Fear of Fatness Among Young Irish Adolescents : Association with Obesity, Reported Iron and Folate Intake, and Dental Health

OBJECTIVE: To establish the prevalence of fear of fatness (the desire to be thinner) and associated factors, including obesity, reported energy, iron and folate intakes. The difficulties in defining overweight among Irish children and an assessment of dietary and socio-economic factors related to dental caries and also reported in the group. METHODS: A one-year follow up study of 251 healthy schoolchildren at baseline (119 boys and 132 girls; mean age 11 years) attending 7 fee-paying (6 single- and 1-mixed sex) and 8 non-fee-paying (4 single- and 4 mixed-sex) schools in Dublin city center. Assessment of body image perceptions and satisfaction (using figure line drawings) and toothbrushing habits were reported in questionnaires specifically designed for this study. Nutrient intakes and the amount and frequency of cariogenic foods were estimated from two-day food diaries kept on two occasions over a three-week period. Weight, height, triceps and subscapular skinfolds were measured and used in several definitions of overweight, which include Body Mass Index and Actual Relative Weight cut-offs. RESULTS: Significantly more girls than boys (39% vs. 17%) and more overweight children were affected by fear of fatness. Girls were twice as likely as boys to report trying to lose weight (42% vs. 20% at baseline, and 41% vs. 21% at follow up). Overweight (BMI≥26kg/m2) has increased 5-fold among boys and 2.5-fold among girls over the last ten years. The prevalence of overweight differed by 9% at baseline and 8% as follow up depending upon which method of weight status was used. A high prevalence of under-reporting energy intake (39% at baseline and 50% at follow up) was found and associated with a desire to be thinner and with being overweight. Further, a substantial number of schoolchildren, especially girls, reported iron and folate intakes below the estimated average requirements but low tissue stores of iron (7% of boys and 8% of girls at baseline; 3% of boys and 15% of girls at follow up and folate (0% of boys and 1% of girls at baseline; nobody at follow up) did not relate to the reported low intakes. Social disadvantage emerged as a more important predictor than dietary factors of low iron stores among girls only and of high dental caries among all children. CONCLUSIONS: Fear of fatness was particularly prevalent among young Irish adolescent girls and was found to be associated with systematic under-reporting of energy intakes. The prevalence of overweight has increased dramatically over the past ten years and a standard method of assessment is urgently needed for evaluation of obesity prevention initiatives among Irish schoolchildren. The discrepancy between apparently low iron and folate intakes and sufficient actual tissue stores highlights the importance of including an independent measure of reported energy validity when assessing the reported diets of adolescents. Nonetheless, those children with low iron stores are likely to have reduced concentration levels adversely affecting academic progress. They are also at risk of iron deficiency anaemia, thus representing a serious public health concern

"'Girls getting it together': a study of race, class and gender through the writings of young women"

This thesis attempts to examine the relationship between educational processes and class and gender reproduction. Such an investigation cannot avoid the ways in which racism and sexism affects the lives and schooling of young women. A significant theme running through the study addresses structuring processes within schools, the organisation of family life and the social relations of female waged labour. The study attempts to analyse the complexity of female social experience by bringing together the writings of young women across class, racial and educational boundaries. An unusual aspect of the study lies within the method of data collection. The writers who were drawn from a variety of class and ethnic backgrounds were encouraged to write about the material and emotional circumstances of their lives. The instances that are used within the study highlight the ways in which class, gender, racial and patriarchal relations produce contradiction, conflict and resistance. The act of writing is not only seen as a way of examining specific experiences, it is also seen as a means of developing cultural literacy. Working class women, girls who have moderate learning difficulties and women from ethnic minorities seldom see definitions of their own specific social world portrayed within literature. The act of writing is used to examine the material circumstances of women’s lives in relation to class and ethnic associations as well as in relation to male power relations. Finally, the thesis emphasises the significance of writing as an educational and political strategy which can be used to examine both male and female forms of consciousness

Assessment of Obesity and Fear of Fatness Among Inner-City Dublin Schoolchildren in a One-Year-Follow-Up Study

Background: Positive secular trends in adolescent obesity and an increased prevalence of fear of fatness, particularly among girls, have been documented world-wide. There is a lack of consensus about assessment criteria for childhood obesity and no standard exists for assessing Irish children. In 1990, the Irish National Nutrition Survey used body mass index (BMI) $26 kgm22 to describe the prevalence of overweight among Irish adolescents. Objectives: (1) To examine the range in classification of Dublin schoolchildren as overweight according to four standard assessment methods; (2) to assess changes in weight status, prevalence of fear of fatness and accompanying slimming practices in a one-year follow-up; and (3) to compare the prevalence of overweight with that documented in 1990 among adolescents of similar age. Design: A one-year follow-up study of 199 healthy schoolchildren (90 boys and 109 girls; mean age of 11 years at baseline) attending seven fee-paying (six single- and one mixed-sex) and eight non-fee-paying (four single- and four mixed-sex) primary schools in Dublin city centre. Measurements: Weight, height, waist circumference and triceps skinfold were measured and used in five definitions of overweight, including published cut-off points of BMI-for-age (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention BMI-for-age charts for boys and girls; BMI reference curves for the UK 1990; International Obesity Task Force age- and sex-specific BMI cut-offs), actual relative weight and BMI$ 26 kgm22. Assessment of body image perceptions and satisfaction (using figure line drawings) was reported in a questionnaire specifically designed for this study. Results: The prevalence of overweight within the total group differed between the four standard definitions of weight status, by 9% at baseline and 8% at follow-up. Accordingly, increasing trends over the year ranged from zero to 3%. Using the criterion BMI $ 26 kgm22, 6% of Dublin schoolchildren were overweight, compared with 1.9% of schoolchildren in 1990. Significantly more girls than boys were affected by fear of fatness and were trying to lose weight. Conclusion: A standard method for assessment of weight status is urgently needed for the evaluation of obesity prevention initiatives among Irish schoolchildren. Such initiatives need to be sensitive to the pervasiveness of fear of fatness among adolescent girls

Women, Poverty, Access to Health Care, and the Perils of Symbolic Reform

This article looks at health care through gendered eyes. We sift though available data on access to health care, health status, and health treatments to determine whether men and women experience health care differently in the United States. While we do not doubt that overt gender-based discrimination occasionally occurs in health care, this article focuses on the importance of unintended consequences and unconscious bias. We also explore the impact of symbolism about women\u27s roles on the process of health care reform. The results have important implications for policy makers, advocates, and health care providers. The United States has a large and complex health care system. Health care consumed $1.1 trillion, over 13%, of the Gross Domestic Product in 1998. A little over half of the health care expenditures came from private funds; slightly less than half of the expenditures were paid from public funds. Virtually every layer of government makes public expenditures, from the federal Medicare program down to immunization programs run by local governments. Health care services were provided in nearly 6,000 hospitals by over 812,000 physicians and other types of heath care providers. Given the enormity of the system, one might reasonably ask whether the objectives of this paper are quixotic. Where should researchers begin the search for gender-related differences? Part I begins by analyzing data on health care status, treatment, and outcomes for men and women. The data on health care status is intriguing because women have a longer average life expectancy than men. Part II then reviews the conflicting evidence about gender-related differences in health care treatments and outcomes. Part III carries these themes forward by emphasizing the connection between access to care and access to health insurance. We explore the data on access to health insurance for women and conclude that women and men are insured at similar rates. Women are more likely, however, to be covered by public health insurance programs. In Part IV, we analyze the role of gender in the private and public insurance markets. We demonstrate how women\u27s increasing political power has resulted in greater regulation of the private insurance market in ways that, at least symbolically, benefit women covered by the private market. Part IV also explores the negative impact of the politicization of public health insurance. Part IV examines the impact of symbolic reforms in the public provision of health benefits. We note that women are disproportionately at risk for governmental intrusion into personal health decisions because they are more likely to be poor or old and, therefore, are more likely to be covered by public insurance programs. In Part V, we analyze the implications of a gendered analysis of the health care system. We conclude that further research is needed on the relationship between gender, health care treatment, and health care outcomes. Finally, we explore the lessons learned from symbolic attention to women\u27s needs in the private health insurance market and to women\u27s proper roles in the public provision of health benefits

Students using digital audio interventions to enhance their learning experience

Previous studies of the impact of audio on student learning have focused on academic generated and centred resources. This approach can significantly impact on academic workloads in both the generation and the distribution of the media, but can also result in narrowly focused learning resources for the students. Students are exposed to many learning opportunities in and outside of the classroom; in order to promote and support learner autonomy, students need to be encouraged to intervene in their own learning experience. Creating audio interventions is an effective way of achieving this. This learner-centred approach enables the students to record, reflect and develop their learning as and when the learning opportunities arise. Student volunteers at both the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University were invited to record their experiences for themselves and were supplied with digital audio recording devices. The University of Sheffield project focus was on supporting HE transition for a cohort of first year engineering students. The Sheffield Hallam University project focus was on supporting learner autonomy amongst groups of disabled and non-disabled students. Volunteers were sought from all levels of study and from across the University. In examining the evidence from both universities the majority of students initially believed the main learning opportunity was in employing the audio devices to record lectures. As the project progressed students did record lectures and this allowed them listen to the lectures again and reflect upon them at their leisure. However, the audio devices have been deployed in a wide variety of ways including the recording of personal notes and group-work discussions with their peers. In this project students typically re-listened to their recordings every few days, when reflecting on their studies or when preparing for or completing an assessment or homework. Students typically recommend carrying the audio device at all times and using the device to record any learning opportunities as and when they arise in the course of the day

Romanticism Reconsidered: The Implications of Organicism in Educational Reform.

The purpose of this study was to reconsider what has historically been called Romantic in American education. What I discovered was the ubiquity of organicism--an organicism which, when applied to education, promises to heal divisions with connection and integration. A reading of Romanticism as organicism is a traditional interpretation which fails to acknowledge the revisionist work of critics like de Man, Hartman, Bloom, and McFarland, who regard the Romantic recognition of language and self-consciousness as providing alienation, not unity. However, education continues to regard the Romantics as organicists and to provide organic remedies, such as the organic reforms proposed in the work of John Dewey, Harold Rugg, Caroline Pratt, Paul Goodman, Ivan Illich, and John Willinsky. These educators adopt mechanistic metaphors in describing traditions they wish to see replaced and organic metaphors in urging their proposals for integration and connection. In chapters four and five, I focus on organic theories of writing and reading suggested by Dewey\u27s aesthetics and by Willinsky\u27s theories of language arts. Emerson\u27s influence on American education is pervasive, but educators read him in a traditional way--as an organicist--disregarding his recognition of language and self-consciousness as creating the division between humankind and nature. This organicist interpretation of Emerson has especially dominated the process rhetoric endorsed by Willinsky. Regarding language and the imagination as implements of mediation, both Dewey and Willinsky assume a symbolic theory of language, and they argue, metaphysically, that reading and writing result in communication and shared meaning. Assuming an autonomous, centered subject, they see writing and reading as vehicles for connecting self with self and self with a community of others. In chapter five I propose an interpretive model inspired by Shoshana Felman\u27s reading of Lacan, one recognizing an asymmetrical triadic configuration of student, teacher, and Otherness--a triad which questions the mirrored narcissism of the organic model by suggesting the introduction of the unconscious as a source of new knowledge, a model which seeks the return not of a confirming sameness but of difference. In straining to effect connection, organicist educators have ignored Otherness, language, and difference