PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “secular change”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Secular change in size at birth from 1973 to 2003: national data from Denmark.

OBJECTIVE: To explore whether birth weight (BW) has been increasing in Denmark at the same level as in other countries and whether this increase is paralleled by an increase in birth length (BL) or whether body proportionality, expressed as ponderal index (PI), has changed. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: This study used data analysis of information from The Danish Medical Birth Registry including all single live births in Denmark from 1973 to 2003 (n = 1,863,456). BW, BL, gestational age, maternal age, and smoking status (only from 1991 on) were measured. RESULTS: Mean BW increased steadily during the period (160 grams; equivalent to approximately 5 g/yr) at a rate higher than that reported from other countries. BL showed only a minor increase (2.4 mm), leading to an increase in PI (0.8 kg/m3) during the period. Controlling for the effect of increasing maternal age and decreasing gestational age and maternal smoking prevalence (only data after 1991), there was still an increase in BW of approximately 4 g/yr. DISCUSSION: During the last 30 years, neonates have become bigger, with a larger relative increase in BW than BL, leading to an increase in PI. The increasing BW and PI, which may be caused by increased maternal weight, could further promote the obesity epidemic.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Secular changes in body fat patterning in children and adolescents of Zaragoza (Spain), 1980-1995.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether children and adolescents of Zaragoza (Spain) are becoming centrally obese to a greater extent than would be predicted by their relative body weights. DESIGN: Two cross-sectional surveys conducted in 1980 and 1995. SUBJECTS: The samples selected for the 1980 and 1995 surveys comprised 1553 and 701 male children, and 1311 and 659 female children, respectively, with ages ranging from 6.0 to 14.9 y. MEASUREMENTS: We measured four skinfold thicknesses (biceps, triceps, subscapular, suprailiac) and calculated some indices of fat patterning: triceps/subscapular skinfolds (T/SS), biceps+triceps/subscapular+suprailiac skinfolds (B+T/SS+SI), and (subscapular+suprailiac/biceps+triceps+subscapular+suprailiac skinfolds)x100 (trunk-to-total skinfolds %). RESULTS: In males, B+T/SS+SI, and trunk-to-total skinfolds % showed a significant trend to a central pattern of fat distribution from 1980 to 1995, at the ages of 6.5-11.5 y. In females, B+T/SS+SI and trunk-to-total skinfolds % showed a significant trend to a central pattern of fat distribution from 1980 to 1995, at the ages of 6.5 and 7.5 y. Similar results were obtained when we adjusted for BMI values. CONCLUSION: We have observed a trend to a central pattern of adipose tissue distribution, especially in males and at the youngest ages studied (6-11 y in males, and 6-7 y in females). These observations were independent of trends in BMI.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2002

Secular changes in blood pressure in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood: systematic review of trends from 1948 to 1998.

One plausible reason for the decline in cardiovascular disease (CVD), and in particular stroke, in the last century is population reductions in blood pressure. Blood pressure tracks from childhood into adulthood, and early-life blood pressure is associated with increased cardiovascular risk but few studies have reported on blood pressure trends among young individuals who are free of CVD and not taking antihypertensive medication. Knowledge of such trends may improve understanding of the causes of hypertension and enhance prevention. We report that declines in blood pressure have been taking place in high-income countries in 5 to 34-year-olds of both sexes and from a range of ethnic groups for at least the last 50 years, indicating that exposures acting in early life are important determinants of blood pressure. Possible explanations for these favourable trends include improvements in early-life diet and there is also intriguing evidence suggesting that blood pressure may be programmed by sodium intake in infancy. Occurring throughout the blood pressure distribution, these trends may have made important contributions to declining CVD rates. There may therefore be scope for intervening in early life to prevent high blood pressure in adulthood, and the downward trends reported in several recent studies suggest that the prevalence of adult hypertension and cardiovascular risk will continue to decline. However, persisting high rates of CVD in the developed world, the impending CVD epidemic in developing countries, along with increasing childhood obesity, and the possibility that favourable blood pressure trends may be plateauing point to the need for enhanced measures to control blood pressure, and for further research to improve understanding of its determinants.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Secular changes in standards of bodily attractiveness in American women: different masculine and feminine ideals.

Silverstein, Peterson, and Perdue (1986) studied changes in curvaceousness of the models in Vogue magazine over time and found that curvaceousness was inversely correlated with American women's participation in higher education and the professions. In the present study, it was predicted that the male standard for women's bodily attractiveness would differ from the female standard and would change differently over time, based on evolutionary theory. Published data on the bodily curvaceousness of models in Playboy and Vogue and on Miss America winners were used to test this hypothesis. Although they did not differ on average, the male and female standards changed differently over time. There was less variation in the male standard, represented by Playboy and by Miss America winners, than in the female standard, represented by Vogue. Results suggest that cultural standards of attractiveness are influenced by an evolved psychology of mate selection that has implications for understanding changes in the standard of attractiveness and its relation to eating disorders.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Age at menarche in Coimbra (Portugal) school girls: a note on the secular changes.

The age at menarche and several menstrual symptoms were reported by 516 Portuguese school girls who took part in a cross-sectional anthropometric study in Coimbra, Portugal. The mean ages of menarche calculated using the recall method and also using probit analysis were 12.53 +/-1.27 and 12.03 +/- 1.26 years, respectively. Parents'educational level, place of residence and size of the family did not have any significant effect on the mean age at menarche in this sample of adolescents. The order of birth was the only variable that indicated a significative effect: the first borns reported a lower mean age at menarche (12.34 years) than the later borns (12.6 years). In this sample, 47% of the girls had a cycle length of >or = 29 days, 23.4% had irregular cycles, 59% reported that the duration of bleeding was 3-5 days and the majority, 49%, did not report any pain during the bleeding days. However, 14.3% and 24.45% reported severe and medium pain. The age at menarche has declined from 15.0 (girls born in 1880-1890) to 12.03 (girls born in 1970-1980) years in the Portuguese population. This decrease in age, and also the lack of influence of the family characteristics, appear as a result of the great improvements in the social and economic living conditions that occurred in Portugal, especially after the 1970s. These improvements are mainly related to better nutrition and better health care along with many other environmental factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Secular change in menarche in women in Madrid.

The age at menarche was estimated by recollection in 1617 women between the ages of 18 and 60 in Madrid and a nearby suburb, Pinto. The population of Pinto is working-class and the Madrid group, taken from residential neighbourhoods , belongs to the upper middle class. In both groups we found a diminution in average age at menarche, from 14.04 to 13.02 years in Madrid and from 14.55 to 13.16 years from about 1935 to about 1965 in Pinto. These changes have been more intense in the group which is less well-off economically, where living conditions have varied much more drastically.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Early influences on the secular change in adult height between the parents and children of the 1958 birth cohort.

The present account is of data available from the 1958 British national birth cohort and its follow-up to the age of 23 years. It shows an increase in adult height between the cohort members and their parents, amounting to an average 1.2 +/- 0.11 (SEM) cm between the daughters and their mothers and 3.0 +/- 0.12 cm between the sons and their fathers. Factors in early life which contributed jointly to a significant increase in adult height included, as well as sex and parental height, birthweight and maternal pre-pregnant weight, while increasing gestational age had a negative effect. Overall these factors accounted for 71% of the variance of the cohort members' height. Measuring the intergenerational difference between individual pairs of sons and father and daughters and mothers allows to some extent for social and genetic influences. This showed that the size of the difference was increased by increasing intrauterine growth rate, and falling paternal social class. These findings demonstrate again the lifelong influence on offspring of circumstances pertaining at their birth and explain why it may take more than one generation to overcome the effects of childhood disadvantage.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Secular changes in prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in elderly Finns.

AIMS: The purpose of the present study was to examine changes with time in the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Finns 65 to 74 years of age. METHODS: Two cross-sectional studies were conducted 18 years apart. In the Mini-Finland Survey (1978 to 1980), a nationally representative sample of 1,250 Finns of 65 to 74 years of age was interviewed and clinically examined. The FINRISK Survey (1997) consisted of a random sample of 1,500 individuals in the same age range, from two areas of Finland. Prevalences of chronic CVD (angina pectoris (AP), myocardial infarction (MI), coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, and intermittent claudication) were assessed via self-reported data relating to known conditions and diagnoses by physicians. RESULTS: The prevalences of most of the chronic CVD were lower in the 1997 survey than in the 1978 to 1980 survey. A major exception was drug treatment for hypertension in men, which was more prevalent in the 1997 survey. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the prevalence of CVD in Finns 65 to 74 years of age has declined since 1978. This information is valuable in assessing current and future burdens imposed by CVD on society.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Secular changes in rates of respiratory complications and diarrhoea among measles cases.

It has been observed that the occurrence of respiratory complications and diarrhoea among measles cases has changed over time but this change has not been quantified. A study was carried out in the city of Gweru, Zimbabwe, to quantify these changes. Rates of respiratory complications and diarrhoea among measles cases were determined in each year for the period 1968-89. It was found that mean rates of respiratory complications and diarrhoea during 1968-78 were 17.2 per cent (95 per cent CI = 11.6-22.8) and 5.2 per cent (95 per cent CI = 0-11) respectively while during 1979-89, mean rates of respiratory complications and diarrhoea were 6.5 per cent (95 per cent CI = 1-12.1) and 16.4 per cent (95 per cent CI = 10.1-22.0) respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine the main effects and the interaction showed that the main effects were not statistically significant (F = 0.01, d.f.1,2 = 1,40, p = 0.935; and F = 0.13, d.f.1,2 = 1,40, p = 0.725 respectively) Meanwhile the interaction term of complications and period was statistically significant (F = 15.7, d.f.1,2 = 1,40, p < 0.001). It was concluded that a change in rates of respiratory complications and diarrhoea had occurred among measles cases. It is suggested that the increase in vaccination coverage in 1979-89 and the shift in age at infection to older age groups in the same period may have brought about this change through selective suppression of respiratory complications among measles cases.

Age Distribution↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The secular changes of skin and venereal diseases in Nigeria.

A retrospective review of the changing phase of the incidence of dermatological and venereal diseases, as seen in University Teaching Hospital practice in Lagos, Nigeria is presented. About 8,849 new patients were seen over a 5-year-period. An analysis of the dermatological conditions encountered is made, while brief reports of few common skin conditions are also given. The clinical pattern was similar to those of Western countries, but with addition of a great number of dermatoses. This similarity has been modified by epidemiological factors. A national program for improvement of the environmental health including control of industrial and communicable diseases will ameliorate the increasing morbidity of tropical dermatology.

Female↗