Parents' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Baby Walkers, Baby Car Seats, Oral Health, and Child Screen Time in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background Awareness of age-appropriate milestones and developmental stages is crucial for parents to identify any potential delays or concerns early on and seek appropriate interventions. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers in Saudi Arabia regarding baby walkers, baby car seats, early dental visits, and screen time for young children. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among parents in Saudi Arabia using a structured questionnaire. A convenience and snowball sampling method was employed to recruit participants from various regions of the country. The questionnaire aimed to assess parents' knowledge regarding the recommended use of baby walkers and baby car seats, their awareness of the importance of early dental visits, and their understanding of appropriate screen time guidelines. Additionally, the survey explored parents' practices toward these recommendations. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, and associations between variables were examined using the chi-squared test. Results A total of 1318 participants were included. The analysis revealed that the majority of the participants (n=1066,81.3%) use a baby walker, while only (n=292,22.3%) consider that they should never be used. Overall, (n=388,29.6%) of the participants never used a car seat for their infants or children. In terms of early childhood dental visits, approximately (n=518,39.5%) of the participants reported actually taking their child to the dentist within the recommended timeframe. Regarding screen time for children, (n=148,11.3%) of the participants reported that their children spend >5 hours daily in front of the screen.  Conclusions Raising parents' awareness about recent childcare recommendations and safe practices is crucial for promoting optimal child development, preventing health problems, facilitating evidence-based decision-making, reducing risks, enhancing parental confidence and empowerment, and nurturing positive parent-child relationships.

Impact of online learning on physical activity during COVID-19 lockdown period among female undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: During early 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdown, most education systems-including universities-shifted from face-to-face classes to online learning. In Saudi Arabia, this might have contributed to a decreased level of physical activity (PA) and a concurrent increase in sedentary behaviour among young adults. This study aimed to investigate the impact of online learning on PA during the COVID-19 lockdown period among female undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia. Methods: Data were collected through an online survey administered to participants. It consisted of three sections including demographic information, participants' perception towards online learning and PA, and PA level using the self-reported active-questionnaire survey tool. The association between online learning and PA was measured using linear regression. The statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: A total of 197 female undergraduate students were included; 95.4% of them were aged 18-24 years old, and 59.9% were in the normal body mass index range (18.5-24.9 kg/m2). In terms of PA level, 55.3% were highly active, 33.5% were moderately active and 10.1% were low-active. In terms of students' perception of engaging in PA, 53.3% of students reported that engaging in PA definitely affected their psychological status. Moreover, compared with those attending <25 hours/week of online learning, those who attended >30 hours/week had lower PA (r =  - 363.24; 95% confidence interval (CI) -593.97, -132.50), followed by those attending 25-30 hours/week (r =  - 277.66; 95% CI -484.65, -70.66). Conclusion: Online learning has negatively affected the PA level of female undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 lockdown period, in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, this might affect their phycological status. Nevertheless, future studies are warranted to further investigate the relationship between PA level and psychological status.

Effectiveness of Bariatric Surgery for Improving Thyroid Function and Reducing Levothyroxine Dose in Patients With Obesity and Overt Hypothyroidism.

BACKGROUND:  Hypothyroidism is a major hormonal condition that affects more women than men in Saudi Arabia. Studies indicate a bidirectional link between hypothyroidism and obesity, which may improve following bariatric surgery (BS). The focus of this research is to assess how hypothyroidism patients' thyroid function and levothyroxine dosage are impacted by bariatric surgery. METHODOLOGY: This was an observational retrospective study conducted in two centres at Taif, Saudi Arabia. All morbidly obese patients who were diagnosed with overt hypothyroidism and underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy from January 2016 to December 2021 were included. The changes in the thyroid profile and the changes in the doses or cessation of levothyroxine were evaluated after the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. RESULTS: Our results demonstrate that a total of 70 patients dominated by women out of 1202 from both centers who meet our inclusion criteria showed a statistically significant decrease on comparison of clinical parameters (thyroid-stimulating hormone [TSH], free T4 [FT4], free T3 [FT3], levothyroxine [L-T4]) before and after BS. The average TSH levels were determined to be 4.45 ± 4.41 mIU/L prior to BS, and they significantly decreased (3.17 ± 2.77 mIU/L) following BS (p=0.009). When compared to before BS (13.17 ± 2.73 pmol/L), the mean FT4 levels after BS (11.63 ± 5.88 pmol/L) exhibited a significant decline (p=0.046). The mean FT3 levels before and after BS also were statistically significantly lower (1.94 ± 2.12 pg/mL) than before (2.75 ± 1.96 pg/mL), p=0.009. The mean L-T4 levels after BS considerably decreased from before BS (98.68 ± 56.18 mcg) to after BS (79.39 ± 41.49 mcg), p=0.046. CONCLUSION: Better thyroid profiles and lower levothyroxine dosage show that bariatric surgery improves hypothyroidism.