Background: Obesity and its related cardiovascular-metabolic diseases are growing public health concerns. Despite global attention to obesity, its prevalence is steeply increasing in developing countries, especially in children and adolescents. Eating behaviours and physical activity are modifiable risk factors for obesity that can variably be shaped by families. Eating behaviours and physical activity are especially important during adolescence, given its significance as a foundational period for developing healthy lifestyles. This qualitative study aimed to explore barriers and opportunities around creating healthy lifestyles among adolescents in Indonesia, focussing on family environments from diverse socio-demographic backgrounds. Method: In-depth interviews using a semi-structured guide were undertaken with consecutively recruited 10–18-year-old adolescents with overweight or obesity, and their parents, from three different sites: urban (Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia), peri-urban (West Java Province) and rural (Banten Province). Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns of meaning. Results: Nineteen dyads were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed four themes: limited knowledge of healthy lifestyles; healthy lifestyles not a concern of daily life; limited parenting skills, including inequity around gender roles; and aspects of availability and accessibility. These interconnected barriers influenced lifestyle practices at home within the context of daily preferences and decisions around food and activities. Gender role inequity and healthy food accessibility were more prominent in rural families than in those from urban or peri-urban settings. Conclusions: Healthy lifestyles in adolescence may be supported by strategies to enhance parenting skills, build individual motivation, and support the development of more enabling environments.

Objectives: Poor complementary feeding practices have consistently contributed to the burden of child undernutrition in Indonesia. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and predictors of the time of the introduction of solid, semi-solid, and soft foods (ISSSF), minimum dietary diversity (MDD), minimum meal frequency (MMF), and minimum acceptable diet (MAD).Methods: We analyzed 4804 last-born infants aged 6-23 months from the 2017 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey, which employed multistage cluster random sampling. The outcomes were calculated based on the 2021 World Health Organization/United Nations Children’s Fund guidelines. The predictors of the 4 complementary feeding indicators were assessed using multivariate Poisson regression with robust variance adjusting for potential confounders and study design.Results: The prevalence of ISSSF, MDD, MMF, and MAD was 86.1%, 54.3%, 71.8%, and 37.6%, respectively, with younger children less likely to meet 3 out of the 4 outcomes. Parental education, the presence of a birth attendant, and maternal media consumption were among the predictors of MDD and MAD. Children from families with higher income were more likely to meet MDD than those from low-income households (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR], 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 1.28). Living in an urban area was positively associated with MMF (aPR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.15) and MAD (aPR, 1.12; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.24). In eastern regions, the prevalence of children achieving MDD and MAD was lower than in those living in Java and Bali.Conclusions: It is crucial that more attention and efforts are made to improve the recommended practices throughout Indonesia, since the prevalence of adequate complementary feeding practices remains low.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the clinical and metabolic determinants of circulating soluble leptin receptor (CSLR) and free leptin index (FLI) in pre-pubertal obese male children. Methods: We conducted a preliminary cross-sectional study at three tertiary hospitals and one public primary school. Eighty obese male children without growth and developmental abnormalities aged 5-9 years were recruited. In these children, obesity was solely caused by excessive food intake, and not by acute illness, medications, endocrine abnormalities, or any syndrome. Body mass index (BMI), body fat mass, carbohydrate intake, fat intake, high density lipoprotein cholesterol level, low density lipoprotein cholesterol level, triglyceride level, and Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance are the potential determinants for leptin regulation, which is represented by CSLR level and FLI. Results: Carbohydrate was the main source of energy. BMI and body fat mass had negative weak correlation with CSLR and positive weak correlation with FLI. Furthermore, carbohydrate intake was found to be independently associated with CSLR based on the results of the multiple linear regression analysis. Following an increase in carbohydrate intake, CSLR level decreased progressively without any negative peak. Conclusion: Leptin regulation in prepubertal obese male children is associated with body composition and dietary intake. Carbohydrate intake is useful for predicting CSLR. Lipid profiles and insulin resistance are not related to both CSLR and FLI. Treatment and prevention of leptin resistance in obese children should focus on reducing BMI, fat mass, and carbohydrate intake.

BACKGROUND: Organ damage due to iron toxicity is one factor that increases the risk of getting cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in thalassemia patient. This study aims to determine glucose and lipid profiles in adolescents with thalassemia major and its association with iron overload in pancreas and liver.METHODS: This was a cross sectional study. Subjects were thalassemia major adolescents without any confounding factors that may affect glucose and lipid levels. Blood samples were collected to measure the glucose level, lipid profiles, ferritin level and transferrin saturation. T2-Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to evaluate the iron overload in organs.RESULTS: From a total of 60 subjects, diabetes mellitus was diagnosed in 1 subject and impaired fasting glucose was diagnosed in 3 subjects. All subjects had high triglycerides/ high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio, 59 subjects (98%) had low HDL-C, 18 subjects (30%) had hypertriglyceridemia, and none had abnormal high level of low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). The majority of subjects had ferritin ≥2,500 ng/mL (70%), mild pancreatic iron overload (56.6%), and moderate hepatic iron overload (43.8%). Degree of hyperferritinemia was not associated with glucose and lipid profiles. Blood glucose profiles were not associated with various degree of pancreatic iron overload. Similar result was also observed between lipid profiles and hepatic iron overload.CONCLUSION: Abnormal glucose and lipid profiles in thalassemia major can be found in adolescence. Normal blood glucose level isn’t necessarily associated with normal pancreatic iron deposition. Hepatic iron overload may worsen dyslipidemia in thalassemia major patients.KEYWORDS: glucose profile, lipid profile, pancreatic iron overload, hepatic iron overload, thalassemia major