Dietary patterns and physical activity among Palestinian female schoolchildren in East Jerusalem

Aim: This study aims to assess the Palestinian girls’ dietary habits and physical activity patterns as a baseline for intervention. Methods: A cross-sectional study of grade 4 and 5 pupils (mean age: 11 years) in 14 all-girl schools in East Jerusalem, of four different types of school ownership (overall N=897), was conducted, using self-administered questionnaires and  height and weight measurements. Logistic regressions were conducted to determine predictors of healthy behaviours. Results: Only 36.6% of the pupils reported eating breakfast daily, with UNRWA schools having the highest rate of daily breakfast consumption (42.6%). About 28% reported eating the recommended daily quantity of five portions of fruits and vegetables. Only 15% of the pupils reported being active at least five days a week and more than one third of the schoolchildren viewed TV for ≥4 hours a day. The  prevalence of overweight and obesity was 22.2% and 7.6%, respectively, with private schools having the highest rates, 29.6% and 12.8% respectively (P=0.001). Additional predictors of overweight and obesity were: being the first child in the family, watching TV for more than four hours a day, always eating while watching TV and being physically active less than five days a week.  Conclusions: Most Palestinian pupils miss breakfast, eat less fruits and vegetables than recommended and have sedentary behaviours. These findings raise serious concerns and point to the urgent need for tailored interventions. Source of funding: This study is a part of Ph.D. degree. Maha Nubani-Husseini received a scholarship from Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). She thanks Nutrition and Health Research Institute Al-Quds University for funding part of the research. The Linda Joy Pollin Cardiovascular Wellness Center for Women at the Division of Cardiology of Hadassah University Medical Center, directed by Dr. Donna Zfat funded the mothers’ activities and lectures towards the end of the intervention, as well as the implementation of the programme at the control schools one year after the study ended, as they were promised when they got selected. Acknowledgments: The authors thank the participating schools, the Palestinian Ministry of Education, the UNRWA Office of Education and Jerusalem Municipality for facilitating fieldwork. Their gratitude also goes to Mr. Radwan Qasrawi (Al-Quds University), Dr. Marrio Baras and Dr. Deena Jaffeh (Hebrew University) for statistical support, and  to Mrs. Suzy Daher for editing

Moving Towards Sustainability—Bringing the Threads Together

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Improving adherence to the Mediterranean Diet through a bio-psycho social and sociotype approach

The bio-psycho-social and sociotypic approach to the multifaceted nature of theMDcan enable nutritionists and policy makers to focus on the different domains—Individual, Living/Social environment, and Institutional contexts—to make practical actions to improve the adherence to the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle. The concepts discussed in this article may be translated into policy decisions at the Institutional—Context level as follows (24): 1) Ensure that Food Systems are Sustainable along the entire food chain—from production to consumption; reduce food losses and waste. Involve multi-stakeholder partners. systemic policies designed to recognize food systems as complex adaptive systems (25). 2) Promote agriculture toward the best Sustainable Ecosystem services and practices. Reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers (26). 3) Ensure the right of all members of the population to healthy, adequate, and affordable food. 4) Monitor regularly the safety of the food supply chain to be environmentally friendly and free of pathogens. 5) Legislate (and incentivize) the Food Industry to produce healthy (minimally processed foods), with less added sugars, trans fats, salt, and additives. Informative Labeling (27, 28). Ensure honest and transparent marketing with. No junk food adverts to children 6) Improve Public Health Education on healthy life styles, nutrition, cooking (Mediterranean Diet Patterns), and physical activity. Once these policies are set in place, then implementation will follow by improving the living/social environment (relationships) and ensuring a healthy, safe external environment (institutional context) to affect the individual and, thereby, enhance adherence to the Mediterranean diet (29). Finally, we note that diets should not be a list of do’s and don’ts, but rather a pleasurable and tasty experience (Individual) in which we respect traditional and cultural preferences (Social Environment). We have to eat to live and not vice versa

Dietary patterns and physical activity among Palestinian female schoolchildren in East Jerusalem

Aim: This study aims to assess the Palestinian girls’ dietary habits and physical activity patterns as a baseline for intervention.Methods: A cross-sectional study of grade 4 and 5 pupils (mean age: 11 years) in 14 all-girl schools in East Jerusalem, of four different types of school ownership (overall N=897), was conducted, using self-administered questionnaires and  height and weight measurements. Logistic regressions were conducted to determine predictors of healthy behaviours.Results: Only 36.6% of the pupils reported eating breakfast daily, with UNRWA schools having the highest rate of daily breakfast consumption (42.6%). About 28% reported eating the recommended daily quantity of five portions of fruits and vegetables. Only 15% of the pupils reported being active at least five days a week and more than one third of the schoolchildren viewed TV for ≥4 hours a day. The  prevalence of overweight and obesity was 22.2% and 7.6%, respectively, with private schools having the highest rates, 29.6% and 12.8% respectively (P=0.001). Additional predictors of overweight and obesity were: being the first child in the family, watching TV for more than four hours a day, always eating while watching TV and being physically active less than five days a week. Conclusions: Most Palestinian pupils miss breakfast, eat less fruits and vegetables than recommended and have sedentary behaviours. These findings raise serious concerns and point to the urgent need for tailored interventions.Source of funding: This study is a part of Ph.D. degree. Maha Nubani-Husseini received a scholarship from Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). She thanks Nutrition and Health Research Institute Al-Quds University for funding part of the research. The Linda Joy Pollin Cardiovascular Wellness Center for Women at the Division of Cardiology of Hadassah University Medical Center, directed by Dr. Donna Zfat funded the mothers’ activities and lectures towards the end of the intervention, as well as the implementation of the programme at the control schools one year after the study ended, as they were promised when they got selected.Acknowledgments: The authors thank the participating schools, the Palestinian Ministry of Education, the UNRWA Office of Education and Jerusalem Municipality for facilitating fieldwork. Their gratitude also goes to Mr. Radwan Qasrawi (Al-Quds University), Dr. Marrio Baras and Dr. Deena Jaffeh (Hebrew University) for statistical support, and  to Mrs. Suzy Daher for editing

Coping With Food Insecurity Using the Sociotype Ecological Framework

Ensuring Food Security (FS) for all citizens is a fundamental human right and policy for all countries. Dealing with Food Insecurity (FINS) is a challenge causing stress at many levels—national, household, and individual. The conceptual framework of the Sociotype has been developed as a summary ecological construct to organize the multiple, dynamic, reciprocal inputs from the environment that interact with the genotype to determine the expression of phenotypic behaviors such as coping with stress. The Sociotype ecological framework has three domains—Individual (intra-personal), Relationships (inter-personal, family and community), and Context (environment, national)—and their interactions determine an individual's resilience across the life trajectory from birth to old age. We have applied the principles of the Sociotype to classify both the stresses of, and the coping strategies to, FINS. The stresses of FINS may occur at any place along the FS pathway—Availability, Accessibility, Utilization, and Stability. The elicited coping responses may take place in one or more of the three Sociotype domains. The two processes are inter-related linearly with re-iterative feedback loops such that stress leads to coping responses that may or may not be adequate, thereby requiring modifications in the coping strategies until FS is regained. Resilience is considered to represent long-term coping strategies. The Sociotype framework is both a determinant of, and constant input to, building and strengthening resilience. However, the people with the most problems with FINS are rarely included in these discussions. They are the marginalized members of society: unemployed, homeless, displaced persons, special needs, elderly, single parents, mentally frail, and more. Applying the Sociotype ecological framework for coping with FINS stresses can allow better strategic planning for FS at national, household and individual levels and understanding the interactions between them to reach out to and help these sectors of the population

Semiclassical approach to discrete symmetries in quantum chaos

We use semiclassical methods to evaluate the spectral two-point correlation function of quantum chaotic systems with discrete geometrical symmetries. The energy spectra of these systems can be divided into subspectra that are associated to irreducible representations of the corresponding symmetry group. We show that for (spinless) time reversal invariant systems the statistics inside these subspectra depend on the type of irreducible representation. For real representations the spectral statistics agree with those of the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE) of Random Matrix Theory (RMT), whereas complex representations correspond to the Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (GUE). For systems without time reversal invariance all subspectra show GUE statistics. There are no correlations between non-degenerate subspectra. Our techniques generalize recent developments in the semiclassical approach to quantum chaos allowing one to obtain full agreement with the two-point correlation function predicted by RMT, including oscillatory contributions.Comment: 26 pages, 8 Figure

Conformational control of structure and guest uptake by a tripeptide-based porous material

Chemical processes often rely on the selective sorting and transformation of molecules according to their size, shape and chemical functionality. For example, porous materials such as zeolites achieve the required selectivity through the constrained pore dimensions of a single structure.1 In contrast, proteins function by navigating between multiple metastable structures using bond rotations of the polypeptide,2,3 where each structure lies in one of the minima of a conformational energy landscape and can be selected according to the chemistry of the molecules interacting with the protein.3 Here we show that rotation about covalent bonds in a peptide linker can change a flexible metal-organic framework (MOF) to afford nine distinct crystal structures, revealing a conformational energy landscape characterised by multiple structural minima. The uptake of small molecule guests by the MOF can be chemically triggered by inducing peptide conformational change. This change transforms the material from a minimum on the landscape that is inactive for guest sorption to an active one. Chemical control of the conformation of a flexible organic linker offers a route to modify the pore geometry and internal surface chemistry and thus the function of open-framework materials

Mediterranean diet pyramid today. Science and cultural updates

Objective: To present the Mediterranean diet (MD) pyramid: a lifestyle for today. Design: A new graphic representation has been conceived as a simplified main frame to be adapted to the different nutritional and socio-economic contexts of the Mediterranean region. This review gathers updated recommendations considering the lifestyle, dietary, sociocultural, environmental and health challenges that the current Mediterranean populations are facing. Setting and Subjects: Mediterranean region and its populations. Results: Many innovations have arisen since previous graphical representations of the MD. First, the concept of composition of the ‘main meals’ is introduced to reinforce the plant-based core of the dietary pattern. Second, frugality and moderation is emphasised because of the major public health challenge of obesity. Third, qualitative cultural and lifestyle elements are taken into account, such as conviviality, culinary activities, physical activity and adequate rest, along with proportion and frequency recommendations of food consumption. These innovations are made without omitting other items associated with the production, selection, processing and consumption of foods, such as seasonality, biodiversity, and traditional, local and eco-friendly products. Conclusions: Adopting a healthy lifestyle and preserving cultural elements should be considered in order to acquire all the benefits from the MD and preserve this cultural heritage. Considering the acknowledgment of the MD as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO (2010), and taking into account its contribution to health and general well-being, we hope to contribute to a much better adherence to this healthy dietary pattern and its way of life with this new graphic representation.peer-reviewe

Using Bayes to get the most out of non-significant results

No scientific conclusion follows automatically from a statistically non-significant result, yet people routinely use non-significant results to guide conclusions about the status of theories (or the effectiveness of practices). To know whether a non-significant result counts against a theory, or if it just indicates data insensitivity, researchers must use one of: power, intervals (such as confidence or credibility intervals), or else an indicator of the relative evidence for one theory over another, such as a Bayes factor. I argue Bayes factors allow theory to be linked to data in a way that overcomes the weaknesses of the other approaches. Specifically, Bayes factors use the data themselves to determine their sensitivity in distinguishing theories (unlike power), and they make use of those aspects of a theory’s predictions that are often easiest to specify (unlike power and intervals, which require specifying the minimal interesting value in order to address theory). Bayes factors provide a coherent approach to determining whether non-significant results support a null hypothesis over a theory, or whether the data are just insensitive. They allow accepting and rejecting the null hypothesis to be put on an equal footing. Concrete examples are provided to indicate the range of application of a simple online Bayes calculator, which reveal both the strengths and weaknesses of Bayes factors

The Grizzly, February 6, 1987

Residential Village Saluted: Ursinus Recipient of County Planning Award • Art Critic Kuspit Condemns Ursinus\u27 Acquisitions • Biology Dept. Offers Field Study • Letters: Pro Abortion Bias Suggested; Art Critic Elitist; Hoopsters Accomplish Goals Despite Poor Press; Kane Commends McCullough • News Notes: Weaver to Play on Heefner Organ Again; Board Member Jeffers Dies at 79; Health Promotion Project; Lorelei, a U.C. Tradition • The Coddling of College Students • Connolly Finds Berry Piece Arrogant, Rash and True • Grappling Bears Stun Opponents in Streaking to 9-2 • Ursinus Roars Back to Thrash Hopkins • Men\u27s Track Impressive Early in Season • Mer Men Waiting for Loyola • Lady Hoopsters Capture First Home Win • Sophomore Wrestler Seislove on a Roll • A Baby and the Ball - Two Plays Called at Once • Japanese Program Offered Again • Fishing Club Factshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1180/thumbnail.jp