“It’s Making Memories”: A Qualitative Investigation of Family Mealtime Cognitions, Barriers and Strategies for Success of Parents and School-aged Kids

Objective: Family meals, particularly those occurring in calm environments, are associated with numerous health benefits for both children and parents. However, families often struggle to share meals, with the frequency declining as kids get older. This qualitative research study aimed to explore the factors influencing family meal behaviors. Methods: Parents (n=38) and school-age children (n=37) participated in focus group discussions guided by Social Cognitive Theory. Results: Content analysis results indicate that parents and children believed family meals were important, promoted communication, and strengthened family bonds. Parents and children reported that a calm, enjoyable, conflict-free mealtime environment bolstered mealtime enjoyment and increased the likelihood of regular family meals. Busy schedules were the greatest barrier to family meals identified by children and parents. Strategies for overcoming barriers to family meals identified by parents were similar to those shared by kids and included keeping mealtime conversations positive, altering schedules to accommodate family mealtime, planning ahead, using time saving strategies and recruiting kids to help with meal preparation. Conclusion: This qualitative research study provides novel insights into parents’ and school-age children’s cognitions (e.g., beliefs, attitudes), barriers, and facilitators related to family meals. Consideration of these insights during the development of nutrition education interventions has the potential to improve intervention effectiveness in increasing family meal frequency

Dietary intake of micronutrients and the risk of developing bladder cancer: results from the Belgian case–control study on bladder cancer risk

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the effect of dietary intake of micronutrients that are metabolized and excreted via the urinary tract on bladder cancer risk. METHODS: A semi-quantitative 322 item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to collect dietary data from 200 bladder cancer cases and 386 control subjects participating in the Belgian case-control study on bladder cancer risk. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using unconditional logistic regression adjusting for age, sex, smoking characteristics, occupational exposures, and energy intake. RESULTS: We observed a positive association between calcium intake and bladder cancer (OR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.00-3.15; p-trend = 0.049) and increased odds, although not statistically significant, for highest tertile of phosphorus intake (OR: 1.82; 95% CI: 0.95-3.49; p-trend = 0.06). We identified possible modification of the effects of both calcium and phosphorus by level of magnesium intake. Increased odds of bladder cancer were also observed for participants with highest intake of phosphorus and lowest intake of vitamin D (OR: 4.25; 95% CI: 1.44-12.55) and among older participants with the highest intakes of calcium (OR: 1.90; 95% CI: 1.08-3.36) and phosphorus (OR: 2.02; 95% CI: 1.05-3.92). CONCLUSION: The positive associations we observed between bladder cancer and intake of calcium and phosphorus require confirmation by other studies. The balances between inter-related micronutrients also warrant further examination

Addendum Guidelines for the Prevention of Peanut Allergy in the United States: Report of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseasesâ Sponsored Expert Panel

BackgroundFood allergy is an important public health problem because it affects children and adults, can be severe and even lifeâ threatening, and may be increasing in prevalence. Beginning in 2008, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, working with other organizations and advocacy groups, led the development of the first clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of food allergy. A recent landmark clinical trial and other emerging data suggest that peanut allergy can be prevented through introduction of peanutâ containing foods beginning in infancy.ObjectivesPrompted by these findings, along with 25 professional organizations, federal agencies, and patient advocacy groups, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases facilitated development of addendum guidelines to specifically address the prevention of peanut allergy.ResultsThe addendum provides three separate guidelines for infants at various risk levels for the development of peanut allergy and is intended for use by a wide variety of health care providers. Topics addressed include the definition of risk categories, appropriate use of testing (specific IgE measurement, skin prick tests, and oral food challenges), and the timing and approaches for introduction of peanutâ containing foods in the health care provider’s office or at home. The addendum guidelines provide the background, rationale, and strength of evidence for each recommendation.ConclusionsGuidelines have been developed for early introduction of peanutâ containing foods into the diets of infants at various risk levels for peanut allergy.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135514/1/pde13093_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135514/2/pde13093.pd

Addendum guidelines for the prevention of peanut allergy in the United States

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135363/1/pde13092.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135363/2/pde13092_am.pd

Nonlinear viscoelastic characterization of bovine trabecular bone

The time-independent elastic properties of trabecular bone have been extensively investigated, and several stiffness–density relations have been proposed. Although it is recognized that trabecular bone exhibits time-dependent mechanical behaviour, a property of viscoelastic materials, the characterization of this behaviour has received limited attention. The objective of the present study was to investigate the time-dependent behaviour of bovine trabecular bone through a series of compressive creep–recovery experiments and to identify its nonlinear constitutive viscoelastic material parameters. Uniaxial compressive creep and recovery experiments at multiple loads were performed on cylindrical bovine trabecular bone samples ([Formula: see text] ). Creep response was found to be significant and always comprised of recoverable and irrecoverable strains, even at low stress/strain levels. This response was also found to vary nonlinearly with applied stress. A systematic methodology was developed to separate recoverable (nonlinear viscoelastic) and irrecoverable (permanent) strains from the total experimental strain response. We found that Schapery’s nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model describes the viscoelastic response of the trabecular bone, and parameters associated with this model were estimated from the multiple load creep–recovery (MLCR) experiments. Nonlinear viscoelastic recovery compliance was found to have a decreasing and then increasing trend with increasing stress level, indicating possible stiffening and softening behaviour of trabecular bone due to creep. The obtained parameters from MLCR tests, expressed as second-order polynomial functions of stress, showed a similar trend for all the samples, and also demonstrate stiffening–softening behaviour with increasing stress

Ethnicity and sexuality

This paper explores the connections between ethnicity and sexuality. Racial, ethnic, and national boundaries are also sexual boundaries. The borderlands dividing racial, ethnic, and national identities and communities constitute ethnosexual frontiers, erotic intersections that are heavily patrolled, policed, and protected, yet regularly are penetrated by individuals forging sexual links with ethnic "others." Normative heterosexuality is a central component of racial, ethnic, and nationalist ideologies; both adherence to and deviation from approved sexual identities and behaviors define and reinforce racial, ethnic, and nationalist regimes. To illustrate the ethnicity/sexuality nexus and to show the utility of revealing this intimate bond for understanding ethnic relations, I review constructionist models of ethnicity and sexuality in the social sciences and humanities, and I discuss ethnosexual boundary processes in several historical and contemporary settings: the sexual policing of nationalism, sexual aspects of US-American Indian relations, and the sexualization of the black-white color line