Association of awareness, intrapersonal and interpersonal factors, and stage of dietary change with fruit and vegetable consumption: a national survey.

PURPOSE: To examine associations of awareness, intrapersonal and interpersonal factors, and stage of change with consumption of fruits and vegetables. DESIGN: Nationally representative, random digit dial survey conducted in 1997 with a response rate of 44.5%. Psychosocial correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption were assessed using regression analyses. SETTING: United States. SUBJECTS: A total of 2605 adults who were 18 years and older. MEASURES: Awareness of the "5 A Day for Better Health" program and its message, along with stage of change; taste preferences; self-efficacy; and perceived benefits, barriers, threats, social support, and norms related to fruit and vegetable consumption. RESULTS: Awareness and intrapersonal and interpersonal factors explained 24% of the variance in fruit and vegetable consumption beyond the 9% explained by demographic characteristics. Knowledge of the 5 A Day message was associated with a 22% increase in fruit and vegetable consumption. Self-efficacy for eating fruits and vegetables and taste preferences (affect) were the factors most consistently and strongly associated with both higher consumption and higher likelihood of being in action or maintenance stages of change. Affect and perceived barriers were more strongly associated with increased vegetables and salad than fruit. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary intervention programs to increase fruit and vegetable consumption should emphasize the 5 A Day message, increased self-efficacy, and ways to make vegetables more palatable and easily accessible. Understanding the factors that influence dietary choices should be used when designing dietary interventions.     

短期、中期、长期健康状况代际传递及其城乡异质性研究

目的  探究中国居民健康状况的代际传递,并分析其城乡异质性。方法  基于中国健康与营养调查(China Health and Nutrition Survey, CHNS)数据,通过二分类Logistic回归分析模型、多元线性回归分析模型及交互作用模型,分析短期、中期、长期健康状况的代际传递及城乡调节作用。结果  母亲、父亲的短期、中期、长期健康状况对子代相应的健康状况有重要影响(母亲-子代：OR_短期=5.649, β_中期=0.305, OR_长期=3.719;父亲-子代：OR_短期=3.436, β_中期=0.388, OR_长期=3.483);城乡调节了母亲-子代健康状况的代际传递(P_短期=0.023, P_中期=0.038, P_长期=0.072),居住于城市地区能弱化母亲-子代间的健康传递。结论  亲代短期、中期及长期健康对子代相应健康状况影响密切,建议以家庭为单位开展健康促进工作,遏制不良健康状况代际传递。     

Bonding and cracking: the role of informal, interpersonal networks in health care decision making

This study examined the role and impact of informal, interpersonal networks in health care decision making. Questioning the traditional approach to studying health communication as it is situated within institutions (e.g., Burgoon, 1992; Nussbaum, 1989; Pettegrew & Logan, 1987), this ethnographic study ventured into the lived experiences of women in a mothers' and toddlers' playgroup as they discussed their own, their family members', and their friends' health experiences. Their conversations revolved around such health-related issues as pregnancy and delivery, physicians and hospitals, breastfeeding, illnesses and accidents, and diet and nutrition. The conversations were found to serve not necessarily opposing but distinctive functions including a rather practical purpose of "cracking the code" of institutional practices, as well as a "bonding" function evidenced through stories or narratives. The conversations are not only exchanges of information but also narratives through which shared experiences are created and maintained. In addition to these narrative functions, examination of these conversations reveals how diagnoses and remedies from the institutions are discussed and decisions are made. The conclusion offers ideas for how agencies and institutions can utilize the findings of this particular research venture.     

家庭健康循环视角下的健康代际传递研究——基于CHNS 2015的实证分析

目的:基于家庭健康循环视角与家庭生态系统理论,探究健康状况、健康行为及健康认知的代际传递,为制定精准健康促进政策提供依据。方法:基于2015年CHNS数据,采用多分类Logistic、有序Logistic以及OLS模型探讨母亲主客观健康状况,健康行为及认知对子代主客观健康状况,健康行为及认知的影响。结果:母亲BMI显著影响子代BMI,母亲超重或肥胖,则子代超重、肥胖的相对风险高;母亲自评健康显著影响子代自评健康;母亲饮食得分与锻炼得分显著影响子代饮食得分与锻炼得分;母亲健康认知显著影响子代的健康认知。结论:健康状况、行为及认知均显著代际传递,建议开展亲子健康促进行动,并建设健康家庭环境。     

Intergenerational health disparities: socioeconomic status, women's health conditions, and child behavior problems

OBJECTIVE: Relatively little is known about the intergenerational mechanisms that lead to social disparities in child health. We examined whether the association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and child behavior problems is mediated by maternal health conditions and behavior. METHODS: Prospective cohort data (1979-1998) on 2,677 children and their mothers were obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. SES, the Child Behavior Problems Index (BPI), and maternal smoking, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use before, during, and after pregnancy were examined. RESULTS: Lower income and lower maternal education were associated with increased child BPI scores. Adjustment for maternal smoking, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use attenuated the associations between SES and child BPI by 26% to 49%. These maternal health conditions often occurred together, persisted over time, and were associated with the mother's own childhood SES and pre-pregnancy health. CONCLUSIONS: Social disparities in women's health conditions may help shape the likelihood of behavior problems in the subsequent generation. Improved public health programs and services for disadvantaged women across the lifecourse may not only address their own urgent health needs, but reduce social disparities in the health and well-being of their children.     

Race and self assessed health status: the role of socioeconomic factors in the USA.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate relative odds ratios and to ascertain the relative contribution of each socioeconomic covariate in explaining racial disparities in self assessed health status (for example, global health perceptions and functional limitations of daily activities). DESIGN: National representative data from the 1987-88 national survey of families and households, a multistage, stratified probability sample of non-institutionalised American adults age 19 and older, were used. Logistic regression models enabled a multistage building strategy to be used in the analyses. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The study included three racial groups: whites (n = 9419), blacks (n = 2391), and Hispanics (n = 1004). While face to face interviews were carried out with each respondent, some portions of the interview were self administered to collect sensitive information. MAIN RESULTS: Compared with whites, blacks and Hispanics were more likely to assess health as poor and report having functional limitations of daily activities. Socioeconomic factors tended to play a different role in explaining racial disparities in self assessed health status. In global health, education tended to play a significant role in accounting for health disparities between whites and Hispanics. In functional limitations, none of the covariates explained racial differences for blacks, whereas for Hispanics, education and marital status explained racial differences. CONCLUSIONS: The debate over whether race is a proxy for socioeconomic conditions or race influences health independent of socioeconomic factors depends on the measure of health and racial group included in the study. Future studies should examine separately the differential impacts of various socioeconomic factors on varying domains of health.     

Readiness for return to work following injury or illness: conceptualizing the interpersonal impact of health care,workplace, and insurance factors

Return to work after injury or illness is a behavior influenced by physical, psychological, and social factors. Disability research lacks a conceptual framework for combining these factors in the study of the return-to-work process. Two extant theoretical models withinthe social context are considered as they apply to the behavior of returning to work: 1) the Readiness for Change Model originating from the field of health promotion and addressing the issue of motivation for behavior change, and 2) the Phase Model of Disability developed for the epidemiological study of occupational disability addressing the developmental and temporal aspects of disability. A new Readiness for Return-to-Work Model is proposed focusing on the interpersonal context of the work-disabled employee. Employee interactions with the workplace, the health care, and insurance systems are considered as they impact the three defining dimensions of change—decisional balance, self-efficacy, and change processes. The evidence for their impact on return-to-work is examined within the framework of the Phase Model of Disability, which puts forth the phase-specificity of symptoms, risks, and interventions for disability. The Readiness for Return-to-Work Model has the potential to account for individual variation in optimal stage-specific timing of interventions based on an individual's readiness for return-to-work. The model therefore complements the Phase Model of Disability by allowing for an individual-level staging of the disability and recovery process within the broader group-level-derived framework of occupational disability phases. This link between the two models needs to be empirically tested in future research.     

Habitat and health: The role of environmental factors in the health of urban populations

Conclusion The findings of Dr. Fullilove, as well as the success of Zap Asthma and the campaign against lead poisoning, are strong arguments against all three of the mind-sets mentioned above. They show that urban deterioration is largely a product of economic forces, not of some moral failure of urban residents, and that money spent on improving an urban environment has the collateral effect of giving residents the sense of hope and optimism and the feeling that they area contributing to their health, which will make them better stewards of that environment. They show the importance of tapping into the energy and interests of the community, while at the same time addressing political resistance to helping disadvantaged communities. They show that progress takes time, and that successful programs try to improve an existing community rather than making it over at once. They show that urban problems are manageable. And, they show that community groups and outside agencies can accomplish a great deal by working together and putting aside the parochial differences and mutual mistrust that grow out of the Alamo syndrome.     

An outbreak of hepatitis A among health care workers: risk factors for transmission.

OBJECTIVES. The purpose of this study was to investigate a nosocomial outbreak of hepatitis A that occurred in the burn treatment center of a referral hospital. METHODS. Retrospective cohort and case-control studies were performed to determine acquisition rates and risk factors for transmission. Adjusted infection rates were calculated by week of exposure. A case-control study was conducted to determine potential mechanisms for nosocomial acquisition. Recently infected health care workers were defined as case patients; exposed, serosusceptible health care workers without infection served as controls. RESULTS. The outbreak of hepatitis A affected 11 health care workers and 1 other burn patient (1 secondary patient case). All 11 health care workers became ill after the admission of a man and his 8-month-old son who developed hepatitis A while in the hospital. The cumulative incidence risk ratio was elevated for health care workers caring for either the infant or the father during the same week of exposure. The case-control study implicated the behavior of eating on the hospital ward as the single most important risk factor for infection. CONCLUSION. Inadequate hand-washing and subsequent oral contamination appear responsible for the outbreak. Hospitals may witness other institutional outbreaks if health care workers regularly eat on the wards.     

家庭健康促进视角下青少年抑郁的代际传递研究——基于CFPS2018的实证分析

目的：基于家庭健康促进视角,探究青少年抑郁的代际传递,为青少年心理健康促进提供理论和政策依据。方法：基于2018年CFPS数据,使用线性回归模型和Shapley值分解法分析父母抑郁水平对青少年抑郁水平的影响及其相对贡献度;利用中介和调节效应分析探讨父母日常关怀和家庭结构在抑郁代际传递中的作用机制。结果：父母抑郁水平显著影响青少年抑郁水平;亲子系统对青少年抑郁的相对贡献度最高;父母抑郁水平可通过青少年感知到的行踪关注来影响青少年抑郁水平;父母对青少年的学习和生活关怀可弱化父母抑郁对青少年抑郁的影响;与完整家庭相比,单亲家庭的抑郁代际传递效应更强。结论：青少年抑郁水平受其父母抑郁水平及所处家庭环境的影响,建议重视家庭心理健康建设,协同推进青少年心理健康促进与家庭教育形成政策合力。     

Intergenerational understandings of personal,social and community assets for health

Connecting local citizens of different ages in productive social activity is considered a pathway towards greater health. This research explores how older adults and young people interpret and access assets from their geographical community in relation to their well-being and the extent to which a process of intergenerational bridging contributes to the creation of additional assets for health. Data is presented from a process of place-mapping, interviews, observations and arts-based approaches to: a) understand how personal, social and community assets supported perceived health and wellbeing for the young children and older adults who participated; and b) explore the impact of intergenerational connection on enhancing social capital. The research utilised bonding, bridging and linking forms of social capital, across several interactions amongst 41 individuals who reside in the same geographical community (Victoria, Australia). Assets for health, common across generations and located within the same geographical community were identified. Social connections were strengthened through conversations, reflections and an integration of ideas facilitated through an arts-based approach. Findings suggest that through intergenerational connection and sharing of resources to support health, including the sharing of community assets, progress can be made towards community strengthening with implications for health and wellbeing.     

Intergenerational perceptions of body image in hispanics: role of BMI, gender, and acculturation

OBJECTIVE: To assess role of BMI, gender, and acculturation on maternal and children's perception of body size, body ideal, and attractiveness. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Eighty mothers and their 6- to- 12-year-old children (41 boys, 39 girls) participated. Maternal and children's perceptions of body size (actual and ideal) and attractiveness were assessed through a pictorial instrument. Mother and child height and weight, demographic, and acculturation characteristics were also assessed. RESULTS: Seventy-nine percent of the mothers were overweight, and 32% of the boys and 34% of the girls were overweight or at-risk for overweight. BMI influenced the children's selection of perceived ideal size. Overweight or at-risk for overweight children were more likely to select thinner figures as the ideal size than non-overweight children. Gender and acculturation differences concerning children's perceptions of body size and attractiveness were also found. Girls perceived the obese figure as being less attractive than did the boys. More acculturated children were likely to select thinner figures as more attractive than their less acculturated counterparts. Maternal acculturation was associated positively with the girls' choice of thinner figures as an ideal body size, but not with the boys. Mothers viewed their daughters' actual body size and BMI as ideal, although 34% of the girls were at-risk for overweight. Mothers perceived average body size figures as more attractive for their sons. DISCUSSION: Findings from this study provide empirical data about the role of BMI, gender, acculturation, and familial influences on children's perceptions of actual and ideal body sizes and attractiveness.     

The role of health risk factors and disease on worker productivity.

The costs attributed to employee health problems are usually measured by employers in terms of direct health care costs, such as medical plan claims. Although it has been understood that employee health problems also produce indirect costs for employers, their measurement has been far less frequent. At best, studies have recorded one component of indirect health costs: the time lost to employee absenteeism and disability. The study presented here includes a measure of the actual decrease in the productivity of employees while they are on the job, in addition to measures of absenteeism and disability. These three measurements were combined to produce a Worker Productivity Index (WPI). The WPIs of 564 telephone customer-service agents were correlated with the employees' number and type of health risks, as measured by a Health Risk Appraisal. Additionally, the WPI was also examined across different disease states in the same population of employees. As the number of health risks increased, an employee's productivity decreased. The nature of the health risk may also differentially affect the pattern of the decrease. Finally, disease states were also associated with different patterns of productivity reduction.     

Functional limitations in women at midlife: the role of health conditions, behavioral and environmental factors

This study examined risk factors for functional limitations in a community-based sample of 16,065 women from 5 ethnic groups, aged 40–55 years, enrolled in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Almost 20% of this sample reported physical-functioning limitations. Functional limitations were associated with numerous disease conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack or angina, arthritis, osteoporosis, and cancer, and with several behavioral and environmental risk factors, including body mass index, difficulty paying for basics, and high levels of perceived stress. Consistent with findings in older women, this study shows that in addition to health conditions, potentially modifiable risk factors including high body mass index, difficulty paying for basics, and high levels of stress are associated with physical-functioning limitations of women at midlife.     

Environment, health, and sustainable development: the role of economic instruments and policies.

Recent years have seen considerable progress in integrating environmental concerns into the mainstream of development policy and planning. Economic instruments designed explicitly for environmental purposes may help to achieve cost-effective solutions, and generate public revenues. Macroeconomic and sectoral policies may impact heavily upon the environment, and there is much scope for policy reforms that are justified in both economic and environmental terms. Progress in this area has been much more rapid than in the case of health objectives, even though the rationale for environmental improvement is often ultimately related to human health and well-being. It is proposed that lessons from recent experience in the use of economic instruments and policies to achieve environmental objectives are highly relevant for the health sector, which should seek and encourage support for measures that requires consumer and producers of environmentally degrading products to pay for the economic and social costs of the damage resulting from their use. Policy reform at the macroeconomic or sectoral level may yield cost-effective solutions to some health problems, and may even bring about improvements in health status that involve no net cost at all. The countrywide impact of such policies indicate that health agencies, including WHO, should develop the capacity to understand how economic policies and the adjustment process impact upon human health, not only direct through the effect on incomes, but also indirectly, via changes in the natural environment. Ability to conduct rigorous health impact assessment of economic policy reform, which requires a multidisciplinary effort, is a necessary condition if health ministries are to maximize their effectiveness in influencing overall government economic policy.     

Global health, national development, and the role of government.

In spite of extreme differences in health status between the more developed and less developed countries, trends of infant mortality and life expectancy show substantial improvements in both types of country between 1950 and 1980. These improvements may be attributed to three types of change: 1) socio-economic development with decolonization, increased industrialization, growth of gross domestic product, urbanization, the gains of women, and enhanced education; 2) cross-national influences due to greater international trade, the spread of technology, and widespread affirmation of human rights; and 3) national health system development through expanded governmental health programs. Further improvements will depend on greater strength in public sector health services rather than private sector services which aggravate inequities.