EMBARGOED AJPH Research: Gestational weight gain and maternal obesity, disparities in hydration status, Zika and reproductive rights in Brazil
In this month’s release, find new embargoed research about: Gestational weight gain and maternal obesity, disparities in hydration status, Zika and reproductive rights in Brazil
CONTACT: For copies of articles, contact Megan Lowry, 202-777-3913
EMBARGOED UNTIL July 20, 2017, 4 p.m. EDT
Note: Hyperlinks to the studies will go live following the embargo lift on July 20, 2017, at 4 p.m. EDT.
American Journal of Public Health research highlights:
Preventing weight gain in pregnancy could lead to reduced obesity
Newswise — Researchers analyzed 3,917 women with one to three pregnancies in the prospective U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 to 2012. They compared the estimated obesity prevalence between two scenarios: gestational weight gain (GWG) as reported and under the scenario of a hypothetical intervention that all women with excessive gestational weight gain instead gained as recommended by the Institute of Medicine (2009).
Models suggest that a theoretical intervention to successfully prevent excessive GWG in first or second pregnancies reduced mothers’ absolute prevalence of midlife obesity by about 3 percentage points overall. However, there was evidence for racial/ethnic differences. Obesity prevalence was reduced by approximately 3 percentage points for white women, but associations were twice as strong in Black women, with no association for Hispanic mothers.
Overall, the findings from this nationally representative population suggest that preventing excessive GWG in first or second pregnancies could achieve the US Healthy People 2020 goal for reducing obesity in midlife women with a history of childbearing — as well as contribute to reducing the Black-White disparity in obesity.
["Preventing weight gain in pregnancy could lead to reduced obesity." Contact: Barbara Abrams, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA].
Researchers estimated the prevalence of inadequate hydration by race/ethnicity and income of 8,258 participants aged 20 to 74 years in the 2009 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They estimated associations between demographic variables, tap water intake and inadequate hydration.
Researchers found that the prevalence of inadequate hydration among US adults was 29.5 percent. Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics had a higher risk of inadequate hydration than did non-Hispanic Whites. Lower-income adults had a higher risk of inadequate hydration than did higher-income adults. Differences in tap water intake partially attenuated racial/ethnic differences in hydration status, and differences in total beverage and other fluid intake further attenuated sociodemographic disparities.
Researchers concluded that racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in inadequate hydration among U.S. adults are related to differences in tap water and other beverage intake, and that policy action is needed to ensure equitable access to healthy beverages.
["Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Hydration Status among US Adults and the Role of Tap Water and Other Beverage Intake." Contact: Carolyn J. Brooks, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA].
Zika and reproductive rights in Brazil: Challenge to the right to health
In this analytic essay, author Dr. Pablo K. Valente, MD explores a lawsuit filed with Brazil’s Supreme Court that requires the decriminalization of abortion upon the diagnosis of Zika virus. Valente discusses the impact of selective decriminalization of abortion on broader reproductive rights in Brazil, and advocates that a solution to the reproductive health crisis in Brazil must reconcile a woman’s right to choose and the rights of people with disabilities.
[“Zika and Reproductive Rights in Brazil: Challenge to the Right to Health.” Contact: Pablo K. Valente, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY].
In utero exposure to 1918 influenza pandemic increases hospitalization rates in old age
This study explores associations between in utero exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic and hospitalization rates in old age. Researchers used birth dates from the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old survey.
The study found that in utero exposure to the deadly wave of the 1918 influenza pandemic increased the number of hospital visits by 9.9 per 100 persons. For those exposed in utero to the deadliest wave of the influenza pandemic, high rates of activities of daily living limitations are shown to drive the higher rates of hospitalizations in old age.
Researchers noted that to determine investments in influenza pandemic prevention programs that protect fetal health, policymakers should include long-term reductions in hospitalizations in the cost-benefit evaluations.
[“1918 Influenza Pandemic: In Utero Exposure in the United States and Long-Term Impact on Hospitalizations.” Contact: Joseph Kofi Acquah, PhD, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC].
Find a full list of AJPH research papers published online below:
- The Development of a Research Agenda Focused on Academic Health Departments
- Zika And Reproductive Rights In Brazil: Challenge To The Right To Health
- Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in hydration status among U.S. adults from tap water and other beverages
- Ain't necessarily so!: The Brake Industry's Impact on Asbestos Regulation in the 1970s
- Ethical Guidance for Crisis Standards of Care: A Systematic Review
- Ethics and Tobacco Prevention: Evaluating the Ethical Acceptability of Tobacco 21 Laws
- Can Electronic Health Record Based Public Health Surveillance Systems Provide Accurate Estimates of State and Local Chronic Disease Rates?
- Increasing resilience and improving public health by evacuating pets during disasters.
- Prioritizing Public Health Workforce Development Needs in State and Local Health Departments
- Television Watching and Telomere Length among Southwest Chinese Adults
- The MISTER B Trial: Results from a randomized control trial testing community-based, pre-clinical patient navigation for colorectal cancer screening among older black men recruited from barbershops
- Homicide Rates of Transgender Individuals in the USA 2010-2014
- Undocumented Immigration, Drug Problems, and driving under the influence (DUI) in the US, 1990-2014
- Civil Unrest in the Context of Chronic Community Violence: Impact on Maternal Depressive Symptoms
- Preventing Excessive Gestational Weight Gain Could Reduce Subsequent Maternal Obesity at Age 40: An Analysis of a Nationally Representative Sample
- Per Diems in Polio Eradication: Perspectives from Community Health Workers and Officials
- In utero exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic and its long-term impact on hospitalizations
- Transit Use and Body Mass Index Associated with Complete Street Light-Rail Construction: A Follow-Up
- Prevalence of Prescription Opioids Detected in Fatally Injured Drivers in the United States, 1995-2015
- The Consequences of Early Childhood Lead Exposure for Adolescent Health in a Prospective Birth Cohort
- Obesity and Overweight in American Indian and Alaska Native Children, 2006-2015
- Characteristics and Patterns of Use of U.S. Adult Smokeless Tobacco Users: Descriptive Findings from Wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study
The articles above will be published online July 20, 2017, at 4 p.m. EDT by AJPH under “First Look.” “First Look” articles have undergone peer review, copyediting and approval by authors but have not yet been printed to paper or posted online by issue. AJPH is published by the American Public Health Association, and is available at www.ajph.org.
Complimentary online access to the Journal is available to credentialed members of the media. Address inquiries to Megan Lowry at APHA, 202-777-3913, or email her. A single print issue of the Journal is available for $35 from the Journal’s Subscriptions Department. If you are not a member of the press, a member of APHA or a subscriber, online single-issue access is $30, and online single-article access is $22 at www.ajph.org. For direct customer service, call 202-777-2516, or email us.
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The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly journal of the American Public Health Association. APHA champions the health of all people and all communities. We strengthen the public health profession. We speak out for public health issues and policies backed by science. We are the only organization that influences federal policy, has a 145-year perspective and brings together members from all fields of public health. Visit www.apha.org.
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