Profile of Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents and Frequency of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Glucose Intolerance: A Study in Public School in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To verify if there is an increase in frequency of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and glucose intolerance in children and adolescents who are overweight and obese. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey. The study population consisted of 2757 students of both sexes (1415 girls and 1342 boys) attending public schools in São Paulo state, Brazil,aged 10-19 years, from 2011 to 2012. Students not within this age range and those with type 1 diabetes mellitus were excluded. Upon interview, anthropometry, capillary blood glucose testing, fasting glucosemia (FG) and glucosemia 2 hours after 75 g of dextrose (AD) variables were obtained. We emphasize that, inspite of the 2757 students included in the next stage, only 88 students agreed to participate, and low compliance of those participants is due to the fact that they were children and adolescents who depend on the authorization of their parents or tutors, who have demonstrated deficient knowledge of familial chronic diseases such as obesity and its consequences, and the risk of DM2. RESULTS: More often girls, 1415 (51.3%). A total of 27.3% was overweight/obese/severely obese. Capillary blood glucose testing was performed in 88 (3.2%) children and adolescents with low values of glycemic results after the glucose load. There was no statistical significance between sex and glucosemia, with an average FG and AD of 92.8 mg/dL (male), 91.8 mg/dL (female) and 89.1 mg/dL (male) and 88.9 mg/dL (female), respectively. CONCLUSION: This survey emphasizes that more attention should be paid to diet interventions and practicing of physical activities demanding habit changes and acquisition of special behaviour for self-care, and provision of a better educational health program, suggesting the effective participation of the family.

Spatial-temporal variability of metal pollution across an industrial district, evidencing the environmental inequality in São Paulo.

Although air pollution decreased in some cities that shifted from an industrial to a service-based economy, and vehicular emission regulation became more restrictive, it is still a major risk factor for mortality worldwide. In central São Paulo, Brazil, air quality monitoring stations and tree-ring analyses revealed a decreasing trend in the concentrations of particulate matter and metals. Such trends, however, may not be observed in industrial districts located in the urban periphery, where the usual mobile sources may be combined with local stationary sources. To evaluate environmental pollution in an industrial district in southeastern São Paulo, we assessed its spatial variability, by measuring magnetic properties and concentrations of Al, Ba, Ca, Cl, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, P, S, Sr, Zn in the bark of 62 trees, and its temporal trends, by measuring Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, Zn in tree rings of three trees. Source apportionment analysis based on tree barks revealed two clusters with high concentrations of metals, one related to vehicular and industrial emissions (Al, Ba, Cu, Fe, Zn) in the east side of the industrial cluster, and the other related to soil resuspension (Cu, Zn, Mn) in its west side. These patterns are also supported by the magnetic properties of bark associated with iron oxides and titanium-iron alloy concentrations. Dendrochemical analyses revealed that only the concentrations of Pb consistently decreased over the last four decades. The concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, V, and Zn did not significantly decrease over time, in contrast with their negative trends previously reported in central São Paulo. This combined biomonitoring approach revealed spatial clusters of metal concentration in the vicinity of this industrial cluster and showed that the local population has not benefited from the decreasing polluting metal concentrations in the last decades.

Association between the Occurrence of Primary Hypothyroidism and the Exposure of the Population Near to Industrial Pollutants in São Paulo State, Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Environmental agents interfere with thyroid function at multiple levels. This study was to investigate the association between pollutant concentrations and the primary hypothyroidism (PH) occurrence odds in residents living in the Capuava Petrochemical Complex (CPC) influence area. METHODS: This area was evaluated with the combination of the AERMOD dispersion model with the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) meteorological model (2016). The concentration of atmospheric pollutants were analyzed in 2017 using meteorological data on the period from 2005 to 2009, correlating this data with the research done in 2003 to 2005. A home-based questionnaire was applied to evaluate 2004 residents, of both sexes, aged from 8 to 72 years, based on their proximity to the industrial areas; were select residents with PH. RESULTS: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations presented the highest correlations between the PH odds and pollutant concentrations. CONCLUSION: Air pollution associated with the presence of the CPC is an important environmental factor contributing to the development of PH in the nearby population. As the first study showing this association in Brazil, research should be continued to better understand the mechanisms and to find ways to compensate for or remedy to avoid health impacts in future populations.

Overt Primary Hypothyroidism in an Industrial Area in São Paulo, Brazil: The Impact of Public Disclosure.

Background: Primary hypothyroidism (PH) is the most common thyroid pathology. Purpose: to evaluate the impact of public disclosure of an unexpected number of PH cases on the frequency of patients seeking medical evaluation for endocrinological diseases. Methods: data on 6306 subjects (3356 living in the surroundings of a petrochemical complex and 2950 in a control region) were collected over a 15-year time span. Thyroid function was determined by serum levels of triiodothyronine, thyroxine, free thyroxine and thyrotrophin. Antithyroglobulin and antithyroperoxidase antibodies and sonographic scans of the thyroid were performed in all patients. The data were analyzed via log-linear models to compute odds and odds ratios. Results: An increasing trend in the odds of PH was detected along the observation period with greater slope in the study region than in the control region. The odds of PH in the post-disclosure period (2002 to 2004) are greater than the corresponding ones in the pre-disclosure period (1989 to 2001). Conclusions: This study shows that living in the surroundings of a petrochemical complex may be an important risk factor for PH for both adults and children. Furthermore, public disclosure of such risk factor contributes to the awareness of the problem and to the possibility of an early diagnosis.

Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis in industrial areas in Brazil: a 15-year survey.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether there is an increased incidence of chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT) in individuals living in the vicinity of industrial plants that manufacture petroleum byproducts in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: Between 1989 and 2004, 6,306 patients of both sexes, from 5 to 78 years old were divided in two groups according to their home location: Group 1: 3,356 residents living near industrial plants that manufacture petroleum byproducts (Region A), and Group 2: 2,950 residents living far from Region A in an area with predominantly steel industries (Region B). For all patients, we measured the serum levels of antithyroglobulin antibody, antithyroperoxidase antibody, triiodothyronine, thyroxine, free thyroxine and thyrostimulating hormone. Sonographic scans of the thyroid gland were also conducted. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with CAT coming from Region A increased from 2.5 % (5 patients with CAT/200 total patients) in 1992 to 57.6 % (106 patients with CAT/184 total patients) in 2001. This striking increase was highly significant (p < 0.001). Similar findings were not observed in Region B. The difference in the number of patients with CAT between 1989 and 2004 coming from Region A and Region B was highly significant (p < 0.001), with 905 CAT patients (83.95 %) in Region A and 173 CAT patients (16.05 %) in Region B. CONCLUSION: Our results showed a striking increase in the incidence of CAT in residents in the vicinity of large industrial plants that manufacture petroleum byproducts compared with residents living near steel industries, which opens the field to new areas of research.