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Objectives: Early prevention strategies are needed to mitigate the high risk of cardiovascular disease in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Residential neighbourhood features can promote healthy lifestyle behaviours and reduce cardiovascular risk, but less is known about their role in lifestyle behaviours in adolescents with T1D, and no studies used comparisons to healthy controls., Methods: We examined associations between residential neighbourhood features and lifestyle behaviours in adolescents with T1D and healthy controls. Data were analyzed from the CARdiovascular Disease risk factors in pEdiatric type 1 diAbetes (CARDEA) study, a cross-sectional investigation of 100 adolescents with T1D (14 to 18 years) from a pediatric diabetes clinic in Montréal, Canada, and 97 healthy controls. Outcomes included physical activity and sedentary behaviour (accelerometry), screen time and sleep duration (questionnaires), and dietary habits (24-hour recalls). Cluster analysis of selected neighbourhood indicators computed for participants' postal codes resulted in 2 neighbourhood types: central urban and peri-urban. Central urban neighbourhoods were characterized by very high population density, high active living index, numerous points of interest, higher social deprivation, higher residential mobility, and lower median household income compared with peri-urban neighbourhoods. Associations of neighbourhood type with lifestyle behaviours were estimated with multiple linear regressions and interactions by T1D status were tested., Results: Living in central urban neighbourhoods was associated with greater daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (beta = 8.61, 95% confidence interval 1.79 to 15.44) compared with living in peri-urban neighbourhoods. No associations were observed for other lifestyle behaviours, and no statistically significant interactions were found between neighbourhood type and T1D status., Conclusion: Features that characterize central urban built environments appear to promote physical activity in adolescents, regardless of T1D status., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Surgical repair is the standard of care for most infants and children with congenital heart disease. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is required to facilitate these operations but elicits a systemic inflammatory response, leading to postoperative organ dysfunction, morbidity and prolonged recovery after the surgery. Subzero-balance ultrafiltration (SBUF) has been shown to extract proinflammatory cytokines continuously throughout the CPB exposure. We hypothesize that a high-exchange SBUF (H-SBUF) will have a clinically relevant anti-inflammatory effect compared with a low-exchange SBUF (L-SBUF)., Methods and Analysis: The ULTrafiltration to enhance Recovery After paediatric cardiac surgery (ULTRA) trial is a randomised, double-blind, parallel-group randomised trial conducted in a single paediatric cardiac surgery centre. Ninety-six patients less than 15 kg undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB will be randomly assigned to H-SBUF during CPB or L-SBUF during CPB in a 1:1 ratio with stratification by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons-European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (STAT) score 1 and STAT score 2-5. The primary outcome is peak postoperative vasoactive-ventilation-renal score. Time series and peak values of vasoactive-ventilation renal score, vasoactive-inotrope score, ventilation index and oxygenation index will be collected. Secondary clinical outcomes include acute kidney injury, ventilator-free days, inotrope-free days, low cardiac output syndrome, mechanical circulatory support, intensive care unit length of stay and operative mortality. Secondary biomarker data include cytokine, chemokine and complement factor concentrations at baseline before CPB, at the end of CPB exposure and 24 hours following CPB. Analyses will be conducted on an intention-to-treat principle., Ethics and Dissemination: The study has ethics approval (#1024932 dated August 31, 2021) and enrolment commenced in September 2021. The primary manuscript and any subsequent analyses will be submitted for peer-reviewed publication., Trial Registration Number: NCT04920643., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Youths with type 1 diabetes (T1D) frequently experience stigma. Internet-based peer communities can mitigate this through social support but require leaders to catalyze exchange. Whether nurturing potential leaders translates into a central role has not been well studied. Another issue understudied in such communities is lurking, the viewing of exchanges without commenting or posting., Objective: We aimed to assess the centrality of the peer leaders we selected, trained, and incentivized within the Canadian Virtual Peer Network (VPN)-T1D. This is a private Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc) group that we created for persons aged 14 to 24 years with T1D. We specifically sought to (1) compare a quantitative estimate of network centrality between peer leaders and regular members, (2) assess the proportions of network exchanges that were social support oriented, and (3) assess proportions of high engagement (posts, comments, reactions, and votes) and low engagement (lurking) exchanges., Methods: We recruited peer leaders and members with T1D from prior study cohorts and clinics. We trained 10 leaders, provided them with a monthly stipend, and encouraged them to post on the private Facebook group we launched on June 21, 2017. We extracted all communications (posts, messages, reactions, polls, votes, and views) that occurred until March 20, 2020. We calculated each member's centrality (80% of higher engagement communications comprising posts, comments, and reactions plus 20% of members with whom they connected). We divided each member's centrality by the highest centrality to compute the relative centrality, and compared the mean values between leaders and members (linear regression). We calculated the proportions of communications that were posts, comments, reactions, and views without reaction. We performed content analysis with a social support framework (informational, emotional, esteem-related, network, and tangible support), applying a maximum of 3 codes per communication., Results: VPN-T1D gained 212 regular members and 10 peer leaders over 33 months; of these 222 members, 26 (11.7%) exited. Peer leaders had 10-fold higher relative centrality than regular members (mean 0.53, SD 0.26 vs mean 0.04, SD 0.05; 0.49 difference; 95% CI 0.44-0.53). Overall, 91.4% (203/222) of the members connected at least once through posts, comments, or reactions. Among the 75,051 communications, there were 5109 (6.81%) posts, comments, and polls, 6233 (8.31%) reactions, and 63,709 (84.9%) views (lurking). Moreover, 54.9% (3430/6253) of codes applied were social support related, 66.4% (2277/3430) of which were informational (eg, insurance and travel preparation), and 20.4% (699/3430) of which were esteem related (eg, relieving blame)., Conclusions: Designating, training, and incentivizing peer leaders may stimulate content exchange and creation. Social support was a key VPN-T1D deliverable. Although lurking accounted for a high proportion of the overall activity, even those demonstrating this type of passive participation likely derived benefits, given that the network exit rate was low., International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): RR2-10.2196/18714., (©Nancy Wu, Susan Joanne Wang, Anne-Sophie Brazeau, Deborah Chan, Joseph Mussa, Meranda Nakhla, Mariam Elkeraby, Maryna Ell, Melinda Prevost, Laurie Lepine, Constadina Panagiotopoulos, Geetha Mukerji, Sonia Butalia, Mélanie Henderson, Deborah Da Costa, Elham Rahme, Kaberi Dasgupta. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 12.12.2023.)

Background: Uncertainty remains regarding the causal effect of physical activity and sedentary behaviours on the development of type 2 diabetes in children. We aimed to estimate average treatment effects of physical activity and sedentary behaviours on risk of type 2 diabetes in individuals who are at risk during childhood and adolescence., Methods: We used data from the Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth (QUALITY) cohort of children of western European descent (white non-Hispanic race or ethnicity) with a parental history of obesity (defined as a BMI of 30 kg/m 2 or more, or a waist circumference of more than 102 cm in men and 88 cm in women) evaluated at the ages of 8-10 years (baseline), 10-12 years (first follow-up cycle), and 15-17 years (second follow-up cycle) in Québec, Canada. We measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time by accelerometry, and leisure screen time by questionnaire at each cycle. Outcomes included fasting and 2 h post-load glycaemia and validated indices of insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion. We estimated average treatment effects of MVPA, sedentary time, and screen time on markers of type 2 diabetes using longitudinal marginal structural models with time-varying exposures, outcomes, and confounders from the ages of 8-10 to 15-17 years and inverse probability of treatment and censoring weighting. We considered both the current and cumulative effects of exposures on outcomes., Findings: 630 children were evaluated at baseline (age 8-10 years) between July, 2005, and December, 2008, 564 were evaluated at the first follow-up (age 10-12 years) between July, 2007, and March, 2011, and 377 were evaluated at the second follow-up (age 15-17 years) between September, 2012, and May, 2016. Based on cumulative exposure results, estimated average treatment effects for MVPA were 5·6% (95% CI 2·8 to 8·5) on insulin sensitivity and -3·8% (-7·1 to -0·5) on second-phase insulin secretion per 10 min daily increment from the ages of 8-10 years to age 15-17 years. Average treatment effects for sedentary time and reported screen time resulted in reduced insulin sensitivity (-8·2% [-12·3 to -3·9] and -6·4% [-10·1 to -2·5], respectively), increased second-phase insulin secretion (5·9% [1·9 to 10·1] and 7·0% [-0·1 to 14·7], respectively), and higher fasting glycaemia (0·03 mmol/L [0·003 to 0·05] and 0·02 mmol/L [0·01 to 0·03], respectively) per additional daily hour from the ages of 8-10 years to 15-17 years., Interpretation: Using modern causal inference approaches strengthened the evidence of MVPA and sedentary behaviours as key drivers of development of type 2 diabetes in at-risk children and adolescents, and should be considered as key targets for prevention., Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Santé., Translation: For the French translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To assess stakeholder ratings of health indicators and subgroup analyses in systematic reviews used to update the Canadian Clinical Practice Guideline for Managing Paediatric Obesity., Methods: Stakeholders (caregivers of children with obesity and Clinical Practice Guideline Steering Committee members) completed an online survey between April 2020 and March 2021. Participants rated importance of health indicators and subgroup analyses for behavioural and psychological, pharmacotherapeutic, and surgical interventions for managing paediatric obesity from not important to critically important using Grading, Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation criteria., Results: No health indicators or subgroup analyses were rated not important by the 30 caregivers and 17 Steering Committee members. Across intervention types, stakeholders rated anxiety, depression, health-related quality of life, serious adverse events, plus age and weight status subgroups as critically important., Conclusion: Stakeholder ratings will inform data reporting and interpretation to update Canada's Clinical Practice Guideline for Managing Paediatric Obesity., (© 2022 World Obesity Federation.)

Atherosclerosis begins in youth and is directly linked with the presence and severity of cardiovascular risk factors, including dyslipidemia. Thus, the timely identification and management of dyslipidemia in childhood might slow atherosclerotic progression and decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. This is particularly true for children with genetic disorders resulting in marked dyslipidemia, including familial hypercholesterolemia, which remains frequently undiagnosed. Universal and cascade screening strategies can effectively identify cases of pediatric dyslipidemia. In the clinical evaluation of children with dyslipidemia, evaluating for secondary causes of dyslipidemia, including medications and systemic disorders is essential. The first line therapy generally centres around lifestyle modifications, with dietary changes specific to the dyslipidemia phenotype. Indications for medication depend on the severity of dyslipidemia and an individualized assessment of cardiovascular risk. Despite an expanding evidence base supporting the detection and timely management of pediatric dyslipidemia, numerous knowledge gaps remain, including a sufficient evidence base to support more widespread screening, thresholds for initiation of pharmacotherapy, and treatment targets. Further studies on the most appropriate age for statin initiation and long-term safety studies of statin use in youth are also required. The most pressing matter, however, is the development of knowledge translation strategies to improve the screening and detection of lipid disorders in Canadian youth., (Copyright © 2022 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Robust evidence exists for the health-enhancing benefits of social support in adults. Inflammatory processes are thought to be an important mechanism linking social support and health risk. Less is known about the relation between social support and chronic inflammation during childhood and adolescence, or when the association emerges during the lifespan., Method: Data from the population-representative 1999 Quebec Child and Adolescent Health and Social (QCAHS) survey were analyzed. Youth aged 9, 13, and 16 years (N = 3613) and their parents answered questions about social support. A subsample (n = 2186) completed a fasting blood draw that was assayed for C-reactive protein (CRP)., Findings: Higher social support was significantly associated with lower hs-CRPlog, after controlling for age, sex, body mass index (BMI Z-score), medication use, puberty, ethnoracial status (French-Canadian), smoking, household income, and parental education (F = 25.88, p = < .001, Total R2adj = 10.2%). The association was largely similar for boys and girls, and strengthened with age., Conclusion: Greater social support was linked to lower chronic low-grade inflammation in a large sample of children and adolescents. Effect sizes were small and consistent with prior findings in the adult literature. Importantly, these findings provide evidence that the relation between social support and inflammation emerges early in the lifespan. Future work should consider broader, more encompassing conceptualizations of social support, the role of social media, and prospective trajectories of social support and inflammatory markers., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

In children, the mechanisms implicated in deterioration of glucose homeostasis versus reversion to normal glucose tolerance (NGT) remain uncertain. We aimed to describe the natural history of dysglycemia from childhood to late adolescence and to identify its early determinants. We used baseline (8-10 years, n = 630), 1st follow-up (10-12 years, n = 564) and 2nd follow-up (15-17 years, n = 377) data from the QUALITY cohort of White Canadian children with parental obesity. Children underwent a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test at each cycle with plasma glucose and insulin measured at 0/30/60/90/120 min. American Diabetes Association criteria defined dysglycemia (impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes). Longitudinal patterns of insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function were estimated using generalized additive mixed models. Model averaging identified biological, sociodemographic and lifestyle-related determinants of dysglycemia. Of the children NGT at baseline, 66 (21%) developed dysglycemia without reverting to NGT. Among children with dysglycemia at baseline, 24 (73%) reverted to NGT. In children with dysglycemia at 1st follow-up, 18 (53%) later reverted to NGT. Among biological, sociodemographic and lifestyle determinants at 8-10 years, only fasting and 2-h glucose were associated with developing dysglycemia (odds ratio [95% CI] per 1 mmol/L increase: 4.50 [1.06; 19.02] and 1.74 [1.11; 2.73], respectively). Beta-cell function decreased by 40% in children with overweight or obesity. In conclusion, up to 75% of children with dysglycemia reverted to NGT during puberty. Children with higher fasting and 2-h glucose were at higher risk for progression to dysglycemia, while no demographic/lifestyle determinants were identified., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons A/S . Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Since the first national guideline for managing obesity in adults and children in Canada was published in 2007, new evidence has emerged and guideline standards have evolved. Our purpose is to describe the protocol used to update the Canadian clinical practice guideline for managing pediatric obesity., Methods: This guideline will update the pediatric components of the 2007 Canadian clinical practice guideline for the management of obesity. In partnership with Obesity Canada, we began preliminary work in 2019; activities are scheduled for completion in 2022. The guideline will follow standards developed by the National Academy of Medicine and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group. Guideline development will be informed by 5 complementary literature reviews: a scoping review that focuses on clinical assessment in pediatric obesity management and 4 systematic reviews to synthesize evidence regarding families' values and preferences as well as the safety and effectiveness of interventions (psychological and behavioural; pharmacotherapeutic; and surgical). We will use standard systematic review methodology, including summarizing and assessing the certainty of evidence and determining the strength of recommendations. Competing interests will be managed proactively according to recommendations from the Guidelines International Network. Diverse stakeholders, including families and clinicians, will be engaged throughout guideline development., Interpretation: The guideline will support Canadian families and clinicians to make informed, value-sensitive and evidence-based clinical decisions related to managing pediatric obesity. The guideline and accompanying resources for end-users will be published in English and French, and we will partner with Obesity Canada to optimize dissemination using integrated and end-of-project knowledge translation., Competing Interests: Competing interests: Bradley Johnston is a GRADE working group member and has received a grant from Texas A&M AgriLife Research to fund investigator-initiated research related to saturated and polyunsaturated fats. The grant was from Texas A&M AgriLife institutional funds from interest and investment earnings, not a sponsoring organization, industry or company. Diana Sherifali has worked as a consultant for Obesity Canada and received travel support to attend a meeting with the World Heart Federation. Catherine Birken has received research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada; Physician Services, Inc.; the Leong Centre, University of Toronto and Hospital for Sick Children; the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; and a Walmart community grant through the SickKids Foundation. Jill Hamilton has received research funding from Mead Johnson, Levo Therapeutics and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. She received an honorarium from Pfizer Canada for a sponsored lecture on Prader–Willi Syndrome and participated as a member of the Novo Nordisk Canada national advisory board on pediatric obesity. Dawn Hatanaka is employed by Obesity Canada, which contributed in-kind resources to support this project. Mélanie Henderson holds a Fonds de la recherche du Québec — Santé (FRQS) Junior 2 Clinical Research Scholar Award. She is a member of Canada’s Children’s Hospitals Foundations (CCHF) and the Sun Life Child and Youth Type 2 Diabetes Prevention initiative. She also sits on the Comité scientifique sur la prévention de l’obésité of the Institut national de santé publique du Québec and the Groupe de consultation de la prise en charge de l’obésité chez l’enfant et l’adolescent and Comité consultatif québécois en médecine bariatrique of the Quebec Ministry of Health (no financial support). She holds research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Quebec Cardiometabolic Health, Diabetes and Obesity Research Network and the Quebec Network on Nursing Intervention Research, Diabète Québec, as well as through the CCHF–Sun Life initiative. Sarah Moore has received research funding from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Kids Brain Health Network. She currently holds startup research funding from the Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University. Katherine Morrison has received consulting fees from Novo Nordisk Canada and research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ximena Ramos Salas has received consulting fees from Obesity Canada, the European Association for the Study of Obesity and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. She has also received research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ian Zenlea has received an honorarium from Novo Nordisk Canada for participating as a member of the pediatric obesity national advisory board and for participating in a meeting to discuss diagnostic approaches to short stature in Canada, as well as an honorarium from Abbott Diabetes Care for participating as a member of a national advisory board. He has also received speaker fees from the Ontario Association of Social Workers. He has received research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the University of Toronto, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Medical Psychiatry Alliance and the Regional Municipality of Peel. He is co-chair of the Ontario Paediatric Bariatric Network. Geoff Ball has received support from Novo Nordisk Canada for participating as a member of the pediatric obesity national advisory board, in-kind resources from Obesity Canada, research and administrative support from Alberta Health Services (AHS; AHS Chair in Obesity Research) and research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Alberta Innovates, the AHS Strategic Clinical Network (Maternal, Newborn, Child & Youth), the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute of the University of Alberta. No other competing interests were declared., (© 2022 CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors.)

Objective: Weight loss attempts occur as early as childhood. The impacts of weight loss attempts and weight-related stress on the occurrence of obesity during childhood remain unknown. We aimed to: (a) assess the prevalence of self-reported weight loss attempts and weight-related stress in 8-10 year-old children and (b) determine associations with adiposity 2 years later., Method: Data were collected from a cohort study of 564 Canadian children aged 8-10 years, having one or both biological parents with obesity (Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth cohort). Self-reported weight loss attempts and weight-related stress were assessed at baseline in the child's questionnaire. Adiposity was measured at baseline and 2 years later using body mass index z-scores (zBMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and percentage of body fat (%BF) obtained from dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used while adjusting for potential confounders., Results: Forty-eight percent of children reported previous weight loss attempts and 20% reported weight-related stress. Self-reported weight loss attempts and weight-related stress were associated with higher zBMI, WHtR, and %BF 2 years later in adjusted models, although estimates were attenuated when including baseline adiposity measures. Self-reported weight loss attempts, but not weight-related stress, increased the risk of becoming overweight among children who were normal weight at baseline., Discussion: Weight loss attempts are prevalent in children with parental obesity. Children reporting weight loss attempts and weight-related stress tend to have higher adiposity 2 years later and are more likely to become overweight., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Recent legislative change has allowed increased access to cannabis products in many jurisdictions. In some locations, this includes over-the-counter (OTC) and/or online access to products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating cannabinoid with therapeutic properties. Here we compared the availability of CBD products and the associated legislative and regulatory background in nine selected countries., Methods: Accessibility of CBD products was examined in the USA, Canada, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand as of May 2020. Regulatory and other relevant documents were obtained from government agency websites and related sources. Relevant commercial websites and some physical retailers were visited to verify access to CBD-containing products and the nature of the products available., Results: A range of CBD products appeared to be accessible without prescription in seven out of nine countries reviewed. Australia and New Zealand were the exceptions where clinician prescription was required to access any CBD-containing product. CBD products commonly available without prescription included oils, gel capsules, purified crystal and topical products. The daily recommended doses with orally administered non-prescription products were typically well below 150 mg and substantially lower than the doses reported to have therapeutic effects in published clinical trials (e.g., 300-1500 mg). The legal foundations enabling access in several countries were often unclear, with marketed products sometimes failing to meet legal requirements for sale. There was an obvious disparity between federal directives and available products in both the USA and European countries examined., Conclusions: There are a variety of approaches in how countries manage access to CBD products. Many countries appear to permit OTC and online availability of CBD products but often without legislative clarity. As consumer demand for CBD escalates, improved legislation, guidelines and quality control of CBD products would seem prudent together with clinical trials exploring the therapeutic benefits of lower-dose CBD formulations., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Consumption of foods high in glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) is associated with cardiovascular (CV) diseases in adulthood. We examined whether GI and GL predict CV risk factors in children after 2 years of follow-up., Methods: Three 24-hour recalls were administered at baseline, and individual average daily GI and GL scores were calculated in a cohort of 8-10 year-old children. CV risk factors included body mass index z-score (BMIz), percent fat mass, triglycerides (TGs), low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Main analyses consisted of multiple linear regression adjusted for anthropometric, socioeconomic, and dietary factors., Results: After 2 years, the highest dietary GL tertile compared with the lowest was associated with increased BMIz (mean difference [MD], 1.1; 95% CI, 0.88-1.31), fat mass (MD, 10.8%; 95% CI, 8.62-13.0), TGs (MD, 0.17 mmol/L; 95% CI, 0.07-0.28), and decreased HDL (MD, -0.13 mmol/L; 95% CI, -0.19 to -0.07). The GL-TG and the GL-HDL associations were mediated by BMIz., Conclusions: GL predicts increased BMIz, percent fat mass, and TGs and decreased HDL in young children after 2 years. Recommendations to decrease CV risk in children should include lowering foods high in GL., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine whether lifestyle habits and dietary factors at age 8-10 years predict the development of metabolically unhealthy obesity 2 years later among children who were previously metabolically healthy obese., Study Design: The QUebec Adipose and Lifestyle InvesTigation in Youth cohort comprises 630 youth with a parental history of obesity. Metabolically healthy obesity and metabolically unhealthy obesity were defined using cut-offs for the components of pediatric metabolic syndrome. Dietary factors, physical activity, fitness, sedentary behavior, screen time, and sleep duration were measured. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to examine associations., Results: At baseline, 48 participants with metabolically healthy obesity were identified; 2 years later, 19 became metabolically unhealthy obese and 29 remained metabolically healthy obese. Every additional daily portion of fruits and vegetables decreased the risk of converting to metabolically unhealthy obesity by 39% (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.40-0.94). Cumulating more hours of screen time and diets high in saturated fat and sugar-sweetened beverages and low in protein were associated with a tendency to develop metabolically unhealthy obesity., Conclusions: Fruit and vegetable intake and possibly screen time, saturated fat, sugar-sweetened beverages, and protein intake may be important targets for the prevention of cardiometabolic complications in obese children., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03356262., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is the most common monogenic disorder causing premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. It affects 1 in 250 individuals worldwide, and of the approximately 145,000 Canadians estimated to have FH, most are undiagnosed. Herein, we provide an update of the 2014 Canadian Cardiovascular Society position statement on FH addressing the need for case identification, prompt recognition, and treatment with statins and ezetimibe, and cascade family screening. We provide a new Canadian definition for FH and tools for clinicians to make a diagnosis. The risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in patients with "definite" FH is 10- to 20-fold that of a normolipidemic individual and initiating treatment in youth or young adulthood can normalize life expectancy. Target levels for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol are proposed and are aligned with the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines on dyslipidemia. Recommendation for the use of inhibitors of proprotein convertase kexin/subtilisin type 9 are made in patients who cannot achieve therapeutic low-density lipoprotein cholesterol targets on maximally tolerated statins and ezetimibe. The writing committee used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology in the preparation of the present document, which offers guidance for practical evaluation and management of patients with FH. This position statement also aims to raise awareness of FH nationally, and to mobilize patient support, promote knowledge translation, and availability of treatment and health care resources for this under-recognized, but important medical condition., (Copyright © 2018 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Although dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is the preferred method to estimate adiposity, body mass index (BMI) is often used as a proxy. However, the ability of BMI to measure adiposity change among youth is poorly evidenced. This study explored which metrics of BMI change have the highest correlations with different metrics of DEXA change., Methods: Data were from the Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth cohort, a prospective cohort of children (8-10 years at recruitment) from Québec, Canada (n=557). Height and weight were measured by trained nurses at baseline (2008) and follow-up (2010). Metrics of BMI change were raw (ΔBMIkg/m(2) ), adjusted for median BMI (ΔBMIpercentage) and age-sex-adjusted with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth curves expressed as centiles (ΔBMIcentile) or z-scores (ΔBMIz-score). Metrics of DEXA change were raw (total fat mass; ΔFMkg), per cent (ΔFMpercentage), height-adjusted (fat mass index; ΔFMI) and age-sex-adjusted z-scores (ΔFMz-score). Spearman's rank correlations were derived., Results: Correlations ranged from modest (0.60) to strong (0.86). ΔFMkg correlated most highly with ΔBMIkg/m(2) (r = 0.86), ΔFMI with ΔBMIkg/m(2) and ΔBMIpercentage (r = 0.83-0.84), ΔFMz-score with ΔBMIz-score (r = 0.78), and ΔFMpercentage with ΔBMIpercentage (r = 0.68). Correlations with ΔBMIcentile were consistently among the lowest., Conclusions: In 8-10-year-old children, absolute or per cent change in BMI is a good proxy for change in fat mass or FMI, and BMI z-score change is a good proxy for FM z-score change. However change in BMI centile and change in per cent fat mass perform less well and are not recommended., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

Given the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity, effective and cost-efficient strategies to enhance children's physical activity levels are needed. Unfortunately, exercise interventions evaluated to date have had little impact on overweight and obesity in youth. Physical activity counseling interventions have emerged as an effective and inexpensive alternative to traditional, structured exercise programs in adults, and may be an interesting option for the treatment of obesity in youth.

Reminder letters and follow-up telephone calls were used to increase influenza vaccination acceptance by 273 well elderly registered at an urban community health centre. The net effect of the reminder letters was to increase overall coverage to 43%, from 17% in the previous year. Follow-up telephone calls to patients who had not responded to the letters increased coverage to only 55%. Calculation of costs per additional vaccination given revealed that the use of reminder letters alone was much more cost-effective than follow-up telephone calls in increasing coverage. However, with the current fee-for-service reimbursement by medical care insurance in Ontario, neither means of improving vaccination coverage would result in net practice earnings. The implications for an effective and efficient annual influenza program in Canada are discussed.