Children Of Asian Origin Research Articles

Low-dose AtropIne for Myopia Control in Children (AIM): protocol for a randomised, controlled, double-blind, multicentre, clinical trial with two parallel arms

IntroductionMyopia is a major cause of degenerative eye disease and increases the risk of secondary visual impairment. Mitigating its progression therefore has great potential of clinically relevant benefit as shown...

P1243 : Birth cohort distribution and screening of viremic HCV infections in luxembourg

Background and Aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the most common cause of liver disease in children, with an estimated prevalence of 5–10%. The majority of published data has involved Caucasians. Data is lacking regarding the phenotypic differences of NAFLD in children of Asian origin. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of children consecutively diagnosed with NAFLD at a tertiary referral hepatology service in the UK, between 2003 and 2014. Patients had been referred from either primary care physicians or general paediatricians with incidental asymptomatic abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) and/or fatty liver on ultrasound scan (USS). Patients with inadequate data or with secondary fatty liver disease were excluded. Patients were divided by ethnicity into Asian and Caucasian. All values are (±SD), unless stated. Results: 100 patients with primary NAFLD were identified. 59/100 were Caucasian and 41/100 were of Asian origin, of whom, 73% (30/41) were Pakistani. There was male predominance in both groups, 73% (43/59) in Caucasian and 78% (32/41) in Asians. Mean ages at presentation were 12.6±2.5 and 11.7±2.8 years in Caucasian and Asian groups, respectively. Asian patients had a significantly lower body mass index (BMI) centile than Caucasian (91.2±9.5 vs. 96.1±5.1, p < 0.05). There were no differences in LFTs between Asian and Caucasian patients, ALT (87.8±60.9 vs. 94.3±84.5 IU/L) and bilirubin (9.4±7.6 vs. 9±6.5mmol/L). 61% (25/41) Asian patients had an elevated gamma glutamyl transferase, compared to 60% (35/59) Caucasian patients. Markers of the metabolic syndrome were similar in both groups: total cholesterol 4.4±1 vs. 4.4±1mg/L, triglycerides 2.0±1.4 vs. 2.2±1.4mg/L, and HbA1c 38.6 vs. 39.1±7.4mmol/mol. 20 patients had undergone biopsy. 33% (2/6) demonstrated moderate-severe fibrosis in Asian patients, compared to 21% (3/14) Caucasian patients (p =0.61). Conclusions: Asian children with NAFLD have similar disease severity as their Caucasian counterparts, despite a significantly lower BMI centile at presentation. Referring clinicians and risk stratification scores require a greater awareness of ethnic differences in adiposity in paediatric NAFLD. EU Public health

The Role of Family SES and Language Background in Shaping the Well-Being of Children of Asian Origin in the Context of School Mobility

Using a sample of children of Asian origin from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort (N ≈ 1,480), this study examines the relationship between school mobility and children’s well-being trajectories from kindergarten to fifth grade, paying particular attention to whether such relationships differ by child language status and family socioeconomic status. Considering a rich set of characteristics including family and school environments, the growth curve analyses indicate that children who had ever changed schools during these years performed worse on their reading and math scores, as well as being reported by teachers to have worse internalizing behaviors. This was only true when these children were from low-SES families or when their language background was predominately non-English-speaking. In contrast, children who changed schools at least once performed as well as, if not better than, their peers if they were from high-SES families or if they had a bilingual background (speaking both English and a non-English language). This study explores both the risk and the protective factors that help explain the well-being trajectories of children of Asian origins.

OMNI Scale of Perceived Exertion: Mixed Gender and Race Validation for Singapore Children

PURPOSE: The children's OMNI Scale of perceived exertion (category 0 to 10) has been validated for African American and Caucasian children, but not children of Asian origin. The purpose of this study was to validate the OMNI Scale for Singapore adolescent children, 12 - 14 yr., of Chinese, Malay, and Indian ethnicities. METHODS: Each of 3 ethnic cohorts consisted of 15 male and 12 female clinically normal, nonobese children. A cross-sectional, perceptual estimation paradigm using a single multi-stage cycle ergometer test protocol was used. Oxygen consumption (VO2, ml˙min−1), heart rate (HR, beats˙min−1), and ratings of perceived exertion(OMNI Scale; RPE) for the overall body (RPE-O), legs (RPE-L), and chest (RPE-C) were determined at the end of each continuously administered 3-min power output (PO) test stage starting at 25W with 25W increments per stage. Subjects performed the exercise test to exhaustion. RESULTS: Linear regression analysis for the first 4 PO stages, and for all PO stages, showed that RPE-O, RPE-L and RPE-C for each of the 6 gender-race sample cohorts, and for the combined sample of all subjects, distributed as positive functions of both VO2(ml˙min−1, ml ˙kg−1˙min−1) and HR (beats˙min−1). All regression functions were statistically significant (p < 0.01). Females had significantly higher (p < 0.05, PO stage 1; p < 0.001, PO stages 2-4) RPE-O, RPE-L and RPE-C ratings than males at all PO stages examined. Differences between undifferentiated (RPE-O) and differentiated (RPE -L & RPE-C) at each PO stage were examined separately for the male (up to PO stage 8 [200W]) and female (up to PO stage 5 [125W]) cohorts. For the males, RPE-L was greater (p < 0.05) than both RPE-C and RPE-O only at PO stage 8. For the females, RPE-O was greater (p < 0.05) than RPE-C only at PO stages 3 and 4. For both the male and female subjects as PO increased from 25W increment per 3-min stage the corresponding RPE responses (Overall, Legs, and Chest) increased (p < 0.001) significantly. CONCLUSIONS: OMNI Scale validity was established for Asian children of Chinese, Malay, and Indian origin. Male and female children did not perceive the intensity of exertional perceptions to differ between the legs and chest. As there were no differences between the undifferentiated and differentiated perceptual responses a dominant signal was not observed.

The academic trajectories of children of immigrants and their school environments.

Data from approximately 14,000 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey--Kindergarten Cohort were analyzed to examine the associations between children's immigrant status and their academic trajectories from kindergarten to 3rd grade, with particular attention to the effects of school environments. Growth curve modeling results indicated that most children of Latin American origin improved their reading and math scores faster than non-Hispanic White children, thus narrowing their initial score gap and sometimes even surpassing White children by 3rd grade. In contrast, although they maintained higher reading and math scores, children from East Asia and India showed decreasing scores over time, which tended to narrow their initial score advantage over non-Hispanic White children. School-level factors accounted partially for these differences. Particularly in terms of the academic trajectories, children of Latin American origin responded more to school-level factors than did children of Asian origin, who responded more to child and family background, with the exception of children from Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, who responded more to school-level factors. Simulation results point to the importance of school resources for the academic trajectories of children of immigrants.

Vitamin D deficiency: prevention or treatment?

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a chronic condition which contributes to general ill health and seems to be re-emerging in our catchment area since funding of vitamin D supplementation by...

Management of the nails in inflammatory dermatoses

All clinicians will be familiar with the typical protective measures that can be combined with topical steroid treatments in inflammatory skin diseases affecting the nail. However, there are choices concerning the strength of the treatments, how they might be applied and for how long. In addition there are topical alternatives to steroids in some instances, such as calcipotriol and the oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory nimeluside, in hyperkeratotic pustular variants of psoriasis. In this presentation we will also cover the further alternative of injected steroid, detailing the technique, selection of the subject and pattern of injection according to different practitioners. This is of relevance mainly in nail psoriasis, but can also be helpful in hyperkeratotic eczema, lupus erythematosus and some manifestations of lichen planus. Nail lichen planus represents a particularly resistant category of nail disease and justification of potent systemic therapy may require nail biopsy to provide diagnostic certainty. Unlike in psoriasis, potent therapy may be justified in children as well as in adults and may take the form of local or systemic injected steroid as well as courses of oral steroids lasting for several months. In children there is a spectrum of nail disease where the rough nails of ‘20 nail dystrophy’ may be in the nondestructive category of a histologically eczematous process, or may be lichen planus. The latter is at risk of progression with scarring, especially in children of Asian origin. In addition to steroid in its various forms, there are other treatments for psoriasis and lichen planus that cover a range of mechanisms. These include 5-fluorouracil, dithranol, cyclosporin, methorexate and oral retinoids as well as forms of electromagnetic radiation such as PUVA16 and superficial X-ray. As a final resort, certain forms of dystrophy wholly resistant to medical therapy may necessitate nail avulsion and matrix ablation. This is mainly seen with upgrowing big toenails and pincer nail deformity.

Caries among 3-year-olds in greater Manchester.

To measure the prevalence of caries, including nursing caries, amongst 3-year-old children in three districts of Greater Manchester in the North West of England. A cross-sectional survey of 762 randomly selected 3-year-old children using the dmft and dmfs indices. Three definitions of nursing caries were used in order to assess the varying prevalence of the disease according to which definition was applied. Children, aged 36-48 months, attending day nurseries, play groups and nurseries attached to primary schools were examined by three trained examiners under standardised conditions in three health districts in Greater Manchester. A random selection process was used to produce a quota sample to reflect the balance of childcare provision in each district. The overall proportion of children affected by general caries was 32%. The mean dmft score was 1.4 (sd = 2.8) and the mean dmfs was 2.8 (sd = 7.3). There were significant differences across the three districts. The prevalence of nursing caries varied widely when differing definitions of types were applied; 1.6% of the children had nursing caries according to the narrow definition, 7.2% showed the wider definition type and 9.8% had nursing caries of the broadest definition. In total 19% of children had caries which affected their upper incisors. Children of Asian origin had the highest levels of nursing and overall caries. Caries is a widespread problem in some very young children in the districts involved. Caries of upper anterior teeth contributes significantly to the overall level of caries in each of the localities in question. The prevalence of nursing caries is highly dependent on the case definition used.

A survey of caries in 3-year-olds in Greater Manchester

Objective To measure the prevalence of caries, including nursing caries, amongst 3-year-old children in three districts of Greater Manchester in the North West of England. Design A cross-sectional survey of 762 randomly selected 3-year-old children using the dmft and dmfs indices. Three definitions of nursing caries were used in order to assess the varying prevalence of the disease according to which definition was applied. Subjects Children, aged 36–48 months, attending day nurseries, playgroups and nurseries attached to primary schools were examined by three trained examiners under standardised conditions in three health districts in Greater Manchester. A random selection process was used to produce a quota sample to reflect the balance of childcare provision in each district. Results The overall proportion of children affected by general caries was 32%. The mean dmft score was 1.4 (sd = 2.8) and the mean dmfs was 2.8 (sd = 7.3). There were significant differences across the three districts. The prevalence of nursing caries varied widely when differing definitions of types were applied; 1.6% of the children had nursing caries according to the narrow definition, 7.2% showed the wider definition type and 9.8% had nursing caries of the broadest definition. In total 19% of children had caries which affected their upper incisors. Children of Asian origin had the highest levels of nursing and overall caries. Conclusions Caries is a widespread problem in some very young children in the districts involved. Caries of upper anterior teeth contributes significantly to the overall level of caries in each of the localities in question. The prevalence of nursing caries is highly dependent on the case definition used.

Role of microbial burden in aetiology of allergy and asthma

Recent decades have seen a significant shift in the main causes of illness among infants and young children. Until the 1950s and 196Os, acute infectious diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract were the most common conditions requiring medical attention. This pattern of morbidity persists to this day in the poorest regions of the world and still claims the lives of millions of children. In developed countries, however, and also in developing countries where successful programmes of vaccination and prevention have been established, chronic, recurrent illnesses of the respiratory tract have taken the place of acute diarrhoea. A very high proportion of children (up to half in populations of northern European origin) are affected by allergies, and the prevalence of asthma and other forms of recurrent airway obstruction is rising.’ Paradoxically, the increases seem most striking in areas where the quality of outdoor air has significantly improved’ and where good sanitation and nutrition prevail. Some years ago we separately proposed3,* similar hypotheses to explain these findings. This so-called “hygiene hypothesis” was an immunological extension of a concept introduced by Strachan.5 Its cornerstone is that changes in the type and level of stimulation from the microbial environment associated with improvements in public health and hygiene may have indirectly influenced the postnatal development of immune function(s), so as to increase predisposition to chronic allergic conditions during childhood. These changes involve both a general decrease in infectious burden during early life (in particular, respiratory infections) and variations in gastrointestinal flora. In this paper, we review how recent advances in understanding of the way immune responses develop in early life support the hygiene hypothesis.

Zig Zag Zoo and Other Games: The Oral Tradition of Children of Asian Origin in Keighley, West Yorkshire

Children's folklore, of which games and rhymes are a major part, is usually passed on orally, sometimes from adults to children, but often from older children to younger ones, both traditions being important if children are to maintain a lively oral heritage. Child to child transmission relies on several strands for its maintenance: contact between different ages of children, time spent by children with their peers away from adult interference, time to copy, practise and perfect techniques and rhymes. During the course of my research into children's oral tradition, which was a comparative study of eight year olds in nine schools in Keighley, I found that schools with an overwhelmingly Asian population showed differences in their play culture from the mainstream. It seems appropriate therefore, before an analysis of that culture, to give a description of the community, in order to identify some of the factors which may have played a part in establishing the play culture of these children.

Zig Zag Zoo and Other Games: The Oral Tradition of Children of Asian Origin in Keighley, West Yorkshire

Zig Zag Zoo and Other Games: The Oral Tradition of Children of Asian Origin in Keighley, West Yorkshire

Caries in pre-school children in Camden 1993/94.

Previous surveys carried out in the inner city area of Camden between 1966 and 1986 gave indication of a deterioration in dental health in pre-school children during the 1980s. Four hundred and six children were included in the current survey, which used the same sampling and methodology as previously. The aims of the present survey were to determine the current prevalence of caries and of rampant caries and to relate prevalence to social factors, to infant feeding habits and to the use of sweetened comforters, and to determine the extent of dental care received. Caries affected 11% of 2-year-old children and 29% of 3-year-olds, rampant caries affected 6% and 14% respectively. A higher likelihood of caries occurred in children of Asian origin and those given a sweetened comforter. For rampant caries, likelihood was greater amongst those of Asian origin and those given a sweet drink in a bottle for 2 years or longer. Comparison with results of the last study provides little evidence of improvement in dental health in young children in this low fluoride area, with a small proportion suffering relatively severely from caries.

High risk of lymphomas in children of Asian origin: ethnicity or confounding by socioeconomic status?

To examine the role of ethnic origin as a risk factor for paediatric lymphoma, a cancer registry-based analysis was undertaken in Yorkshire, UK. Children of Asian ethnic origin were found to have an odds ratio for lymphomas of 1.60 (CI 0.98-2.62), after adjusting for age and sex. After adjusting also for 'super profile group' as an indicator of socioeconomic status, the estimate became 1.99 (CI 1.08-3.68). Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas were analysed separately with similar results. Super profile group is an area-based measure and may not reflect the individual variation in living standards, especially among the Asian immigrants. Our results indicate that socioeconomic status does not confound the relationship between lymphomas and ethnic origin. However, there is a need for studies of ethnicity that include indicators of individual living standards or socioeconomic status.

Coeliac disease in the Rehovot-Ashdod region of Israel: incidence and ethnic distribution.

The data from a large group of children with biopsy proved coeliac disease born in the Rehovot-Ashdod region of Israel and treated in a regional hospital provided us with the basis for the determination of the annual birth cohort incidence of coeliac disease for the period 1968-81. The findings show a minimum birth cohort incidence of 1.71/1000 live births. The highest incidence rate was in children of Asian origin and the lowest in second generation Israel born. The incidence of coeliac disease rose sharply during the study period.

The educational performance of children of Asian origin

The educational performance of children of Asian origin

Blood Lead Concentrations in Pre-School Children in Birmingham1

A survey has been undertaken of the distribution of blood lead concentrations in pre-school children attending nursery schools or day centres in Birmingham. The majority of levels in excess of 1.65 μmol/1 were found in children of Asian origin. It is thought likely that the high blood lead concentration seen in these children is related to nutritional rather than environmental factors.