THE IMPACT OF THE MEDIA ON BODY IMAGE PERCEPTIONSAND SELF-ESTEEM AMONG FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

University students nowadays face a number of daily challenges. To meet the standards set by the media and other socio-economic influences causes many of them to feel vulnerable and confused. This sense of failure and the decrease in self-esteem often lead students to focus on their personal image, which in turn causes them to seek physical and mental changes. To adapt to a new environment, it is therefore essential to understand what affects an individual in their daily life, as this determines their response to this new environment. In most countries, it is the mothers, female friends and the media who form the most powerful influence on the image of the self and the body image among girls. There is no doubt that the dissatisfaction with the body image is one of the most prevalent problems in society. A large percentage of female university students suffer from severe forms of dissatisfaction with their general appearance, which has become associated with chronic dieting, eating disorders and lowered levels of self-esteem. A number of studies have established that the media plays a major role in determining the ideal body image for adolescents. It is the most powerful conveyer of socio-cultural ideals, since it not only presents recurrently unrealistic images of thinness, but also provides information on how to achieve these ideals. Although there are a large number of studies that have dealt with the impact of media on the perceptions of and dissatisfaction with the body image, usually among females, yet only few of these have examined the impact of the media on boy image perceptions among female university students, in particular in Arab societies such as Lebanon. It is, thus, necessary to conduct this study, in particular in the light of the growing role played by the media in our societies. With the increasing freedom of the media in the Arab World during the last few years, it becomes adamant to evaluate the various roles it plays. The Sample of the Study: The study recruited a sample of 200 female students at Beirut Arab University, who were equally distributed across the faculties of the humanities and the scientific faculties. Instruments of the Study: Three variables were tackled: The body image, using the Body Image Scale, developed by Alaa Kafafi & Mayssah El Nayal. Self-esteem, using the Rosenberg Scale (1989), translated by Ahmed Abdel-Khalek. The media, using a questionnaire with a number of questions that establish the relationship between the respondent and the media

Creative Writing and Target Language Acquisition : Student perceptions from Bangladesh

This is a portion of a multifaceted case study of an experimental creative writing seminar that was offered to English as a foreign language (EFL) students at a university in Bangladesh by a visiting researcher. The principal question addressed in this part of the study is, do the students in the class identify creative writing as useful in improving their English language ability in the following areas : writing, reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, public speaking, and listening? The answer to this question, though answered in relation to this individual case study, of students at a university in Dhaka, Bangladesh, will have universal applications to other English programs, in other settings, in other countries. The reason for this is simple, in that creative writing is usually considered the domain of the native speaker and not of the EFL or ESL (English as a Second Language) student. If students of English identify creative writing to be useful in their second language acquisition, then it behooves administrators of EFL or ESL programs to include creative writing courses, or at least elements of creative writing, in their curriculums

タイ北部のChiang Mai市における学生の栄養素摂取量に関する実態調査

タイの学生の食生活および栄養摂取状況を明らかにするために,「簡易食物摂取状況調査表(タイ版)」を作成し、Chiang Mai大学の学生を対象に栄養素摂取量についての調査を行った。エネルギー摂取量は、1日あたり全体で平均1,756.4kcalであり、男性で1,792.4kcal、女性で1,740.5kcalと男女間で有意な差は認められなかった。タンパク質および炭水化物の1日あたりの摂取量にっいては、それぞれ男性で58.2gおよび293.9g、女性で56.7gおよび283.8gであった。脂質の摂取量(平均42.4g/日)および脂肪エネルギー比(平均21.6%)については,男女で差異が見られなかった。学生の朝食欠食率については,男女合わせて全体で43.0%であった。朝食の欠食者のエネルギー摂取量は平均1,591.0kcal/日と,1日に3回の食事を摂取している学生の1,881.3kcal/日と比べて,統計学的に有意に低値であった。朝食欠食者にはイライラやだるさ、疲労感などの不定愁訴の症状が現れる割合が高いことが知られている。学生の健康維持や食生活を改善するためには,健康教育プログラムの中において,栄養教育と共に,食事指導やカウンセリングなどが必要と考えられる。To elucidate a general view of eating habits of people in Thailand, a questionnaire survey was conducted that examined the current nutritional status of university students in urban Chiang Mai. The subjects comprised 98 healthy students with an average age of 21.5 years from two classes at Chiang Mai University. They were requested to answer the self-reported questionnaire in their classes. Entitled the "Simplified Questionnaire of Food Intake", it contains 17 items related to dietary habits. It was revised for Thai people in the Thai language. A total of 88 students answered the questionnaire completely. These students took in 1, 756.4 kcal on average from 57.2g protein, 287.1g carbohydrate and 42.4g lipid daily. The relative energy of lipid was 22.6% on average. These percentages were close to the estimated averages of 64.3% carbohydrate, 13.4% protein and 22.2% lipid as energy sources by the National Nutrition Committee. There were no differences in the daily intake of energy and these macronutrients between male and female students. The incidence of students without a breakfast was 43.0% on average. These students took in only 1, 591.0 kcal/day, which was significantly lower than 1, 881.3 kcal/day in students consuming 3 meals daily (p<0.001). It is reported that breakfast is effective against impatience, fatigue and laziness. It was suggested that those students with irregular dietary habits are in need of nutritional guidance and counseling in the health promotion program of the university to maintain their good health and improve their eating habits

A gender perspective on factors that influence outdoor recreational physical activity among the elderly

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physical activity (PA) is part of a healthy lifestyle and prevents many chronic health problems, in addition to promoting mental health. PA performed outdoors has been found particularly good for promoting one's well-being. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which outdoor recreational PA was carried out during 1 year, and the factors influencing such activities from a gender perspective among persons ≥ 60 years of age.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study included 999 individuals 60-96 years of age living in the south eastern part of Sweden. Data collection was carried out during the years of 2001-2003. We measured the amount of regular light and/or intense outdoor recreational PA performed during the last year and determined the probability of performing PA as a function of 10 variables covering individual and socioeconomic factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results suggest that being independent physically and healthy enough to manage one's personal hygiene and having access to areas for country walks were the most important factors associated with the probability of engaging in outdoor recreational PA for both men and women. Despite the level of performance being almost equal for the sexes as two-thirds of both had performed outdoor recreational PA during the preceding year more factors, i.e., living alone, being unable to cover an unexpected cost, fear of being violated, and fear of falling, were associated with the possibilities of engaging in outdoor recreational PA among women. Also increasing age seems to affect activities among women negatively to a higher extent than men.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Men and women seem to have different opportunities and needs with respect to performing PA. These considerations do not seem to be sufficiently taken into account today and improvements could be made concerning e.g., health-promoting activities suggested to the elderly by healthcare personnel and spatial planning within society. Promoting outdoor recreational PA that has restorative effects on well-being needs to focus on activities which are attractive and affordable for the majority of both men and women.</p

Assessment of solar shading strategies in low-income tropical housing: the case of Uganda

Developing countries in tropical and subtropical areas will be the worst hit by climate change. Very little research has been done to assess the impact of climate change on thermal comfort in low-income housing in these regions. The effects of solar shading strategies and solar absorptance properties of walls and roofs on thermal comfort in Ugandan low-income housing are studied in this paper. Various shading strategies including curtains, roof and window overhangs, veranda and trees as well as effects of painting on solar heat gain and thermal comfort are modelled using EnergyPlus software. An adaptive approach for naturally ventilated buildings defined by the European Committee for Standardization standard BS EN 15251:2007 is used to assess the conditions. According to the results, solar shading is less effective in meeting thermal comfort requirements and it should be used in conjunction with other strategies to achieve desirable results. White painting, in contrast, significantly improved the conditions and significantly reduced the risk of overheating. Solar shading proved to be effective during the hottest periods of the year, reducing the risk of extreme overheating by up to 52%

Early identification of young children at risk for poor academic achievement: preliminary development of a parent-report prediction tool

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early school success is clearly related to later health. A prediction index that uses parent report to assess children's risk for poor academic achievement could potentially direct targeted service delivery to improve child outcomes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We obtained risk factors through literature review and used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Child Files to examine the predictive associations of these factors with academic achievement scores.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty predictors were identified including four strong predictors (maternal education, child gender, family income, and low birth weight). Significantly, 12 predictors explained 17-24% of score variance.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Parent-reported factors provide predictive accuracy for academic achievement.</p