Giardia lamblia-infected preschoolers present growth delays independent of the assemblage A, B or E

BACKGROUND Intestinal parasite Giardia can affect children's physical development mainly stunting even in asymptomatic cases. The protozoa G. lamblia is divided into assemblages A-H. However, it is still unclear whether clinical manifestations and pathogenesis may vary according to the infecting assemblage. OBJECTIVES To investigate whether G. lamblia assemblages influence differently the physical development of preschoolers from a community of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. METHODS Anthropometric parameters were analysed from children attending a daycare centre and stool samples were obtained for the G. lamblia diagnosis. G. lamblia isolates from positive samples were genotyped. Data were analysed in order to verify whether there is a relationship between G. lamblia infection and the physical development of children according to the assemblage. FINDINGS Herein we demonstrated that although eutrophic, G. lamblia-infected daycare preschoolers from a low-income community presented growth delay compared to non-infected ones. This effect was observed for the three assemblages (A, B or E) found infecting humans. MAIN CONCLUSION G. lamblia causes growth delays on children independent of infecting assemblage (A, B or E).

Pre-schoolers bronchial asthma in the primary health care centres: physicians' knowledge and practice in Jazan region Saudi Arabia

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of primary health care (PHC) physicians in the diagnosis and management of preschoolers' bronchial asthma in Jazan region in Saudi Arabia.Methods: A survey of 106 primary care physicians practicing in Jazan region was conducted. Domains that assessed include asthma causes, diagnosis, management, and prognosis. Item formats included self-reports through online version questionnaire during the period December 2018 to February 2019.Results: Among 72% of participants were general practitioners, with about 60% were mid-level experience (1-10 years), overall PHC physician level of knowledge and practice was moderate level, and the knowledge was significantly affected by grade of specialty, years of experience, and the number of bronchial asthma patients seen in the last three months in the center. This study showed mis concepts and mal practices of PHC physicians as 57% of them considered prescribing antibiotics during asthma attacks, while 72% agreed that anti-cough therapy is helpful in asthma like symptoms.Conclusions: This study proves that PHC physician in Jazan region are moderately aware of preschoolers' bronchial asthma if compared to studies done in other regions of Saudi Arabia. There are certain practices and concepts regarding preschooler's asthma that need to be revised. Raising the awareness regarding adherence to guidelines of pediatrics bronchial asthma mandates more attention and advocacy.

Uso de inventários comportamentais para a avaliação socioemocional em idade pré-escolar / The use of rating scales in the social-emotional assessment of pre-schoolers / Uso de inventarios conductuales para la evaluación socioemocional en edad preescolar

Os últimos 30 anos pautam-se por um aumento do interesse pela avaliação do desenvolvimento/funcionamento socioemocional das crianças em idade pré-escolar. Porém, a avaliação dessa população mais nova, com características específicas (exemplo, vocabulário limitado), exige o recurso a uma abordagem distinta da utilizada com crianças em idade escolar/adultos. Nesse contexto, a utilizaçãode escalas de avaliação/inventários comportamentais tem assumido um lugar de destaque. O presente artigo tem por objetivo salientara importância da utilização de escalas de avaliação enquanto medidas do funcionamento socioemocional de crianças pré-escolares. A análise crítica efetuada indica que, apesar de diversas vantagens (exemplo, tempo de aplicação e custos reduzidos), existem também algumas limitações inerentes ao uso desse tipo de instrumento de avaliação (exemplo, tendência de resposta), sendo apontadas recomendações para uma utilização mais eficaz.

The last 30 years are ruled by an increased interest in the assessment of the social-emotional development/functioning of preschool children. However, the assessment of this younger population, with specific characteristics (example, restricted vocabulary), requiresthe use of a distinct approach from the one used with school age children/adults. In this context, the use of rating scales has assumeda prominent role. The present paper aims to highlight the importance of rating scales as a measure of preschoolers’ social-emotional functioning. The critical review indicates that, despite several advantages (example, brevity and cost efficiency), there are also some limitations related to this kind of assessment instrument (example, bias of response), and recommendations for its efficient use are pointed out.

Los últimos 30 años son impulsados por un creciente interés en la evaluación del desarrollo/funcionamiento socioemocional de los niños en edad preescolar. Todavia, la evaluación de esa población tan joven, que posee características específicas (ejemplo, vocabulario limitado), exige un enfoque diferente de aquel que se utiliza con niños en edad escolar/adultos. En ese contexto, el uso de escalasde evaluación/inventarios conductuales ha pasado a ocupar un lugar destacado. El objetivo de este artículo es poner de manifiestola importancia de la utilización de escalas de evaluación como medidas del funcionamiento socioemocional de los niños en edad preescolar. El análisis crítico realizado revela que a pesar de poseer una serie de ventajas (ejemplo, tiempo de aplicación y costereducido), ese tipo de instrumento de evaluación tiene también algunas limitaciones inherentes (ejemplo, el sesgo de respuesta), porlo que se aportan recomendaciones para una utilización más eficaz.

Uso del chupete de entretención en la primera infancia y su influencia en el desarrollo posterior de sobrepeso y obesidad entre los 5 y 18 años de edad / Pacifier use in early childhood and its influence on further development of overweight and obesity between 5 and 18 years old

Para evaluar el efecto que tendría el uso del chupete de entretención durante los primeros 5 años de vida sobre el peso futuro de esos niños entre los 5 y 18 años de edad, se evaluó el estado nutricional de 400 niños de 5 a 18 años en una consulta pediátrica general privada y se les investigó mediante encuesta a la madre, sobre el uso del chupete y tiempo de su uso entre el ano y los 5 años de edad. En el grupo que no usó chupete, los varones representaron un 48% las ninas 52%; 62,3% tenían sobrepeso y 16,6% presentó obesidad. En el grupo que si usó chupete, los varones representaron el 53,8% las niñas un 46.2% y el 30,7% tenía sobrepeso y sólo 5,3% presentó obesidad. Los grupos fueron comparables en sexo y edad. No se encontraron diferencias por sexo en el uso del chupete. El porcentaje de niños eutróficos, fue significativamente mayor en el grupo que usó chupete en relación a los niños que no usaron chupete. El porcentaje de niños con sobrepeso u obesidad fue significativamente mayor en el grupo de niños que no usaron chupete en relación a los niños que usaron chupete. Tanto el análisis bivariado como el logístico multivariado, considerando el uso del chupete como variable dependiente, el estado nutricional, sexo y edad, son consistentes en que sólo la variable estado nutricional se asoció al uso del chupete.

The potential effect of the use pacifier of use during the first 5 years of life on the weight of the child between 5 and 18 years of age was assessed. The nutritional status of 400 children between 5 and 18 years of age in a private pediatric practice was investigated by questioning the mother on pacifier use between one and 5 years of age. In the group that did not use pacifier, males accounted for 48%, girls for 52%, and 62.3% were overweight and 16.6% obese. In the group using a pacifier, males accounted for 53.8%, girls 46.2% and 30.7% were overweight and only 5,3% were obese. The groups were comparable in age and sex and there were no gender differences in the use of pacifiers. The percentage of eutrophic children was significantly higher in the group who used a pacifier in relation to the one who did not. The prevalence of overweight or obesity was significantly higher in the group of children who did not use a pacifier in relation to children who used a pacifier. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic analysis, considering the use of a pacifier as a dependent variable and nutritional status, sex and age, are consistent in that only the variable nutritional status was associated with pacifier use.

Development of a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire for Pre-school Children in Korea / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of the study was to develop and evaluate the reliability of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) intended to measure mainly nutrient intake (energy, protein, fat, calcium and iron) related to growth in pre-schoolers in Korea. Based on foods with up to 90 cumulative percent contribution of the 5 nutrients, we developed a SFFQ for 86 foods. In order to evaluate the reliability of both nutrient and food intakes, caregivers of a sample of 101 children aged 4 to 6 years completed the SFFQ repeatedly at 3 month intervals. There were small differences in the nutrient intakes assessed by the SFFQ ranging from 0.55% to 9.91%. There were no significant differences in nutrient values calculated from the repeat questionnaires, except in the case of niacin and vitamin C. The Pearson correlation coefficients of most of the nutrients ranged form 0.54 to 0.75 (mean = 0.66). When energy intake was adjusted, there was approximately a 0.2 decrease in the correlation coefficient of most nutrients, due to the high correlation of energy intake with other nutrients (r=0.7-0.9). The amount of food intake differed by 0.1 to 66.4% (mean = 17.5%), depending on the food item. Out of 86 foods, 74 foods (86%) showed less than a 30% difference in intake and 30 foods (35%) showed less than a 10% difference. Only 6 (7%) out of the 86 foods presented statistically significant differences in intake. The Spearman correlation coefficients of most food intakes assessed repeatedly by the SFFQ ranged from 0.4 to 0.7. Reproducibility of the nutrient and food intakes found in this study was better or similar to those found in cases of Korean adults. Therefore, the SFFQ developed in the present study can be a useful tool to assess the dietary intake of pre-schoolers in Korea.