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Background: Smoking remains one of the major preventable causes of chronic diseases. Considering the promising evidence on the effectiveness of mobile technology for health behaviour change, along with the increasing adoption of smartphones, this review aims to systematically assess the adherence of popular mobile apps for smoking cessation to evidence-based guidelines., Methods: The United Kingdom Android and iOS markets were searched in February 2018 to identify smoking cessation apps. After screening, 125 Android and 15 iOS apps were tested independently by two reviewers for adherence to the National Institute of Care and Excellence (NICE) Smoking Cessation Guidelines for Self-Help Materials and the Five A Guidelines for Smoking Cessation. Pearson chi square tests were run to examine differences between the two operating systems., Results: A majority of apps across both operating systems had low adherence (fulfils 1-2 out of 5 guidelines) to the Five A Guidelines (65.7%) and low adherence (fulfils 1-3 out of 9 guidelines) to the NICE Smoking Cessation Guidelines for Self-Help Materials (63.6%). Only 15% of mobile apps provided information about the benefits of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), and even fewer provided information regarding types of NRT products (7.1%) or how to use them (2.1%). In addition, only a minority of apps arrange follow-up appointments or provide additional support to help smokers quit., Conclusion: Similar to previous mobile app reviews dating back to 2014, our findings show that most mobile apps do not follow existing smoking cessation treatment guidelines, indicating little change regarding the availability of evidence-based mobile apps for smoking cessation in the UK market. Smokers seeking to quit, tobacco control policy makers and software developers need to work together to develop apps that are in line with the latest clinical guidelines and strategies to maximise effectiveness.

Background: Life satisfaction is a cognitive and evaluative judgement of one's outlook on life and an integral component of subjective wellbeing. There is a strong association between life satisfaction and mental and physical health, but it is currently unclear how environmental factors may influence life satisfaction. Our aim was to investigate the association between environmental factors and life satisfaction and to gain a better understanding of general life satisfaction statistics in the EU., Methods: We used a three-level mixed effects logistic regression model to examine the effects of sociodemographic, macroeconomic and environmental factors on life satisfaction using a large sample size from Eurobarometer surveys (n = 268,696) representative of 27 EU countries. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews between May 2014 and June 2015., Results: We found wide variation between countries, as well as between regions within the same country with regards to levels of life satisfaction. Having adjusted for individual sociodemographic factors, our analysis did not indicate statistically significant associations of mean temperature and precipitation with life satisfaction. However, there was a statistically significant association between environmental degradation and lower life satisfaction (OR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.97-1.00). Consistent with existing literature, our results show statistically significant effects of sociodemographic factors such as sex, financial situation and employment on life satisfaction., Conclusions: Future research should extend analyses to a wider range of sociodemographic, macroeconomic and geographical variables to gain insight on all possible factors affecting life satisfaction to inform policy makers and ensure higher quality of life, and in turn better mental and physical health.

Background: Development assistance from governments of high income countries represents the vast majority of international funding for global health. Recent stagnation of this important source of funding may affect attainment of major global health goals. The financial crisis is widely accredited as denting governments' outlay for development aid, as well as citizen's support for aid. Europe has also recently experienced record levels of migration; the so called 'European migration crisis'. This study aims to analyse trends in public attitudes towards development aid in European Union (EU) countries, in the context of the European migrant crisis., Methods: Eurobarometer survey data from 2011 (prior to the migrant crisis) and 2015 (at the peak of the crisis) was analysed for 27 EU countries. The outcome variables related to people's levels of support to three statements around the importance of supporting people in developing countries, increasing countries' commitments to aid and willingness to pay extra for products from developing countries. EU Member States were categorised as 'arrival' or 'destination' countries in view of migration routes and numbers of asylum applications per 100,000 population, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed, adjusting for countries' economic status (gross domestic product per capita)., Results: In general, support for development aid has increased from 2011 to 2015, but was largely unaffected by migration status when applying the regression model. In 2015, the belief that development assistance is 'very important' was significantly higher in countries where migrants first arrived compared to other EU Member States, with a trend towards this association also apparent in 2011., Conclusions: The positive trends in public support for development aid are encouraging in an age where economic hardships at home, as well as the tone of national political discourses and rising right wing populism appear to suggest otherwise.

Background: The popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Europe has been high for decades. We aimed to assess whether a country's performance in the ESC is associated with life satisfaction and suicide mortality in European countries., Methods: We analysed nationally representative Eurobarometer survey data on life satisfaction from 33 European countries (N = 162,773) and country-level standardised suicide mortality data for years 2009 to 2015. The associations of winning the Contest, performing terribly, and higher final ranking with life satisfaction and suicide rates were all assessed., Results: Winning the ESC was not statistically significantly associated with increased life satisfaction or suicide rates, although every ten-place increase in final ranking was associated with an increase in life satisfaction (adjusted odds ratios [aOR] 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02 to 1.05) and a decrease in suicide mortality rates (β = - 0.30; 95% CI: -0.59 to - 0.01). Terrible performance was associated with greater life satisfaction compared to not competing at all (aOR 1.13; 95%CI: 1.07 to 1.20)., Conclusion: The good news for participating countries is that just competing at the ESC is associated with higher life satisfaction among the population. As improved performance is linked to Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit of improved life satisfaction, further research into how such international competitions may impact public health is needed.

Background: The increase in adiposity problems among United States adolescents has been accompanied by persistently high prevalence of unhealthy dieting behaviours (UDBs) such as fasting, taking diet pills/powders/liquids, and vomiting/taking laxatives. This study aimed to examine the associations of self-perceptions of weight status, weight change intentions (WCIs) and UDBs with sex, age and race, as well as trends of UDBs in American adolescents across the weight spectrum., Methods: Data come from the biennial cross-sectional, school-based surveys, the Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance System (1999-2013, n = 113,542). The outcome measures were the self-reported UDBs: fasting for 24 h or more; taking diet pills/powders/liquids; and vomiting/taking laxatives. Sex-stratified logistic regressions assessed relationships between weight status misperceptions across all weight statuses, race and WCIs with UDBs. Differential trends between races were assessed using race*year interaction terms., Results: In males, all non-White races had higher odds of fasting and vomiting/taking laxatives than Whites (except fasting in Hispanic/Latinos), with Adjusted Odds Ratios (AORs) between 1.44 and 2.07. In females, Black/African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos had lower odds of taking diet pills/powders/liquids compared to Whites (AORs 0.50 and 0.78 respectively). Racial disparities persisted throughout the study period. Prevalence of fasting and vomiting/taking laxatives did not change between 1999 and 2013 for all races, while taking diet pills/powders/liquids decreased. Compared to individuals of normal weight who were accurate weight status perceivers, individuals of almost all other combinations of weight status and weight status perception had significantly higher odds of displaying any UDB outcome. Overestimation of weight status was found to be the strongest determinant of UDBs. Compared to individuals endorsing "not wanting to do anything" about their weight, individuals endorsing all other WCIs (including wanting to gain weight) also showed significantly higher odds for every UDB outcome, with wanting to lose weight having AORs of the greatest magnitudes., Conclusions: Prevalence of UDBs is persistently high, and highest among females across all racial groups. UDBs may elevate undesired weight gain and weight loss in individuals who are obese/overweight and underweight respectively. Further research into weight status perceptions among adolescents may inform efforts to reduce UDBs.

Background: This study aims to review all published systematic reviews on the prevalence of modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors among women from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC). This is the first review of other systematic reviews that concentrates on lifestyle related diseases among women in GCC countries only., Method: Literature searches were carried out in three electronic databases for all published systematic reviews on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors in the GCC countries between January 2000 and February 2016., Results: Eleven systematic reviews were identified and selected for our review. Common reported risk factors for cardiovascular disease were obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and hypertension. In GCC countries, obesity among the female population ranges from 29 to 45.7%, which is one of the highest rates globally, and it is linked with physical inactivity, ranging from 45 to 98.7%. The prevalence of diabetes is listed as one of the top ten factors globally, and was reported with an average of 21%. Hypertension ranged from 20.9 to 53%., Conclusions: The high prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases among women population in GCC is a ticking time bomb and is reaching alarming levels, and require a fundamental social and political changes. These findings highlight the need for comprehensive work among the GCC to strengthen the regulatory framework to decrease and control the prevalence of these factors.