Objective: Previous studies have shown strong parental influences on adolescent overweight. However, longitudinal data is scarce on gender-specific effects of parental body mass index (BMI) on ...offspring overweight. The objective of this study was to examine the associations of parental pre-pregnancy BMI, weight change, BMI and BMI class transition 16 years after pregnancy with the BMI of their 16-year-old children. Subjects and methods: The study population was derived from the general population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. A total of 4788 child-mother-father trios (2325 boys, 2463 girls) were analysed. Weight and height of the adolescents were measured and overweight and obesity defined according to the International Obesity Task Force. For the parents, self-reported data were obtained and overweight and obesity defined according to the World Health Organization. Associations of parental BMI status and weight change with offspring BMI were assessed using binary logistic regression analyses stratified by gender and adjusted for parental age and education. Results: Children whose both parents were overweight or obese both before pregnancy and after 16-year follow-up had a strikingly high risk of overweight at age 16 years (boys odds ratio (OR) 5.66 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.12, 10.27; girls OR 14.84 95% CI 7.41, 29.73). Parental pre-pregnancy obesity strongly predicted offspring overweight (mother-son OR 4.36 95% CI 2.50, 7.59; mother-daughter OR 3.95 95% CI 2.34, 6.68; father-son OR 3.17 95% CI 1.70, 5.92; father-daughter OR 5.58 95% CI 3.09, 10.07). Conclusion: Parental overweight conveys a major risk for overweight in children for which both parents' long-term overweight (BMI 25 kg m-2 before pregnancy and after 16-year follow-up) was the strongest single predictor. Preventing intergenerational transmission of obesity by helping parents to maintain a healthy weight is an essential target for public health.
Abstract Background and aims Breakfast consumption and meal frequencies have been linked to the risk of obesity in youth but their associations with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in young populations are ...yet to be studied. We examined associations of three meal patterns on weekdays – five meals including breakfast, ≤four meals including breakfast and ≤four meals without breakfast – with overweight/obesity and MetS components in Finnish adolescents. Methods and results A population-based sample of 16-year-old boys and girls ( n = 6247) from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 was used. Adolescents were clinically examined and dietary data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Overweight/obesity and MetS features were defined according to the International Obesity Task Force cut-offs and the International Diabetes Federation MetS paediatric criteria and their associations with meal patterns assessed using logistic regression, adjusted separately for early life factors (birth size, maternal health) and later childhood factors (health behaviours, weight status, parental education). After adjustment for early life factors, the adolescents who ate five meals/day were at lower risk for overweight/obesity (OR 95% CI for boys: 0.47 0.34, 0.65; girls: 0.57 0.41, 0.79), abdominal obesity (OR 95% CI for boys: 0.32 0.22, 0.48; girls: 0.54 0.39, 0.75) and hypertriglyceridaemia (boys only). Adjusting for later childhood factors, the five-meal-a-day pattern was associated with decreased odds of overweight/obesity (OR 95% CI for boys: 0.41 0.29, 0.58; girls: 0.63 0.45, 0.89) and abdominal obesity in boys (OR 0.32, 95% CI 0.16, 0.63). Conclusion Among 16-year-olds, the five-meal-a-day pattern was robustly associated with reduced risks of overweight/obesity in both genders and abdominal obesity in boys.
We estimated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in adolescents, using the new International Diabetes Federation (IDF) paediatric definition and compared this with prevalence estimated using ...the IDF adult definition and five other previously published definitions.
Cross-sectional survey in the prospective general population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC 1986) at age 16 years.
Birth cohort in Finland.
5665 adolescents (2862 males and 2803 females) clinically examined in 2001-2002.
The prevalence of MS using different definitions.
The overall prevalence of MS using the IDF paediatric definition was 2.4% (95% CI 2.0 to 2.8%) at the age of 16 years. Using the IDF adult definition the overall prevalence was lower, 1.7% (CI 1.3 to 2.0%, European cut-offs for waist circumference) and 1.0% (CI 0.7 to 1.3%, North American cut-offs).
In 16-year-old adolescents, the paediatric IDF definition rendered a higher prevalence estimate than the adult definition.
Abstract
Gestational diabetes (GDM) indicates increased risk for diabetes and the metabolic syndrome in women. Research on prenatal exposure to GDM as a risk factor for metabolic diseases is ...conflicting. Overweight (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2) is a strong risk factor for GDM and metabolic diseases; however, there are few published previous studies distinguishing the separate effects of overweight and GDM on the later risk for metabolic diseases in women and their children.
The present study evaluated pre-pregnancy overweight and GDM as determinants of long-term risk for diabetes and hypertension in women, and the metabolic consequences of prenatal exposures to maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and different types of maternal diabetes in children. The results are based on prospective, clinical data from Oulu University Hospital (n = 63 mothers and their children), and the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC 1986, n = 9,362 mothers and their 9,479 children).
Compared to normal-weight mothers with normal glucose tolerance in pregnancy, the NFBC 1986 mothers with simultaneous pre-pregnancy overweight and GDM had strikingly high risks for developing diabetes (hazard ratio, HR 47.2; 95% confidence interval 25.5-87.4) and hypertension (HR 9.2 6.1-13.9) twenty years after delivery. The risks for these diseases were elevated in mothers with pre-pregnancy overweight even when they had normal glucose tolerance during pregnancy (HR diabetes 12.6 7.4-21.6, HR hypertension 2.9 2.1-3.9). GDM per se indicated increased risk only for diabetes (HR 10.6 4.2-27.0).
In the cohort from Oulu University Hospital, increased fasting insulin concentration (P = 0.04), first phase insulin response (P = 0.03), and HOMA-B (P = 0.008) were already observed at pre-school age in the offspring of mothers with Type 1 diabetes compared with offspring of mothers with GDM.
In the NFBC 1986 offspring, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 2.4% at age 16 years, using the International Diabetes Federation pediatric definition. Abdominal obesity, a waist girth over half one's length, defined approximately 85% of the adolescents with metabolic syndrome. The risks for overweight and abdominal obesity were high in those with prenatal exposure to both maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and GDM (odds ratio for overweight 4.1 1.9-8.6, for abdominal obesity 3.8 1.7-8.8). In children of normal-weight women, prenatal exposure to GDM was not associated with increased risk of these outcomes.
Based on this study, preventing and reducing overweight in fertile age seems to be a key target for preventing metabolic diseases in women and their children.
To test whether depression is independently associated with elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in a large nationwide population-based sample.
Depression and CRP were assessed in 6005 Finns ...aged >30 years, as part of the ongoing population-based Health 2000 Study. Depression was determined by responses to the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI-21) and by Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).
Higher scores on BDI-21 were related to higher CRP levels (beta = 0.12, p < .001) in men and (beta = 0.08, p < .001) in women. In men, but not in women, this relationship persisted after adjustment for a number of other known risk factors. In men, the more recent dysthymic disorder or at least moderate depressive episode defined using CIDI was related to elevated CRP levels (beta = 0.06, p = .006).
Depressive symptoms may be partly responsible for inflammatory processes, and inflammatory processes may induce depressive symptoms in men.
Abstract Objective We investigated if alexithymia, a personality construct with difficulties in emotional processing, is stable in the general population. Methods Altogether 3
083 unselected subjects ...aged 30 and older in Finland completed the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in the longitudinal Health 2000 and Health 2011 general population surveys (BRIF8901). The stability of alexithymia at the 11-year follow-up was assessed with t -tests, correlations, and separate linear regression models with base-line and follow-up age, gender, marital status, education, and 12-month depressive and anxiety disorders as confounders. Results The mean score (SD) of the TAS-20 for the whole sample was 44.2 (10.4) in 2000 and 44.2 (10.9) in 2011 ( p = 0.731). The mean score of the TAS-20 subscale Difficulty Identifying Feelings increased by 0.3 points, Difficulty Describing Feelings decreased by 0.6 points and Externally Oriented Thinking increased by 0.3 points. The effect sizes of the changes varied from negligible to small. Age had little effect except for the group of the oldest subjects (75
–
97 years): the TAS-20 mean (SD) score was 49.1 (10.1) in 2000 and 53.1 (10.3) in 2011 ( p < 0.001), the effect size for the increase was medium. TAS-20 score in 2000 explained a significant proportion of variance in TAS-20 score in 2011. Controlling for all baseline confounders improved the model incrementally; the same applied to controlling for confounders at follow-up. Baseline depression or anxiety disorders were not associated with the TAS-20 scores in 2011, whereas current diagnoses were. Conclusions According to our large longitudinal study both the absolute and relative stability of alexithymia assessed with the TAS-20 are high in the adult general population.
Aims: Circadian clock genes are involved in the development of drug-induced behaviors and regulate neurotransmission pathways in addiction. Our aim was to study whether circadian clock gene ...polymorphisms predispose to alcohol dependence or abuse or other alcohol-related characteristics. Methods: The study sample comprised of 512 individuals having alcohol dependence or alcohol abuse (according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV)) and their 511 age- and sex-matched controls. This population-based sample was drawn from a cohort (n = 7415), representative of the Finnish general population aged 30 and over. Altogether 42 single-nucleotide polymorphisms of 19 genes related to the circadian pacemaker system were genotyped. Results: ARNTL rs6486120 T+ allelic status (P = 0.0007, q = 0.17), ADCYAP1 rs2856966 GG genotype (P = 0.0006, q = 0.17) and VIP CC haplotype (rs3823082–rs688136) (P = 0.0006) were suggestively associated with alcohol consumption in socially drinking controls. ARNTL2 GT haplotype (rs7958822–rs4964057) associated suggestively with alcohol abuse diagnosis (P = 0.0013). Earlier findings on the associations of DRD2 and NPY with alcohol dependence were supported: DRD2/ANKK1 Taq1A1 increased (P = 0.04) and NPY Pro7 decreased (P = 0.01) the risk of alcohol dependence. Conclusions: ARNTL, ARNTL2, VIP and ADCYAP1 were indicated as having influence on alcohol use or abuse. The role of DRD2 and NPY on alcohol dependence was also supported.
Information on prevalence, accumulation and variation of common mental disorders is essential for both etiological research and development of mental health service systems.
A representative sample ...(6005) of Finland's general adult (> or = 30 years) population was interviewed in the period 2000-2001 with the CIDI for presence of DSM-IV mental disorders during the last 12 months in the comprehensive, multidisciplinary Health 2000 project.
Depressive-, alcohol use- and anxiety disorders were found in 6.5%, 4.5 % and 4.1% of the subjects, respectively. A comorbid disorder was present in 19% of those with any disorder. Males had more alcohol use disorders (7.3 % vs. 1.4 %) and females more depressive disorders (8.3 % vs. 4.6 %). Older age, marriage and employment predicted lower prevalence of mental disorders and their comorbidity. Prevalences of alcohol use- and comorbid disorders were higher in the Helsinki metropolitan area, and depressive disorders in northern Finland.
Mental disorders and their comorbidities are distributed unevenly between sexes and age groups, are particularly associated with marital and employment status, and vary by region. There appears to be no single population subgroup at high risk for all mental disorders, but rather several different subgroups at risk for particular disorders or comorbidity patterns.
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