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This study aims to understand the level of contraceptive knowledge and attitudes towards contraception, and then to explore the association between the contraceptive behavior and unintended pregnancy in unmarried female university students in China. A cross-sectional study was conducted of university students in 49 universities across 7 cities in China from September 2007 to January 2008. We distributed 74,800 questionnaires, of which 69,842 were returned. In this paper, the data from 35,383 unmarried female university students were analyzed. The prevalence of sexual intercourse in unmarried female university students was 10.2%. The prevalence of unintended pregnancy in those sexually active female university students, was 31.8%. Among students with pregnancy, 53.5% experienced two or more pregnancies. 28.3% of the students with sexual intercourse reported that they always adopted contraceptive methods, and of those 82.9% chose to use male condoms. The majority (83.9%) of students with unintended pregnancy chose to terminate the latest pregnancy by surgical abortion or medical abortion. The contraceptive knowledge level of students who experienced unintended pregnancy was lower than those who did not. In China, about one third of unmarried female students with sexual intercourse experience unintended pregnancy. A variety of contraceptive methods are adopted, but the frequency of contraceptive use is low. Most of unmarried female students who experienced unintended pregnancy would choose to terminate the pregnancy with surgical or medical abortion. University students, especially the ones who have experienced unintended pregnancy, lack contraceptive and reproductive health knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metabolic syndrome is prevalent worldwide and its prevalence is related to physical activity, race, and lifestyle. Little data is available for people living in rural areas of China. In this study we examined associations of physical activity and sedentary behaviors with metabolic syndrome components among people in rural China. Methods: The Nantong Metabolic Syndrome Study recruited 13,505 female and 6,997 male participants between 2007 and 2008. Data of socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle were collected. The associations of physical activity and sedentary behaviors with metabolic syndrome components were analyzed. Results: Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 21.6%. It was significantly lower in men than in women. Low risks of metabolic syndrome were observed in those who did less sitting and engaged in more vigorous physical activity. The highest tertile of vigorous physical activity was associated with 15–40% decreased odds of metabolic syndrome and all of its components, except for low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in men. Women with the highest tertile of moderate physical activity had 15–30% lower odds of central obesity, high glucose, and high triglycerides compared with those in the lowest tertile. Sitting time >42 hours per week had a 4%-12% attributable risk of metabolic syndrome, central obesity, and high triglycerides in both genders, and abnormal glucose and diastolic blood pressure in women. Sleeping for more than 8 hours per day was associated with risk of high serum glucose and lipids. Conclusions: Our data suggested that physical activity has a preventive effect against metabolic syndrome and all its abnormal components, and that longer sitting time and sleep duration are associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome components, including central obesity and high triglycerides, glucose, and diastolic blood pressure. This study could provide information for future investigation into these associations. Also, recommendations are developed to reduce prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components in rural Chinese populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most previous studies of meat intake and total or cause-specific mortality were conducted in North America, whereas studies in other areas have been limited and reported inconsistent results. This study investigated the association of red meat or poultry intake with risk of total and cause-specific mortality, including cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD), in two large population-based prospective cohort studies of 134,290 Chinese adult women and men in Shanghai. Meat intakes were assessed through validated food frequency questionnaires administered in person at baseline. Vital status and dates and causes of deaths were ascertained through annual linkage to the Shanghai Vital Statistics Registry and Shanghai Cancer Registry databases and home visits every 2–3 years. Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the risk of death associated with quintiles of meat intake. During 803,265 person-years of follow up for women and 334,281 person-years of follow up for men, a total of 4,210 deaths in women and 2,733 deaths in men accrued. The median intakes of red meat were 43 g/day among women and 54 g/day among men, and pork constituted at least 95% of total meat intake for both women and men. Red meat intake was associated with increased total mortality among men, but not among women; the HR (95% CI) comparing the highest with the lowest quintiles were 1.18 (1.02–1.35) and 0.92 (0.82–1.03), respectively. This sex difference was statistically significant (P = 0.01). Red meat intake was associated with increased risk of ischemic heart disease mortality (HR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.05–1.89) and with decreased risk of hemorrhagic stroke mortality (HR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.45–0.87). There were suggestive inverse associations of poultry intake with risk of total and all-CVD mortality among men, but not among women. Further investigations are needed to elucidate the sex-specific associations between red meat intake and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To evaluate the associations of age at menarche and the leg length-to-sitting-height ratio, markers of adolescent growth, with risk of diabetes in later life. Materials and Methods: Information from 69,385 women and 55,311 men, aged 40-74 years from the Shanghai Women's Health Study and Shanghai Men's Health Study, were included in the current analyses. Diabetes status was ascertained through biennial in person follow-up. Cox models, with age as the time scale, were used. Results: There were 2369 cases of diabetes (1831 women; 538 men) during an average of 7.3 and 3.6 years of follow-up of the women and men, respectively. In females, menarche age was inversely associated with diabetes risk after adjustment for birth cohort, education, and income (HR = 0.95, 0.92-0.98). In both genders, leg length-to-sitting-height ratio was inversely related to diabetes (HR = 0.88, 0.80-0.97 for men; HR = 0.91, 0.86-0.96 for women) after adjustment for birth cohort, education, and income. Further adjustment for adult BMI at study enrollment completely eliminated the associations of age at menarche (HR = 0.99, 0.96-1.02) and the leg length-to-sitting-height ratio (HR = 1.00, 0.91-1.10 for men; HR = 1.01, 0.96- 1.07 for women) with diabetes risk. Conclusions: Our study suggests that markers of an early age at peak height velocity, i.e. early menarche age and low leglength- to-sitting height ratio, may be associated with diabetes risk later in life and this association is likely to be mediated through obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]