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Background Body mass index (BMI) shows strong continuity over childhood and adolescence and high childhood BMI is the strongest predictor of adult obesity. Genetic factors strongly contribute to this continuity, but it is still poorly known how their contribution changes over childhood and adolescence. Thus, we used the genetic twin design to estimate the genetic correlations of BMI from infancy to adulthood and compared them to the genetic correlations of height. Methods We pooled individual level data from 25 longitudinal twin cohorts including 38,530 complete twin pairs and having 283,766 longitudinal height and weight measures. The data were analyzed using Cholesky decomposition offering genetic and environmental correlations of BMI and height between all age combinations from 1 to 19 years of age. Results The genetic correlations of BMI and height were stronger than the trait correlations. For BMI, we found that genetic correlations decreased as the age between the assessments increased, a trend that was especially visible from early to middle childhood. In contrast, for height, the genetic correlations were strong between all ages. Age-to-age correlations between environmental factors shared by co-twins were found for BMI in early childhood but disappeared altogether by middle childhood. For height, shared environmental correlations persisted from infancy to adulthood. Conclusions Our results suggest that the genes affecting BMI change over childhood and adolescence leading to decreasing age-to-age genetic correlations. This change is especially visible from early to middle childhood indicating that new genetic factors start to affect BMI in middle childhood. Identifying mediating pathways of these genetic factors can open possibilities for interventions, especially for those children with high genetic predisposition to adult obesity. This study was conducted within the CODATwins project. Support for collaborators: Colorado Twin Registry is funded by NIDA funded center grant DA011015, & Longititudinal Twin Study HD10333; Author Huibregtse is supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse (5T32DA017637) and National Institute on Aging (5T32AG052371). Finnish Twin Cohort is supported by the Academy of Finland (grants 312073 and 336823) and the Sigrid Juselius Foundation. Michigan State University Twin Registry was supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (R01-MH081813, R01-MH0820–54, R01-MH092377-02, R21-MH070542-01, R03-MH63851-01, 1R01-MH118848-01), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (R01-HD066040) and MSU Foundation (11-SPG-2518). PETS was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (grant numbers 437015 and 607358); the Bonnie Babes Foundation (grant number BBF20704); the Financial Markets Foundation for Children (grant number 032-2007); and the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program. We acknowledge The Swedish Twin Registry for access to data. The Swedish Twin Registry is managed by Karolinska Institutet and receives funding through the Swedish Research Council under the grant no 2017-00641. TEDS was supported by a program grant to RP from the UK Medical Research Council (MR/M021475/1 and previously G0901245), with additional support from the US National Institutes of Health (AG046938). The West Japan Twins and Higher Order Multiple Births Registry was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (grant number 20H04019) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Open Access funding provided by University of Helsinki including Helsinki University Central Hospital.

Objective:To assess relationships between breast-feeding, rapid growth in the first year of life and overweight/obesity status at the age of 2 years.Design:As part of an observational, longitudinal study beginning in early pregnancy, multivariable logistic regressions were used to assess associations between breast-feeding duration (total and exclusive) and rapid weight gain (RWG) between birth and 1 year of age, and to determine predictors of overweight/obesity status at the age of 2 years.Setting:Nine hospitals located in the province of Quebec, Canada.Participants:A sample of 1599 term infants who participated in the 3D Cohort Study.Results:Children having RWG in the first year and those having excess weight at the age of 2 years accounted for 28 % and < 10 %, respectively. In multivariable models, children breastfed < 6 months and from 6 months to < 1 year were, respectively, 2·5 times (OR 2·45; 95 % CI 1·76, 3·41) and 1·8 times (OR 1·78; 95 % CI 1·29, 2·45) more likely to show RWG up to 1 year of age compared to children breastfed ≥ 1 year. Children exclusively breastfed < 3 months had significantly greater odds of RWG in the first year (OR 1·94; 95 % CI 1·25, 3·04) compared to children exclusively breastfed for ≥ 6 months. Associations between breast-feeding duration (total or exclusive) and excess weight at the age of 2 years were not detected. RWG in the first year was found to be the main predictor of excess weight at the age of 2 years (OR 6·98; 95 % CI 4·35, 11·47).Conclusions:The potential beneficial effects of breast-feeding on rate of growth in the first year of life suggest that interventions promoting breast-feeding are relevant for obesity prevention early in life.

During the past 15 years, in France, like in many European countries, the attention paid to patients at the end of their lives has continued to grow. But in the meantime, only a few researchers have managed to collect reliable data on End-of-Life Care and to implement scientific studies describing the reality of these situations. This difficulty is due in particular to the lack of a recognized and operational definition of the end of life.Our objective is to explore the possibility of achieving consensus around a definition based on the isolated elements in the literature.A Delphi consensus approach has been conducted. A “Delphi” approach allows consensus to be achieved without the influence of leadership effects.The population of this study is the group of care providers who are members of the Societe Francaise d’Accompagnement et de Soins Palliatifs (SFAP), whether they are professionals or volunteers. An electronic survey asked for the degree of approval of individuals for each of the proposed definitions on a Lickert scale. The first round of Delphi was proposed at the end of 2019 among palliative care actors. 1463 people responded to this questionnaire in one month. Two types of definition seem to dominate the other proposals. The first is related to an estimate of life expectancy: life expectancy of less than 15 days and less than one month. The second emerging definition is related to the evolution of a pathology: based on the fact of being in advanced or terminal phase of an incurable pathology.These results confirm that the end-of-life period can be seen from two points of view, the first in relation to the time left to live and the other in relation of the terminal phase of the disease which calls for a less clearly defined time.These two definitions are based on different approaches, one temporal and the other disease-centered. An alternative definition emerges from this study and will be tested in the second round of Delphi.

Purpose To report a spectral-domain (SD) OCT clinical sign, outer foveal microdefect (OFMD), corresponding to a focal disruption of the foveal photoreceptors in association with various macular conditions. Design Retrospective cohort study. Participants Forty-five patients with OFMD. Methods All patients were imaged with color photography and SD OCT, and some were imaged with autofluorescence imaging, fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, or a combination thereof. Patient demographics, OFMD imaging, courses, and outcomes were analyzed retrospectively. Main Outcome Measures Demographics, conditions associated with OFMD, and diameter of OFMD. Results Fifty-one eyes of 45 patients (15 men and 30 women; age range, 10–88 years) were included. Symptoms included central scotoma, metamorphopsia, and mild to moderate visual loss. Outer foveal microdefects were observed in association with various macular conditions: presumed posterior vitreous detachment, vitreomacular interface changes, or both (24 eyes); sequelae of macular edema (3 eyes); blunt trauma (2 eyes); retinal phototoxicity resulting from laser or solar maculopathy (5 eyes); and macular telangiectasia type 2 (2 eyes). An improvement with a reduction in OFMD diameter was documented in 9 of 14 eyes that could be followed up. Conclusions We suggest renaming the condition outer foveal microdefect instead of macular microhole, which is usually associated with a vitreomacular disorder. The pattern indeed also was observed in traumatic or degenerative conditions. We assumed that various injuries led to changes in foveal morphologic features and that a full recovery of the foveal architecture could be altered, especially in eyes with findings suggestive of the pachychoroid spectrum of disorders.

Background: The association between isolated maternal hypothyroxinemia (IMH) during pregnancy and preterm birth (PTB), especially for subtypes of PTB, is unclear. This study aimed at determining th...

Purpose Very little is known about how weight gain during incarceration influences the health of people living in Canadian federal penitentiaries. To fill this knowledge gap, this study aims to determine how the observed weight gain influenced the development of obesity-related chronic diseases during incarceration. Design/methodology/approach This retrospective cohort study examined the association between weight gain and obesity-related chronic diseases for 1,420 participants incarcerated in federal penitentiaries in Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. To participate, individuals had to be incarcerated for at least six months at the time of the study (2016–2017). Current anthropometric data were measured or taken from medical records, then compared to anthropometric data at the beginning of incarceration (mean follow-up of 5.0 years) to determine weight change (kg) and body mass index change (kg/m2) during incarceration. Then, information about obesity-related chronic diseases was drawn from the participants’ medical records. Findings Chi-square and nonparametric median comparison tests were performed to detect statistically significant changes in anthropometric data, to determine if a relationship was present. This study observed a significant association between weight gain and disease development for many types of obesity-related chronic diseases (e.g. cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and sleep apnea). This confirmed an association between weight gain and chronic disease development in the prison population. Originality/value Participants who gained a significant amount of weight, during incarceration, were also more frequently diagnosed with obesity-related chronic diseases. These findings suggest that weight gain may contribute to the deterioration of peoples’ health during incarceration.

Adolescence is a critical period for the development of eating disorders, but data is lacking on the heterogeneity of their evolution during that time-period. Group-based trajectories can be used to understand how eating disorders emerge and evolve over time. The aim of this study was to identify groups of individuals with distinct levels of eating disorder symptoms between 12 and 20 years and the onset of different types of symptoms. We also studied sex differences in the evolution and course of eating disorder symptoms from early adolescence to adulthood.Using archival data from the QLSCD cohort, trajectories of eating disorder symptomatology were estimated from ages 12 to 20 years using semiparametric models. These trajectories included overall eating disorder symptomatology as measured by the SCOFF (Sick, Control, One Stone, Fat, Food), sex, and symptom-specific trajectories.Two groups of adolescents following distinct trajectories of eating disorder symptoms were identified. The first trajectory group included 30.9% of youth with sharply rising levels between 12 and 15 years, followed by high levels of symptoms between 15 and 20 years. The second trajectory group included 69.1% of youth with low and stable levels of symptoms between 12 and 20 years. Sex-specific models indicated that the proportion of girls in the high trajectory group was 1.3 times higher than the proportion of boys (42.8% girls vs. 32.3% boys). Trajectories of SCOFF items were similar for loss-of-control eating, feeling overweight, and attributing importance to food. The weight loss item had a different developmental pattern, increasing between 12 and 15 years and then decreasing between 17 and 20 years.The largest increase in eating disorder symptoms in adolescence is between the ages of 12 and 15 . Yet, most prevention programs start after 15 years of age. Our findings suggest that, unlike common practices, eating disorder prevention programs should aim to start before puberty.Eating disorders, typically involving preoccupation with eating, excessive exercise, and body image issues, are particularly common in adolescence. However, their evolution over time remains unclear as certain signs and symptoms may appear sooner than others. The current study studied the development of eating disorder symptoms in a community cohort followed from birth to adulthood. This study describes trajectories of eating disorder symptoms and risk from age 12 to 20 in both boys and girls. Results showed that the largest increase in eating disorder symptoms occurs between 12 and 15 years of age, both in overall symptomatology as well as in specific symptoms such as loss-of-control when eating, feeling overweight, and attributing importance to food. Additionally, more girls than boys appeared at risk for eating disorders, although the patterns represented by the trajectories were similar in both sexes. Our results highlight the importance of starting early prevention programs before the beginning of adolescence, when symptoms usually start to manifest.

Background The current low state of food security amongst Inuit in Canada is influenced by policy choices. Policy actors develop and implement policies, yet few research studies include their perspectives. This study includes policy actors’ perspectives on gaps and areas of improvement for policies that pertain to food security for Labrador Inuit in Nunatsiavut. Nunatsiavut is one of the four Inuit land claim areas in northern Canada making up the Inuit homeland, or Inuit Nunangat. It is situated in northern Labrador in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Methods This qualitative study consisted of key informant interviews conducted from July 2020-December 2020 with policy actors that spanned the Nunatsiavut Government (regional Inuit government), Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (provincial government), the Government of Canada (federal government), non-governmental organizations and private industry. Participants were asked about their role, policy gaps and opportunities for improving policies that pertain to food security in Nunatsiavut. It also included initial insights from emergency food security measures implemented during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020. Results Fifteen key informant interviews were completed, and three participants provided written responses. The results were reported as per the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies (COREQ): 32–item checklist. Seven participants (39%) stated they developed policy, six participants (33%) stated they both developed and implemented policy and five participants (28%) stated they implemented policy. Seven themes were identified from discussions with policy actors. Policy recommendations to improve food security include improving transportation, social policies, and policy coherence in policy implementation. Five separate themes were identified from discussions on implementing emergency food security measures during the first wave of COVID-19 in Nunatsiavut. These included inadequacy of social policies, hidden poverty among people living in Nunatsiavut and future considerations for post- COVID-19 food security policies. Conclusion The results of this study show that improving food security in Nunatsiavut is a matter of health equity. During COVID-19, these inequities were further highlighted, demonstrating the importance of urgent action. Findings from this study can inform actions to improve existing and future policies that pertain to food security for Labrador Inuit in Nunatsiavut.

Background: Although women are encouraged to achieve good diet quality in preconception and pregnancy, the benefits on perinatal outcomes have not been established. Objective: To systematically review and quantify the association between diet quality and adverse perinatal outcomes. Search strategy: Medline, Embase, Food Science and Technology Abstracts and CINAHL were searched up to 5th March 2020. Selection criteria: Two authors independently screened, selected and coded relevant prospective cohort studies. Data collection and analysis: Thirty-three studies (315,431 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. Odds ratios and mean differences from individual studies were pooled using random-effects models. Main Results: The pooled results for the association between diet quality and excessive (OR: 0.91; 95 CI: 0.76, 1.10) or inadequate (OR: 0.90; 95 CI: 0.70, 1.17) gestational weight gain were not statistically significant. Women in the top tertile of diet quality scores during prepregnancy or pregnancy had a lower risk of gestational diabetes (OR: 0.77; 95 CI: 0.65, 0.90), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (OR: 0.87; 95 CI: 0.83, 0.92), preterm birth (OR: 0.77; 95 CI: 0.66, 0.89), small for gestational age (OR: 0.88; 95 CI: 0.79, 0.99) and low birth weight (OR: 0.60; 95 CI: 0.37, 0.99) compared to those in the bottom tertile. No studies were found for delivery mode. Conclusions: Data from prospective cohort studies support the potential of improving maternal diet quality in the effort to prevent adverse perinatal outcomes. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research HLT 151517, National Natural Sciences Foundation of China No. 81661128010 Keywords: Diet quality, perinatal outcomes.

This paper is a revised and updated edition of a previous description of the Quebec Newborn Twin Study (QNTS), an ongoing prospective longitudinal follow-up of a birth cohort of twins born between 1995 and 1998 in the greater Montreal area, Québec, Canada. The goal of QNTS is to document individual differences in the cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional aspects of developmental health across childhood, their early genetic and environmental determinants, as well as their putative role in later social-emotional adjustment, school, health, and occupational outcomes. A total of 662 families of twins were initially assessed when the twins were aged 6 months. These twins and their family were then followed regularly. QNTS now has 16 waves of data collected or planned, including 5 in preschool. Over the last 24 years, a broad range of physiological, cognitive, behavioral, school, and health phenotypes were documented longitudinally through multi-informant and multimethod measurements. QNTS also entails extended and detailed multilevel assessments of proximal (e.g., parenting behaviors, peer relationships) and distal (e.g., family income) features of the child’s environment. QNTS children and a subset of their parents have been genotyped, allowing for the computation of a variety of polygenic scores. This detailed longitudinal information makes QNTS uniquely suited for the study of the role of the early years and gene–environment transactions in development.

Childhood obesity is a predictor of adult obesity and has its roots in the pre-pregnancy or pregnancy period. This review presents an overview of the prenatal risk factors for childhood obesity, which were categorized into 2 groups: biological risk factors (maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index, gestational weight gain, diabetes in pregnancy, and caesarean section), and environmental and behavioural risk factors (maternal smoking and exposure to obesogens, maternal dietary patterns, maternal intestinal microbiome and antibiotics exposure, and maternal psychosocial stress). Identifying modifiable predisposing prenatal factors for obesity will inform further development of inventions to prevent obesity over the life course, and future directions for research and intervention are discussed.

OBJECTIVE: Recent research found that inmates experience undesirable and rapid weight gain during incarceration in Canadian federal penitentiaries. However, little is known about what factors and daily movement behaviours (e.g., physical activity, screen time, and sleep) influence weight gain during incarceration. This study examines how these 24-h movement/non-movement behaviours contribute to weight gain during incarceration. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study explored how weight change outcomes during incarceration (weight change, body mass index (BMI) change, and yearly weight gain) were influenced by physical activity, screen time, and sleep in a convenience sample of 754 inmates. The outcome measures were taken twice, once from participants’ medical chart at admission and again during a face-to-face follow-up interview (conducted in 2016–2017; mean follow-up time of 5.0 ± 8.3 years). Physical activity, screen time, and sleep were self-reported. The statistical analysis was chi-square testing, non-parametric median comparison testing, and regression analysis to control for confounders. RESULTS: Inmates who engaged in at least 60 min of daily physical activities gained less weight (4.5 kg) compared to inmates who reported not exercising (8.3 kg). Different types of exercise (cardiovascular exercises, weight lifting, and team sports) were helpful at limiting weight gain, but playing sports was the most effective. Screen time and sleep were not associated with weight gain outcomes. CONCLUSION: Among the behaviours examined, physical inactivity was significantly associated with higher weight gain during incarceration. However, even high levels of physical activity (> 60 min/day) were not sufficient to eliminate weight gain during incarceration in Canada. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.17269/s41997-018-0165-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

IntroductionChildhood overweight and obesity (OWO) is a primary global health challenge. Childhood OWO prevention is now a public health priority in China. The Sino-Canadian Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (SCHeLTI), one of four trials being undertaken by the international HeLTI consortium, aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a multifaceted, community-family-mother-child intervention on childhood OWO and non-communicable diseases risk.Methods and analysisThis is a multicentre, cluster-randomised, controlled trial conducted in Shanghai, China. The unit of randomisation is the service area of Maternal Child Health Units (N=36). We will recruit 4500 women/partners/families in maternity and district level hospitals. Participants in the intervention group will receive a multifaceted, integrated package of health promotion interventions beginning in preconception or in the first trimester of pregnancy, continuing into infancy and early childhood. The intervention, which is centred on a modified motivational interviewing approach, will target early-life maternal and child risk factors for adiposity. Through the development of a biological specimen bank, we will study potential mechanisms underlying the effects of the intervention. The primary outcome for the trial is childhood OWO (body mass index for age ≥85th percentile) at 5 years of age, based on WHO sex-specific standards. The study has a power of 0.8 (α=0.05) to detect a 30% risk reduction in the proportion of children with OWO at 5 years of age, from 24.4% in the control group to 17% in the intervention group. Recruitment was launched on 30 August 2018 for the pilot study and 10 January 2019 for the formal study.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the Medical Research Ethics Committee of the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital in Shanghai, China, and the Research Ethics Board of the Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et Services Sociaux de l’Estrie–CHUS in Sherbrooke, Canada. Data sharing policies are consistent with the governance policy of the HeLTI consortium and government legislation.Trial registration numberChiCTR1800017773.Protocol versionNovember 11, 2020 (Version #5).

Most inmates gain excessive bodyweight during incarceration in Canadian federal penitentiaries. It is currently unknown if the weight gain is related to participants' higher prevalence of mental illness and/or psychotropic medication use. This study examined how weight change (kg) and body mass index (BMI) change (kg/m(2)) of 1,420 participants were associated with mental health status and psychotropic medication use. Participants who took psychotropic medications did not gain more weight during incarceration compared to their counterparts who were not taking psychotropic medications (6.5 kg vs. 6.0 kg, p = 0.87, respectively). However, participants taking psychotropic medications were more likely to be overweight or obese, which means they already had higher BMI at the beginning of their incarceration as opposed to gaining more weight during incarceration. Weight gain of participants observed during incarceration in Canadian federal penitentiaries was not related to the higher prevalence of mental illness or psychotropic medication use.

Context Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) is an indicator of poor fetal growth “programming” an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes in adulthood. Little is known about early-life endocrine characteristics in SGA subtypes. Stunting (short) and wasting (skinny) are considered distinct SGA phenotypes in neonatal prognosis. Objectives This work aimed to assess whether SGA infants with stunting or wasting have similar alterations in neonatal endocrine metabolic health biomarkers. Methods This was a nested case-control study based on the 3D (Design, Develop, and Discover) birth cohort in Canada. The study subjects were 146 SGA (birth weight Results Comparing to OGA infants adjusted for maternal and neonatal characteristics, SGA infants with either stunting only or wasting only had lower cord plasma IGF-I and leptin concentrations. HMW adiponectin concentrations were lower in SGA infants with wasting only (P = .004), but similar in SGA infants with stunting only (P = .816). Only SGA infants with both stunting and wasting had substantially lower proinsulin (P Conclusion This study is the first to demonstrate that SGA infants with wasting only are characterized by low HMW adiponectin concentrations, whereas those with stunting only are not. SGA with both stunting and wasting are characterized by low proinsulin and high ghrelin concentrations.

IntroductionInappropriate gestational weight gain (GWG), including inadequate and excessive GWG, has become pandemic across nations and continents. This review aims to synthesise the evidence on the correlation between diet quality and GWG. If this association is confirmed, improving diet quality could become an intervention target in the efforts to reduce inappropriate GWG.Methods and analysisWe will conduct a systematic review of all prospective cohort studies on diet quality in preconception or pregnancy and GWG. Our secondary outcomes include gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and birth weight. A comprehensive search of all published articles in MEDLINE ALL (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Food Science and Technology Abstracts (Ovid) and CINAHL (EBSCOHost), from database creation to 20 April 2019, will be conducted. Studies will be screened for eligibility by title, abstract and full text in duplicate by two independent reviewers. Study quality and risk of bias will be assessed using the adapted Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Results will be reported following the meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology guidelines. If sufficient data are available, a meta-analysis will be conducted to synthesise the effect size reported as OR with 95% CI using both fixed-effect and random-effect models. I2 statistics and visual inspection of the forest plots will be used to assess heterogeneity and identify the potential sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias will be assessed by visual inspections of funnel plots and Egger’s test.Ethics and disseminationFormal ethical approval is not required as no primary data will be collected. We aim to publish the results of this study in a peer-reviewed journal and present them at conferences and scientific meetings to promote knowledge transfer.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42019128732

Inuit in Canada experience greater social and economic inequities than the general Canadian population. Food security exemplifies this inequity and is a distinct determinant of Inuit health. This scoping review focuses on food security-related policies implemented in Nunatsiavut, located in Northern Labrador. The primary objective was to identify the range of existing policies that pertain to food security in Nunatsiavut. The secondary objective was to complete a directed content analysis to map each policy against the applicable dimension of food security. This scoping review followed the Johanna Briggs methodology. The search strategy included the databases: Medline (via Ovid), EMBASE (via Ovid), CINAHL, and Scopus, and a hand search of the relevant journals, conference abstracts and grey literature. This search was undertaken from April 2019 – October 2019. A content analysis mapped each policy against the applicable dimension of food security. Results: The results showed that twenty five policies were identified, spanning three levels of government, that explicitly or implicitly addressed at least one dimension of food security. Accessibility was the most frequent food security dimension identified. The Government of Canada developed 60% of policies and the Nunatsiavut Government implemented 48% of policies. Most policies focused on proximal factors for food security. Identifying distal policies for food security and understanding the impact of existing policies in Nunatsiavut remain as areas of further investigation. Ethics and Dissemination:This project was reviewed by the Nunatsiavut Government Research Advisory Committee.

Loos, Ruth J F/0000-0002-8532-5087; Huibregtse, Brooke M./0000-0003-0977-7249; Kandler, Christian/0000-0002-9175-235X; Hjelmborg, Jacob/0000-0001-9630-9149; mangino, massimo/0000-0002-2167-7470; Siribaddana, Sisira/0000-0001-5821-2557; Plomin, Robert/0000-0002-0756-3629; Latvala, Antti/0000-0001-5695-117X; Kaprio, Jaakko/0000-0002-3716-2455; Willemsen, Gonneke/0000-0003-3755-0236; Tan, Qihua/0000-0003-3194-0030; Pahlen, Shandell/0000-0003-0753-4155; Pedersen, Nancy/0000-0001-8057-3543; Haworth, Claire/0000-0002-8608-289X; Nistico, Lorenza/0000-0003-1805-6240; Skytthe, Axel/0000-0002-8629-4913; van Beijsterveldt, Toos/0000-0002-6617-4201; Rebato, Esther/0000-0003-1221-8501; Li, Lintao/0000-0002-0604-9660; Bartels, Meike/0000-0002-9667-7555; Silventoinen, Karri/0000-0003-1759-3079; Cunha Oliveira, Vinicius/0000-0002-8658-3774; Sund, Reijo/0000-0002-6268-8117; Sodemann, Morten/0000-0001-8992-2500; Rasmussen, Finn/0000-0001-7915-7809; Harden, Kathryn/0000-0002-1557-6737; Medda, Emanuela/0000-0003-4837-4549; Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm/0000-0003-2981-0245; Colodro Conde, Lucia/0000-0002-9004-364X WOS: 000517442200060 PubMed: 31364586 The COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) project is a large international collaborative effort to analyze individual-level phenotype data from twins in multiple cohorts from different environments. The main objective is to study factors that modify genetic and environmental variation of height, body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2)) and size at birth, and additionally to address other research questions such as long-term consequences of birth size. The project started in 2013 and is open to all twin projects in the world having height and weight measures on twins with information on zygosity. Thus far, 54 twin projects from 24 countries have provided individual-level data. The CODATwins database includes 489,981 twin individuals (228,635 complete twin pairs). Since many twin cohorts have collected longitudinal data, there is a total of 1,049,785 height and weight observations. For many cohorts, we also have information on birth weight and length, own smoking behavior and own or parental education. We found that the heritability estimates of height and BMI systematically changed from infancy to old age. Remarkably, only minor differences in the heritability estimates were found across cultural-geographic regions, measurement time and birth cohort for height and BMI. In addition to genetic epidemiological studies, we looked at associations of height and BMI with education, birth weight and smoking status. Within-family analyses examined differences within same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins in birth size and later development. The CODATwins project demonstrates the feasibility and value of international collaboration to address gene-by-exposure interactions that require large sample sizes and address the effects of different exposures across time, geographical regions and socioeconomic status. Academy of FinlandAcademy of Finland [266592, 100499, 205585, 118555, 141054, 265240, 263278, 264146]; Osaka University's International Joint Research Promotion Program; Centre of Research Excellence Grant from the National Health and Medical Research CouncilNational Health and Medical Research Council of Australia [1079102]; National Institutes of HealthUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA [R01 HD068435, R01 MH062375, 1R01ESO15150-01, R21 AG039572]; National Medical Research Council Research Fellowship; California Tobacco-Related Disease Research ProgramUniversity of California System [7RT-0134H, 8RT-0107H, 6RT-0354H]; National Institute on AgingUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute on Aging (NIA) [1RO1-AG13662-01A2]; Swedish Research Council through the Swedish Initiative for Research on Microdata in the Social And Medical Sciences (SIMSAM) [340-2013-5867]; Swedish Heart-Lung FoundationSwedish Heart-Lung Foundation; Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association's Research Foundation; Special Fund for Health Scientific Research in the Public Welfare, China [201502006]; NIDAUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) [DA011015, HD10333]; National Program for Research Infrastructure 2007 from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation; Research Council for Health and Disease; Velux Foundation; US National Institute of HealthUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA [P01 AG08761]; Fund of Scientific Research, FlandersFWO; ENGAGE - European Network for Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology, FP7-HEALTH-F4-2007 [201413]; National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and AlcoholismUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (NIAAA) [AA-12502, AA-00145, AA-09203]; Academy of Finland Center of Excellence in Complex Disease GeneticsAcademy of Finland [213506, 129680]; Cancer Research UKCancer Research UK [C1418/A7974]; W T Grant Foundation; University of London Central Research fund; Medical Research CouncilMedical Research Council UK (MRC) [G81/343, G120/635]; Economic and Social Research CouncilEconomic & Social Research Council (ESRC) [RES-000-22-2206]; Institute of Social Psychiatry [06/07-11]; Leverhulme Research FellowshipLeverhulme Trust [RF/2/RFG/2008/0145]; Goldsmiths, University of London; UK Medical Research CouncilMedical Research Council UK (MRC) [MR/M021475/1, G0901245]; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London; NIHUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA [R01AG053217, RC2 HL103416]; National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China [81125007]; Global Research Network Program of the National Research Foundation [NRF 2011-220-E00006]; European Research Council (ERC)European Research Council (ERC) [240994]; Michigan State University; National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)United States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [R01-MH081813, R01-MH0820-54, R01-MH092377-02, R21-MH070542-01, R03-MH63851-01, 1R01-MH118848-01]; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) [R01-HD066040]; MSU Foundation [11-SPG-2518]; Fundacion Seneca, Regional Agency for Science and Technology, Murcia, Spain [08633/PHCS/08, 15302/PHCS/10, 19479/PI/14]; Ministry of Science and Innovation, SpainSpanish Government [PSI2009-11560, PSI2014-56680-R]; MagW/ZonMW [904-61-090, 985-10-002, 912-10-020, 904-61-193, 480-04-004, 463-06-001, 451-04-034, 400-05-717, Addiction-31160008, Middelgroot-911-09-032, Spinozapremie 56-464-14192]; European Research CouncilEuropean Research Council (ERC) [ERC-230374]; JSPS KAKENHI JP [23593419, 24792601, 26671010, 24590695, 26293128, 16K15385, 16K15978, 16K15989, 16H03261]; Australian National Health and Medical Research CouncilNational Health and Medical Research Council of Australia [437015, 607358]; Bonnie Babes Foundation [BBF20704]; Financial Markets Foundation for Children [032-2007]; Victorian Government; Portuguese agency for research (The Foundation for Science and Technology [FCT]) [POCI/DES/56834/2004]; Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust; Medical Research CouncilMedical Research Council UK (MRC); European UnionEuropean Union (EU); National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)National Institute for Health Research (NIHR); King's College London; Fonds Quebecois de la Recherche sur la Societe et la CultureFQRNT; Fonds de la Recherche en Sante du QuebecFonds de la Recherche en Sante du Quebec; Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada; National Health Research Development Program; Canadian Institutes for Health ResearchCanadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); Sainte-Justine Hospital's Research Center; Canada Research Chair ProgramCanada Research Chairs; National Research Foundation of KoreaNational Research Foundation of Korea [NRF-371-2011-1 B00047]; Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council [2017-00641]; UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) [31/D19086]; MRCMedical Research Council UK (MRC) [MR/M021475/1]; Krkkale University [2009/43]; TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [114C117]; National Institute of Mental HealthUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [R01 MH58354]; National Institute of HealthUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA [NIA R01 AG018384, R01 AG018386, R01 AG022381, R01 AG022982]; VA San Diego Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health; Cooperative Studies Program of the Office of Research & Development of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT)Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [15H05105]; Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust; Stockholm County Council (ALF-projects)Stockholm County Council; Twins, a nonprofit Association for Scientific Research in Multiple Births (Belgium); [5T32DA017637]; [5T32AG052371] This study was conducted within the CODATwins project (Academy of Finland #266592). K Silventoinen is supported by Osaka University's International Joint Research Promotion Program. This research was facilitated through access to Twins Research Australia, a national resource supported by a Centre of Research Excellence Grant (ID: 1079102), from the National Health and Medical Research Council. The Boston University Twin Project is funded by grants (#R01 HD068435 #R01 MH062375) from the National Institutes of Health to K. Saudino. Paulo Ferreira is funded by a National Medical Research Council Research Fellowship. California Twin Program was supported by The California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (7RT-0134H, 8RT-0107H, 6RT-0354H) and the National Institutes of Health (1R01ESO15150-01).; The Carolina African American Twin Study of Aging (CAATSA) was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (grant 1RO1-AG13662-01A2) to K. E. Whitfield. The CATSS-Study is supported by the Swedish Research Council through the Swedish Initiative for Research on Microdata in the Social And Medical Sciences (SIMSAM) framework grant no 340-2013-5867, grants provided by the Stockholm County Council (ALF-projects), the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation and the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association's Research Foundation.; Chinese National Twin Registry is funded by Special Fund for Health Scientific Research in the Public Welfare (Project No: 201502006), China. Colorado Twin Registry is funded by NIDA-funded center grant DA011015, & Longitudinal Twin Study HD10333; Author Huibregtse is supported by 5T32DA017637 and 5T32AG052371. Danish Twin Registry is supported by the National Program for Research Infrastructure 2007 from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, The Research Council for Health and Disease, the Velux Foundation and the US National Institute of Health (P01 AG08761). Since its origin, the East Flanders Prospective Survey has been partly supported by grants from the Fund of Scientific Research, Flanders and Twins, a nonprofit Association for Scientific Research in Multiple Births (Belgium). Data collection and analyses in Finnish twin cohorts have been supported by ENGAGE - European Network for Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology, FP7-HEALTH-F4-2007, grant agreement number 201413, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (grants AA-12502, AA-00145 and AA-09203 to R J Rose, the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence in Complex Disease Genetics (grant numbers: 213506, 129680), and the Academy of Finland (grants 100499, 205585, 118555, 141054, 265240, 263278 and 264146 to J Kaprio). Gemini was supported by a grant from Cancer Research UK (C1418/A7974). Waves 1-3 of Genesis 12-19 were funded by the W T Grant Foundation, the University of London Central Research fund and a Medical Research Council Training Fellowship (G81/343) and Career Development Award (G120/635) to Thalia C. Eley. Wave 4 was supported by grants from the Economic and Social Research Council (RES-000-22-2206) and the Institute of Social Psychiatry (06/07-11) to Alice M. Gregory, who was also supported at that time by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (RF/2/RFG/2008/0145). Wave 5 was supported by funding to Alice M. Gregory from Goldsmiths, University of London. T. C. Eley is partly funded by a program grant from the UK Medical Research Council (MR/M021475/1).; This study presents independent research [partly] funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. The Minnesota Twin Registry (MTR) acknowledges support from NIH grant R01AG053217. Guangzhou Twin Eye Study is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant #81125007). Anthropometric measurements of the Hungarian twins were supported by Medexpert Ltd., Budapest, Hungary. Korean Twin-Family Register was supported by the Global Research Network Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF 2011-220-E00006). Longitudinal Israeli Study of Twins was funded by the Starting Grant no. 240994 from the European Research Council (ERC) to Ariel Knafo. The Michigan State University Twin Registry has been supported by Michigan State University, as well as grants R01-MH081813, R01-MH0820-54, R01-MH092377-02, R21-MH070542-01, R03-MH63851-01 and 1R01-MH118848-01 from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), R01-HD066040 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and 11-SPG-2518 from the MSU Foundation. The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIMH, the NICHD or the National Institutes of Health. The Murcia Twin Registry is supported by Fundacion Seneca, Regional Agency for Science and Technology, Murcia, Spain (08633/PHCS/08, 15302/PHCS/10 & 19479/PI/14) and Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain (PSI2009-11560 & PSI2014-56680-R). The NAS-NRC Twin Registry acknowledges financial support from the National Institutes of Health grant number R21 AG039572. Netherlands Twin Register acknowledges the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and MagW/ZonMW grants 904-61-090, 985-10-002, 912-10-020, 904-61-193,480-04-004, 463-06-001, 451-04-034, 400-05-717, Addiction-31160008, Middelgroot-911-09-032, Spinozapremie 56-464-14192; VU University's Institute for Health and Care Research (EMGO+); the European Research Council (ERC-230374), the Avera Institute, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (USA). Osaka University Aged Twin Registry is supported by grants from JSPS KAKENHI JP (23593419, 24792601, 26671010, 24590695, 26293128, 16K15385, 16K15978, 16K15989, 16H03261). PETS was supported by grants from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (grant numbers 437015 and 607358 to JC, and RS), the Bonnie Babes Foundation (grant number BBF20704 to JMC), the Financial Markets Foundation for Children (grant no. 032-2007 to JMC), and by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program.; Madeira data comes from the following project: Genetic and environmental influences on physical activity, fitness and health: the Madeira family study Project reference: POCI/DES/56834/2004 Founded by the Portuguese agency for research (The Foundation for Science and Technology [FCT]). TwinsUK receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council and European Union.; TwinsUK and M. Mangino are supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded BioResource, Clinical Research Facility and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London. The Quebec Newborn Twin Study acknowledges financial support from the Fonds Quebecois de la Recherche sur la Societe et la Culture, the Fonds de la Recherche en Sante du Quebec, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Health Research Development Program, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Sainte-Justine Hospital's Research Center, and the Canada Research Chair Program (Michel Boivin). South Korea Twin Registry is supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-371-2011-1 B00047). We acknowledge The Swedish Twin Registry for access to data. The Swedish Twin Registry is managed by Karolinska Institutet and receives funding through the Swedish Research Council under the grant no. 2017-00641.; The Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) is supported by a program grant (G0901245) from the UK Medical Research Council and the work on obesity in TEDS is supported in part by a grant from the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (31/D19086). Currently TEDS is supported by MRC grant 'MR/M021475/1'. The Texas Twin Project is currently funded by grant R01HD083613 from the National Institutes of Health. S. Y. oncel and F. Aliev are supported by Krkkale University Research Grant: KKU, 2009/43 and TUBITAK grant 114C117. The University of Southern California Twin Study is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH58354). Washington State Twin Registry (formerly the University of Washington Twin Registry) was supported in part by grant NIH RC2 HL103416 (D. Buchwald, PI). Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging was supported by National Institute of Health grants NIA R01 AG018384, R01 AG018386, R01 AG022381 and R01 AG022982, and, in part, with resources of the VA San Diego Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health. The Cooperative Studies Program of the Office of Research & Development of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has provided financial support for the development and maintenance of the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry. The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIA/NIH, or the VA. The West Japan Twins and Higher Order Multiple Births Registry was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (grant number 15H05105) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Background Very little is known about how incarceration influences a person's weight in Canada. We sought to determine how inmates' weights change during their incarceration in Canadian federal penitentiaries. Methods We performed a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study to examine weight change in Canadian federal penitentiaries. To participate, inmates had to have been incarcerated for at least 6 months at the time of the study. Current anthropometric data were measured or taken from medical records, then compared with anthropometric data from the beginning of incarceration (mean follow-up of 5.0 ± 8.3 yr). We examined 3 outcomes: change in weight (kg), change in body mass index (BMI) and rate of weight change (kg/yr) during incarceration. Results A total of 1420 inmates participated in this study. Almost three-quarters (73.0%, n = 1037)) of participants gained weight during incarceration. Inmates gained a median of 6.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.6-6.9) kg, and BMI increased by 2.0 (95% CI 1.8-2.2). Obesity rates increased by 71%, from 26.6% of participants (n = 378) on admission to 45.4% of participants at follow-up (n = 645). The proportion of inmates with a BMI in the normal range (18.5-24.9) decreased by 52%. Weight gain was found to be associated with older age, region (Ontario v. Atlantic), ethnicity (Aboriginal inmates showed the highest weight gain), longer incarceration, and longer total sentence. However, weight gain was not associated with sex, feeding system or spoken language. Interpretation The Canadian correctional environment can be considered obesogenic, with most inmates experiencing undesirable and rapid weight gain during their incarceration. Rates of obesity increased dramatically during incarceration, and could put inmates at increased risk of obesity-related health problems.

Purpose: We aimed to describe adherence to gestational weight gain (GWG) recommendations and identify determinants of excessive GWG in a sample of women from Quebec, Canada. Methods: Data were collected from the multi-centre 3D (Design, Develop, Discover) pregnancy cohort study, which included women who delivered between May 2010 and August 2012 at 9 obstetrical hospitals in Quebec, Canada. GWG was calculated for 1145 women and compared to the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations. Results: Overall, 51% of participants exceeded the recommendations. Approximately 68% of women with obesity gained weight in excess of the IOM recommendations. The corresponding numbers were 75%, 44%, and 27% in overweight, normal weight, and underweight women, respectively. A prepregnancy BMI of 25 kg/m2 or more was the only significant predictor of exceeding GWG recommendations (OR 3.35, 95% CI 2.44–4.64) in a multivariate model. Birth weight was positively associated with GWG. GWG and prepregnancy BMI could explain 3.13% and 2.46% of the variance in birth weight, respectively. Conclusion: About half of women exceeded GWG recommendations, and this was correlated with infant birth weight. This reinforces the need to develop and evaluate strategies, including nutritional interventions, for pregnant women to achieve optimal GWG.

To investigate the changes in imaging tool practice for the diagnosis of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Retrospective analysis of consecutive patients diagnosed with nAMD in a tertiary care center, over a 6-month period in 2014, 2016, and 2018. Patient demographics were compared. Imaging modalities used in 2014 were fundus photography, fluorescein angiography (FA), and structural spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), while OCT-angiography (OCT-A) was available from 2015. Imaging tools used in our practice were compared in the 3 cohorts. The 3 cohorts included 163, 99, and 167 patients, respectively. There was no difference in age or gender (mean age 81.7 years). OCT-A images were analyzable in 60.5% and 89.7% of patients respectively in 2016 and in 2018. In the 3 cohorts, all patients were imaged with fundus photography and structural OCT. FA was performed in 70.2, 28.8, and 22.1% of patients, respectively. This study showed a shift in practice of imaging tools used for the diagnosis of nAMD, non-invasive tools being increasingly used as the first-line imaging, and FA as the second-line imaging.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine how inmates’ body weight changed during incarceration in Canadian federal penitentiaries, based on their history of tobacco use. Since tobacco was banned from all Canadian federal penitentiaries in 2008, little is known about the unintended health consequences of this ban, especially on inmates’ body weight.DesignCohort study.SettingParticipants were male and female inmates incarcerated for at least 6 months in Canadian federal penitentiaries. We collected data from 10 institutions in two Canadian regions (Ontario and Atlantic).ParticipantsWe collected data from 754 inmates who volunteered to participate in the study.InterventionThis study examined weight change in relation to a history of tobacco use. In 2016–2017, anthropometric data were collected and compared with recorded anthropometric data at the beginning of incarceration (mean follow-up of 5.0±8.3 years). Self-reported data on tobacco and substance use were collected. Weight change was compared between inmates with and without a history of tobacco use.OutcomesThe main outcome measures were body weight change (kg), body mass index (BMI) change (kg/m2), annual weight change (kg/year), and BMI and waist circumference (cm) at the time of the interview.ResultsDuring incarceration, ex-smokers gained more than twice the amount of weight compared with non-smokers (7.5 kg weight gain for smokers vs 3.7 kg weight gain for non-smokers). Once adjusted for covariates in a regression analysis, for inmates who gained the most weight (75th and 90th percentiles), non-smokers had, respectively, 1.64 and 2.3 lower BMI points than ex-smokers.ConclusionsDuring incarceration in Canadian federal penitentiaries, inmates with a history of tobacco use gained significantly more weight than non-smokers. This put them at increased risk of developing obesity-related health problems. This information is important for the prison setting when planning related programmes and regulation.

Background The coexistence of undernutrition (thinness) and overnutrition (overweight/obesity) among children and adolescents is a public health concern in low-middle-income countries. Accurate prevalence estimates of thinness and overweight/obesity among children and adolescents are unavailable in many low-middle-income countries due to lack of data. Here we describe the prevalences and examine correlates of objectively measured weight status among urban and rural schoolchildren in Mozambique. Methods A cross-sectional study design was applied to recruit 9-11-year-old schoolchildren (n = 683) from 17 urban and rural primary schools in Mozambique. Body mass index (BMI) was computed from objectively measured height and weight and participants’ weight categories were determined using the World Health Organization cut-points. Actigraph GT3X + accelerometers were worn 24 hours per day for 7 days to assess movement behaviours. Multilevel multivariable modelling was conducted to estimate odds ratios and confidence intervals. Results Combined prevalence of overweight/obesity (11.4%) was significantly higher among urban participants compared to rural participants (5.7%; χ2 = 7.1; p = 0.008). Conversely, thinness was more prevalent among rural (6.3%) compared to urban (4.2%) participants. Passive school commute, not meeting daily moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) guidelines, and maternal BMI >25 kg/m2 were associated with overweight/obesity while possessing one or more functional cars at home, maternal BMI >25 kg/m2 and being an older participant were associated with thinness in the present sample. The proportion of total variance in the prevalences of obesity and/or thinness occurring at the school level was 8.7% and 8.3%, respectively. Conclusion Prevalences of thinness, overweight/obesity and other key variables differ between urban and rural schoolchildren in Mozambique. MVPA, active transport and mother’s BMI are important modifiable correlates of weight status among Mozambican schoolchildren. Results from this study demonstrate important differences between urban and rural schoolchildren that should not be ignored when designing interventions to manage malnutrition, formulating public health strategies, and interpreting findings.

Background The interactive effect of the IGF pathway genes with the environment may contribute to childhood obesity. Such gene-environment interactions can take on complex forms. Detecting those relationships using longitudinal family studies requires simultaneously accounting for correlations within individuals and families. Methods We studied three methods for detecting interaction effects in longitudinal family studies. The twin model and the nonparametric partition-based score test utilized individual outcome averages, whereas the linear mixed model used all available longitudinal data points. Simulation experiments were performed to evaluate the methods’ power to detect different gene-environment interaction relationships. These methods were applied to the Quebec Newborn Twin Study data to test for interaction effects between the IGF pathway genes (IGF-1, IGFALS) and environmental factors (physical activity, daycare attendance and sleep duration) on body mass index outcomes. Results For the simulated data, the twin model with the mean time summary statistic yielded good performance overall. Modelling an interaction as linear when the true model had a different relationship influenced power; for certain non-linear interactions, none of the three methods were effective. Our analysis of the IGF pathway genes showed suggestive association for the joint effect of IGF-1 variant at position 102,791,894 of chromosome 12 and physical activity. However, this association was not statistically significant after multiple testing correction. Conclusions The analytical approaches considered in this study were not robust to different gene-environment interactions. Methodological innovations are needed to improve the current methods’ performances for detecting non-linear interactions. More studies are needed in order to better understand the IGF pathway’s role in childhood obesity development. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12881-018-0739-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background The 3D Cohort Study (Design, Develop, Discover) was established to help bridge knowledge gaps about the links between various adverse exposures during pregnancy with birth outcomes and later health outcomes in children. Methods Pregnant women and their partners were recruited during the first trimester from nine sites in Quebec and followed along with their children through to 2 years of age. Questionnaires were administered during pregnancy and post‐delivery to collect information on demographics, mental health and life style, medical history, psychosocial measures, diet, infant growth, and neurodevelopment. Information on the delivery and newborn outcomes were abstracted from medical charts. Biological specimens were collected from mothers during each trimester, fathers (once during the pregnancy), and infants (at delivery and 2 years of age) for storage in a biological specimen bank. Results Of the 9864 women screened, 6348 met the eligibility criteria and 2366 women participated in the study (37% of eligible women). Among women in the 3D cohort, 1721 of their partners (1704 biological fathers) agreed to participate (73%). Two thousand two hundred and nineteen participants had a live singleton birth (94%). Prenatal blood and urine samples as well as vaginal secretions were collected for ≥98% of participants, cord blood for 81% of livebirths, and placental tissue for 89% of livebirths. Conclusions The 3D Cohort Study combines a rich bank of multiple biological specimens with extensive clinical, life style, and psychosocial data. This data set is a valuable resource for studying the developmental etiology of birth and early childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Background Overweight is associated with depression and anxiety among adults. It is unclear whether this association begins in childhood. Overweight among children is associated with a higher risk of peer victimization, and may mediate an association between overweight and internalizing symptoms. No study has tested this hypothesis in a longitudinal population-based sample using developmental trajectories of overweight in middle childhood. Methods Data was drawn from the population-based Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. A three-group trajectory model of overweight development (6–12 years) was previously identified using a semi-parametric group-based approach (n=1678): “early-onset” (11.0%), “late-onset” (16.6%) and “never overweight” (72.5%). Mediation models tested the link between overweight status and child-reported depression and anxiety at 13 years via peer victimization and body dissatisfaction. Results Children on an early-onset overweight trajectory were at increased risk for both depression (B=.318, 95% CI=.141;.496) and anxiety (B=.262, 95% CI=.09;.44) at 13 years. These direct associations were mediated by peer victimization and subsequent desire to be thinner. Children on a late-onset childhood overweight trajectory were at increased risk for both depression (B=.332, 95% CI=.187;.477) and anxiety (B=.215; 95% CI=.072;.358) at 13 years, mediated by the desire to be thinner. Limitations We were unable to control for previous levels of body dissatisfaction. Our measure of peer victimization was not specific to weight-based teasing. Conclusions Overweight during middle childhood increases risk of early adolescence internalizing symptoms. Peer victimization and body dissatisfaction are partly responsible for this link.

Purpose: To describe peripapillary retinal pigment epithelium changes observed in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and evaluate their prevalence. Methods: This study is a prospective, monocentric, comparative case series including 104 consecutive patients with AMD, and 34 patients who are more than 60 years old and consulting for other conditions (control group). Color and fundus autofluorescence images centered on the optic disk were taken and graded by 2 independent readers from 0 to 4: 0, absent; 1, uneven background; 2, focal hyperautofluorescent dots and spots; 3, light reticular pattern; 4, dense reticular pattern. Statistical analysis was performed to correlate the presence of peripapillary retinal pigment epithelium changes with age, sex, and AMD subtype. Results: Peripapillary retinal pigment epithelium changes were observed in 76/104 AMD eyes (73.0%) and were significantly more frequent than in eyes with other conditions (14/34, 41.1%, P = 0.002), whereas groups did not differ for age (P = 0.14). Grade ≥2 peripapillary retinal pigment epithelium changes were more frequently observed in patients with AMD than in controls (41.3 vs. 17.6%, P = 0.013). No differences were found between patients with AMD having peripapillary retinal pigment epithelium changes and other patients for age distribution (P = 0.14), sex ratio (P = 0.34), or AMD type (P = 0.57). Conclusion: Peripapillary retinal pigment epithelium changes were more frequent in patients with AMD than in controls, and when present, they were of higher grade. Peripapillary retinal pigment epithelium changes significance is not yet understood and needs further evaluation.