scholarly journals Cat and Dog Ownership in Early Life and Infant Development: A Prospective Birth Cohort Study of Japan Environment and Children’s Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 205
Author(s):  
Machiko Minatoya ◽  
Atsuko Araki ◽  
Chihiro Miyashita ◽  
Sachiko Itoh ◽  
Sumitaka Kobayashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Development ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Infant Development ◽  
Developmental Delays ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Pet Ownership ◽  
Dog Ownership ◽  
Prospective Birth Cohort

Contact with companion animals has been suggested to have important roles in enhancing child development. However, studies focused on child development and pet ownership at a very early age are limited. The purpose of the current study was to investigate child development in relation to pet ownership at an early age in a nationwide prospective birth cohort study: the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. Associations between cat and dog ownership at six months and infant development at 12 months of age were examined in this study. Infant development was assessed using the Ages & Stages QuestionnairesTM (ASQ-3) at 12 months. Among participants of (Japan Environment and Children’s Study) JECS, those with available data of cat and dog ownership at six months and data for the ASQ-3 at 12 months were included (n = 78,868). Having dogs showed higher percentages of pass in all five domains measured by ASQ-3 (communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, and personal-social) compared to those who did not have dogs. Significantly decreased odds ratios (ORs) of developmental delays were observed in association with having dogs in all fix domains (communication: OR = 0.73, gross motor: OR = 0.86, fine motor: OR = 0.84, problem-solving: OR = 0.90, personal-social: OR = 0.83). This study suggested that early life dog ownership may reduce the risks of child developmental delays.

scholarly journals Childhood coordination and survival up to six decades later: extended follow-up of participants in the National Child Development Study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. David Batty ◽  
Ian J. Deary ◽  
Mark Hamer ◽  
Stuart J. Ritchie ◽  
David Bann
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Development Study ◽  
National Child Development Study

AbstractBackgroundPoorer performance on standard tests of motor coordination in children has emerging links with sedentary behaviour, obesity, and functional capacity in later life. These observations are suggestive of an as-yet untested association of coordination with health outcomes.ObjectiveTo examine the association of performance on a series of psychomotor coordination tests in childhood with mortality up to six decades later.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThe National Child Development Study (1958 birth cohort study) is a prospective cohort study based on a nationally representative sample of births from England, Scotland and Wales. A total of 17,415 individuals had their gross and fine motor psychomotor coordination assessed using nine tests at 11 and 16 years of age.Main outcome and measureAll-cause mortality as ascertained from a vital status registry and survey records.ResultsMortality surveillance between 7 and 58 years of age in an analytical sample of 17,336 men and women yielded 1,090 deaths. After adjustment for sex, higher scores on seven of the nine childhood coordination tests were associated with a lower risk of mortality in a stepwise manner. After further statistical control for early life socioeconomic, health, cognitive, and developmental factors, relations at conventional levels of statistical significance remains for three tests: ball catching at age 11 (hazard ratio; 95% confidence interval for 0-8 versus 10 catches: 1.56; 1.21, 2.01), match-picking at age 11 (>50 seconds versus 0-36: 1.33; 1.03, 1.70), and hopping at age 16 years (very unsteady versus very steady: 1.29; 1.02, 1.64).Conclusion and RelevanceThe apparent predictive utility of early life psychomotor coordination requires replication.Key pointsQuestionWhat is the association of performance on a series of psychomotor coordination tests in childhood with mortality up to six decades later?FindingsAfter taking into account multiple confounding factors, lower performance on three gross and fine motors skills tests in childhood were associated with a shorter survival over six decades.MeaningThese findings require replication in other contexts and using complementary observational approaches.

scholarly journals Design for Difference: Cognitive Enhancement Toys for Children with Developmental Delays

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 5203-5217
Author(s):  
Aditi Deshpande
Keyword(s):  
Design Research ◽  
Developmental Delays ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Learning Difficulties ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Special Schools ◽  
Gross Motor ◽  
Research Findings

Childhood is a phase where children explore, learn and enjoy. For some children, this phase is full of difficulties. These children suffer from either developmental delays or learning difficulties. According to sources, there is a iniquitousness of 1.5-2.5% of advancing delay in kids below 2 years of age in India. Development is described into five different domains - gross motor, fine motor, speech, and language, cognitive and socio-emotional. These children need help at an early age to overcome developmental delays and for cognitive enhancement. Both parents and teachers are involved with children right from an early age, and they can devise ways to help these children. Many schools adopt 'Play' as an important activity to help these children overcome developmental delays and "toys" are mostly central to the design of such activities. The paper describes the design research for designing toys for cognitive enhancement of children with developmental delays between 2 and 5 years. In the first phase of research, the interview method was used to understand what kind of learning difficulties children face and what kind of methods are employed to teach them and understand what types of toys they are using. The sample size of 20 comprising of teachers, therapists, and pediatricians from Special schools and departments for special need children in mainstream schools was used for the interview purpose. Observational studies with children (5 different classrooms with children between 3-5 years age) were carried out to understand how children learn and use the toys. At the end of the first phase, the qualitative analysis led to the shift from learning difficulties to developmental delays. In the second phase, a survey of available products in the market was conducted to understand what types of toys are used to address these children's developmental activity. Mapping the play methods employed by the teachers and therapists to the toys' activities led to finding the Design gap. The design process incorporated the research findings. The product is designed in the form of a Toy Box with a multi-utility set of toys for cognitive enhancement in children with developmental delays. The design (three sets of toys) addresses children's communication, spatial, cognitive, gross motor & fine motor skills with developmental delays. The designed product was put through user testing twice to incorporate the findings from the testing to make the design more user-friendly for the children and the teachers, therapists, and parents.

Infant anthropometry, early life infection, and subsequent risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus: a prospective birth cohort study

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (4pt1) ◽  
pp. 313-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Louise Ponsonby ◽  
Angela Pezic ◽  
Jennifer Cochrane ◽  
Fergus J Cameron ◽  
Mark Pascoe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Type 1 Diabetes ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Prospective Birth Cohort ◽  
Prospective Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Subsequent Risk

scholarly journals Postpartum depression and child development in first year of life

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria de Lima Salum e Morais ◽  
Tania Kiehl Lucci ◽  
Emma Otta
Keyword(s):  
Child Development ◽  
Postpartum Depression ◽  
Infant Development ◽  
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
First Year ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
First Year Of Life

The aim of the study was to investigate the characteristics of infant development at four, eight and twelve months of age, as result of postpartum depression. The prevalence of Postpartum Depression - measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale - at four months after delivery was 30.3%; at eight months, 26.4%; and at 12 months, 25.0%. Chi-square tests were used to compare children of mothers with and without Postpartum Depression in relation to developmental milestones. It was found developmental delay in infants of mothers with Postpartum Depression in: two interactional indicators at four months, two motor indicators at eight months and one gross motor indicator at twelve months. However, children of mothers with Postpartum Depression showed better results in one fine motor and in two language items at 12 months. The results point to the necessity of considering external and internal factors of mother and infant in the study of the effects of maternal depression on child development.

scholarly journals Dog and Cat Ownership Predicts Adolescents’ Mental Well-Being: A Population-Based Longitudinal Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaori Endo ◽  
Syudo Yamasaki ◽  
Shuntaro Ando ◽  
Takefumi Kikusui ◽  
Kazutaka Mogi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Pet Ownership ◽  
Dog Ownership ◽  
Potential Association ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Mental Well Being

A potential association between pet ownership and mental well-being is suggested, but there is a shortage of high-quality longitudinal studies that consider probable differences among different species. We aimed to examine whether ownership of the most popular pets (dogs and cats) would predict mental well-being. The Tokyo Teen Cohort (TTC), a prospective population-based birth cohort study, had dog and cat ownership data at age 10 and mental well-being score at ages 10 and 12 from 2584 adolescents. Linear regression analysis with adjusting for covariates showed that dog ownership had a positive effect on mental well-being compared to no dog ownership, however, cat ownership had a negative effect compared to no cat ownership. Two-factor mixed-design analysis of variance showed that dog ownership predicted maintained mental well-being, while cat ownership predicted progressing decline of mental well-being. Thus, dog and cat ownership may have different effects on adolescents’ mental well-being, implying that the underlying mechanisms that are activated by these types of ownership may differ.

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