Mobile phones remain a largely untapped resource in the ongoing challenge to address Female Sex Worker (FSW) health, including HIV prevention services, in India. An important step towards designing effective mobile phone-based initiatives for FSWs is clarifying the contextual influences of mobile phone solicitation on sexual risk behavior. In this paper, we extend previously identified associations between mobile phone solicitation and condom practices by examining whether this association is moderated by sex work pay and offer key considerations for future research and implementation. Specifically, we conducted an analysis among 589 Indian FSWs, where FSWs who did not use mobile phones to solicit clients had the lowest mean sex work pay (INR 394/ USD 6.54) compared to FSWs who used both mobile and traditional strategies (INR 563/ USD 9.34). Our analysis indicate low paid FSWs who used mobile phones concurrently with traditional strategies had 2.46 times higher odds of inconsistent condom use compared to low paid FSWs who did not use mobile phones for client solicitation. No such effect was identified among high paid FSWs. These findings also identified group level differences among FSWs reporting different mobile phone solicitation strategies, including violence, client condom use and HIV status. Our results indicate that low pay does moderate the association between mobile phone solicitation and condom practices, but only among a sub-set of low paid FSWs. These findings also demonstrate the utility of classification by different mobile phone solicitation strategies for accurate assessment of sexual risk among mobile phone soliciting FSWs. In turn, this paves the way for novel approaches to utilize mobile phones for FSW HIV prevention. We discuss one such example, a mobile phone-based rapid screening tool for acute HIV infection targeting Indian FSWs.

Background: Although obesity rates are high among Latino children, relatively few studies of parental feeding practices have examined Latino families as a separate group. Culturally-based approaches to measurement development can begin to identify parental feeding practices in specific cultural groups. This study used qualitative and quantitative methods to develop and test the Parental Feeding Practices (PFP) Questionnaire for use with Mexican American parents. Items reflected both parent's use of control over child eating and child-centered feeding practices.Methods: In the qualitative phase of the research, 35 Latino parents participated in focus groups. Items for the PFP were developed from focus group discussions, as well as adapted from existing parent feeding practice measures. Cognitive interviews were conducted with 37 adults to evaluate items. In the quantitative phase, mothers and fathers of 174 Mexican American children ages 8-10 completed the PFP and provided demographic information. Anthropometric measures were obtained on family members.Results: Confirmatory factor analyses identified four parental feeding practice dimensions: positive involvement in child eating, pressure to eat, use of food to control behavior, and restriction of amount of food. Factorial invariance modeling suggested equivalent factor meaning and item response scaling across mothers and fathers. Mothers and fathers differed somewhat in their use of feeding practices. All four feeding practices were related to child body mass index (BMI) percentiles, for one or both parents. Mothers reporting more positive involvement had children with lower BMI percentiles. Parents using more pressure to eat had children with lower BMI percentiles, while parents using more restriction had children with higher BMI percentiles. Fathers using food to control behavior had children with lower BMI percentiles.Conclusions: Results indicate good initial validity and reliability for the PFP. It can be used to increase understanding of parental feeding practices, children's eating, and obesity among Mexican Americans, a population at high risk of obesity. © 2013 Tschann et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Objective

This study aimed to examine the relationship between circadian sleep and activity behaviors (sedentary time [SED], light-intensity physical activity [LPA], and moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity [MVPA]) across 3 consecutive days.

Methods

This study included 308 Mexican American children aged 8-10 years from the San Francisco Bay Area. Minutes of sleep duration, SED, LPA, and MVPA were estimated using hip-worn accelerometers from Wednesday night to Saturday night. A cross-lagged panel model was used to estimate paths between sleep duration the prior night and subsequent behaviors, and paths between behaviors to subsequent sleep duration across the 3 days. We adjusted for child age, sex, body mass index, and household income.

Results

Overall, children were 8.9 (SD 0.8) years old; the weighted average for weekday and weekend combined was 9.6 (SD 0.7) hours per night in sleep duration, 483 (SD 74) min/d SED, 288 (SD 61) min/d LPA, and 63 (SD 38) min/d MVPA. Cross-lagged panel analyses showed that, over 3 days, for every 1-hour increase in sleep duration, there were an expected 0.66-hour (40-minute) decrease in SED, 0.37-hour (22-minute) decrease in LPA, and 0.06-hour (4-minute) decrease in MVPA. For every 1-hour increase in LPA, there was an expected 0.25-hour (15-minute) decrease in sleep duration.

Conclusion

An additional hour of sleep the night before corresponded to an hour decrease in combined SED and LPA the next day in Mexican American children. For every hour of LPA, there was an associated 15-minute decrease in sleep. Encouraging longer sleep may help to reduce SED and LPA, and help offset LPA's negative predictive effect on sleep.

To examine the association of breastfeeding or its duration with timing of girls’ pubertal onset, and the role of BMI as a mediator in these associations. A population of 1,237 socio-economically and ethnically diverse girls, ages 6–8 years, was recruited across three geographic locations (New York City, Cincinnati, and the San Francisco Bay Area) in a prospective study of predictors of pubertal maturation. Breastfeeding practices were assessed using self-administered questionnaire/interview with the primary caregiver. Girls were seen on at least annual basis to assess breast and pubic hair development. The association of breastfeeding with pubertal timing was estimated using parametric survival analysis while adjusting for body mass index, ethnicity, birth-weight, mother’s education, mother’s menarcheal age, and family income. Compared to formula fed girls, those who were mixed-fed or predominantly breastfed showed later onset of breast development [hazard ratios 0.90 (95 % CI 0.75, 1.09) and 0.74 (95 % CI 0.59, 0.94), respectively]. Duration of breastfeeding was also directly associated with age at onset of breast development (p trend = 0.008). Associations between breastfeeding and pubic hair onset were not significant. In stratified analysis, the association of breastfeeding and later breast onset was seen in Cincinnati girls only. The association between breast feeding and pubertal onset varied by study site. More research is needed about the environments within which breastfeeding takes place in order to better understand whether infant feeding practices are a potentially modifiable risk factor that may influence age at onset of breast development and subsequent risk for disease in adulthood.