Background: The reinforcing value of food and access to cognitively enriching activities are prospectively related to relative weight in children. Energy intake represents a choice between eating or ...engaging in alternative, non-eating activities, however, no research has yet assessed the combination of the motivation to eat, as indexed by food reinforcement, and access to activities that can serve as alternatives to eating, or the access to food. Methods: To address this research gap, we studied the relationship between these variables and change in percent overweight over two years in 291 6-9 year-old children of varying baseline percent overweight and socioeconomic status. Food reinforcement was measured using a behavioral reinforcing value task and enriched environment was measured using the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment interview in familys homes. Results: Mixed effect regression analysis showed that change in percent overweight was predicted by the interaction of reinforcing value of food and the home environment (beta = 0.018, p = 0.048). Children who were low in food reinforcement and lived in an enriched environment showed no increase in percent overweight, while those high in food reinforcement who lived in a relatively non-enriched showed the greatest increase in percent overweight. Conclusions: These results suggest that providing an enriched home environment may reduce the effects of food reinforcement on weight gain in childhood, and this represents a novel approach to intervention that can be used strengthen current behavioral approaches to prevent obesity in children.
We studied home environment exposures in relation to asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis among offspring of participants (parents) in the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe (RHINE) ...study (age ≤ 30 y). Totally 17,881 offspring from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia were included. Home environment exposures, including dampness and mold, type of dwelling, construction year and indoor painting were registered through a questionnaire answered by parents in the first follow up (RHINE II). The parents reported ten years later with in the frame of RHINE III offspring's birth year and offspring's asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis. They also reported dampness and mold at home from RHINE II to RHINE III. The prevalence of offspring's asthma before 10 y, asthma after 10 y, allergic rhinitis at any age and atopic dermatitis at any age were 9.7 %, 4.3 %, 15.6 % and 17.3 %, respectively. Asthma before 10 y was related to any indoor painting at RHINE II (OR = 1.14, 95%CI (1.02, 1.29)). Asthma after 10 y was associated with dampness/mold at home (OR = 1.33–1.62) and living in the newest buildings (constructed in 1986–2001) (OR = 1.30, 95%CI (1.02, 1.66)). Allergic rhinitis was associated with living in newer buildings (constructed in 1961–2001) (OR = 1.16–1.24). Atopic dermatitis was associated with visible mold (OR = 1.35, 95%CI(1.12, 1.62)), dampness/mold at home (OR = 1.18–1.38), living in apartments (OR = 1.22, 95%CI(1.10, 1.35)) and living in newer buildings (constructed in 1961–2001) (OR = 1.14–1.25). There were dose-response effects of dampness and mold on offspring's asthma after 10 y and atopic dermatitis (20 years exposure vs. 10 years exposure). Older offspring had increased risk of developing asthma after 10 y and atopic dermatitis. In conclusion, home dampness and mold, living in apartments, living in newer buildings and indoor painting were associated with offspring's asthma or allergic diseases. Stronger health effects were found among offspring with prolonged exposure of dampness/mold.
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•Home dampness and mold were obtained in two follow up investigations cover 20 years.•Home dampness and mold were associated with offspring asthma and atopic dermatitis.•There were dose-response effects of dampness and mold on asthma and dermatitis.•Stronger health effects were found among offspring with 20 years dampness exposure.•Living in newer buildings and indoor painting were risk factors.
The relationship between musical and linguistic skills has received particular attention in infants and school-aged children. However, very little is known about pre-schoolers. This leaves a gap in ...our understanding of the concurrent development of these skills during development. Moreover, attention has been focused on the effects of formal musical training, while neglecting the influence of informal musical activities at home. To address these gaps, in Study 1, 3- and 4-year-old children (
= 40) performed novel musical tasks (perception and production) adapted for young children in order to examine the link between musical skills and the development of key language capacities, namely grammar and phonological awareness. In Study 2, we investigated the influence of informal musical experience at home on musical and linguistic skills of young pre-schoolers, using the same evaluation tools. We found systematic associations between distinct musical and linguistic skills. Rhythm perception and production were the best predictors of phonological awareness, while melody perception was the best predictor of grammar acquisition, a novel association not previously observed in developmental research. These associations could not be explained by variability in general cognitive functioning, such as verbal memory and non-verbal abilities. Thus, selective music-related auditory and motor skills are likely to underpin different aspects of language development and can be dissociated in pre-schoolers. We also found that informal musical experience at home contributes to the development of grammar. An effect of musical skills on both phonological awareness and language grammar is mediated by home musical experience. These findings pave the way for the development of dedicated musical activities for pre-schoolers to support specific areas of language development.
This paper presents the design and evaluation of an IoT-cloud based smart home system. The system utilizes Internet of Things (IoT) devices and cloud computing technologies to provide a smart and ...automated living environment. The design includes the integration of sensors, actuators, and a cloud platform to gather and process data from the devices and perform various tasks such as temperature control, lighting, and security monitoring. The system was evaluated for its performance, reliability, and user satisfaction. The results show that the system is able to accurately monitor and control the home environment and provide a smooth and convenient user experience. The study highlights the importance of using IoT and cloud technologies in smart home systems and the potential for further development in this field.
Abstract
Introduction
Infant sleep is influenced by biopsychosocial interactions. However, the influence of an interactive home environment is underexplored. The aim was to examine whether early ...positive parent-child interactions and an enriched home environment were associated with better infant sleep later.
Methods
Pregnant, obese, and low-income Latina women were recruited for a RCT delivering a 12-month intervention for infants to prevent overweight (n=129). At 1, 6, and 12 months, mothers reported breastfeeding duration, completed the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire-Revised (BISQ-R, range: 0-100), and underwent the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME, range: 0-45) Inventory including subscales of Responsivity, Acceptance, Organization, Learning Materials, Involvement, and Variety. Pearson correlations between HOME and BISQ-R at each visit were conducted. Significant associations (α<0.05) were entered into stepwise multivariable linear regressions adjusting for infant sex, mother’s education, breastfeeding, and 1-month BISQ-R to determine which HOME subscales were associated with 6- and 12-month total BISQ-R if the total HOME was significant.
Results
The mean 1-, 6- and 12-month BISQ-R were 84(SD=6.1), 76.4(SD=8.3), and 78.5(SD=8.0), respectively. The 1-month HOME total score (M=21.8SD=4.4) significantly correlated with the 6- and 12-month BISQ-R. The regression of 1-month HOME with 6-month BISQ-R indicated greater BISQ-R scores were associated with shorter breastfeeding (β=-0.3, p=0.001), greater HOME total scores (β=0.2, p=0.037), and 1-month BISQ-R scores(β=0.2, p=0.038), which explained 13.1% of the variance (F3,106=6.5, p<0.001). The regression of 1-month HOME subscales with 6-month BISQ-R indicated greater BISQ-R scores were associated with shorter breastfeeding (β=-0.31, p=0.001), greater Responsivity scores (β=0.21, p=0.022), and 1-month BISQ-R scores (β=0.2, p=0.027), which explained 13.9% of the variance (F3,106=6.86, p<0.001). The regression of 1-month HOME with 12-month BISQ-R indicated greater BISQ-R scores were associated with shorter breastfeeding (β=-0.24, p=0.013) and greater HOME total scores (β=0.24, p=0.016), which explained 7.9% of the variance (F2,100=5.4, p=0.006). The regression of 1-month HOME subscales with 12-month BISQ-R indicated greater BISQ-R scores were associated with greater Variety scores (β=0.29, p=0.003), shorter breastfeeding (β=-0.24, p=0.011), and 1-month BISQ-R scores(β=0.18, p=0.049), which explained 13.5% of the variance (F3,99=6.29, p=0.001).
Conclusion
Better infant sleep was associated with an early interactive home environment, especially parent’s responsiveness and people/events providing organized variety.
Support (if any):
BackgroundThe social gradient in smoking is not declining and it has been reported that adolescents of lower socio-economic status initiate smoking earlier and smoke more frequently than those of ...higher socio-economic status. There is a need to tackle inequalities in smoking as early as possible, including in schools, where most adolescents initiate smoking. The implementation of school tobacco policies varies greatly from one school to another but such differential implementation may increase health inequalities. More resources should be allocated to schools with larger needs. Inequity arises when the policy is not implemented according to the schools’ needs. This study measures inequity in the implementation of school tobacco policies and decomposes it in a sum of explanatory factors.MethodsWe used data from the SILNE and SILNE-R projects that collected data in Tampere – Finland, Dublin – Ireland, Amersfoort – the Netherlands, Namur – Belgium, Hanover – Germany, Latina – Italy, and Coimbra – Portugal. A student (n= 18,805) and a staff survey (n= 438) were conducted in 2013 and 2016 in 38 schools. We assessed the school tobacco policy on a 10-point score and calculated need ratios to quantify whether schools received the policy they needed, less or more. Need was defined according to the prevalence of adolescent smoking: a school with a high smoking prevalence is a school with higher needs, while a school with a low smoking prevalence is a school with lower needs. Gini coefficients of these need ratios were used as measures of inequity.ResultsInequity increased from 8.8% in 2013 to 9.8% in 2016. We were able to explain 83% and 60% of these inequities, respectively. Explanatory factors were gathered into six groups: socio-demographic, socio-economic, home environment, school environment, smoking behaviour and network. Adolescents’ socio-economic characteristics and home environment contributed the most to explaining inequities in the distribution of school tobacco policies across schools.ConclusionSchool tobacco policies are not equitably distributed according to the schools’ needs. Next to evaluating their impact on smoking outcomes, research should also focus on the contribution of these preventive policies to social inequalities in adolescent smoking.
Participation is currently understood as a family of constructs, which include: (1) frequency with which an activity is carried out; (2) level of involvement; (3) personal preference regarding the ...task; (4) competence, which is the ability to perform a certain task; and (5) self-perception, related to the recognition of one's ability to perform tasks. In children up to 5 years of age, who spend most of their time at home, participation can be affected by environmental factors, whether structural, family or socioeconomic. Participation can be measured through the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM), translated into Portuguese as Medida da Participação e do Ambiente – Crianças Pequenas, which is a questionnaire applied to parents/guardians, which assesses the frequency, involvement, desire for change, and environmental factors in the home, daycare/preschool, and community sections.
To identify predictors for participation at home by children between zero and five years of age with and without disabilities.
Cross-sectional and descriptive study. Those responsible for children with or without disabilities, from age 0 to 5 years and 11 months, recruited from university hospitals and teaching clinics through spontaneous demand were included. The 143 participants answered a sociodemographic questionnaire followed by the application of the YC-PEM. The outcome variables were frequency, with a mean score from 0 to 7, and involvement, from 0 to 5, of YC-PEM. The variables analyzed as predictors were environmental factors of the YC-PEM, classified into supports, barriers, environmental helpfulness, environmental resources and overall environmental support; sex, age in months and typicality (with or without disability) of the children; gender, age in years and schooling of those responsible; family income. The predictor analysis was carried out in two steps: 1) Spearman's correlation check to measure the association between variables, significant if p<0.20; and 2) Simple regression for continuous variables and binary regression for dichotomous variables identified as significant in step 1, significant if p<0.05, presenting r², which portrays the proportion of predictor variance in relation to the outcome.
No correlation was found between the typicality of the child and the frequency (p=0.768) and involvement (p=0.240) in participation; the same was observed for the other variables related to the child, guardian, and family income. It was observed that the environmental factors analyzed by the YC-PEM itself predicted participation: environmental supports predicted both attendance (r²=0.046, p=0.010) and involvement (r²=0.037, p=0.021) at home. In addition, the frequency of participation was also predicted by the help (r²=0.048, p=0.009) and support (r²=0.046, p=0.010) present in the environment.
It was observed that having or not having a disability does not interfere with children's participation at home, being predicted by the environmental factors of the house. Therefore, having more supports and aids at home makes the child carry out activities more frequently and with commitment.
The results can guide the planning of interventions aimed at increasing the participation of young children with and without disabilities, in addition to enabling collaboration between therapists and family members to support activities at home.
•A cohort study was conducted among a representative sample of preschool children who experienced lockdown and home confinement in Shanghai during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.•Compared ...with a pre-pandemic cohort of preschoolers, experiencing a two-month strict lockdown was associated with a 3.1% increase in the prevalence of being at risk for mental health disorders among preschool children.•Children of parents with lower levels of education were more likely to be at risk for mental health problems associated with the lockdown.•Preschool children had longer screen time and daytime sleep duration and experienced a worse family environment during the lockdown.
From January 24, 2020, to March 24, 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shanghai implemented lockdown measures to stop transmission of the virus. Over 26 million residents, including 0.8 million children aged 3–6, were confined at home. The present study leveraged a city-wide cohort study of preschool children in Shanghai—the Shanghai Children’s Health, Education and Lifestyle Evaluation, Preschool (SCHEDULE-P) study—and used a quasi-experimental design to study the impact of lockdown on preschool children’s mental health and changes in their home environment and lifestyles. Two cohorts—the pre-pandemic cohort and the pandemic cohort—were investigated and compared using the difference-in-differences estimation framework. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used to screen children who were at risk for mental health distress. The Index of Child Care Environment questionnaire was used to evaluate the quality and quantity of stimulation and support available to children in their family environment. Children’s screen time, sleep duration, and household socioeconomic status were also queried. All measures were reported by parents. The results showed that having experienced lockdown and home confinement was associated with a 3.1% (95% confidence interval CI: 1.9% to 4.4%) increase in the percentage of children at risk for mental health distress, was associated with longer screen time (21.2 min/day, 95% CI: 17.8–24.6), longer sleep duration (15.7 min/day, 95% CI: 14.0, 17.4), and a less favorable family environment. Children of parents with lower levels of education were more likely to experience mental health challenges associated with the lockdown. The study was limited by relying on parents as informants for measuring the key variables. Since both parents and children experienced lockdown, this hindered our ability to isolate the impact of lockdowns solely on children. In summary, the study provides evidence on the influence of lockdown measures on mental health and well-being among young children. Authorities need to manage the risks and consider long-term consequences when issuing measures to contain COVID-19 transmission.
Objectives
The immediate living environment might, like other lifestyle factors, be significantly related to mental well‐being. The current study addresses the question whether five relevant ...subjective home environment variables (i.e., protection from disturbing nightlight, daylight entering the home, safety at home, quality of window views, and noise disturbance) are associated with levels of self‐reported depression over and above well‐known sociodemographic and common lifestyle variables.
Methods
Data from the Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS) were analyzed. In N = 8757 with available PHQ‐9 depression data, multiple linear regression models were computed, with demographic data, lifestyle variables, and variables describing the subjective evaluation of the home environment.
Results
The model explained 15% of variance in depression levels, with ratings for the subjective evaluation of home environment accounting for 6%. Better protection from disturbing light at night, more daylight entering the home, feeling safer, and perceived quality of the window views, were all significantly associated with lower, while more annoyance by noise was associated with higher levels of self‐reported depression. Results did not differ if examining a sample of the youngest (middle‐aged participants: 46−50 years) versus oldest (70−78 years) participants within HCHS.
Conclusion
Beyond studying the role of lifestyle factors related to self‐reported depression, people's homes may be important for subclinical levels of depression in middle and older age, albeit the direction of effects or causality cannot be inferred from the present study. The development of a consensus and tools for a standardized home environment assessment is needed.
We estimated associations between ambient air pollution, home environment and asthma as well as rhinitis among adults across China.
A total of 40,279 young adults from eight Chinese cities ...participated in a questionnaire survey (participation rate 75%). There were questions on health and home environment. Information on city level gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, ambient temperature and PM10 and NO2 were collected from registers. Two-level logistic regression models were used to study health associations.
Totally 1.6% reported asthma and 6.6% reported allergic rhinitis (AR). Higher temperature was associated with more asthma but less AR. Higher GDP was associated with less asthma but more AR. Higher degree of urbanization, higher level of NO2 and living near heavily trafficked road were risk factors for asthma and AR. Participants in older buildings reported more asthma. Redecoration and buying new furniture were related to more asthma and AR (OR = 1.15–1.91). Using natural gas (OR = 1.34) and biomass (OR = 1.35) for cooking were risk factors for AR. Burning mosquito coils and incense increased the risk of asthma and AR. Cat keeping (OR = 2.88), dog keeping (OR = 2.04), cockroaches (OR = 1.54) and rats or mice (OR = 1.46) were associated with asthma. Cockroaches increased the risk of AR (OR = 1.22). Air humidifier and air cleaner were linked to asthma and AR. Frequent cleaning and exposing bedding to sunshine were protective.
In conclusion, urbanization, NO2 and traffic exhaust can increase the risk of adult asthma and AR. Higher ambient temperature was related to more asthma but less AR. Indoor animals such as cats, dogs, rats/mice and presence of cockroaches were associated with asthma or AR. Indoor chemical sources such as redecoration and new furniture were other risk factors. Cooking with natural gas or biomass and burning mosquito coils and incense were associated with asthma or AR. Frequent cleaning and exposing bedding to sunshine were protective.
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•Traffic air pollution can increase adult asthma and allergic rhinitis.•Cats and dogs and presence of pests at home were risk factors.•Redecoration and obtaining of new furniture were risk factors.•Indoor combustion sources were risk factors.•Frequent cleaning was protective for asthma and allergic rhinitis.
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