METHODS: Data from the University Sains Malaysia (USM) Pregnancy Cohort which consists of 153 mother-offspring pairs were used. Data were collected using interview-administered questionnaires and anthropometric measurements were also obtained. Multiple linear regression and generalised equation estimation (GEE) were used to examine the direction and impact of the association between parental BMI and child growth and body composition (weight for age, height for age, body mass index for age, weight for height and fat mass at age 2m, 6m, and 12m). Potential confounders, including validated measures of maternal diets and physical activity during pregnancy, were considered.
RESULTS: Of 153 parents, one-quarter of the mothers and 42.2% of the fathers, respectively, were overweight or obese before pregnancy. A significant association was found between maternal BMI and child's weight for height z-score (WHZ) and body mass index for age z-score (BAZ).
CONCLUSIONS: Having high pre-pregnancy BMI may increase BMI and WAZ of offspring in early life. Findings from this study emphasise the importance of monitoring maternal weight status, particularly before and during pregnancy and early life of offspring among Malaysians.
AIMS: Studies have examined mental health literacy of maternal postnatal depression, but there are no similar studies of paternal postnatal depression, which we sought to rectify.
METHODS: A sample of 406 British adults was presented with vignettes describing cases of either maternal or paternal postnatal depression. Based on the vignettes, participants were asked to report if they thought anything was wrong with the targets and, if so, to describe what they thought was wrong. Participants also rated the targets on a range of attitudinal dimensions.
RESULTS: Participants were more likely to indicate that something was wrong when the target was female (97.0%) compared to male (75.9%). Of those who believed something was wrong, 90.1% of participants correctly described the female target as experiencing postnatal depression, but only 46.3% did so for the male target. Participants also held more positive attitudes toward the female target than the male target.
CONCLUSIONS: There is a gender binary in symptom recognition of postnatal depression, which highlights the need for greater awareness of paternal postnatal depression.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Malay children from five primary schools in Kuala Lumpur using self-administered questionnaires.
Results: A total of 134 Malay children (70 males and 64 females) with a mean (SD) age of 10.3 (1.0) years were recruited. Majority of the children had a father (61.9%) and a mother (56.0%) with secondary school education and earned below RM3,900 (70.9%) per month. The most preferred fruits and vegetable were bananas (91.9%) and carrots (71.4%), while the most recognised was oranges (100.0%) and tomatoes (96.3%). The children demonstrated an overall moderate level of attitude, recognition and knowledge with mean (SD) scores of 70.3 (19.9), 76.8 (18.1) and 73.6 (17.5), respectively, towards fruits and vegetables intake. Majority of the children (53.0%) were not aware of the daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, while 40.0% of children expressed a low attitude towards eating a variety of fruits and vegetables. The willingness to try a new type of vegetables and consume more vegetables was lower (68.7%) compared to fruits (75.4%).
Conclusion: The preferences and recognition of fruits were higher compared to vegetables among the children. The children demonstrated a moderate level of attitude, recognition and knowledge towards fruits and vegetables consumption. Efforts to educate children on the recommended number of servings per day and improve their acceptability of vegetables should be implemented to promote the increase in fruits and vegetables consumption among children.
METHODS: Following informed consent, a total of nine families with 22 participants took part in the study including nine adolescents, aged between 14 and 16 y, and 13 parents. One-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted at their homes following informed consent. Following transcription, the data was coded and themes were identified using Atlas.ti software. A grounded theory approach was undertaken in analysing the data.
RESULTS: Two main themes were identified including perceptions of parental involvement in the lives of their adolescent children and family strategies to improve bonding. Adolescents' concerns centered on reduced interaction time with their family members. Concerns were also raised over the adolescents' increasing academic burden and parents particularly emphasized the increasing use of media and mobile technology by adolescents as deterrents to interaction. Though mothers functioned as primary caregivers, fathers also took on more active roles in the rearing of their children, stepping away from the traditionally viewed role of being a distant patriarchal provider. To improve interaction, parents devised creative strategies to increase time spent interacting with family members such as having dinner, performing household chores, playing games, or visiting places together.
CONCLUSIONS: The increasing academic burden and access to digital media were perceived as factors leading to reduced interaction between the parent-adolescent dyad. Creative parenting strategies to increase interaction were sought as a solution.