Background: The growing prevalence of overweight and/or obese children is an important public health problem in both developed and developing countries. Although the association of obesity between parents and their children is well known, its underlying mechanisms are not well established.Purpose: This meta-analysis examined parent-child (PC) relationships in obesity and identified factors such as world region and country income level that may influence this relationship.Methods: We identified all related studies published between January 1, 2015 and May 31, 2020 by conducting a literature search using the MeSH terms “obesity,” “overweight,” “body mass index,” “parent,” “child,” “associate,” and “relate” in the PubMed database in English.Results: The meta-analysis of 23 studies that reported an odds ratio (OR) for parent and child obesity associations found a significant association between parents and children who were overweight or obese (pooled OR, 1.97; 95% confidence interval, 1.85–2.10). A meta-regression analysis was used to examine the sources of interstudy heterogeneity. The association between parent and child obesity was higher in Asia than in Europe and the Middle East and higher in high-income countries than in middle-or low-income countries. In addition, a higher association between parent and child obesity was found when both parents were obese than when only the father or mother was obese. This study from multiple countries indicates a significant PC relationship in weight status that varies according to PC pair type, parent and child weight statuses, world region, and country income level.Conclusion: These results demonstrate that the risk of childhood obesity is greatly influenced by parental weight status and indicate that parents could play an important role in preventing child obesity.

We aimed to investigate the disease phenotype of Korean pediatric Crohn's disease (CD) patients at diagnosis according to the Paris classification by comparison with patients from the European multicenter 5-years recruitment of children with newly developed IBD (EUROKIDS registry). Korean children and adolescents who had been newly diagnosed with CD at the age of <18 years during 2013-2016 were included in this multicenter retrospective study. Disease phenotype at diagnosis was classified according to the Paris classification, and compared with the published data from the EUROKIDS study. A total of 255 patients were included. The median diagnosis age was 14.7 years (range, 0.8-17.9 years). No significant difference was observed in male-to-female ratio with EUROKIDS (1.9:1 vs. 1.45:1, p=0.062). The proportion of children aged <10 years was significantly lower in Koreans (7.1% vs. 19.6%, p<0.001). Colonic disease was less prominent (10.0% vs. 27.3%, p<0.001), while upper GI involvement was more prominent in Korean children (59.3% vs. 46.2%, p<0.001). The proportion with perianal fistulizing disease at diagnosis was significantly higher in Korean patients (44.8% vs. 8.2%, p<0.001). A separate analysis of Korean patients revealed that perianal fistulizing disease at diagnosis was positively associated with male sex and body mass index z-score (odds ratio [OR]=2.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.20-3.76, p=0.010; and OR=1.29, 95% CI=1.05-1.58, p=0.015, respectively). Approximately half of pediatric CD patients in Korea present with perianal fistulas and/or abscesses at diagnosis, which is a distinct feature of CD in Korean children and adolescents compared to their European counterparts. An underlying genetic difference between ethnicities may play a role in this expression of different phenotypes in pediatric CD.

Oh JE, et al. Clin Endosc. 2013 Jul;46(4):368-372. http://dx.doi.org/10.5946/ce.2013.46.4.368

Lee YM, et al. Nutr Res Pract. 2021 Apr;15(2):213-224. https://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2021.15.2.213

Appropriate stress reportedly influences memory gains. However, stress levels may vary across individuals and may lead to changes in vital signs as a physiological response induced by endogenous hormone secretion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of high-fidelity simulation (HFS) training on cognitive performance using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) scores as a subjective stress indicator and vital sign measurements as an objective stress indicator during Neonatal Resuscitation Program training. This study was conducted as a single-blind randomized controlled study with a pre-post design for health care workers, including paediatric residents and nurses in charge of neonatal care. The trainees' vital signs and PSS scores were measured and determined before, during, and after each training session, and the results were analysed. A comparison of vital signs between groups after each training session revealed significant changes in heart rate (HR), and the PSS score significantly increased after practical training (2nd HR; 78.4 ± 9.0 vs. 87.7 ± 8.7, p = 0.05; 3rd HR 83.1 ± 9.0 vs. 76.7 ± 8.1, p = 0.041: 2nd PSS 15.1 ± 3.3 vs. 18.2 ± 4.8, p = 0.040), but there was no difference between the groups in terms of the final confirmed test result or PSS score (3rd result 66.3 ± 24.4 vs. 72.7 ± 12.7, p = 0.360; 3rd PSS 17.2 ± 4.9 vs. 16.1 ± 4.8, p = 0.510). When comparing vital signs, test scores, and PSS scores before and after HFS, regardless of the training sequence, no statistically significant changes were observed in the HR or respiratory rate (RR). However, body temperature (BT; 36.5 ± 0.3 vs. 36.7 ± 0.3, p < 0.001), mean blood pressure (BP; 81.9 ± 11.8 vs. 84.8 ± 10.2, p = 0.030), test scores (51.0 ± 26.2 vs. 56.6 ± 23.2, p < 0.001), and PSS scores (15.8 ± 3.8 vs. 17.7 ± 4.8, p = 0.036) significantly increased, whereas SpO₂ significantly decreased (99.3 ± 0.8 vs. 98.8 ± 1.4, p = 0.017). Multiple regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between PSS variability and final test score improvements. This revealed a significant relationship, as described by the following equation: final score difference = 34.997 + 1.637 × PSS variability (p = 0.006). The results of the analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between the variability in subjective stress levels (PSS variability) and the improvement in final scores. This finding suggests that the greater the variability of subjective stress levels is, the greater the improvement in final scores is. Further research is needed to explore these relationships across different populations and training scenarios.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a prevalent allergic disease in children that often causes sleep disturbance and which is associated with diminished quality of life and heightened susceptibility to depression and suicidality. In this study, we investigate the relationship between weekend catch-up sleep (WCUS) and mental health in a sample of 71,434 adolescents with AD and 221,057 without AD using multivariate logistic regression analysis. We hypothesized that adolescents with AD experience shorter total and daytime sleep due to pruritus, with compensatory longer WCUS. We found that the lifetime prevalence of AD was 24.4%, and that adolescents with AD slept less overall, with significantly shorter weekday and weekend sleep durations but longer weekend catch-up sleep (WCUS). Sleep dissatisfaction was markedly higher in the AD group. Interestingly, our results suggest that prolonged WCUS is a protective factor against suicidal ideation in adolescents with AD. The study highlights the importance of addressing sleep patterns in adolescents with AD to enhance mental health. Overall, our findings indicate a need for increased awareness and intervention strategies to ensure sufficient sleep and reduce the risk of suicidal ideation in this population.