Congenital hypothyroidism, seasonality and consanguinity in the West Midlands, England.

Seasonal variation in the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism (CHT) is reported by some centres. Also, the incidence of CHT varies with ethnic origin. We report our experience in the West Midlands, England. The overall incidence of CHT among 1128 632 neonates screened over 16 years in the West Midlands was 1:2924 live births, but was increased (1:2323; p<0.05) between October and December. In the city of Birmingham between 1981 and 1991, the incidence of CHT was 1:781, 1:5540 and 1:2257 in Pakistani, Indian and North-West European children, respectively; no cases were seen in those from other ethnic groups. Consanguinity among those of Pakistani descent could account for the increased incidence within this population. Identification of the cause of seasonal variation may aid development of preventative strategies.

Self-concept and perceptions of attractiveness and body size among Mexican-American mothers and daughters.

The socialization of physical attractiveness stereotypes and its relationship to self-concept among parent/child dyads has not been previously examined. This study examined the relationship between mothers' and daughters' judgements of body size and the impact of size on subjects' judgements of attractiveness. Mexican-American mothers and their 7-12-year-old daughters completed attractiveness ratings of five figures of girls varying in body size and indicated which of these figures were closest to the perceived and ideal sizes of the daughter. One-half of the mothers were obese and had participated in a behavioral weight loss program, while the other half served as normal weight controls. Self-concept measures were also completed by all subjects. Daughters tended to prefer a thinner figure than did mothers. The control mothers indicated almost no preference for body size, with nearly uniform rankings for obese, normal and thin figures. The daughters ranked their own ideal figures as thinner than their perceived figures, but mothers' rankings of their daughters' ideal and actual sizes were congruent. Daughter's overall self-concept was predicted by age, their own size and their mother's size. Control but not intervention mothers' self-concept was negatively correlated with their size.