The knowledge about the association of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviours (SB) with the most considered healthy dairy products consumption, as milk and yogurt, in childhood is scared.

To assess the longitudinal relationship between specific lifestyle behaviours (PA and SB) and combined dairy consumption (milk + yogurt) in a sample of European children.

Two measurements, with 2 years’ interval (T0 and T1), were conducted in 1 688 (50.8% boys) childrenfrom the IDEFICS study. Dietary information was parental-registered by a 24-hour dietary recall. At both time points, sedentary behaviour and objective estimation of PA was obtained by accelerometers. Different groups were defined according to the international children's PA and SB behaviours recommendations over time. The cut-offs for the SB and PA recommendations were established on 2hour/day of SB and 2 hour/day of moderate to vigorous PA. Multilevel ordinal logistic regression models were used to assess the group's association with the combined dairy consumption (milk + yogurt), adjusted for potential confounders (sex, body mass index zscore, intervention versus control region, parental education level, dietary quality index, energy intake and the consumption by each dairy group at T0).

Nine groups of meeting or not both recommendations (SB and PA) were obtained. Those children who meeting both lifestyle recommendations at both measurement points, had higher probability to consume more milk and yogurt (p < 0.05), in comparison to the rest of combinations.Those children who did not meet any recommendations at both time points were less likely to consume milk + yogurt (OR: 0.47, 95%CI:0.26–0.83) than those who met both recommendations at both time points. Those children which improved one behaviours (PA or SB) between both measurement point were associated with low consumption of milk + yogurt (OR:0.41, 95%CI 0.22;0.74; OR:0.40, 95%CI 0.22,0.72), compared with those who meet both lifestyle recommendations at both periods (T0 and T1). Also, those which improved both behaviours (PA and SB) were less likely to consume milk + yogurt (OR:0.34, 95%CI 0.15–0.80) than those who were physically active and low sedentary at both time points.

These results suggest that European children with a healthy lifestyle regarding PA and SB over time, had the highest milk and yogurt consumption in comparison with other children.

The present study investigated the association between sugar and fat intake in childhood in relation to alcohol use in adolescence. We hypothesized that early exposure to diets high in fat and sugar may affect ingestive behaviours later in life, including alcohol use.

Children from the European IDEFICS/I.Family cohort study were examined at ages 5–9 years and followed up at ages 11–16 years. FFQ were completed by parents on behalf of children, and later by adolescents themselves. Complete data were available in 2263 participants. Children’s propensities to consume foods high in fat and sugar were calculated and dichotomized at median values. Adolescents’ use of alcohol was classified as at least weekly v. less frequent use. Log-binomial regression linked sugar and fat consumption in childhood to risk of alcohol use in adolescence, adjusted for relevant covariates.

Five per cent of adolescents reported weekly alcohol consumption. Children with high propensity to consume sugar and fat were at greater risk of later alcohol use, compared with children with low fat and low sugar propensity (relative risk=2·46; 95 % CI 1·47, 4·12), independent of age, sex and survey country. The association was not explained by parental income and education, strict parenting style or child's health-related quality of life and was only partly mediated by sustained consumption of sugar and fat into adolescence.

Frequent consumption of foods high in fat and sugar in childhood predicted regular use of alcohol in adolescence.

To describe dietary patterns by applying cluster analysis and to describe the cluster memberships of European children over time and their association with body composition changes.

The analyses included k-means clustering based on the similarities between the relative frequencies of consumption of forty-three food items and regression models were fitted to assess the association between dietary patterns and body composition changes.

Primary schools and pre-schools of selected regions in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Hungary, Germany and Spain.

Participants (n 8341) in the baseline (2–9 years old) and follow-up (4–11 years old) surveys of the IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS) study.

Three persistent clusters were obtained at baseline and follow-up. Children consistently allocated to the ‘processed’ cluster presented increased BMI (β=0·050; 95 % CI 0·006, 0·093), increased waist circumference (β=0·071; 95 % CI 0·001, 0·141) and increased fat mass gain (β=0·052; 95 % CI 0·014, 0·090) over time v. children allocated to the ‘healthy’ cluster. Being in the ‘processed’–‘sweet’ cluster combination was also linked to increased BMI (β=0·079; 95 % CI 0·015, 0·143), increased waist circumference (β=0·172; 95 % CI 0·069, 0·275) and increased fat mass gain (β=0·076; 95 % CI 0·019, 0·133) over time v. the ‘healthy’ cluster.

Children consistently showing a processed dietary pattern or changing from a processed pattern to a sweet pattern presented the most unfavourable changes in fat mass and abdominal fat. These findings support the need to promote overall healthy dietary habits in obesity prevention and health promotion programmes targeting children.

The primary aim of the present study was to determine the survival rates and identify predictors of disease duration in a cohort of Huntington's disease (HD) patients from Southern Italy.

All medical records of HD patients followed between 1977 and 2008 at the Department of Neurological Sciences of Federico II University in Naples were retrospectively reviewed and 135 patients were enrolled in the analysis. At the time of data collection, 41 patients were deceased (19 males and 22 females) with a mean ± SD age at death of 56.6 ± 14.9 years (range 18-83).

The median survival time was 20 years (95% CI: 18.3-21.7). Cox regression analysis showed that the number of CAG in the expanded allele (HR 1.09 for 1 point triplet increase, p=0.002) and age of onset (HR 1.05 for 1 point year increase, p=0.022) were independent and significant predictors of lower survival rates.

We believe that these findings are important for a better understanding of the natural history of the disease and may be relevant in designing future therapeutic trials.

People who use cannabis have an increased risk of psychosis an effect attributed to the active ingredient δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC). There has recently been concern over an increase in the concentration of Δ9-THC in the cannabis available in many countries.

To investigate whether people with a first episode of psychosis were particularly likely to use high-potency cannabis.

We collected information on cannabis use from 280 cases presenting with a first episode of psychosis to the South London & Maudsley National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, and from 174 healthy controls recruited from the local population.

There was no significant difference between cases and controls in whether they had ever taken cannabis, or age at first use. However, those in the cases group were more likely to be current daily users (OR = 6.4) and to have smoked cannabis for more than 5 years (OR = 2.1). Among those who used cannabis, 78% of the cases group used high-potency cannabis (sinsemilla, ‘skunk’) compared with 37% of the control group (OR 6.8).

The finding that people with a first episode of psychosis had smoked higher-potency cannabis, for longer and with greater frequency, than a healthy control group is consistent with the hypothesis that Δ9-THC is the active ingredient increasing risk of psychosis. This has important public health implications, given the increased availability and use of high-potency cannabis.