Gender Beliefs and Cooperation in a Public Goods game Experiment

We study the role of gender beliefs for cooperation in a public goods game experiment. Controlling for risk preferences and for subjects’ unconditional willingness to cooperate, we find that gender beliefs affect behavior in homogenous groups where the group composition was announced

De keukentafel en de keukendeur – klassenverschillen in de verdeling van huishoudelijke arbeid

In the Netherlands, the redistribution of unpaid housework from women to men is very limited, despite the fact that women’s labour force participation and level of education has increased significantly over the past decade. We use the feminist economic household bargaining approach to analyse male partners’ contribution to housework, with primary data from heterosexual couples. We collected the data from two mutually exclusive groups who either supply or demand paid household services through two online agencies. The results show that for the lower class households (those supplying services) men do more unpaid housework when their female partner earns a relatively high income. For the higher class households (those demanding services) we find no such effect for women’s income. Instead, we find that when men earn relatively high incomes they reduce their contribution to housework. Moreover, we find that with a higher family income, more paid household services are hired. We conclude that for the lower class, income insecurity seems to stimulate men to do more housework, allowing women to do more paid work, whereas for the higher class, more personal and more family income appears to be an escape for men from doing more housework

Aandacht voor de ambiance van maaltijden in verpleeghuizen een medische noodzaak?!

Een goede vocht- en voedselvoorziening in zorginstellingen lijkt een vanzelfsprekende zaak in een welvarend land als Nederland. Niettemin constateerde de Inspectie voor de Gezondheidszorg in 1997 dat lang niet altijd eten en drinken in deze instellingen op de behoefte van de clie¨nt gerichte zorg is

Validation of dietary history method in a group of elderly women using measurements of total energy expenditure.

The objective of the present study was to validate energy intake data, obtained by dietary history, in twelve elderly women aged 69–82 years. Energy and protein intakes were obtained using the dietary history method with a reference period of 30 d. Reported energy intake was compared with total energy expenditure (TEE) measured on two consecutive days in a respiration chamber. Reported protein intake was compared with mean N excretion from four 24 h urine collections. Mean reported energy intake was 7.2 (SD 1.5) MJ/d which was lower than TEE (P=0.059). Reported protein intake was 64 (SD 13) g/d and lower than estimated protein intake (P=0.053). The percentage underestimation was not related to body weight or percentage body fat. Subjects with a relatively high TEE or a relatively high estimated protein intake underestimated their energy intake to a greater extent. The discrepancy between reported energy intake and TEE was positively associated with the discrepancy between reported and estimated protein intakes. The results of this present study show an underestimation of energy intake of about 12% when using the dietary history method. Physical activity diaries completed in the chamber and during 4 d at home, as well as pedometer counts, indicated a higher level of physical activity in the free-living situation compared with the chamber situation. This suggests that the actual underestimation of energy intake may be even higher in this group of elderly women. These results have implications for the use of the dietary history method in, for example, epidemiological studies carried out in elderly subjects

Body fat measurement among Singaporean Chinese, Malays and Indians: a comparative study using a four-compartment model and different two-compartment models

This cross-sectional study compared body fat percentage (BF€obtained from a four-compartment (4C) model with BF␏rom hydrometry (using 2H2O), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and densitometry among the three main ethnic groups (Chinese, Malays and Indians) in Singapore, and determined the suitability of two-compartment (2C) models as surrogate methods for assessing BFmong different ethnic groups. A total of 291 subjects (108 Chinese, seventy-six Malays, 107 Indians) were selected to ensure an adequate representation of age range (18-75 years) and BMI range (16-40 kg/m2) of the general adult population, with almost equal numbers from each gender group. Body weight was measured, together with body height, total body water by 2H2O dilution, densitometry with Bodpod? and bone mineral content with Hologic? QDR-4500. BF␖easurements with a 4C model for the subgroups were: Chinese females 33?5 (SD 7?5), CHINESE MALES 24?4 (sd 6?1), Malay females 37?8 (sd 6?3), Malay males 26?0 (sd 7?6), Indian females 38?2 (sd 7?0), Indian males 28?1 (sd 5?5). Differences between BF␖easured by the 4C and 2C models (hydrometry, DXA and densitometry) were found, with underestimation of BF␒n all the ethnic-gender groups by DXA of 2?1-4?2 BFnd by densitometry of 0?5-3?2 BFŽ On a group level, the differences in BF␋etween the 4C model and 2H2O were the lowest (0?0-1?4 BF␒n the different groups), while differences between the 4C model and DXA were the highest. Differences between the 4C model and 2H2O and between the 4C model and DXA were positively correlated with the 4C model, water fraction (fwater) of fat-free mass (FFM) and the mineral fraction (fmineral) of FFM, and negatively correlated with density of the FFM (DFFM), while the difference between 4C model and densitometry correlated with these variables negatively and positively respectively (i.e. the correlations were opposite). The largest contributors to the observed differences were fwater and DFFM. When validated against the reference 4C model, 2C models were found to be unsuitable for accurate measurements of BFt the individual level, owing to the high errors and violation of assumptions of constant hydration of FFM and DFFM among the ethnic groups. On a group level, the best 2C model for measuring BFmong Singaporeans was found to be 2H2O