133 research outputs found
Child Homicide: A Global Public Health Concern.
No full textIn this perspective, Delan Devakumar and David Osrin discuss Abrahams and colleagues' findings in the context of evidence about child homicide in different countries, and consider etiology along with implications for child protection and prevention
sj-docx-1-aph-10.1177_10105395231151730 – Supplemental material for The Long-Term Consequences of Early Life Exposure to Tsunami and Conflict on Adolescents in Sri Lanka
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-1-aph-10.1177_10105395231151730 for The Long-Term Consequences of Early Life Exposure to Tsunami and Conflict on Adolescents in Sri Lanka by Delan Devakumar, Laura Busert, Manoji Gitanjali Sathiadas, Pushpika Jayawardana, Angela Arulpragasam, Clive Osmond, Caroline H. D. Fall, Jonathan C. K. Wells and V. Pujitha Wickramasinghe in Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health</p
The long-term consequences of early life exposure to tsunami and conflict on adolescents in Sri Lanka
No full textThe consequences for adolescent health due to early life exposure to natural disasters combined with war are not known. We collected data from adolescents aged 12-13 years in Sri Lanka whose mothers were pregnant during the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 in a tsunami-affected region (n = 22), conflict-affected region (n = 35), conflict-plus-tsunami-affected region (n = 29), or controls in areas unaffected by either (n = 24). Adjusted body mass index (BMI)-for-age z-scores were 1.3, 1.0 and 2.0 for conflict, tsunami, and conflict-plus-tsunami, respectively, compared with the control group. Greater skinfold thickness and higher diastolic blood pressure were found in adolescents born in the conflict zone but no differences were found in height, head circumference, and waist circumference, or blood results, with the exception of serum insulin. Being born after a natural disaster or during conflict was associated with increased BMI and body fat during adolescent, which are associated with longer-term risk of noncommunicable disease.</p
Social determinants of child health
No full textThis chapter reviews differences with respect to health outcomes within and between countries, and the role of family, household, community and societal conditions, or the ‘social determinants of health’ (SDH) in shaping these outcomes. The pathways from before birth, through the early childhood years, to adolescence and adult health are explored, in particular looking at relationships between health and wealth, as manifested through a range of social, economic and political factors. The fact that national wealth is more reliably associated with better child health where adequate resources are channelled into public and social goods – clean water and sanitation, education, basic health care, social protection – is emphasised. National, and increasingly global, influences on countries’ ability to raise domestic revenue and finance public services are considered, including aid, trade and the international and multilateral systems. While social determinants of health account for a very substantial proportion of child health outcomes in countries at all levels of economic development, there is a trend for research influencing policy to give priority to biological and behavioural choices. In a rapidly globalising world, more effort is required to elucidate the channels between global, national and local actors in the generation and equitable distribution of resources as they determine health
Strategies to Improve Child Health
No full textThis chapter examines the key priorities facing child health practitioners and policymakers to build on recent improvements in global child health and wellbeing. It analyses what has underpinned these successes, why shortcomings persist and how best to address them
Transient benefits in young children of a nutrition intervention during pregnancy
No full textCommentary: In this issue of The Lancet Global Health, Delan Devakumar and colleagues1 report on the follow-up of children aged 8•5 years in southern Nepal whose mothers participated in a randomised controlled trial of multiple micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy. Control mothers received standard doses of iron and folic acid supplements. The off spring of mothers in the intervention group had significantly higher birthweights and higher weights and lower systolic blood pressures at age 2•5 years than the offspring of control mothers. However, at age 8•5 years, no difference was detected in weight-for-age, height for- age, body-mass-index-for-age, and systolic blood pressure. This finding is consistent with those of other studies cited by Devakumar and colleagues in Burkina Faso, China, and Bangladesh
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