The prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents in Ho Chi Minh City is increasing rapidly. There is an urgent need to implement strategies for prevention and control amongst the adolescents of Ho Chi Minh City and other urban areas in Vietnam.

Family/parental factors as well as children's lifestyle should be taken into account when planning interventions to prevent adolescent obesity.

The HIV prevalence in 1998 among IDUs was 44% for those on the street and 38.5% for those in the rehabilitation center. Independent predictors for HIV infection in IDUs were being injected by drug dealers (for the 1997 sample), injecting on the street, and sharing the drug pots (for the 1998 sample). The reported rate of needle sharing was low and decreased significantly from 20% in 1995 to 12% in 1998 for the sample of IDUs at the street. In the multivariate analysis, predictors for needle sharing for both study samples were injecting on the street, injecting at shooting galleries, and having shared needles in the past. Adequate and easy access to sterile needles and syringes, and a supportive environment of behavior change, especially in street and shooting gallery could reduce risks of virus transmission in the Vietnamese IDU community.

A combined research approach with both quantitative and qualitative methods was used to contextualize risk behaviour among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Ho chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam, in April 1997. A total of 630 IDUs (330 inside and 300 outside the rehabilitation centre) were recruited to the study. Very high-risk injecting behaviour among IDUs in the past, including sharing needles, syringes and drug solutions from the same drug pot in shooting galleries, may explain why HIV prevalence among IDUs in HCM has been growing rapidly. IDUs who had in the past injected on the street, used syringes from shooting galleries, were injected by drug dealers and/or joined in needle sharing were more likely to be sharing needles and syringes currently. Condom use was low, and was mainly with female sex workers but not with regular partners. Both IDUs who continue to use shooting galleries and shooting gallery owners should be educated on the necessity of using clean injecting equipment and on how to clean it properly. Co-ordination between ministries and agencies involved in HIV/AIDS and drugs programmes is needed to create policies for supportive environments to bring about changes in both drug use and HIV risk behaviours.

The relationship between gross domestic pro- duct (GDP) and dietary profile, with a focus on polyamine intake, was investigated in 35 Asian countries. Data on food supply, GDP, and health condition were collected from databases of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Health Organization, respectively. The amount of polyamine intake from food was estimated using polyamine concentrations listed in published sources. The amounts of putrescine, spermidine, spermine, and total polyamines in 1000 kcal of food in Asian countries were 39.07 ± 17.98, 33.74 ± 14.35, 14.05 ± 6.60 and 86.85 ± 33.96 μmol/1000 kcal, respectively. Putrescine, spermidine, and spermine constituted 44, 39, and 17% of total polyamine, respectively. Vegetables contributed the largest amount of both putrescine and spermidine and the second largest amount of spermine (45.5%, 62.2% and 27.2% of total putrescine, spermidine, and spermine, respectively). Meat was the richest source of spermine and contributed the greatest amount (50%) of this polyamine. We showed a significant positive association between GDP and the amount of polyamine per 1000 kcal of food. Lifespan was associated with both GDP and the amount of polyamine per energy quotient of food. As several basic research studies have shown that polyamines help prolong longevity, it follows that polyamines may have a role in determining the lifespan of humans