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Objectives: Considering the importance of the early life period, in conjunction with the increasing prevalence of adiposity and insufficient physical activity already evident in early childhood, this study aimed to determine associations between abdominal adiposity, body size, and objectively measured physical activity in infancy. Methods: Infants (n = 138, aged 3-24 months) from Soweto, South Africa were recruited to this cross-sectional study. Visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous abdominal fat (SAT) were measured using ultrasound. Physical activity was assessed using accelerometry and analysed at the hourly level. Multilevel linear regression analyses were run with body composition exposures adjusted for age, sex, and length; models with VAT and SAT were also adjusted for total abdominal fat. Results: Mean (SD) age was 11.8 (7.6) months; 86% were normal weight, 7% were underweight and 7% overweight. In linear models, no body composition variable was significantly associated with physical activity. Physical activity was higher with each increasing length tertile (ANOVA p < 0.01); with a mean(95%CI) 29(60-60)mg in the lowest tertile, 39(71-71)mg in the middle tertile, and 50(81-82)mg in the highest tertile. Infants with normal weight had higher mean(95%CI) physical activity (40(70-80)mg) than underweight (34(73-85)mg, p = 0.01) or overweight infants (31(63-78)mg, ANOVA p < 0.01). When also adjusting for total abdominal fat, infants in the lowest SAT tertile had higher physical activity than those in the middle or highest SAT tertiles (p < 0.01). Conclusions These findings lend support for higher physical activity as a marker of healthy growth in the first two years of life., Author(s): Alessandra Prioreschi [sup.1] , Ken K Ong [sup.1] [sup.2] , Emanuella De Lucia Rolfe [sup.2] , Kate Westgate [sup.2] , Lisa K Micklesfield [sup.1] , Soren Brage [sup.2] Author [...]

Persistently high rates of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa have driven the exploration for additional methods of prevention, such as microbicides. Multi-site, field-based clinical trials of microbicides are conducted in diverse social and cultural contexts. Local social and cultural perceptions of HIV/AIDS and sexual risk can have profound implications in shaping community responses to the clinical trials, thereby affecting enrolment and retention. Moreover, clinical trials may have a significant impact on trial participants with regard to their views of AIDS, health and relationships. Following these issues, this paper explores the subjective experiences of women enrolled in a microbicide feasibility study. Qualitative data were collected in two phases. The first phase took place prior to the inception of the feasibility study. Men and women from Soweto participated in focus group discussions about their perceptions and experiences of the AIDS epidemic and sexual risk. The second phase started once enrolment into the feasibility study had begun. Twenty-one women who were enrolled in the microbicide feasibility study were interviewed and participated in focus groups, and were asked about their experiences of participating in the microbicide feasibility study. Special attention was placed on how they felt their participation had affected their everyday lives. Interviews and discussions were conducted in local languages, recorded, translated and transcribed. Data were analysed thematically. The central finding of this study is the sense of empowerment that feasibility study participants felt in spite of their being embedded in a culture that has come to fear, deny or ignore AIDS. We discuss the critical role of repeated, voluntary counselling and testing, knowledge of HIV status, and heightened awareness of sexual and reproductive health in reshaping study participants' approaches to sexual relationships and AIDS, as well as the benefits that participation entailed. Keywords: South Africa; Clinical trials; HIV and AIDS prevention; HIV testing

Birth weights and growth rates were studied for infants and children in South Africa's Soweto-Johannesburg Metropole. Although low birth weight averages prevailed, weight growth up to 6 months accelerated, then fell back up to 4 years. Height growth was found to be consistently slow. Between 4 and 5 years of age, however, weight and height growth increases, reducing the prevalence of wasting and stunting.

This paper focuses on the practice of Primary Health Care in Soweto. It does so through an investigation into the work of a group of Primary Health Care Nurses (PHCNs) who are based in Community Health Care Centres in Soweto. This paper highlights the conflictual and contradictory conditions under which the Primary Health Care Nurses are working and further documents gaps and weaknesses in the practice and training of PHCNs. The paper argues that a central weakness is the apparent lack of social awareness and gender sensitivity amongst the group of Primary Health Care Nurses studied. Key words - primary health care, nurses, social awareness, gender