The role of municipal markets in urban food strategies: a case study

Municipal markets have been recognised by both government and industry as valuable social spaces which can address growing public health issues in urban areas such as obesity. Yet, there is a lack of evidence linking markets to the public health impacts that are claimed. his chapter will provide indicatory levels of food access at a large municipal market in Leeds and extrapolate the indings into a discussion on the wider potential role of municipal markets in urban food strategies. Speciic focus will be on the role on markets in addressing food access for low-income urban communities. As urban food strategies develop in towns and cities across Britain, steering groups and urban planners need to take a realistic look at potential existing food strategy assets. Historically, traditional British markets have been important municipal bodies that ensured urban dwellers have access to an adequate and afordable diet

To co-op or not to co-op: a case study of food co-ops in England

Food co-ops are highlighted in UK policy as one way of improving food provisioning systems when formal state and commercial services fail to deliver. This research takes a case study approach to food retail co-ops in England funded under a community outreach programme. The co-ops surveyed had different priorities, some ranking health and food prices as more important than those associated with sustainability. In the majority of cases there were no formal membership structures and no involvement of members in decisionmaking. All operated on a part-time basis, few had business plans for future development, and many were reliant on voluntary labour or inputs from other organisations for their survival. Many food initiatives using the title food co-op were not formally constituted as cooperatives, losing both the potential power and advantages that formal incorporation can provide and opportunities to engage in processes associated with “democracy”. There is potential for a “co-op of co-operatives”, with local food initiatives being members of the larger co-op. This would enable leverage in areas of lobbying and food purchasing and provide additional leverage in terms of changing the food supply system to be more sustainable

Food welfare for low-income women and children in the UK: a policy analysis of the Healthy Start scheme

Food welfare for low-income women and children in the UK is an unexplored area of food policy. The current food welfare scheme for low-income women and children in the UK is called Healthy Start, and this replaced the previous Welfare Food Scheme in 2006. The main changes were that Healthy Start was intended to be more health focussed and aimed to influence behaviour change by providing a voucher that could be spent on fresh (and later frozen) fruits and vegetables, milk or infant formula. The previous scheme only provided milk and infant formula. In addition it was intended that there would be more interaction with health professionals as part of the scheme. Little is known about why the Welfare Food Scheme changed to Healthy Start and what influenced the initiation, formation and implementation of Healthy Start. Nor is there substantial information on how Healthy Start operates in practice. The objectives of this thesis were to consider what influenced the development of Healthy Start and to consider how Healthy Start as a policy relates to Healthy Start in practice. After mapping how Healthy Start was developed, what is known about the scheme, undertaking a literature review on subject specific literature, research questions were developed to direct the line of inquiry. A theoretical literature review explored methods of policy analysis that could inform the overarching methodology. Models of policy analysis and literature on the policy process were developed to better understand the policy process that informed Healthy Start. To address the research questions, three phases of research were undertaken. The first was a policy analysis of publically available policy documents using Kingdon’s concept of policy streams to make sense of the process; the second was a series of semi-structured interviews with policy participants to add detail to the first phase. A recurring issue was the role of the Health Professional in delivering Healthy Start, and a case study with health professionals who deliver Healthy Start in one Borough of London was developed to further explore this issue. The findings indicate that the shift from the Welfare Food Scheme to Healthy Start was largely influenced by political factors, with inadequate consideration of public health objectives and practical components of behaviour change. A lack of training and support for health professionals who are gatekeepers of the scheme was apparent at all points of the policy process. By tracking the development of the Healthy Start scheme and its place within food welfare this research highlights the need for more thorough consultation and thoughtful development if complex schemes crossing welfare and food policy are to be successful

Comparative study on seasonal variation in hydro-chemical parameters of Ganga River water using comprehensive pollution index (CPI) at Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) India

The assessment of the Ganga River System at Rishikesh was investigated at five different sites for three different seasons (summer, winter and monsoon) using comprehensive pollution index (CPI), considering 10 physicochemical parameters such as conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total hardness, Cl, phosphate and sulphate. The CPI was found to be 0.54–2.47, which indicates the variation in pollution level of the River Ganga. The variation in pollution index value clearly shows that water quality was slightly polluted in winter (0.54–0.72) and summer (0.64–0.88) whereas high contamination (1.68–2.47) was observed during monsoon season. Among various sampling stations, Pashulok Barrage (Site 5) was more contaminated than other sites. All the studied parameters were under the permissible limit of W.H.O. (2011) except turbidity, total solids and suspended solids which were higher than the permissible limit. This study also illustrates the correlation between parameters by developing correlation matrix. The result of this study clearly elucidates that the water quality is getting contaminated as we moved from upstream to downstream of river and helps to understand the potential effects of water quality on drinking, irrigation and other purposes

Socioeconomic position, lifestyle habits and biomarkers of epigenetic aging: A multi-cohort analysis

Differences in health status by socioeconomic position (SEP) tend to be more evident at older ages, suggesting the involvement of a biological mechanism responsive to the accumulation of deleterious exposures across the lifespan. DNA methylation (DNAm) has been proposed as a biomarker of biological aging that conserves memory of endogenous and exogenous stress during life. We examined the association of education level, as an indicator of SEP, and lifestyle-related variables with four biomarkers of age-dependent DNAm dysregulation: the total number of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs) and three epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum and Levine), in 18 cohorts spanning 12 countries. The four biological aging biomarkers were associated with education and different sets of risk factors independently, and the magnitude of the effects differed depending on the biomarker and the predictor. On average, the effect of low education on epigenetic aging was comparable with those of other lifestyle-related risk factors (obesity, alcohol intake), with the exception of smoking, which had a significantly stronger effect. Our study shows that low education is an independent predictor of accelerated biological (epigenetic) aging and that epigenetic clocks appear to be good candidates for disentangling the biological pathways underlying social inequalities in healthy aging and longevity

Socioeconomic position, lifestyle habits and biomarkers of epigenetic aging: A multi-cohort analysis

Differences in health status by socioeconomic position (SEP) tend to be more evident at older ages, suggesting the involvement of a biological mechanism responsive to the accumulation of deleterious exposures across the lifespan. DNA methylation (DNAm) has been proposed as a biomarker of biological aging that conserves memory of endogenous and exogenous stress during life.We examined the association of education level, as an indicator of SEP, and lifestyle-related variables with four biomarkers of age-dependent DNAm dysregulation: the total number of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs) and three epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum and Levine), in 18 cohorts spanning 12 countries.The four biological aging biomarkers were associated with education and different sets of risk factors independently, and the magnitude of the effects differed depending on the biomarker and the predictor. On average, the effect of low education on epigenetic aging was comparable with those of other lifestyle-related risk factors (obesity, alcohol intake), with the exception of smoking, which had a significantly stronger effect.Our study shows that low education is an independent predictor of accelerated biological (epigenetic) aging and that epigenetic clocks appear to be good candidates for disentangling the biological pathways underlying social inequalities in healthy aging and longevity

Cause of Death and Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in Anticoagulated Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation : Data From ROCKET AF

M. Kaste on työryhmän ROCKET AF Steering Comm jäsen.Background-Atrial fibrillation is associated with higher mortality. Identification of causes of death and contemporary risk factors for all-cause mortality may guide interventions. Methods and Results-In the Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) study, patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to rivaroxaban or dose-adjusted warfarin. Cox proportional hazards regression with backward elimination identified factors at randomization that were independently associated with all-cause mortality in the 14 171 participants in the intention-to-treat population. The median age was 73 years, and the mean CHADS(2) score was 3.5. Over 1.9 years of median follow-up, 1214 (8.6%) patients died. Kaplan-Meier mortality rates were 4.2% at 1 year and 8.9% at 2 years. The majority of classified deaths (1081) were cardiovascular (72%), whereas only 6% were nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. No significant difference in all-cause mortality was observed between the rivaroxaban and warfarin arms (P=0.15). Heart failure (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.33-1.70, P= 75 years (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.51-1.90, P Conclusions-In a large population of patients anticoagulated for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, approximate to 7 in 10 deaths were cardiovascular, whereasPeer reviewe

Socioeconomic position, lifestyle habits and biomarkers of epigenetic aging: A multi-cohort analysis

Differences in health status by socioeconomic position (SEP) tend to be more evident at older ages, suggesting the involvement of a biological mechanism responsive to the accumulation of deleterious exposures across the lifespan. DNA methylation (DNAm) has been proposed as a biomarker of biological aging that conserves memory of endogenous and exogenous stress during life. We examined the association of education level, as an indicator of SEP, and lifestyle-related variables with four biomarkers of age-dependent DNAm dysregulation: the total number of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs) and three epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum and Levine), in 18 cohorts spanning 12 countries. The four biological aging biomarkers were associated with education and different sets of risk factors independently, and the magnitude of the effects differed depending on the biomarker and the predictor. On average, the effect of low education on epigenetic aging was comparable with those of other lifestyle-related risk factors (obesity, alcohol intake), with the exception of smoking, which had a significantly stronger effect. Our study shows that low education is an independent predictor of accelerated biological (epigenetic) aging and that epigenetic clocks appear to be good candidates for disentangling the biological pathways underlying social inequalities in healthy aging and longevity

Hydrochemical characteristics and planktonic composition assessment of River Henwal in Himalayan Region of Uttarakhand using CPI, Simpson's and Shannon-Weaver Index

In this present study seasonal water quality of River Henwal was conducted in term of the physico-chemical parameters, heavy metals, and plankton composition at four different sites of Chamba, Distt, Tehri Garhwal to observe pollution grade of River Henwal, situated in newly carved state of Uttarakhand. One site was considered as control site out of four and low concentration of physicochemical parameters was observed at it. For this purpose, comprehensive pollution index (CPI) was used, in view of the physiochemical parameters such as conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, total solids, total hardness (TH), total phosphate, chloride etc. and heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Cr etc.). Besides this, Simpson index (D) and Shannon-Weaver index (H) and Taxon Evenness (E) are used to depict the planktonic density, diversity and evenness in Henwal river. The CPI value (4.70-10.31) classifies the water quality in severely polluted condition of river water. Highest value was at Khadi. Blue green algae and protozoa were the most abundant group was recorded at all four sites. The highest Simpson (4.74), Shannon-Weiner index (1.58) and taxon evenness (0.46) was at Nagni during monsoon and lowest was at control site (D = 4.37, H = 1.54 and E = 0.43) during winter. Negative correlation was found between turbidity and plankton