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Background: Media guidelines for suicide reporting are available in many countries. However, to what extent the mass media comply with the guidelines is unknown. Few studies are available that investigate systematically whether the mass media reflect the epidemiological reality of suicide deaths in their articles. Methods: Based on the WHO media guidelines, this study investigated the characteristics of newspaper articles of suicides in three Chinese communities, namely Hong Kong, Taiwan and Guangzhou. Epidemiological comparisons were conducted to identify the age and gender differences between the suicide victims as reported in the newspapers and the official records of suicide deaths in all three places. Results: The results found that one media characteristic complied with the WHO media guidelines (ie, only about 2% of the articles were printed on the front page), but there were a number of instances of non-compliance (ie, only 4--14% provided sources for help-seeking and 27--90% printed with photos). The epidemiological comparisons revealed an over-representation of younger suicides and an under-representation of late-life suicides in the newspapers of all three places. Furthermore, female suicides were found to be under-reported in Taiwan and Guangzhou newspapers, but not in Hong Kong papers. Conclusion: Non-compliant suicide articles are prevalent in the newspapers of these three Chinese settings. The observed media misrepresentations may potentially mislead the public and the policy makers about the actual risk for suicide in some demographic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Mothers with lower birth weight (LBW) offspring have been found to be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity, which shares many risk factors with diabetes. Aims To investigate the relation between offspring birth weight and maternal risk of mortality from diabetes. Methods A total of 1 400 383 singletons of primigravida registered in Taiwan between 1978 and 1987 were followed to the end of 2006. The offspring birth weight was assessed with and without standardisation for the gestational age of offspring. Cox model was used to estimate the HR of maternal diabetes mortality in relation to offspring birth weights. Results Altogether, 812 (5.8%) mothers died of diabetes. Mothers with LBW (<2500 g) and macrosomia (>4000 g) offspring were both at increased risks of mortality from diabetes with HR 1.76 (95% CI 1.46 to 2.19) and 2.86 (95% CI 2.32 to 3.53), respectively. Similar results were seen while birth weight was standardised for gestational age. Conclusions This cohort study found that mothers with LBW and macrosomia offspring had an increased mortality risk of diabetes. This relationship could be attributable to the possible pathway of intergenerational effects or maternal insulin resistance due to maladaptation to pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]