Association between weight, weight perception, weight teasing and mental health among adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent mental health problems are becoming increasingly prevalent, and there are correlations between weight-related concerns and adolescent mental health. The aim of this study is to explore the association between three weight-related factors (actual weight, weight perception, and weight teasing) and mental health problems (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and loneliness) in Chinese adolescents. METHODS: 10,070 adolescents between the ages of 11-18 from schools in Shanghai, China were selected using a stratified random cluster sampling method. Self-reported questionnaires were collected to investigate weight-related factors and mental health problems. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship. RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms, loneliness, mild anxiety symptoms, and moderate to severe anxiety symptoms among adolescents were 18.0%, 53.8%, 26.5%, and 12.3%, respectively, with a higher prevalence found in females. After adjusting for weight perception and weight teasing, actual weight had no harmful impact on adolescents' mental health. Adolescents' perception of being overweight increased the risk of depressive symptoms, loneliness, mild anxiety symptoms, and moderate to severe anxiety symptoms, while the perception of being underweight had a similar but more profound impact (depressive symptoms OR = 1.590, 95% CI: 1.342-1.883; loneliness OR = 1.537, 95% CI: 1.353-1.746; mild anxiety symptoms OR = 1.368, 95% CI: 1.178-1.589; moderate to severe anxiety symptoms OR = 1.780, 95% CI: 1.449-2.186). Experiencing weight teasing more than once a year had a greater effect on adolescents' mental health, especially among adolescents with overweight/obesity (depressive symptoms OR = 2.970, 95% CI: 2.325-3.793; loneliness OR = 3.839, 95% CI: 3.119-4.727; mild anxiety symptoms OR = 2.822, 95% CI: 2.236-3.562; moderate to severe anxiety symptoms OR = 5.212, 95% CI: 3.846-7.065). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents was high, especially loneliness. Weight perception and weight teasing, but not the actual weight, independently influenced adolescent mental health.

A comparison of random survival forest and Cox regression for prediction of mortality in patients with hemorrhagic stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate RSF and Cox models for mortality prediction of hemorrhagic stroke (HS) patients in intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: In the training set, the optimal models were selected using five-fold cross-validation and grid search method. In the test set, the bootstrap method was used to validate. The area under the curve(AUC) was used for discrimination, Brier Score (BS) was used for calibration, positive predictive value(PPV), negative predictive value(NPV), and F1 score were combined to compare. RESULTS: A total of 2,990 HS patients were included. For predicting the 7-day mortality, the mean AUCs for RSF and Cox regression were 0.875 and 0.761, while the mean BS were 0.083 and 0.108. For predicting the 28-day mortality, the mean AUCs for RSF and Cox regression were 0.794 and 0.649, while the mean BS were 0.129 and 0.174. The mean AUCs of RSF and Cox versus conventional scores for predicting patients' 7-day mortality were 0.875 (RSF), 0.761 (COX), 0.736 (SAPS II), 0.723 (OASIS), 0.632 (SIRS), and 0.596 (SOFA), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: RSF provided a better clinical reference than Cox. Creatine, temperature, anion gap and sodium were important variables in both models.

Analysis of the influencing factors on the perceptions of e cigarette among adolescents in Shanghai / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To assess the status of current e cigarette perception and its influencing factors among adolescents in Shanghai, so as to provide reference for the refinement of the prevention and control measures of teenagers e cigarette use.@*Methods@#From May to June 2021, a stratified random cluster sampling was used to investigate 7 456 junior high and high school students in Shanghai. Harm and benefit perception of e cigarette as well as its social environment benefits were collected.@*Results@#The rate of adolescents ever and current e cigarette use was 3.19% and 1.09%, respectively. The top four risk factors for low harm perception of e cigarette were adolescent e cigarette use( OR=2.74, 95%CI =2.10-3.59), high school students ( OR=1.47, 95%CI = 1.32 - 1.64 ), family members ( OR=1.45, 95%CI =1.24-1.70) and friends ( OR=1.36, 95%CI =1.20-1.54) using e cigarette. Adolescent ecigarette use ( OR=2.77, 95%CI =1.97-3.89), high school students( OR=2.11, 95%CI =1.89-2.36), friends ( OR= 1.63, 95%CI =1.42-1.87) and family members using e cigarette( OR=1.39, 95%CI =1.18-1.65) were the top four associated factors for high benefit perception of e cigarette. And, adolescent e cigarette use ( OR=1.95, 95%CI =1.47-2.59), high school students ( OR= 1.73, 95%CI =1.55-1.93), friends ( OR=1.60, 95%CI =1.40-1.82) and pocket money≥200 yuan using e cigarette( OR= 1.29 , 95%CI =1.17-1.43) were the top four risk factors for high social environmental benefit perception of e cigarette. Moreover, perception of e cigarette harm, benefit and social environmental benefit were associated with the risk of future use of e cigarette( OR = 0.78,1.44,1.21, P <0.01).@*Conclusion@#Being high school students and using e cigarette by oneself, friends, and family members are the important influencing factors for adolescents e cigarette perception. Both low harm and high benefit perception of e cigarette elevate the risk of future e cigarette use among adolescents, so effective measures should be taken to promote control education about e cigarette and smoke free environment construction.

Concerns about and stimuli of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among diverse occupational groups in metropolitan areas of China: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aimed to identify concerns and stimuli regarding COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and to compare the findings by occupation. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 between 1 April and 30 June 2021 in four metropolitan areas of China. A total of 20 863 participants completed questionnaires, 20 767 of which were eligible for analysis. We used ordered logistic regression to assess the association of vaccination concerns and stimuli with vaccination hesitancy according to occupation. RESULTS: Farmers were mainly concerned about the quality of vaccines (adjusted OR (aOR): 3.18, 95% CI (CI): 1.83 to 5.54). Among civil servants, media publicity reduced hesitancy (aOR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.92). Among medical staff, concerns about a short duration of protective effects increased hesitancy (aOR: 8.31, 95% CI: 2.03 to 33.99). For most occupations, concerns about side effects, poor protective effects and health status increased hesitancy. In contrast, protecting oneself and protecting others acted as a stimulus to decrease hesitancy. Interestingly, 'people around me have been vaccinated' was associated with higher vaccination hesitancy among farmers (aOR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.20 to 4.00). CONCLUSION: The association of vaccination concerns and stimuli with vaccination hesitancy varied by occupation. The characteristics and concerns of specific target audiences should be considered when designing informational campaigns to promote vaccination against COVID-19.

Awareness of tobacco control policies and anti-tobacco attitudes and behaviors among school personnel.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescent smoking is a serious public health concern, and the role of personnel in reducing students'tobacco use has been proven. Anti-tobacco policies are strong factors for tobacco control but most are newly implemented in China. This study aimed to examine the awareness of anti-tobacco policies among school personnel in a southern city of China, and assess its influence on personnel's anti-tobacco attitudes and behaviors towards students. METHODS: An online cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2017 and January 2018 in schools of Shanghai, China. A total of 3194 subjects from 33 schools were selected by a two-stage stratified cluster randomized sampling design. Prevalence of anti-tobacco policy awareness is presented. Crude (ORs) and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated to assess the association between policy awareness and anti-tobacco attitudes or behaviors. RESULTS: In all, 22.4% of surveyed participants knew four or five polices presented in the survey and 13.0% of personnel knew none of these policies. Most of the participants fully support prohibiting indoor (94.6%) and outdoor (86.3%) smoking in public places, bans on tobacco advertising (90.9%), and printing warning pictures on cigarette boxes (89.5%). Less than half of the personnel had taken action to stop students from smoking (45.7%), encourage students to quit smoking (42.4%) or participated in relevant educational activities held by schools (37.4%) in the previous year. The school personnel's anti-tobacco attitudes (AOR=1.28; 95% CI: 1.21-1.36) and behaviors (AOR=1.10; 95% CI: 1.03-1.17) were strengthened with increasing level of policy awareness. CONCLUSIONS: The involvement of school personnel can be an important part of intervention to improve anti-tobacco campaigns on campus. The study calls for the implementation of projects or activities to improve anti-tobacco policy awareness in the school environment as part of school tobacco control strategy.

Body Weight, Weight Self-Perception, Weight Teasing and Their Association with Health Behaviors among Chinese Adolescents-The Shanghai Youth Health Behavior Survey.

Weight-related status has been associated with the physical and psychological health of adolescents. This cross-sectional study evaluated three different kinds of weight-related statuses (Body Mass Index (BMI), weight self-perception and weight teasing from others) among Chinese adolescents and identified their associations with health risk behaviors (lack of healthy dietary behavior, unhealthy dietary behavior, binge eating behavior, lack of physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviors (SB) and sleep disturbance). A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select 10,070 students aged 11−18 years old from schools in Shanghai. Self-reported questionnaires were collected, weight-related statuses were divided into three categories and six specific health risk behaviors were classified into two groups: positive or negative. Overall, 27.82% of the adolescents were classified as being overweight and obese (35.61% of boys and 18.21% of girls), 43.45% perceived themselves as too heavy and 30.46% experienced weight teasing in the past. Among overweight or obese participants, 50.55% have been teased about their weight, and 77.48% perceived themselves as too heavy. Weight perception and weight teasing were significantly associated with health risk behaviors rather than the actual body weight status based on BMI, especially regarding binge eating behavior (body weight status (BMI): p > 0.05, underweight perception: OR = 1.18, 95%CI 1.03−1.34; weight teasing for more than once a year: OR = 2.00, 95%CI 1.76−2.27). In addition, weight perception and weight teasing were significantly associated with health risk behaviors, mainly in normal and overweight/obese groups but not in underweight groups. Weight teasing and weight self-perception play an independent and stronger role than actual body weight in the health behaviors of adolescents. This calls for more attention and intervention to reduce peer bullying and stigmas on weight among adolescents.

Accelerate the process of getting vaccinated: factors associated with consideration of and accessibility to COVID-19 vaccination in metropolises of China.

BACKGROUND: Rapid mutation of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus is sweeping the world and delaying the full reopening of society. Acceleration of the vaccination process may be the key element in winning the race against this virus. We examine factors associated with personal considerations of and accessibility to the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in metropolises of China. METHODS: This multi-center, cross-sectional research was conducted using online questionnaires from April 1 to June 1, 2021, in community health service centers of Shanghai, Chengdu and Fuzhou. 9,047 vaccinated participants were included and data for 8,990 individuals were eligible for analysis. Chi-square test was conducted to find potential predictors, which were included in the logistic regressions. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the influence of region, socio-economic status (SES), and attitudes on vaccination process. RESULTS: In consideration phase, participants in Fuzhou (OR:2.26, 95%CI: 1.90 to 2.68) and Chengdu (OR: 2.48, 95%CI: 2.17 to 2.83) were more likely than those in Shanghai to consider longer than one month. These odds increased for participants with master or above degree (reference: illiteracy and primary school), higher monthly household income (reference: < ¥5000), and greater vaccination hesitancy (reference: low hesitancy). Unemployed and household-based participants (OR: 3.37, 95%CI: 1.69 to 6.75, reference: farmer) and participants without brand preference (OR:1.13, 95%CI:1.02 to 1.26) may take longer time of consideration. In the accessibility phase, participants in Fuzhou (OR: 8.82, 95%CI: 7.28 to 10.68) and Chengdu (OR: 2.28, 95%CI: 1.98 to 2.63) were more likely to wait longer than one week. These odds decreased for participants with master or above degree (reference: illiteracy and primary school), monthly household income from ¥5000 to ¥10,000 (reference: < ¥5000), and teacher or student (reference: farmer). Participants without brand preference (OR: 0.86, 95%CI: 0.77 to 0.95) were likely to wait shorter after appointment, while participants with higher risk awareness of domestic epidemic (medium, OR: 1.24, 95%CI: 1.12 to 1.37, reference: low) may wait longer. CONCLUSIONS: The influential factors changed over two phases of vaccination process. Regional disparity affected both consideration and accessibility phases. Expect that, SES, and hesitancy were major factors of the consideration phase, but had limited impact on accessibility phase.

Online E-Cigarette Information Exposure and Its Association with E-Cigarette Use among Adolescents in Shanghai, China.

E-cigarettes are widely advertised, while the potential risks of e-cigarette use have been reported among adolescents. This study assessed online e-cigarette information exposure and its association with adolescents' e-cigarette use in Shanghai, China. A total of 12,470 students aged 13-18 years participated. A questionnaire collected information on students' sociodemographic factors, e-cigarette information exposure, cigarette use, e-cigarette use, and e-cigarette use intention. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess correlates of exposure to e-cigarette information and the association between e-cigarette information exposure and e-cigarette use. Overall, 73.9% of students knew about e-cigarettes and the primary sources of information were the internet (42.4%), movies/TV (36.4%), bulletin boards in retail stores or supermarkets (34.9%), advertising flyers (33.9%), and friends (13.8%). Students who had friends using e-cigarettes were curious about e-cigarettes and showed a greater monthly allowance; smokers and females were at a higher risk of social media and website exposure. Moreover, online information exposure (social media exposure, website exposure, and total internet exposure) was significantly associated with the intention to use e-cigarettes. The enforcement of regulations on online e-cigarette content should be implemented. Moreover, efforts to prevent young people from using e-cigarettes may benefit from targeting students at a higher risk of online e-cigarette information exposure.

Prevalence and influence of depression and anxiety on dietary behaviors among adolescents in Shanghai / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate the prevalence of adolescents dietary behavior in Shanghai, and to explore emotional influence on dietary behavior.@*Methods@#A total of 7 456 students from 10 junior and 6 senior high schools in Shanghai were selected to participate in the questionnaire survey with the stratified random cluster sampling method. The survey included general information, eating behavior, PHQ-2 and GAD-7.@*Results@#During the past week, the proportion of adolescents in Shanghai reported consumption of sugar sweetened beverages, sweet desserts, frequent fried food and fast food (≥4 times/week) were 13.26%, 16.90%, 6.99 % and 13.01%, respectively. The proportion of students reported consumption of fruits, vegetables, milk and breakfast every day were 56.96%, 73.00%, 65.03% and 76.11%, respectively. There were significant differences by sex and educational stages(both P <0.05). Adolescents with depression or anxiety have a higher incidence of unhealthy eating behaviors than those without depression or anxiety( P <0.01). After adjusting for gender, school, accommodation, grades, pocket money and social class, depression and anxiety increase the risk of various unhealthy eating behaviors in adolescents( P <0.05). Compared with those without anxiety, the risks of sugar sweetened beverages consumption (≥1 time/d) among adolescents with mild and moderate to severe anxiety were 1.42 times (95% CI =1.20-1.67) and 2.51 times (95% CI =2.09-3.01), the risks of insufficient fruits consumption (<1 time/d) were 1.30 times (95% CI =1.16-1.45) and 1.28 times (95% CI =1.11-1.47), the risks of insufficient vegetable consumption (<1 time/d) were 1.35 times (95% CI =1.20-1.52) and 1.41 times(95% CI =1.21-1.65), the risks of insufficient milk consumption (<1 time/d) were 1.29 times (95% CI =1.15-1.44) and 1.20 times(95% CI =1.04-1.39), and the risks of breakfast skipping were 1.75 times (95% CI =1.54-1.99) and 2.97 times (95% CI =2.55-3.46) among adolescents with mild and moderate to severe anxiety.@*Conclusion@#The proportion of unhealthy eating behaviors among adolescents in Shanghai is still high. Early education and intervention for students eating behaviors should be carried out, and attention should be paid to the occurrence of adolescents negative emotions, so as to reduce the risk of unhealthy eating behaviors among adolescents through the promotion of mental health.

Current Assessment of Weight, Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors among Middle and High School Students in Shanghai, China-A 2019 Cross-Sectional Study.

Poor nutrition or insufficient physical activity (PA) are risk factors for obesity and chronic diseases. This 2019 cross-sectional study from the school health survey examined the dietary and PA behaviors of Chinese adolescents. A total of 12,860 adolescents aged 11-18 participated through multistage and stratified cluster random sampling. A questionnaire collected data on weight, PA, sedentary lifestyle, and eating habits. Unhealthy behaviors were identified and summed up for each behavior. Participants were then classified into high and low amounts of risk behaviors. Weight status was defined using Body Mass Index (BMI) cutoff points for Chinese individuals aged 6-18. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess effects of lifestyle behaviors on weight status. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 22.3% among all participants (30.6% in boys, 13.2% in girls). Females engaged in more risk physical activities (4.12 vs. 3.80, p < 0.05), while males engaged in more risk dietary activities (2.20 vs. 2.02, p < 0.05). Higher number of risk dietary, PA, and sedentary behaviors were all significantly correlated with higher BMI (dietary: r = 0.064; PA: r = 0.099; sedentary: r = 0.161; p < 0.001 for all) and body weight (dietary: r = 0.124; PA: r = 0.128; sedentary: r = 0.222; p < 0.001 for all). Risk sedentary behaviors was a significant risk factor for overweight/obesity (Adjusted Odds Ratio AOR = 1.30, 95% Confidence Interval CI 1.11-1.52). Obesity and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors remain a concern among Chinese adolescents. These results provide an update on the factors contributing to overweight/obesity among adolescents and call for efforts to address obesity among adolescents.

How secondhand smoke exposure affects tobacco use and smoking susceptibility of adolescents: Sex and school differences.

INTRODUCTION: Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure affects tobacco related health behaviors during adolescence and persists into adulthood. This study aimed to investigate the influence of SHS exposure on tobacco use among adolescents stratified by school and gender, and provide recommendations for controlling tobacco use in youth. METHODS: Through stratified random cluster sampling, 12278 selected students (aged 13-18 years) from schools in China were administered questionnaires. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze whether SHS exposure would increase the smoking risk and susceptibility of adolescents. RESULTS: The prevalence of SHS exposure among the participating students was 74.8%. Adolescents exposed to SHS were at higher odds of being susceptible and currently smoking. Students with SHS exposure at both home and public places accounted for 36.6%, greatly increasing the current smoking risk and smoking susceptibility. Home SHS exposure had greater impact on the current tobacco use of boys (OR=2.13; 95% CI: 1.50-3.03) and junior school students (OR=4.67; 95% CI: 2.41-9.06). Exposure from public places increased the risk of current smoking in boys (OR=4.20; 95% CI: 2.31-7.65) and smoking susceptibility of vocational school students (OR=1.51; 95% CI: 1.07-2.15). Students with highlevel exposure to SHS had 2.25 times higher odds of e-cigarette use. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of SHS exposure is still high among adolescents in China and is associated with increased risk for tobacco use regardless of gender and school level. Effective smoke-free strategies should be developed and strictly implemented. Boys and junior school students constitute vulnerable populations exposed to SHS at home.

Influence of individual and family characteristics on middle school students mental health status during COVID-19 pandemic / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#This study aims to investigate the impact of individual and family factors on anxiety and loneliness of middle school students during quarantine in the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide reference for discussing the possible effective intervention paths in the stress process of public health emergencies.@*Methods@#A total of 11 596 students from junior and high schools in Shanghai were selected to complete the questionnaire with the stratified random cluster sampling method. Generalized Anxiety Disorder(GAD-7) and UCLA Loneliness Scale, University of California at Los Angeles(ULS-6) were used for the survey.@*Results@#The prevalence of anxiety and loneliness were 34.78% and 52.44% respectively. The rate of anxiety and loneliness in girls (36.13%, 54.62%) was higher than that of boys (33.44%, 50.28%)(χ 2=17.03, 21.82, P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that graduates (OR=1.34, 95%CI=1.18-1.52), students ranking in the middle (OR=1.25, 95%CI=1.08-1.45) or in the bottom 25% (OR=1.76, 95%CI=1.50-2.05), non only children in the family (OR=1.25, 95%CI=1.09-1.43) and low socioeconomic status (OR=1.42, 95%CI=1.23-1.65) were associated with increased risk of moderate and severe level of anxiety(P<0.05). Girls(OR=1.20, 95%CI=1.12-1.30), graduates(OR=1.13, 95%CI=1.04-1.24), non residents(OR=1.20, 95%CI=1.09-1.33), lower level of grades(OR=1.72, 95%CI=1.55-1.91) and not living with parents(OR=1.32, 95%CI=1.18-1.48) were associated with increased risk of loneliness(P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#During the quarantine period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, negative emotions such as anxiety and loneliness among adolescents need attention, especially females, graduates, only children and students with low rankings or low socioeconomic status.