Soft drink prices,sales, body mass index and diabetes: Evidence from a panel of low-, middle- and high-income countries

We take advantage of four different cross-country datasets containing data on 78 countries for the period 1999–2014, in order to assess the relationship of carbonated soft drinks’ sales, as well as their prices, with body mass index (BMI), overweight, obesity and diabetes. Using an ecological study design and multivariate regression longitudinal estimation approaches, we find that carbonated soft drink sales were significantly positively related to BMI, overweight and obesity – but only in the low and lower-middle income countries. This finding was robust to a number of sensitivity and falsification checks. In this sub-sample, an increase in per capita soft drink sales by 1 litre per year was related to an increase of BMI by about 0.009 kg/m² (p < 0.1).. This is a small effect, implying that halving annual consumption per capita in this group of countries would result in a drop of BMI by only about 0.03 kg/m². Although soft drink prices were negatively related to weight-related outcomes in the sample of higher middle income and high income countries, this finding was not robust to falsification checks. The results thus suggest that sales restrictions to steer consumers away from soft drinks could indeed have a beneficial health effects in poorer countries, although the effect magnitude appears to be very small. However, given potential limitations of using ecological research design, results from individual level studies would be required to further ascertain the role of soft drink sales and prices in obesity and diabetes.     

The contribution of Western fast food to fast-growing body mass in China

The westernization of Asian countries has led to the rapid expansion of Western-style fast-food restaurants, which are believed to be fueling an unprecedented rise in body mass in these countries. This study tests this belief using longitudinal data from China. Exploiting the opening of a Western-style fast-food restaurant in a particular community, we conduct a transition analysis to make a more convincing causal interpretation than the standard cross-sectional or fixed-effects approach. Considering several measures of fatness, we find no robust evidence of Western fast food having a substantial effect overall, but there is some indication of effect heterogeneity.     

Reprint of “Sensitive translations: Sensitive dimension and knowledge within two craftsmen's workplaces”

In our paper we address the issue of the relations between knowledge and the sensitive dimension by taking into account and comparing the contribution to the production of a chair deployed by two craftsmen working within the Italian design furniture industry sector.Relying on an ethnographic account of their work, we have been able to describe in detail the way in which the interaction among the bodies of the two craftsmen and those of the artifacts they contribute to develop takes place and gives way to innovation.By taking into account the role of bodies and the sensitive dimension we outline a contribution to Actor-Network Theory and its theory of knowledge.Indeed, in this article we propose a model of working knowledge in order to account for corporal interaction on the workplace. In our model there are two axes to describe the interactions among bodies. In the first one interaction moves from detail to the whole. In the second, interaction moves from an engaged position to a disengaged one. In so doing, we are able to draw a space of corporal knowledge. The craftsman's skill lies in his/her capacity to move within this space and to let knowledge grow while moving within it.     

Body image as a leisure constraint: Examining the experience of aerobic exercise classes for young women

Abstract

Previous research has shown that women, and especially young women, in this culture experience pressure to be thin. Although considerable research has been directed toward the investigation of body image and its relationship to psychological health and self‐image, the impact of body image on leisure behavior has not been adequately addressed, nor has body image received much attention as a potential leisure constraint. The purpose of this study was to investigate ways in which body image might function as a constraint to young women's participation in aerobic exercise classes. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods, including a survey of 190 women undergraduate students and in‐depth interviews with a sub‐sample of 11 students. The qualitative data are the main focus of this analysis. The data indicated that body image did not seem to prevent participation or constrain levels of participation in aerobics. Nevertheless, body image concerns were shown to constrain the enjoyment of aerobics as a leisure activity, and this reduction of enjoyment was related to the clothing worn for aerobics and to competition over appearance and body weight among participants. The findings also showed that body image functioned as a constraint into participation in that body‐image‐related concerns were a major motivating factor exerting pressure on young women to participate in aerobics. In sum, the study suggested that body image can constrain leisure in some situations, although it is not a constraint in the traditional sense of preventing participation. The implications of these findings for the conceptualization of leisure constraints were discussed. Furthermore, some practical implications for the provision of aerobics classes were provided.     

技术创新主体的阶段性研究

技术创新主体可划分为核心主体和阶段主体。文章着重分析了核心主体与阶段主体应具备的素质和能力、核心主体与阶段主体的关系 ,以及二者的形成过程。     

Examination of the health‐belief model to predict the dietary quality and body mass of adults

We examined the ability of the health‐belief model to predict individuals’ dietary quality and body mass among a nationwide sample of 1319 adults in the United States. Simultaneous estimation of the structural equation model found acceptable goodness‐of‐fit to the data. Explained variance in dietary quality and body mass, however, were moderate to weak. The model included three types of nutrition knowledge: basic facts, diet–health awareness and ability to accurately self‐assess nutrient intake. None of these variables had a strong effect on dietary quality or body mass. We speculate that lifestyle characteristics, cultural habits, community infrastructure, and the politics of food production and retailing – variables found in other studies to affect dietary quality and body mass yet not available in our data – might outweigh the effects of nutrition knowledge and sociodemographic factors on estimating dietary quality and body mass. We suggest that future research and intervention programmes focus more on social, cultural and political context than on nutrition knowledge. Current collaborations among life and social scientists to design foods to improve human nutrition might also prove effective in reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity.     

Body scanning as a new anthropometric measurement tool for health‐risk assessment

The study explored the accuracy of body measurements gathered from trained observers employing a tape measure compared with those generated by the 3D body scanner. Tape measurements of body circumferences are routinely used for assessing future risk to health, as increased circumference of the waist vs. hip is associated with greater chronic disease rates later in life. Findings indicated that significant differences existed between circumference measurements calculated by the body scanner and those which were gathered from a tape measure. This research indicates that utilization of the body scanner as an anthropometric measurement tool for the assessment of health risk has tremendous benefits.     

The heterogenous relationship of food stamp participation with body mass: Quantile regression model

This study explores the heterogenous relationship between Food Stamp Program (FSP) participation and body mass index (BMI) for low income individuals whose per capita family income falls in the bottom two quintiles. We estimate changes in the dispersion of the entire distribution of BMI following FSP participation using a quantile regression model in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. For women, we find that the mean OLS estimate of FSP participation underestimates the extent of the positive association with BMI at the top quantiles in both cross-sectional and longitudinal individual fixed effects models. Controlling for individual fixed effects in the quantile regression model reduces the estimated magnitude of the association by a factor of three to four, although the estimates remain statistically significant for women. For men, a marginally statistically significant positive association of FSP participation with BMI is found at the top quantiles compared to no statistically significant mean estimate although the association is no longer statistically significant when time-constant individual heterogeneity is adjusted for in the individual fixed effect models.     

农村剩余劳动力转移与教育投资主体多元化

现阶段我国面临农村剩余劳动力转移的巨大压力,而农村教育水平低是制约农村剩余劳动力转移的根本性原因。在农村教育投资机制中,政府、企业与农户均呈现出投资不力状况,建立多元化的农村教育投资新机制,鼓励多方投资农村教育,提高农民素质,实现农村剩余劳动力的转移。     

论学校违纪处分的司法审查

受教育权是公民的一项受宪法保护的基本权利,当其受到不当行为侵害时理应得到司法的有效救济.学校具备行政主体资格,其违纪处分权是一种教育行政管理权,不当或违法的违纪处分侵犯了学生的合法权益.因此,学生不服学校违纪处分所产生的纠纷应该纳入行政诉讼受案范围.同时为了保障学校教育的自治权,行政诉讼应该遵守行政复议前置和司法审查有限两项原则.