Why don't poor men eat fruit? Socioeconomic differences in motivations for fruit consumption.

BACKGROUND: Those of lower socioeconomic status (SES) tend to have less healthy diets than those of higher SES. This study aimed to assess whether differences in motivations for particular foods might contribute to socioeconomic differences in consumption. METHODS: Participants (n = 732) rated their frequency of consumption and explicit liking of fruit, cake and cheese. They reported eating motivations (e.g., health, hunger, price) and related attributes of the investigated foods (healthiness, expected satiety, value for money). Participants were randomly assigned to an implicit liking task (Single Category Implicit Association Task) for one food category. Analyses were conducted separately for different SES measures (income, education, occupational group). RESULTS: Lower SES and male participants reported eating less fruit, but no SES differences were found for cheese or cake. Analyses therefore focused on fruit. In implicit liking analyses, results (for income and education) reflected patterning in consumption, with lower SES and male participants liking fruit less. In explicit liking analyses, no differences were found by SES. Higher SES participants (all indicators) were more likely to report health and weight control and less likely report price as motivators of food choices. For perceptions of fruit, no SES-based differences were found in healthiness whilst significant interactions (but not main effects) were found (for income and education) for expected satiety and value for money. Neither liking nor perceptions of fruit were found to mediate the relationship between SES and frequency of fruit consumption. CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence for social patterning in food motivation, but differences are modified by the choice of implicit or explicit measures. Further work should clarify the extent to which these motivations may be contributing to the social and gender patterning in diet.The study was funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Programme (Policy Research Unit in Behaviour and Health [PR-UN-0409-10109]).This is the final version. It was first published by Elsevier at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.10.02

Employment destination statistics: 1991 first degree graduates

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Direct health care costs of treating seasonal affective disorder: a comparison of light therapy and fluoxetine.

Objective. To compare the direct mental health care costs between individuals with Seasonal Affective Disorder randomized to either fluoxetine or light therapy. Methods. Data from the CANSAD study was used. CANSAD was an 8-week multicentre double-blind study that randomized participants to receive either light therapy plus placebo capsules or placebo light therapy plus fluoxetine. Participants were aged 18-65 who met criteria for major depressive episodes with a seasonal (winter) pattern. Mental health care service use was collected for each subject for 4 weeks prior to the start of treatment and for 4 weeks prior to the end of treatment. All direct mental health care services costs were analysed, including inpatient and outpatient services, investigations, and medications. Results. The difference in mental health costs was significantly higher after treatment for the light therapy group compared to the medication group-a difference of $111.25 (z = -3.77, P = 0.000). However, when the amortized cost of the light box was taken into the account, the groups were switched with the fluoxetine group incurring greater direct care costs-a difference of$75.41 (z = -2.635, P = 0.008). Conclusion. The results suggest that individuals treated with medication had significantly less mental health care cost after-treatment compared to those treated with light therapy

Emotional Eating and Diet-related Self-Efficacy, Motivation, and Norms in Adolescents

The objective of the current study was to examine the association between emotional eating and self-efficacy, motivation, and social norms for consumption of fruits and vegetables (F/V) and energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods and beverages, as well as interactions with body mass index-z score (BMI-z). Adolescents completed self-report measures of demographics, emotional eating, and dietary health behavior theory constructs. Emotional eating was associated with lower self-efficacy for consumption of F/V and for limiting EDNP foods/beverages; greater motivation for limiting of EDNP foods/beverages; lower social norms for consumption of F/V; and greater social norms for consumption of EDNP foods/beverages. There were no interactions with BMI-z. Evidence-based nutrition programs that leverage health behavior theories should be tailored to adolescents’ emotional eating

Decision-making on intra-household allocation of bed nets in Uganda: do households prioritize the most vulnerable members?

Abstract Background Access to insecticide-treated bed nets has increased substantially in recent years, but ownership and use remain well below 100% in many malaria endemic areas. Understanding decision-making around net allocation in households with too few nets is essential to ensuring protection of the most vulnerable. This study explores household net allocation preferences and practices across four districts in Uganda. Methods Data collection consisted of eight focus group discussions, twelve in-depth interviews, and a structured questionnaire to inventory 107 sleeping spaces in 28 households. Results In focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, participants almost unanimously stated that pregnant women, infants, and young children should be prioritized when allocating nets. However, sleeping space surveys reveal that heads of household sometimes receive priority over children less than five years of age when households have too few nets to cover all members. Conclusions When asked directly, most net owners highlight the importance of allocating nets to the most biologically vulnerable household members. This is consistent with malaria behaviour change and health education messages. In actual allocation, however, factors other than biological vulnerability may influence who does and does not receive a net.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109479/1/12936_2014_Article_3219.pd

Four-Hundred-and-Ninety-Million-Year Record of Bacteriogenic Iron Oxide Precipitation at Sea-Floor Hydrothermal Vents

Fe oxide deposits are commonly found at hydrothermal vent sites at mid-ocean ridge and back-arc sea floor spreading centers, seamounts associated with these spreading centers, and intra-plate seamounts, and can cover extensive areas of the seafloor. These deposits can be attributed to several abiogenic processes and commonly contain micron-scale filamentous textures. Some filaments are cylindrical casts of Fe oxyhydroxides formed around bacterial cells and are thus unquestionably biogenic. The filaments have distinctive morphologies very like structures formed by neutrophilic Fe oxidizing bacteria. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Fe oxidizing bacteria have a significant role in the formation of Fe oxide deposits at marine hydrothermal vents. The presence of Fe oxide filaments in Fe oxides is thus of great potential as a biomarker for Fe oxidizing bacteria in modern and ancient marine hydrothermal vent deposits. The ancient analogues of modern deep-sea hydrothermal Fe oxide deposits are jaspers. A number of jaspers, ranging in age from the early Ordovician to late Eocene, contain abundant Fe oxide filamentous textures with a wide variety of morphologies. Some of these filaments are like structures formed by modern Fe oxidizing bacteria. Together with new data from the modern TAG site, we show that there is direct evidence for bacteriogenic Fe oxide precipitation at marine hydrothermal vent sites for at least the last 490 Ma of the Phanerozoic