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- Parental Perceptions of Children’s Weight Status in 22 Countries: The WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative: COSI 2015/2017Publication . Ramos Salas, Ximena; Buoncristiano, Marta; Williams, Julianne; Kebbe, Maryam; Spinelli, Angela; Nardone, Paola; Rito, Ana; Duleva, Vesselka; Musić Milanović, Sanja; Kunesova, Marie; Braunerová, Radka Taxová; Hejgaard, Tatjana; Rasmussen, Mette; Shengelia, Lela; Abdrakhmanova, Shynar; Abildina, Akbota; Usuopva, Zhamyila; Hyska, Jolanda; Burazeri, Genc; Petrauskiene, Aušra; Pudule, Iveta; Sant’Angelo, Victoria Farrugia; Kujundzic, Enisa; Fijałkowska, Anna; Cucu, Alexandra; Brinduse, Lacramioara Aurelia; Peterkova, Valentina; Bogova, Elena; Gualtieri, Andrea; Solano, Marta García; Gutiérrez-González, Enrique; Rakhmatullaeva, Sanavbar; Tanrygulyyeva, Maya; Yardim, Nazan; Weghuber, Daniel; Mäki, Päivi; Russell Jonsson, Kenisha; Starc, Gregor; Juliusson, Petur Benedikt; Heinen, Mirjam M.; Kelleher, Cecily; Ostojic, Sergej; Popovic, Stevo; Kovacs, Viktoria Anna; Akhmedova, Dilorom; Farpour-Lambert, Nathalie J.; Rutter, Harry; Li, Bai; Boymatova, Khadichamo; Rakovac, Ivo; Wickramasinghe, Kremlin; Breda, JoãoIntroduction: Parents can act as important agents of change and support for healthy childhood growth and development. Studies have found that parents may not be able to accurately perceive their child’s weight status. The purpose of this study was to measure parental perceptions of their child’s weight status and to identify predictors of potential parental misperceptions. Methods: We used data from the World Health Organization (WHO) European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative and 22 countries. Parents were asked to identify their perceptions of their children’s weight status as “underweight,” “normal weight,” “a little overweight,” or “extremely overweight.” We categorized children’s (6–9 years; n = 124,296) body mass index (BMI) as BMI-for-age Z-scores based on the 2007 WHO-recommended growth references. For each country included in the analysis and pooled estimates (country level), we calculated the distribution of children according to the WHO weight status classification, distribution by parental perception of child’s weight status, percentages of accurate, overestimating, or underestimating perceptions, misclassification levels, and predictors of parental misperceptions using a multilevel logistic regression analysis that included only children with overweight (including obesity). Statistical analyses were performed using Stata version 15 1. Results: Overall, 64.1% of parents categorized their child’s weight status accurately relative to the WHO growth charts. However, parents were more likely to underestimate their child’s weight if the child had overweight (82.3%) or obesity (93.8%). Parents were more likely to underestimate their child’s weight if the child was male (adjusted OR [adjOR]: 1.41; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.28–1.55); the parent had a lower educational level (adjOR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.26–1.57); the father was asked rather than the mother (adjOR: 1.14; 95% CI: 0.98–1.33); and the family lived in a rural area (adjOR: 1.10; 95% CI: 0.99–1.24). Overall, parents’ BMI was not strongly associated with the underestimation of children’s weight status, but there was a stronger association in some countries. Discussion/Conclusion: Our study supplements the current literature on factors that influence parental perceptions of their child’s weight status. Public health interventions aimed at promoting healthy childhood growth and development should consider parents’ knowledge and perceptions, as well as the sociocultural contexts in which children and families live.
- Statistics in Times of Pandemics: the Role of Statistical and Epidemiological Methods during the COVID-19 Emergency. One Day Meeting on Statistics and Applied ProbabilityPublication . Nunes, Baltazar; Caetano, Constantino; Antunes, Liliana; Torres, Ana Rita; Silva, Susana; Rodrigues, Ana Paula; Kislaya, Irina; Machado, Ausenda; Garcia, Ana Cristina; Gómez, Verónica; Namorado, Sónia; Patrício, Paula; Ribeiro, Maria Luísa; Pereira, João; Matias Dias, CarlosAbout the Role of Statistical and Epidemiological Methods during the COVID-19 Emergency.
- Self-Disinfecting Paints with the Natural Antimicrobial Substances: Colophony and CurcuminPublication . Querido, Micaela Machado; Paulo, Ivo; Hariharakrishnan, Sriram; Rocha, Daniel; Barbosa, Nuno; Galhano dos Santos, Rui; Bordado, João Moura; Teixeira, João Paulo; Pereira, Cristiana CostaThe risk of infection arising from indirect sources-namely, contaminated surfaces-has been proved, particularly in healthcare facilities. In the attempt to minimize this problem, innumerable research projects involving the development of surfaces with self-disinfecting properties are being conducted. In this work, wall-paints with self-disinfecting properties were developed with the scope of being applied in environments prone to contamination, such as those at healthcare settings. Our approach was to develop new paint formulations containing two natural plant-based products with known antimicrobial activity-colophony (CLF) and curcumin (CUR). The natural substances were separately incorporated on a commercial paint and their antibacterial activity was evaluated with several bacterial species following ISO 22196. To assess the paints' safety, cytotoxicity tests were performed on HaCaT and A549 cell lines, using tests on extracts and direct contact tests, as suggested by the standardized protocol ISO 10993. In general, both paints containing CLF and CUR were able to reduce the bacterial growth after 24 h, compared with the control, the commercial unmodified paint. Colophony was even able to reduce the number of culturable bacteria by over 2 log for Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus cereus. Regarding the cytotoxicity tests performed (WST-1, NRU, and LDH), both formulations revealed promising results regardless of the methodology used.