Michel Lariviere

The influence of puberty onset, Body Mass Index, and pressure to be thin on disordered eating behaviors in children and adolescents☆

The main objective of this study is to verify the hypothesis that pubertal development, obesity, body satisfaction, as well as family and peer influences predict unhealthy eating habits in children and adolescents. A randomized stratified sample of young Quebecers aged 9, 13, and 16 years on March 31, 1999 [608 children aged of 9 years (325 girls and 283 boys) and 662 adolescents aged of 13 and 16 years (349 girls and 313 boys)] were used. Childrens weight, height, and Body Mass Index (BMI) were recorded. Questionnaires were administered to children and a parent (usually the mother). Among 9-year-old children, this study found that weight loss or weight control behaviors were predicted mainly by the onset of puberty, lower maternal abusive control, and the level of peer pressure. Among adolescents, mothers BMI, income, peer pressure, and negative comments about the childs weight most strongly predicted behaviors to control weight, strategies to lose weight and the frequency of such behaviors. The findings suggest that both parents and children need to understand the impact of comments on a childs behavior.

An examination of retention factors among registered nurses in Northeastern Ontario, Canada: Nurses intent to stay in their current position.

BACKGROUND The purpose of the study was to examine factors related to the retention of registered nurses in northeastern Ontario, Canada. OBJECTIVE/METHOD A cross-sectional survey of registered nurses working in northeastern Ontario, Canada was conducted. Logistic regression analyses were used to consider intent to stay in current employment in relation to the following: 1) demographic factors, and 2) occupation and career satisfaction factors. RESULTS A total of 459 (29.8% response rate) questionnaires were completed. The adjusted odds logistic regression analysis of RNs who intended to remain in their current position for the next five years, demonstrated that respondents in the 46 to 56 age group (OR: 2.65; 95% CI: 1.50 to 4.69), the importance of staff development in the organization (OR: 3.04; 95% CI: 1.13 to 8.13) northeastern Ontario lifestyle (OR: 2.61; 95% CI: 1.55 to 4.40), working in nursing for 14 to 22.5 years (OR: 2.55; 95% CI: 1.10 to 5.93), and working between 0 to 1 hour of overtime per week (OR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.20 to 4.64) were significant factors in staying in their current position for the next five years. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that a further understanding of the work environment could assist with developing retention for rural nurses. Furthermore, employers may use such information to ameliorate the working conditions of nurses, while researchers may use such evidence to develop interventions that are applicable to improving the working conditions of nurses.

Lost-time illness, injury and disability and its relationship with obesity in the workplace: A comprehensive literature review.

The objective of this study was to conduct a literature review examining predictors of lost-time injury, illness and disability (IID) in the workplace, with a focus on obesity as a predictor, and to evaluate the relationship between obesity and losttime IID. The study objective was also to analyze workplace disability prevention and interventions aimed at encouraging a healthy lifestyle among employees and reducing obesity and IID, as well as to identify research gaps. The search was conducted in several major online databases. Articles included in the review were published in English in peer-reviewed journals between January 2003 and December 2014, and were found to be of good quality and of relevance to the topic. Each article was critically reviewed for inclusion in this study. Studies that focused on lost-time IID in the workplace were reviewed and summarized. Workers in overweight and obese categories are shown to be at a higher risk of workplace IID, are more likely to suffer from lost-time IID, and experience a slower recovery compared to workers with a healthy body mass index (BMI) score. Lost-time IID is costly to an employer and an employee; therefore, weight reduction may financially benefit both - workers and companies. It was found that some companies have focused on developing interventions that aid reduction of weight and the practice of active lifestyle among their employees. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2016;29(5):749-766.

Psychosocial Hazards and Risks

The non-physical hazards of firefighting may be easily overlooked given the clearly more obvious physical risks these workers face. Less obvious, but no less deleterious, are issues such as stress, fatigue, and psychological trauma. In fact, it has been suggested that job-related deaths in this occupational group are more often caused by psychosocial hazards (e.g., stress and stress-related medical issues 33 %) than by direct exposure to the risk of injury. Psychosocial risk factors include shiftwork, sleep deprivation, multiple and urgent cognitive demands, critical incidents, lack of equipment or poorly designed/maintained equipment, changing environments, tedium, interpersonal conflict, interactions with the public/victims, lack of autonomy, poor supervision/support, role conflicts, and work-family balance. Collectively, these have been referred to as psychosocial hazards, which for the purpose of this chapter, will be defined as work-related psychosocial factors that cause distress, and have a negative influence on workers’ health and their abilities to perform successfully. These hazards are influenced by factors such as personality (e.g., extraversion) and culture (e.g., the brotherhood). Firefighting represent the extremes of frequently identified psychosocial hazards: job content, workload and work pace, work schedules, control, environment and equipment, organizational culture and function, interpersonal relationships, organizational role, career development and home-work interface include dysfunctional behavior, predisposition to injuries, and mental illness. Interventions can mitigate the effects of psychosocial hazards in firefighting.

Treatment of a 7-year old girl with long-standing disordered eating behaviors since infancy.

The authors present the case of a 7-year-old girl with disordered eating secondary to severe symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) experienced during infancy. Symptoms include deficits in interpreting signs of hunger and refusals to eat, leading to latent physical development. Methods of assessment include parent and child interviews, child eating behaviors and parental feeding strategies questionnaires, a 2-week food record, and mealtime behavioral observations. The objective of treatment was weight gain through decreasing problematic eating behaviors: dawdling eating, excessive talking at mealtime, and frequently leaving the table during meals. Cognitive-behavioral approaches (eg, using reinforcements and consequences, increasing food intake by small portion sizes, and increasing the childs awareness of signs of hunger through direct prompts and parental modeling) were successful, and parents reported physical growth weight gain at 6-month follow-up.

0011 Work Ability and Work-Related Stress: A Cross-sectional Study of Obstetrical Nurses in Urban Northeastern Ontario

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine: 1) if quality of work life (QWL), location of cross-training, stress variables, and various demographic factors in nurses are associated with work ability, and 2) nursing occupational stress, QWL, and various associated factors are related with nurses’ work ability. Method This cross sectional study was conducted in 2012 in four hospitals in northeastern Ontario, Canada. A stratified random sample of registered nurses (n = 111) were selected. Results The majority of participants were female (94.6%) ranging in age from 24 to 64 years (M= 41.9, s.d.=10.2). For the stress and QWL model, one variable: QWL (home-work support) (p = 0.015), cross-trained nurses (p = 0.048), and having more than 4 patients per shift (p = 0.024) significantly contributed to the variance in work ability scores. In the logistic regression model, the odds of a higher work ability for nurses who received home-work support were estimated to be 1.32 (95% CI, 1.06 to 1.66) times the odds of a higher work ability for nurses who did not receive home-work support. Conclusions Work ability in the work environment of obstetrical nursing is important. To be high functioning, workplaces should maximise the use of their employees’ actual and potential skills.