W
ELL B EING
GO HEALTHY for good WITH
DR NERIDA MCKIBBEN
WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
DIABETES DECREASE
A drop in the number of young children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) could be related to the introduction of the rotavirus (RV) vaccination for Australian infants, according to a new study. Twenty years earlier, the same research team found a link between auto-immune T1D and RV infection. So when the oral RV vaccine was introduced in 2007 for infants at age 2 and 4 months, the researchers wondered if it might also reduce the risk of T1D. Their initial findings show a drop in the incidence of T1D for the first time since the 1980s.—JAMA 18
SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • MAY 2019
RICHVINTAGE, JONATHAN AUSTIN DANIELS, GEORGE DOYLE, RIDOFRANZ—GETTY IMAGES, SILVIARITA—PIXABAY
A recent study in Taranaki, New Zealand, assessed children and adolescents enrolled in a communitybased obesity program to measure healthrelated quality of life (HRQOL) and psychological wellbeing. The program was targeted at Maori families and those from the most disadvantaged households. Researchers found kids with obesity had a low HRQOL and a rate of emotional and/ or behavioural difficulties six times higher than children without obesity in a comparable population.—BMJ Open
