Obesity, a major risk factor in numerous pathologies, poses a public health problem. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of the risk of overweight, overweight and obesity, as well as to identify a...Obesity, a major risk factor in numerous pathologies, poses a public health problem. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of the risk of overweight, overweight and obesity, as well as to identify and analyze the risk factors for weight gain among children in Miramichi in New Brunswick’s Horizon Health Network (HHN). This descriptive cross-sectional study was done between 2009 and 2014. The study population was composed of 335 children (185 boys and 150 girls) ages 0 to 42 months and their parents. Overweight and obesity were determined according to World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria adapted for Canada. A logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the risk factors associated with overweight and obesity. The prevalence of risk for overweight is 21% at birth as opposed to 55% at 42 months (both sexes together), and the prevalence of risk for overweight including obesity affects 11.8% of children, that is, 12.7% of boys as opposed to 10.94% of girls (p < 0.0001). The prevalence among boys is 1.2 times that among girls. This study also reveals that at 42 months, the average prevalence of obesity is 6.5% (8% for boys and 5% for girls). The mothers of overweight children have a higher post-pregnancy BMI (32.78 ± 4.16 kg/m2) than do the mothers of children who are a healthy weight (26.17 ± 7.90 kg/m2) (p < 0.0001). Moreover, 29.7% of children are overweight when both parents are overweight compared to 14.97% when both parents are a healthy weight (p < 0.05). This means that children are twice as likely to be overweight when both parents are overweight compared to children whose parents are a healthy weight. Otherwise, only 17% of the 335 children assessed in this study were breastfed and started on solid foods in accordance with the WHO recommendations. This study clearly shows that overweight is associated with sex, birth weight, parental obesity, maternal breastfeeding and the age of introduction of solid foods. The prevalence and identification of risk factors for overweight and infant obesity used to screen at-risk children will have the advantage of allowing adapted prevention strategies to be established.展开更多
Water is a vital resource, and can also sometimes be a destructive force. As such, it is important to manage this resource. The prediction of stream flows is an important component of this management. Hydrological mod...Water is a vital resource, and can also sometimes be a destructive force. As such, it is important to manage this resource. The prediction of stream flows is an important component of this management. Hydrological models are very useful in accomplishing this task. The objective of this study is to develop and apply an optimization method useful for calibrating a deterministic model of the daily flows of the Miramichi River watershed (New Brunswick). The model used is the CEQUEAU model. The model is calibrated by applying a genetic algorithm. The Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency criterion, modified to penalize physically unrealistic results, was used as the objective function. The model was calibrated using flow data (1975-2000) from a gauging station on the Southwest Miramichi River (catchment area of 5050 km2), obtaining a Nash-Sutcliffe criterion of 0.83. Model validation was performed using flow data (2001-2009) from the same station (Nash-Sutcliffe criterion value of 0.80). This suggests that the model calibration is sufficiently robust to be used for future predictions. A second model validation was performed using data from three other measuring stations on the same watershed. The model performed well in all three additional locations (Nash-Sutcliffe criterion values of 0.77, 0.76 and 0.74), but was performing less well when applied to smaller sub-basins. Nonetheless, the relatively strong performance of the model suggests that it could be used to predict flows anywhere in the watershed, but caution is suggested for applications in small sub-basins. The performance of the CEQUEAU model was also compared to a simple benchmark model (average of each calendar day). A sensitivity analysis was also performed.展开更多
文摘Obesity, a major risk factor in numerous pathologies, poses a public health problem. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of the risk of overweight, overweight and obesity, as well as to identify and analyze the risk factors for weight gain among children in Miramichi in New Brunswick’s Horizon Health Network (HHN). This descriptive cross-sectional study was done between 2009 and 2014. The study population was composed of 335 children (185 boys and 150 girls) ages 0 to 42 months and their parents. Overweight and obesity were determined according to World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria adapted for Canada. A logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the risk factors associated with overweight and obesity. The prevalence of risk for overweight is 21% at birth as opposed to 55% at 42 months (both sexes together), and the prevalence of risk for overweight including obesity affects 11.8% of children, that is, 12.7% of boys as opposed to 10.94% of girls (p < 0.0001). The prevalence among boys is 1.2 times that among girls. This study also reveals that at 42 months, the average prevalence of obesity is 6.5% (8% for boys and 5% for girls). The mothers of overweight children have a higher post-pregnancy BMI (32.78 ± 4.16 kg/m2) than do the mothers of children who are a healthy weight (26.17 ± 7.90 kg/m2) (p < 0.0001). Moreover, 29.7% of children are overweight when both parents are overweight compared to 14.97% when both parents are a healthy weight (p < 0.05). This means that children are twice as likely to be overweight when both parents are overweight compared to children whose parents are a healthy weight. Otherwise, only 17% of the 335 children assessed in this study were breastfed and started on solid foods in accordance with the WHO recommendations. This study clearly shows that overweight is associated with sex, birth weight, parental obesity, maternal breastfeeding and the age of introduction of solid foods. The prevalence and identification of risk factors for overweight and infant obesity used to screen at-risk children will have the advantage of allowing adapted prevention strategies to be established.
文摘Water is a vital resource, and can also sometimes be a destructive force. As such, it is important to manage this resource. The prediction of stream flows is an important component of this management. Hydrological models are very useful in accomplishing this task. The objective of this study is to develop and apply an optimization method useful for calibrating a deterministic model of the daily flows of the Miramichi River watershed (New Brunswick). The model used is the CEQUEAU model. The model is calibrated by applying a genetic algorithm. The Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency criterion, modified to penalize physically unrealistic results, was used as the objective function. The model was calibrated using flow data (1975-2000) from a gauging station on the Southwest Miramichi River (catchment area of 5050 km2), obtaining a Nash-Sutcliffe criterion of 0.83. Model validation was performed using flow data (2001-2009) from the same station (Nash-Sutcliffe criterion value of 0.80). This suggests that the model calibration is sufficiently robust to be used for future predictions. A second model validation was performed using data from three other measuring stations on the same watershed. The model performed well in all three additional locations (Nash-Sutcliffe criterion values of 0.77, 0.76 and 0.74), but was performing less well when applied to smaller sub-basins. Nonetheless, the relatively strong performance of the model suggests that it could be used to predict flows anywhere in the watershed, but caution is suggested for applications in small sub-basins. The performance of the CEQUEAU model was also compared to a simple benchmark model (average of each calendar day). A sensitivity analysis was also performed.
