001] in urban women, when compared to odds ratio of 1.41 [CI: 1.02, 1.96; p=0.037] in rural women.

Conclusion: HsCRP is associated with IR independent of abdominal obesity in non-diabetic South Asian women, and at elevated HsCRP levels the association is stronger in urban women.

Abstract 551: In a South Asian Population, Urbanization is an Independent Predictor of Arterial Stiffness in Men

Background: Rapid urbanization is driving economies of South Asian countries. Here we use satellite based land cover data and distance to urban center (UC) to measure of the impact of urban environment on arterial stiffness (AS) in a population based study in South India.

Methods: In a cross-sectional analysis, after exclusion of people with previous history of diabetes and hypertension, 6746 subjects (mean age 42 years; 54% women) spread over 78 kms from the UC constituted the study sample. MODIS satellite derived land cover data at a 1 km x 1 km resolution was obtained and joined to each participant's geolocated residential position in ArcGIS to assign urban and rural designations. The study included carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurement using a high-fidelity applanation tonometry, blood pressure (BP), anthropometric, psychosocial, high sensitive C-reactive protein (HsCRP) and other biomarkers assessments.

Results: Based on land cover analysis, participants in urban locations had a mean (SD) PWV (m/s) of 7.74 (1.65) compared to 7.6 (1.62) in rural locations (p= 0.002) [Fig 1], while there was no significant difference in HsCRP levels. In multiple regression analyses adjusting for age, smoking, BMI, BP, blood glucose, LDL, socioeconomic, anxiety and stress levels, distance from UC was independently associated with PWV in men (β = -0.007, p <0.001), but not in women. Standardized effect-estimates in the multi-linear regression model indicated that distance from UC had the third largest effect on PWV after age and BP. After multivariable adjustments, the largest effect of distance from UC on PWV was on non-smoking men age 46-75 years. Residing every 1 km further away from the UC corresponded with a -0.012 m/s (95%CI: -0.020, -0.003) decrease in PWV.

Conclusions: Urbanization is an independent predictor of AS in men, more so in non-smoking older men. Further research will elucidate components in the urban environment that may be contributing to higher AS.