Cesar Gomes Victora

..Focusing on childhood pneumonia, this paper shows how child health has improved considerably as a result of this renewed vigor and international collaboration...

..The incidence was 14.2% (95%CI 13.2, 15.2). Male sex, birth length, and maternal age at delivery were positively associated with the risk of fractures...

..We estimate the protective effects conferred by varying levels of breastfeeding exposure against diarrhea incidence, diarrhea prevalence, diarrhea mortality, all-cause mortality, and hospitalization for diarrhea illness...

..The aim of this paper was to evaluate the prevalence of smoking and incidence of initiation among middle-aged and older adults (40 years or older). Special emphasis was given to the association between smoking and schooling...

..The aim of this study was to assess the effect of late preterm birth over growth outcomes, assessed when children were 12 and 24 months old...

..The PLATINO study is aimed at measuring COPD prevalence in major cities in Latin America...

..We describe patterns in 'exclusive breastfeeding' and 'any breastfeeding' rates and quantify exposure to suboptimal breastfeeding among children aged two years or younger in developing countries...

..Two case studies - from Tanzania and Peru - show how appropriate consideration of contextual factors may help explain apparently conflicting evaluation results...

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..Key methodologic challenges are discussed, with arguments for greater involvement of epidemiologists in measurement exercise that so far has been led by demographers, statisticians, and economists...

..Its prevention will probably bring about important health, educational, and economic benefits. Chronic diseases are especially common in undernourished children who experience rapid weight gain after infancy...

..The duration of breastfeeding is still far short of international recommendations, justifying further campaigns. Special attention should be given to low birth weight babies and those from low-income families...

..In most low-income countries, several child-survival interventions are being implemented. We assessed how these interventions are clustered at the level of the individual child...

..Equity must be a priority in the design of child survival interventions and delivery strategies, and mechanisms to ensure accountability at national and international levels must be developed...

..Some recent results on blood pressure, adolescent pregnancy, and asthma are presented as examples of utilization of the data. Suggestions on lessons learned for other cohort studies are proposed...

..This new approach will promote country ownership, transparency, and donor coordination while providing a rigorous comparison of the cost-effectiveness of different scale-up approaches...

..To assess the association between duration of breast feeding and measures of adiposity in adolescence...

..Strong health systems are required, and the time frames and funding cycles of national and international agencies are often unrealistically short...

..Our goal was to describe worldwide growth-faltering patterns by using the new World Health Organization (WHO) standards...

..1% in 2004. The increase in preterms could be partially explained by the growing number of pregnancy interruptions, but there must be other causes since this increase was also observed among babies born by non-induced vaginal deliveries...

..To assess the prevalence of anemia among children under six years of age in a probabilistic sample from an urban area...

..9% to 8.7%) than among the poorest mothers (from 43.7% to 33.6%). In general terms, between 1993 and 2004 there was a decrease in the prevalence of maternal risk factors for unfavorable perinatal outcomes...

..To assess mortality in a birth cohort followed between 1982 and 2006 and its associated factors...

..The existence of three population-based birth cohorts using comparable methodology allowed for the study of important secular trends in maternal and child health...

..Effective strategies against sedentary lifestyle in adolescence are needed because of its high prevalence and association with physical inactivity in adulthood...

..These findings could be explained by an epidemic of preterm births in the study population...

..The stabilization of infant mortality in the last decade is likely to be due to excess medical interventions relating to pregnancies and delivery care...

..Fighting malnutrition is still necessary among the 40% of the population considered poor, and must be accompanied by efforts to combat overweight which is being observed in all social strata...

..In conclusion, reductions in perinatal mortality were also seen across all birth weight categories between 1982 and 1993, but the same was not true for the 1993 to 2004 period, when mortality increased in several categories above 2,000g...

..Fat:lean mass ratio was associated only with weight-for-height Z score. Our results suggest that undernutrition is not a risk factor for overweight and obesity in our population and may partially protect against fatness in adolescence...

..To analyze the influence of biological and socioeconomic factors throughout life on entry into the university and insertion in the work force of young adults from the 1982 birth cohort...

..These results confirm the role of socioeconomic determinants of suicide, but do not support the hypothesis of a specific role of agricultural practices...

..Iron fortification of flour has been sanctioned by the Brazilian government since 2004. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of flour fortification on hemoglobin level in children under six...

..The greatest cause of infant mortality in Brazil is perinatal conditions, mostly associated with preterm delivery. The objective of the study was to evaluate the evolution of preterm delivery rates in Brazil...

..To evaluate the effects of exposure occurring during pregnancy or the first years of life on blood pressure...

..To evaluate the effects of socioeconomic variables, birth weight, duration of breastfeeding and income changes on random blood glucose levels among young adults...

..Neither crude nor adjusted analyses showed any association between breast feeding and conviction for violent delinquency. Violent delinquency apparently depends more on social factors than on individual factors such as breast feeding...

..To compare two population-based birth cohorts to assess trends in infant mortality rates and the distribution of relevant risk factors, and how these changed after an 11-year period...

..The article aimed to describe factors associated with the implementation of this strategy in three states of Northeastern Brazil...

..To evaluate the association between breastfeeding duration, introduction of solid or semi-solid foods before four months of age and overweight/obesity at 11 years...

..The next article discusses advocacy challenges and opportunities...

..The patterns of overweight/obesity differ by age, sex, rural or urban residence and socioeconomic position (SEP) and vary between and within countries...

..The nutritional transition observed in Pelotas requires a paradigm shift in health services, which are still concentrated on detecting and treating malnutrition rather than obesity...

..To assess the relationship between breastfeeding duration and blood pressure in a large birth cohort of Brazilians followed from birth to adolescence...

..To analyze social determinants of early sexual initiation among young adults from a birth cohort...

..To assess the effect of hospital of birth on neonatal mortality...

..1 [1.7, 14.9] and 2.1 [1.0, 4.6] times higher than that observed among term newborns. In conclusion, in our setting, the prevention of all preterm births must be a priority, regardless of whether early or late...

..Mothers' levels of education improved markedly. Important changes in the demographic profile of risk factors and health outcomes are being recorded by the Pelotas cohorts...

..The aim of this study was to document changes in physical activity of Brazilian adults by comparing two surveys carried out 5 years apart...

..To measure the prevalence of physical inactivity, and variables associated with it, in an adult southern Brazilian population...

..The fixed ratio criterion is recommended when population-specific reference curves are not available, while the GOLD definition is recommended to evaluate severity of COPD...

..To assess the effect of weight gain in childhood on blood lipid levels in adolescence...

..These results suggest that the impact of breastfeeding on intellectual development may lead to sizeable differences in adult education and wage-earning performance...

..To describe voiding patterns and related dysfunctions in a population-based sample of children aged 3 to 9 years...

..To describe the effects of social inequities on the health and nutrition of children in low and middle income countries...

..Given the growing epidemic of obesity in low- and middle-income countries, particularly among women, efforts to reduce teenage pregnancy may also contribute to preventing overweight...

..However, weight gain in childhood has clear short-term benefits, and the literature on the pro and cons of weight gain in childhood is limited...

..Each 100 g in birth weight was associated with an increase of approximately 0.2 cm in the adolescent's height (P=0.001). The current findings reinforce the importance of early life factors in the determination of adult height...

..Our analysis of Brazil's successes and remaining challenges to reach and surpass Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 can provide important lessons for other low- and middle-income countries...

..To describe the methods employed in the longitudinal and follow-up studies of children born in Pelotas (Southern Brazil) in 1982...

..Hospitalizations in poor children were more frequent, but the effects of seasonality on pneumonia were more evident among the wealthiest...

..To investigate why some women prefer caesarean sections and how decisions to medicalise birthing are influenced by patients, doctors, and the sociomedical environment...

..We analyzed trends in mortality among infants born to White and to Black or mixed-race women in 3 population-based cohorts representing all births in 1982, 1993, and 2004 in Pelotas, southern Brazil...

..We show that 8 of every 10 Pap tests were not necessary. Coverage levels remain unacceptably low among women of low socioeconomic status and those at greatest risk for cervical cancer...

..To investigate the relationship between socioeconomic factors, maternal characteristics, breastfeeding, and hospitalization for bronchiolitis in the post-neonatal period...

..The deuterium dilution technique proved to be a practical means of assessing breast milk intake. Lactation counseling reduced early weaning, but breast milk intake at 4 mo was not affected...

..quot; These results highlight the importance of asthma as a public health problem due to its high prevalence, and support the need of intervention programs against preventable risk factors...

..No association between cesarean section and preterm delivery was found. Further studies are required to understand the causes of the epidemic of preterm births in Brazil...

..To assess factors associated to leisure-time physical activity and sedentary lifestyle...

..63 cm increase in height at 11 years. The present study shows that birth length is a strong predictor of later height, while the effect of birth weight disappears after adjustment for birth length...

..To examine the effects of early social, anthropometric, and behavioural variables on physical activity in adolescence...

..The objective of the study was to analyze factors associated to the solicitation of urinalysis during pregnancy...

..We conclude that while there is room for further improvement, IMCI case management training significantly improves health worker performance, and that parts of Brazil that have not yet introduced IMCI should be encouraged to do so...

..This is the first Brazilian study using population-based controls to show that both HIV-seropositivity and AIDS are concentrated among young, non-white poor women. It is important to prioritize preventive measures targeting these groups...

..This suggests that the group most vulnerable to STDs/AIDS due to lack of condom use is white, adult women, in stable unions, with fewer sexual partners...

..Low birth weight, stunting, and lack or breastfeeding acted simultaneously as risk and prognostic factors for diarrhea...

..To describe epidemiological aspects of suicide mortality in a 10-year time series...

..To investigate the relationship between social and biological conditions experienced in very early life and dental caries in children aged 6 years...

..To investigate the influence of family socioeconomic trajectories from childhood to adolescence on dental caries and associated behaviours...