Socioeconomic differences in attitudes and beliefs about healthy lifestyles

Study objectives: The factors underlying socioeconomic status differences in smoking, leisure time physical activity, and dietary choice are poorly understood. This study investigated attitudes and beliefs that might underlie behavioural choices, including health locus of control, future salience, subjective life expectancy, and health consciousness, in a nationally representative sample.Design: Data were collected as part of the monthly Omnibus survey of the Office of National Statistics in Britain. Participants: A stratified, probability sample of 2728 households was selected by random sampling of addresses. One adult from each household was interviewed.Main results: Higher SES respondents were less likely to smoke and more likely to exercise and eat fruit and vegetables daily. Lower SES was associated with less health consciousness (thinking about things to do to keep healthy), stronger beliefs in the influence of chance on health, less thinking about the future, and lower life expectancies. These attitudinal factors were in turn associated with unhealthy behavioural choices, independently of age, sex, and self rated health.Conclusions: Socioeconomic differences in healthy lifestyles are associated with differences in attitudes to health that may themselves arise through variations in life opportunities and exposure to material hardship and ill health over the life course

Subjective Wellbeing, Health and Ageing

Life satisfaction dips around middle age and rises in older age in high-income, English-speaking countries, but that is not a universal pattern, according to a new report. In contrast, residents of other regions -- such as the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa -- grow increasingly less satisfied as they age. The study -- conducted by researchers from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Stony Brook University and University College London -- highlights how residents of different regions across the world experience varying life-satisfaction levels and emotions as they age

Trends in physical activity and sedentary behaviour in adolescence: ethnic and socioeconomic differences

Objective: To assess developmental trends in physical activity and sedentary behaviour in British adolescents in relation to sex, ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES).Design: A 5-year longitudinal study of a diverse cohort of students aged 11 - 12 years at baseline in 1999.Setting: 36 London schools sampled using a stratified random sampling procedure.Participants: A total of 5863 students categorised as white, black or Asian, and stratified for SES using the Townsend Index.Main outcome measures: Number of days per week of vigorous activity leading to sweating and breathing hard. Hours of sedentary behaviour, including watching television and playing video games. Data were analysed using multilevel, linear, mixed models.Results: Marked reductions in physical activity and increases in sedentary behaviour were noticed between ages 11 - 12 and 15 - 16 years. Boys were more active than girls, and the decline in physical activity was greater in girls (46% reduction) than in boys (23%). Asian students were less active than whites, and this was also true of black girls but not boys. Black students were more sedentary than white students. Levels of sedentary behaviour were greater in respondents from lower SES. Most differences between ethnic and SES groups were present at age 11 years, and did not evolve over the teenage years.Conclusions: Physical activity declines and sedentary behaviour becomes more common during adolescence. Ethnic and SES differences are observed in physical activity and sedentary behaviour in British youth that anticipate adult variations in adiposity and cardiovascular disease risk. These are largely established by age 11 - 12 years, so reversing these patterns requires earlier intervention

Prolonged elevations in haemostatic and rheological responses following psychological stress in low socioeconomic status men and women

Low socioeconomic status (SES) and psychological stress are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease, and both may influence haemostatic responses. Von Willebrand factor (vWF), Factor VIII, plasma viscosity, haematocrit, blood viscosity, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and fibrin D- dimer were measured at rest and following stressful tasks in 238 middle-aged British civil servants. SES was defined by grade of employment. Lower SES was associated with higher resting vWF, Factor VIII and plasma viscosity. Psychological stress stimulated increases in haemostatic and rheological factors. Initial stress responses did not vary with SES, but Factor VIII, plasma viscosity and blood viscosity remained more elevated 45 minutes post-stress in lower SES participants. High blood pressure stress reactivity was also associated with greater haemostatic responses. We conclude that lower SES is characterised by more prolonged elevations in procoagulant responses following psychological stress, and that these processes might contribute to increased cardiac risk

The influence of low job control on ambulatory blood pressure and perceived stress over the working day in men and women from the Whitehall II cohort.

Objective: Work stress contributes to risk of coronary heart disease and hypertension. This study tested the influence of job control on ambulatory blood pressure, and ratings of perceived stress and happiness in men and women systematically sampled by socio-economic status from the Whitehall II epidemiological cohort. Participants: A total of 227 men and women aged 47-59 years sampled from higher, intermediate and lower employment grades. Outcome measures: Ambulatory blood pressure and ratings of stress, perceived control and happiness. Methods: Participants completed standard measures of job demands and job control, and undertook ambulatory monitoring with measures of blood pressure and subjective state every 20 min from early in the working day until going to bed. Results: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were greater in participants reporting low rather than high job control (means 125.7/81.5 versus 122.4/78.6 mmHg, P < 0.05), independently of gender, employment grade, body mass index, age, smoking status, and physical activity. Differences persisted into the evening after work. Job demands and job strain (high demand/low control) were not associated with blood pressure. Participants reporting low job control experienced stress more frequently over the working day than did those with high job control. Higher socio-economic status participants and women were more stressed by low job control than were men and people of lower socio-economic status. Conclusions: Job control plays an important role in modulating cardiovascular and affective responses over the working day, and these responses may contribute to increased cardiovascular disease risk. © 2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Petrofacies and Depositional Systems of the Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin, North Dakota

Late Devonian and Early Mississippian Bakken Formation in the Williston basin of North Dakota is a large emerging unconventional oil play that taps into reserves previously thought to be uneconomical to produce. The hydrocarbon source rocks and unconventional oil reservoir are widespread across the intracratonic basin with an estimated 3.7 billion barrels of undiscovered, recoverable oil, and has significant economic potential in portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Although the Bakken interval is the target of numerous horizontal wells throughout the basin, several uncertainties remain including the environment and distribution of depositional facies, especially in the shale members. An improved understanding of the dynamics of Bakken depositional facies is important to further explore and develop this unconventional reservoir.;The Bakken Formation consists of a mixed clastics and carbonate middle member bounded by two black, organic-rich shale units. Generally, the upper and lower shale members are considered to have been deposited under relatively deep marine anoxic conditions (\u3e200 meters depth). However, the underlying Sanish sand unit and the middle member of the Bakken have been interpreted as deposited in an epicontinental sea under shallow-water high-energy conditions (\u3c 10 meters depth). The middle member of the Bakken is a complex stacked interval of dolomitic and calcareous siltstone, as well as oolitic or calcareous sandstone. To evaluate the inferred rapid changes in sea level, and the influence on depositional environments and production, subunits in the shale members were correlated for approximately 100 wells. The upper and lower Bakken shale members are divided into transgressive-regressive subunits that can be recognized by changes in lithology, mineralogy and sedimentologic properties, and are attributed to fluctuating depositional conditions.;Log based solutions were also used to generate RHOmaa-Umaa cross plots and lithology composition graphs were generated for selected wells across the study area. In addition regional cross-sections and thickness maps were generated to further enhance the understanding of the vertical and lateral continuity of the depositional facies within the Bakken Formation. The result is an improved understanding of depositional patterns and basin evolution for the entire Bakken interval with emphasis on the shale units.;Implementation of a transgressive-regressive stratigraphic framework in the Bakken subunits harbors a better understanding of the changing depositional conditions such as fluctuating sea level and complicated sediment accumulation patterns. Thus the improved understanding of the dynamics of the depositional facies in the Bakken Formation, including the shale units, is important to further explore and develop this unconventional reservoir to its best potential

Pathogen burden and cortisol profiles over the day

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) regulation in adults is influenced by early psychosocial adversity, but the role of infectious disease history is poorly understood. We studied the association between cumulative pathogen burden and cortisol profile over the day in a sample of 317 healthy men and women aged 51-72 years. Cumulative pathogen burden was defined as positive serostatus for Chlamydia pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). Salivary cortisol was sampled repeatedly over the day. The cortisol slope was defined as the decrease across the day and evening. Age, gender, grade of employment, body mass index, smoking status, self-rated health, cardiovascular medication, depressed mood and time of waking were included as covariates. The pathogen burden averaged 1.76 (S.D. = 0.92). The cortisol slope was inversely associated with pathogen burden after controlling for covariates. When individual pathogens were studied, only CMV was associated with flatter cortisol rhythms in isolation. We conclude that pathogen burden is independently associated with flatter cortisol slopes over the day, and may contribute to disturbed neuroendocrine regulation