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Purpose: Over the last couple of decades, health has become a central part of the subject content in physical education (PE) curricula in many countries. As a result, issues of health have been foregrounded much more clearly in the teaching of PE. The aim of this study was to explore how Swedish PE teachers make sense of health in relation to their teaching practices. This was done through investigating conceptions and theories about health in the teachers' descriptions of their teaching practices. Design/methodology/approach: The data analyzed in this paper were collected through focus group and individual interviews with PE teachers in the grades 7-9 within compulsory schools in Sweden. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: Four dominant themes were identified in the data: (1) health as a healthy attitude; (2) health as a functional ability; (3) health as fitness; (4) health as mental wellbeing. There is a clear impact from healthism and obesity discourses on the teachers' accounts of health, but there is also an impact from holistic views and approaches to health. The authors contend that teachers should be explicit in what they mean by health in relation to what they teach, how they teach and why they teach health in a certain way. Originality/value: The knowledge produced by this study is crucial since teachers' assumptions regarding health affect the subject content (what), the pedagogies (how), as well as the reasons (why) they teach health and therefore what students learn regarding health.

Migration to Europe in recent years has made the issue of educational support for recently arrived immigrant pupils critically important, and, especially for pupils who are in need of special educational support. Schools in Sweden have special needs educators (SNEs) supporting pupils in need of special education, but little is known about the work of SNEs in regard to special educational support for recently arrived immigrants. This article reports the results of 483 SNEs answering a survey on their views of their role and work tasks in relation to recently arrived immigrant pupils in need of special educational support in Swedish compulsory schools. SNEs report that their actual tasks include compiling individual educational plans (IEPs), developing learning environments, and supervising staff. Less than 50% of the participants responded that they work directly with the pupils, and around 19% of the SNEs wanted to do more of such work. Class and subject teachers and mother tongue tutors are the occupational groups seen as providing the most support for recently arrived immigrant pupils. The empirical results are discussed from different theoretical perspectives on special education (Emanuelsson, 2001; Persson, 1998), Hughes' (1958) concept of 'dirty work' and Abbott's theory of profession (1988).

Aim: To provide insight into how physical education teachers use discursive resources related to obesity to create particular professional identities. Method: Data come from focus group and individual interviews with physical education teachers in Sweden. Discourse theory on teacher identities frame the analysis of the empirical material. Results: Data suggest that teachers in Sweden make use of six distinct but related discursive contributions to produce three professional identities: the "caring practitioner," an identity concerned with ensuring all pupils irrespective of size participate in physical education; the "activity luminary," an identity that focuses on inspiring pupils toward activity across the lifespan, and; the "body rationalist," an identity concerned with challenging unrealistic media discourses and reassuring pupils that they have "normal" bodies. Discussion: The identities appear more inclusive, sensitive, and critical than current physical education literature on obesity suggests, however they also contain elements that are fundamentally unsympathetic to overweight individuals.

The purpose of this integrative review of research is to contribute to knowledge about the relation between teaching physical education (PE) and discourses of body weight. The review consists of summarising and synthesising features focusing on how discourses on the relation between teaching PE and body weight in scientific literature in different ways shape the idea of the role of PE. The results of the review reveal that the purposes, content, and forms for teaching PE constitute three discourses of teaching PE in relation to body weight: (i) a risk discourse, (ii) a critical obesity discourse, and (iii) a pluralistic discourse. From these discourses, five different roles of PE are identified; (i) "Solving" obesity and inactivity, (ii) "Including" overweight pupils, (iii) "Rejecting" an obesity epidemic, (iv) "Supporting" and understanding overweight pupils, and (v) "Transforming" PE in relation to a plurality of perspectives on body weight. As a consequence, we urge practitioners to take a reflective distance towards the purpose, content, and the pedagogies they are employing in relation to discourses on body weight in order to make informed decisions regarding PE curricula.

Motor issues are frequently observed accompanying core deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Impaired motor behavior has also been linked to cognitive and social abnormalities, and problems with predictive ability have been suggested to play an important, possibly shared, part across all these domains. Brain imaging of sensory-motor behavior is a promising method for characterizing the neurobiological foundation for this proposed key trait. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) developmental study, involving children/youth with ASD, typically developing (TD) children/youth, and neurotypical adults, will investigate brain activations during execution and observation of a visually guided, goal-directed sequential (two-step) manual task. Neural processing related to both execution and observation of the task, as well as activation patterns during the preparation stage before execution/observation will be investigated. Main regions of interest include frontoparietal and occipitotemporal cortical areas, the human mirror neuron system (MNS), and the cerebellum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Several metals act as endocrine disruptors, but there are few large longitudinal studies about associations with puberty onset. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated whether early life cadmium, lead, and arsenic exposure was associated with timing of menarche. METHODS: In a mother-child cohort in rural Bangladesh (n = 935), the exposure was assessed by concentrations in maternal erythrocytes in early pregnancy and in girls' urine at 5 and 10 years of age using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The girls were interviewed twice, at average ages 13.3 [standard deviation (SD) =0.43] and 13.8 (SD = 0.43) y, and the date of menarche, if present, was recorded. Associations were assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariable-adjusted Cox regression. RESULTS: In total, 77% of the girls (n = 717) had reached menarche by the second follow-up. The median age of Menarche among all girls was 13.0 y (25th-75th percentiles: 12.4-13.7 y). At 10 years of age, median urinary cadmium was 0.25 [micro]g/L (5th-95th percentiles: 0.087-0.72 [micro]g/L), lead 1.6 [micro]g/L (0.70-4.2 [micro]g/L), and arsenic 54 [micro]g/L (19-395 [micro]g/L). Given the same age, girls in the highest quartile of urinary cadmium at 5 and 10 years of age had a lower rate of menarche than girls in the lowest quartile, with an adjusted hazard ratio of (HR) 0.80 (95% CI: 0.62, 1.01) at 5 years of age, and 0.77 (95% CI: 0.60, 0.98) at 10 years of age. This implies that girls in the highest cadmium exposure quartile during childhood had a higher age at menarche. Comparing girls in the highest to the lowest quartile of urinary lead at 10 years of age, the former had a higher rate of menarche [adjusted HR = 1.23 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.56)], implying lower age at menarche, whereas there was no association with urinary lead at 5 years of age. Girls born to mothers in the highest quartile of erythrocyte arsenic during pregnancy were less likely to have attained menarche than girls born to mothers in the lowest quartile [adjusted HR= 0.79 (95% CI: 0.62, 0.99)]. No association was found with girls' urinary arsenic exposure. DISCUSSION: Long-term childhood cadmium exposure was associated with later menarche, whereas the associations with child lead exposure were inconclusive. Maternal exposure to arsenic, but not cadmium or lead, was associated with later menarche. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11121, Introduction Puberty is the transitional phase between childhood and reproductive maturity. Besides being associated with fertility, puberty is also associated with development of secondary sexual characteristics, rapid growth, and behavioral [...]

Introduction: The incidence of cancer during pregnancy and within first year post‐delivery, ie pregnancy‐associated cancer (PAC), is increasing in many countries, but little is known about risk factors for these trends. This study quantified incidence of PAC by trimesters and post‐delivery periods, and assessed the role of maternal age, parity, immigrant status, education, smoking and body mass index for the risk and incidence trends of PAC. Material and methods: We used data from the national birth and cancer registers in Sweden during 1973–2017 to define a register‐based cohort of women aged 15–44 years. Incidence rates of PAC during pregnancy and up to 1 year post‐delivery were calculated per 100 000 deliveries per year. Poisson regression with multiple imputation estimated incidence rate ratios with 95% confidence intervals adjusted by year, age, previous parity, immigrant status, education, smoking and BMI during 1990–2017, when information on risk factors was available. Results: Among 4 557 284 deliveries, a total of 1274 (during pregnancy) and 3355 (within 1 year post‐delivery) cases of PAC were diagnosed, with around 50 cases/year diagnosed during pregnancy and 110 cases/year during the first year post‐delivery in the latest period 2015–2017. The most common cancer types during pregnancy were malignant melanoma, breast and cervical cancer, together accounting for 57% of cases during pregnancy and 53% during the first year post‐delivery. The numbers of PAC were lower during pregnancy than during post‐delivery for all tumor types with lowest numbers during first trimester. The PAC incidence rates increased over calendar time. High maternal age at diagnosis, smoking, nulliparity and non‐immigrant background were associated with significantly higher risks of PAC. The increasing PAC incidence was in part explained by higher maternal age over time, but not by the other factors. Conclusions: High maternal age is the strongest risk factor for PAC. We show for the first time that smoking, nulliparity and non‐immigrant background are also contributing risk factors for PAC. However, only high maternal age contributed significantly to the increasing incidence. Further studies on other potential risk factors for PAC are warranted, since our results indicate that age on its own does not fully explain the increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: For women presenting with breast cancer during pregnancy, treatment guidelines were historically restricted to only surgical treatment. Over the past decades, chemotherapy administered during pregnancy has been gradually introduced. Although breast cancer treatments during ongoing pregnancy have been deemed safe, detailed information on potential obstetric risks is lacking. We aimed to assess the risk of adverse obstetric and perinatal outcomes of breast cancer in pregnancy and within 1 year postpartum and in relation to trimester at breast cancer diagnosis, tumor stage, and cancer treatment during pregnancy. Material and methods: Population‐based matched study. Women diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy in 1973–2017 were identified in the Swedish Cancer Register and the Medical Birth Register, with additional information from the National Quality Register for Breast Cancer. Each birth with maternal breast cancer (n = 208 pregnant, n = 672 postpartum) was matched by age, calendar year, and birth order to 10 unexposed births from cancer‐free women in the population (n = 2080 and n = 6720). Adjusted conditional logistic and multinomial regression models were used to estimate odds ratios and relative risk ratios, commonly denoted relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), of adverse obstetric and perinatal outcomes. Results: Breast cancer during pregnancy was associated with higher risks of preterm birth, both planned (RR 67.1, 95% CI 33.2–135.6) and spontaneous preterm birth (RR 3.8, 95% CI 2.0–7.5), and low birthweight (<2500 g: RR 7.5, 95% CI 4.9–11.3). The associated risks were higher if the breast cancer was diagnosed in the second trimester, and of similar magnitude irrespective of stage and treatment groups. There was a higher risk of low birthweight for gestational age (<25th centile) if breast cancer was diagnosed in the first trimester (RR 2.8, 95% CI 1.1–7.3). Risks of other pregnancy complications were similar to those of unexposed women, as were risks of neonatal mortality and malformations. Postpartum breast cancer was only associated with bleeding during pregnancy (RR 1.6, 95% CI 1.0–2.8). Conclusions: Preterm birth and related adverse outcomes were more common in women diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy. Reassuringly, breast cancer was not associated with other maternal pregnancy complications or adverse outcomes in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STUDY QUESTION What are the obstetric and perinatal outcomes in births to breast cancer survivors compared to women without previous breast cancer? SUMMARY ANSWER Women who conceived during the first 2 years following a breast cancer diagnosis had a higher risk for preterm birth, induced delivery, and cesarean section, while no increased risks were observed in births conceived later than 2 years after a breast cancer diagnosis. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY A recent meta-analysis found higher risks of cesarean section, preterm birth, low birthweight, and small for gestational age in pregnancies among breast cancer survivors. Less is known about rarer outcomes such as pre-eclampsia or congenital malformations. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION We conducted a population-based matched cohort study including all breast cancer survivors who gave birth to singletons 1973–2017 in Sweden, identified through linkage between the Swedish Cancer Register, the Medical Birth Register, and the National Quality Register for Breast Cancer. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTINGS, METHODS Each birth following breast cancer (n = 926) was matched by maternal age at delivery, parity, and calendar year at delivery to 100 births in a comparator cohort of women (n = 92 490). Conditional logistic and multinomial regression models estimated relative risks (RR) with 95% CI. Subgroup analyses by time since diagnosis and type of treatment were performed. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Previous breast cancer was associated with higher risks of induced delivery (RR; 1.3, 1.0–1.6), very preterm birth (RR; 1.8, 1.1–3.0), and planned preterm birth (RR; 1.6, 1.0–2.4). Women who conceived within 1 year after breast cancer diagnosis had higher risks of cesarean section (RR; 1.7, 1.0–2.7), very preterm birth (RR; 5.3, 1.9–14.8), and low birthweight (RR; 2.7, 1.4–5.2), while the risks of induced delivery (RR; 1.8, 1.1–2.9), moderately preterm birth (RR; 2.1, 1.2–3.7), and planned preterm birth (RR; 2.5, 1.1–5.7) were higher in women who conceived during the second year after diagnosis. Women who conceived later than 2 years after breast cancer diagnosis had similar obstetric risks to their comparators. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION As information on the end date of treatment was unavailable, the time between the date of diagnosis and conception was used as a proxy, which does not fully capture the effect of time since end of treatment. In addition, treatments and clinical recommendations have changed over the long study period, which may impact childbearing patterns in breast cancer survivors. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Risks of adverse obstetric outcomes in breast cancer survivors were confined to births conceived within 2 years of diagnosis. As family building holds significance for numerous young breast cancer patients, these findings are particularly important to inform both breast cancer survivors and clinicians about future reproductive outcomes. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This work was supported by the Swedish Cancer Society (grant number 22-2044 Pj A.L.V.J.), Karolinska Institutet Foundations (grant number: 2022-01696 F.E.L. 2022-01559 A.L.V.J.), and the Swedish Research Council (grant number: 2021-01657 A.L.V.J.). K.A.R.-W. is supported by grants from the Swedish Cancer Society (20 0170 F) and the Radiumhemmets Research Foundations for clinical researchers 2020–2026. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER N/A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]