An Analysis of U.S. News Media Coverage of E-Cigarettes: Does a Youth Epidemic Make a Difference?

Rates of electronic cigarettes (or “e-cigarettes”) use among youth are so high that the Surgeon General declared them to be of “epidemic proportions” (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2012). If these rates go unchanged, e-cigarettes will likely be responsible for the creation of a new generation of combustible cigarette (or “cigarette”) smokers. Among youth, use of e-cigarettes as their first tobacco product was associated with more than four times the probability of ever use of cigarettes and three times the probability of current cigarette use (Berry, et al., 2019). Further, given the addictive nature of tobacco, three of every four teen smokers will still be smoking as adults, even if they intend to quit after just a few years (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2012). Since the introduction of e-cigarettes, there has been a debate within the public health community as to whether e-cigarettes create overall population health benefit by reducing the use of cigarettes and their subsequent health harms, or if they create overall harm by recruiting new (especially young) smokers and exposing them to untested chemicals. This thesis aims to study whether and how the news media landscape has changed as the rates of youth e-cigarette use have increased. The central question will be whether frames (the packaging and delivery of an issue) linked to the harm reduction position have lost ground to the more precautionary position that warns of potential harms from e-cigarettes. Since the news media is important to shaping public discourse and policy debate on any given topic, understanding the evolution of how e-cigarettes have been framed in the media can help shed light on current and potential future directions for public health action. Key Words: e-cigarette, media, framing, epidemic, youth, public health, FDA, cigarette, vape, JUU

Aging and the Social Cognitive Determinants of Physical Activity Behavior and Behavior Change: Evidence from the Guide to Health Trial

Part one of this study investigated the effect of aging on social-cognitive characteristics related to physical activity (PA) among adults in the baseline phase of a health promotion intervention. Participants' questionnaire responses and activity logs indicated PA levels and self-efficacy declined with age, while social support and the use of self-regulatory behaviors (e.g., goal setting, planning, and keeping track) increased. With age participants were also less likely to expect PA to interfere with their daily routines and social obligations. Part two of the study was among overweight/obese, inactive participants completing the intervention; it examined whether improvements in psychosocial variables might counteract declining PA associated with age. After treatment, participants were more active and decreased body weight regardless of age, and improved self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and self-regulatory behaviors. In a causal model, increases in self-efficacy at 7-months lead to increased PA levels and, albeit marginally, weight loss at 16 months; increased PA was associated with greater weight loss. Aging adults who were more confident exercised more and as a result lost more weight. This longitudinal study suggests interventions that offset the effect of aging on self-efficacy may be more successful in helping older participants become more active and avoid weight gain

Supervision during resistance training: a comparison of trainer and trainee perceptions

Background: Resistance training has well-documented health benefits; however, participation and adherence remain overwhelmingly low. Supervision has been evidenced to improve adherence, and produce favourable adaptations compared to unsupervised resistance training. A recent exploratory systematic review and meta-analysis on supervision during resistance training noted a lack of clarity as to the purpose/intent of the supervisor within the body of literature.Methods: An online cross-sectional survey study was conducted in English and distributed primarily across social media platforms and through the authors’ personal and professional networks. The aim of the survey was to compare the perceptions of supervision between trainers and trainees. Secondary outcomes included exploratory analyses of the impact of training experience, sex of participant, and comparison based on supervision type.Results: 468 participants completed all elements of the survey (68% male, 32% female). Of which 236 were personal trainers/strength coaches, and 232 were trainees. In brief, descriptive data from the survey suggest that trainers perceived supervision as more important than trainees for the characteristics and variables measured. Females perceived supervision in resistance training as more important than males. Trainees who engage in supervised resistance training reported supervision to be more important compared to those training alone or with a training partner. Technical coaching was reported to be the most important characteristic of supervision. Finally, trainers and trainees engaging in supervised strength training reported lower injury rates compared to those strength training unsupervised or with a training partner. Qualitative data are presented regarding perceptions of how and why supervision should differ based on sex, age, and experience, as well as reporting injury experiences.Conclusion: Our data suggest that the perceived benefits of supervision vary based on population. We posit that the present data have implications for both trainers and trainees, which might serve to strengthen a relationship by aligning roles and realising goals in supervised resistance training. Further, this data might provide insight and prompt future research as to how to engage more people into resistance training

Aging, Resistance Training, and Diabetes Prevention

With the aging of the baby-boom generation and increases in life expectancy, the American population is growing older. Aging is associated with adverse changes in glucose tolerance and increased risk of diabetes; the increasing prevalence of diabetes among older adults suggests a clear need for effective diabetes prevention approaches for this population. The purpose of paper is to review what is known about changes in glucose tolerance with advancing age and the potential utility of resistance training (RT) as an intervention to prevent diabetes among middle-aged and older adults. Age-related factors contributing to glucose intolerance, which may be improved with RT, include improvements in insulin signaling defects, reductions in tumor necrosis factor-α, increases in adiponectin and insulin-like growth factor-1 concentrations, and reductions in total and abdominal visceral fat. Current RT recommendations and future areas for investigation are presented

Changing behaviour: Increasing the effectiveness of workplace interventions in creating pro-environmental behaviour change

There is a great deal of research outlining interventions to increase pro-environmental behaviour, many of which are aimed at employees. However, to date the results for these have not lived up to their initial promise. Instead of offering another intervention, we propose a model which identifies psychological conditions under which these interventions are most likely to succeed. Through the integration of previously separate literatures from experimental social psychology, organisational psychology, organisational behaviour and environmental psychology, we suggest that the degree to which the intervention-related goal is efficacious and attractive, self-concordant, in conflict with other goals, and perceived to be completed will affect the level and type of behaviour change. Our model aims to provide actionable knowledge that extends our understanding of the effectiveness of workplace interventions designed to increase green organisational behaviour

Affordances, constraints and information flows as ‘leverage points’ in design for sustainable behaviour

Copyright @ 2012 Social Science Electronic PublishingTwo of Donella Meadows' 'leverage points' for intervening in systems (1999) seem particularly pertinent to design for sustainable behaviour, in the sense that designers may have the scope to implement them in (re-)designing everyday products and services. The 'rules of the system' -- interpreted here to refer to affordances and constraints -- and the structure of information flows both offer a range of opportunities for design interventions to in fluence behaviour change, and in this paper, some of the implications and possibilities are discussed with reference to parallel concepts from within design, HCI and relevant areas of psychology

The Effects on Saturated Fat Purchases of Providing Internet Shoppers with Purchase- Specific Dietary Advice: A Randomised Trial

OBJECTIVES: The supermarket industry now services many customers through online food shopping over the Internet. The Internet shopping process offers a novel opportunity for the modification of dietary patterns. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects on consumers' purchases of saturated fat of a fully automated computerised system that provided real-time advice tailored to the consumers' specific purchases recommending foods lower in saturated fat. DESIGN: This study was a blinded, randomised controlled trial. SETTING: The study was conducted in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: The participants were consumers using a commercial online Internet shopping site between February and June 2004. INTERVENTIONS: Individuals assigned to intervention received fully automated advice that recommended specific switches from selected products higher in saturated fat to alternate similar products lower in saturated fat. Participants assigned to control received general non-specific advice about how to eat a diet lower in saturated fat. OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcome measure was the difference in saturated fat (grams per 100 g of food) in shopping baskets between the intervention and control groups. RESULTS: There were 497 randomised participants, mean age 40 y, each shopping for an average of about three people. The amount of saturated fat in the foods purchased by the intervention group was 0.66% lower (95% confidence interval 0.48–0.84, p < 0.001) than in the control group. The effects of the intervention were sustained over consecutive shopping episodes, and there was no difference in the average cost of the food bought by each group. CONCLUSIONS: Fully automated, purchase-specific dietary advice offered to customers during Internet shopping can bring about changes in food purchasing habits that are likely to have significant public health implications. Because implementation is simple to initiate and maintain, this strategy would likely be highly cost-effective

Effects of Resistance Training and Aerobic Exercise on Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight Korean Adolescents: A Controlled Randomized Trial

BackgroundData on the impact of resistance training on insulin resistance in overweight or obese children are inconclusive.MethodsThirty overweight South Korean adolescents (mean age of 13.10 years) were divided by sex, and then randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups, which were the diet only (DO), diet with aerobic exercise (AE), or diet with resistance training (RT) group. Physiologic and metabolic parameters were assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks of exercise training and diet modification.ResultsBoth exercise groups (aerobic and resistance) showed significant improvements in their insulin area under the curve and insulin sensitivity index values when compared to their baseline values while the DO group showed no significant changes in these variables. Age-, sex-, and body mass index (BMI)-adjusted intergroup comparison analyses showed a marked reduction in BMI and a significant reduction in muscle mass in the AE group when compared to the RT group and the DO group, respectively.ConclusionA 12-week exercise training program of either resistance or aerobic activity improved insulin sensitivity in overweight adolescents, although it failed to show superiority over a DO program. Aerobic exercise decreased both body weight and BMI, and it was noted that this group also had a significant reduction in muscle mass when compared to the DO group

Screening and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol use in primary care: a cluster randomised controlled trial protocol

A large number of randomised controlled trials in health settings have consistently reported positive effects of brief intervention in terms of reductions in alcohol use. However,although alcohol misuse is common amongst offenders, there is limited evidence of alcohol brief interventions in the criminal justice field. This factorial pragmatic cluster randomised controlledtrial with Offender Managers (OMs) as the unit of randomisation will evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different models of screening to identify hazardous and harmful drinkers in probation and different intensities of brief intervention to reduce excessive drinking in probation clients. Ninety-six OMs from 9 probation areas across 3 English regions (the NorthEast Region (n = 4) and London and the South East Regions (n = 5)) will be recruited. OMs will berandomly allocated to one of three intervention conditions: a client information leaflet control condition (n = 32 OMs); 5-minute simple structured advice (n = 32 OMs) and 20-minute brieflifestyle counselling delivered by an Alcohol Health Worker (n = 32 OMs). Randomisation will be stratified by probation area. To test the relative effectiveness of different screening methods all OMs will be randomised to either the Modified Single Item Screening Questionnaire (M-SASQ) orthe Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST). There will be a minimum of 480 clients recruited into the trial. There will be an intention to treat analysis of study outcomes at 6 and 12 months postintervention. Analysis will include client measures (screening result, weekly alcohol consumption,alcohol-related problems, re-offending, public service use and quality of life) and implementation measures from OMs (the extent of screening and brief intervention beyond the minimum recruitment threshold will provide data on acceptability and feasibility of different models of brief intervention). We will also examine the practitioner and organisational factors associated with successful implementation.The trial will evaluate the impact of screening and brief alcohol intervention in routine probation work and therefore its findings will be highly relevant to probation teams and thus the criminal justice system in the UK