Dietary Characteristics of Children in the CNMI: Final Report August 31, 2007

Four hundred twenty children. ages six months-10 years old were studied for indicators of nutrition and health in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in June and July of 2005 using a two-stage cluster survey. Over two thirds of children 5-10 years old had no physical activity outside of school (68%), although 61% of children engaged in 1-3 days of physical activity while at school. Children of all ages watched television an average of four hours per day. Analysis of the diets of 420 children found that children of all ages had high intakes of protein compared to recommended levels . Sodium (salt) intake was also high and calcium intake was low. Approximately 35% of the children met Healthy People 2010 objectives of< 10% of calories from saturated fat and <30% of calories from total fat. Analysis of food group intakes confirms the high protein and low calcium intakes in all age groups, with high intakes of processed meats and low intakes of dairy, fruits and vegetables. It also indicates that fruit and vegetable consumption is below recommended levels for children from one year through 10 years of age.Funding fer the survey was provided by USDA grants 2004-35215-14252 & 2004-38826-2201 and through in kind contributions ef the Northern Marianas College and the Dept of Public Health, CNM

Selecting Sources: How Adult Public Library Users Find Leisure Books

With technological advancements and different approaches to marketing books, such as on social networking websites and book trailers on television, there are now more sources for adult library patrons to use for the purpose of finding leisure reading materials. How people search for information and what sources they use to do so can be a way to tailor services to a particular population. Readers' advisory in public libraries plays a role in how readers may come into contact with books. This study examines the different sources and methods being used currently by surveying adult public library patrons at a Wake County Public Library in North Carolina featuring active and passive readers' advisory services

Healthy Living in the Pacific Islands: Results of a Focus Group Process to Identify Perceptions of Health and Collaboration in the U.S-Affiliated Pacific Islands

A focus group process was used to gather data on perceptions of health and community collaboration within 6 U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands as part of a process to encourage a community-based participatory approach to addressing community health issues and planning. The focus groups revealed Pacific Islanders\u27 perceptions of health and key local health issues and elements of collaboration. The results were applied to a community-oriented planning process, resulting in the creation of a broad planning framework within which islands could implement their own activities. This approach shows potential for initiating future activities in which communities collaborate in the planning process

Consumo de leche por lactantes del área rural de Puriscal, Costa Rica, 1978

artículo (arbitrado), Universidad de Costa Rica, Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA). 1978Se determinó el volumen (peso) de leche humana consumida por niños lactantes, mediante la pesada del niño antes y después de cada mamada. Los niños residían en 7 localidades de tipo rural disperso del Cantón de Puriscal. Un investigador de campo (R.N.) permaneció en la casa de los niños de una de las comunidades durante tres dias y tres noches; en las casas de las otras comunidades, el estudio se circunscribió a sólo 24 horas al determinarse que no había diferencia significativa en el resultado con ambos métodos. Entre 20 niños estudiados, 10 recibían el pecho materno fundamentalmente, y 5 eran alimentados exclusivamente al seno materno. Los niños con alimentación materna exclusiva consumieron un promedio de 638 ml de leche, volumen mayor que el consumido por los niños que recibían suplementos. El crecimiento de los niños exclusivamente al seno fue adecuado por cualquiera de los índices recomendados (Peso/Talla/ Talla/Edad y Peso/Edad). En vista de que el volumen de leche consumido por niños exclusivamente al seno materno que crecen normalmente, es inferior a la recomendación de la OMS, salta la duda de hasta dónde las recomendaciones internacionales se ajustan a la realidad. Parece evidente que los niños pueden crecer bien, bajo condiciones rurales de relativa pobreza, si consumen sólo el 80 % de lo recomendado.Universidad de Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA

Breastfeeding Duration in a Multiethnic Population in Hawaii

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73280/1/j.1523-536x.2000.00091.x.pd

Community social network pattern analysis: Development of a novel methodology using a complex, multi-level health intervention

Community social networks (CSN) include&nbsp;individuals and groups, and those with strong partnerships and relationships are well situated for implementing community-based interventions. However, information on the nature of CSN relationships required for multilevel community-based interventions is not present in the literature. Using data from the multi-level Children’s Healthy Living (CHL) trial to reduce child obesity in nine Pacific communities, this study aimed to develop a methodology based on Social Network Analysis (SNA) to understand how CSN evolved over the course of a two-year trial, as well as the characteristics of CSN most successful in impacting indicators of childhood obesity. The two-year trial was considered in four six-month intervals. Within each interval, implemented activities, as recorded in CHL monthly reports, were coded by activity implementer(s), e.g. government agency, school, or community-based group, as well as for collective efficacy impact of the activity, e.g. to leverage resources from outside the CSN or to facilitate civic engagement. Coded data were used to create CSN maps for the four time intervals, and SNA techniques examined the CSN characteristics. CSN density increased over time, as measured by the number of ties within the network. Schools, community-based groups and large organizations were identified as the primary implementers of the CHL intervention and formed a community implementer backbone. Social leveraging, i.e. linking local groups to people with authority over outside resources, was shown to be a central component in intervention success. It took time to develop strong CSN, and stronger (denser) CSN were more successful in building social cohesion and enacting community change. Findings illustrate a methodology that can be useful for tracking the development and impact of CSN

Health in All Policies: Working Across Sectors in Cooperative Extension to Promote Health for All

A Health in All Policies approach engages cross-sector stakeholders to collaboratively improve systems that drive population health. We, the members of the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP)’s Health in All Policies Action Team, propose that adopting a Health in All Policies approach within the national Cooperative Extension System will better prepare us to contribute meaningfully to improving the nation’s health. We first explain the Health in All Policies approach and argue for why and how it is relevant for Extension. We then present insights gathered from Extension Family and Consumer Sciences program leaders and state specialists to assess whether national and state leadership are poised to adopt a Health in All Policies approach within their affiliated programs. Although participant leaders saw the value of the approach in contributing to population health improvement, they generally saw the Extension system as having lower levels of readiness to adopt such an approach. Six themes emerged as ways to increase Extension’s engagement in Health in All Policies: a paradigm shift within Extension, professional development of competencies, transformational leaders and leadership support, continued and new partnerships, information access for all levels and disciplines of Extension

Оплата труда и стимулирование трудовой деятельности в организации ООО "ТСМ Ковчег"

Объект исследования в выпускной квалификационной работе – оплата труда и стимулирование трудовой деятельности ООО "ТСМ Ковчег". Цель выпускной квалификационной работы заключается в разработке рекомендаций по совершенствованию системы оплаты труда и стимулирования трудовой деятельности в организации. В целях решения поставленных в выпускной квалификационной работе задач, применялись методы познания: аналитический, структурный, системный и метод экономического анализа. При проведении прикладного анализа выявилась возможность представить рекомендации по совершенствованию системы оплаты труда и стимулирования трудовой деятельности в организации ООО "ТСМ Ковчег".The object of research in the final qualifying work is payment for labor and stimulation of labor activity of LLC "TSM Kovcheg". The purpose of the final qualifying work is to develop recommendations for improving the system of labor remuneration and stimulating work in the organization. In order to solve the tasks set in the final qualifying work, methods of cognition were used: analytical, structural, system and method of economic analysis. When carrying out applied analysis, it became possible to provide recommendations on improving the system of labor remuneration and stimulating work in the organization of LLC "TSM Kovcheg.

Predicting total, abdominal, visceral and hepatic adiposity with circulating biomarkers in Caucasian and Japanese American women.

Characterization of abdominal and intra-abdominal fat requires imaging, and thus is not feasible in large epidemiologic studies.We investigated whether biomarkers may complement anthropometry (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference [WC], and waist-hip ratio [WHR]) in predicting the size of the body fat compartments by analyzing blood biomarkers, including adipocytokines, insulin resistance markers, sex steroid hormones, lipids, liver enzymes and gastro-neuropeptides.Fasting levels of 58 blood markers were analyzed in 60 healthy, Caucasian or Japanese American postmenopausal women who underwent anthropometric measurements, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging. Total, abdominal, visceral and hepatic adiposity were predicted based on anthropometry and the biomarkers using Random Forest models.Total body fat was well predicted by anthropometry alone (R(2) = 0.85), by the 5 best predictors from the biomarker model alone (leptin, leptin-adiponectin ratio [LAR], free estradiol, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 [PAI1], alanine transaminase [ALT]; R(2) = 0.69), or by combining these 5 biomarkers with anthropometry (R(2) = 0.91). Abdominal adiposity (DXA trunk-to-periphery fat ratio) was better predicted by combining the two types of predictors (R(2) = 0.58) than by anthropometry alone (R(2) = 0.53) or the 5 best biomarkers alone (25(OH)-vitamin D(3), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 [IGFBP1], uric acid, soluble leptin receptor [sLEPR], Coenzyme Q10; R(2) = 0.35). Similarly, visceral fat was slightly better predicted by combining the predictors (R(2) = 0.68) than by anthropometry alone (R(2) = 0.65) or the 5 best biomarker predictors alone (leptin, C-reactive protein [CRP], LAR, lycopene, vitamin D(3); R(2) = 0.58). Percent liver fat was predicted better by the 5 best biomarker predictors (insulin, sex hormone binding globulin [SHBG], LAR, alpha-tocopherol, PAI1; R(2) = 0.42) or by combining the predictors (R(2) = 0.44) than by anthropometry alone (R(2) = 0.29).The predictive ability of anthropometry for body fat distribution may be enhanced by measuring a small number of biomarkers. Studies to replicate these data in men and other ethnic groups are warranted

Recruitment Strategies and Lessons Learned from the Children's Healthy Living Program Prevalence Survey

The US Affiliated Pacific region's childhood obesity prevalence has reached epidemic proportions. To guide program and policy development, a multi-site study was initiated, in collaboration with partners from across the region, to gather comprehensive information on the regional childhood obesity prevalence. The environmental and cultural diversity of the region presented challenges to recruiting for and implementing a shared community-based, public health research program. This paper presents the strategies used to recruit families with young children (n = 5775 for children 2 - 8 years old) for obesity-related measurement across eleven jurisdictions in the US Affiliated Pacific Region. Data were generated by site teams that provided summaries of their recruitment strategies and lessons learned. Conducting this large multi-site prevalence study required considerable coordination, time and flexibility. In every location, local staff knowledgeable of the community was hired to lead recruitment, and participant compensation reflected jurisdictional appropriateness (e.g., gift cards, vouchers, or cash). Although recruitment approaches were site-specific, they were predominantly school-based or a combination of school- and community-based. Lessons learned included the importance of organization buy-in; communication, and advance planning; local travel and site peculiarities; and flexibility. Future monitoring of childhood obesity prevalence in the region should consider ways to integrate measurement activities into existing organizational infrastructures for sustainability and cost-effectiveness, while meeting programmatic (e.g. study) goals