Food Anxieties: Issues for the Food Sector

People have become obsessed with the harmful effects of eating (Rozin, 1999) and are experiencing ‘food anxiety’, a by-product of modern food. The aim of this research was to explore the nature of food anxiety in Ireland and the potential implications for the food sector. The research objectives were to determine the range of issues causing food anxiety in Irish consumers; to investigate the impact of food anxiety on food choice behaviour; to examine the potential of food anxiety as a segmentation variable for categorizing consumers; and to identify antecedents to the experience of food anxiety. A sequential, mixed methodology research strategy was used. The research was conducted in two phases. The first phase adopted a qualitative approach. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with a convenience sample (n=40) to gain insight into food anxiety. The second stage adopted a quantitative approach. Survey questionnaires were administered to a randomly selected sample (n=490). Principal components analysis identified five dimensions of food anxiety when food shopping – (techno)ethical, nutritional, (micro)biological, dietary restrictions and food provenance anxiety. Food anxiety when eating out encompassed four distinct dimensions – technological, nutritional, food integrity and food trends anxiety. Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations established a significant relationship between food anxiety and food choice behaviour. Anxiety-based segmentation, using cluster analysis, identified three distinct clusters of food shoppers – ‘Nonchalant Consumers’, ‘Health Conscientious Consumers’ and ‘Anti-Modernist Circumspect Consumers’. The food-service market was segmented into ‘Easygoing Diners’, ‘Apprehensive Diners’ and ‘Distressed Diners’. Gender, age, marital status, income, education, body mass index, food responsibility, experience of food related illness, the presence of ‘high risk’ household members, living location, perceived personal knowledge, trust in food sector stakeholders and value priorities were found to be significant antecedents of food anxiety using Kruskal-Wallis Tests, Mann-Whitney U Tests and Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations. Binomial logistic regression analyses investigated which anxiety antecedents were of greatest value in predicting food anxiety when food shopping and eating out and identified that perceived personal knowledge of food-related issues and value priorities were of particular significance as predictors of food anxiety. Food producers, retailers and food-service operators should be alerted to the findings of this study because no previous research has focused on the existence of food anxiety or the link between food anxiety and food choice behaviour. This research presented a rationale for research into the concept of food anxiety. It is hoped that this study will stimulate further research into this important phenomenon

Who Votes? An Exploration of the Factors Influencing Turnout Propensity in Fingal County

Irish elections in recent decades have been marked by considerably low turnout levels with voter turnout rates varying from place to place. This thesis addressed this issue with respect to the county of Fingal in an attempt to identity the factors that influence individual turnout propensity. Data was collated through a county-wide questionnaire survey which was complemented with interview data from politicians, local councilors, political candidates and party workers. The data was subsequently analysed using SPSS along with qualitative analysis of the interview data, supplemented by the use of ArcView 3.2 to create maps, and Census data to conduct aggregate analyses. This research confirmed the existence of an amalgamation of influential factors on turnout propensity. There were found to be a number of demographic influences on individual turnout propensity with age and martial status proving to be particularly influential. There were also found to be a number of socio-structural influences on turnout propensity in Fingal. However, these influences, which included social class, housing tenure and educational attainment, were found to exist only at the aggregate level. Length of residence was found to be particularly influential with findings on residential stability suggesting the existence of this association at the aggregate level also. The research findings suggested the existence of a “habit” of voting in Fingal. It was also found that an individual sense of political efficacy, understanding of political issues, interest in politics, newspaper readership and feelings of civic duty all influence turnout propensity with many of these factors being interrelated. In addition, there were found to be numerous place variations in relation to the strength of each of the influential factors

Evaluating Physical Therapy for Adolescent Patients with Low Back Pain

Background: Low back pain is a condition affecting many people worldwide. The age of onset is variable, affecting all patient populations from childhood throughout the lifespan. Aims/Purpose: The efficacy of physical therapy for adolescent patients with back pain seen in a pediatric orthopedic clinic was evaluated through comparison of pre and post-intervention pain scores. Patient compliance with physical therapy was monitored and evaluated against outcomes. Design: A six-month retrospective chart review of adolescent patients with a diagnosis of low back pain. Patients with a diagnosis of low back pain were referred for physical therapy and provided with a home exercise program to reduce pain. Setting: An orthopedic clinic specializing in low back pain affiliated with a large children’s hospital. Participants: A total of 50 patients with a diagnosis of low back strain were included. Results: Eighteen patients were referred to a clinic-affiliated physical therapy provider, 20 were referred to an outside vendor. Twelve patients were not referred to physical therapy and opted for a home exercise program as the sole intervention for pain relief. At the conclusion of the project, no patients returned to clinic for unresolved pain. Conclusion: The findings suggest the home exercise program patients had the same reduction of pain as the patients who attended physical therapy. Initial use of a home exercise program could be beneficial for many adolescents with low back pain. Those with unresolved pain could then be referred for physical therapy, thus making better use of physical therapy services and decreasing both family and health care system costs

Nested calderas of the northern Kawich Range, central Nevada

Five calderas were discovered in the northern Kawich Range, central Nevada. These calderas are filled with intracaldera rhyolite tuffs and caldera collapse breccias. Based on 40Ar/39Ar dating of sanidine and crosscutting relations, the calderas erupted in the following order from oldest to youngest: Clifford Spring (23.67 +/- 0.09 Ma), Tobe Spring (22.77 +/- 0.07 Ma), Cow Canyon (22.78 +/- 0.07 Ma), Bellehelen (22.87 +/- 0.16 Ma), and Warm Springs. Welded tuff lithologies of collapse breccia blocks show that these calderas represent separate events and not a single caldera with piecemeal collapse. Geochemistry shows that the five intracaldera tuffs are chemically similar and therefore cogenetic. The five tuffs are also similar to the Pahranagat Formation and the Pyramid Spring tuff. To explain the eruption of at least seven tuffs of very similar chemistry over a period of 1.06 m.y, a new model for magma production in northern Nye County during the Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up is presented. This model calls for a heat surge producing greater than 50 % partial melting of the lower crust producing rhyolitic melt batches of similar chemistry. Cooling of the crust due to these voluminous eruptions resulted in the suppression of the ignimbrite flare up

The Relationship between Teacher Empowerment and Student Achievement

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between teacher empowerment and student achievement. Participants in this study were administered the School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES); this scale measures teacher empowerment on six dimensions: decision making; professional growth; status; self-efficacy; autonomy; and impact (Martin Crossland, & Johnson, 2001). The participants\u27 mean score of the 2010-2011 Criterion Referenced Competency Test scores (CRCT) were used as a measure of student achievement. The SPES were distributed to teachers in five middle schools in one school district in Georgia. The response rate for this study was 85.2 percent. A Pearson Correlation was computed to determine the relationship between teacher empowerment and student achievement. A Pearson Correlation was also computed to determine the relationship between each of the six subscales and student achievement. The findings indicated no correlation between teacher empowerment and student achievement and only a slight statistically significant correlation between status (one of the six dimensions of teacher empowerment) and student achievement

Quantifying the Human-Nature Relationship: A User\u27s Guide

A growing trend in environmental research is the quantification of the human-nature relationship. This review of human-nature psychometric instruments should be used as a reference for individuals seeking to incorporate these tools into their outdoor and environmental education research. Extensive literature review and autoethnographic techniques were employed to identify and evaluate thirty-four instruments. Instruments were evaluated on structure, ease of use, and concepts represented. Diversity exists amongst the instruments in terms of length, concepts reflected, and structure. The majority of tools reflect environmental attitudes/views (16) or relationship/connection with nature (13). Fewer instruments reflect concern, identity, or environmental behavior. Twenty-eight instruments are deemed easy to use, based on time required to complete and ease of scoring. A timeline outlining the development of the instruments is presented and conclusions and recommendations from original and comparative studies are summarized

Body Image and Life Satisfaction in Amish, Catholic, and Non-Religious Women

Dissatisfaction with one’s appearance is commonplace among Western women. Body image dissatisfaction is believed to be a consequence of societal emphases on appearance reinforced through norms and media. However, some Amish cultural values and norms differ from prevailing Western influences, which may result in a rate of body image dissatisfaction at variance with Western women. The following pilot study explores how religious affiliation and religiosity may relate to body image factors (body dissatisfaction, appearance investment, and body coping strategies) and life satisfaction in Amish (N = 32), Catholic (N = 40), and non-religious (N = 40) women. Results suggest that the Amish have a more positive body image than Catholic women; results were inconclusive when comparing to non-religious women. As this pilot study’s sampling proceduce and size limit our ability to draw definitive conclusions, future research should work toward an expanded, systematic sample. If results from this study are confirmed, research is needed that examines the specific aspects of the Amish culture that may be associated with higher rates of body image satisfaction