Recognizing and limiting syphilis to prevent congenital syphilis.

Syphilis is on the rise in every age and ethnicity group across the United States. The rate of congenital syphilis has started to rise as well, increasing the need for syphilis screening before pregnancy occurs. Raising awareness for syphilis screening, especially among sexually active women, is important, as the implications of this disease have lifelong effects for mother and child.

Paternal modeling, household availability, and paternal intake as predictors of fruit, vegetable, and sweetened beverage consumption among African American children.

The current study examined how African American fathers' dietary practices were associated with their children's dietary consumption. The sample consisted of one hundred and two African American fathers, who had children between the ages of three and thirteen. The fathers provided self-reports of their consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sugar sweetened beverages; modeling of healthy eating; household availability of foods and beverages; and their children's previously mentioned consumption. Sweetened beverages are considered to be any beverage that contains added sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, and/or fruit juice concentrates. Paternal modeling and household availability of food and beverages were measured using subscales from the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ). Three separate hierarchical regressions were performed to reveal that child fruit and vegetable consumption was only predicted by parental intake. Child sweetened beverage consumption, however, was predicted by paternal intake and household availability. Modeling did not significantly predict children's consumption of fruits, vegetables, or sweetened beverages. The findings suggest that paternal intake of fruits, vegetables, and sweetened beverages predicts child consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sweetened beverages. Family efforts should be made toward increasing father's consumption of healthy foods while decreasing the consumption and availability of sweetened beverages.

Differences in internalizing symptoms between those with and without Cannabis Use Disorder among HBCU undergraduate students.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the differences in internalizing symptoms between those who met criteria for Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) and those who did not in young adults attending a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). PARTICIPANTS: The sample included 619 undergraduate students, with 110 (18%) who met criteria for CUD. METHODS: Participants completed an online survey, which included demographic, anxious and depressive symptomatology, and substance use assessment. RESULTS: Those who met CUD criteria reported more depressive symptoms (M = 22.83 ± 10.74) and anxiety symptoms (M = 45.70 ± 12.82) than their non-CUD counterparts (M = 19.17 ± 10.58; M = 40.57 ± 14.11, respectively). CONCLUSION: Differences between those who met criteria for CUD and those who did not are consistent with previous literature and may aid in characterizing internalizing behaviors in HBCU students with CUD. Future research should examine the subgroups that may cycle through withdrawal symptoms, despite not having severe CUD. This subgroup may be at higher risk for psychopathology than their severe counterparts.

Body mass index and waist circumference predictors of cardiovascular risk in African Americans.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to determine which measure of obesity is better at predicting cardiovascular risk in African Americans. We hypothesized that BMI alone would be significantly associated with cardiovascular reactivity. We also hypothesized that waist circumference alone would be significantly associated with cardiovascular reactivity. Lastly, we hypothesized that BMI and waist circumference together would be more associated with cardiovascular reactivity and account for more of the variance than the two measures alone. DESIGN: BMI and waist circumference were measured in 105 African American college students (21 men and 84 women) aged 18-27. In addition, heart rate, cardiac output, stroke volume, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured as the participants viewed a racially noxious scene on videotape. RESULTS: BMI and waist circumference analyzed separately were significantly associated with stroke volume, cardiac output, and systolic blood pressure. These positive associations showed that heavier participants had higher systolic blood pressure and their hearts pumped out greater blood volume compared to their thinner counterparts. Body mass index also completely mediated the relationship between waist circumference and cardiovascular activity. CONCLUSIONS: The findings may be attributed to the premise that the waist circumference standards are different for African Americans than for Whites. Future research should establish waist circumference thresholds that are better predictors of cardiovascular disease in African Americans.