Adolescent Internet Addiction in Hong Kong: Prevalence, Psychosocial Correlates, and Prevention.

The prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) and its correlates among Hong Kong adolescents and local prevention programs for adolescents' IA were reviewed and analyzed, with a view to identifying service gaps and making suggestions on ways forward. From 8 papers identified from ProQuest and EBSCOhost, published from 2009 to 2018, the local prevalence rates of IA in adolescents were noted to range from 3.0% to 26.8%, which was higher than that in other regions of the world. The more recent the studies, the higher the prevalence rate. Seven papers provided the correlates of IA. Risk factors for IA included being male, higher school grade, poor academic performance, with depression, suicidal ideation, from disorganized family, with family members having IA, parents with lower education level, and using restrictive parenting style. Teens with self-confidence, higher school performance, having positive youth development qualities, with well-educated parents, were found to be protective against IA. IA adversely affects adolescents' growth and physical, mental, and psychosocial development. Ten prevention programs were identified from these search engines as well as government departments and agencies' Web sites. They all focused on education, skills training, behavior modification, and raising public awareness. Unlike tobacco and alcohol, the Internet is a tool, and media literacy has become an essential skill. Based on current evidence, modifiable protective factors should be strengthened to curb the problem.

The Association of Intergenerational Mismatch With Adiposity and Blood Pressure in Childhood and Adolescence.

PURPOSE: An intergenerational "mismatch," a transition from limited to plentiful living conditions over generations, may increase cardiovascular disease risks. In a migrant population within a homogenous culture, we tested the hypothesis that an intergenerational mismatch in childhood living condition is associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure in childhood and adolescence. METHODS: We used data from 6,965 native born Chinese in Hong Kong (participated in "Children of 1997" birth cohort) and migrant Chinese born elsewhere in China in 1997 (N = 9,845). We classified children into those with intergenerational mismatch (child migrants or first-generation migrants) or those without (second+-generation migrants). Generalized estimating equations were used to examine the associations of migration status (child migrants, first-generation migrants or second+-generation migrants) with age- and sex-specific BMI z-score at 8-15 years and age-, sex-, and height-specific blood pressure z-score at 11-13 years, adjusted for sex, month of birth, and age. RESULTS: Compared with second+-generation migrants, first-generation migrants had higher diastolic blood pressure z-score (.04, 95% confidence interval (CI) .02, .06) and BMI z-score (.12, 95% CI .06, .18), whereas child migrants had higher diastolic blood pressure z-score (.03, 95% CI .01, .05) regardless of age at migration and higher BMI z-score if they had migrated in infancy (.17, 95% CI .11, .23). CONCLUSION: Different relations for blood pressure and BMI suggest that intergenerational mismatch and proximal exposures may have different impacts on adiposity and blood pressure.

Divergent secular trends in blood pressure and body mass index in children and adolescents in Hong Kong.

Secular trends in blood pressure (BP) and body mass index (BMI) during childhood and adolescence are sentinels for the future population cardiovascular disease burden. We examined trends in BP z-score (ages 9-18 years from 1999 to 2014) and BMI z-score (ages 6-18 years from 1996 to 2014) in Hong Kong, China. Overall, BP z-score fell, systolic BP from 0.08 to -0.01 in girls and from 0.31 to 0.25 in boys. However, the trends were not consistent, for both sexes, systolic BP z-score was stable from 1999, decreased slightly from 2002 to 2005 and increased slightly to 2014, diastolic BP z-score decreased slightly from 1999 to 2004 and then remained stable to 2014. In contrast, BMI z-score rose from -0.15 to -0.01 in girls and from 0.14 to 0.34 in boys, mainly during 1997 to 2010. The upper tail of the systolic (except boys) and diastolic BP distribution shifted downwards, whereas the entire BMI distribution shifted upward. BP declined slightly whereas BMI rose in Hong Kong children and adolescents during the last 20 years, with systolic BP and BMI in boys above the reference. This warrants dual action in tackling rising BMI and identifying favorable determinants of BP, particularly targeting boys.

Norovirus contamination found in oysters worldwide.

Noroviruses (Norwalk-like viruses) are recognized as major causes of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. Outbreaks of norovirus gastroenteritis are often associated with consumption of oysters. In this study, oysters imported into Hong Kong from 11 countries over a 3-year period were screened by RT-PCR. Overall, 53 out of 507 (10.5%) samples were positive for norovirus-RNA, and a wide variety of strains were found. Two novel genetic clusters were detected, which could indicate novel human or animal norovirus strains. However, whether these two new clusters are of human or animal origin is not known. Thirteen outbreaks, in which oysters were implicated as the source of infection were investigated: Norovirus RNA sequences could be detected in oysters from six outbreaks, but only in one outbreak the strains isolated from patients and oysters matched (>98% homology). Therefore, RT-PCR was of use in detecting norovirus contamination of oysters implicated in an outbreak, but was less useful in demonstrating an actual molecular epidemiological link with human cases. It was shown that contamination by noroviruses could be demonstrated in oysters worldwide, and therefore oysters may serve as an important vehicle for introducing novel norovirus strains.