Association between neighborhood safety and overweight status among urban adolescents

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neighborhood safety may be an important social environmental determinant of overweight. We examined the relationship between perceived neighborhood safety and overweight status, and assessed the validity of reported neighborhood safety among a representative community sample of urban adolescents (who were racially and ethnically diverse).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data come from the 2006 Boston Youth Survey, a cross-sectional study in which public high school students in Boston, MA completed a pencil-and-paper survey. The study used a two-stage, stratified sampling design whereby schools and then 9^th–12^thgrade classrooms within schools were selected (the analytic sample included 1,140 students). Students reported their perceptions of neighborhood safety and several associated dimensions. With self-reported height and weight data, we computed body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) for the adolescents based on CDC growth charts. Chi-square statistics and corresponding <it>p</it>-values were computed to compare perceived neighborhood safety by the several associated dimensions. Prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to examine the association between perceived neighborhood safety and the prevalence of overweight status controlling for relevant covariates and school site.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>More than one-third (35.6%) of students said they always felt safe in their neighborhood, 43.9% said they sometimes felt safe, 11.6% rarely felt safe, and 8.9% never felt safe. Those students who reported that they rarely or never feel safe in their neighborhoods were more likely than those who said they always or sometimes feel safe to believe that gang violence was a serious problem in their neighborhood or school (68.0% vs. 44.1%, <it>p </it>< 0.001), and to have seen someone in their neighborhood assaulted with a weapon (other than a firearm) in the past 12 months (17.8% vs. 11.3%, <it>p </it>= 0.025). In the fully adjusted model (including grade and school) stratified by race/ethnicity, we found a statistically significant association between feeling unsafe in one's own neighborhood and overweight status among those in the Other race/ethnicity group [(PR = 1.56, (95% CI: 1.02, 2.40)].</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Data suggest that perception of neighborhood safety may be associated with overweight status among urban adolescents in certain racial/ethnic groups. Policies and programs to address neighborhood safety may also be preventive for adolescent overweight.</p

Reflections on community-based population health intervention and evaluation for obesity and chronic disease prevention: the Healthy Alberta Communities Project

Objectives: To reflect upon a population health intervention for obesity and chronic disease prevention, with specific attention to the processes of change and developing, implementing and evaluating an intervention in a community–university–government partnership context. Methods: To capture the value, process and context of our interventions, we employed a multi-layered, mixed methods research and evaluation design. Guided by assumptions of community-based participatory research, and using a validated capacity-building tool, the investigators described and reflected critically upon the level and nature of capacity built (for both research and intervention) as indicators of the process and contextual influences on intervention success. Results: Capacity was built in communities through collaborative approaches. We captured complexity of change in social context to advance understanding of how to intervene to transform environments. Developing novel community evaluation strategies can help to advance understanding of how environmental interventions affect health before health outcomes data demonstrate change. Conclusions: Our experience provides an example of operationalizing an ecological framework. As a community–university–government partnership, Healthy Alberta Communities provides an opportunity for developing promising practices for the health of communities, as well as a unique research platform for evaluating the process and establishing effectiveness of population health interventions

The location of American and Japanese multinationals in Europe

Firm location, Multinational firms, European integration, F23, F15, R32,

The reliability and usefulness of an individualised submaximal shuttle run test in elite rugby league players

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability and usefulness of a proposed 4-min individualised submaximal shuttle run test (SSR) in elite rugby league players. Materials and methods: Twenty-two elite rugby league players competing in the National Rugby League competition (23.2\ua0±\ua03.4\ua0years, 186.8\ua0±\ua05.4\ua0cm, 100.2\ua0±\ua08.5\ua0kg) performed the SSR twice, seven days apart (test–retest design). The SSR was prescribed as 75% of the average speed during a 1500-m time trial. Exercise heart rate was calculated as the average heart rate (HR) over the final 30 s (HRex). Seated HR recovery (HRR) was recorded at 1- (HRR) and 2-min (HRR) post-exercise. Data were analysed with magnitude-based inferences. Results: Test–retest typical errors were moderate for HRex (1.2 percentage points; 90% confidence limits: 1.0–1.7), HRR (3.4; 2.7–4.6) and HRR (2.9; 2.3–3.9). Intraclass correlation coefficients were extremely high for HRex (0.91; 0.78–0.94) and very high for both HRR (0.80; 0.61–0.90) and HRR (0.84; 0.69–0.92). Thresholds for an individual change that would be likely small and greater than the typical error were ±1.8 (percentage points), ±4.6 and ±4.1 for HRex, HRR and HRR, respectively. Conclusions: The SSR demonstrates acceptable reliability in the assessment of HRex and HRR, thus demonstrating its potential usefulness for monitoring fitness and fatigue in elite rugby league players