The 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s report identified oral health as a priority health concern and recognized that oral health is integral to general health. A serious and widespread oral health problem is dental caries, a chronic infectious, transmissible disease of the oral cavity. While adverse short-term consequences of dental caries such as pain and further infection are well known and long-established, long-term consequences are not as generally recognized and accepted. However, evidence for these short-term consequences has spurred discussion of potential long-term consequences as well; in particular, negative effects on early childhood weight. An established literature examining the hypothesis that severe early childhood caries has an adverse effect on early childhood weight suggests that severe caries may lead to less attained weight and less weight gain. Additionally, the literature posits hypotheses about potential causal pathways through chronic inflammation, diet, and/or sleep disturbances, which the literature claims stem from pain and infection. However, there are no studies that formally conduct meditational analyses and furthermore, the present body of literature does not even adequately test the main effect because the evidence base suffers from methodological issues that make it difficult to rule out alternative explanations for the positive associations that have been found. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to better understand the relationship between oral health and general health by examining if a common oral disease, severe early childhood caries, a specific variant of dental caries, has adverse effects on early childhood weight using a causal framework perspective to address the limitations and gaps in the literature. This dissertation consists of three papers that examine the theory that severe caries negatively affects weight attainment and weight gain in children. The first paper, a systematic review, synthesizes and critically appraises the literature on the negative effects of severe early childhood caries on early childhood weight to identify what is known about the relationship and the gaps in the literature to inform the subsequent empirical tests of the hypothesis. The second and third papers empirically test the hypothesis. The second paper examines if severe early childhood caries leads to less attained weight and less weight gain in children and if treatment for severe caries mitigates the problem. The third paper will examine hypotheses about mediation of the association. The systematic review shows that despite reasonable consistency of findings across the literature examining the negative effect of severe early childhood caries on early childhood weight, the studies are not conclusive due to the possibility of reverse causation and the potential for residual confounding. The findings in paper 2 only partially support the a priori hypotheses, as associations were not consistent across different comparison groups in the analysis. The mediation hypotheses tested in paper 3 were also not fully supported due to null findings in a link within the causal pathway. Future studies should attempt to build on the findings of this longitudinal examination of the hypothesis by directly addressing the issues identified in the literature review, examining gradations of caries exposure, and improving measurement of the mediators.

This study looks at school children´s intersectional experience with weight norms and tries to give insights on the issue of body normativities, from a feminist sport scientist point of view. Its purpose is to inform good practice in juvenile health education on the one hand and to contribute with intersectional feminist insights to the interdisciplinary dialogue on body weight and health on the other. The here presented research project has been conceived as a pilot study for the juvenile health program The Club of Strong Friends. It aims to answer the question how troubled subject positions in a curricular setting come to be and how children use their intersectional corporeality to navigate in and out of different positionings. Using workshops as a method, a workshop series called Self-worth, Body Weight and Health was carried out with children between 11 and 13 in 3 different public schools in the most eastern province of Austria in spring 2015. Four of these sessions constitute the material for the analysis which has been realized by using Staunaes´ conceptualisation of intersectionality and troubled subject positions. Results: It has been found that many children who conformed to normative body weight ideals drew attention to this fact. This was inter alia to claim an untroubled position within the group or overshadow a troubled position as an ethnic minority in a dominant Austrian school context. Being of non-normative body weight on the other hand often hindered children to connect with others and aggravated the participation in in-group activities. The data demonstrate that body weight plays a significant role in negotiating one´s intersectional position within the peer group. Non-normative body weight can thereby be a barrier for children to take part in a learning community. The findings also suggest that a variety of intersections that constitute children´s corporeal experiences within educational contexts are overlooked or insufficiently addressed within educational environments. Conclusion: Given this study´s findings, it is recommended to start incorporating intersectionality as an analytical tool and methodology in health promotion and health education in order to address pupils´ differences and intersections in a valuing non-oppressive way.

Orientador: Ciniro Costa / Coorientador: Kátia de Oliveira / Coorientador: Paulo Roberto de Lima Meirelles / Banca: Marcos Jun Watanabe / Banca: Ricardo Velludo Gomes de Soutello / Resumo: Com o trabalho objetivou-se estudar o efeito da qualidade dos fenos de capim-tifton e alfafa, em dietas isoproteicas e isoenergéticas, sobre a biometria corporal de cavalos. Os tratamentos consistiram de seis dietas constituídas por concentrado e volumoso, na relação 50:50, e o delineamento experimental foi o quadrado latino 6x6 (seis cavalos e seis períodos). Foram utilizados seis equinos machos (1 castrado e 5 garanhões), mestiços, com idade entre 6 e 7 anos e peso corporal médio de 353,8±49,7 kg. O volumoso da dieta foi composto pelas combinações de fenos, em esquema fatorial 2x3, sendo duas forragens (capim-tifton e alfafa) e três tipos de feno (A, B e C). As variáveis mensuradas foram peso corporal (PC), perímetro do abdômen (PA), consumo de água (CA), teor de umidade nas fezes (U), concentração de proteína sérica total (PST), produção fecal (PF), coeficiente de digestibilidade da matéria seca (CDMS) das dietas e teor de fibra em detergente neutro indigestível (FDNi) nas fezes. Houve efeito significativo (P<0,05) para as variáveis PC, PA, U, PF e FDNi para o tipo forrageiro. O grupo de cavalos alimentado com feno de alfafa apresentou menores valores para PC (349,23±39,69 kg), PA (174,27±8,18 cm), U (72,65±0,79%) e PF (2,42±0,10 kg), e maior FDNi (63,19±0,59%). Para ambas as forrageiras, o feno tipo C resultou em maior PF (P=0,0013), e para o feno tipo A foi observado maiores U (P<0,0001) e CDMS (P=0,0061). Foi possível concluir que o feno de alfafa proporcionou redução no PC e PA, que pode ser explicado pela maior digestibilidade verificada para a dieta composta pelo feno da leguminosa, com reflexos sobre a menor retenção de água e a maior quantidade de massa digestível no trato gastrintestinal em relação ao feno de capim -tifton. / Abstract: We aimed, with this research, to study the effect of quality of tifton grass and alfalfa hay, in isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets, on equine corporal biometry. The treatments had six diets consisted of 50% concentrated and 50% forage and the experimental design was the latin square 6x6 (six horses and six periods). It was used six horses (1 gelding and 5 stallions), crossbred, aged between 6 and 7 years and 353.8±49.7 kg of average body weight. The forage diet consisted of combinations of hay in 2x3 factorial, two forage (tifton 85 bermudagrass and alfalfa) and three types of hay (A, B and C). The variables measured in horses were body weight (BW), abdominal circumference (AC), water intake (WI), moisture content in feces (M), total serum protein concentration (TSP), fecal output (FO), dry matter digestibility (DMD) of diets and indigestible neutral detergent fiber content (iNDF) in feces. There was significant effect (P<0.05) for BW, AC, M, FO and iNDF for type of forage. The group of horses fed alfalfa hay presented lower BW (349.23±39.69 kg), AC (174.27±8.18 cm), M (72.65±0.79%) and FO (2.42±0.10 kg), and higher iNDF content (63.19±0.59%). For both forages, hay type C resulted in higher FO (P=0.0013), and for type A was observed higher M (P<0.0001) and DMD (P=0.0061). It was possible to conclude that alfalfa hay provided reduction on BW and AC, which can be explained by higher digestibility checked for diet consisting of leguminous hay, as well as the lower water retention and higher amount of non-digestible mass in gastrintestinal tract in respect to tifton bermudagrass hay / Mestre

Orientador: Otavio Rodrigues Machado Neto / Banca: João Ricardo Rebouças Dorea / Banca: Guilherme Luis Pereira / Resumo: O trabalho foi dividido em dois estudos. No estudo 1, objetivou-se predizer o peso corporal (PC) e o ganho médio diário (GMD) de bovinos Nelore por meio de imagens tridimensionais e comparar quatro modelos de predição: Regressão Linear Múltipla (RLM), Regressão LASSO (LASSO), Partial Least Squares (PLS) e Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Foram coletadas 234 imagens de bovinos Nelore. As coletas de dados foram realizadas em quatro fases da ao longo da vida do animal: Desmame aos 244 dias de idade e 202,3 kg (± 27,1), Recria aos 457 dias de idade e 213,9 kg (± 25,1), Inicio da Terminação aos 590 dias de idade e 334,5 kg (± 29,2) e Final da Terminação aos 763 dias de idade e 449,5 kg (± 47,5). Nas três primeiras fases foram coletadas imagens de 62 bovinos Nelore, enquanto que na última fase apenas 48 imagens foram coletadas. O GMD foi medido: 1: Desmama - Recria, 2: Desmama - Inicio da Terminação, 3: Desmama - Final da Terminação, 4: Recria - Inicio da Terminacao, 5: Recria - Final da Terminação e 6: Inicio da Terminação - Final da Terminação. No estudo 2, quatrocentas e cinquenta imagens de bovinos Nelore foram coletadas em quatro experimentos para predição de PC e peso de carcaça quente (PCQ). Quatro conjuntos experimentais foram considerados: Set 1 inclui os experimentos 1, 2 e 3 para treinamento e experimento 4 para validação; Set 2 inclui os experimentos 1, 2 e 4 para treinamento e experimento 3 para validação; Set 3 inclui os experimentos 1, 3 e 4 para treinamento e exper... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The work was divided in two studies. The objective of this study was to predict the body weight (BW) and the average daily gain (ADG) of Nellore cattle by 3-D images and to compare four prediction models: Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), LASSO Regression, Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). A total of 234 images of bovine Nellore were collected. Data collection was performed in four stages throughout the life of the animal: Weaning at 244 days of age and 202.3 kg (± 27.1), Stocker at 457 days of age and 213.9 kg (± 25.1), Initial of Termination at 590 days of age and 334.5 kg (± 29.2) and Finish of Termination at 763 days of age and 449.5 kg (± 47.5). In the first three phases images of 62 Nellore cattle were collected, while in the last phase only 48 images were collected. The ADG was measured: 1: Weaning - Stocker, 2: Weaning - Initial of Termination, 3: Weaning - Finish of Termination, 4: Stocker - Initial of Termination, 5: Stocker - Finish of Termination and 6: Initial of Termination - Final of Termination. In study 2, four hundred and fifty images of Nellore cattle were collected in four experiments for prediction of BW and hot carcass weight (HCW). Four experimental sets were considered: Set 1 includes experiments 1, 2 and 3 for training and experiment 4 for validation; Set 2 includes experiments 1, 2 and 4 for training and experiment 3 for validation; Set 3 includes experiments 1, 3 and 4 for training and experiment 2 for validation; Set... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

INTRODUÇÃO: Manter hábitos alimentares saudáveis durante a gravidez evita a retenção de peso pós-parto, desfecho que contribui para a elevação da prevalência de obesidade em mulheres. OBJETIVO: Estudar, em coorte de grávidas clientes de serviço público de pré-natal: o consumo alimentar e fatores sócio-econômicos associados; e a influência do consumo alimentar sobre a retenção de peso pós-parto. MÉTODOS: Em estudo de coorte realizado em 5 Unidades Básicas de Saúde do Município de São Paulo, foram acompanhadas 88 gestantes entrevistadas nas consultas de pré-natal e em visita domiciliar 15 dias pós-parto. Para avaliação do consumo alimentar utilizou-se o inquérito Recordatório de 24h, aplicado no 2º trimestre de gestação. Foram calculados o consumo energético e de frutas, verduras e legumes (FLVs), fibras, gordura saturada, açúcar adicionado, alimentos processados e a densidade energética da dieta por meio de tabelas de composição de alimentos. O consumo alimentar foi comparado com as metas de ingestão da OMS. Avaliou-se a retenção de peso pós-parto pela diferença entre a medida de peso 15 dias pós-parto e a realizada no início da gestação. A influência das variáveis sócio-econômicas (renda familiar per capita, escolaridade, estado marital e idade) sobre a adequação do consumo alimentar foi avaliada utilizando-se análise de regressão logística múltipla. Estudou-se a associação entre as variáveis de consumo alimentar (divididas em terços) e a retenção de peso pós-parto mediante análise de regressão linear múltipla. RESULTADOS: Mais de 30 por cento das mulheres apresentaram consumo excessivo de açúcar adicionado e gordura saturada, 64 por cento não atingiram a ingestão mínima de FLVs e nenhuma consumiu a quantidade de fibra alimentar recomendada. O aumento da renda reduziu o Odds Ratio de consumo insuficiente de FLVs (p=0,007). O Odds Ratio de consumo excessivo de açúcar adicionado elevou-se nas mulheres com companheiro (p=0,011) e com maior escolaridade (p=0,008). Maior consumo de gordura saturada elevou a retenção de peso pós-parto de forma estatisticamente significativa no modelo ajustado (p de tendência=0,033). Não foi encontrada relação significativa entre retenção de peso pós-parto e as demais variáveis de consumo alimentar. CONCLUSÃO: O padrão alimentar das gestantes não se mostrou adequado diante as recomendações da OMS, principalmente quanto à ingestão de alimentos saudáveis. O aumento da renda foi um fator de proteção para o consumo inadequado de FLVs na gestação. Houve aumento da retenção de peso pós-parto com a elevação do consumo de gordura saturada nas mulheres estudadas. / Introduction: Healthy food habits during pregnancy prevent postpartum weight retention, which contributes for increasing obesity prevalence among women. Objectives: To study in a cohort of pregnant women: dietary intake and related socioeconomic factors; and the influence of dietary intake on postpartum weight retention. Methods: In this cohort study, 88 pregnant women were interviewed during prenatal appointments in five Primary Units of Public Health and during a domiciliary visit 15 days after delivery, in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. For dietary intake evaluation, the 24-Hour Dietary Recall method was performed at the 2nd trimester of gestation. Energy, fruits and vegetables (FV), dietary fiber, added sugar, processed foods and saturated fat consumption and dietary energy density were calculated using food composition tables and adjusted by energy intake when necessary. Dietary intake variables were compared with WHO recommendations. Postpartum weight retention was calculated by the difference between the weight measured at the beginning of gestation and the same measure 15 days after delivery. The influence of socioeconomic variables (per capita familiar income, education, marital status and age) on dietary intake adequacy was analyzed by multiple logistic regression analysis. The association between dietary intake variables (divided in tertiles) and postpartum weight retention was assessed by multiple linear regression analysis. Results: More than 30 per cent of the women had inadequate added sugar and saturated fat consumption, 64 per cent didnt reach the minimum FV ingestion and none consumed the minimum recommendation for dietary fiber. Income increases reduced the odds ratio for insufficient FV consumption (p=0,007). The odds ratio for excessive added sugar consumption increased among women who lived with a partner (p=0,011) and who had higher educational levels (p=0,008). Postpartum weight retention was significantly higher with elevated ingestion of saturated fat in the adjusted model (p for trend=0,033). No significant relation was found between weight retention and the other dietary indicators. Conclusion: The dietary pattern of the pregnant women assessed in this study was not entirely adequate with regard to WHO recommendations, mainly because of the lack of healthy food ingestion. Income influenced positively the consumption of FV during gestation. Higher consumption of saturated fat increased postpartum weight retention among the studied women.

Research suggests that participation in the School Breakfast Program positively impacts academic success by improving student behavior, cognitive functioning, and attendance. Additionally, the School Breakfast Program appears to improve food insecurity, overall health and weight-related issues. However, compared to the National School Lunch Program, participation in the School Breakfast Program has been historically low, especially at the high school level. Using an integrated composite framework, a combination of social cognitive theory and ecological systems theory, as the conceptual model, this qualitative case study explored factors influencing student breakfast eating and participation in the school's breakfast program within a college-preparatory high school serving culturally diverse, predominantly low-income students. I used an all-staff survey as a qualitative data collection tool, and semi-structured interviews with school staff, student focus groups, and a Draw-A-High-School-Student-Breakfast Test to collect qualitative data. Using thematic networks as an analysis tool, I examined the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of school staff and students about breakfast eating and participation in the school's breakfast program. The study found that communication about the School Breakfast Program, arriving to school in time to eat, and relationships with food service staff, influence participation in the School Breakfast Program. The findings are discussed in terms of their significance on practice and policy within both education and public health sectors. The study concludes with recommendations for future research.

This research was conducted at the La Raya experiment station, Cusco, Peru (4200 m elevation, 15°S latitude, and 70°W longitude) using 60 Corriedale, and 60 Criollo ewes during three consecutive years (April 1981 - March 1984). Age, and weight at puberty, age at physical maturity, and the effects of breed, age (physically immature and mature), year, and month were measured on body weight, incidence of estrus, and incidence and rate of ovulation. There was a significant difference (P.05). Even though Criollo e wes weighed less than Corriedale, they attained puberty earlier, and showed less seasonality in estrus and ovulated throughout the year than the Corriedale.

These experiments used 15 domestic hens to investigate the inferior-good effect, a decrease in consumption of a commodity as income increases. Experiment 1 investigated plain and salted wheat to serve as superior goods (opposite to inferior goods) and inferior goods. Hens consumed mostly plain wheat when given ad-libitum access so it was the intended superior good and salted wheat was the intended inferior good. In the next experiments, 3 s of plain wheat and 10 s of salted wheat were available for single responses on 2 keys during discrete trials. Income changed by changing the inter-trial interval (ITI) of fixed-length sessions or the total number of trials. Experiment 2 partially replicated the Silberberg et al. (1987) procedure, using the ITI income analogue for 6 hens. When income increased, 4 hens sometimes responded less on the salted-wheat key (demonstrating the inferior-good effect), 2 of these hens and a 5th hen sometimes responded more on both keys but proportionally more on the plain-wheat key (termed here as a relative inferior-good effect). Experiment 3a partially replicated the Hastjarjo et al. (1990a) procedure using the total-trials analogue for 7 other hens. The inferior-good effect occurred across some conditions for 2 hens while other hens tended to respond on the plain-wheat key, suggesting lack of contingency contact. When a 60-s ITI was added in Experiment 3b, variability increased for most hens, but only 1 hen showed the effect, 1 of the hens that did so in Experiment 3b. These 6 hens' (1 died) 80% bodyweights were re-assessed in Experiment 4 and hens were below 80% during Experiments 3a and 3b, suggesting that the lack of the inferior-good effect was not due to some hens being at high weights. The ITI analogue was used for these 6 hens in Experiment 5 and the effect occurred for 2 hens. Experiment 6 added forced-choice trials to the total-trials analogue (with 60-s ITI) to guarantee contingency contact. The inferior- and/or relative-inferior-good effect occurred for 3 hens. Across Experiments 2 through 6, body weights were usually heavier in high-income conditions and a within-session pattern of early-salted-late-plain responding occasionally occurred. Crop capacities of 5 Experiment-2 hens and a new hen (1 died) were assessed in Experiment 7 and there was no relation between this measure and inferior-or relative-inferior-good effects. Experiments 8 and 9 examined effects of pre- and post-feed in low-income conditions using the ITI analogue. When hens were pre-fed, responding for 5 of 7 hens resembled responding in high-income conditions of Experiment 2 with more plain-wheat responding and similar or less salted-wheat responding in some conditions (behaviour similar to the inferior- and relative-inferior-good effects, but without the income change). A similar pattern was found for 4 of 5 hens when hens were post-fed in Experiment 9, suggesting that food in the digestive tract may have played a role, and perhaps not the income manipulations themselves, where it (or other component of body weight) may have abolished quantity (i.e., the intended-inferior-good) as a reinforcer. Although these experiments occasionally demonstrated inferior- and relative-inferior-good effects, but less convincingly than published studies, the effects of income may have been non-specific. The usefulness of the inferior-good concept and other income-related economic concepts are thus challenged.

Childhood overweight and obesity is a significant and increasing health problem both nationally and globally. Yet few interventions for preventing obesity have been successful, particularly in the long-term, suggesting that important factors are being overlooked. The aims of this thesis were to investigate (a) the prevalence of childhood overweight, obesity, and binge eating; and (b) the relationships between body weight, binge eating behaviour, and a set of physical, psychological, and psychosocial variables including parent body size, body dissatisfaction, size-related teasing experiences, internalisation of sociocultural messages, depression, dieting attitudes and behaviour, and emotional eating. Participants were 569 grade five and six primary school children (272 boys and 297 girls) from Catholic and Government schools across metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Almost 25% of participants were classified as overweight or obese. Thirteen percent of participants reported engaging in overeating (with or without loss of control), 14% reported loss of control (with or without overeating), and 6% reported engaging in binge eating (overeating and loss of control). Structural equation modelling analyses found that body weight and binge eating were indirectly related. Body weight was directly and positively associated with parent body size, size-related teasing experiences, body dissatisfaction, and internalisation of sociocultural messages, negatively associated with emotional eating, and indirectly associated with depression, and dieting attitudes and behaviour. Binge eating was directly and positively related to parent body size, emotional eating, depression, and body dissatisfaction, while indirect associations were found with size-related teasing experiences, internalisation of sociocultural messages, and dieting attitudes and behaviour. A direct relationship between body dissatisfaction and loss of control was also found. Some gender differences were detected. Multivariate analysis of variance also revealed that binge eaters scored significantly higher on measures of depression, size-related teasing experiences, internalisation of sociocultural messages, and angry and worried related emotional eating than non-binge eaters. Differences were also found for participants reporting the presence or absence of overeating (regardless of loss of control) and loss of control (regardless of overeating). Overall, the study demonstrated that psychological and psychosocial factors have a significant association with both weight and binge eating behaviour in a non-clinical sample of preadolescent Australian school children. As such, future intervention programs may benefit by addressing these factors. In addition, these results support the idea of working toward the prevention of obesity and eating disorders simultaneously in children, and of extending research in this area to examine causality.

Objective: To explore the informational and behavioural factors, that affect women’s participation in physical activity (PA) and body weight changes during perimenopause. Methods: An environmental scan of online health websites to determine availability and quality of information for women about body weight changes during transition to menopause. An interpretive descriptive qualitative study of women age 40 – 60 to explore factors influencing their PA. Descriptive and inductive qualitative analysis were used. Results: Six of 52 websites (11.5%) contained information specific to perimenopausal women, with one site citing evidence. For 26 women interviewed, the most common enabling factors were daily structure, positive feelings, and accountability; while common barriers were disruptions in daily structure, competing demands, and self - sacrifice. Conclusions: There is a lack of information regarding body weight changes for perimenopausal women. Perimenopausal women attribute their PA participation to psychosocial factors, and not the physiology of menopause.