Should body size preference be a target of health promotion efforts to address the epidemic of obesity in Afro-Caribbean women?

OBJECTIVE: To determine if 1) Afro-Caribbean women prefer large body sizes, 2) the body size preference of Afro-Caribbean men and women are associated, 3) women's preferences are associated with increased risk of obesity or with weight management behaviors. DESIGN: Population samples of 314 and 487 women, ages 20-55 years, were recruited on Barbados and Dominica with response rates of 74% and 77%, respectively. Body size preferences, stress related variables, and demographic data were ascertained by questionnaire. Height and weight were also measured. On Barbados, body preference data were collected from male partners of participants, and data on intentions to perform weight management behaviors were collected from 175 women. RESULTS: Most women preferred body sizes within normal limits, although women on Dominica had a slightly larger ideal body size (IBS) than did Barbadian women (P<.05). On both islands, the size that women thought men preferred was related to their IBS (P<.0001). Likewise, IBS was associated with increased odds of being overweight (P<.001), however most overweight women (>75%) wanted to be smaller. IBS was not related to the intention to exercise or to eat high fat foods. CONCLUSIONS: It is unlikely that body size preference poses a barrier to intervention efforts to reduce the prevalence of overweight in Afro-Caribbean women.

Factors affecting inter-individual variation in human plasma cholinesterase activity: body weight, height, sex, genetic polymorphism and age.

The influence of body weight, height, age and sex on plasma cholinesterase activity (ChE) in 650 males and 437 females with ChE-1 phenotype U (genotype ChEuChEu or ChEuChEs) or UA (genotype ChEuChEa) was studied in a multiple regression model. ChE was not influenced by age (p > 0.01), but, like other liver synthesized plasma enzymes, highly (p < 0.001) influenced by body weight and height. In a logarithmic scale ChE followed a linear model (R = 0.535, p < 0.001) with randomly distributed residuals, InChE = 3.286-0.308 x ChE-1 phenotype-0.104 x sex + 0.00765 x weight - 0.00723 x height (U = 1, UA = 2; male = 1, female = 2; kg; cm). A simplified model based on body-mass index (BMI = weight divided by squared height, kg/m2), InCHE = 2.016-0.308 x ChE-1 phenotype - 0.091 x sex + 0.0230 x BMI, showed the same goodness-of-fit (R = 0.533). In a non-logarithmic scale both multiple regression models failed to fit cases with high ChE activity. A model for a 'standardized' plasma ChE in which the effects of ChE-1 phenotype, sex, body weight and height are eliminated, is proposed to compare ChE in unmatched population groups when using this enzyme activity as a biomarker in environmental or occupational medicine.

Plasma cholinesterase activity in a healthy population group with no occupational exposure to known cholinesterase inhibitors: relative influence of some factors related to normal inter- and intra-individual variations.

Inter-individual variations of plasma cholinesterase were analysed in 193 apparently healthy volunteers (122 males, 71 females) with no known occupational exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors. Multiple regression analysis and analysis of variance showed statistically significant effects on the individual plasma cholinesterase activity by body weight, height, sex, and ChE-1 phenotype (but not by age or electrophoretic phenotype). Varying body weight explained one-fourth of the observed biological variance (s2total). The intra-individual variations during an 8-month period varied substantially from one individual to another (3% to 41% of the subject's mean activity); a repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a within-person variance (s2intra) = 5% of s2total. Intra-individual variation was uninfluenced by the variables that influence the inter-individual variance. A model for a 'standardized' plasma cholinesterase in which the combined effects of the four significant variables, ChE-1 phenotype, sex, body weight, and height are eliminated, is proposed for comparisons of plasma cholinesterase activities in unmatched population groups, e.g. within environmental or occupational medicine.

Narcotic use in an inmate population at three points in time.

Studies on new jail admissions conducted in 1969, 1971, and 1973 indicated a sharp decrease in heroin use among male inmates in the District of Columbia in 1973. In the jail study conducted in 1969 among 225 inmates, 45% reported to be addicted to heroin, in 1971, 47% of the 150 inmates reported to be addicted, as compared to only 22% of the 200 inmates in 1973. Only 38% of the addict-inmates in 1969 reported ever receiving treatment for their addiction, while 62% in 1971 and 64% in 1973 reported receiving treatment.

[Immunochemical demonstration of soluble antigens in the protein fractions of placental tissue]. / Immunchemischer Nachweis löslicher Antigene in Proteinfraktionen aus Plazentagewebe

Protein fractions were prepared from placental tissue by homogenization, ammonium sulfate fractionation, gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. The antigens detected in these fractions by absorbed antisera against placental tissue and pregnancy serum partly occur in the pregnancy and fetal serum too. The other antigens, which are found neither in pregnancy serum nor in fetal serum, could be specific for placental tissue. Their possible significance is discussed.