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R Sichieri

Publications and source records attributed to R Sichieri.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

n-6 and n-3 Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in the erythrocyte membrane of Brazilian preterm and term neonates and their mothers at delivery.

Placental transfer of the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) arachidonic (AA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids is selectively high to maintain accretion to fetal tissues, especially the brain. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the essential fatty acid (EFA) and LCPUFA status at birth of preterm and term Brazilian infants and their mothers, from a population of characteristically low intake of n-3 LCPUFA, and to evaluate the association between fetal and maternal status, by the determination of the fatty acid composition of the erythrocyte membrane. Blood samples from umbilical cord of preterm (26-36 weeks of gestation; n = 30) and term (37-42 weeks of gestation; n = 30) infants and the corresponding maternal venous blood were collected at delivery. The LCPUFA composition of the erythrocyte membrane and DHA status were similar for mothers of preterm and term infants. Neonatal AA was higher (P < 0.01) whereas its precursor 18:2n-6 was lower (P < 0.01) than maternal levels, as expected. There was no difference in LCPUFA erythrocyte composition between preterm and term infants, except for DHA. Term infants presented a worse DHA status than preterm infants (P < 0.01) and than their mothers (P < 0.01) at delivery. There was a negative correlation of neonatal DHA with maternal AA and a positive correlation between neonatal AA and maternal AA and 18:2n-6 only at term. These results suggest that the persistent low DHA maternal status, together with the comparatively better AA and 18:2n-6 status, might have affected maternal-fetal transfer of DHA when gestation was completed up to term, and possibly contributed to the worse DHA status of term neonates compared with the preterm neonates.

Brazil↗
PubMed2004

[Nutritional status of children and occupational categories of the family in a rural community of Paraná, Brazil].

The relationship between the occupational category of the family and the nutritional status of children was studied. Participants were 340 children up to 11 years of age, living in a small town of a rural area in Paraná, Brazil. The nutritional status of the children, as measured in 1983, was related to the principal occupational categories of the family in the period 1972- 1983. Occupation of the family was categorized as: migrant farmworkers (bóias-frias) throughout the entire period; renters or sharecroppers that were converted to migrant farmworkers; those who never worked as migrant farmworkers; and salaried urban workers that were converted to migrant farmworkers. Other variables included age and sex of the children, condition of birth (home or hospital), number of children up to 11 years of age in the family, birthweight and school enrollment of the children 5 years old or over. The prevalence of wasting was greatest among children belonging to salaried urban workers that were converted to migrant farmworkers. In contrast, this category showed the lowest prevalence of stunting. Compared with migrant farmworkers during the entire period, the odds ratio of wasting in this category was 2.7 with a 95% confidence interval of 1.3-5.7. Wasting and stunting were also independently associated with the number of children (p<0.05). The larger the family, the lower the risk of wasting, whereas for stunting, the larger the family, the higher the risk. These findings suggest an important role for the occupational category in the determination of the nutritional status in children and indicate that wasting and stunting may have differential risk factors.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2004

[Not Available].

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Comment↗
PubMed2004

Waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio as predictors of serum concentration of lipids in Brazilian men.

OBJECTIVE: It is unknown whether waist circumference can predict a lipid profile beyond that predicted by body fatness alone, after adjustment for important confounding variables such as smoking, alcohol intake, and physical activity. The purpose of this non-clinical, healthy-subject study was to test this hypothesis. METHODS: Data refer to 416 men, ages 20 to 58 y with a body mass index between 18.5 and 29.9 kg/m(2), who were blood donors living in a Brazilian city. Alcohol consumption, smoking, and physical activity were evaluated by interview; body fat was measured by electrical bioimpedance, and weight, height, and waist and hip circumferences were measured by trained anthropometrists. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to quantify the association between measurements of fat distribution (waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio) and the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triacylglycerols independently of measurements of fatness and potentially confounding factors. RESULTS: Waist circumference was strongly correlated with percentage of body fat (r = 0.90), whereas waist-to-hip ratio was less correlated (r = 0.55). After adjustment for age, percentage of body fat, smoking, alcohol intake, and physical activity, waist circumference was not significantly related to the ratio of total cholesterol high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, whereas the waist-to-hip ratio was strongly associated among the youngest subjects (beta = 3.51, P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Although several studies have analyzed the association between serum lipids with anthropometric markers, few, including the present one, support waist circumference as a good predictor of lipid profile.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Combined effect of short stature and socioeconomic status on body mass index and weight gain during reproductive age in Brazilian women.

Short stature, a marker for undernutrition early in life, has been associated with obesity in Brazilian women, but not in men. We tested the hypothesis that weight gain during the reproductive years could explain this gender difference. A national two-stage household survey of mothers with one or more children under five years of age was conducted in Brazil in 1996. The subjects were women aged 20 to 45 years (N = 2297), with last delivery seven months or more prior to the interview. The regions of the country were divided into rural, North/Northeast (urban underdeveloped) and South/Southeast/Midwest (urban developed). The dependent variables were current body mass index (BMI) measured, BMI prior to childbearing (reported), and BMI change. Socioeconomic variables included mother's years of education and family purchasing power score. A secondary analysis was restricted to primiparous women. The prevalence of current overweight and overweight prior to childbearing (BMI > or = 25 kg/m2) was higher among shorter women (<1.50 m) compared to normal stature women only in the urban developed region (P < 0.05). After adjustment for socioeconomic variables, age, parity, BMI prior to childbearing, and age at first birth, current BMI was 2.39 units higher (P = 0.008) for short stature women living in the urban developed area compared with short stature women living in the urban underdeveloped area. For both multiparous and primiparous women, BMI gain compared to the value prior to childbearing was significantly higher among short stature women living in the urban developed region (P <= 0.04). These results provide clear evidence that short stature was associated with a higher BMI and with an increased risk of weight gain/retention with pregnancy in the developed areas of Brazil, but not in the underdeveloped ones.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Prospective assessment of exclusive breastfeeding in relation to weight change in women.

OBJECTIVE: To study prospectively the relation of parity, prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), and exclusive breastfeeding to weight gain. DESIGN: The cohort of the Nurse's Health Study II, with analysis restricted to women who were aged 24 to 40 y at baseline (1989), who had a history of no more than one past full-term pregnancy at baseline, gave birth to one child between 1990 and 1991, but had no other pregnancies during the follow-up. SUBJECTS: 1538 of the 33 082 nulliparous women and 2810 of the 20 261 primiparous, in 1989. MEASUREMENTS: Introduction of daily formula/milk was assumed to represent the end of exclusive breastfeeding period. Duration of exclusive breastfeeding was categorized into 0, 1-3, 4-7, 8-11, and 12 months or more. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, physical activity, and BMI in 1989, lactation was associated with a weight gain from 1989 to 1993 of approximately 1 kg (statistically significant only for women nulliparous in 1989 with a BMI <25 kg/m(2) (P=0.02) and for those women primiparous in 1989, with a BMI >/=25 kg/m(2) (P=0.04)) comparing women who breastfed with women who did not, and duration of lactation was unrelated to the magnitude of weight change (P>0.40 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: Although promotion of breastfeeding has high priority because of its enormous advantages for a newborn child, the associated maternal weight reduction is minimal. Dietary guidelines for pregnant and breastfeeding women should include ways to prevent weight retention after parity.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Validation and calibration of mercury intake through self-referred fish consumption in riverine populations in Pantanal Mato-grossense, Brazil.

The objective of most epidemiological studies is to classify/rank people according to their relative quantity of consumption. In the specific case of quantifying fish consumption, in order to assess mercury intake rate, the method used must estimate the individual quantity consumed accurately, or from the self-referred quantity it must be possible to estimate the real consumption-termed calibration. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate and calibrate the 24-h recall method for assessing the amount of fish consumed to estimate the mercury intake in riverine populations from Baixada Cuiabana, in Pantanal Mato-grossense, Brazil. The weighed dietary method was used as the reference standard, and the validity of the 24-h recall method was assessed using correlation coefficients (r), regression coefficients (beta), and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The results showed that the ICC, which assesses the agreement level between measures, was a more adequate measure than the correlation coefficient (r). Therefore, the calibration equation was calculated applying a multiple linear regression model using the consumption mean of the second and third days, which presented the highest ICC, stratified by sex and adjusted by age and season variables.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Obesity and weight change related to parity and breast-feeding among parous women in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: Studies on the independent role of parity in long-term body weight change in economically developing countries are scarce and inconclusive, and only a few studies have taken into account patterns of breast-feeding. This association was examined in a national cross-sectional survey representative of Brazilian parous women. DESIGN AND SETTING: The survey conducted in 1996 measured women's height and weight in the household and data on weight prior to the first pregnancy, parity and breast-feeding were recalled. SUBJECTS: A sample of 2338 parous women, 15 to 49 years of age, 29 months after last delivery on average, had current body mass index (BMI, in kg m(-2)) modelled through hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis. Explanatory variables included parity, days of predominant breast-feeding, BMI pre-pregnancy, socio-economic, geographic, demographic and other reproductive variables. RESULTS: Prevalences of overweight (BMI = 25.0-29.9 kg m(-2)) and obesity (BMI > or = 30.0 kg m(-2)) were 25.2% and 9.3%. The overall mean weight gain per year after the first pregnancy was 0.90 kg for an average time since first pregnancy of eight years. BMI pre-pregnancy modified the association between current BMI and parity. Therefore, weight change attributed to parity calculated for a woman of average height (1.56 m) was 0.60 kg greater for primiparous women with a BMI pre-pregnancy of 30 kg m(-2), compared with women with BMI pre-pregnancy of 25 kg m(-2). This greater weight retention among obese women was 1.21 kg for women with two children and 1.82 kg for women with three or more children. Parity reduced the effect of weight loss associated with lactation (1.75 kg for six months of lactation among primiparous women and 0.87 kg among women with three or more children). For the sub-sample of 793 primiparous women, a weight decrease of 300 g was associated with each month of predominant breast-feeding for all prior BMI levels. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, weight change associated to reproduction was highly dependent on BMI previous to pregnancy and the effects of parity and lactation were small.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Food consumption of adolescents. A simplified questionnaire for evaluating cardiovascular risk.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a simplified questionnaire for self-evaluation by adolescents of foods associated with the risk of coronary diseases. METHODS: Frequency questionnaires about 80 foods were answered by representative samples of 256 adolescents aged 12 to 19 from Rio de Janeiro as part of the Nutrition and Health Research project. The dependent variable was the serum cholesterol predicting equation as influenced by diet, and the independent variables were the foods. The variables were normalized and, using Pearson's correlation coefficient, those with r>0.10 were selected for the regression model. The model was analyzed for sex, age, random sample, and total calories. Those food products that explained 85% of the cholesterol variation equation were present in the caloric model, and contained trans fatty acids were selected for the questionnaire. RESULTS: Sixty-five food products had a statistically significant correlation (P<0.001) with the dependent variable. The simplified questionnaire included 9 food products present in all tested models: steak or broiled meat, hamburger, full-fat cheese, French fries or potato chips, whole milk, pies or cakes, cookies, sausages, butter or margarine. The limit of the added food points for self-evaluation was 100, and over 120 points was considered excessive. CONCLUSION: The scores given to the food products and the criteria for the evaluation of the consumption limits enabled the adolescents to get to know and to balance their intake.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Height, weight, weight change and risk of breast cancer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

CONTEXT: The relationship between body size and breast cancer still remains controversial in considering menopausal status. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of height, weight and weight changes with breast cancer in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: National Cancer Institute (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). SAMPLE: 177 incident cases of invasive breast cancer admitted to the main hospital of INCA between May 1995 and February 1996, and 377 controls recruited from among female visitors to the same hospital. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Height and weight were measured and information on maximum weight, weight at ages 18 and 30 years, and potential risk factors were ascertained by interview at the hospital. RESULTS: Height was not related to risk of breast cancer among both pre and postmenopausal women. Nevertheless, women in this study were shorter than in studies that have found a positive association. Premenopausal women in the upper quartile of recent body mass index (BMI) and maximum BMI showed a reduced risk of breast cancer (P for trend < or = 0.03). Weight loss between ages 18 and 30 years and from 18 years to present was also associated with breast cancer among premenopausal women. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may merely indicate the known association between leanness and breast cancer. Further studies should explore the role of weight loss on breast cancer risk.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

High prevalence of hypertension among Black and Mulatto women in a Brazilian survey.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Brazil has a high admixture of Blacks and Whites, making it possible to compare the prevalence of hypertension among Blacks, Whites, and Mulattos. DESIGN: A population-based health and nutrition survey was carried out in 1996 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Blood pressure, weight, height, food frequency information, and skin color were obtained from a sample of 2,802 private household residents aged 20 years or older. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure >140 mm Hg and/or diastolic pressure >90 mm Hg or the use of antihypertensive medication. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension among men was 12.0% among Whites, 13.8% among Mulattos, and 14.4% for Blacks. For women, these prevalences were 12.0%, 16.4%, and 20.2%, respectively. After adjustment for age, calcium and salt intake, physical activity level, body mass index, and waist-hip ratio, we observed (among women only) a trend toward increasing prevalence of hypertension with increasing skin darkness. The adjusted odds ratio of hypertension was 1.52 for Mulatto women compared to Whites and 2.27 for Blacks compared to Whites (P<.05). With further adjustment for income, the odds ratios were reduced to 1.30 (95% CI 0.86-1.95) and 1.75 (95% CI 1.04-2.94). CONCLUSIONS: Black women showed increased risk of hypertension independent of socioeconomic factors or overweight status.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Influence of parental height and sociodemographic factors on adolescent height in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the influence of parental stature and environmental factors on the stature of adolescents from a national survey sample. METHODS: A nationwide survey was carried out in 1989 among a stratified, two-stage, probability cluster sample of 14,455 Brazilian households to provide estimates of anthropometric deficits for urban and rural populations from the five regions of the country. Stature was measured for 5681 boys and girls age 14-18 years, 78.9% of their fathers, and 93.8% of their mothers. Associations between explanatory variables and adolescent height in centimeters were assessed by fitting multiple linear models to the data. RESULTS: The predicted effects of parental stature and environmental conditions together sum to a total of 17 cm when comparing a boy born to parents with stature below the median and living in the underdeveloped rural Northeast region (1.56 m) with one born to parents with stature above the median and living in the partially industrialized urban South region (1.73 m). For girls, this estimated difference was 12 cm. For boys, the overall influence of parents' stature was 10 cm (R(2)= 0.40) and the sociodemographic factors had an overall influence of 7 cm (R(2) = 0.29). For girls, these values were 7 cm (R(2)= 0.35) for the parental influence and 5 cm (R(2) = 0.11) for the sociodemographic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Mother's stature had the same influence on adolescent's stature as father's stature. Independent of parental stature, environmental factors have a strong influence on adolescent stature, particularly among boys.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Short stature and hypertension in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: Stature is a powerful indicator of poor nutrition early in life in nations where undernutrition is a public health problem. Hypertension in adults has been associated with factors present early in life such as low birth weight. We tested the hypothesis that short stature is associated with hypertension among adults. DESIGN AND SETTING: A household survey of representative adults in Rio de Janeiro city, Brazil was carried out in 1996. SUBJECTS: Blood pressure and anthropometric measures were collected from 2802 adults in their own households. Prevalence estimates and modelling incorporated the sample design and weights. RESULTS: Age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension for both sexes was lower in the third quartile of stature distribution. In women, but not in men, the odds ratio comparing the first quartile of stature with the fourth quartile was statistically significant with an odds ratio of 1.68 (95%CI 1.02-2.76). Adjusting for known risk factors for hypertension such as age, income, smoking, sodium and alcohol intake and race, the association among women, comparing the first with the fourth quartile for stature, was 1.84 (95%CI 1.03-3.30). With further adjustment for residual of weight on height the ratio reduced to 1.76 (95% CI 0.97-3.19, P value of trend = 0.03). Systolic blood pressure showed a U-shaped association with quartiles of stature, mainly among women, with a beta-coefficient significantly lower at the third quartile. CONCLUSIONS: This association of stature with hypertension supports the theory of an important ontogenetic dependence of adult blood pressure, at least among women.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Obesity and abdominal fatness associated with undernutrition early in life in a survey in Rio de Janeiro.

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition early in life has been associated with chronic diseases and obesity among adults. Our study tested the hypothesis by examining the association between low stature, a marker of early poor nutrition, with obesity and abdominal fatness among adults. METHODS: A population-based survey was conducted in 1996, among 2040 households, with a non-response rate of 11.2%. Weight, height, waist and hip circumference, and skinfolds were measured at home. RESULTS: Age-adjusted prevalence of body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 kg/m2 was 32% more frequent among adult men, and 60% more frequent among adult women, comparing the first to the fourth quintile of height. A J-shaped curve describes the association between weight and the sum of skinfolds with stature after adjusting for confounding by age, energy intake, physical activity, smoking, age at menarche, and race. The adjusted odds ratio of obesity (BMI>30 kg/m2) for short stature, compared to normal stature, was 1.57 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.90-2.71 among men and 1.84 with a 95% CI=1.10-3.06 among women. Short stature was associated with the risk of abdominal fatness only among women, with an odds ratio=1.77; 95% CI=1.10-2.83. CONCLUSIONS: Increased risk of obesity and abdominal fatness among women of short stature, a marker for undernutrition early in life, was not explained by racial and socio-economic conditions, energy intake or age at menarche.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1998

[Factors associated with obesity among adolescents].

INTRODUCTION: Obesity during adolescence is considered a strong predictor of adult obesity. The present study assessed the overweight/obesity prevalence and associated factors in middle class adolescents of a school in the city of Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and evaluated the correlation between body mass index with anthropometric measures of fatness. METHOD: The analysis covered 391 students aged from 15 to 17 years. Adolescents had their weight, height, skinfold thickness and upper arm circumference measured at school. A food frequency questionnaire (list of 79 items) and a questionnaire including food habits, parents anthropometric characteristics, physical activity and other factors associated with obesity were filled out by the adolescents at school. RESULTS: The proportion of overweight individuals among boys (Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than the 90th percentile of the Brazilian population) was 23.9%, whereas the prevalence among girls was 7.2%. The fact of being on a slimming diet was a relevant factor for the prediction of BMI and was 7 times more frequent among girls than among boys. Among boys, being on a diet, absence of breakfast, and family body appearance were positively associated with BMI. Among girls these variables were also significantly associated, whereas age at menarche was negatively associated with BMI. Hours of watching TV/video/video-game was associated with BMI only among boys. The correlation coefficient between BMI and measures of fatness varied from 0.7 to 0.9 for boys, and from 0.8 to 0.90 for girls. CONCLUSIONS: BMI appears to be a good indicator of obesity among adolescents and showed that girls demonstrated an exaggerated preoccupation with body image and stereotyped slim body patterns.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

The lack of selection bias in a snowball sampled case-control study on drug abuse.

BACKGROUND: Friend controls in matched case-control studies can be a potential source of bias based on the assumption that friends are more likely to share exposure factors. This study evaluates the role of selection bias in a case-control study that used the snowball sampling method based on friendship for the selection of cases and controls. METHODS: The cases selected fro the study were drug abusers located in the community. Exposure was defined by the presence of at least one psychiatric diagnosis. Psychiatric and drug abuse/dependence diagnoses were made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R) criteria. Cases and controls were matched on sex, age and friendship. The measurement of selection bias was made through the comparison of the proportion of exposed controls selected by exposed cases (p1) with the proportion of exposed controls selected by unexposed cases (p2). If p1 = p2 then, selection bias should not occur. RESULTS: The observed distribution of the 185 matched pairs having at least one psychiatric disorder showed a p1 value of 0.52 and a p2 value of 0.51, indicating no selection bias in this study. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the idea that the use of friend controls can produce a valid basis for a case-control study.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Diet and mortality from common cancers in Brazil: an ecological study.

A prospective ecological evaluation of mortality from common malignancies with dietary risk factors and alcohol consumption was carried out among 10 state capitals of Brazil. Regression analysis was used to examine the association of dietary intake with mortality rates of the most common cancers among adults age 30 years and older. Age-adjusted cancer mortality rates varied 2.4 to 3.3 fold across the state capitals. A positive relationship was observed between energy intake and colon, lung, and esophageal cancer (p</=0.02 for each). Colon cancer mortality was positively associated with consumption of total fat, eggs, alcohol, mate tea, cereals, and vegetables (p</=0.01). Lung cancer was positively associated with mate and cereal intake (p<0.05). Stomach cancer was associated with consumption of eggs (p=0.04); and negatively associated with consumption of high fiber foods, fruits, and vitamin A and C (p</=0.05). Esophageal cancer was positively associated with fat intake, mate and cereals (p</=0.05) and negatively associated with vitamin A (p=0.02); prostate cancer was negatively associated with vitamin C (p=0.007). Breast cancer was not associated with any of the factors studied. The marked variation in cancer mortality rates in Brazil may be partially related to the high variation in dietary components or other diet associated factors.

Journal Article↗