Background: Obesity is becoming a serious public health issue and is related to lung dysfunction. Because both weight and height are indicators of body size, body mass index (BMI) may not be an ideal index of obesity in prediction of pulmonary dysfunction. Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the predictability of waist circumference (WC) and BMI for pulmonary function in adults with and without excess body weight. Design: A cross-sectional study of 1674 adults aged ≥18 y was conducted in a rural community. Height, weight, WC, and pulmonary function were measured. Multivariate analysis was conducted. Results: WC was negatively associated with forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 s, and the associations were consistent across sex, age, and BMI categories. On average, a 1-cm increase in WC was associated with a 13-mL reduction in forced vital capacity and an 11-mL reduction in forced expiratory volume in 1 s. The association between WC and pulmonary function was consistent in subjects with normal weight, overweight, and obesity. In subjects with normal weight, BMI was positively associated with forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 s. Conclusion: WC, but not BMI, is negatively and consistently associated with pulmonary function in normal-weight, overweight, and obese subjects.

To assess the association between maternal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and low birth weight (LBW)/prematurity (PTD), we conducted a meta-analysis of cohort studies of HIV infected and uninfected women. Several English and Chinese databases were searched (updated to May 2015) to find the studies reporting infant outcomes associated with exposure to maternal HIV infection during pregnancy. Relevant articles were manually selected based on several inclusion and exclusion criteria. Fifty-two cohort studies including 15,538 (for LBW) and 200,896 (for PTD) HIV infected women met the inclusion criteria. There was significant heterogeneity among studies for maternal HIV infection associated with LBW/PTD (I2 = 71.7 %, P < 0.05, and I2 = 51.8 %, P < 0.05 for LBW and PTD, respectively). The meta-analysis demonstrated that the maternal HIV infection was significantly associated with both LBW (pooled odds ratio (OR): 1.73, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.64, 1.82, P < 0.001) and PTD (pooled OR: 1.56, 95 % CI: 1.49, 1.63, P < 0.001). No significant difference in the relationship between maternal HIV infection and adverse pregnancy outcomes was detected among the groups of different study periods. HIV infected women were at slightly higher risk of LBW in developing countries compared with women in developed countries (OR: 2.12 (95 % CI: 1.81, 2.48) vs. 1.75 (95 % CI: 1.44, 2.12)). Antiretroviral drugs usage did not significantly change the associations of maternal HIV exposure with LBW and PTD. HIV infected women were at higher risk of having a low birth weight infant or a preterm delivery infant compared with uninfected women. Such associations did not change significantly over time or were not significantly affected by the usage of antiretroviral drugs.

Background The prevalence of diabetes has been steadily increasing in Western countries. We investigated the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on the prevalence of self-reported diabetes, and its differences between genders. Methods Data for this investigation were derived from the second cycle of the National Population Health Survey conducted in 1996–1997. A total of 39 021 subjects (17 730 males and 21 291 females) ≥40 years of age who answered the question about diabetes were included in the present analysis. Educational attainment and income adequacy were used as indicators of SES. Multiple logistic regression models were constructed for men and women separately to assess the effects of SES on the prevalence of diabetes after adjustment for age, area of residence, body mass index, and physical activity. Results and The prevalence of diabetes was 6.6% among men and 5.5% among women. The Conclusions prevalence increased with decreasing income category and educational attainment in both genders. The odds ratios for income and education in relation to diabetes after adjustment remained significant in women, but attained unity in men. Canadian women ≥40 years of age of low SES have a relatively high prevalence of diabetes, independent of age, area of residence, obesity, and physical inactivity.

Background: There is increasing evidence suggesting that Bisphenol A (BPA), one of the highest volume chemicals produced worldwide, can interfere with the body’s natural weight control mechanisms to promote obesity. However, epidemiological studies for this are limited, especially for children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the association between BPA exposure and body mass index (BMI) in school children. Three primary and three middle schools were randomly selected from 26 primary and 30 middle candidate schools in Changning District of Shanghai City in China. According to the BMI-based criteria by age and sex for screening of overweight or obese children, we randomly chose 20 obese, 10 overweight, and 30 normal weight children aged 8-15 years of age from each selected school. First morning urine was collected and total urine BPA concentrations were determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the association of urine BPA concentrations and daily intake estimates with BMI. Results: BPA was detected in 84.9% of urine samples with a geometric mean of 0.45 ng/mL. The daily intake estimates ranged from 0.03 μg/day to 1.96 μg/day with a geometric mean of 0.37 μg/day. The average urine BPA concentrations and daily intake estimates were similar for boys and girls, but significantly higher in older children than younger ones, and showed an increasing trend with BMI. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that urine BPA concentrations were significantly associated with increasing BMI values in all subjects after adjustment for age and sex and the results were similar before and after corrected by urine specific gravity. When stratified by age or sex, the associations remained significant in females and in those 8-11 years of age before corrected by specific gravity. Similar results were shown for the association between BMI and daily intake estimates. Conclusions: There is a possibility that BPA exposure increases BMI in school children. Given the cross-sectional nature of this study, longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm BPA exposure as a contributor to increased BMI in children.