Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most faculty in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) began working from home, including many who were simultaneously caring for children. ...The objective was to assess associations of gender and parental status with self-reported academic productivity before (
, mid-January to mid-March 2020) and during the pandemic (
, mid-March to mid-May 2020).
STEMM faculty in the United States (
= 284, 67.6% women, 57.0% with children younger than the age of 18 years living at home) completed a survey about the number of hours worked and the frequency of academic productivity activities.
There was no significant difference in the hours worked per week by gender (men,
standard deviation, SD = 45.8 16.7, women = 43.1 16.3). Faculty with 0-5-year-old children reported significantly fewer work hours (33.7 13.9) compared to all other groups (No children = 49.2 14.9, 6-11 years old = 48.3 13.9, and 12-17 years old = 49.5 13.9,
< 0.0001). Women's self-reported first/corresponding author's and coauthor's article submissions decreased significantly between the two time periods; men's productivity metrics did not change. Faculty with 0-5-year-old children completed significantly fewer peer review assignments, attended fewer funding panel meetings, and submitted fewer first authors' articles during the pandemic compared to the previous period. Those with children aged 6 years or older at home or without children at home reported significant increases or stable productivity.
Overall, significant disparities were observed in academic productivity by gender and child age during the pandemic and if confirmed by further research, should be considered by academic institutions and funding agencies when making decisions regarding funding and hiring as well as promotion and tenure.
Objective
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of skipping breakfast on body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors.
Methods
This study conducted a systematic review and ...meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating breakfast skipping compared with breakfast consumption. Inclusion criteria included age ≥ 18, intervention duration ≥ 4 weeks, ≥ 7 participants per group, and ≥ 1 body composition measure. Random‐effects meta‐analyses of the effect of breakfast skipping on body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors were performed.
Results
Seven RCTs (n = 425 participants) with an average duration of 8.6 weeks were included. Compared with breakfast consumption, breakfast skipping significantly reduced body weight (weighted mean difference WMD = −0.54 kg 95% CI: −1.05 to −0.03, P = 0.04, I2 = 21.4%). Percent body fat was reported in 5 studies and was not significantly different between breakfast skippers and consumers. Three studies reported on low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), which was increased in breakfast skippers as compared with breakfast consumers (WMD = 9.24 mg/dL 95% CI: 2.18 to 16.30, P = 0.01). Breakfast skipping did not lead to significant differences in blood pressure, total cholesterol, high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, C‐reactive protein, insulin, fasting glucose, leptin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, or ghrelin.
Conclusions
Breakfast skipping may have a modest impact on weight loss and may increase LDL in the short term. Further studies are needed to provide additional insight into the effects of breakfast skipping.
Obesity affects 158 million youth worldwide and is associated with psychosocial comorbidity. This review describes weight management options utilized by adolescents, including both self‐directed ...weight loss and medically supervised obesity treatment interventions, and associated psychosocial impacts. A majority of adolescents with obesity attempt to manage weight on their own, primarily through attempting weight loss, sometimes with supplement use. Approaches such as these are associated with a degree of risk, disordered eating behaviors, and further weight gain. In contrast, medically supervised multicomponent interventions are associated with improved psychosocial health, including quality of life, self‐esteem, and body image, and reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Few studies utilizing antiobesity pharmacotherapy have reported psychosocial outcomes, and trials of bariatric surgery show some early improvements with a need for sustained psychological support following surgery. Greater access to medically supervised treatment services is required to facilitate obesity care for adolescents. Early data on psychosocial health and obesity treatment offer promising outcomes; however, larger randomized controlled trials and longer‐term data are needed. Future research should include both physiological and psychosocial outcomes to assess impact of interventions on the holistic health of adolescents with obesity.
IMPORTANCE: Obesity in adolescence has reached epidemic proportions around the world, with the prevalence of severe obesity increasing at least 4-fold over the last 35 years. Most youths with obesity ...carry their excess adiposity into adulthood, which places them at increased risk for developing obesity-driven complications, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and negatively affects social and emotional health. Given that adolescence is a unique transition period marked by significant physiologic and developmental changes, obesity-related complications can also negatively affect adolescent growth and developmental trajectories. OBSERVATIONS: Provision of evidence-based treatment options that are tailored and appropriate for the adolescent population is paramount, yet complex. The multifactorial etiology of obesity along with the significant changes that occur during the adolescent period increasingly complicate the treatment approach for adolescent obesity. Treatment practices discussed in this review include an overview of evidence supporting currently available behavioral, pharmacologic, surgical, and device interventions for obesity. However, it is important to note that these practices have not been effective at reducing adolescent obesity at the population level. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Because adolescent obesity requires lifelong treatment, effectively addressing this disease will require significant resources, scientific rigor, and the provision of access to quality care similar to other chronic health conditions. Effective and less invasive therapies, effective adjuncts, and comprehensive centers that offer specialized treatment are critical. This considerable need for increased attention to obesity care calls for dedicated resources in both education and research for treatment of obesity in youths.
This JAMA Insights Clinical Update reviews approaches for managing obesity in adolescents, including behavioral interventions, pharmacotherapy, and surgical interventions, with discussion of ...management considerations unique to this age group.
Research suggests that many parents make comments about their child's weight, which is associated with negative adolescent health outcomes. Gaps in this literature include an underrepresentation of ...fathers, limited knowledge regarding positive versus negative parental weight comments and differences across race/ethnicity, and adolescent preferences for parental weight communication. The present study addressed these research gaps through a comprehensive investigation of two diverse samples of U.S. parents (
= 1936) and adolescents (
= 2032), who completed questionnaires about their experiences and perspectives of parental weight communication. Positive weight comments from parents were more frequent than negative comments, though both were commonly reported across sex, race/ethnicity, and weight status. In general, boys, fathers, Latino/a parents and adolescents, and adolescents with a high BMI and/or engaged in weight management reported more frequent parental weight-talk. Parent-adolescent weight communication occurred both in-person and digitally, and across daily life contexts. Although the majority of parents communicated positive messages of body diversity and respect, 44% and 63% of adolescents said they never want their mothers and fathers, respectively, to talk about their weight. Adolescents were offered circumstances that would increase their comfort level in having these conversations. Findings have implications for health professionals working with families to promote supportive health communication at home.
Parent communication about body weight is a sensitive topic, but limited research has studied youth preferences for words used to talk about their weight with parents. We assessed perspectives of ...weight-based terminology in 2 racially/ethnically diverse samples of youth and parents.
We collected online survey data from 2 panel survey samples between September and December 2021: youth aged 10 to 17 years (n = 2032) and parents of youth aged 10 to 17 years (n = 1936). Participants rated 27 different terms and phrases to describe body weight; parents reported on their usage of this terminology and youth reported their preferences for and emotional responses to terminology. Patterns were examined across sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and weight status.
Youth reported preferences for words such as "healthy weight" and dislike of terms such as "obese," "fat," and "large," which induced feelings of sadness, shame, and embarrassment. Differences in youth preferences and emotional reactions were present across sex, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and weight status. This included a general pattern of lower preference ratings among girls (versus boys) and sexual minority (versus heterosexual) youth, and stronger preferences for words such as "thick" or "curvy" among racial/ethnic minority, sexual minority, and higher-weight youth. Use of most weight terms was higher among fathers compared with mothers, and by Hispanic/Latinx parents compared with white and Black/African American parents.
Our findings underscore diversity of youth preferences and the need for individualized approaches that support effective parent and youth communication by using their preferred terms when discussing weight-related health.
Abstract
Objective
Research has consistently documented adverse effects of parent weight-related comments on adolescent health. However, little empirical attention has focused on isolating the impact ...of weight-related comments from mothers versus fathers, and the valence of their comments. The present study examined the extent to which positive and negative weight-related comments from mothers and fathers are related to adolescent health and wellbeing, and whether these associations differ according to adolescent sociodemographic characteristics.
Methods
Data were collected from a diverse sample of 2032 U.S.-based adolescents aged 10–17 years (59% female; 40% White, 25% Black or African American, 23% Latinx). Online questionnaires assessed perceived frequency of negative and positive weight-related comments from mothers and fathers, as well as four indicators of adolescent health and wellbeing: depression, unhealthy weight control behaviors, weight bias internalization (WBI), and body appreciation.
Results
More frequent negative weight-related comments from parents were associated with poorer adolescent health and wellbeing, while positive comments contributed to lower levels of WBI and body appreciation; these associations were documented regardless of whether mothers or fathers were the source of such comments, and considerable consistency was demonstrated across adolescent sociodemographic characteristics.
Conclusion
Findings highlight differences in adolescent health based on how parents discuss their body weight (i.e., negatively or positively), and similarity in associations regardless of whether mothers or fathers are the source of weight communication. These findings reiterate the importance of efforts to educate parents on ways to engage in supportive communication about weight-related health with their children.
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