OBJECTIVE There are no percentile curves for BMI, waist circumference (WC) or waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) available for Portuguese children and adolescents. The purpose of the present study was to develop age- and sex-specific BMI, WC and WHtR percentile curves for a representative sample of adolescents living in the Portuguese islands of Azores, one of the poorest regions of Europe, and to co...

OBJECTIVES Higher than expected small for gestational age (SGA) rates and lower than expected large for gestational age (LGA) rates have been observed. A possible explanation is a leftward shift of percentile curves for birth weight due to a systematic error in plotting birth weight values in charts (ie, plotting weekly mean birth weight data at the beginning of the weeks). Our objectives were ...

INTRODUCTION Elevated levels of chemokines have been reported in plasma and brain tissue of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The aim of this study was to examine chemokine levels in amniotic fluid (AF) samples of individuals diagnosed with ASD and their controls. MATERIAL AND METHODS A Danish Historic Birth Cohort (HBC) kept at Statens Serum Institute, Copenhagen was utilized...

BACKGROUND Depression is an established independent prognostic factor for mortality, readmission, and cardiac events after CABG surgery. However, limited data exist on whether depression influences functional outcomes after CABG. METHODS AND RESULTS We followed 963 patients who underwent first CABG between February 1999 and February 2001. At baseline and at 6 months after CABG, we interviewed...

A recently published article by Gillman and Ludwig [1] strongly advocates for early obesity prevention. Indeed a child’s obesity life course appears to be determined by the age of 6 years as shown in compiled data on the natural course of BMI distribution from birth to 14 years ( fig. 1 ) in three German birth cohorts (Kiel Obesity Prevention Study (KOPS) [2] , Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropo...

BACKGROUND Dyslipidemias are the major cause for atherosclerosis. They may act synergistically with nonlipid risk factors to increase atherogenesis. In the present study, we examined the effects of dyslipidemias from childhood to adulthood and their interaction with nonlipid risk factors on markers of subclinical atherosclerosis. METHODS AND RESULTS Study subjects were participants of the lon...

OBJECTIVE In adults, blood pressure (BP) during exercise has prognostic advantages compared to resting BP, whereas its relevance for children has not been revealed as clearly. Because exercise BP among young subjects might be of clinical importance, we sought to determine reference values in adolescents. METHODS BP recordings at rest and during a cycle ergometer test (1.5W/kg) were assessed i...

BACKGROUND The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and in particular cortisol, has been reported to be involved in obesity-associated metabolic disturbances in adults and in selected populations of adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between morning adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol levels and cardiovascular risk factors in overweight or ob...

BACKGROUND Climate change is expected to have adverse health effects, but the association between extreme ambient temperatures and stillbirth is unclear. OBJECTIVES We investigated acute and chronic associations between extreme ambient temperatures and stillbirth risk, and estimated the attributable risk associated with local temperature extremes in the United States. METHODS We linked 223,...

Primary hypertension is a growing concern in children because of the obesity epidemic largely attributable to western lifestyles. Serum uric acid is known to be influenced by dietary habits, correlates with obesity, and could represent a risk factor for hypertension. Preliminary studies in children highlighted uric acid as a potentially modifiable risk factor for the prevention and treatment of...