405 research outputs found

    The cost-effectiveness of removing television advertising of high-fat and/or high-sugar food and beverages to Australian children

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    Objective: To model the health benefits and cost-effectiveness of banning television (TV) advertisements in Australia for energy-dense, nutrient-poor food and beverages during children\u27s peak viewing times.Methods: Benefits were modelled as changes in body mass index (BMI) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) saved. Intervention costs (AUD)werecomparedwithfuturehealth−carecostoffsetsfromreducedprevalenceofobesity−relatedhealthconditions.ChangesinBMIwereassumedtobemaintainedthroughtoadulthood.Thecomparatorwascurrentpractice,thereferenceyearwas2001,andthediscountrateforcostsandbenefitswas3) were compared with future health-care cost offsets from reduced prevalence of obesity-related health conditions. Changes in BMI were assumed to be maintained through to adulthood. The comparator was current practice, the reference year was 2001, and the discount rate for costs and benefits was 3%. The impact of the withdrawal of non-core food and beverage advertisements on children\u27s actual food consumption was drawn from the best available evidence (a randomized controlled trial of advertisement exposure and food consumption). Supporting evidence was found in ecological relationships between TV advertising and childhood obesity, and from the effects of marketing bans on other products. A Working Group of stakeholders provided input into decisions surrounding the modelling assumptions and second-stage filters of \u27strength of evidence\u27, \u27equity\u27, \u27acceptability to stakeholders\u27, \u27feasibility of implementation\u27, \u27sustainability\u27 and \u27side-effects\u27.Results: The intervention had a gross incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of AUD 3.70 (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 2.40,2.40, 7.70) per DALY. Total DALYs saved were 37 000 (95% UI 16 000, 59 000). When the present value of potential savings in future health-care costs was considered (AUD300m(95 300m (95% UI 130m, $480m), the intervention was \u27dominant\u27, because it resulted in both a health gain and a cost offset compared with current practice.Conclusions: Although recognizing the limitations of the available evidence, restricting TV food advertising to children would be one of the most cost-effective population-based interventions available to governments today. Despite its economic credentials from a public health perspective, the initiative is strongly opposed by food and advertising industries and is under review by the current Australian government.<br /

    Four Decades of the Journal \u3ci\u3eLaw and Human Behavior\u3c/i\u3e: A Content Analysis

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    Although still relatively young, the journal Law and Human Behavior (LHB) has amassed a publication history of more than 1300 full-length articles over four decades. Yet, no systematic analysis of the journal has been done until now. The current research coded all full-length articles to examine trends over time, predictors of the number of Google Scholar citations, and predictors of whether an article was cited by a court case. The predictors of interest included article organization, research topics, areas of law, areas of psychology, first-author gender, first-author country of institutional affiliation, and samples employed. Results revealed a vast and varied field that has shown marked diversification over the years. First authors have consistently become more diversified in both gender and country of institutional affiliation. Overall, the most common research topics were jury/judicial decision-making and eyewitness/memory, the most common legal connections were to criminal law and mental health law, and the most common psychology connection was to social-cognitive psychology. Research in psychology and law has the potential to impact both academic researchers and the legal system. Articles published in LHB appear to accomplish both

    Boron Fertilization Effects on Nutritive Parameters of Alfalfa

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    With early pre-plant incorporation of limestone to raise soil pH to 6.8 to 7.0, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) may be grown successfully on acid, Coastal Plain, sandy loam soils. Fertility and forage quality for hay and/or grazing require alternative management of alfalfa on these Coastal Plain soils. A two-year experiment evaluated alfalfa fertilized with three rates of boron to quantify effects on nutritive entities, especially fiber components. On a whole-plant basis in year 1, only crude protein was increased (P \u3c .05) at one of six harvest dates. In year 2, chemical analyses of leaf-stem components indicated consistent increases in crude protein of leaf fractions at each harvest (P \u3c .05), reduction in neutral detergent fiber at three harvest dates (P \u3c .06), and reduced lignin (P \u3c .07) at the final harvest. Stem sections were affected by rate of boron at only the June harvest with an increase in crude protein (P \u3c .05). Rate of boron fertilization had indirect effects on nutritive value (crude protein) by either delaying physiological maturity or enhancing nitrogen fixation in leaves, and had a direct negative effect on certain fiber components

    Assessing cost-effectiveness in obesity : active transport program for primary school children— TravelSMART schools curriculum program

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    Background: To assess from a societal perspective the cost-effectiveness of a school program to increase active transport in 10- to 11-year-old Australian children as an obesity prevention measure. Methods: The TravelSMART Schools Curriculum program was modeled nationally for 2001 in terms of its impact on Body Mass Index (BMI) and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) measured against current practice. Cost offsets and DALY benefits were modeled until the eligible cohort reached age 100 or died. The intervention was qualitatively assessed against second stage filter criteria (&lsquo;equity,&rsquo; &lsquo;strength of evidence,&rsquo; &lsquo;acceptability to stakeholders,&rsquo; &lsquo;feasibility of implementation,&rsquo; &lsquo;sustainability,&rsquo; and &lsquo;side-effects&rsquo;) given their potential impact on funding decisions. Results: The modeled intervention reached 267,700 children and cost AUD13.3M(95AUD13.3M (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 6.9M; 22.8M)peryear.Itresultedinanincrementalsavingof890(9522.8M) per year. It resulted in an incremental saving of 890 (95%UI &ndash;540; 2,900) BMI units, which translated to 95 (95% UI &ndash;40; 230) DALYs and a net cost per DALY saved of AUD117,000 (95% UI dominated; $1.06M). Conclusions: The intervention was not cost-effective as an obesity prevention measure under base-run modeling assumptions. The attribution of some costs to nonobesity objectives would be justified given the program&rsquo;s multiple benefits. Cost-effectiveness would be further improved by considering the wider school community impacts.<br /
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