BACKGROUND The nutritional consequences of HIV infection in lactating women are unknown. OBJECTIVE To measure the body composition of South African lactating women in relation to HIV status. METHODS Fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) using bioimpedance spectrometry (BIS) and anthropometric measurements were obtained at 8 and 24 weeks postpartum in 92 HIV-infected (HIVpos) and 50 HIV-unin...

In order to evaluate the validity of self-reported weight for use in obesity prevalence surveys, self-reported weight was compared to measured weight for 659 adults living in the Porto Alegre county, RS Brazil in 1986-87, both weights being obtained by a technician in the individual's home on the same visit. The mean difference between self-reported and measured weight was small (-0.06 +/- 3.16...

OBJECTIVE--To assess the validity of the 1990 US weight guidelines for women that support a substantial gain in weight at approximately 35 years of age and recommend a range of body mass index (BMI) (defined as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) from 21 to 27 kg/m2, in terms of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in women. DESIGN--Prospective cohort study. SETTING--Fem...

BACKGROUND Because obesity promotes inflammation and imposes mechanical constraints to the airways, a high birth weight may be a risk factor for asthma in childhood. However, to our knowledge, few studies have examined this potential relationship. OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between high birth weight and risk of emergency visits for asthma during childhood. DESIGN Population-bas...

BACKGROUND The Broselow™ Pediatric Emergency Tape indicates standardized, pre-calculated medication doses, dose delivery volumes, and equipment sizes using color-coded zones based on height-weight correlations. The present study attempted to provide more evidence on the effectiveness of the Broselow™ Pediatric Emergency Tape by comparing the tape-estimated weights with actual weights. We hypoth...

Spanish x Boer (n = 16) and Spanish x Kiko (n = 18) wethers (7 mo) and bucklings (5 mo) were harvested under USDA inspection to evaluate the effect of dam breed on carcass traits of crossbred kids. Boer and Kiko dams, respectively, originated from five and seven seedstock farms. Each dam was purebred or fullblood (93.75 to 100%). Traits of interest included live weight and conformation score, c...

80 rats, randomly selected, were divided into 3 treatment groups: pre-, co- and post-treatment; consisting of 6 sub-groups each (5 rats per sub-group): baseline, normal saline (2 mL), α-lipoic acid (20 mg/kg body weight), 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg or 800 mg/kg body weight Theobroma cacao stem bark aqueous extract (TCAE). All rats except for baseline group were intoxicated with 20 mg/kg body weight d...

This study aims to evaluate potential toxic effect of Jatropha curcas leaves methanol extract on laboratory rats as well as determine its LD50. A total of 80 male Wistar rats were used as the experimental animals, 40 for LD50 determination and the other 40 for toxicity study. Based on the pretest that was done in order to establish a range of toxicity, 4 dosages (86.00, 58.00, 46.00, and 34.0 k...

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of obesity following therapy for hyperthyroidism and to assess the contributing factors associated with an undesirable weight gain. DESIGN A retrospective analysis was undertaken of clinical records for 160 hyperthyroid patients attending an endocrine clinic in Bloemfontein (1994-2001). RESULTS Of the 160 patients, 143 had Graves' disease and 17 patient...

Muscular strength is an important component of physical fitness and can be improved by using free weights (i.e. barbells, dumbbells), weight machines, elastic bands, or body weight exercises (Stone et al., 2000). A new product in the exercise marketplace which is advertised to increase strength is the Shake Weight ®. The Shake Weight ® is a dumbbell shaped fitness device, sold by Fitness IQ (Vi...