Parents dealing with anorexia : actions and meanings

This paper examines parents&rsquo; actions in response to anorexia nervosa, and how these are shaped by the ways they construct or understand the eating disorder. The findings indicate that parents try to influence their daughters by searching for help, providing practical support, avoiding confrontation, complying with special requirements, persuading, explaining, and pressuring, using ploys and force, providing emotional support, and mediating interactions. Parents&rsquo; actions are influenced by how they construct anorexia, such as whether they see it as an eating issue, an illness, a psychological problem, a choice, or a mystery. Understanding parents&rsquo; actions and constructions can help clinicians develop collaborative partnerships with parents.<br /

Is There Any Association between Use of Smokeless Tobacco Products and Coronary Heart Disease in Bangladesh?

BACKGROUND: Most epidemiological studies exploring the association between smokeless tobacco (SLT) use and coronary heart disease (CHD) have been in Western populations, and have focused on SLT products used in those countries. Few studies come from South Asian countries. Our objective was to determine the association between SLT use and CHD among non-smoking adults in Bangladesh. METHODS: A matched case-control study of non-smoking Bangladeshi adults aged 40–75 years was conducted in 2010. Incident cases of CHD were selected from two cardiac hospitals. Community controls, matched to CHD cases, were selected from neighbourhoods, and hospital controls were selected from outpatient departments of the same hospitals. The Rose Angina Questionnaire (RAQ) was also used to re-classify cases and controls. RESULTS: The study enrolled 302 cases, 1,208 community controls and 302 hospital controls. Current use was higher among community controls (38%) compared to cases (33%) and hospital controls (32%). Current use of SLT was not significantly associated with an increased risk of CHD when community controls were used (adjusted OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.63–1.19), or when hospital controls were used (adjusted OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.63–1.60), or when both control groups were combined (adjusted OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.74–1.34). Risk of CHD did not increase with use of individual types except gul, frequency, duration, past use of SLT products, or using the RAQ to re-classify cases and controls. There was a significant association between gul use and CHD when both controls were combined (adjusted OR 2.93, 95% CI 1.28–6.70). CONCLUSIONS: There was no statistically significant association between SLT use in general and CHD among non-smoking adults in Bangladesh. Further research on the association between gul use and CHD in Bangladesh along with SLT use and CHD in other parts of the subcontinent will guide public health policy and interventions that focus on SLT-related diseases.Muhammad Azia Rahman, Nicola Spurrier, Mohammad Afzal Mahmood, Mahmudur Rahman, Soehl Reza Choudhury and Stephen Leede

Factors affecting commencement and cessation of smoking behaviour in Malaysian adults

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tobacco consumption peak in developed countries has passed, however, it is on the increase in many developing countries. Apart from cigarettes, consumption of local hand-rolled cigarettes such as <it>bidi </it>and <it>rokok daun </it>are prevalent in specific communities. Although factors associated with smoking initiation and cessation has been investigated elsewhere, the only available data for Malaysia is on prevalence. This study aims to investigate factors associated with smoking initiation and cessation which is imperative in designing intervention programs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected from 11,697 adults by trained recording clerks on sociodemographic characteristics, practice of other risk habit and details of smoking such as type, duration and frequency. Smoking commencement and cessation were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier estimates and log-rank tests. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to calculate the hazard rate ratios.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Males had a much higher prevalence of the habit (61.7%) as compared to females (5.8%). Cessation was found to be most common among the Chinese and those regularly consuming alcoholic beverages. Kaplan-Meier plot shows that although males are more likely to start smoking, females are found to be less likely to stop. History of betel quid chewing and alcohol consumption significantly increase the likelihood of commencement (p < 0.0001), while cessation was least likely among Indians, current quid chewers and kretek users (p < 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Gender, ethnicity, history of quid chewing and alcohol consumption have been found to be important factors in smoking commencement; while ethnicity, betel quid chewing and type of tobacco smoked influences cessation.</p

Signifying “students”, “teachers” and “mathematics”: a reading of a special issue

This paper examines a Special Issue of Educational Studies in Mathematics comprising research reports centred on Peircian semiotics in mathematics education, written by some of the major authors in the area. The paper is targeted at inspecting how subjectivity is understood, or implied, in those reports. It seeks to delineate how the conceptions of subjectivity suggested are defined as a result of their being a function of the domain within which the authors reflexively situate themselves. The paper first considers how such understandings shape concepts of mathematics, students and teachers. It then explores how the research domain is understood by the authors as suggested through their implied positioning in relation to teachers, teacher educators, researchers and other potential readers

Comparison of the nicotine content of tobacco used in bidis and conventional cigarettes

OBJECTIVE—To compare the nicotine content of 12 unfiltered brands of bidi cigarettes (hand rolled cigarettes imported from India) with 8 popular brands of filtered and unfiltered US and conventional cigarettes from India.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES—Identical laboratory procedures were used to determine nicotine content (in duplicate) and physical characteristics.
RESULTS—The nicotine concentration in the tobacco of bidi cigarettes (21.2 mg/g) was significantly greater than the tobacco from the commercial filtered (16.3 mg/g) and unfiltered cigarettes (13.5 mg/g).
CONCLUSIONS—Bidi cigarettes contain higher concentrations of nicotine than conventional cigarettes. Therefore, it is logical to presume that bidi smokers are at risk of becoming nicotine dependent. These findings belie a popular belief among US teens that bidis are a safe alternative to commercial cigarettes.


Keywords: bidis; beedies; yout

A critical exploration of lesbian perspectives on eating disorders

There is now a considerable body of research exploring how culturally dominant gendered norms are implicated in mobilising girls' and women's 'anorexic' and 'bulimic' experiences and practices. However, much less is known about lesbian experiences of 'eating disorders'. This article explores some of those specificities. Drawing on interviews with self-identified lesbian women with a history of 'anorexia' and/or 'bulimia', our analysis suggests that while many of the ways in which participants discursively constituted their 'eating disorders' were similar to those identified in research with girls and women assumed to be heterosexual, there were also important differences where participants' actual or emerging lesbian subjectivities were integral to their accounts of developing, living with and recovering from 'anorexia' and/or 'bulimia'. Our analysis suggests that the processes of coming to recognise oneself as a lesbian and of 'coming out' to others in predominantly hetero-normative contexts may be profoundly implicated in the discursive production of lesbian women's 'eating disorders' and that further research is required to better understand lesbian perspectives on 'eating disorders'. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC