Gut microbiome development in early childhood is affected by day care attendance

The human gut microbiome develops during the first years of life, followed by a relatively stable adult microbiome. Day care attendance is a drastic change that exposes children to a large group of peers in a diverse environment for prolonged periods, at this critical time of microbial development, and therefore has the potential to affect microbial composition. We characterize the effect of day care on the gut microbial development throughout a single school year in 61 children from 4 different day care facilities, and in additional 24 age-matched home care children (n = 268 samples, median age of entering the study was 12 months). We show that day care attendance is a significant and impactful factor in shaping the microbial composition of the growing child, the specific daycare facility and class influence the gut microbiome, and each child becomes more similar to others in their day care. Furthermore, in comparison to home care children, day care children have a different gut microbial composition, with enrichment of taxa more frequently observed in older populations. Our results provide evidence that daycare may be an external factor that contributes to gut microbiome maturation and make-up in early childhood.

Child Day Care Center Use and Mental Stress of Working Mothers

Background: Some of the working mothers use child day care center (CDCC) for their children to reduce their mental stress. This study was designed to assess the association between mental stress of working mothers and child day care center use. Methods: This comparative cross sectional study was conducted among 106 working mothers of whom 53 were CDCC users and 53 were non-users from January to December, 2019. Data were collected by face to face interview by a semi-structured questionnaire. Mental stress was estimated by Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Quality control checks for data were done. All ethical issues were maintained strictly in different stages of the study and informed written consent was taken from each individual. Results: Mean (±SD) age was 32.92(± 2.901) and 33.55(± 3.160) years in CDCC users and non-users respectively. Average monthly family income was Tk.191698.11 in CDCC users and Tk. 209433.96 in non-users. Majority (67.9%) of the CDCC users lived in nuclear family while 67.9% of the CDCC non-users lived in joint family. Mothers had significantly higher (85.5%) stress who had maid servant in comparison to mothers who had not and mothers had higher (75.0%) stress who suffered from illness compared to mothers who did not suffer and it was significant (p<0.05). Both low (61.5%) and moderate (59.4%) stress were significantly higher among CDCC users while high stress (83.3%) was significantly higher among CDCC non-users. Chance of having low stress was high (OR=8.0) in mothers who were CDCC users than mothers who were CDCC non-users. Conclusion: CDCC non-users had high level of mental stress than the CDCC users. CDCC should be established with every organization to reduce the mental stress of working mothers. JOPSOM 2021; 40(1): 59-65

COVID-19-Related Lifestyle Changes among Community-Dwelling Older Adult Day-Care Users: A Qualitative Study

In Japan, the community-based comprehensive care system is an important initiative. The purpose of this study was to understand COVID-19-related lifestyle changes experienced by older adults who lived in communities and used day-care services. Using a qualitative inductive research method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 older adults who used day-care services in Kyoto City, which assessed lifestyle changes before and after the spread of COVID-19 during March–April 2021. The extracted lifestyle change codes were classified into six categories and 16 subcategories. The data revealed that older adults felt socially isolated and experienced multiple changes in their lives, including limited leisure activities, changes in roles, decreased interpersonal interaction with family and acquaintances, poor diet and sleep quality, and reduced attention to personal appearance and grooming. The findings suggest that during COVID-19, older adults had difficulty adapting to the various changes in their lives and showed a decline in physical and mental functioning. Thus, it is important for day-care facilities to create sustainable spaces in response to the various care needs of community-dwelling older adults whose lifestyles have changed as a result of the COVID-19 situation.

Australian family day care educators’ experiences of supporting children’s mental health, and their own mental health and wellbeing

This mixed-methods study explored (1) family day care (FDC) educators’ confidence and capability to support children’s mental health, and (2) assessed their own mental health and wellbeing. Descriptive analysis of the survey ( n = 144) highlighted that most participants were in the normal range for mental health and wellbeing; however, identifying mental ill-health in children, access to resources and awareness of support services were areas where participants were less likely to feel confident or capable. In the interviews ( n = 14), three themes were identified in the interviews for the first research question (including the central role of the FDC educator, lack of training and resources and limited professional support) and three themes were identified for the second research question (the importance of mental health for educators, being a small business owner and connecting with other educators). The results highlighted a need for additional support and resources for educators specifically targeting the mental health and wellbeing of children.

Parental preferences for a mandatory vaccination scheme in England; a discrete choice experiment

Background: Mandatory vaccination has been mooted to combat falling childhood vaccine uptake rates in England. This study investigated parental preferences for a mandatory vaccination scheme. Methods: Discrete choice experiment. Six attributes were investigated: vaccine (MMR, 6-in-1), child age group (2 years and older, 5 years and older), incentive (130 GBP cash incentive for parent, 130 GBP voucher incentive for child, no incentive), penalty (450 GBP fine, parent not able to claim Child Benefits for an unvaccinated child, unvaccinated child not able to attend school or day care), ability to opt out (medical exemption only, medical and religious belief exemption), and compensation scheme (not offered, offered). Mixed effects conditional logit regression models were used to investigate parental preferences and relative importance of attributes. Findings: Participants were 1,001 parents of children aged 5 years and under (53% female, mean age=33.6 years, SD=7.1, 84% white British). Parental preferences were mostly based on incentives (slight preference for cash pay-out for the parent versus a voucher for the child) and penalties (preference for schemes that did not allow unvaccinated children to attend school or day care and those that withheld financial benefits for parents of unvaccinated children). Parents also preferred schemes that: offered a compensation scheme, mandated the 6-in-1 vaccine, mandated vaccination in children aged 2 years and older, and that offered only medical exemptions. Interpretation: Results can inform policymakers' decisions about how best to implement a mandatory childhood vaccination scheme in England. Funding: Data collection was funded by a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants (SRG1920\101118).

Strategi Manajemen Konflik Pendidikan AUD di Masa Pandemi

In educating the nation's life, the Indonesian government's policy in the education sector that supports lifelong education is the recognition of early childhood education. Conflict is something that cannot be avoided in life. In social interaction and internalization between individuals or between groups. Conflict is actually a natural thing, even as long as human life is always faced and struggles with conflict. In the past, conflict was seen as a symptom or phenomenon that was unnatural and had negative or positive consequences depending on how to manage it. Currently, many parents may still misunderstand the definition and purpose of early childhood education. This is understandable considering the function of early childhood education in several cities or regions, early childhood education which is actually an educational institution to develop the character and personality of children is more often understood as a place of day care.