This study was designed to examine the role of parents and family in motorcycle riding practices among teenagers and motorcycle accident in FELDA Trolak Utara, Perak. This was a cross sectional study using universal sampling that involved 309 teenage riders aging from 11 to 19 years old. Only 6.1% respondents that rode motorcycle had a valid driving licenses. Mean age of starting to ride was 11.46 ± 1.75 years old. Mean years of riding motorcycle was 3.66 ± 1.95 years. The major buyer of motorcycles for the teenagers were father (78.3%) and other family members (13.7%). About 42.7% of teenagers learnt riding by themselves and in 51.8%, family members taught teenagers to ride motorcycle. The main purpose for riding motorcycle were to go to shop (37.2%), to school (32.7%) and for recreation (25.2%). From the perception of teenagers, about 82.2% parents encouraged them to ride. Mean usual riding speed (n = 296) was 58.72 ± 23.97 km/h. The mean maximum riding speed (n = 290) was 89.81 ± 30.70 km/h. There were positive correlation between years of motorcycle riding and usual motorcycle riding speed (r = 0.292, p < 0.05) and maximum motorcycle riding speed (r = 0.371, p < 0.05). The usual motorcycle riding speed was predictor factor for motorcycle accident. Parents, families and communities should play their role to make sure that their teenage children do not ride at a very young age and ride without a valid license. Reducing years of motorcycle riding among teenagers may reduce usual riding speed and consecutively reducing teenagers’ involvement in motorcycle accidents.
Key words : role of parents, teenagers’ riding practice, motorcycle
Introduction: Overweight and obesity among adults, especially young adults have been increasing for the past 20 years and is an emerging public health concern all over the world, including Malaysia. This study aims to explore the determinants of overweight and obesity among undergraduate students residing in Universiti Putra Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study using random sampling was conducted in three residential colleges. Independent variables include socio-demographic factors, knowledge on physical activity and dietary intake, lifestyle (physical activity, dietary intake, sleep duration and quality and smoking status) and stress. Data was collected using a vali-dated and reliable self-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurement (weight and height were mea-sured to determine body mass index). IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23 was used for data analysis. Multiple logistic regression was employed to find the determinants of overweight and obesity among the respondents. Significant level was set at less than 0.05. Results: A total of 494 respondents participated with 98.8% response rate. Overweight and obesity prevalence among the respondents was 38.1% with 22.9% and 15.9% of the respondents were overweight and obese respectively. The significant associated factors were age group of 24 years and above (AOR=2.671, p=0.04), male (AOR=1.818, p=0.04), Malay ethnicity (AOR=5.34, p=0.008) and Indian ethnicity (AOR=7.155, p = 0.018). Conclusion: Overweight and obesity prevalence among undergraduate students were more than one third. Programmes and policies should be directed to these high-risk groups as identified in this study.
Introduction: Even though exclusive breastfeeding prevalence has increased from 19.3% in 2006 to 47.1% in 2016, this practice was slightly higher in urban areas (48.3%) compared to rural area (45.1%) in Malaysia. National Plan of Action for Nutrition of Malaysia III has set an indicator to achieve at least 70% exclusive breastfeeding by 2025. Therefore this study is to identify predictors that influenced exclusive breastfeeding practice in rural areas. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in six rural health clinics in Hulu Langat District, Selangor among moth- ers with youngest child aged 6-48 months old. Respondents were selected through systematic random sampling. Validated self-administered questionnaire was used to assess sociodemographic factors, maternal factors, external factors and child’s factors. Mother’s height and weight was measured and body mass index was calculated. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the predictors for ex- clusive breastfeeding practice. Results: Response rate was 96% with a total of 311 mothers participated in this study. More than half of the mothers exclusively breastfed (52.4%). The predictors for exclusive breastfeeding were Malay ethnicity (AOR=3.951, 95% CI: 1.374-11.358), having tertiary education (AOR=2.401, 95% CI: 1.100-5.241) and positive attitude toward breastfeeding (AOR=7.755, 95% CI: 1.382-43.502). Conclusion: Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was higher in this study than the national level. Programme planners should pay special attention to Chinese and Indian ethnicities, mothers with lower level of education and negative attitude in order to improve breastfeeding practice among rural mothers.
Introduction: Childhood obesity is increasing in prevalence in Malaysia. Excess in dietary intake and inadequate physical activity contribute to the development of obesity among children. The objective of this study was to de-termine the association between eating behaviour and excess weight among primary school children in an urban community in Malaysia. Methods: This is a baseline data of a randomized control field trial of a family-based inter-vention to reduce adiposity in overweight and obese children. It involved five primary government schools in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor. The inclusion criteria include parent-child dyad; children aged 7 to 10 years with body mass index (BMI) z-score of +1 standard deviation or more. Parents completed the validated self-administered Children Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ). This questionnaire assessed children’s eating behaviour that includes food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, emotional overeating, desire to drink, slowness in eating, satiety responsiveness, emotional undereating and food fussiness. The children’s weight and height were measured and the BMI z-score was calculated. The association between CEBQ subscales and obesity was assessed using multiple linear regression, adjusted for sex and family income. Results: One hundred and thirty-four parent-child dyads had participated in this study. The food responsiveness was found to be significant with excess weight (β = 0.094, 95% CI: 0.02-0.17, p= 0.014). Conclusion: The food responsiveness subscale was associated with excess weight. This eating behaviour need to be taken into consideration in the development and implementation of health campaign targeted at the re-duction of childhood obesity.
Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during their pregnancy have a greater risk of developing overt diabetes mellitus and dysglycemia (prediabetes, impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose) later in future, compared to mothers with normal pregnancy. Postpartum screening is crucial for early identification of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in women with GDM. Nevertheless, despite various strategies, its rate remains low. A systematic review using databases of PubMed/Medline, Science Direct and CINAHL from 2008 to 2018, was conducted to iden- tify the factors influencing the attendance of postpartum diabetes screening. Open access English articles, focusing on observational studies were reviewed. Primary screening of titles and abstracts of 91 articles were done, secondary screening of 31 articles resulted in 6 articles, included in this manuscript. Various factors identified to be associated with the attendance to postpartum diabetes screening, which are age, education, ethnicity, some obstetric factors like multiparty, and history of insulin usage previously. Many women fail to be screened for diabetes during the postpar- tum period, and this delays T2DM diagnosis, which in turn gives rise to various complications. Further research that considers these factors is necessary for developing interventions to improve postpartum T2DM screening for mothers with GDM during their pregnancy.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (ACOG), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend that all pregnancies with medical clearance should engage in moderate-intensity physical activity (PA) at least 150 minutes per week. However, most of them are physically inactive. Thus, this article aims to identify predictors of physical inactivity among antenatal women. Four databases were used to search relevant articles using PICO strategy systematically. The screening began with examining titles, abstracts, and keywords, followed by scrutinizing and assessing full articles. Finally, a total of five studies were included for the data extraction, and the predictors are sociodemographic (trimesters, parity, marital status, and pre-pregnancy PA status), socioeconomic (household income), lifestyle (smoking and eating unhealthy diet) and health-related factors (multiple pregnancies, received fertility treatment, being unwell, musculoskeletal pain, symptom of early pregnancy and uterine contraction). All these predictors provide crucial information for the success of future physical activity intervention.
Aggression is one of the most common Paediatric Psychiatric emergency problems presented in healthcare services with major public health impacts. The aim of this review is to determine the psychosocial predictors of adolescent aggression. Systematic review on observational study designs were conducted. Recent five years English published journal articles (2014-2018) were searched in three databases (Science Direct, PubMed and EBSCO) from April 2018 until May 2018. The final 15 articles (seven prospective cohort, eight cross-sectional studies) were included in the systematic review. Psychological predictors were mainly on the personality traits and emotional problems experienced by the adolescents including callous-unemotional traits, hostility, anger, and low empathy. Self-control was found to be protective against adolescent aggression. Social predictors that contribute to the aggression among adolescents according to the highest reported number of articles were peer influence, followed by school climate, substance use, neighbourhood influence, family, and parent factors. In conclusion, psychosocial predictors of adolescent aggression include both Psychological Factors; mainly personality traits and emotional problems, and Social Factors; mainly peer influence and substance use. This warrants for more holistic approach in dealing with aggressive adolescents that can be applied in more targeted and focused intervention strategy deliveries.