The effect of female education on health in Bangladesh

Female education is believed to affect health through its influence on health behaviors. However, the effect of female education may be estimated incorrectly when female education is correlated with unobserved variables at the community and individual levels that also influence health. This dissertation estimates the causal effect of female education on health in Bangladesh and addresses the potential sources of endogeneity. I apply instrumental variables (IV) constructed from education programs introduced nationwide in the 1990s in Bangladesh to analyze integrated data from the 2007 Demographic and Health Survey, the 1981 population census, and the secondary school census in 2006. In the first paper, I assess the causal effect of female education on adolescent reproductive health outcomes in order to understand the mechanisms through which education influences adolescent fertility. I find that a one-year increase in the highest grade achieved reduced significantly the probability of first marriage by age 15 by .050, the probability of first live birth by age 16 by .013, and the number of live births by age 20 by .072 births. In the second paper, I examine the causal effect of maternal education on sex bias in child survival between the first and fifths birthdays in Bangladesh in order to assess the influence of maternal education on parental son preference and differential parental behaviors by gender of child. I find that a one-year increase in highest grade achieved increased significantly the survival probability for both boys and girls by .012. However, there was no incremental effect of maternal education by gender of child, implying that girls do not benefit any more than boys from educated mothers. The difference between the IV and ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates of the effect of female education on health vary depending on the health outcomes. The finding suggests that the direction and magnitude of bias due to endogeneity are not universal across health outcomes and cannot be determined as a priori knowledge. Lastly, the reduced form results of the two papers suggest that the education programs significantly enhanced female education, and reproductive and child health

Diet and obesity in Los Angeles County 2007–2012: Is there a measurable effect of the 2008 “Fast-Food Ban”?

We evaluate the impact of “Los Angeles Fast-Food Ban”, a zoning regulation that restricts opening/remodeling of standalone fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles since 2008. Food retail permits issued after the ban are more often for small food/convenience stores and less often for larger restaurants not part of a chain in South Los Angeles compared to other areas; there are no significant differences in the share of new fast-food chain outlets, other chain restaurants, or large food markets. About 10% of food outlets are new since the regulation, but there is little evidence that the composition has changed differentially across areas. Data from the California Health Interview Survey show that fast-food consumption and overweight/obesity rates have increased from 2007 to 2011/2012 in all areas. The increase in the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity since the ban has been significantly larger in South Los Angeles than elsewhere. A positive development has been a drop in soft drink consumption since 2007, but that drop is of similar magnitude in all areas

Neighborhood Food Outlets, Diet, and Obesity Among California Adults, 2007 and 2009

IntroductionVarying neighborhood definitions may affect research on the association between food environments and diet and weight status. The objective of this study was to examine the association between number and type of neighborhood food outlets and dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) measures among California adults according to the geographic size of a neighborhood or food environment.MethodsWe analyzed data from 97,678 respondents aged 18 years or older from the 2007 and 2009 California Health Interview Survey through multivariable regression models. Outcome variables were BMI, weight status of a BMI of 25.0 or more and a BMI of 30.0 or more, and the number of times per week the following were consumed: fruits, vegetables, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, fried potatoes, and fast food. Explanatory variables were the number of fast-food restaurants, full-service restaurants, convenience stores, small food stores, grocery stores, and large supermarkets within varying distances (0.25 to 3.0 miles) from the survey respondent’s residence. We adopted as a measure of walking distance a Euclidean distance within 1 mile. Control variables included sociodemographic and economic characteristics of respondents and neighborhoods.ResultsFood outlets within walking distance (≤1.0 mile) were not strongly associated with dietary intake, BMI, or probabilities of a BMI of 25.0 or more or a BMI of 30.0 or more. We found significant associations between fast-food outlets and dietary intake and between supermarkets and BMI and probabilities of a BMI of 25.0 or more and a BMI of 30.0 or more for food environments beyond walking distance (>1.0 mile).ConclusionWe found no strong evidence that food outlets near homes are associated with dietary intake or BMI. We replicated some associations reported previously but only for areas that are larger than what typically is considered a neighborhood. A likely reason for the null finding is that shopping patterns are weakly related, if at all, to neighborhoods in the United States because of access to motorized transportation

Methodology and baseline results from the evaluation of a sexuality education activity in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

In South Africa, adolescents and young adults (ages 15–24) are at risk of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and unintended pregnancies. Recently, the Department of Basic Education has revised its sexuality education content and teaching strategies (using scripted lessons plans) as part of its life orientation curriculum. This paper presents the methodology and baseline results from the evaluation of the scripted lesson plans and supporting activities. A rigorous cluster-level randomized design with random assignment of schools as clusters is used for the evaluation. Baseline results from grade 8 female and male learners and grade 10 female learners demonstrate that learners are at risk of HIV and early and unintended pregnancies. Multivariable analyses demonstrate that household-level food insecurity and living with an HIV-positive person are associated with sexual experience and pregnancy experience. Implications are discussed for strengthening the current life orientation program for future scale-up by the government of South Africa.The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of MEASURE Evaluation cooperative agreement AID-OAA-L-14-00004.http://www.guilford.com/journals/AIDS-Education-and-Prevention/Francisco-Sy/089995462019-10-01hj2018School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH

地域活動への住民参加を促すための保健師の支援方法

A地区の地域活動への住民の参加状況と参加条件を明らかにするため、4団体108名を対象に質問紙調査を行った。地域活動への参加条件として重要なのは、健康であること、家族の理解と協力があること、身近な人と一緒に参加できること、活動場所が自宅に近いこと、活動する時間的余裕があること等が明らかとなった。地域活動支援のあり方としては、個人や家族の健康を保持・増進し、地域の人々のつながりを強め、時間・場所・移動手段を工夫し住民が集いやすくすることにより、参加条件を満たすことが有効と考えられた。保健師は、個人や集団が地域活動を活発にするための工夫や連携を図り、個人・集団の力を引き出せるような支援をしていくことが重要であると考えられた

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Ancient DNA analysis of food remains in human dental calculus from the Edo period, Japan.

Although there are many methods for reconstructing diets of the past, detailed taxon identification is still challenging, and most plants hardly remain at a site. In this study, we applied DNA metabarcoding to dental calculus of premodern Japan for the taxonomic identification of food items. DNA was extracted from 13 human dental calculi from the Unko-in site (18th-19th century) of the Edo period, Japan. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing were performed using a primer set specific to the genus Oryza because rice (Oryza sativa) was a staple food and this was the only member of this genus present in Japan at that time. DNA metabarcoding targeting plants, animals (meat and fish), and fungi were also carried out to investigate dietary diversity. We detected amplified products of the genus Oryza from more than half of the samples using PCR and Sanger sequencing. DNA metabarcoding enabled us to identify taxa of plants and fungi, although taxa of animals were not detected, except human. Most of the plant taxonomic groups (family/genus level) are present in Japan and include candidate species consumed as food at that time, as confirmed by historical literature. The other groups featured in the lifestyle of Edo people, such as for medicinal purposes and tobacco. The results indicate that plant DNA analysis from calculus provides information about food diversity and lifestyle habits from the past and can complement other analytical methods such as microparticle analysis and stable isotope analysis