Duration: 2014-2020
Abstract: The global economic and financial crisis has spurred some political developments that affect the living conditions of people in countries with the greatest economic difficulties, particularly those in southern Europe, such as Portugal. The spectrum of malnutrition can therefore be expected to increase in Portugal, with a potential impact on the disruption of school performance and the health of children and the elderly. This project aims to evaluate the impact of economic restrictions caused by the current crisis on the nutritional status of children from 6 to 10 years old and elderly in the Municipality of Lisbon. In the case of children, a longitudinal study was carried out for a period of 4 years that began in the school year 2014/15 and in the case of adults, a cross-sectional study was conducted during 2018. The samples consist of 1000 children from 28 public schools, aged between 6 and 10 years and 434 autonomous elderly who attended Day Centers and other similar institutions of the Lisbon Social Network (28), aged between 60 and 99 years. The assessment of nutritional status in the elderly will be made through the application of a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Mini Nutritional Assessment – MNA, that includes the calculation of Body Mass Index (BMI). In children the assessment of nutritional status is the result of measurements of weight and height over the 4 years of the study (2 measurements per year). The results of this project may provide evidence to substantiate the effects of the economic crisis on the nutritional status of children and the elderly and alert those entitled to the nutritional problems facing some children and their families in this context of economic and austerity crisis. And, at the same time, be an important tool in tracking the evolution of the problem.
Coordinator (PI): Vítor Rosado-Marques (Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa; CIAS)
Participants: Augusta Gama (Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa; CIAS)
Partner institutions and Funding: Faculdade de Motricidade Humana (FMH) da Universidade de Lisboa, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa (protocol between CML and FMH), and CIAS.
Duration: 2013-2017
Abstract: Extracurricular sport has the potential to increase total physical activity (PA) which plays an important role in the prevention of a number of health problems, including obesity. However, most children do not achieve the recommended guidelines. Sport participation may be influenced by a number of factors, but little is known how those risk factors may vary according to children’s sex and place of residence. A cross-sectional study was done in 2013-2014. The sample comprised 793 children aged 6-10 years, and 834 parents, living in an urban (Coimbra) and a non-urban (Lousã) setting, both situated in central Portugal. Data was collected by questionnaires, interviews and anthropometric measurements. This study shows that participation in sport is associated with both intrapersonal and social factors, and that those factors may varied according to the level of urbanization. Boys and girls participate in sport in similar rates, but efforts should be made to change the notions that parents and children have about sport. By identifying barriers in different domains, this study reinforces that actions to promote PA are most effective when they enable alterations in different factors and include multiple levels of influence, starting in the nuclear family, but including teachers, schools, and government policies.
Coordinator (PI): Daniela Rodrigues (CIAS)
Supervisors: Cristina Padez (as Supervisor, CIAS) and Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues (as Co-supervisor, CIAS)
Funding: FCT (Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology) under POCH funding
Reference: SFRH/BD/90737/2012
Duration: 2010-2014
Abstract: The project investigated how common environmental, family and socioeconomic risk factors for obesity, asthma and rhinitis modulate the association between these diseases and to study whether birth weight (BW) values differ between overweight children with asthma/rhinitis and children with asthma/rhinitis and normal weight. The study showed that childhood obesity and especially high body fat levels increase the risk of
asthma and rhinitis, which seemed to be independent of common risk factors. Obesity showed a stronger effect on asthma for girls than for boys. Results suggest that the overweight/obese asthmatics might already be born with a predisposition to this phenotype, which might indicate its prenatal origin. High level of asthma heterogeneity highlights the need for individualized, phenotype- or patient-specific prevention, intervention, and treatment strategies.
Coordinator (PI): Magdalena Muc (University of Liverpool)
Participants: Cristina Padez (CIAS), Anabela Mota Pinto (University of Coimbra)
Funding: Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology (FCT, Portugal)
Reference: SFRH/BD/66877/2009
