The active living gender's gap challenge: 2013-2017 Eurobarometers physical inactivity data show constant higher prevalence in women with no progress towards global reduction goals

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) considers physical inactivity (PIA) as a critical noncommunicable factor for disease and mortality, affecting more women than men. In 2013, the WHO set a 10% reduction of the PIA prevalence, with the goal to be reached by 2025. Changes in the 2013-2017 period of physical inactivity prevalence in the 28 European Union (EU) countries were evaluated to track the progress in achieving WHO 2025 target. METHODS: In 2013 and 2017 EU Special Eurobarometers, the physical activity levels reported by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire of 53,607 adults were analyzed. Data were considered as a whole sample and country-by-country. A χ2 test was used to analyze the physical inactivity prevalence (%) between countries, analyzing women and men together and separately. Additionally, PIA prevalence was analyzed between years (2013-2017) for the overall EU sample and within-country using a Z-Score for two population proportions. RESULTS: The PIA prevalence increased between 2013 and 2017 for the overall EU sample (p <  0.001), and for women (p = 0.04) and men (p < 0.001) separately. Data showed a higher PIA prevalence in women versus men during both years (p <  0.001). When separately considering changes in PIA by gender, only Belgium's women and Luxembourg's men showed a reduction in PIA prevalence. Increases in PIA prevalence over time were observed in women from Austria, Croatia, Germany, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia and in men from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. CONCLUSIONS: PIA prevalence showed an overall increase across the EU and for both women and men between 2013 and 2017, with higher rates of PIA reported for women versus men during both years. PIA prevalence was reduced in only Belgium's women and Luxembourg's men. Our data indicate a limited gender-sensible approach while tacking PIA prevalence with no progress reaching global voluntary reductions of PIA for 2025

Location, identity, amount and serial entry of chloroplast DNA sequences in crucifer mitochondrial DNAs

Southern blot hybridization techniques were used to examine the chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) sequences present in the mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) of two Brassica species ( B. campestris and B. hirta ), two closely related species belonging to the same tribe as Brassica (Raphanus sativa, Crambe abyssinica) , and two more distantly related species of crucifers (Arabidopsis thaliana, Capsella bursa-pastoris) . The two Brassica species and R. sativa contain roughly equal amounts (12–14 kb) of cpDNA sequences integrated within their 208–242 kb mtDNAs. Furthermore, the 11 identified regions of transferred DNA, which include the 5′ end of the chloroplast psa A gene and the central segment of rpo B, have the same mtDNA locations in these three species. Crambe abyssinica mtDNA has the same complement of cpDNA sequences, plus an additional major region of cpDNA sequence similarity which includes the 16S rRNA gene. Therefore, except for the more recently arrived 16S rRNA gene, all of these cpDNA sequences appear to have entered the mitochondrial genome in the common ancestor of these three genera. The mitochondrial genomes of A. thaliana and Capsella bursa-pastoris contain significantly less cpDNA (5–7 kb) than the four other mtDNAs. However, certain cpDNA sequences, including the central portion of the rbc L gene and the 3′ end of the psa A gene, are shared by all six crucifer mtDNAs and appear to have been transferred in a common ancestor of the crucifer family over 30 million years ago. 1n conclusion, DNA has been transferred sequentially from the chloroplast to the mitochondrion during crucifer evolution and these cpDNA sequences can persist in the mitochondrial genome over long periods of evolutionary time.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46968/1/294_2004_Article_BF00521276.pd

A Participatory Approach to Assessing the Climate-Smartness of Agricultural Interventions: The Lushoto Case

The concept of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is gaining momentum across the globe. However, it is not specific on what should be covered under its three pillars—productivity, resilience and mitigation. Consequently, CSA encompasses many different agricultural practices/technologies, making it difficult to prioritise CSA objectives. Firstly, there is a lack of clear and workable criteria as well as methods for assessing the climate-smartness of interventions. Secondly, little information exists about the impact of the various interventions already promoted as CSA, especially in the developing world. Finally, CSA prioritisation does not take into account stakeholders’ perspectives to ensure that the interventions are applicable, suitable and of high adoption-potential. Here, we describe a new participatory protocol for assessing the climate-smartness of agricultural interventions in smallholder practices. This identifies farm-level indicators (and indices) for the food security and adaptation pillars of CSA. It also supports the participatory scoring of indicators, enabling baseline and future assessments of climate-smartness to be made. The protocol was tested among 72 farmers implementing a variety of CSA interventions in the climate-smart village of Lushoto, Tanzania. Farmers especially valued interventions that improved soil fertility and structure, reduced surface runoff, and reclaimed degraded land due to the positive impacts on yield and off-season crop agriculture. Mostly, the CSA interventions increased animal production, food production, consumption and income. The protocol is easy to adapt to different regions and farming systems and allows for the better prioritisation of interventions. But we recommend that CSA is adopted as part of a monitoring, evaluation and learning process

Voedselconsumptiepeiling 2014-2015. Samenvatting rapport 2: voedselveiligheid

Voeding en eetgewoonten zijn van groot belang voor de volksgezondheid. Ze zijn namelijk belangrijke factoren voor de ontwikkeling van niet-overdraagbare aandoeningen, zoals diabetes, hart- en vaatziekten en kanker. Om een voedingsbeleid te kunnen opstellen aangepast aan de behoeften van de Belgische bevolking is het dus noodzakelijk om een correct en recent beeld te hebben van de voedingsconsumptie en eetgewoonten in België. De laatste Voedselconsumptiepeiling uitgevoerd in België dateert van 2004. Aangezien eetgewoonten evolueren doorheen de jaren, was het nodig om deze gegevens te actualiseren. Daarom werd er op initiatief van de Minister van Sociale Zaken en Volksgezondheid en de Federale Overheidsdienst (FOD) Volksgezondheid, Veiligheid van de Voedselketen en Leefmilieu een tweede Voedselconsumptiepeiling opgestart in 2014. Deze studie werd georganiseerd, gecofinancierd en uitgevoerd door het Wetenschappelijk Instituut Volksgezondheid (WIV-ISP). De Voedselconsumptiepeiling 2014-2015 heeft als algemene doelstelling om de voedingsconsumptie, de eetgewoonten en de lichaamsbeweging van de Belgische bevolking tussen de 3 en 64 jaar te beschrijven. Dit onderzoek heeft als voordeel dat, voor het eerst in België, er gegevens zijn verzameld bij kinderen (3-9 jaar) en adolescenten (10-17 jaar). Deze gegevens zijn cruciaal voor het uitwerken van preventieve maatregelen aangepast aan deze kwetsbare&nbsp;leeftijdsgroepen.</p

Enquête de consommation alimentaire 2014-2015. Résumé rapport 2 : sécurité alimentaire

L’alimentation et les habitudes alimentaires revêtent une importance majeure en termes de santé publique. Celles-ci constituent, en effet, des déterminants importants dans le développement de maladies non transmissibles telles que le diabète, les maladies cardiovasculaires et le cancer. Il est donc nécessaire de disposer d’une image correcte et récente de la consommation et des habitudes alimentaires dans notre pays afin de pouvoir orienter les politiques nutritionnelles en fonction des besoins de la population. La dernière enquête de consommation alimentaire menée en Belgique datait de 2004. Les habitudes alimentaires évoluant au cours du temps, il était nécessaire d’actualiser ces données. Une deuxième enquête a par conséquent été initiée en 2014 par la Ministre des Affaires Sociales et de la Santé publique et le Service Public Fédéral (SPF) Santé publique, Sécurité de la chaîne alimentaire et Environnement. Cette étude a été organisée, cofinancée et mise en oeuvre par l’Institut Scientifique de Santé Publique (WIV-ISP). L’enquête de consommation alimentaire 2014-2015 a pour objectif général de décrire la consommation et les habitudes alimentaires, ainsi que l’activité physique de la population de 3 à 64 ans résidant en Belgique. Cette enquête a pour atout de fournir, pour la première fois en Belgique, des résultats pour les enfants (3 à 9 ans) et adolescents (10 à 17 ans). Ceci est essentiel afin de soutenir le développement de mesures de prévention adaptées à ce groupe d’âge particulièrement&nbsp;vulnérable.</p