Home  About us  Contact
 

Australian Adolescents (australian + adolescent)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Prediction of alcohol-related harm from controlled drinking strategies and alcohol consumption trajectories

ADDICTION, Issue 4 2004
J. W. Toumbourou
ABSTRACT Aims To establish predictors of age 21 alcohol-related harm from prior drinking patterns, current levels of alcohol consumption and use of controlled drinking strategies. Participants One thousand, five hundred and ninety-six students recruited from an initial sample of 3300 during their final year of high school in 1993. Design Longitudinal follow-up across five waves of data collection. Setting Post high school in Victoria, Australia. Measurements Self-administered surveys examining a range of health behaviours, including alcohol consumption patterns and related behaviour. Findings Drinking behaviours at age 21 were found to be strongly predicted by drinking trajectories established through the transition from high school. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that alcohol-related harms at age 21 were reduced where current levels of alcohol use fell within limits recommended in Australian national guidelines. After controlling for this effect it was found that the range of strategies employed by participants to control alcohol use maintained a small protective influence. Post-high-school drinking trajectories continued to demonstrate a significant effect after controlling for current behaviours. Findings revealed that over one quarter of males and females drank alcohol, but on a less-than-weekly basis. This pattern of alcohol use demonstrated considerable stability through the post-school transition and was associated with a low level of subsequent harm at age 21. Conclusions Future research should investigate whether encouraging more Australian adolescents to drink alcohol on a less-than-weekly basis may be a practical intervention target for reducing alcohol-related harms. [source]

The population prevalence of adverse concentrations and associations with adiposity of liver tests among Australian adolescents

JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 12 2008
Michael L Booth
Aim: Paediatric overweight has a high incidence and has serious consequences for health, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, very little is known about NAFLD among young people, particularly from a population perspective. This paper reports the prevalence of elevated concentrations of four liver enzymes and their associations with adiposity in a representative population sample of Australian adolescents. Methods: Overnight fasting blood samples were collected from a representative population sample of 500 Grade 10 students (15-years-old) attending schools in Sydney, Australia, between February and May, 2004. Weight, height and waist girth were measured. The prevalence of adverse concentrations of the enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were described for all boys and girls and by body mass index (BMI) categories. The nature of the associations between the enzyme concentrations and indices of adiposity were characterised, and regression equations for estimating enzyme concentrations from BMI were prepared. Results: The prevalence of adverse concentrations of ALT (most likely as a result of NAFLD) and GGT were approximately 10%, while the prevalence of adverse concentrations of AST and ALP were approximately 7% and 5% respectively. The prevalence of adverse concentrations of ALT, GGT and AST increased across BMI categories, while the prevalence of adverse concentrations of ALP declined across BMI categories. Conclusions: The high prevalence of NAFLD in a population sample of healthy Australian adolescents represents a significant burden of disease. [source]

Solarium use in Australia, recent trends and context

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 4 2010
Kate Francis
Abstract Objectives: To describe the prevalence of solarium use among representative samples of Australian adolescents (12,17 years) and adults (18,69 years). Methods: In national surveys conducted in 2003/04 and 2006/07 using equivalent methods, n=11,509 Australian adolescents and adults self-reported their use of solaria. Results: In 2006/07 10.6% of adults had ,ever' used a solarium, and use was most prevalent among women aged 18 to 24 (17.1%) and 25 to 44 (20.7%). Few adolescents (2.5%) had ever used a solarium. The prevalence of past year use was much lower (0.6% of adolescents, 1.5% of adults) and there was a significant reduction among adults between surveys (OR=0.69, 95% CI=0.52,0.94). Adults' attitudes related to past year solarium use were preference for a suntan (OR=4.68, 95% CI=2.48,8.85); perceived protan attitudes of peers (OR=2.10, 95% CI=1.17,3.77), belief that a suntan looks healthy (OR=1.92, 95% CI=1.09,3.39); and perceiving they have some risk of getting skin cancer (OR=1.69, 95% CI=1.03,2.78). Conclusions and implications: Although solarium use in Australia is relatively low, it is highest among young adult women. These data show encouraging downward trends in use, and provide a foundation for monitoring the impact of forthcoming regulatory changes to the solarium industry. [source]