Parental stress increases body mass index trajectory in pre-adolescents.

What is already known about this subjectRates of childhood obesity have increased since the mid-1970s. Research into behavioural determinants has focused on physical inactivity and unhealthy diets. Cross-sectional studies indicate an association between psychological stress experienced by parents and obesity in pre-adolescents.What this study addsWe provide evidence of a prospective association between parental psychological stress and increased weight gain in pre-adolescents. Family-level support for those experiencing chronic stress might help promote healthy diet and exercise behaviours in children.ObjectiveWe examined the impact of parental psychological stress on body mass index (BMI) in pre-adolescent children over 4 years of follow-up.MethodsWe included 4078 children aged 5-10 years (90% were between 5.5 and 7.5 years) at study entry (2002-2003) in the Children's Health Study, a prospective cohort study in southern California. A multi-level linear model simultaneously examined the effect of parental stress at study entry on the attained BMI at age 10 and the slope of change across annual measures of BMI during follow-up, controlled for the child's age and sex. BMI was calculated based on objective measurements of height and weight by trained technicians following a standardized procedure.ResultsA two standard deviation increase in parental stress at study entry was associated with an increase in predicted BMI attained by age 10 of 0.287 kg m(-2) (95% confidence interval 0.016-0.558; a 2% increase at this age for a participant of average attained BMI). The same increase in parental stress was also associated with an increased trajectory of weight gain over follow-up, with the slope of change in BMI increased by 0.054 kg m(-2) (95% confidence interval 0.007-0.100; a 7% increase in the slope of change for a participant of average BMI trajectory).ConclusionsWe prospectively demonstrated a small effect of parental stress on BMI at age 10 and weight gain earlier in life than reported previously. Interventions to address the burden of childhood obesity should address the role of parental stress in children

Traffic-related air pollution and obesity formation in children: a longitudinal, multilevel analysis.

BackgroundBiologically plausible mechanisms link traffic-related air pollution to metabolic disorders and potentially to obesity. Here we sought to determine whether traffic density and traffic-related air pollution were positively associated with growth in body mass index (BMI = kg/m2) in children aged 5-11 years.MethodsParticipants were drawn from a prospective cohort of children who lived in 13 communities across Southern California (N = 4550). Children were enrolled while attending kindergarten and first grade and followed for 4 years, with height and weight measured annually. Dispersion models were used to estimate exposure to traffic-related air pollution. Multilevel models were used to estimate and test traffic density and traffic pollution related to BMI growth. Data were collected between 2002-2010 and analyzed in 2011-12.ResultsTraffic pollution was positively associated with growth in BMI and was robust to adjustment for many confounders. The effect size in the adjusted model indicated about a 13.6% increase in annual BMI growth when comparing the lowest to the highest tenth percentile of air pollution exposure, which resulted in an increase of nearly 0.4 BMI units on attained BMI at age 10. Traffic density also had a positive association with BMI growth, but this effect was less robust in multivariate models.ConclusionsTraffic pollution was positively associated with growth in BMI in children aged 5-11 years. Traffic pollution may be controlled via emission restrictions; changes in land use that promote jobs-housing balance and use of public transit and hence reduce vehicle miles traveled; promotion of zero emissions vehicles; transit and car-sharing programs; or by limiting high pollution traffic, such as diesel trucks, from residential areas or places where children play outdoors, such as schools and parks. These measures may have beneficial effects in terms of reduced obesity formation in children

The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Free-Throw Shooting Performance Under Pressure

Pressure situations in sport can be a source of anxiety for athletes (Craft, Magyar, Becker, & Feltz, 2003). Research indicates that a brief mindfulness training can improve math performance under pressure (Brunye et al., 2013); however, no known studies have examined the effects of mindfulness practice on an athletic performance under pressure. Therefore, this experiment investigated the effects of a brief mindfulness training on basketball free-throw shooting under pressure. Participants were 32 college-aged (Mage = 21.29), male competitive basketball players. Participants shot 20 free-throws in a low-pressure phase, then were pair-matched by free-throws made and randomly assigned to mindfulness (n = 16) or control (n = 16) conditions. Pressure was induced before participants listened to a 15-minute mindfulness or history of basketball recording. Next, free-throws made and free-throw shot quality were recorded for 20 free-throws. A mixed ANOVA revealed that during the high-pressure phase, the experimental groups’ free-throw shooting average (M = 70.6%) was not statistically significantly different from the control groups’ (M = 61.6%). Results of an ANCOVA revealed that the mindfulness group’s shot quality was higher than the control group’s during the high-pressure phase and approached a statistically significant difference when controlling for trait mindfulness (F = 2.33, p = .051, Ƞp2 = .13). During the high-pressure phase, the mindfulness group reported statistically significantly lower levels of cognitive anxiety (t = 2.06, p = .048) and somatic anxiety (t = 2.67, p = .014) than the control group. Although the brief mindfulness intervention did not have a statistically significant effect on performance, the findings are discussed in terms of practical significance. The mindfulness group’s significantly lower anxiety indicates that mindfulness training may improve athletes’ subjective experience during pressure situations

General rules for environmental management to prioritise social ecological systems research based on a value of information approach

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this record1. Globally, billions of dollars are invested each year to help understand the dynamics of social ecological systems (SES) in bettering both social and environmental outcomes. However, there is no scientific consensus on which aspect of an SES is most important and urgent to understand; particularly given the realities of limited time and money. 2. Here we use a simulation‐based “value of information” approach to examine where research will deliver the most important information for environmental management in four SESs representing a range of real‐life environmental issues. 3. We find that neither social nor ecological information is consistently the most important: instead, researchers should focus on understanding the primary effects of their management actions. 4. Thus, when managers are undertaking social actions the highest research priority should be understanding the dynamics of social groups. Alternatively, when manipulating ecological systems it will be most important to quantify ecological population dynamics. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results provide a standard assessment to determine the uncertain social ecological systems (SES) component with the highest expected impact for management outcomes. First, managers should determine the structure of their SES by identifying social and ecological nodes. Second, managers should identify the qualitative nature of the network, by determining which nodes are linked, but not the strength of those interactions. Finally, managers should identify the actions available to them to intervene in the SES. From these steps, managers will be able to identify the SES components that are closest to the management action(s), and it is these nodes and interactions that should receivepriority research attention to achieve effective environmental decision making.Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Australian Research Counc

All in it Together? Community Food Aid in a Multi-Ethnic Context

This paper derives from a study of community food aid in a multi-ethnic, multi-faith city in the North of England. The paper begins to make sense of the diversity of types of food insecurity assistance, examines the potential exclusion of certain groups from receipt of food aid, and explores the relationship between food aid providers and the state. Faith-based food aid is common in the case study area, particularly among food bank provision to the most 'destitute' clients. While food aid is adopting service responsibilities previously borne by the state, this does not imply an extension of the 'shadow state'. Rather, it appears reflective of a pre-welfare state system of food distribution, supported by religious institutions and individual/business philanthropy, but adapted to be consistent with elements of the 'Big Society' narrative. Most faith-based providers are Christian. There is little Muslim provision of (or utilisation of) food aid, despite the local demographic context. This raises concerns as to the unintentional exclusion of ethnic and religious groups, which we discuss in the concluding sections

When care is defined by science: exploring veterinary medicine through a more-than-human geography of empathy

Veterinary medicine is the profession that is widely perceived as being at the forefront of animal care in the United Kingdom (UK). It is a form of care that is multi‐spatial and multi‐species: veterinary surgeons are involved in broad debates about animal welfare while also intimately caring for our pet companions. In order to regulate the profession, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons provides the Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) as the principal ethical framework that must be adhered to by all UK veterinary surgeons. The main aim of the CPC claims to ensure that the animal is, first and foremost, the primary consideration in veterinary medicine. By exploring the CPC in relation with animal geographies, emotional geographies and science and technology studies, this paper shows how the CPC remains anthropocentric and focused on a rational scientism that limits affective attunement with non‐human animals and distrusts the role of emotion and affect in veterinary medicine. These ethical‐spatial implications are then shown to extend beyond the CPC and into the conceptual terrain of ethics teaching in undergraduate veterinary education. As a way through this ethical tangle, a more‐than‐human geography of empathy is proposed. This notion takes the site of empathy as its geographical focus and suggests that a more critical, situated and holistic understanding of empathy might allow for a more thorough consideration of the tensions between human and animal and science and emotion in veterinary medicine and human geography more widely