0000000000124352

AUTHOR

Hans Helenius

Physical activity as a preventive measure for coronary heart disease risk factors in early childhood.

Physical activity causes acute physiological and long-term adaptive responses in the body. It is a protective factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) in adults. It has been assumed that children younger than 8 years of age may be in general active enough and there would be hardly any relationships between physical activity and CHD risk factors in early childhood. One hundred and fifty-five children (age 4-7 years) participated in this physical activity study during three consecutive years. Physical activity was examined twice a year with a special-purpose physical activity diary. CHD risk factors were measured during annual health care visits in the Specific Turku Coronary Risk-Factor Inter…

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Life-time risk factors and progression of carotid atherosclerosis in young adults: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study.

Aims The aim of this study is to evaluate whether childhood risk factors are associated with a 6-year change in carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in young adulthood independent of the current risk factors. Methods and results The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns cohort consisted of 1809 subjects who were followed-up for 27 years since baseline (1980, age 3–18 years) and having carotid IMT measured both in 2001 and 2007. Cardiovascular risk factors were assessed repeatedly since childhood. A genotype risk score was calculated using 17 newly identified genetic variants associating with cardiovascular morbidity. The number of childhood risk factors (high LDL-cholesterol, low HDL-cholester…

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Externalizing Problem Behaviors and Headache: A Follow-up Study of Adolescent Finnish Twins

Objective.To examine the association of teacher- and parent-rated behavior with headache in a prospective follow-up study of adolescent Finnish twins.Methods.Questionnaire data were collected during 1995–2001 from a nationwide sample of Finnish families of 11-year-old twins who were born 1983–1987 (n = 5393) and again at age of 14. Psychological factors were measured by using parents’ and teachers’ ratings of a 37-item multidimensional rating instrument at the ages of 11 and 14.Results.At age 11, headache frequency (5 categories) was associated with total scales of externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors and adaptive behaviors, assessed by parents, but only with externalizing prob…

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