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This paper elaborates the argument that domestic space should be considered as the product of relations that extend beyond the home. It examines one common domestic object – family photographs – and explores how the particularity of this photography and the specificity of its display by white middle-class mothers with young children in South-east England produce just such an extended domestic space. The stretched space co-produced by these mothers and photographs is also a form of stretched time, and it is integrative in complex ways; it contains different kinds of absences which disturb but do not break its cohesion. The paper also discusses why the display of family photographs is done almost exclusively by women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results from exploratory research which set out to investigate London children's perceptions and uses of river environments. Mainly qualitative, multi-method research was carried out in four primary schools with children aged 9-11, focusing on two rivers near to the schools. Rivers were found to be marginal to the children's everyday lives and outdoor play, being perceived as polluted, neglected, and initially dangerous places. However, when experienced on visits observed as part of the research, some of these perceptions changed and rivers were also found to afford many special activities and experiences for the children. The visits were generally seen to have a positive effect on the children's perceptions of rivers, at least in the short term. This suggests that, if managed appropriately, rivers could be potentially rewarding play areas for children. Moreover, children could provide valuable input for river managers in suggesting ways of improving suitable local rivers for increased recreational uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In 2013, the United Kingdom began to roll‐out a universal annual influenza vaccination program for children. An important component of any new vaccination program is measuring its effectiveness. Live‐attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIVs) have since shown mixed results with vaccine effectiveness (VE) varying across seasons and countries elsewhere. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in children against severe disease during the first three seasons of the LAIV program in England. Methods: Using the screening method, LAIV vaccination coverage in children hospitalized with laboratory‐confirmed influenza infection was compared with vaccination coverage in 2–6‐year‐olds in the general population to estimate VE in 2013/14–2015/16. Results: The overall LAIV VE, adjusted for age group, week/month and geographical area, for all influenza types pooled over the three influenza seasons was 50.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 31.2, 63.8). By age, there was evidence of protection against hospitalization from influenza vaccination in both the pre‐school (2–4‐year‐olds) (48.1%, 95% CI 27.2, 63.1) and school‐aged children (5–6‐year‐olds) (62.6%, 95% CI 2.6, 85.6) over the three seasons. Conclusion: LAIV vaccination in children provided moderate annual protection against laboratory‐confirmed influenza‐related hospitalization in England over the three influenza seasons. This study contributes further to the limited literature to date on influenza VE against severe disease in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To test the impact of obesity on health and health care use in children, by the use of various methods to account for reverse causality and omitted variables.Data Sources/study Setting: Fifteen rounds of the Health Survey for England (1998-2013), which is representative of children and adolescents in England.Study Design: We use three methods to account for reverse causality and omitted variables in the relationship between BMI and health/health service use: regression with individual, parent, and household control variables; sibling fixed effects; and instrumental variables based on genetic variation in weight.Data Collection/extraction Methods: We include all children and adolescents aged 4-18 years old.Principal Findings: We find that obesity has a statistically significant and negative impact on self-rated health and a positive impact on health service use in girls, boys, younger children (aged 4-12), and adolescents (aged 13-18). The findings are comparable in each model in both boys and girls.Conclusions: Using econometric methods, we have mitigated several confounding factors affecting the impact of obesity in childhood on health and health service use. Our findings suggest that obesity has severe consequences for health and health service use even among children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dietary intake during pregnancy may influence child neurodevelopment and cognitive function. This study aims to investigate the associations between dietary patterns obtained in pregnancy and intelligence quotients (IQ) among offspring at 8 years of age. Pregnant women enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children completed a food frequency questionnaire at 32 weeks' gestation ( n = 12,195). Dietary patterns were obtained by cluster analysis. Three clusters best described women's diets during pregnancy: 'fruit and vegetables,' 'meat and potatoes,' and 'white bread and coffee.' The offspring's IQ at 8 years of age was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Models, using variables correlated to IQ data, were performed to impute missing values. Linear regression models were employed to investigate associations between the maternal clusters and IQ in childhood. Children of women who were classified in the meat and potatoes cluster and white bread and coffee cluster during pregnancy had lower average verbal (β = −1.74; p < .001 and β = −3.05; p < .001), performance (β = −1.26; p = .011 and β = −1.75; p < .001), and full-scale IQ (β = −1.74; p < .001 and β = −2.79; p < .001) at 8 years of age when compared to children of mothers in the fruit and vegetables cluster in imputed models of IQ and all confounders, after adjustment for a wide range of known confounders including maternal education. The pregnant women who were classified in the fruit and vegetables cluster had offspring with higher average IQ compared with offspring of mothers in the meat and potatoes cluster and white bread and coffee cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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