School-aged Boys Research Articles

Live, eat, sleep football? Body size and composition and beliefs about physical activity in an international cohort of school-aged boys participating in regular team sport

and participation inteam sports may be specifically in decline despite the potential benefits, which extend beyond physical health. The DanoneNations Cup (DNC) is an annual football tournament and nutrition education programme involving 32 nations which focuses onthe promotion of “an inspiring and healthy future”. This study aimed to undertake a cross-country comparison of body size and com-position, activity levels and beliefs in children who are engaged in team sport to better understand its role in promoting healthylifestyles.The 2013 DNC final took place in England and participating children completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of theweek-long event, with self-report of habitual food intake and activity levels and knowledge of general nutrition and activity recom-mendations. Subject to parental informed consent and child assent anthropometric measurements (weight, height, body fat via bio-electric impedance and waist and hip circumferences) were also taken on one occasion using standard paediatric methodologies.Pre-questionnaires were completed by 190 children (sample A, 16 countries) and anthropometric data was collected from 183 chil-dren (sample B, 16 countries, all male, mean age 12·3[0·4] years). Fifty two percent of the children in sample A (n=93) used activetransport to school and 73% (n=139) were active during school breaks. Sixty six percent (n=125) reported 5 or more hours of sportper week but only 23% (n=43) cited the recommendation for children of their age to be active for at least one hour per day with over athird (n=61, 35%) believing the recommendations did not include daily activity. Modal screen time was 30 minutes per day (n=46,24%). The majority of the children (57%) reported having televisions but not computer consoles in their bedrooms. Mean BMI insample B was 18·3[2·0] kg/m

Teen responses when a younger school-age sibling has been bullied

The prevalence of bullying among children, and the sometimes tragic consequences as a result, has become a major concern in schools. The larger research for this study reported on in-depth interviews with 28 elementary and middle school-age boys and girls (7–12 years) who had experienced various forms of bullying and relational aggression by their peers, mostly on school grounds, and the responses of their parents and teachers. Responses of the children's teen siblings to the younger child's revelations of being bullied are the focus of this report. In-depth interviews with each teen sibling (n = 28) and with each bullied child revealed how the children viewed the teen siblings' supportive strategies. Almost all the children (89%) reported that their older siblings talked with them and offered advice. The teen siblings shared with the younger ones that they too (71%) had been bullied, or they knew someone who had been bullied (18%). Teens gave the advice to ‘bully back’ to 11% and advice to ‘tell someone’ to 32% of the younger children. The children felt quite positive about their older siblings' advice (89%), which did differ depending on the bullied child's gender. Teen siblings gave advice to ‘avoid bullies’ to 77% of female and to 27% of male younger children.

Growing Fat on Reform: Obesity and Nutritional Disparities among China's Children, 1979–2005

AbstractEconomic growth over the past three decades has greatly improved the nutrition and living standards of people in China. However, increasingly, the Chinese are becoming heavier. As many as a quarter of Chinese school-age urban boys are overweight or obese, yet a third of Chinese children remain underweight. Drawing on six national surveys of children's health conducted since 1979, the article reports on trends in nutritional status and regional disparities. It shows that the drivers behind the increase in mean body mass and in nutritional inequality are associated with rising household incomes and associated inequalities between provinces.

Support for HPV vaccination mandates for both females and males.

To examine college students' support for HPV vaccination mandates for school-aged youth and examine perceptions and behavioral factors associated with vaccine mandate support for both boys and girls. Data were collected from 1322 college students by an Internet-delivered questionnaire. Bivariate analyses and logistic regression were performed. Relative to those who did not support HPV vaccination mandates for school-aged boys and girls, females (p = .038), non-white participants (p = .001), those who generally supported HPV vaccination mandates (p < .01), and those who had had sexual intercourse (p = .005) were significantly more likely to support HPV mandates for both sexes. Identifying those who support HPV vaccination mandates is important for increasing vaccine uptake and reducing HPV-related cancers.

Prenatal bisphenol A exposure and maternally reported behavior in boys and girls

Prenatal exposure to gonadal hormones plays a major role in the normal development of the male and female brain and sexually dimorphic behaviors. Hormone-dependent differences in brain structure and function suggest that exposure to exogenous endocrine disrupting chemicals may be associated with sex-specific alterations in behavior. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental chemical that has been shown to alter estrogen, androgen, and thyroid hormone signaling pathways. Epidemiological and experimental studies suggest associations between prenatal exposure to BPA and child behavior, however data are inconsistent, and few studies have examined school age children. We examined BPA concentration in spot urine samples from women at mean 27 weeks of pregnancy in relation to child behavior assessed at age 6–10 years using the parent-completed Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). We report associations between maternal BPA urinary concentrations and several CBCL scores in 153 children (77 boys and 76 girls). We observed a significant interaction between maternal urinary BPA and sex for several behaviors (externalizing, aggression, Anxiety Disorder, Oppositional/Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder traits), but no significant associations between BPA and scores on any CBCL scales. However in analyses restricted to children of mothers with detectable prenatal urinary BPA (n=125), BPA was associated with moderately increased internalizing and externalizing behaviors, withdrawn/depressed behavior, somatic problems, and Oppositional/Defiant Disorder traits in boys. In addition we observed a significant interaction between BPA and sex for several behaviors (externalizing, withdrawn/depressed, rule-breaking, Oppositional/Defiant Disorder traits, and Conduct Disorder traits). These results suggest that prenatal exposure to BPA may be related to increased behavior problems in school age boys, but not girls.

A Comparison of Pragmatic Language in Boys With Autism and Fragile X Syndrome

Impaired pragmatic language (i.e., language use for social interaction) is a hallmark feature of both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common known monogenic disorder associated with ASD. However, few cross-population comparisons of ASD and FXS have been conducted, and it is unclear whether pragmatic language profiles in these conditions overlap. The authors used seminaturalistic and standardized assessment methods to characterize pragmatic language abilities of 29 school-aged boys with idiopathic ASD, 38 with FXS and comorbid ASD, 16 with FXS without ASD, 20 with Down syndrome, and 20 with typical development. Similar severity of pragmatic language deficits was observed in both of the groups with ASD (idiopathic and fragile X-associated). ASD comorbidity had a detrimental effect on the pragmatic language skills of the boys with FXS. Some different patterns emerged across the two pragmatic assessment tools, with more robust group differences observed in pragmatics assessed in a seminaturalistic conversational context. These findings have implications for pragmatic language assessment and intervention, as well as for understanding the potential role of the fragile X gene, Fragile X Mental Retardation-1, in the pragmatic language phenotype of ASD.

초등학교 남아의 인터넷 폭력게임 사용시간과 게임과몰입정도가 공격적 행동에 미치는 영향

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the time spent on violent internet games and game overindulgence on aggressive behavior exhibited by elementary school-aged boys and to investigate the mediating effects of self-control on the relationship between children's game overindulgence and their aggressive behavior. The subjects of this study were 118 fourth to sixth grade boys from five elementary schools. The instruments used were the aggression subscale of the Korean-Youth Self Report (Oh, Ha, Lee, & Hong, 2001), a questionnaire of the time spent playing violent internet games developed by the authors, the Internet Game Addiction Scale for Children (Kim, Lee, Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2006) and the Self-Control Scale (Nam, 1999). The data were analyzed by means of a Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results were as follows. First, children's self-control mediated the relationship between game overindulgence and aggressive

Generalization of negatively reinforced mands in children with autism.

Each day, people encounter stimuli they find unpleasant. Some children with autism may require systematic instruction to acquire the communication skills necessary to request the termination of such aversive stimuli. We taught 2 school-aged boys with autism a mand (e.g., signing "stop") that could be used to escape a variety of aversive stimuli. First, we employed a systematic assessment to identify aversive stimuli to use during training. We then conducted mand training sequentially across those stimuli until sufficient exemplars were trained for generalization to occur to untrained stimuli. For both participants, cross-stimulus generalization was observed after training with 2 stimuli. Participants manded for escape in the presence of aversive stimuli, but almost never manded in the presence of preferred stimuli or when the programmed stimuli were absent. In addition, we found an inverse relation between acquisition of the mand and engagement in problem behavior and evidence of generalization to nontraining contexts.

Sentence Comprehension in Boys With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Previous research has suggested that language comprehension might be particularly impaired in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but this profile has been only broadly characterized. In the current study, the authors examined sentence comprehension in school-age boys with ASD, including a subgroup with intellectual disability (ID), with particular attention paid to errors that might differentiate between lexically and syntactically based difficulties. Participants were boys with ASD (n = 45, ages 4-11 years) and younger typically developing boys (n = 45, ages 2-6 years). Comprehension was assessed with the Test for Reception of Grammar-Version 2 (TROG-2; Bishop, 2003). Error types were analyzed for a subset of items. Boys with ASD did not differ from younger typically developing boys matched on receptive vocabulary in overall sentence comprehension on the TROG-2 or the number of lexical errors committed. In contrast, the subgroup of boys with ASD and ID (n = 16) had poorer overall performance and committed more lexical errors than younger typically developing boys matched on nonverbal cognition. On average, comprehension was delayed in school-age boys with ASD but not beyond receptive vocabulary expectations. Boys with ASD and ID, however, had a weakness in sentence comprehension beyond nonverbal cognitive expectations.

Autonomic Correlates of Speech Versus Nonspeech Tasks in Children and Adults

To assess autonomic arousal associated with speech and nonspeech tasks in school-age children and young adults. Measures of autonomic arousal (electrodermal level, electrodermal response amplitude, blood pulse volume, and heart rate) were recorded prior to, during, and after the performance of speech and nonspeech tasks by twenty 7- to 9-year-old children and twenty 18- to 22-year-old adults. Across age groups, autonomic arousal was higher for speech tasks compared with nonspeech tasks, based on peak electrodermal response amplitude and blood pulse volume. Children demonstrated greater relative arousal, based on heart rate and blood pulse volume, for nonspeech oral motor tasks than adults but showed similar mean arousal levels for speech tasks as adults. Children demonstrated sex differences in autonomic arousal; specifically, autonomic arousal remained high for school-age boys but not girls in a more complex open-ended narrative task that followed a simple sentence production task. Speech tasks elicit greater autonomic arousal than nonspeech tasks, and children demonstrate greater autonomic arousal for nonspeech oral motor tasks than adults. Sex differences in autonomic arousal associated with speech tasks in school-age children are discussed relative to speech-language differences between boys and girls.

자연경과 관찰에 의한 주의력결핍 과잉행동장애 아동에서 장기간의 약물치료가 성장에 미치는 영향

Objectives : This study was conducted naturalistically in order to observe the long-term effects of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications on growth rates among Korean school-aged boys with ADHD. Methods : Participants in the study were boys with ADHD aged 6 to 11 years who have taken ADHD medication, methylphenidate (extended release) or atomoxetine. They attended scheduled visits monthly or bimonthly for clinical assessment with measurement of height and weight. In this study, 35 boys with ADHD (mean age at baseline=<TEX>$7.90{\pm}1.77$</TEX> years ; mean age at endpoint= <TEX>$12.54{\pm}1.91$</TEX> years) were included, with a mean follow-up period of 4.64 years (<TEX>${\pm}1.62$</TEX> years), ranging from 2 to 9.7 years. Height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) measurements were converted to "age-corrected Z-scores" using data from Growth Charts provided by the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007. Results : Age-corrected endpoint growth parameters (height, weight, BMI Z-scores) did not differ significantly from the baseline values (height t=0.027 ; weight t=-0.61 ; BMI t=-1.86, in paired t-test). Especially high correlation was observed between the baseline and endpoint height Z-scores (r=0.876, p<.001), for which the coefficient of determination <TEX>$r^2$</TEX> was 0.767, meaning that the amount of variability in endpoint height Z-scores explained by the baseline height Z-scores was 76.7%. Conclusion : Our results suggested that the long-term effects of ADHD medications on growth parameters to be tolerable in Korean school-aged boys with ADHD.

Is expanding HPV vaccination programs to include school-aged boys likely to be value-for-money: a cost-utility analysis in a country with an existing school-girl program.

BackgroundSimilar to many developed countries, vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) is provided only to girls in New Zealand and coverage is relatively low (47% in school-aged girls for dose 3). Some jurisdictions have already extended HPV vaccination to school-aged boys. Thus, exploration of the cost-utility of adding boys’ vaccination is relevant. We modeled the incremental health gain and costs for extending the current girls-only program to boys, intensifying the current girls-only program to achieve 73% coverage, and extension of the intensive program to boys.MethodsA Markov macro-simulation model, which accounted for herd immunity, was developed for an annual cohort of 12-year-olds in 2011 and included the future health states of: cervical cancer, pre-cancer (CIN I to III), genital warts, and three other HPV-related cancers. In each state, health sector costs, including additional health costs from extra life, and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were accumulated. The model included New Zealand data on cancer incidence and survival, and other cause mortality (all by sex, age, ethnicity and deprivation).ResultsAt an assumed local willingness-to-pay threshold of US$29,600, vaccination of 12-year-old boys to achieve the current coverage for girls would not be cost-effective, at US$61,400/QALY gained (95% UI $29,700 to $112,000; OECD purchasing power parities) compared to the current girls-only program, with an assumed vaccine cost of US$59 (NZ$113). This was dominated though by the intensified girls-only program; US$17,400/QALY gained (95% UI: dominant to $46,100). Adding boys to this intensified program was also not cost-effective; US$128,000/QALY gained, 95% UI: $61,900 to $247,000).Vaccination of boys was not found to be cost-effective, even for additional scenarios with very low vaccine or program administration costs – only when combined vaccine and administration costs were NZ$125 or lower per dose was vaccination of boys cost-effective.ConclusionsThese results suggest that adding boys to the girls-only HPV vaccination program in New Zealand is highly unlikely to be cost-effective. In order for vaccination of males to become cost-effective in New Zealand, vaccine would need to be supplied at very low prices and administration costs would need to be minimised.

Reciprocal influences between negative life events and callous-unemotional traits.

Children with conduct problems and co-occurring callous-unemotional (CU) traits show more severe, stable, and aggressive antisocial behaviors than those without CU traits. Exposure to negative life events has been identified as an important contributing factor to the expression of CU traits across time, although the directionality of this effect has remained unknown due to a lack of longitudinal study. The present longitudinal study examined potential bidirectional effects of CU traits leading to experiencing more negative life events and negative life events leading to increases in CU traits across 3years among a sample of community-based school-aged (M = 10.9, SD = 1.71years) boys and girls (N = 98). Repeated rating measures of CU traits, negative life events and conduct problems completed by children and parents during annual assessments were moderately to highly stable across time. Cross-lagged models supported a reciprocal relationship of moderate magnitude between child-reported CU traits and "controllable" negative life events. Parent-reported CU traits predicted "uncontrollable" life events at the earlier time point and controllable life events at the later time point, but no reciprocal effect was evident. These findings have important implications for understanding developmental processes that contribute to the stability of CU traits in youth.

How very young men who have sex with men view vaccination against human papillomavirus

BackgroundHPV vaccination of men who have sex with men (MSM) prior to the commencement of sexual activity would have the maximum impact on preventing HPV and anal cancer in this population. However, knowledge and attitudes towards HPV vaccination among very young MSM have not been previously studied. MethodsTwo hundred MSM aged 16 to 20 were recruited via community and other sources. Participants were asked about their knowledge and attitudes towards HPV and HPV vaccination. ResultsMost (80%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 72.2–87.2%) men were not willing to purchase the vaccine because of its cost (AUD$450). However, if the vaccine was offered to MSM free of charge, 86% (95% CI: 80–90%) reported they would be willing to disclose their sexuality to a health care provider in order to obtain the vaccine. Over half (54%, 95%: 47–61%) of men would only be willing to disclose their sexuality to receive the HPV vaccine after their first experience of anal intercourse. The age at first insertive anal intercourse and the age at first receptive anal intercourse were 0.21 (IQR: −2.5 to 3.2) and 0.17 (IQR: −2.9 to 2.7) years earlier than the age that men would be willing to disclose their sexuality to receive the HPV vaccine, respectively. Willingness to receive the vaccine at a younger age was associated with younger age at first insertive anal intercourse. ConclusionOverall, very young MSM expressed high acceptance of HPV vaccination. Early, opportunistic vaccination of very young MSM may be feasible in settings where very young MSM have not been vaccinated through universal programs targeting school aged males. However, given HPV infections occur early on, the effectiveness of this approach will be less than vaccination targeting school aged boys.

Relationships of Aggression Subtypes and Peer Status Among Aggressive Boys in General Education and Emotional/Behavioral Disorder (EBD) Classrooms

This study examines the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between reactive and proactive aggression and children's peer status. Participants were 94 Dutch elementary school-aged boys in self-contained special education classrooms for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and 47 boys with no disabilities in general education classrooms. Hierarchical and logistic regression analyses were conducted to test how aggression, context, and their interactions predicted participants' peer status, which encompassed social preference and social impact as indicated by classroom peers. Descriptive analyses show that both reactive and proactive aggression were more common in EBD classrooms. Classroom type moderated the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between subtypes of aggression and social preference. The results indicate that to understand the relationship between aggression and children's peer status, it is important to analyze the specific type of aggressive behavior and the context in which it occurs. These findings also suggest the importance of students and teachers' responses to aggression in reducing aggressive behavior.

Evaluation of Motor Coordination in Boys with High-Functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorder Using the Japanese Version of the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire

Children with high-functioning pervasive developmental disorder (HFPDD) often have motor coordination dysfunction. However, there is no assessment tool for screening developmental coordination disorder (DCD) in Japan, which makes it difficult to evaluate the actual motor impairments of children with HFPDD. We evaluated the motor coordination function of 54 school-age boys with HFPDD using the Japanese version of the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ-J). We subsequently assessed the relationship between DCDQ-J scores and the results of the Japanese version of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) of 48 boys. The total and subscale DCDQ-J scores of the boys with HFPDD were significantly lower than the population means in the same grade: 37.0 % were below 2 standard deviations for the total score, 38.9 % for control during movement, 26.0 % for fine motor/handwriting, and 37.0 % for general coordination. Furthermore, the scores of Qualitative Abnormalities in Communication in the ADI-R were negatively correlated with control during movement, fine motor/handwriting, and total scores in the DCDQ-J. This study is the first to show Japanese children with HFPDD frequently exhibit considerably poor motor coordination according to the DCDQ-J. The screening or assessment of motor dysfunction in HFPDD using assessment tools such as the DCDQ could aid the development of interventions for these underestimated problems in Japan.

Autistic features in school age children: IQ and gender effects in a population-based cohort

Level and characteristics of intellectual function (IQ) have been associated with symptom presentation in children with autism spectrum disorder. The present study examined associations between IQ and autistic features in a sample of school aged boys and girls selected from a population-based cohort. The study included detailed examinations of 325 children aged 8–12 years, selected from the sample of the Bergen Child Study. IQ was assessed using the third version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) and autistic features by parent reports on the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ). Boys obtained higher ASSQ scores than girls. Gender and FSIQ had main effects on ASSQ scores, with the ASSQ scores showing a gradual decline with higher FSIQ for both genders. Discrepancies between verbal and performance IQ were relatively unrelated to ASSQ scores. The findings emphasize the importance of conducting careful assessments of children before reaching conclusions about cognitive function and autistic features.

Balance deficits and ADHD symptoms in medication-na&amp;iuml;ve school-aged boys

Background and objectivesFunctional disturbances developed early in life include balance deficits which are linked to dysfunctions of higher levels of cognitive and motor integration. According to our knowledge, there are only a few studies suggesting that balance deficits are related to behavioral disturbances in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).MethodsWe tested the extent to which balance deficits were related to ADHD symptoms in 35 medication-naïve boys of school age (8–11 years) and compared the results with a control group of 30 boys of the same age.ResultsADHD symptoms in medication-naïve boys had specific relationships to disturbances of postural and gait balance.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence in the medical literature for a direct relationship between ADHD symptoms and balance deficits, that cannot be attributed to medication and the presence of any neurological disease.

Values Expression among Students of Middle School Age In Physical Education Classes

The paper strives to answer the question which peculiarities of values expression among students of middle school age in physical education classes in the context of M. Luksiene’s pedagogical legacy insight into past, present and future.&#x0D; The aim of this study was to examine peculiarities of values education among students of middle school age in physical education classes.&#x0D; Students of middle school age (14–15 years old) were separated in randomize way from Kaunas secondary schools: Kaunas “Purienų”, Kaunas “Tado Ivanausko” secondary schools, and S. Darius and S. Girenas gymnasium. The participants of the study were 214 students of middle school age (108 females and 106 males). The measure of terminal and instrumental value orientations was evaluated using modified M. Rokeach questionnaire.&#x0D; In the process of the research ethical and legal principles were observed. The statistical hypotheses were tested by applying the Student t-test.&#x0D; The empirical study showed that for middle school age boys achievement, perseverance and leadership were significantly more important values, and for girls – sincere communication, responsibility and obedience.

Overweight and obesity prevalence and trends in children and adolescents in Cyprus 2000–2010

To estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 2010 and examine prevalence trends between 2000 and 2010 among school-aged children and adolescents in Cyprus. A representative cross-sectional study was undertaken in 2010. Anthropometric data were taken using standard methods from 3090 children. The IOTF cut-offs were used to define overweight and obese participants, and prevalence was compared with a previous representative study performed in 2000. Prevalences with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated and logistic regression models were used to estimate 10-year trends. The overall prevalence of obesity was higher in 2010 (8.1% [95%CI: 7.1, 9.1]) compared to 2000 (5.9% [95%CI: 5.0, 6.8]), p=0.002. The overall prevalence of overweight was also higher in 2010 (20.1% [95%CI: 18.7, 21.5]) compared to 2000 (16.5% [95%CI: 15.0, 18.0]), p<0.001. The prevalence of obesity increased at a greater rate in school-aged boys (p=0.017), and in rural areas (p=0.001). In rural areas, high maternal education background is associated with a decreased odds for obesity; odds ratio 0.35 (95% CI: 0.17, 0.69), p=0.003. The prevalence of obesity and overweight in children and adolescents in Cyprus has increased substantially over a decade, mainly in rural areas and in school-aged boys.