Access to healthy foods: Part I. Barriers to accessing healthy foods: Differentials by gender, social class, income and mode of transport

This paper examines the issues of access to food and the influences people face when shopping for a healthy food basket. It uses data from the Health Edu cation Authority's 1993 Health and Lifestyles Survey to examine the barriers people face in accessing a healthy diet. The main findings are that access to food is primarily determined by income, and this is in turn closely related to physical resources available to access healthy food. There is an associated class bias over access to sources of healthy food. The poor have less access to a car, find it harder to get to out-of-town shopping centres and thus are less able to carry and transport food in bulk. The majority of people shop in supermarkets as they report that local shops do not provide the services people demand and that food choice and quality are limited. In tackling food poverty and pro moting healthy eating, health promotion practice needs to address these struc tural issues as opposed to relying on psycho-social models of education based on the provision of information and choice

Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND)—Iron Review

This is the fifth in the series of reviews developed as part of the Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND) program. The BOND Iron Expert Panel (I-EP) reviewed the extant knowledge regarding iron biology, public health implications, and the relative usefulness of currently available biomarkers of iron status from deficiency to overload. Approaches to assessing intake, including bioavailability, are also covered. The report also covers technical and laboratory considerations for the use of available biomarkers of iron status, and concludes with a description of research priorities along with a brief discussion of new biomarkers with potential for use across the spectrum of activities related to the study of iron in human health. The I-EP concluded that current iron biomarkers are reliable for accurately assessing many aspects of iron nutrition. However, a clear distinction is made between the relative strengths of biomarkers to assess hematological consequences of iron deficiency versus other putative functional outcomes, particularly the relationship between maternal and fetal iron status during pregnancy, birth outcomes, and infant cognitive, motor and emotional development. The I-EP also highlighted the importance of considering the confounding effects of inflammation and infection on the interpretation of iron biomarker results, as well as the impact of life stage. Finally, alternative approaches to the evaluation of the risk for nutritional iron overload at the population level are presented, because the currently designated upper limits for the biomarker generally employed (serum ferritin) may not differentiate between true iron overload and the effects of subclinical inflammation

Definitions of healthy eating, barriers to healthy eating and benefits of healthy eating

A Pan-EU survey on consumer attitudes to food, nutrition and healthAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:7520.3125(3) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Estimating % consumers of foods from household food consumption databases

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:3977.0007(1) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Influences on food choice and sources of information on healthy eating

A pan-EU survey of consumer attitudes to food, nutrition and healthAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:7520.3125(2) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Dietary changes

A Pan-EU survey on consumer attitudes to food, nutrition and healthAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:7520.3125(4) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Physical inactivity in a country in transition: a population-based survey in Tirana City, Albania.

AIMS: This paper describes the work and leisure-time physical activity levels of adults living in Tirana City (Albania). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in Tirana City in mid-2001. It included 1120 adults aged 25 years and over (response rate=72.7%). RESULTS: Overall, 19.3% of male and 28.4% of female respondents reported a low level of physical activity at work. During leisure time, 49.5% of men and 57.6% of women (age-standardized prevalence [adjusted to the adult population of Tirana]: 43.4% and 51.9% for men and women respectively) said that they participated in only sedentary activities such as reading and watching television. The gender difference in the likelihood of low physical activity at work and during leisure time was significant even after adjusting for age (age adjusted odds ratios (OR)=1.86 99% confidence interval (CI) 1.12; 3.09 and OR=1.60 99% CI 1.17; 2.22 respectively). The likelihood of leisure-time sedentarity increased with age in both genders but it did not vary significantly with education level or income. Being sedentary during leisure time was also not significantly associated with other unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, including smoking, consumption of vegetables less than six days per week, and daily alcohol intake. CONCLUSIONS: In a country such as Albania that has undergone a rapid transition from a largely unmechanized society, characterized inevitably by high levels of exercise, the generalized high prevalence of low physical activity level during leisure time gives cause for concern regarding future health trends

An economic and legal assessment of the EU food industry's competitiveness

The objective of this article is to assess the competitiveness of the European food industry from an economic and legal perspective. Knowledge of its present competitiveness and improvement opportunities are lacking. To close this knowledge gap, we measured the competitiveness of eight subsectors, benchmarked them with four leading world economies, assessed the effect of differences in legal requirements, and predicted future developments using scenario analysis. International economics indicators supplemented with data on legal issues from a survey conducted by leading experts were used to measure competitiveness. The results show that the EU food industry's competitiveness is weak. The legal system was positively evaluated compared to the U.S. system, but major improvements are possible. The recommendations are to improve economies of scale, economies of scope, ICT-based supply chain management, and exploit cultural differences through innovation, within a more flexible and streamlined legal framework. [Econlit. Citations:F14, L66; Q13]. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.