OBJECTIVES: This study explored the relationship between skipping breakfast and physical fitness in a group of school-aged adolescents in China. METHODS: This cross-sectional study from the Chinese National Surveillance on Students’ Constitution and Health (CNSSCH) survey in Ningbo, China, used a standardized questionnaire to assess the frequency of breakfast consumption. Physical fitness was measured through standing long jump, 50-m sprint, 1,000 (or 800)-m run, and vital capacity tests. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the frequency of breakfast consumption and physical fitness. RESULTS: Our study included a total of 1,849 school-aged adolescents (aged 15.53±1.80 years). Among boys, non-breakfast-skippers had good scores for 50-m sprints, 1,000-m run, and vital capacity tests when compared with breakfast skippers (all p<0.05). Among girls, non-breakfast-skippers had a good scores for the standing long jump test compared with breakfast skippers (p=0.003). The multiple linear regression model showed that not skipping breakfast was positively associated with vital capacity (β=-173.78, p=0.004) and inversely associated with 50-m sprint (β=-0.12, p=0.018) and 1,000-m run times (β=-8.08, p=0.001) in boys. CONCLUSION: The results of this cross-sectional study revealed that skipping breakfast might be associated with lower physical fitness in Chinese adolescents aged 13-18 years, especially boys. Breakfast consumption should be promoted among Chinese school-aged boys.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to analyze the applicability of a fracture risk assessment tool for the prediction of osteoporotic fractures in middle-aged and elderly healthy Chinese adults. METHODS: A standard questionnaire was administered, and bone mineral density was measured in residents visiting the Dongliu Street Community Health Service Center. Paired t-tests were used to compare the FRAX-based probabilities of fractures estimated with and without consideration of bone mineral density. Risk stratification and partial correlation analyses were applied to analyze the associations between FRAX-based probabilities and body mass index or bone mineral density at different sites. RESULTS: A total of 444 subjects were included in this study. Of these subjects, 175 (39.59%) were diagnosed as osteoporotic, and 208 (47.06%) were diagnosed as osteopenic. The Kappa value for the detection of osteoporosis at the L1-L4 lumbar spine and femoral neck was 0.314. The FRAX-based 10-year major osteoporotic fracture probability and hip osteoporotic fracture probability estimated without considering bone mineral density were 4.93% and 1.64%, respectively; when estimated while considering bone mineral density, these probabilities were 4.97% and 1.54%, respectively. A significant positive association was observed between the FRAX-based fracture probabilities estimated with and without consideration of bone mineral density, while significant negative associations between body mass index and the estimated FRAX-based fracture probabilities after adjustment for age and the estimated FRAX-based fracture probabilities and femoral neck bone mineral density were identified. These results remained the same after controlling for lumbar spine bone mineral density. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese FRAX model could predict osteoporotic fracture risk regardless of whether bone mineral density was considered and was especially appropriate for predicting osteoporotic fractures of the femoral neck.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the expression levels of serum miRNAs in diabetic retinopathy and type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Serum miRNA expression profiles from diabetic retinopathy cases (type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with diabetic retinopathy) and type 2 diabetes mellitus controls (type 2 diabetes mellitus patients without diabetic retinopathy) were examined by miRNA-specific microarray analysis. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the significantly differentially expressed serum miRNAs from the microarray analysis of 45 diabetic retinopathy cases and 45 age-, sex-, body mass index- and duration-of-diabetes-matched type 2 diabetes mellitus controls. The relative changes in serum miRNA expression levels were analyzed using the 2-ΔΔCt method. RESULTS: A total of 5 diabetic retinopathy cases and 5 type 2 diabetes mellitus controls were included in the miRNA-specific microarray analysis. The serum levels of miR-3939 and miR-1910-3p differed significantly between the two groups in the screening stage; however, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction did not reveal significant differences in miRNA expression for 45 diabetic retinopathy cases and their matched type 2 diabetes mellitus controls. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that miR-3939 and miR-1910-3p may not play important roles in the development of diabetic retinopathy; however, studies with a larger sample size are needed to confirm our findings.