| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
AJPH NEWS Release
January 24, 2002, 4:00 PM (ET)
Contact: Kendra Fitzgordon
(202) 777-2436
All articles are online at www.ajph.org
American Journal of Public Health: February 2002 Highlights
The articles highlighted below appear in the February 2002 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of the American Public Health Association.
Osteoporosis Unrecognized By Primary Care Physicians
Less than 2 percent of women 60 years and older receive diagnoses of osteoporosis or vertebral fracture from their primary care physicians, though the expected prevalence of these conditions is 20 to 30 percent for older women. Of the diagnosed patients, only 36 percent were offered appropriate drug treatment such as antiresorptive agents, calcium and vitamin D. Recognition rates increased over time during the five-year study, from 1.2 percent in 1993 to 2.7 percent in 1997. Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 1993 to 1997 were examined for evidence of diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis or vertebral fracture during visits by white women 60 years and older to their primary care physicians.
[From: "Recognition of Osteoporosis by Primary Care Physicians." Contact: Stephen H. Gehlbach, University of Massachusetts, ph 413-545-6883.]
Foreign-Born Children Have Fewer Emotional Problems
Though foreign-born children are more than twice as likely to live in poor families, they experience fewer emotional and behavioral problems than children of non-immigrant parents. The study, analyzing data from a national Canadian study of children between four and 11 years of age, examined the differential effects of poverty on the mental health of foreign-born children, Canadian-born children of immigrant parents, and children of nonimmigrant parents. Poor immigrant families were less likely than nonimmigrant families to be headed by only one parent, or to have dysfunctional characteristics. Poverty, as material deprivation, was a risk factor for the mental health of foreign-born children. There was also a statistical relationship between poverty and mental health among Canadian-born children in immigrant families as well as among children of nonimmigrant parents. However, in these households, the effect was probably indirect, less likely interpretable as a result of material deprivation per se than as a product of the social concomitants of poverty. Although single-parent status did not affect the relationship between poverty and the mental health of immigrant children or Canadian-born children of immigrant parent, this factor accounted for most of the differences that otherwise appeared to be caused by poverty among children of nonimmigrant parents. Ineffective parenting, parental depression and family dysfunction mediated the relationship between poverty and the mental health of Canadian-born children in immigrant and nonimmigrant families, but family factors played a relatively weak role among foreign-born children.
[From: "Poverty, Family Process, and the Mental Health of Immigrant Children in Canada." Contact: Morton Beiser, Centre for Addiction and mental Health Clarke Site, ph 011-416-979-4988.]
One Out of 10 Boys Taking ADHD Medication
More than 10 percent of boys in grades one through five are taking
medication for Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in one North Carolina County. Three times as many boys as girls take medication to treat the condition. Overall, more than 7 percent of students in these grades were taking ADHD medication (representing 71 percent of previously diagnosed children), with fourth and fifth graders being the highest at 9.4 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively. About 8 percent of the White children are receiving medication
treatment, compared to 5 percent of the African-American children and 2 percent of Hispanic children. About 15 percent of the boys and five percent of the girls were diagnosed with ADHD. The study examined parental reports of 6099 children in 17 public elementary schools in semi-rural Johnson County, North Carolina. Because Johnston County has a racial/ethnic and educational profile similar to North Carolina as a whole, the authors of the study think that medication treatment rates in Johnston county are probably similar to many counties in North Carolina. Since treatment rates for ADHD are usually viewed as abnormally high if they exceed 3 to 5 percent, the authors suggest the national public health impact of ADHD nationally may be underestimated by educators and public health officials. The study was conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
[[From: "Prevalence of Medication Treatment for Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder Among Elementary School Children in Johnston County, North Carolina." Contact: Andrew S. Rowland, UNM Dept of Family and Community Medicine, ph 505-272-1391.]
Sexual Abuse When Young Leads To Risky Behavior When Older
Men with a history of unwanted sexual activity during childhood are significantly more likely to report harmful health practices, including risky sexual behaviors later in life. Specifically, these men are more likely to experience alcohol problems and drug use and to engage in the buying and selling of sex, having unprotected sex and having sex with many partners. Compared with men who did not experience such childhood sexual abuse, men reporting unwanted sexual activity during childhood also were 6.79 times as likely to report some form of unwanted sexual activity after age 13. Data were obtained from interviews of 2676 mostly African-American and Hispanic men enrolled in HIV prevention trials. About 25 percent of men reported unwanted or uninvited sexual activity before age 13, with Hispanic men more likely than African-Americans to report such experiences.
[[From: "Childhood Sexual Abuse and Risk Behaviors Among Men at High Risk for HIV Infection." Contact: Colleen DiIorio, Rollins School of Public Health, ph 404-727-8741.]
Food Portions Greatly Exceed Recommended Sizes
With the lone exception of sliced white bread, the sizes of sodas, pizza slices, hamburgers and other commonly available foods measured in a new study exceeded û sometimes greatly û standard portions recommended by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The chocolate chip cookie available in todayÆs marketplace surpassed standard USDA portion sizes by 700 percent. The study finds that portion sizes began to grow in the 1970s, rose sharply in the 1980s and have continued in parallel with increasing body weights in the U.S.
[[From: "The Contribution of Expanding Portion Sizes to the US Obesity Epidemic." Contact: Lisa R. Young, New York University, ph 212-998-5580.]
The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly Journal of the American Public Health Association, the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world and the foremost publisher of public health-related books and periodicals promoting high scientific standards, action programs and policy for good health. The Journal is online at www.ajph.org.
###
To see previous news releases, visit our News Release Archive
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |