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ObjectiveTo comprehensively and systematically analyze mercury concentration and associated characteristics in aquatic products, and to evaluate the degree of pollution and make a dietary mercury exposure risk assessment.MethodsBased on a large amount of nationwide data regarding mercury contents of aquatic products published during the last decade, we analyzed the characteristics of mercury contents in aquatic products and further made a health risk assessment using Monte Carlo simulation combined with residents’ food consumption data.ResultsThe number of valid samples was up to 19 531. Generally, mercury concentrations in aquatic products were far lower than national standard values and marine products were obviously higher than freshwater products. Mercury concentrations of some fish, marine shellfish and freshwater crustaceans were even up to slight to moderate polluted level. Intriguingly, mercury contents of seawater farmed fish were significantly higher than wild fish. Dietary exposure risk was below the PTWI established by JECFA while all kinds of aquatic products for women aged 45 or older and people aged 6 to 17 were at higher risk with P95 exposure level.ConclusionThe mercury concentration of aquatic products is relatively low and its associated health dietary risk is acceptable in spite of higher risk for specific population. More attention should be paid on fish breeding model around the South China Sea.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore prospective relationships between changing patterns of BMI/waist to height ratio (WHtR) during adolescence and subsequent neurobehavioral development. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, randomized stratified sampling was used to recruit six middle schools and 609 students in Shanghai, China. In Grades 6, 7, and 9, the Youth Self Report scale was used to assess student neurobehavioral status and anthropometric measurements were conducted to calculate BMI z scores and WHtRs. Longitudinal data were analyzed using latent class mixture modeling to delineate trajectories of BMI z scores ("stable," "decreasing," "rapidly increasing") and WHtRs ("stable," "rapidly increasing"), and their associations with neurobehavioral status in Grade 9 were assessed. Results: In Grades 6 through 9 (ages 11–15 years), the prevalence of overall obesity and abdominal obesity ranged from 10.7% to 13.0% and 13.0% to 19.8%, respectively. Compared with the stable BMI z score trajectory, the rapidly increasing BMI z score trajectory was longitudinally associated with delinquent behavior, aggressive behavior, and externalizing problems (incidence rate ratio: 1.564–1.613, adjusted p < 0.05). Compared with the stable WHtR trajectory, the rapidly increasing WHtR trajectory significantly predicted increased risks of social problems and delinquent behavior (incidence rate ratios: 1.776–1.967, adjusted p < 0.05). Significant associations of the rapidly increasing BMI z score/WHtR trajectories with subsequent neurobehavioral deficits were observed among girls (adjusted p < 0.05) but not among boys (adjusted p > 0.05). Conclusions: Rapid increases in BMI or WHtR during adolescence could predict subsequent neurobehavioral deficits, especially for externalizing behaviors. Timely intervention for weight control may be considered to promote adolescent mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective was to survey the prevalence of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis and to assess its associations with sleep problems among urban school-aged children in China. Method: A random sample of 20,152 school-aged children participated in a cross-sectional survey in eight cities of China. A parent-administered questionnaire and the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire were completed to quantify history of ADHD diagnosis and sleep problems, respectively. Results: Slightly more than 4% of Chinese school-aged children were reported to have a history of ADHD diagnosis. The multivariate regression models revealed that, after controlling for some confounders--such as gender, parents' educational level, family income, family structure, and stimulant medication--there was a higher prevalence of sleep problems, especially parasomnias, sleep-disordered breathing, and daytime sleepiness, in children with a history of ADHD diagnosis. Conclusion: The results emphasized the importance of incorporating screens of sleep problems into the evaluation of ADHD. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)