10,830 research outputs found
Perceptions of healthy eating and physical activity in an ethnically diverse sample of young children and their parents: the DEAL prevention of obesity study
Background: Ethnicity is a consistent correlate of obesity; however, little is known about the perceptions and beliefs that may influence engagement with obesity prevention programmes among ethnic minority children. Barriers to (and facilitators of) healthy lifestyles were examined in the qualitative arm of the London (UK) DiEt and Active Living (DEAL) study.
Methods: Children aged 8–13 years and their parents, from diverse ethnic groups, were recruited through schools and through places of worship. Thirteen focus group sessions were held with 70 children (n = 39 girls) and eight focus groups and five interviews with 43 parents (n = 34 mothers).
Results: Across ethnic groups, dislike of school meals, lack of knowledge of physical activity guidelines for children and negativity towards physical education at school among girls, potentially hindered healthy living. Issues relating to families' wider neighbourhoods (e.g. fast food outlets; lack of safety) illustrated child and parental concerns that environments could thwart intentions for healthy eating and activity. By contrast, there was general awareness of key dietary messages and an emphasis on dietary variety and balance. For ethnic minorities, places of worship were key focal points for social support. Discourse around the retention of traditional practices, family roles and responsibilities, and religion highlighted both potential facilitators (e.g. the importance of family meals) and barriers (reliance on convenience stores for traditional foods). Socio-economic circumstances intersected with key themes, within and between ethnic groups.
Conclusions: Several barriers to (and facilitators of) healthy lifestyles were common across ethnic groups. Diversity of cultural frameworks not only were more nuanced, but also shaped lifestyles for minority children.</p
Magnetar-like Emission from the Young Pulsar in Kes 75
We report detection of magnetar-like X-ray bursts from the young pulsar PSR
J1846-0258, at the center of the supernova remnant Kes 75. This pulsar, long
thought to be rotation-powered, has an inferred surface dipolar magnetic field
of 4.9x10^13 G, higher than those of the vast majority of rotation-powered
pulsars, but lower than those of the ~12 previously identified magnetars. The
bursts were accompanied by a sudden flux increase and an unprecedented change
in timing behavior. These phenomena lower the magnetic and rotational
thresholds associated with magnetar-like behavior, and suggest that in neutron
stars there exists a continuum of magnetic activity that increases with
inferred magnetic field strength.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Science. Note: The
content of this paper is embargoed until February 21, 200
Bounds on Cross-sections and Lifetimes for Dark Matter Annihilation and Decay into Charged Leptons from Gamma-ray Observations of Dwarf Galaxies
We provide conservative bounds on the dark matter cross-section and lifetime
from final state radiation produced by annihilation or decay into charged
leptons, either directly or via an intermediate particle . Our analysis
utilizes the experimental gamma-ray flux upper limits from four Milky Way dwarf
satellites: HESS observations of Sagittarius and VERITAS observations of Draco,
Ursa Minor, and Willman 1. Using 90% confidence level lower limits on the
integrals over the dark matter distributions, we find that these constraints
are largely unable to rule out dark matter annihilations or decays as an
explanation of the PAMELA and ATIC/PPB-BETS excesses. However, if there is an
additional Sommerfeld enhancement in dwarfs, which have a velocity dispersion
~10 to 20 times lower than that of the local Galactic halo, then the
cross-sections for dark matter annihilating through 's required to
explain the excesses are very close to the cross-section upper bounds from
Willman 1. Dark matter annihilation directly into 's is also marginally
ruled out by Willman 1 as an explanation of the excesses, and the required
cross-section is only a factor of a few below the upper bound from Draco.
Finally, we make predictions for the gamma-ray flux expected from the dwarf
galaxy Segue 1 for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. We find that for a
sizeable fraction of the parameter space in which dark matter annihilation into
charged leptons explains the PAMELA excess, Fermi has good prospects for
detecting a gamma-ray signal from Segue 1 after one year of observation.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. References added. Final published versio
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