Early Home Activities and Oral Language Skills in Middle Childhood: A Quantile Analysis

Oral language development is a key outcome of elementary school, and it is important to identify factors that predict it most effectively. Commonly researchers use ordinary least squares regression with conclusions restricted to average performance conditional on relevant covariates. Quantile regression offers a more sophisticated alternative. Using data of 17,687 children from the United Kingdom's Millennium Cohort Study, we compared ordinary least squares and quantile models with language development (verbal similarities) at 11 years as the outcome. Gender had more of an effect at the top of the distribution, whereas poverty, early language, and reading to the child had a greater effect at the bottom. The picture for TV watching was more mixed. The results are discussed in terms of the provision of universal and targeted interventions.     

Microalbuminuria in Obese Young and Middle Aged Population: A Potential Marker of Cardiovascular Risk

Microalbuminuria is an established cardiovascular risk indicator in diabetes, hypertension and the general population. There is lack of information on MAU in healthy obese Indian adults and an ongoing debate whether obese adults deserve targeted identification and clinical intervention for MAU and prediabetes. We aimed to screen the healthy obese, young (group I) and middle aged (group II) adults for prevalence of MAU and prediabetes and study its association with Framingham risk score. The study included 50 healthy obese young (20–30 years) and middle aged adults (31–50 years), attending the outpatient clinic of Dept. of Medicine for a duration of 2 months (July–August). The patients were screened for fasting blood sugar, lipid profile and MAU. Of the total patients 28 % had MAU, 32.14 % of which had prediabetes and 33.33 % had diabetes whereas 10 % were normoglycemic. The group I patients had 50 % cases of MAU and group II had 25 % patients with MAU. Group II 63.63 % pre-diabetics. The values of MAU obtained were correlated with age, gender, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, FBS, waist to hip ratio using Pearson’s Coefficient (p < 0.05). The 10 year CVD risk calculated using FRS in subjects with MAU was higher as compared to those without MAU. Thus we conclude that Indian, young and middle aged obese adults to be at a risk of prediabetes, MAU and CV risk warranting their routine screening for better clinical outcomes.     

A Structural Model of Educational Aspirations

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a model to predict educational aspirations of Canadian adolescents. Participants were a national sample of 4,034 students from grades 8–13 (2,037 males, 1,973 females). Results of a modified structural model included three sets of influences: a) a background factor comprised of parental occupation and education; b) a family involvement factor consisting of parental personal and school-based involvement with adolescents; and c) a personal factor with school marks, school and course perceptions, extracurricular reading and parental educational expectations as indicator measures. Educational aspirations was the main outcome variable. Results indicated that the personal factor had a strong direct influence on educational aspirations ( = 1.17, p < .001, R² = .76). The effects of the background and family involvement factors on educational aspirations were mediated through the personal factor. Additional analyses performed in order to test the relationships obtained in the model, revealed several significant interactions amongst the three predictor factors and educational aspirations. The findings emphasize the importance of efforts to enhance the educational aspirations of adolescents through targeted change of modifiable environmental and personal factors.