To investigate the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and risk of incident diabetes in Hong Kong Chinese, after accounting for the effect of multiple bone- and mineral-related markers.

We conducted a retrospective study on the Hong Kong Osteoporosis Study cohort. Incident diabetes was ascertained using electronic medical records. Serum 25(OH)D was measured at baseline and its association with incident diabetes was evaluated using multivariable Cox proportional-hazard regression.

Individuals (n 4342) aged 20 years or above (1395 men, 2947 women; mean age 54·3 (sd 16·5) years) from the Hong Kong Osteoporosis Study, who were free of diabetes at baseline, were included.

During 40 124·7 person-years of follow-up (a median of 9·2 years), 443 participants developed diabetes. Mean 25(OH)D was 63·34 (sd 13·07) nmol/l. Age-, sex- and BMI-adjusted Cox proportional-hazard regression showed no significant difference in the risk of incident diabetes between the lowest and the highest quintiles of 25(OH)D. In the analysis of the interaction effect between 25(OH)D and serum Ca, the interaction term did not affect the risk of incident diabetes significantly (P = 0·694). Similarly, there was no significant interaction of different subgroups (age, sex, BMI, femoral-neck T-score, serum Ca levels) with serum 25(OH)D.

The present study finds that serum vitamin D level is not associated with the risk of incident diabetes in Hong Kong Chinese and this relationship is not modified by serum Ca level.

To evaluate the Canadian Diet History Questionnaire I (C-DHQ I) food list and to adapt the US DHQ II for Canada using Canadian dietary survey data.

Twenty-four-hour dietary recalls reported by adults in a national Canadian survey were analysed to create a food list corresponding to C-DHQ I food questions. The percentage contribution of the food list to the total survey intake of seventeen nutrients was used as the criterion to evaluate the suitability of the C-DHQ I to capture food intake in Canadian populations. The data were also analysed to identify foods and to modify portion sizes for the C-DHQ II.

The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) – Cycle 2.2 Nutrition (2004).

Adults (n 20 159) who completed 24 h dietary recalls during in-person interviews.

Four thousand five hundred and thirty-three foods and recipes were grouped into 268 Food Groups, of which 212 corresponded to questions on the C-DHQ I. Nutrient intakes captured by the C-DHQ I ranged from 79 % for fat to 100 % for alcohol. For the new C-DHQ II, some food questions were retained from the original US DHQ II while others were added based on foods reported in CCHS and foods available on the Canadian market since 2004. Of 153 questions, 143 were associated with portion sizes of which fifty-three were modified from US values. Sex-specific nutrient profiles for the C-DHQ II nutrient database were derived using CCHS data.

The C-DHQ I and II are designed to optimize the capture of foods consumed by Canadian populations.

Despite the considerable physical, emotional and social change that occurs during emerging adulthood, there is little research that examines the association between having a chronic health condition and mental disorder during this developmental period. The aims of this study were to examine the sex-specific prevalence of lifetime mental disorder in an epidemiological sample of emerging adults aged 15–30 years with and without chronic health conditions; quantify the association between chronic health conditions and mental disorder, adjusting for sociodemographic and health factors; and, examine potential moderating and mediating effects of sex, level of disability and pain.

Data come from the Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health. Respondents were 15–30 years of age (n = 5947) and self-reported whether they had a chronic health condition. Chronic health conditions were classified as: respiratory, musculoskeletal/connective tissue, cardiovascular, neurological and endocrine/digestive. The World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview 3.0 was used to assess the presence of mental disorder (major depressive disorder, suicidal behaviour, bipolar disorder and generalised anxiety disorder).

Lifetime prevalence of mental disorder was significantly higher for individuals with chronic health conditions compared with healthy controls. Substantial heterogeneity in the prevalence of mental disorder was found in males, but not in females. Logistic regression models adjusting for several sociodemographic and health factors showed that the individuals with chronic health conditions were at elevated risk for mental disorder. There was no evidence that the level of disability or pain moderated the associations between chronic health conditions and mental disorder. Sex was found to moderate the association between musculoskeletal/connective tissue conditions and bipolar disorder (β = 1.71, p = 0.002). Exploratory analyses suggest that the levels of disability and pain mediate the association between chronic health conditions and mental disorder.

Physical and mental comorbidity is prevalent among emerging adults and this relationship is not augmented, but may be mediated, by the level of disability or pain. Findings point to the integration and coordination of public sectors – health, education and social services – to facilitate the prevention and reduction of mental disorder among emerging adults with chronic health conditions.

Accumulating evidence links childhood adversity to negative health outcomes in adulthood. However, most of the available evidence is retrospective and subject to recall bias. Published reports have sometimes focused on specific childhood exposures (e.g. abuse) and/or specific outcomes (e.g. major depression). Other studies have linked childhood adversity to a large and diverse number of adult risk factors and health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease. To advance this literature, we undertook a broad examination of data from two linked surveys. The goal was to avoid retrospective distortion and to provide a descriptive overview of patterns of association.

A baseline interview for the Canadian National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth collected information about childhood adversities affecting children aged 0–11 in 1994. The sampling procedures employed in a subsequent study called the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) made it possible to link n = 1977 of these respondents to follow-up data collected later when respondents were between the ages of 14 and 27. Outcomes included major depressive episodes (MDE), some risk factors and educational attainment. Cross-tabulations were used to examine these associations and adjusted estimates were made using the regression models. As the NPHS was a longitudinal study with multiple interviews, for most analyses generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used. As there were multiple exposures and outcomes, a statistical procedure to control the false discovery rate (Benjamini–Hochberg) was employed.

Childhood adversities were consistently associated with a cluster of potentially related outcomes: MDE, psychotropic medication use and smoking. These outcomes may be related to one another since psychotropic medications are used in the treatment of major depression, and smoking is strongly associated with major depression. However, no consistent associations were observed for other outcomes examined: physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption, binge drinking or educational attainment.

The conditions found to be the most strongly associated with childhood adversities were a cluster of outcomes that potentially share pathophysiological connections. Although prior literature has suggested that a very large number of adult outcomes, including physical inactivity and alcohol-related outcomes follow childhood adversity, this analysis suggests a degree of specificity with outcomes potentially related to depression. Some of the other reported adverse outcomes (e.g. those related to alcohol use, physical inactivity or more distal outcomes such as obesity and cardiovascular disease) may emerge later in life and in some cases may be secondary to depression, psychotropic medication use and smoking.

Considerable evidence now links childhood adversity to a variety of adult health problems. Unfortunately, almost all of these studies have relied upon retrospective assessment of childhood events, creating a vulnerability to bias. In this study, we sought to examine three associations using data sources that allowed for both prospective and retrospective assessment of childhood events.

Methods. A 1994 national survey of children between the ages of 0 and 11 collected data from a ‘person most knowledgeable’ (usually the mother) about a child. It was possible to link data for n = 1977 of these respondents to data collected from the same people in a subsequent adult study. The latter survey included retrospective reports of childhood adversity. We examined three adult health outcomes in relation to prospectively and retrospectively assessed childhood adversity: major depressive episodes, excessive alcohol consumption and painful conditions.

Results. A strong association between childhood adversities (as assessed by both retrospective and prospective methods) and major depression was identified although the association with retrospective assessment was stronger. Weaker associations were found for painful conditions, but these did not depend on the method of assessment. Associations were not found for excessive alcohol consumption irrespective of the method of assessment.

These findings help to allay concerns that associations between childhood adversities and health outcomes during adulthood are merely artefacts of recall bias. In this study, retrospective and prospective assessment strategies produced similar results.

Due to rising rates of obesity globally, the present study aimed to examine differences in overweight and underweight prevalence in Western Australian schoolchildren in 2008 compared with 2003.

Cross-sectional study at two time points; using two-stage stratified sampling, primary and secondary schools in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan Western Australia; sample selected was representative of the State's population figures.

Seventeen primary and thirteen secondary (2008) and nineteen primary and seventeen secondary (2003) schools. Government and non-government funded schools in metropolitan and non-metropolitan (regional/rural) Western Australia were recruited.

Height and weight were measured for 1708 (961 primary and 747 secondary) students in 2008 and 1694 (876 primary and 817 secondary) students in 2003.

Overweight and obesity prevalence in primary students was similar in 2008 (22·9 %) to 2003 (23·2 %; P > 0·05). In secondary girls overweight and obesity prevalence dropped from 23·1 % (2003) to 15·9 % (2008; P = 0·002). Secondary boys showed a slight decrease in overweight and obesity prevalence; however, this was not statistically significant (P = 0·102). Higher proportions of underweight in primary girls were observed in 2008 (9·9 %) compared with 2003 (4·2 %; P < 0·001) and in secondary girls in 2008 (9·4 %) compared with 2003 (5·5 %; P < 0·001).

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Western Australian primary students was stable; however, it declined in secondary students. Both primary and secondary girls showed an increase in underweight prevalence. Public health interventions are needed for the high percentage of youth still overweight, whereas the observed increase in underweight girls warrants attention and further investigation.

Several aspects of the diet characteristic of the Mediterranean countries are considered favourable not only on cardiovascular disease, but also on cancer risk. We considered some aspects of the Mediterranean diet (including, in particular, the consumption of olive oil and carbohydrates) on cancer risk.

Data were derived from a series of case-control studies, conducted in Italy since the early 1990s, on over 10 000 cases of thirteen cancer sites and over 17 000 controls.

Olive oil, and other mono- and unsaturated fats, appear to be favourable indicators of breast, ovarian, colorectal, but mostly of upper aero-digestive tract cancers. Whole grain foods are also related to reduced risk of upper aero-digestive tract and various other cancers. In contrast, refined grain intake and, consequently, glycaemic index and glycaemic load were associated to increased risk for several cancer sites. Fish, and hence a diet rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, tended to be another favourable diet indicator, while frequent red meat intake was directly related to some common neoplasms. An a priori defined Mediterranean diet score was inversely related to upper digestive and respiratory tract cancers.

These data provide additional evidence that major characteristics of the Mediterranean diet favourably affect cancer risk.