The Effect of Schooling on Basic Cognition in Selected Nordic Countries

The present study investigated schooling effects on cognition. Cognitive data were collected as part of a research project (ProMeal) that investigated school meals and measured the intake of school lunch in relation to children’s health, cognitive function, and classroom learning in four Nordic countries, among children between 10–11 years of age. It was found that Finnish pupils attending 4th grade were not, on any measure, outperformed by Norwegian and Icelandic pupils attending 5th and Swedish pupils attending 4th grade on a task measuring working memory capacity, processing speed, inhibition, and in a subsample on response- and attention control. Moreover, boys were found to perform superior to girls on tasks measuring processing speed. However, girls were found to perform better on tasks related to attention and self-control. The results are discussed in relation to the reciprocal association between cognition and schooling and whether these results reflect quality differences between schools in the four Nordic countries; most notably in comparison to Finland.</p

Kan kornkrisen redde flere brød?

Source at https://www.nettavisen.no/.Krig, nedbør og økte priser på olje, kunstgjødsel og papiremballasje fører til kornkrise som gjør at Ola og Kari Nordmann må betale mer for sitt daglige brød i tiden fremover

Tetradecylthioacetic Acid Increases Hepatic Mitochondrial β-Oxidation and Alters Fatty Acid Composition in a Mouse Model of Chronic Inflammation

The administration of tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA), a hypolipidemic and anti-inflammatory modified bioactive fatty acid, has in several experiments based on high fat diets been shown to improve lipid transport and utilization. It was suggested that increased mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation in the liver of Wistar rats results in reduced plasma triacylglycerol (TAG) levels. Here we assessed the potential of TTA to prevent tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α-induced lipid modifications in human TNFα (hTNFα) transgenic mice. These mice are characterized by reduced β-oxidation and changed fatty acid composition in the liver. The effect of dietary treatment with TTA on persistent, low-grade hTNFα overexpression in mice showed a beneficial effect through decreasing TAG plasma concentrations and positively affecting saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid proportions in the liver, leading to an increased anti-inflammatory fatty acid index in this group. We also observed an increase of mitochondrial β-oxidation in the livers of TTA treated mice. Concomitantly, there were enhanced plasma levels of carnitine, acetyl carnitine, propionyl carnitine, and octanoyl carnitine, no changed levels in trimethyllysine and palmitoyl carnitine, and a decreased level of the precursor for carnitine, called γ-butyrobetaine. Nevertheless, TTA administration led to increased hepatic TAG levels that warrant further investigations to ascertain that TTA may be a promising candidate for use in the amelioration of inflammatory disorders characterized by changed lipid metabolism due to raised TNFα levels

Mattilbud og håndhygiene i forbindelse med måltider i barnehagen basert på studenters praksisoppgave

Formålet med denne studien var å få oppdatert innsikt i mattilbudet i barnehager og håndhygiene i forbindelse med måltidene. Studien er basert på en praksisoppgave der barnehagelærerstudenter har observert måltidene i fem praksisperioder i 2016–2018, og vi har observasjonsdata fra totalt 120 studenter. Studentene observerte om praksisbarnehagen serverte mat eller om barna hadde medbrakt mat, samt hvilken mat som ble servert i løpet av en uke. Et annet fokus var håndhygiene, og det ble registrert om barna vasket hendene før måltidene eller ikke. Resultatene viser at de fleste barnehagene serverte brødmåltid tre ganger og varmmåltid to ganger til lunsj i løpet av uken. Som pålegg var hvitost og leverpostei mest vanlig. Egg og fiskepålegg var sjelden på bordet, med unntak av makrell i tomat og kaviar. Av varmmåltid var pølser, fiskekaker, havregrøt, ostesmørbrød og forskjellige typer suppe mest vanlig. Frukt og grønt ble ikke servert så ofte ved brødmåltid, men over 90 prosent av barnehagene serverte frukt og grønt til ettermiddagsmåltidet. Omtrent halvparten av barnehagene hadde ikke god rutine for håndvask før frokost eller når de spiste ute, men bedre rutine i forbindelse med lunsj eller ettermiddagsmåltid. Noen barnehager trenger mer oppmerksomhet på variert kosthold og håndhygiene rundt måltidene

Barnehagelærerstudenters egenvurdering av læringsutbytte gjennom praksisoppgave «observasjon av håndhygiene og måltider i barnehagen»

Praksisperioden som inngår i barnehagelærerutdanningen er en viktig arena der studentene kan se sammenhengen mellom teori og praksis og reflektere over egen praksis. Studenter i emnet natur, helse og rørsle i barnehagelærerutdanningen har gjennomført en praksisoppgave der de skulle observere alle måltider og håndvask før måltid i sin praksisbarnehage i en uke. Resultatene av praksisoppgaven ble samlet og brukt i undervisning etter at de var ferdig med praksisen, for å diskutere variasjon av mattilbud og håndvaskrutiner mellom barnehagene. Formålet med denne artikkelen er å undersøke hvilke læringsutbytter studentene selv mener at de har fått gjennom praksisoppgaven. Totalt 45 studenter svarte på en spørreundersøkelse, og to studenter var videre med på forskningsintervju. Resultatene viser at studentene har fått grunnleggende kompetanse om kosthold, hygiene og måltidets funksjon i barnehagen, de har blitt trygge på å referere til nødvendige rammeverk rundt måltid og blitt mer oppmerksomme på hvor viktige måltidene i barnehagen er. Studentene ønsker også å ta opp temaet i framtidig barnehage og styrke kvaliteten på mattilbud hvis det er nødvendig

Lesson signature in food and health education

The Food and Health subject is a mandatory subject in primary and lower secondary schools in Norway and has many similarities to the internationally known subject Home Economics. This study aimed to examine how learning activities are structured in Food and Health education, both from the teacher’s and the student’s perspective. Momentary time sampling was used as the observation method, and we created “lesson signatures” of the Food and Health education based on the observational data. “Lesson signature” is a term used for an aggregate number of observed teaching sessions, and is intended to reveal specific external patterns, considering time use, organisation and teaching patterns. Data were collected from 23 observed Food and Health lessons from sixth and ninth grades in Norway. The signatures show that although the activity level of both teachers and students was high, teachers controlled and regulated the lessons. Teaching methods consisted mainly of group work. Students spent a small proportion of the lesson listening, and conversation and discussion as a collective were virtually absent

Oppskriften- den skjulte læreplanen i mat og helse

Denne artikkelen setter søkelyset på hvordan lærere operasjonaliserer faget mat og helse på barnetrinnet. Studien er en sammenlignende kasusstudie på tre fulldelte barneskoler. Datainnsamlingen ble gjennomført på 6. trinn på hver skole og fulgte samme struktur: først observasjon av to opplæringsøkter i faget, deretter innhenting av dokumenter og til slutt individuelt intervju med mat- og helselærer. Resultatene viser at lærerne vektla det å lage mat som den viktigste kompo-nenten i mat- og helsefaget, og at oppskriftene var dominerende for planlegging og gjennomføring av opplæringen. Matvarene som ble brukt i opplæringen, så ut til å være et uttrykk for mattradisjoner mer enn et fokus på fagets formål. Videre var lengden på undervisningsøkten styrende for hvordan lærerne gjennomførte opplæringen, og påvirket grad av veiledning og i hvilken grad måltidet framsto som en læringsarena. Når oppskriften framstår som så dominerende i planlegging og gjennomføring av opplæringen, kan den sees på som et nytt læreplannivå, «den skjulte læreplan». Artikkelen diskuterer også hvordan kategoriene i den didaktiske relasjonsmodellen kommer til utrykk i gjennomføringen av opplæringen i faget mat og helse.Nøkkelord: mat- og helseopplæring, oppskriften, matlaging, skjult læreplan, artefakterThe recipe – the hidden curriculum in the food and health subjectAbstractThis article focuses on how teachers operationalize the subject “food and health” at the primary level. The study is a comparative case study at three primary schools. The data was collected in the 6th grade at each school in the following manner: first observation of two teaching sessions in the subject, then collection of documents, and finally an individual interview with the food and health teacher. The results show that the teachers considered cooking as the most important component of the food and health subject, and that the recipes were crucial for the planning and implementation of the teaching. The foods used in the teaching appeared to be based predominantly on food traditions rather than on the health perspective of the subject. Moreover, the time frame of the sessions directed how the teachers carried out the teaching, and this also affected the amount of supervision and the extent to which the meal itself was used as an arena for cultural formation. When the recipe appears to be so dominant in the planning and implementation of the teaching, it can be regarded as a new curriculum level, or a “hidden curriculum”. The article also discusses how the categories in the didactical relation model are expressed in the implementation of the food and health teaching.Keywords: food and health teaching, recipe, cooking, hidden curriculum, artefact

Children’s experienced and imaginary stories about lunch packs and lunch breaks: Associations and perceptions of school lunch among primary school students in Norway

This article examined Norwegian students' associations with lunch packs and lunch breaks in primary schools, highlighting the Norwegian school meal system. Empathy-based stories were used; that is, participants were asked to write on a story about a good or a bad school lunch, either based on actual experiences or imagination. The data included stories from 181 fifth graders (105 girls and 76 boys) aged 10–11 years. Additionally, this study employed a social-constructivist approach. The analysis of the stories on the lunch packs resulted in four sub-themes: food and sensory properties of food; food norms and the violation of the norms; physical and psychological consequences of (not) eating lunch; and expressions of peer-relations and family bonds. The analysis of the stories on lunch breaks resulted in two sub-themes: social interaction and simultaneous activity, and contextual factors. In the stories the lunch pack was found to evoke both enthusiasm and discontent. Students' associations and perceptions of the food were often related to how it looked, smelled, and tasted. Furthermore, a clear feature of the stories concerning lunch break in the classroom was that the students were concerned with the social aspects of the eating situation, such as interacting with classmates by chatting, watching television, or listening to music together. This study can contribute to a deeper understanding of children's experiences with a school meal system used in countries within and outside the Nordic region

Comparison of the Physical Activity of 11–12 Year Old Pupils in Two Schools in Norway and Iceland, using Pedometer Registrations and Activity Diaries

Detailed knowledge about physical activity (PA) in both school and leisure time is of great importance in order to promote children’s health. This study investigated and compared the PA levels of sixth-grade pupils, 11–12 years of age, in two Nor-dic schools, during both school and leisure time by combining pedometer meas-ures with activity diary records. Pupils from Norway (n= 44) and Iceland (n=37) wore pedometers for seven consecutive days and kept an activity diary for the first two days. After pupils’ PA had been registered for one week using a pedometer, no significant differences in pedometer step counts were found. Nor were there signi-ficant differences in the pedometer step counts between weekdays and weekends. But when looking only at the group of pupils reporting to meet the standard of at least 60 minutes PA and 12,000 pedometer step counts per day for girls and 15,000 for boys, results revealed that there were a higher percentage of Norwegian pupils in this group. However, within this group the Icelandic pupils were active for a longer period and had higher pedometer step counts. The Norwegian pupils re-ported a significantly higher daily PA from walking or cycling to school than the Icelandic pupils. Among boys, there were no other significant differences. On the other hand, the Norwegian girls reported a significantly higher level of exercise in sports club and a significantly lower level of leisure time walks than the Icelandic girls. In conclusion, although the total amount of PA of Norwegian and Icelandic pupils was similar, a closer look at the various activities during school time and leisure time revealed significant differences between the case schools, including gender differences. Our study has contributed to the knowledge about PA among 11–12-year-old pupils in two Nordic countries. The results of our study have re-vealed a need for more research into different factors, in both school and leisure time that can contribute to increasing Nordic pupils PA levels.Nákvæm þekking á hreyfingu (e. physical activity) á skólatíma og í tómstundum er ákaflega mikilvæg þegar efla á heilsu barna. Í þessari rannsókn var könnuð og borin saman hreyfing 11 til 12 ára barna í sjötta bekk í tveimur norrænum skólum, bæði á skólatíma og í frjálsum tíma með því að tefla saman skrefamælingum og hreyfidagbókarfærslum. Nemendur í Noregi (n=44) og á Íslandi (n=37) gengu með skrefamæla í sjö daga samfleytt og héldu hreyfidagbók fyrstu tvo dagana. Eftir að hreyfing nemenda hafði verið mæld með skrefamæli í eina viku fannst enginn marktækur munur á fjölda skrefa. Ekki mátti heldur greina marktækan mun á skrefafjölda á virkum dögum og helgardögum. En þegar einblínt var á þann hóp nemenda, sem taldi sig mæta þeirri lágmarkskröfu að hreyfa sig í minnst 60 mín-útur og taka fyrir stelpur 12.000 mæld skref á dag en fyrir stráka 15.000 mæld skref á dag, leiddu niðurstöður í ljós að hærra hlutfall norskra nemenda fyllti þann hóp. Íslendingarnir í hópnum, aftur á móti, reyndust hreyfa sig lengur og skila hærri skrefatölu. Norsku nemendurnir gerðu grein fyrir marktækt meiri hreyfingu fólginni í því að ganga eða hjóla til og frá skóla. Á meðal stráka var enginn annar marktækur munur. Stelpurnar aftur á móti gáfu til kynna marktækt meiri hreyfingu á æfingum á vegum íþróttafélaga og marktækt minni göngu í frístundum. Í hnotskurn má segja að þótt hreyfing norskra og íslenskra nemenda hafi verið ámóta mikil á heildina litið hafi nánari athugun á athöfnum á skólatíma og í frístundum leitt í ljós marktækan mun á þátttökuskólunum, meðal annars eftir kynjum. Rannsókn okkar hefur aukið þekkingu á hreyfingu 11 til 12 ára skóla-barna í tveimur Norðurlanda. Niðurstöður okkar sýna þörf fyrir frekari rannsóknir á ýmsum þáttum sem geta stuðlað að því að nemendur á Norðurlöndum hreyfi sig meira

Fysiske faktorers betydning for mattilbudet i barnehagene - en casestudie

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to put focus on food and meal situation in the kindergarten. We have carried out a case study in two kindergartens and the data material consists of observations and interviews. The results showed that the physical structures such as the food and drink offer, structural facilities and the physical community are important for the food and meal provision in the kindergarten. The provision of food and drink varied between the two cases, this can be explained by how the kindergartens organized the preparation of the meal. Emphasis of the dining environment was different in the two cases, which in turn created a different atmosphere around the meal. It was also different practices whether the staff ate together with the children or not. When the staff ate the same food as the children, the meals were in a greater extent characterized by the adults' needs, including increased demands on hygiene, more delicate garnished food, greater food selection and the increased focus on the dining environment. The distance to the nearest grocery store had little impact, while on the other hand, cooperation with food suppliers had great importance for food and meal provision in the kindergarten. Sammendrag: Case studien har sett på fysiske faktorer som kan hemme eller fremme muligheter for helsefremmende handling i barnehagen. Resultatene viste at mattilbudet i barnehagen var påvirket av hva som tilbys av mat/drikke, bygningsmessige fasiliteter og det fysiske nærmiljøet. Barnehagene hadde ulik praksis med å spise med barna. Når voksne spiser samme maten som barna, ser det ut som måltidene blir formet etter voksnes behov. Som økt krav til hygiene, at maten er delikat servert, større matvareutvalg og økt krav til trivelig spisemiljø. Nærhet til butikk hadde liten betydning, mens derimot samarbeid med grossister for levering av matvarer, hadde stor betydning for mattilbudet i barnehagen