Swimming with captive dolphins: current debates and post-experience dissonance

Dolphins have widespread contemporary appeal and anthropomorphic social representations of dolphins have fuelled a growing desire in tourist populations to seek interaction with them. This paper is concerned with the staged performance of swim-with-dolphin interaction programmes in aquaria. Qualitative interviews with tourists who have swum with captive dolphins identified their immediate recollections and stressed the grace, size and power of dolphins, but also a belief that the experience was too staged, too short and too expensive. Post-purchase dissonance focused on concerns with the size of enclosures and about captivity, too many tricks, limited interpretation and unfulfilled expectations of a quality interaction

In what ways does the mandatory nature of Victoria's municipal public health planning framework impact on the planning process and outcomes?

BACKGROUND: Systems for planning are a critical component of the infrastructure for public health. Both in Australia and internationally there is growing interest in how planning processes might best be strengthened to improve health outcomes for communities. In Australia the delivery of public health varies across states, and mandated municipal public health planning is being introduced or considered in a number of jurisdictions. In 1988 the Victorian State government enacted legislation that made it mandatory for each local government to produce a Municipal Public Health Plan, offering us a 20-year experience to consider. RESULTS: In-depth interviews were undertaken with those involved in public health planning at the local government level, as part of a larger study on local public health infrastructure and capacity. From these interviews four significant themes emerge. Firstly, there is general agreement that the Victorian framework of mandatory public health planning has led to improvements in systems for planning. However, there is some debate about the degree of that improvement. Secondly, there is considerable variation in the way in which councils approach planning and the priority they attach to the process. Thirdly, there is concern that the focus is on producing a plan rather than on implementing the plan. Finally, some tension over priorities is evident. Those responsible for developing Municipal Public Health Plans express frustration over the difficulty of having issues they believe are important addressed through the MPHP process. CONCLUSION: There are criticisms of Victoria's system for public health planning at the local government level. Some of these issues may be specific to the arrangement in Victoria, others are problems encountered in public health planning generally. In Victoria where the delivery structure for public health is diverse, a system of mandatory planning has created a minimum standard. The implementation of the framework was slow and factors in the broader political environment had a significant impact. Work done in recent years to support the process appears to have led to improvements. There are lessons for other states as they embark upon mandated public health plans

Hope for threatened tropical biodiversity: Lessons from the Philippines

10.1641/B580309BioScience583231-240BISN

Early Childhood Nutrition Is Positively Associated with Adolescent Educational Outcomes: Evidence from the Andhra Pradesh Child and Parents Study (APCAPS).

BACKGROUND: India's Integrated Child Development Scheme, which provides supplementary nutrition and other public health services to >91 million women and children aged <6 y, is the largest program of its kind in the world. OBJECTIVE: We estimated the long-term associations of maternal and early childhood nutrition provided under the Integrated Child Development Scheme with educational outcomes when the children became adolescents. METHODS: We used longitudinal data from a controlled nutrition trial conducted near the city of Hyderabad, India. From 1987 to 1990, a balanced protein-energy supplement (corn-soya meal, called upma) was offered to pregnant women and children aged <6 y in 15 intervention villages, whereas no supplementation was offered in 14 control villages. Both groups had equal access to other public programs such as immunization and anemia control in pregnancy. Children born during the original trial period were resurveyed (654 intervention and 511 control group children) in 2003-2005. We used propensity score matching methods to correct for estimation bias in our regression models to assess the associations of supplementary nutrition with school enrollment, schooling grades completed, and academic test performance of these adolescents. RESULTS: Children born in intervention villages were 7.8% (95% CI: 0.1%, 15.4%; P < 0.05) more likely to be enrolled in school and completed 0.84 (95% CI: 0.28, 1.39; P < 0.005) more schooling grades than children born in control villages. We found no association between supplementary nutrition and academic performance, as measured by school test scores. CONCLUSION: Offering a nutritional supplement to pregnant women and children <6 y of age during the Hyderabad Nutrition Trial was associated with improved school enrollment and completion of more schooling grades when the children became adolescents