Contribution of orthography to vocabulary acquisition in a second language: Evidence of an early word-learning advantage in elementary-school children.

Recent studies have shown that children benefit from orthography when learning new words. This orthographic facilitation can be explained by the fact that written language acts as an anchor device due to the transient nature of spoken language. There is also a close and reciprocal relationship between spoken and written language. Second-language word learning poses specific challenges in terms of orthography-phonology mappings that do not fully overlap with first-language mappings. The current study aimed to investigate whether orthographic information facilitates second-language word learning in developing readers, namely third and fifth graders. In a first experiment French children learned 16 German words, and in a second experiment they learned 24 German words. Word learning was assessed by picture designation, spoken word recognition, and orthographic choice. In both experiments, orthographic facilitation was found in both less and more advanced readers. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The factorial structure of executive functions in preschool and elementary school children and relations with intelligence.

The timing of structural changes in executive functions (EFs) across development is a matter of controversy; whereas some studies suggest a uniform structure of EFs in early childhood, findings in middle and late childhood are mixed. There are results indicating uniformity of EFs as well as several studies suggesting multidimensionality of the construct. In addition, studies demonstrate an age-related differentiation of the relation between EFs and intelligence. We conducted a comparative analysis of the EF structure and relations with fluid intelligence in two distinct age groups. A sample of n = 145 preschool children (5.2-6.7 years of age) and n = 109 elementary school children (8.8-11.8 years) completed measures of working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and fluid intelligence. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that a single-factor model best represented performance on EF tasks in both preschool and elementary school children. Multi-group CFA indicated equivalent and strong relations between EFs and intelligence across both age groups (r = .64 in preschool and elementary school children). Our results confirm that EFs are significantly related to fluid intelligence but might not underlie a uniform pattern of successive differentiation into multiple EF components in childhood. We discuss how methodological artifacts such as simultaneous interference might have contributed to previous findings on differentiation in middle and late childhood.

Relationship between the floating toe and the center-of-pressure position in an upright posture among students.

[Purpose] The incidence of floating toes in children is increasing. Although the anteroposterior center of pressure in children is present posteriorly, its relationship with the floating toe is unclear. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between the position of the anteroposterior center of pressure and the floating toe in an upright posture in children. [Participants and Methods] In this cross-sectional study, a Win-Pod (Medicapteurs) platform was used to measure the position of the anteroposterior center of pressure in 208 boys and 195 girls from Japanese elementary schools. Using images of the plantar footprint, floating toes were assessed and the floating toe score was calculated. [Results] The anteroposterior center of pressure position was situated 32.3 ± 8.2% from the heel. The floating toe score of all the participants was 3.5 ± 2.4, with a very high rate of 98%. The floating toe score had a significant, moderate correlation with age, height, weight, and the anteroposterior center-of-pressure position. Multivariate analysis revealed an association between the floating toe score and the anteroposterior center-of-pressure position, height, and weight. [Conclusion] There is significant relationship between the anteroposterior center-of-pressure position and the floating toe score in an upright posture in Japanese elementary school students.

Protocol for the Open Sky School: a two-arm clustered randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a nature-based intervention on mental health of elementary school children.

BACKGROUND: This article outlines the protocol for a trial to test the effectiveness of a nature-based intervention called Open Sky School to reduce mental health problems among elementary school children. Experimental studies show that contact with nature (e.g. walks in parks) improve mental health. A growing number of teachers have been applying outdoor education within the regular school curriculum and evidence suggests that such teaching methods could improve students' mental health but a randomized controlled trial has never been conducted. METHODS: A two-arm clustered randomized controlled trial will be conducted in elementary schools across Québec, Canada. Following informed consent by teachers, parents and students, schools will be randomly assigned 1:1 to the intervention or the control group with a total of 2500 5-6th grade students and 100 teachers expected to participate. The intervention will take place outdoors in a green-space (2 h per week for 12 weeks) and include a toolkit of 30 activities to foster well-being (e.g. mindfulness) and academic competencies (e.g. mathematics). Questionnaires will be administered to teachers and students before, immediately after and 3 months after the intervention. The primary outcome will be reductions of mental health problems in children from pre-to-post test (Social Behavior Questionnaire: self and teacher reports). Secondary outcomes include depression, positive and negative affect, nature connectedness, and pro-environmental behaviors among children. We will explore, immediate benefits on teacher's well-being and positive and negative affect and sustained benefits among students at 3 months follow-up. For the primary outcome, we will explore moderators including child's sex, child's disability status, the green-space of neighbourhoods, the school's socio-economic position and teacher's experience. DISCUSSION: In conducting the first randomized controlled trial of the Open Sky School, our results could provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of nature-based interventions in reducing mental health problems among elementary school children. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered with clinicaltrials.gov: NCT05662436 on December 22, 2022.

Associations Among Parents' Eating Behaviors, Feeding Practices, and Children's Eating Behaviors.

Parental feeding practices influence children's eating behaviors, yet it is not well-understood whether parents' own eating behaviors are associated with their feeding practices. The purpose of this study was to examine associations among parents' eating behaviors, parental feeding practices, and children's eating behaviors. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 76 parents of children from an elementary school in Tampa, FL. Parents completed three questionnaires with topics related to parent eating behaviors, parental feeding practices, and children's eating behaviors. Multiple regression analysis was performed, controlling for demographic covariates. Parents who reported to eat more fruits per day (ß = 0.15), eat more than one kind of fruit each day (ß = 0.33), eat more than one kind of vegetable each day (ß = 0.29), eat 2 or more vegetables at the main meal (ß = 0.36), plan meals (ß = 0.19), and keep vegetables ready for the child to eat (ß = 0.25) indicated that they use more positive reinforcement feeding practices (all p ≤ 0.001). There were significantly positive associations between positive reinforcement and children's eating fruits or vegetables like apples, bananas or carrots as snacks (ß = 1.03) and eating more than one kind of vegetable a day (ß = 1.03; all p < 0.001). No other variables had any significant associations. Findings of this study indicate that there are potential associations among parent's own eating behaviors, feeding practices, and children's eating behaviors. Further research is needed to determine the mechanism of these relationships. Targeting these parental factors may be an effective way to maximize the impact of nutrition interventions on children's dietary behavior changes.

Factors Associated With Media Addiction in Korean Elementary School Children.

The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of media addiction and its associated factors in elementary school children based on the problem behavior theory. This cross-sectional study was a secondary data analysis using national data from the 10th Panel Study on Korean Children 2017, which included 1,078 families of third-grade students (8-9 years of age). Descriptive statistics were used to examine the prevalence of media addiction, and logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with media addiction. Prevalence of media addiction was 22.91% in this sample. Media addiction was significantly associated with general characteristics (gender, education level of mother, and time spent without parents), socialization (media use time), factors in the personal system (happiness), and factors in the perceived-environment system (parenting style). More comprehensive, tailored education may prevent elementary school children's media addiction. In addition, parents should participate in media addiction education with their children.

The association and mediation role of Food and Nutrition Literacy (FNLIT) with eating behaviors, academic achievement and overweight in 10-12 years old students: a structural equation modeling.

BACKGROUND: Food and nutrition literacy is a key factor in shaping healthy dietary behaviors and may result in decreasing decrease the prevalence of overweight. Empirical research on food and nutrition literacy and its outcomes is limited, especially among children and adolescents. Thus, this study investigates the link between Food and Nutrition Literacy (FNLIT) with eating behaviors, academic performance, and overweight in 10-12 years old students in Tehran, Iran. METHODS: This study was performed through two phases: 1) Proposing a conceptual model of the relationship between FNLIT and its determinants and outcomes, based on the existing evidence and previous models, and 2) Testing the proposed FNLIT model through a cross-sectional study on 803 primary school students (419 boys and 384 girls, from 34 public and 10 private primary schools), aged 10-12 years using structural equation modeling. Demographic, socio-economic, and household food security characteristics were collected by interviewing the students and their mothers/caregivers using a questionnaire. FNLIT was measured by a self-administered, locally designed, and validated questionnaire. RESULTS: The fit indices suggested a reasonably adequate fit of the data to the hypothesized model (χ2/df = 2.03, p < 0.001, goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.90, adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) = 0.88, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.91, incremental fit index (IFI) = 0.91, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.04, standardized root mean residual (SRMR) = 0.06). SES was directly and positively related to FNLIT and its subscale in students. FNLIT score had a positive direct (non-mediated) relationship with healthy eating behavior and academic performance. This pattern was strongly reversed in unhealthy eating behavior. There was a full mediation relationship between FNLIT and overweight/obesity via healthy eating behaviors. SES predicted academic performance partially through the mediating effect of Food Label Literacy (FLL). The results indicated that despite the direct relationship between SES and academic performance, an indirect but negative relationship existed with food insecurity. The finding also revealed the fully mediating role of Food Choice Literacy (FCL) in the relationship between demographic factors and healthy eating behaviors. Our study also found that Interactive Food and Nutrition Literacy (IFNL) protected unhealthy eating behaviors, and FCL predicted healthy eating behaviors in children. CONCLUSION: Our study draws attention to FNLIT, especially the skills domain, including IFNL, FCL, and FLL, as the most important determinant of healthy eating behavior, academic performance, and weight status in school-age children reduces social inequalities in children's development. To ensure an adequate level of FNLIT, educators should assess and plan to enhance food literacy skills in children and adolescents.

Cognitive processing features of elementary school children with mathematical anxiety: Attentional control theory-based explanation.

A growing body of research suggests that mathematical anxiety (MA) seriously affects an individual's math achievement. However, few studies have focused on the cognitive mechanisms of MA in elementary school children. Based on attention control theory (ACT), this research aimed to explore the cognitive mechanism of MA in elementary school children using two studies. In Study 1, the dual-task paradigm of number memory and computation span was used to investigate the difference in processing efficiency between the high-mathematical anxiety (HMA) group and the low-mathematical anxiety (LMA) group. In total, 59 students with HMA and 54 students with LMA participated in Study 1. The results showed that students with HMA had lower processing efficiency in dealing with high-load math tasks. To further investigate the underlying mechanism of low processing efficiency for students with HMA, Study 2 explored the attention bias toward math-related stimuli of students with HMA using the Posner paradigm. In total, 48 students with HMA and 49 students with LMA participated in Study 2. The results showed that math trials put children with HMA in a state of heightened vigilance in general, which might be related to the low processing efficiency in dealing with high-load math tasks. These findings support the ACT and further reveal the mechanism of MA in elementary school children from a cognitive perspective.

The relationships between parents' and children's screen times on body mass index: a cross-sectional path analysis.

BACKGROUND: Understanding factors contributing to an individual reducing screen time is essential for promoting a healthy weight. Parents' behavior affects children by influencing their daily decision-making through modeling, rules or restrictions, social support, and co-participation. We examined how the direct and indirect effects of parents' and children's behaviors regarding screen time influenced body mass index (BMI) among Japanese elementary school children. METHODS: We included 283 Japanese children, one child per household, aged 6-12 years, who were randomly selected from resident registries of two cities. The questionnaires were completed by children and their mothers and fathers. Screen time and sociodemographic attributes, including sex, age, employment status, height, and weight, were assessed using a mail-based survey. Path analyses were conducted to determine associations among children's, fathers', and mothers' variables. It was hypothesized that after controlling for household income and children's sex and age, mothers' and fathers' screen time on weekdays and weekends would be related to children's weekdays and weekend screen time, respectively. In addition, we hypothesized that children's weekday and weekend screen time was related to children's BMI. RESULTS: Both fathers' and mothers' weekday screen times were associated with children's weekday and weekend screen times. BMI was affected by children's weekday screen time (0.117). The path coefficients for the indirect effects of mothers' and fathers' screen time on children's BMI through children's weekday screen time were 0.016 from the fathers' weekday screen time and 0.024 from the mothers' weekday screen time (GFI = .980, AGFI = .953, RMSEA = .030, AIC = 93.030). CONCLUSIONS: Both fathers' and mothers' weekday screen times indirectly affected children's BMI through children's weekday screen time among Japanese elementary school children. The strongest indirect effects could be seen by examining the paths of a mother's weekday screen time through children's screen time to BMI. Mothers who spend much time with their children are role models, and their behavior could affect the child's behavior. The findings imply that intervention strategies to reduce screen time in children should also focus on modeling the mothers' behavior.

Co-development of aggression in elementary school children: The predictive roles of victimization experiences.

Aggression among peers is a common and serious problem in school-age children. Physical, relational, and cyber aggression often occur simultaneously but may exhibit heterogeneous developmental patterns. We aimed to identify heterogeneous co-developmental patterns of physical, relational, and cyber peer aggression and to investigate the contributions of victimization experiences to co-developmental trajectories. Participants were 2869 elementary school students (56.2% boys), initially in fourth grade (Mage = 10.51 years) in China. Longitudinal data on peer aggression were collected from participants semiannually for 2 years. Data on victimization experiences were collected in the initial measurement wave. Parallel process latent curve growth modeling produced four co-developmental trajectories of peer aggression: High Desisting group, Moderate-Increasing group, Moderate-Physical and Relational Aggression group, and Low Stable group. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that childhood emotional abuse, psychological maltreatment by teachers, as well as physical peer victimization, and cyber peer victimization, served as risk factors for severe co-developmental trajectories. The findings highlight the co-development of physical, relational, and cyber aggression. The identification of risk factors for co-developmental trajectories points to the need for continued monitoring and protection from ongoing victimization experiences in the family and school settings to prevent or ameliorate aggressive behavior.

Factors affecting masticatory performance during the mixed dentition period.

BACKGROUND: During the mixed dentition period, masticatory performance may temporarily decline as deciduous teeth are replaced by permanent teeth. This may lead to an insufficient intake of chewy foods. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of factors that affect masticatory performance during the dentition exchange period. METHODS: The participants were 229 students in grades 4-6 who were in the lateral dentition exchange period. Shearing performance (SP) was evaluated using gummy jelly, and mixing performance (MP) was evaluated using colour-changing gum. The chewing rate, occlusal force and area, number of teeth, Hellman's tooth age, Rohrer index, grip strength and walking speed were also evaluated. The χ2 test, Mann-Whitney test, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and a generalised linear model were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: SP/MP showed a significant positive correlation with occlusal force, occlusal contact area and chewing rate for gummy jelly and gum but there was a difference in the strength of the correlation between boys and girls. Chewing rate for gummy jelly and gum showed a significant relationship with both SP and MP, suggesting that masticatory performance is higher with slower chewing. Maximum occlusal force was selected as a significant independent variable for SP, and Rohrer index was selected as a significant independent variable for MP. When the occlusal force was higher and the Rohrer index was lower, the masticatory performance tended to be higher. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that masticatory performance during the dentition exchange period is higher with slower chewing and a stronger occlusal force, which may be related to obesity.

An examination of the relationship between conduct problems and depressive symptoms comorbidity and temperament among elementary school children.

Although the comorbidity between conduct problems (CP) and depressive symptoms (DS) is associated with a host of negative outcomes, the factors, such as temperament, that might explain this comorbidity in school-aged boys and girls are poorly understood. This study compared elementary school children presenting co-occurring CP and DS to children with DS only, CP only, and those with low-level symptoms on temperament dimensions, and explored the moderating role of child sex in the associations. Participants are 487 children (M = 8.38 years, SD = 0.92, 52.2% girls) divided into four groups (CP + DS, DS only, CP only, control). Findings suggest that boys with CP and DS presented a lower level of fear than boys with DS and boys from the control group. They also presented higher levels of activity than boys with DS. Girls with CP and DS presented lower levels of fear than girls with DS, lower levels of approach and activity than girls with CP, and higher levels of shyness than girls from the control group. These findings suggest that temperament may discriminate children with comorbid CP and DS from those presenting only CP or DS.

Monounsaturated Fat Intake Was Associated with Lower Abdominal Obesity but Poor Dietary Quality Remains in Elementary School Children from Northwest Mexico.

Overweight and obesity in Mexican elementary school children increased ten percentage points in the last 30 years; one of the factors attributed is inadequate dietary quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of monounsaturated fat intake with abdominal obesity and nutrient intake and obesity and overweight with dietary quality of elementary school children from Northwest Mexico. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 218 first grade elementary school children. A socioeconomic survey and two nonconsecutive 24-HR were applied, and anthropometric measurements were taken. Dietary quality was evaluated and classified as: healthy, medium and poor. Children consumed fewer servings of fruits, vegetables, legumes, dairy products and water than recommended by the Mexican food guidelines. A negative association was found among monounsaturated fat intake and abdominal obesity (p = .032). Only 1.4% of the children presented healthy dietary quality, 44.5% showed a medium dietary quality, and 54.1% had poor dietary quality. Poor dietary quality was associated with a lower intake of fiber (p = .002), protein (p = .002), potassium (p = .001) and vitamin E (p = .002). Elementary school children from Northwest Mexico have inadequate dietary quality that compromises their nutritional and health status, while monounsaturated fat intake could be a protective factor for abdominal obesity.

Individual differences in children's strategy selection in a computational estimation task with two versus three available strategies.

We investigated how children's strategy selection on different problem types was influenced by whether two or three strategies were available in a computational estimation task. Importantly, we examined the influence of individual differences in working memory updating on these effects. Third and fourth graders (N = 725) were asked to indicate the best strategy for two-digit addition problems (e.g., 47 + 24) without calculating estimates. Homogeneous problems (i.e., both unit digits smaller than 5 or larger than 5) and heterogeneous problems (i.e., one operand's unit digit smaller than 5 and the other's unit digit larger than 5) were included. Children completed selection tasks under two conditions: (a) a three-strategy condition, in which they could choose among the rounding-down strategy (i.e., rounding both operands down), the mixed-rounding strategy (i.e., rounding one operand down and the other operand up), and the rounding-up strategy (i.e., rounding both operands up), and (b) a two-strategy condition, in which they could select between the rounding-down strategy and the rounding-up strategy only. As expected, children chose the best available strategy more often under the three-strategy condition than under the two-strategy condition and more often on homogeneous problems than on heterogeneous problems. Importantly, these effects were moderated by children's updating capacities. That is, children with less efficient updating showed worse selection performance on heterogeneous problems than on homogeneous problems under both conditions. In turn, children with more efficient updating showed comparable performance for both problem types under both conditions. These findings have important implications to further our understanding of underlying processes in children's strategy selection in computational estimation.

Intraindividual reaction time variability as an index of attentional control acts as a moderator of the longitudinal relationships between marital quality and children's externalizing problems.

The current study investigated whether trial-to-trial intraindividual reaction time variability (IIRTV), which serves as an index of attentional control fluctuations, moderates the effect of marital quality at 7 years of age on the development of children's externalizing problems from 7 to 9 years of age (N = 197). At the first assessment (T1), a flanker task was administered to children for assessing their IIRTV. The Chinese version of a marital quality questionnaire (Evaluating and Nurturing Relationship Issues, Communication, and Happiness [ENRICH]) and the Chinese version of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were completed by children's mothers to assess marital quality and children's externalizing problems. At the second and third assessments (T2 and T3), children's externalizing problems were reassessed by their mothers. Growth curve analyses showed that boys' externalizing problems were relatively high and significantly decreased over time, whereas girls' externalizing problems were relatively low and stable. Importantly, the results indicated that boys' IIRTV (but not girls' IIRTV) and parental marital quality interactively predict the concurrent and developmental trajectories of externalizing problems. Specifically, boys with greater IIRTV were found to exhibit a relatively persistent high level of externalizing problems in the context of poor parental marital quality, whereas boys with lower IIRTV were found to exhibit a relatively low level of externalizing problems over time regardless of their parental marital quality. The findings suggest that poorer attentional control indexed by greater IIRTV is a robust predictor of boys' externalizing problems and that better attentional control indexed by lower IIRTV may buffer the negative impact of adverse family environment on the development of boys' externalizing problems.

Elementary school children as standardized patients in a summative OSCE - A mixed-method study according to the Ottawa criteria for good assessment.

BACKGROUND: The goal of the present study was to evaluate whether children as standardized patients (SPs) for a summative OSCE station fulfills the Ottawa criteria for good assessment. METHODS: Data for participating students (n = 124), raters (n = 11), and children (n = 127) were collected using questionnaires (students, raters), focus groups (raters), and interviews (children, raters). The psychometrics (including reproducibility) of this OSCE station were also analyzed according to quality indices. RESULTS: Validity, reproducibility, feasibility, educational effect, and acceptability were attained for this OSCE station. Students and raters accepted the new approach and evaluated it as fair and acceptable, with realism and validity. This OSCE station had a perceived positive educational effect for ∼30% of the students, who expected child SPs. Raters stated it as feasible to involve children. The children enjoyed their participation, which was acceptable and feasible. Statistical measures were in the recommended ranges and showed reproducibility. CONCLUSION: Children as SPs for a summative OSCE station was perceived as fair, acceptable, realistic, and feasible by all stakeholders, and with perceived positive educational impact. This pediatric OSCE station fulfilled five of the seven Ottawa criteria for good assessment. Further studies are needed to investigate different pediatric stations.

Health concepts of elementary school pupils in Austria : An explorative study using the draw and write technique.

Studies analysing health concepts of children are scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse health concepts of elementary school children in Austria. In all, 240 pupils in grades 2 (7 or 8 years old) and 4 (9 or 10 years old) of three rural and three urban elementary schools in Styria took part in this explorative study. Differences were analysed using multivariate analyses. Girls associated health more often with nature than did boys, and pupils in grade 2 drew illness-related symbols more often than those in grade 4. Children attending an urban elementary school signalled preventive behaviour more often than children in rural areas. Our results showed that children in Austria, overall, have a positive concept of health, but they also reveal differing health concepts between the groups. Public health programs should take into account the differences in health concepts to implement more effective preventive intervention programs in schools.

Lifestyle behaviors and home and school environment in association with sick building syndrome among elementary school children: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Sick building syndrome (SBS) refers to the combination of symptoms experienced by occupants of specific building characteristics. This study investigated the associations of children's lifestyle behaviors, allergies, home, and school environment with SBS symptoms. METHODS: A total of 4408 elementary school children living in Sapporo City, Japan participated in this study. SBS was determined on parental answers to MM080 standardized school questionnaires on symptoms that were weekly experienced by these children, and if the symptom is attributed to their home or school environment. The Japanese version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire was used to assess wheeze, rhino-conjunctivitis, and eczema. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the associations between SBS symptoms and variables by controlling the potential confounders (gender, grade, school, and parental history of allergies). A stepwise backward elimination was conducted to assess independent variables related to SBS. RESULTS: Participants revealed mucosal (6.9%), skin (2.0%), and general (0.8%) symptoms. The presence of one or more allergy was associated with increased mucosal and skin symptoms. Children who skipped breakfast, displayed faddiness (like/dislike of food), had constipation, have insufficient sleep, did not feel refreshed after sleep, and lacked deep sleep showed significantly high odds ratios with SBS symptoms. The stepwise analysis showed faddiness for mucosal symptoms and not feeling refreshed after sleep for mucosal and skin symptoms, whereas constipation and lacking deep sleep for general symptoms were independent variables in increasing the symptoms. We found no significant relationship between SBS in children and schools. Considering children's home, old building, no ventilation, wall-to-wall carpet, and heavy nearby traffic were associated with elevated mucosal symptom, while living in a multifamily home increased general symptoms. Home dampness was an independent variable in increasing all SBS symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Allergies and lifestyle behaviors were associated with increased SBS in children, including skipping breakfast, displaying faddiness, constipation, insufficient sleep, not feeling refreshed after sleep, and the lack of deep sleep. Further, dampness at home was associated with increase in all SBS symptoms. Lifestyle (e.g., eating and sleeping habits) and home (i.e., dampness) improvements might alleviate SBS symptoms in children.

Social and family factors as determinants of exercise habits in Japanese elementary school children: a cross-sectional study from the Super Shokuiku School Project.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have already reported on the relationship between exercise habits and health among schoolchildren. However, few have examined social and/or family factors as determinants of exercise habits. METHODS: This study's participants included 1721 schoolchildren aged between 6 and 13 who were involved in the Super Shokuiku School Project in January 2016. A survey was conducted to assess gender, grade level, physical activity, lifestyle, overall health, enrichment of school life, social background, and parental lifestyles. Both dislike and lack of physical activity were used to measure poor exercise habits; correlates were analyzed using logistic regression. RESULTS: "Lack of close friends" had the strongest links with both dislike (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 5.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.78-10.1) and lack of (adjusted OR 5.40; 95% CI, 2.81-10.4) physical activity. Further, children who engaged in long periods of screen time and lacked parental communication also tended to dislike and lack physical activity. Children with mothers who were unemployed (housewives) and had unhealthy lifestyles, as well as those with poor health, were also more likely to lack physical activity. CONCLUSION: Social and family factors (e.g., having close friends) may be determinants of exercise habits among schoolchildren, independent of their own lifestyle factors. Although a longitudinal study is needed to determine causality, substantial attention may thus be required to these factors when promoting physical activity in children.

Food Insecurity Was Associated with Lower Fruits and Vegetables Consumption but Not with Overweight and Obesity in Children from Mexican Fishing Communities.

Food insecurity has been associated with decreased household food supplies, which could affect children's fruit and vegetables intakes and increases their risk of being overweight or obese. The aim of this study was to determine if food insecurity was associated with lower fruit and vegetables consumption and overweight and obesity in children from Mexican fishing communities. A cross-sectional study was 4conducted with 100 elementary-school children aged 6-12 years. A survey that evaluated socioeconomic conditions, food insecurity, and fruits and vegetables consumption was applied. Weight and height were measured. The association between key variables and food insecurity was assessed using linear regression. Sixty-four percent of households experienced food insecurity. Food-insecure children reported lower consumption of fruits and fruits plus vegetables than did their peers with food security (P trend = 0.040 and 0.038, respectively). Food insecurity was also associated with lower chance to meet the recommendation of fruit and vegetable consumption (P trend in logit < 0.001), but was negatively associated with the prevalence of overweight and obesity (P trend in logit < 0.001). Food-insecure children had lower fruits and vegetables consumption but were no more likely to be overweight or obese than their food-secure counterparts.