Dietary Habits and Lifestyle Practices among University Students in Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

BACKGROUND: Young adults are at risk of developing obesity, especially when transitioning into university life as they become responsible for their daily eating and lifestyles. This study estimates the prevalence of overweight/obesity and explores the eating patterns and lifestyle practices of university students. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). A total of 303 students participated. Data was collected from January to April 2016. Self-designed questionnaires comprised questions pertaining to current weight, self-reported height data, information on eating habits, exercise and knowledge of the food pyramid. The collected data were used to compare and contrast eating habits and lifestyle practices among overweight/obese students with those of non-overweight/obese students. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight/obesity was 28.8% (95% CI: 24.0%, 34.0%). The majority ate regular daily meals, but more than half skipped breakfast. Frequent snacking, fried food consumption at least three times per week and low intake of daily fruits and vegetables were common. The frequency of visits to fast food restaurants was significantly higher in the overweight/obese. 25.4% of the students exercised at least three times per week. Almost all students are aware of balanced nutrition and the food pyramid. CONCLUSIONS: Most university students had poor eating habits, although the majority had good nutrition knowledge. By way of recommendation, the university is encouraged to provide a multi-disciplinary team specialising in health promotion that includes nutrition and physical activity programmes to increase the awareness among the university students.

Home exposures to environmental tobacco smoke and allergic symptoms among young children in Singapore.

BACKGROUND: Research relating environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposures have focused on childhood asthma. There have been fewer studies with conflicting results performed on associations of ETS exposures with allergic symptoms. We are interested to see if ETS exposures in the homes are associated with allergic symptoms among preschool children in Singapore where public smoking is banned. METHODS: A cross-sectional study adopting an expanded and modified ISAAC (International Study on Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) questionnaire for the evaluation of asthma and allergies was conducted on 6,794 children attending 120 randomly selected child care centers. Specific information on demographics and ETS exposures was obtained. Adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were determined using Poisson multivariate regression with a log-link function and robust variance estimates as recommended for cross-sectional studies. RESULTS: The response proportion was 70.0%, and 4,759 children from 97 centers participated. After adjusting for covariates, it was found that home ETS exposure was associated with increased risks of current symptoms of rhinitis (PR 1.23; 95% CI 1.01-1.50) and rhinoconjunctivitis (PR 1.79; 95% CI 1.26-2.54). These associations followed dose-response trends with respect to number of cigarettes smoked or smokers in the homes. Home ETS exposures were also associated with higher PRs of wheeze, nocturnal cough and doctor-diagnosed asthma. Compared with paternal smoking, higher risks of the above outcomes were found for maternal smoking. CONCLUSION: Home ETS exposure is a risk factor associated with rhinitis and asthma among preschool children.

Salivary biomarkers of stress among teachers in an urban setting.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of job stress among secondary school teachers using Karasek Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), the association between salivary cortisol, salivary IgA, and sociodemographic characteristics, and the association between log cortisol, IgA levels, and job strain categories. A cross-sectional study was undertaken using JCQ and salivary cortisol and IgA samples. Cluster sampling was done yielding 302 respondents. The prevalence of stress among all teachers was 20.2%. Being a Malay, teaching experience of 5 to 10 years, and those without a supervisor's support had higher prevalence of high job strain. Teachers in the 31 to 40 years age bracket, educating handicapped children with the absence of supervisor support exhibited higher stress levels with lower log salivary IgA levels. Further studies must be conducted using salivary biomarkers to study the in-depth relationship of stress, extending into other occupational groups.

Current surveillance plan for persons handling nanomaterials in the National University of Singapore.

OBJECTIVE: The number of research projects involving engineered nanomaterials within the National University of Singapore is increasing. We aim to characterize typical exposures in our laboratories and to develop a health surveillance protocol for persons working with nanomaterials in this project that has recently been launched. METHODS: Our surveillance project builds on existing occupational safety and health risk assessment systems in the National University of Singapore. RESULTS: Environmental monitoring will be conducted in all laboratories handling nanomaterials, encompassing airborne nanomaterial concentrations, characterizing chemical and physical properties and assessing dermal exposure potential and significance. Health surveillance will initially follow the occupational health program already in place, to be progressively fine-tuned as more nanotoxicity data become available. CONCLUSION: Our vision is to build an adequate base for a cohort study that can provide good data on the health outcomes of nanomaterials-exposed persons.