Trends in US home food preparation and consumption: analysis of national nutrition surveys and time use studies from 1965–1966 to 2007–2008

BACKGROUND: It has been well-documented that Americans have shifted towards eating out more and cooking at home less. However, little is known about whether these trends have continued into the 21(st) century, and whether these trends are consistent amongst low-income individuals, who are increasingly the target of public health programs that promote home cooking. The objective of this study is to examine how patterns of home cooking and home food consumption have changed from 1965 to 2008 by socio-demographic groups. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional analysis of data from 6 nationally representative US dietary surveys and 6 US time-use studies conducted between 1965 and 2008. Subjects are adults aged 19 to 60 years (n= 38,565 for dietary surveys and n=55,424 for time-use surveys). Weighted means of daily energy intake by food source, proportion who cooked, and time spent cooking were analyzed for trends from 1965–1966 to 2007–2008 by gender and income. T-tests were conducted to determine statistical differences over time. RESULTS: The percentage of daily energy consumed from home food sources and time spent in food preparation decreased significantly for all socioeconomic groups between 1965–1966 and 2007–2008 (p ≤ 0.001), with the largest declines occurring between 1965 and 1992. In 2007–2008, foods from the home supply accounted for 65 to 72% of total daily energy, with 54 to 57% reporting cooking activities. The low income group showed the greatest decline in the proportion cooking, but consumed more daily energy from home sources and spent more time cooking than high income individuals in 2007–2008 (p ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: US adults have decreased consumption of foods from the home supply and reduced time spent cooking since 1965, but this trend appears to have leveled off, with no substantial decrease occurring after the mid-1990’s. Across socioeconomic groups, people consume the majority of daily energy from the home food supply, yet only slightly more than half spend any time cooking on a given day. Efforts to boost the healthfulness of the US diet should focus on promoting the preparation of healthy foods at home while incorporating limits on time available for cooking

Can holistic school readiness evaluations predict academic achievement and special educational needs status? Evidence from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile

This study examined the predictive validity of holistic school readiness evaluations using the ‘good level of development’ outcome from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP). The EYFSP assesses a range of abilities at school entry including academic, language, socio-emotional, and motor skills. In particular, we examined whether the assessment predicted reading, writing, maths, and science ability two years later and future special educational needs (SEN) status (N = 3739–5768). Children who reached a good level of development had higher odds of performing at expected (vs. below expected) levels on later academic assessments. This was particularly true for children with SEN. Reaching a good level of development also increased the odds of performing at above expected (vs. expected) levels on the academic assessments and lowered the odds of requiring SEN support. This demonstrates that holistic school readiness evaluations are powerful tools that can identify ‘at risk’ children

The Effect of Host Country Nationals’ Social Support on Expatriates’ Adjustment—A Multiple Stakeholder Approach

The social support provided by host country nationals (HCNs) has been identified as an important source of successful expatriation. However, the roles of different HCN actors have not yet been sufficiently differentiated in this process. Drawing on social support theory and conservation of resources theory, this chapter aims to fill this void by investigating the impact of social support provided by five groups of HCN actors on expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment: HCN top management team members, supervisors, colleagues, and subordinates in the work domain, as well as friends in the non-work domain. The resulting model suggests that all these HCN actors can increase expatriates’ adjustment; however, colleagues in the work domain and friends in the non-work domain have the highest influence on all types of adjustments