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

On the orderly listing of permutations

D.H. Lehmer states that by an orderly listing of permutations is meant a generation for which it is possible to obtain the k th permutation directly from the number k, and conversely, given a permutation, it is possible to determine at once its rank, or serial number, in the list without generating any others. In the following discussion several methods of obtaining an orderly listing are considered, especially with respect to the recovery of information regarding the number of inversions in a given permutation

Problematizing Complexities and Pedagogy in Teacher Education Programs: Enacting Knowledge in a Narrative Inquiry Teacher Education Discourse Community

This article describes how a cross-Canada cohort of teacher educators identified the benefits of participating in a narrative inquiry teacher education discourse community. The community enables conscious dialogue regarding the legitimacy of teacher knowledge, identification of personal and professional issues within educational contexts, and connections between local issues and global trends. Three themes are explored: (1) development of a non-hierarchical community, (2) unravelling of complexities in light of external pressures, and (3) personal ethical responses to current challenges. Teacher educator knowledge is deepened by providing a relational venue to attend to educational reform and programmatic complexity by grounding practices in collaborative experience

Loneliness, social relations and health and wellbeing in deprived communities

There is growing policy concern about the extent of loneliness in advanced societies, and its prevalence among various social groups. This study looks at loneliness among people living in deprived communities, where there may be additional barriers to social engagement including low incomes, fear of crime, poor services and transient populations. The aim was to examine the prevalence of loneliness, and also its associations with different types of social contacts and forms of social support, and its links to self-reported health and wellbeing in the population group. The method involved a cross-sectional survey of 4,302 adults across 15 communities, with the data analysed using multinomial logistic regression controlling for sociodemographics, then for all other predictors within each domain of interest. Frequent feelings of loneliness were more common among those who: had contact with family monthly or less; had contact with neighbours weekly or less; rarely talked to people in the neighbourhood; and who had no available sources of practical or emotional support. Feelings of loneliness were most strongly associated with poor mental health, but were also associated with long-term problems of stress, anxiety and depression, and with low mental wellbeing, though to a lesser degree. The findings are consistent with a view that situational loneliness may be the product of residential structures and resources in deprived areas. The findings also show that neighbourly behaviours of different kinds are important for protecting against loneliness in deprived communities. Familiarity within the neighbourhood, as active acquaintance rather than merely recognition, is also important. The findings are indicative of several mechanisms that may link loneliness to health and wellbeing in our study group: loneliness itself as a stressor; lonely people not responding well to the many other stressors in deprived areas; and loneliness as the product of weak social buffering to protect against stressors