Parental influences on young girls’ fruit and vegetable, micronutrient, and fat intakes

Objective To evaluate parents’ fruit and vegetable intake and their use of pressure to eat in child feeding as predictors of their 5-year-old daughters’ fruit and vegetable, micronutrient, and fat intakes.Subjects Data were obtained from 191 non-Hispanic white families with 5-year-old girls.Design Parent data included reports of pressure in child feeding and their own fruit and vegetable intake. Girls’ intakes of fruits and vegetables, selected micronutrients, and fat were the main outcomes of interest.Statistical analysis Structural equation modeling was used to test a model describing relationships among parents’ fruit and vegetable intake, parents’ use of pressure in child feeding, and daughters’ fruit and vegetable, micronutrient, and fat intakes.Results The model provided a good fit to the data, revealing that girls’ fruit and vegetable intake was positively related to their parents’ reported fruit and vegetable intake. Parents who consumed fewer fruits and vegetables tended to report greater pressure in child feeding and had daughters who consumed fewer fruits and vegetables. Girls’ reported fruit and vegetable intakes were positively related to their micronutrient intakes and negatively associated with fat intake.Applications/conclusions This research demonstrates that parents’ own fruit and vegetable intake may encourage fruit and vegetable intake in their daughters, leading to higher micronutrient intakes and lower dietary fat intakes. Conversely, pressure to eat may discourage fruit and vegetable intake among young girls. J Am Diet Assoc. 2002;102:58–64.     

Influence of Viral Infections on Body Weight, Survival, and Tumor Prevalence of B6C3F1 (C57BL/6N ? C3H/HeN) Mice in Carcinogenicity Studies

Sendai virus (SV), mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), and pneumoniavirus of mice (PVM) are common viral infections of mice. Influenceof these viral infections on the prevalence of liver tumors,lung tumors, and lymphoma is of concern in chemical carcinogenicitystudies. Body weight, survival, and tumor prevalence of B6C3F1mice with and without viral infections in 33 male and 34 femaleuntreated control groups and 32 male and 32 female low- andhigh-dose groups of 2-year chemical carcinogenicity studieswere evaluated. In male mice, the SV infection was associatedwith significantly (p < 0.05) higher survival of control,low-dose, and high-dose groups, and higher prevalence of livertumors and lymphoma. The increases in tumor prevalence are possiblydue to an increase in the survival of male mice that had SVinfection. However, when interlaboratory variability and time-relatedeffects were taken into account, the number of significant effectswas consistent with the expected false-positive rate inherentto the statistical procedures. The MHV and PVM infections didnot cause consistent changes in body weight, survival, and tumorprevalences in the control and chemical treatment groups ofmale mice. Viral infections did not cause consistent increasesor decreases in body weight, survival, or tumor prevalence inthe control and chemical treatment groups of female B6C3F1 mice.     

Linkage relationships between the three phosphoglucomutase loci PGM1, PGM2 and PGM3

1. Phosphoglucomutase phenotypes have been studied in several generations of the family of an individual heterozygous at each of the three loci, PGM₁, PGM₂, and PGM₃. 2. PGM₁ and PGM₂ phenotypes were determined using red cells. Fibroblasts grown in tissue culture were used for PGM₃ phenotyping. 3. The family results support the genetical hypothesis based on the analysis of dizygotic twin pairs that the PGM₃ isozyme patterns found in the placenta are determined by two alleles, PGM¹₃ and PGM²₃. 4. Locus PGM₃ is not closely linked to locus PGM₂ 5. The data also support the previous findings that locus PGM₁ is not closely linked to PGM₂ or PGM₃.     

Gynopia in nursing practice: the case of urethral catheterization

• ? A pilot study of catheterized women was designed to investigate their perceptions of pain and discomfort during the procedure.
• ? The study aimed to test the feasibility of conducting a larger randomized controlled trial.
• ? Problems were encountered during the execution of the study, due to the need to conform to established principles in clinical research.
• ? Restrictions on access to patients impinged upon the opportunity to ‘cast the net wide’ in order to generate meaningful data.

     

A study of the provision of health checks and health-promotion clinics in 18 general practices

Summary

• ? The objective of this study was to describe the variation in provision of health checks and health-promotion clinics operating under the regulations of the 1990 Contract for general practice in the UK.
• ? Eighteen group practices in three Family Health Service Authority (FHSA) areas of England (two in the South West Thames region and one in the Yorkshire region) were selected for the study. The nurses, largely responsible for the implementation of the health checks at these practices, were interviewed using semi-structured interview schedules. They were asked about age-groups targeted, means of recruiting patients for clinics, duration of clinic appointments, and procedures carried out in clinics.
• ? All practices offered health checks, and 55% had started doing so before introduction of the 1990 Contract. Recruitment for health checks took place in a number of ways: self-referral (83% of practices); opportunistically in those with coronary heart disease risk factors (78%); opportunistically during attendance for cervical smears (62%); screening in at least one patient group (78%). Blood pressure, height, weight, urinalysis and life-style advice were included by all practices. Stress management and quit smoking strategies were offered only by a minority of practices. Duration of first health-check appointment ranged between 15 and 30 minutes.
• ? The basic content of health checks, and life-style advice given appeared consistent between the widely varying practices. However, the resources available for intervention and follow up showed more variation.

     

Participatory Workplace Wellness Programs: Reward,Penalty, and Regulatory Conflict

Context

In keeping with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Congress revised the law related to workplace wellness programs. In June 2013, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services passed the final regulations, updating their 2006 regulatory framework. Participatory programs that reward the completion of a health risk assessment are now the most common type of wellness program in the United States. However, legal and ethical concerns emerge when employers utilize incentives that raise questions about the voluntariness of such programs. At issue is that under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, employers cannot require health-related inquiries and exams.

Methods

To analyze the current interpretation of the ADA, I conducted research on both LexisNexis and federal agency websites. The resulting article evaluates the differences in the language of Congress''s enabling legislation and the federal departments’ regulations and how they may conflict with the ADA. It also reviews the federal government''s authority to address both the legal conflict and ethical concerns related to nonvoluntary participatory programs.

Findings

Employers’ practices and the federal departments’ regulations conflict with the current interpretation of the ADA by permitting employers to penalize employees who do not complete a health risk assessment. The departments’ regulations may be interpreted as conflicting with Congress''s legislation, which mentions penalties only for health-contingent wellness programs. Furthermore, the regulatory protections for employees applicable to health-contingent wellness programs do not apply to participatory programs.

Conclusions

Either Congress or the federal agencies should address the conflict among employers’ practices, the wellness regulations, and the ADA and also consider additional protections for employees. Employers can avoid ethical and legal complications by offering voluntary programs with positive incentives.     

Exploring Paternal Influences on the Dieting Behaviors of Adolescent Girls

In this article we investigate fathers influence on the dieting behavior of their adolescent daughters. Fifty father-daughter dyads (N = 100) participated. The girls completed a questionnaire concerning their beliefs and behaviors with respect to dieting, their body satisfaction, and their perception of the advantages of being thinner. Fathers were surveyed in order to ascertain their perceptions of the advantages of slimness for adolescent girls and their beliefs regarding the importance of physical appearance and weight control in females of all ages. Associations were found between fathers attitudes to physical attractiveness in females, their perceptions of the impact of being slimmer for adolescent girls, and their daughters dieting behavior. Fathers who believed strongly in the importance of attractiveness and careful control of food intake by females were significantly more likely to have daughters who induced vomiting to lose weight. Fathers play an influential role in determining the dieting behavior of their adolescent daughters.