Measures In Children Research Articles

The Effect of Video-Based Action Observation Training and Live Action Observation Training on Motor Function, Activity Participation, and Secondary Outcome Measures in Children With Spastic Diparetic Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Study.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Video-Based Action Observation Training and Live Action Observation Training on motor function, activity participation, and secondary outcome measures in children with spastic diparetic cerebral palsy (CP). Thirty-nine children with spastic diparetic cerebral palsy, aged 5-14 years, with Gross Motor Function Classification System I-III, were distributed in equal numbers to any of the Video-Based Action Observation Training (conventional physiotherapy + Video-Based Action Observation Training), Live Action Observation Training (conventional physiotherapy + Live Action Observation Training), and control (conventional physiotherapy) groups through stratified randomization. For 8 weeks, action observation training groups received 20 minutes of conventional physiotherapy followed by 20 minutes of action observation training, and the control group received 40 minutes of conventional physiotherapy. Primary outcome measures were Gross Motor Function Measurement and Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation, secondary outcome measures were Pediatric Berg Balance Scale, timed-up-and-go test, five times sit-to-stand test (FTSST), Gillette Functional Assessment Questionnaire (GFAQ), and 1-minute walk test (1MWT). Improvements were observed in all other evaluation parameters of the groups except Gross Motor Function Measurement-lying and rolling (P = .066) in the Live Action Observation Training Group, and lying and rolling (P = .317) and crawling and kneeling (P = .063) motor subtests and Gillette Functional Assessment Questionnaire-walking scale (P = .513) in the control group. Comparisons of the increases in all other measurements between the groups, except for the dimensions of Gross Motor Function Measurement-lying and rolling (P = .172), were statistically significant (P < .05) and this difference was in favor of action observation training. It was found that 2 different AOTs applied in addition to conventional physiotherapy in children with spastic diparetic cerebral palsy were more effective on all outcomes than was conventional physiotherapy alone.

Psychometric Properties of Telugu Version of Scale of Oral Health Outcomes for 5-year-old Children.

Only a finite number of standard oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) measures are available for young children. However, instead of using parents as proxies to report a child's oral health status, children's self-reported oral health measures would be more accurate in providing their own perceptions of oral impacts. The study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Telugu version of the scale of oral health outcomes (SOHO-5T) for 5-year-old children in Telangana. The forward-backward translated SOHO-5T was pilot-tested among thirty children. The tested questionnaire was administered to 419 children, followed by a clinical oral examination using dentition status to evaluate dental caries (DC). Children (n = 30) were readministered the same questionnaire after a 2-week interval to test reliability. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were determined by Cronbach's α and intraclass correlation. Correlation with global ratings of oral health questions was done to assess construct validity. Discriminant validity was evaluated based on the presence or absence of DC. A p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The mean SOHO-5T score was 4.70, and the mean decayed teeth score was 2.48, with 49.16% of children having DC. Cronbach's α scores and the intraclass correlation (ICC) coefficient for overall SOHO-5T were 0.90 and 0.91, respectively. SOHO-5T also demonstrated good construct validity with a significant positive correlation with global ratings of oral health. SOHO-5T showed good discrimination between the presence (9.43 ± 3.10), or absence (0.14 ± 1.01) of DC. This study shows good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. It also exhibited good construct and discriminant validity. Meghana D, Sukhabogi JR, Doshi D, et al. Psychometric Properties of Telugu Version of Scale of Oral Health Outcomes for 5-year-old Children. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2024;17(8):933-937.

Detecting Age Prone to Growth Retardation in Children Through a Bi-Response Nonparametric Regression Model with a Penalized Spline Estimator.

The growth of children aged 0-60 months can impact their subsequent growth and development. This study aims to identify the vulnerable age for boys and girls, who experience growth retardation within this age range. The study design used was a cross-sectional approach in which each child's measurement data was only taken once. The data were obtained from weighing results at the Health Integrated Service Post in South Sulawesi Province in 2022. The number of data analyzed was 698 children, namely 369 boys and 329 girls by considering the factors of age, weight, and height. We used a nonparametric bi-response regression model estimated using a penalized spline. The knots used are 12, 24, 36, and 48 on each model. The value of the penalized spline regression coefficient in the model indicates that the child's growth is slowed down and is not within normal limits. This can be seen in the weight and height of boys from the age of reaching 12 months to 24 months, only increasing by about 0.3 kg and 0.3 cm. For girls, the problem occurs from the age of 24 to 36 months, namely their weight increases by about 0.6 kg, and their height increases by about 1 cm. The analysis results show that boys' growth slows down at 2 years of age and continues until 5 years of age. In the case of girls, their growth begins to slow when they are 3 years old until they reach 5 years old.

Preventive Cardiovascular Measures in Children with Elevated Blood Pressure.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries and are becoming increasingly significant in developing nations. Many cardiovascular risk factors originate early in life, even prenatally. Elevated blood pressure and hypertension are gaining attention in paediatrics due to their rising prevalence and impact on early cardiovascular risk in adulthood. Along with non-modifiable risk factors for hypertension, several modifiable factors can be addressed through primordial and primary prevention, emphasising lifestyle modifications. When these measures fail and elevated blood pressure develops, early detection is crucial (secondary prevention). Regular blood pressure measurement, a simple and non-invasive procedure, should be a standard practice in paediatric clinical settings. Diagnosing elevated blood pressure and hypertension should adhere to recommended guidelines. Lifestyle modifications are the first-line therapy for primary hypertension in children; if a secondary cause is identified, targeted treatment can be implemented, but a healthy lifestyle remains essential. The early detection and treatment of high-risk blood pressure enable timely interventions to prevent complications (tertiary prevention). Collectively, these preventive measures aim to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Furthermore, quaternary prevention seeks to avoid unnecessary or harmful medical interventions including unwarranted examinations and pharmacotherapy. This underscores the importance of accurate diagnosis and treatment of elevated blood pressure and hypertension and emphasises the need for primordial and primary prevention to minimise unnecessary clinical interventions.

The role of lexical and prosodic characteristics of mothers' child-directed speech for the early vocabulary development of Italian children with cochlear implants.

Variability in the vocabulary outcomes of children with cochlear implants (CIs) is partially explained by child-directed speech (CDS) characteristics. Yet, relatively little is known about whether and how mothers adapt their lexical and prosodic characteristics to the child's hearing status (before and after implantation, and compared with groups with normal hearing (NH)) and how important they are in affecting vocabulary development in the first 12 months of hearing experience. To investigate whether mothers of children with CIs produce CDS with similar lexical and prosodic characteristics compared with mothers of age-matched children with NH, and whether they modify these characteristics after implantation. In addition, to investigate whether mothers' CDS characteristics predict children's early vocabulary skills before and after implantation. A total of 34 dyads (17 with NH, 17 with children with CIs; ages = 9-32 months), all acquiring Italian, were involved in the study. Mothers' and children's lexical quantity (tokens) and variety (types), mothers' prosodic characteristics (pitch range and variability), and children's vocabulary skills were assessed at two time points, corresponding to before and 1 year post-CI activation for children with CIs. Children's vocabulary skills were assessed using parent reports; lexical and prosodic characteristics were observed in semi-structured mother-child interactions. Results showed that mothers of children with CIs produced speech with similar lexical quantity but lower lexical variety, and with increased pitch range and variability, than mothers of children with NH. Mothers generally increased their lexical quantity and variety and their pitch range between sessions. Children with CIs showed reduced expressive vocabulary and lower lexical quantity and variety than their peers 12 months post-CI activation. Mothers' prosodic characteristics did not explain variance in children's vocabulary skills; their lexical characteristics predicted children's early vocabulary and lexical outcomes, especially in the NH group, but were not related to later language development. Our findings confirm previous studies on other languages and support the idea that the lexical characteristics of mothers' CDS have a positive effect on children's early measures of vocabulary development across hearing groups, whereas prosodic cues play a minor role. Greater input quantity and quality may assist children in the building of basic language model representations, whereas pitch cues may mainly serve attentional and emotional processes. Results emphasize the need for additional longitudinal studies investigating the input received from other figures surrounding the child and its role for children's language development. What is already known on the subject Mothers' CDS is thought to facilitate and support language acquisition in children with various language developmental trajectories, including children with CIs. Because children with CIs are at risk for language delays and have acoustic processing limitations, their mothers may have to produce a lexically simpler but prosodically richer input, compared to mothers of children with NH. Yet, the literature reports mixed findings and no study to our knowledge has concurrently addressed the role of mothers' lexical and prosodic characteristics for children's vocabulary development before implantation and in the first 12 months of hearing experience. What this study adds to the existing knowledge The study shows that mothers of children with CIs produce input of similar quantity but reduced variety, and with heightened pitch characteristics, compared to mothers of children with NH. There was also a general increase in mothers' lexical quantity and variety, and in their pitch range, between sessions. Only their lexical characteristics predicted children's early vocabulary skills. Their lexical variety predicted children's expressive vocabulary and lexical variety only in the NH group. What are the practical and clinical implications of this work? These findings expand our knowledge about the effects of maternal input and may contribute to the improvement of early family-centred intervention programmes for supporting language development in children with CIs.

Immune enhancing measures in Children

Children are the epitome of innocence and purity therefore the child’s health care should include specific biological and psychological needs that must be ensured to the survival and healthy development of the child, the future adult. They are in constant danger of developing infections due to underdeveloped immune system. Ayurveda emphasizes not only treating diseases but also by maintenance of health by improving immunity of the body. Several measures are considered to enhance the immunity in children. To ameliorate the immunity Acharya Kashyapa described a special formulation by the name Lehana in which herbal drugs are mixed with Madhu (honey) and Sarpi (clarified butter) to the child for the first time. Suvarnaprashna is another method adopted for physical and mental development in newborn and preschool children. Phalaprashan Samskara is a ritual or sacrament acknowledged by him where the first solid food is introduced to the baby that helps in strengthening the bodily tissues. In our classics as a part of Dinacharya, Abhyanga and Snana helps to keep child’s immune system performing at its peak by stimulating the lymphatic system. Nidra (adequate sleep) contributes to child’s overall wellbeing and establishing healthy sleep habits with recommended amount of sleep for their age is an absolute necessity to rejuvenate the body. Daily practice of Yogasana and Pranayam in children helps them to boost their immune system by synchronizing their mind and body. Encouraging children to follow an Ayurvedic routine helps in balancing and enhancing their innate capacity to grow, heal and thrive.

Should We Stop Using Lexical Diversity Measures in Children's Language Sample Analysis?

Prior work has identified weaknesses in commonly used indices of lexical diversity in spoken language samples, such as type-token ratio (TTR) due to sample size and elicitation variation, we explored whether TTR and other diversity measures, such as number of different words/100 (NDW), vocabulary diversity (VocD), and the moving average TTR would be more sensitive to child age and clinical status (typically developing [TD] or developmental language disorder [DLD]) if samples were obtained from standardized prompts. We utilized archival data from the norming samples of the Test of Narrative Language and the Edmonton Narrative Norms Instrument. We examined lexical diversity and other linguistic properties of the samples, from a total of 1,048 children, ages 4-11 years; 798 of these were considered TD, whereas 250 were categorized as having a language learning disorder. TTR was the least sensitive to child age or diagnostic group, with good potential to misidentify children with DLD as TD and TD children as having DLD. Growth slopes of NDW were shallow and not very sensitive to diagnostic grouping. The strongest performing measure was VocD. Mean length of utterance, TNW, and verbs/utterance did show both good growth trajectories and ability to distinguish between clinical and typical samples. This study, the largest and best controlled to date, re-affirms that TTR should not be used in clinical decision making with children. A second popular measure, NDW, is not measurably stronger in terms of its psychometric properties. Because the most sensitive measure of lexical diversity, VocD, is unlikely to gain popularity because of reliance on computer-assisted analysis, we suggest alternatives for the appraisal of children's expressive vocabulary skill.

Effect of Body Mass Index on Pedobarographic and Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Adolescent Flexible Flat Feet.

Although adolescent flexible flatfoot deformity (FFD) is common, little is known regarding the effect of weight on associated symptomatology. This study uses pedobarography and patient-reported outcome measures (PROs) to determine if overweight adolescents with FFD have more severe alterations in dynamic plantar pressures than normal body mass index percentiles (wnBMI) with FFD and if such alterations correlate with pain and activity. A retrospective review of patients aged 10 to 18 years with nonsyndromic symptomatic FFD was performed. Overweight (BMI percentile ≥ 85%) patients were compared with wnBMI patients with regard to dynamic plantar pressure measures and PRO scores. Pedobarographic data were subdivided into regions: medial/lateral hindfoot and midfoot, and first, second, and third to fifth metatarsals. Plantar pressure variables were normalized to account for differences in foot size, body weight, and walking speed. Contact area (CA%), maximum force by body weight (MF%), and contact time as a percentage of the rollover process (CT%) were calculated. Two foot-specific PROs were assessed, including the Foot and Ankle Outcome Score and the Oxford Ankle Foot Measure for Children. Of the 48 adolescents studied, 27 (56%) were overweight and 21 (44%) were wnBMI. After normalization of the data, overweight patients had significantly greater medial midfoot MF%, whereas CT% was increased across the medial and lateral midfoot and hindfoot regions. Correlations showed positive trends: as BMI percentile increases, so will CA and MF in the medial midfoot, as well as CT in the medial and lateral midfoot and hindfoot. Significant differences were seen between groups, with the overweight group reporting lower sports and recreation subscores than the wnBMI group. No significant differences were seen in the pain and disability subscores. Although overweight adolescents with FFD exhibit greater forces and more time spent during the rollover process in the medial midfoot than normal-weight patients, they did not report worse pain or disability associated with their flat foot deformity. Therapeutic level 3.

Overheated children's playgrounds in Central European cities: The effects of surfaces and shading on thermal exposure during hot summer days

Thermal exposure in children's playgrounds is a specific issue in relation to outdoor thermal comfort. In moderate climate regions, playgrounds are prone to overheating on hot summer days. When aiming for a safe design for playgrounds, different thermal conditions with various active surfaces and shading solutions, both natural and artificial, should be considered. Twelve case studies were performed in four Czech cities to quantify the differences in thermal exposure between individual types of active surface and shading, using mean radiant temperature and the biometeorological indices UTCI and PET (plus its experimental child-specific adjustments) as an expression of the thermal environment on hot summer days. The highest thermal exposure appeared above gravel, followed by rubber. Nevertheless, apart from a slightly lower thermal exposure above maintained lawn, substantial positive microclimatic effect of natural surfaces, such as bark mulch, sand, or a small water pool, was not confirmed. In terms of shading, trees provide more pronounced cooling effect than shade sails, but even the latter are effective in substantially reducing heat stress. Analyses of experimental adjustment of PET further indicate the importance of considering the specifics of a child's organism and behavioural adaptation measures when addressing thermal comfort and heat stress in playgrounds.

Outcomes and Measures of Children with Bilateral Cochlear Implants: A Single-center Experience in Bangladesh

Children dealing with hearing impairment encounter challenges associated with speech and language delays, significantly impacting their quality of life. Recent data from the World Health Organization indicate that 466 million people worldwide experience disabling hearing loss, with 34 million being children. Cochlear implantation (CI) is a novel approach for severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. In pediatric CI, the main objective is to enable hearing-impaired children to perceive sound promptly, facilitating speech and language development. This study investigated the outcomes of bilateral pediatric cochlear implant (CI) users in Bangladesh, applying the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing questionnaire and the Classification of Auditory Performance-II (CAP-II). Conducted at the Combined Military Hospital in Bangladesh, the study involved 10 children with bilateral cochlear implants. The results revealed commendable scores in speech understanding, spatial hearing, and qualities of hearing, underscoring the effectiveness of cochlear implant interventions. Deeply examining the implications is the topic of discussion of these findings, emphasizing the positive impact of early implantation and the adaptability of assessment tools in diverse cultural contexts.

Photo Bio-stimulation on Acupuncture Points: Impact on Selected Measures in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

This study aims to investigate the effect of adding photo bio-stimulation to standard physical therapy on spasticity, ankle active range of motion (ROM), gross motor function, plantar surface area (PSA), hind foot peak pressure, and quality of life (QoL) in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Fifty-one children with spastic CP were randomly assigned to the laser therapy group (LG) and received regular physical therapy plus laser acupuncture over three acupuncture points (GB34, LR3, LIV3), and the control group received regular physical therapy three times per week for 4 weeks. Muscle tone using the modified Ashworth scale, ankle active ROM using goniometry, PSA and the peak pressure on the hind foot (PPHF) by E-Med system, motor function by Gross Motor Function Measure (88 items), and pediatric QoL questionnaire were assessed before and after intervention and after 3 months. Posttreatment values of ankle plantar flexion (AP), ankle dorsiflexion (AD), and PPHF demonstrated statistically significant differences and medium to high effect size in favor of LG ( P = 0.005 and d = 0.73, P = 0.02 and d = 0.57, P = 0.01 and d = 0.61, respectively). At the 3-month follow-up analysis, the same outcomes (AD, AP, and PPHF) demonstrated statistically significant differences and medium to high effect size ( P = 0.000 and d =1.46, P = 0.02 and d = 0.86, P = 0.01 and d = 0.75, respectively) in favor of the LG. Adding laser acupuncture on GB34, LR3, and LIV3 to standard physical therapy can reduce spasticity, and improve ankle ROM, gross motor function, PSA, hind foot peak pressure, and QoL for children with spastic CP.

Children's and Parents' Factors That Affect Parenting Stress in Preschool Children With Developmental Disabilities or Typical Development.

This study compared parenting stress in preschool children with developmental disabilities (DD) or typical development (TD). We also investigated children's factors that affect parenting stress. A total of 196 preschool children participated in the study (aged 54.8±9.2 months). There were 79 children with DD (59 with autism spectrum disorder, 61 with intellectual disability, 12 with language disorder) and 117 with TD. The high parenting stress and the low parenting stress groups were divided based on the Total Stress of Korean Parenting Stress Index Fourth Edition (K-PSI-4) with an 85-percentile cutoff score. Pearson's correlation analysis was conducted to calculate the correlation between K-PSI-4 and the children's or parents' measures. The difference in parenting stress between DD and TD was significant in the Total Stress of K-PSI-4 (p<0.001). The Total Stress scale of K-PSI-4 represented a modest to strong correlation with cognitive development, adaptive functioning, social communication, and behavioral problems in children with DD. Our results showed that caregivers of children with DD reported higher parenting stress than those with TD. Parenting stress was strongly associated with cognitive development, adaptive functioning, social communication, and behavioral problems in children with DD. Among the children's factors, especially social communication, attention problems, and aggressive behavior had association with caregivers' higher parenting stress. These findings suggest the need for early intervention for parenting stress in caregivers by assessing child characteristics, including social cognition, awareness, communication, and inattention and hyperactivity, in the evaluation of children with DD.

Prenatal exposure to Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and adiposity measures of children at 4 and 6 years: A prospective birth cohort in China

There is growing evidence that prenatal exposure to Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) was associated with childhood obesity, but evidence on multiple adiposity measures including arm circumference (AC), and waist circumference (WC) among Chinese children is limited. We investigated the associations of prenatal exposure to PFAS with adiposity measures of children at 4 and 6 years of age in the Shanghai-Minhang Birth Cohort Study. A total of 573 mother-child pairs with maternal PFAS concentrations and at least one measurement of adiposity measures of children were included in the present study. Eleven PFAS were assessed in maternal fasting blood samples. Information on children's weight, height, AC, and WC was collected at follow-ups. Weight for age Z score (WAZ), body mass index for age Z score (BMIz), and children overweight were calculated based on the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards. Multivariate linear regression, Poisson regression with robust error variance, and Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) models were used to examine the associations of prenatal exposure to PFAS with children's adiposity measures. Eight PFAS with detection rates above 85 % were included in the analyses. In the multivariate linear regression models, maternal PFNA concentrations were associated with a greater AC (β = 0.29, 95 % Confidence Interval (CI): 0.04–0.55) in 4-year-old children and with an increase in WAZ (β = 0.26, 95 % CI: 0.06–0.46), BMIz (β = 0.31, 95 % CI: 0.09–0.53), AC (β = 0.49, 95 % CI: 0.08–0.90), and WC (β = 1.47, 95 % CI: 0.41–2.52) in 6-year-old children. We also observed the associations of maternal concentrations of PFOS, PFNA, PFUdA, and PFTrDA with the increased risk of children overweight in 6-year-old children. BKMR models further supported the findings from multivariate linear regression and Poisson regression models, and identified PFNA as the most important contributor. Moreover, the associations described above were generally more pronounced in girls. In conclusion, prenatal exposure to PFAS was associated with an increased risk of children's adiposity with a sex-specific manner, and PFNA contributed most to the associations after controlling for the effect of co-exposure to other PFAS compounds, especially among girls at 6 years of age.

Factors related to oral health behavior among primary schoolchildren in rural Armenia

Abstract Background Oral health (OH) of children is very important for their physical and mental health and wellbeing. OH is known to be tightly linked to OH behavior. There is lack of studies on children's OH behavior in rural Armenia. This study aimed to measure OH behavior among primary schoolchildren in two villages of Armenia and identify factors associated with their desired OH behavior. Methods A cross-sectional study among schoolchildren and their primary caregivers (parents) was carried out in 2022 in Sardarapat and Mrgashat communities of Armavir province, Armenia. Overall, OH status of 400 schoolchildren was assessed by a dentist, and their parents participated in a telephone interview. The survey questionnaire included items on parent's OH knowledge, child's OH behavior and nutrition practices, and family's socio-demographic characteristics. Multiple linear regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with child's OH behavior score. Results The mean age of children was 8.3 years, and the mean age of their caregivers was 33.6 years. Children's mean OH behavior score was 1.8 of the maximum of 5 (i.e. 36% score); nutrition practice score was 6.0 of 14, and parental OH knowledge score was 6.9 of 9. Factors positively associated with child's OH behavior in the adjusted analysis included child's nutrition practice score (B = 0.07; p = 0.026), parent's OH knowledge score (B = 0.12; p = 0.002), higher than secondary education of parent (B = 0.22; p = 0.042), and family's higher than average living standards (B = 0.48; p = 0.051). Conclusions The study identified that OH behavior of primary schoolchildren in rural Armenia was poor. It could be improved through increasing the knowledge of parents on child's desired OH behavior and nutrition practices. An unexpected finding was the lack of association between children's OH behavior and objective measures of their OH - plaque index and DMFT (number of decayed, missing due to caries and filled permanent and primary teeth). Key messages • Rural children’s OH behavior in Armenia was mainly poor. To address this issue, parents should be educated on correct child care practices including child’s oral health and nutrition behavior. • Further research is needed to explain the reason of the lack of association between objective measures of child’s oral health (plaque index and DMFT) and child’s OH behavior score.

Effects of Stair-Climbing Exercise on Health-Related Physical Fitness Measures in Children with Developmental Disabilities

Effects of Stair-Climbing Exercise on Health-Related Physical Fitness Measures in Children with Developmental Disabilities

“It was like I was not a person, it was like I was the nature”: The impact of arts-in-nature experiences on the wellbeing of children living in areas of high deprivation

BackgroundNature can weaken the negative effects of deprivation on health, shifting away from pathogenic models of health and supporting the wellbeing of disadvantaged groups. Nevertheless, children living in deprived areas are nine times less likely to have access to nature compared to more affluent children. Schools can facilitate equity of access to nature, thereby playing a crucial role in addressing health inequities. What has received scant attention in existing literature is how access to, and engagement with, nature can be facilitated through arts experiences. Methods‘Eco-capabilities’ is a pilot study exploring the impact of the arts-in-nature practice - ‘Artscaping’ - on the wellbeing of 101 children (aged 7–10) living in areas of high deprivation. Qualitative and arts-based methods were used to understand children's, artists' and teachers' experiences of participating in the intervention. Quantitative methods were used to gain preliminary information on children's self-reported measures of wellbeing pre- and post-intervention. FindingsChildren's wellbeing was supported by the development of: self-confidence and self-esteem; agency; slowliness and calmness; and connectedness with nature. Although children's self-reported measures of wellbeing did not reach statistically significance, the most noticeable changes were that children felt happier with their life as a whole, spending time outdoors and doing things away from home, and more optimistic about what future holds for them. ConclusionsThis study developed the proof of concept for the arts-in-nature intervention. Future research should focus on scaling-up this intervention in primary, secondary and special schools in a wider range of geospatial contexts. Future research should also prioritise the collaboration between artists and teachers to ensure the sustainability of this practice beyond the scope of the research.

Precision of DXA-derived Visceral Adipose Tissue Measures in Children and their associations

Precision of DXA-derived Visceral Adipose Tissue Measures in Children and their associations

Urinary neonicotinoid insecticides and adiposity measures among 7-year-old children in northern China: A cross-sectional study.

Neonicotinoid insecticides (NEOs) are emerging synthetic insecticides used in various pest management regimens worldwide. Toxicology studies have indicated the obesogenic potential of NEOs, but their associations with adiposity measures are largely unknown. We aimed to assess urinary levels of NEOs/metabolites and their associations with children's adiposity measures, and to further investigate the potential role of oxidative stress. This study included 380 children who participated in the 7th year's follow-up of the Laizhou Wan Birth Cohort in northern China. Urinary levels of seven NEOs and two metabolites and a biomarker of lipid peroxidation named 8-iso-prostaglandin-F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) were detected. A total of nine indicators of adiposity were measured. Body mass index (BMI) z-score ≥85th percentile was defined as overweight/obesity, and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR)≥0.5 was considered as abdominal obesity. Multiple linear regression, binary logistic regression and mediation analysis were performed. Six NEOs [imidacloprid (IMI, 99.7%), clothianidin (CLO, 98.9%), dinotefuran (DIN, 97.6%), thiamethoxam (THM, 95.5%), acetamiprid (ACE, 82.9%), thiacloprid (THD, 77.6%)] and two metabolites [N-desmethyl-acetamiprid (N-DMA, 100.0%), 6-chloronicotinic acid (6-CINA, 97.9%)] exhibited high detection rates. Multiple linear regressions showed positive associations of waist circumference with urinary levels of IMI and THM, of WHtR with IMI and THM levels, and of body fat percentage with 6-CINA levels. In contrast, exposure to N-DMA was negatively associated with body fat percentage and fat mass index. Binary logistic regressions further revealed that higher IMI levels were associated with overweight/obesity (OR=1.556, 95% CI: 1.100, 2.201) and abdominal obesity (OR=1.478, 95% CI: 1.078, 2.026) in children. 8-iso-PGF2α demonstrated 27.92%, 69.52% and 35.37% mediating effects in the positive associations of IMI, THD and THM with WHtR, respectively. Sex modified the associations of DIN with body fat mass (pint=0.032), body fat percentage (pint=0.009), fat mass index (pint=0.037) and the overweight/obesity rate (pint=0.046), with negative associations in girls and nonsignificant positive associations in boys. School-age children in northern China were widely exposed to NEOs/metabolites. Urinary levels of NEOs/metabolites were associated with adiposity measures through the mediating role of 8-iso-PGF2α. These associations were mixed, and a sex-specific effect might exist.

The Relationship Between Cortical Thickness and Executive Function Measures in Children With and Without ADHD

Objective: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity; however, other executive function dysregulation is common, including inhibition and working memory. This study aims to identify CT differences based on executive function performance in individuals with and without ADHD. Methods: Data for this study was acquired from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) database (61 ADHD, and 61 age and sex matched controls). General linear models were used to assess relationships between measures, CT, and diagnosis. Results: We found a significant relation between CT and working memory scores in the right precentral area. Additionally, we found significant interactions between CT, diagnosis, and measure outcome in the Flanker assessment (in the left fusiform area) and the attention score of the CBCL (in the right precentral region). Conclusion: This suggests that there may be different relationships that exist between CT and executive function in children with ADHD.

Evidence-Based and User-Centred Development of an Ecounseling & Learning-System for Parents of Children with ADHD.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders in childhood and adolescence. It is characterized by attention deficit, hyperactivity, and impulsivity as the main symptoms. These can lead to increased stress in everyday life for the entire family. The e-counseling and e-learning application is being developed within the ELSA project to support parents of ADHD-diagnosed children in everyday life. The requirements identified included, for example, advice on children's restlessness or measures against sibling rivalry.