Perceptions of height and weight screening and associations with body image: a cross-sectional study in early primary school children.

BACKGROUND: Despite parental concern, few studies have investigated children's experiences with school-based screening of growth deviations. This study aimed to explore perceptions of height and weight screening and associations with body size dissatisfaction (BSD) among third-grade children aged 8-9 years in central Norway. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study between November 2021 and April 2022, perceptions of height and weight screening and BSD were assessed individually among 209 children (49% girls) through researcher-assisted interviews. RESULTS: Most children indicated satisfaction with the screening by selecting a happy emoji, whereas only 1% indicated dissatisfaction, by selecting an unhappy emoji. However, 23%-30% selected a neutral emoji, indicating either neutrality or a response between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. No difference in the perception of height and weight screening was found between genders or body mass index (BMI). Children with parents from non-Western countries had a higher risk of being less satisfied with the height screening (OR=3.0, 95% CI 1.2 to 7.3) than those from Western origin, and children attending schools with lower socioeconomic status (SES) had increased risk of being less satisfied with both height (OR=5.5, 95% CI 2.2 to 13.5) and weight screening (OR=4.0, 95% CI 1.7 to 9.3), compared with children from schools with medium-high SES. Twenty-three percent reported BSD, in which 14% and 9% desired a thinner or larger body, respectively, independent of gender and BMI. No association was found between BSD and the perception of weighing (OR=1.1, 95% CI 0.6 to 2.4), however, BSD was associated with being more satisfied with height screening (OR=0.3, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.8). CONCLUSION: In the present sample, most children indicated satisfaction with school-based height and weight screening, with no differences between gender or BMI category. However, more children of non-Western origin and from areas with low SES reported less satisfaction with the screening, independent of BSD.

Characteristics of Patients Reporting Presumed Problematic Drinking Behavior After Gastric Bypass: Exploring Long-Term Data From the BAROBS Study.

Objective: To explore patients' long-term experiences with drinking alcohol after Roux-n-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) for conceptualizing what may indicate problematic drinking behavior after bariatric surgery. Study Design: Three-center, observational study. Patients: 546 adult patients undergoing RYGB in the period 2003-2009 in Norway. Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported data on drinking behavior and experiences related to alcohol collected 10-15 years after surgery. Results: Out of the 959 patients undergoing RYGB in the period, 29 were diseased and 546 participated in this follow-up study (58.7%). Focusing on suspicious changes in drinking behavior, 8.8% reported drinking more, 11.5% consumed alcohol at least twice a week, and 10.6% consumed at a minimum of 6 units of alcohol at a frequency of at least once monthly. The nature of hangovers had changed for about a third of the patients, with 21.6% reporting these to feel weaker or absent. Repeated alcoholic blackouts were reported by 11.9%. A subgroup of the patients were categorized as displaying presumed problematic drinking behavior(PPDB). Among the PPDB-men there was a significant association to having had a fall last year (6 (100.0%) PPDB-patients vs. 30 (29.7%) non-PPDB, p<.001). Among the PPDB-women, there was a significant association to having had alcohol problems prior to surgery (7 (70.0%) PPDB-patients vs. 67 (17.7%) non-PPDB, p<.001). Less significant associations to PPDB reported for explorative purposes were lack of patient education (men) (16 (26.2%) PPDB-patients vs. 8 (61.5%) non-PPDB, p=.014); more than 3 months persistent musculoskeletal pain (women) (45 (15.3%) PPDB-patients vs. 29 (24.6%) non-PPDB, p=.026); subjective problems with memory (women) (58 (20.7%) PPDB-patients vs. 10 (9.1%) non-PPDB, p=.006); and, receiving professional help for mental problems last 12 months (women) (29 (22.7%) PPDB-patients vs. 45 (14.7%) non-PPDB, p=.043). Conclusion: A subset of patients display drinking behaviors that may be consistent with postsurgical alcohol problems. Screening instruments like AUDIT may not be sufficiently specific to capture several risk behaviors occurring after bariatric surgery.

Visual art inspired by climate change-An analysis of audience reactions to 37 artworks presented during 21st UN climate summit in Paris.

This paper suggests and tests a psychological model of environmental art perception and subsequent support for climate change policies. The model is based on findings from art perception and environmental psychology, which indicate that the response of the viewer to the artwork is (1) first an emotional reaction, which can be positive and/or negative. The emotional activation leads to (2) evaluation of the perceived quality of the artwork. This forms the first impression of the artwork the viewer gets, which then triggers (3) reflections on the artwork that are finally related to support for climate policies. The model test uses data collected at the ArtCOP21 that accompanied the 21st UN climate summit in Paris. At 37 connected events, the research team collected 883 audience responses with a brief quantitative paper-pencil questionnaire. The data were analyzed using a multilevel-structural equation modeling approach. Results support the suggested theoretical model. Moreover, the effect of reflections on the artwork on support for climate policies is moderated by environmental attitudes, meaning the lower the environmental attitudes, the higher the effect of reflections on policy support. Finally, artwork features like color, size, displaying something personal, etc., could be identified that had a significant relation to differences on the artwork level regarding the first impression of the artwork and the reflections elicited. The study shows that being confronted with climate change-related artwork relates at least in the short run to increased climate policy support, which is mostly channeled through an emotional activation with following cognitive processing. Features of the artwork relate to how strongly and which emotions are activated.