Understanding causes of obesity in Aboriginal children
2012-01-25
(Press-News.org) Ottawa, Ontario –To fully understand the causes of the obesity epidemic in Aboriginal children requires an understanding of the unique social and historical factors that shape the Aboriginal community. A review article published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism emphasizes that early childhood obesity prevention efforts should begin focusing with the parents before and during pregnancy and on breastfeeding initiatives and nutrition in the early childhood development stages.
"There needs to be a focus on improving the risk factors such as income and education" says Noreen Willows, one of the authors of the study. "Additionally, there needs to be a focus on embracing the cultural practices in terms of language and pride in the Aboriginal culture to influence health behaviours and outcomes".
Numerous environments at different times of childhood drive the risk of childhood obesity: the in utero environment, which influences birth weight, growth patterns and disease risk; the family environment, in which the child is raised and nurtured; and the larger surrounding environments encompassing policy, community, and cultural and societal factors.
There is no one fix to the obesity epidemic in Aboriginal children. Strategies for weight management in this population need to focus at changing all influential factors at each level of the child's environment, and the members of the community need to have an active role in pursuing this goal.
INFORMATION:
The study entitled "A socioecological framework to understand weight-related issues in Aboriginal children in Canada" was published in the February issue of APNM.
www.nrcresearchpress.com/apnm
For more information contact:
Corresponding author: Noreen Willows (e-mail: noreen.willows@ualberta.ca)
Full Reference: Willows, N.D, Hanley, A.J.G., Delormier, T. 2012. A socioecological framework to understand weight-related issues in Aboriginal children in Canada. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 37(1) 1-13. doi:10.1139/H11-128 [Available Open Access on the www.nrcresearchpress.com website.]
About the Publisher
NRC Research Press, the publishing arm of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) since 1929, transitioned in September 2010 from NRC and the Federal Government of Canada into an independent not-for-profit organization operating under the new name Canadian Science Publishing. Canadian Science Publishing (which continues to operate under the brand NRC Research Press) is the foremost scientific publisher in Canada and one of the most advanced electronic publishing services in the world. With over 50 highly skilled experts and an editorial team comprising some of the world's leading researchers, NRC Research Press communicates scientific discoveries to more than 175 countries.
Disclaimer
Canadian Science Publishing operates under the brand NRC Research Press but is not affiliated with the National Research Council Canada. Papers published by Canadian Science Publishing are peer-reviewed by experts in their field. The views of the authors in no way reflect the opinions of Canadian Science Publishing or the National Research Council of Canada. Requests for commentary about the contents of any study should be directed to the authors.
PLEASE CITE Canadian Science Publishing (operating under the brand NRC Research Press), AND OUR WEBSITE, http://nrcresearchpress.com, AS THE SOURCE OF THE FOLLOWING ITEM. IF PUBLISHING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A HYPERLINK TO http://nrcresearchpress.com/action/showNews?filter=recent
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-01-25
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), along with other funding agencies, helped a Rice University research team make graphene suitable for a variety of organic chemistry applications—especially the promise of advanced chemical sensors, nanoscale electronic circuits and metamaterials.
Ever since the University of Manchester's Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov received the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking graphene experiments, there has been an explosion of graphene related discoveries; but graphene experimentation had been ongoing ...
2012-01-25
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new method for creating elastic conductors made of carbon nanotubes, which will contribute to large-scale production of the material for use in a new generation of elastic electronic devices.
"We're optimistic that this new approach could lead to large-scale production of stretchable conductors, which would then expedite research and development of elastic electronic devices," says Dr. Yong Zhu, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State, and lead author of a paper describing ...
2012-01-25
The skeletal structure of the foot and ankle differs significantly between human sprinters and non-sprinters, according to Penn State researchers. Their findings not only help explain why some people are faster runners than others, but also may be useful in helping people who have difficulty walking, such as older adults and children with cerebral palsy.
According to Stephen Piazza, associate professor of kinesiology, the research is the first to use magnetic resonance imaging to demonstrate that sprinters have significantly longer bones in their forefeet than non-sprinters ...
2012-01-25
Amsterdam, NL, January 24 – Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are a promising avenue for cell replacement therapy in neurologic diseases. For example, mouse and human iPSCs have been used to generate dopaminergic (DA) neurons that improve symptoms in rat Parkinson's disease models. Reporting in the current issue of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, a group of scientists from Japan evaluated the growth, differentiation, and function of human-derived iPSC-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in a primate model, elucidating their therapeutic potential.
"We developed ...
2012-01-25
Studies currently available provide indications and a "hint" that precursors of cervical cancer can be detected and treated earlier, and consequently tumours occur less often, in women who underwent testing for human papillomavirus (HPV). In this context, an HPV test can be used alone or in addition to a Papanicolaou test (Pap smear). However, both screening procedures also carry a risk of harm in the form of unnecessary treatments after testing (over-treatment). This is the result of a final report published by the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health ...
2012-01-25
As 2011 drew to a close, Representative Al Ott led a coalition of his colleagues to introduce a new domestic violence bill in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Assembly Bill 449 is a bi-partisan measure which seeks to increase the penalties for those with multiple domestic abuse convictions, and make felonies out of some offenses that were formerly only misdemeanor charges.
At the outset of 2012, Assembly Bill 449 has been referred to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Corrections and a companion bill is similarly situated in the Wisconsin Senate. If the measures pass ...
2012-01-25
If your boss is giving you a hard time - lying, making fun of you in public and generally putting you down, he or she may benefit from some exercise, according to a new study by James Burton from Northern Illinois University in the US and his team. Their work shows that stressed supervisors, struggling with time pressures, vent their frustrations on their employees less when they get regular, moderate exercise. The research is published online in Springer's Journal of Business and Psychology.
In the current economic climate, it is not unusual to come across stressed supervisors. ...
2012-01-25
EPFL scientist are among the leaders in the race to develop an industry-ready prototype of a 3D chip as well as a high-performance and reliable manufacturing method. The chip is composed of three or more processors that are stacked vertically and connected together—resulting in increased speed and multitasking, more memory and calculating power, better functionality and wireless connectivity. Developed at the Microelectronics Systems Laboratory (LSM), Director Yusuf Leblebici is unveiling these results to experts on Wednesday the 25th of January in Paris, in a keynote presentation ...
2012-01-25
Thinking about religion gives people more self-control on later, unrelated tasks; according to results from a series of recent Queen's University study.
"After unscrambling sentences containing religiously oriented words, participants in our studies exercised significantly more self-control," says psychology graduate student and lead researcher on the study, Kevin Rounding.
Study participants were given a sentence containing five words to unscramble. Some contained religious themes and others did not. After unscrambling the sentences, participants were asked to complete ...
2012-01-25
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- MIT postdoc Emile Bruneau has long been drawn to conflict — not as a participant, but an observer. In 1994, while doing volunteer work in South Africa, he witnessed firsthand the turmoil surrounding the fall of apartheid; during a 2001 trip to visit friends in Sri Lanka, he found himself in the midst of the violent conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military.
Those chance experiences got Bruneau, who taught high school science for several years, interested in the psychology of human conflict. While teaching, he also volunteered as ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Understanding causes of obesity in Aboriginal children
