Parental perception of lunch schemes in Danish kindergartens: A cross-sectional survey

Children’s daily consumption of food in childcare institutions has an impact on their public health nutritional status. The collaboration of parents and employees of kindergartens is important to ensure healthy eating habits among the next generation. Consequently, evaluations of lunch schemes are important to provide a good foundation for enhancing communication between home and institutional settings. The aim of this article is to assess parental satisfaction and identify themes related to parental perceptions of lunch schemes in Danish kindergartens. A survey was developed and distributed in four kindergartens with lunch schemes. A combination of closed and open questions were used to evaluate satisfaction and identify positive and negative aspects of the lunch schemes. Parents of 93 children participated in the study and the response rate was 55%. Eighty-nine percent expressed satisfaction with their children’s lunch scheme. According to parents, the most positive aspects were that lunch schemes serve a variety of food, their ability to prevent neophobia, that children learn that eating is a social occasion, and that the arrangements offer convenience to parents. The negative aspects identified were the lack of communication between the kindergarten childcare institutions and the parents regarding the food. Overall, parents are very satisfied with their children’s lunch schemes; however, the information between institutions and parents could be improved.     

Food environments in Malta: Associations with store size and area-level deprivation

Food environments are potential targets for interventions to reduce obesity prevalence, particularly in island settings that are typically dependent on food imports. This observational study aimed to characterise the availability, quality and price of foods and beverages in a nationally representative sample of grocery stores in Malta using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores (NEMS-S) instrument, and to examine the association between area-level density of different types of food stores and the likelihood of children living in these areas being overweight or obese. Fieldwork was carried out between March and May 2014. There was a strong positive correlation between store size and NEMS-S score (p = <0.001), suggesting that smaller grocery stores generally offered a smaller range of products and fewer healthy food/beverage options than larger supermarkets. Across all stores, median prices of certain ‘healthier’ versions of foods were more expensive than their less healthy alternatives. A significant association between risk of childhood overweight, and density of confectionery stores in children’s locality of residence, was found (OR 1.19; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.37). These baseline findings highlight opportunities to improve the food environment in Malta to support more healthful eating, and may be of particular interest to public health practitioners in island settings.     

Managing Advertising Productivity

No abstract available for this article.     

A NEW INSIGHT INTO THE GENDER GAP IN MATH

In the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort, I find that the gender gap is not uniform across the distribution of math skills and that these quantile‐specific gaps vary with age. Specifically, girls at the top of the distribution initially fall behind boys but manage to catch up later. At the same time, girls in the lower parts of the distribution lose ground. In fifth grade, a gender gap of 0.2 standard deviation, about 2.5 months of schooling, is observed across the entire distribution. Overall, these patterns indicate the possibility that low performing girls become worse and vice versa. These results demonstrate important dynamics of the gap that are relevant for policy, but that the mean gap fails to show.     

肥胖的经济学研究：文献综述

本文从肥胖问题导致的后果、产生的原因及针对的干预三个方面综述了肥胖的相关经济学研究。最近30年肥胖流行症在全球范围内的迅速蔓延已使得如何控制它成为全球最重要的公共健康议题之一。由于肥胖是由社会经济、个体行为、遗传因素及其交互作用所共同决定,单纯的医学研究倍受局限。随着肥胖问题日趋严重,越来越多的学者开始从经济学视角展开探索,这也使人们对肥胖问题有了崭新认识,该领域的研究也已经成为西方应用经济学科研究的重要方向。     

Weight Discrimination in the American Workplace: Ethical Issues and Analysis

Research providing consistent evidence of pervasive discrimination against overweight job applicants and employees in the American workplace raises important questions for organizational stakeholders. To what extent is the disparate treatment of job applicants or employees based on their weight ethically justified? Are there aspects of weight discrimination that make it more acceptable than discrimination based on other characteristics, such as race or gender? What operational steps can employers take to address concerns regarding the ethical treatment of overweight individuals in the workplace? This article investigates these and related questions. Its purpose is to provide information and analysis that will assist organizations in formulating ethical responses to a widespread phenomenon: weight discrimination in the workplace. Although its focus is the American workplace, the proposed employer ethical obligations and the practical guidance that is provided are viewed as generalizing across countries and cultures.     

宁波市中学生肥胖、近视与不良生活方式因素的卡方分析

为了解宁波市中学生肥胖、近视与不良生活方式的关系,运用问卷调查、数理统计等方法,对学生生活方式以及视力、BMI指数等指标进行了调查和数据采集,针对各种不良生活方式因素对肥胖近视患病率的影响进行了分析。可以发现,经常吃零食、喝饮料、偏食以及缺乏体育锻炼等不良生活方式是宁波市中学生肥胖的重要影响因素：长时间上网、经常熬夜以及膳食营养不全面等是宁波市中学生患近视的重要影响因素。因此,加强合理饮食、作息规律和体育锻炼的教育和引导,是减少青少年肥胖、近视发生的重要措施。     

Challenging The Spirit Level: Is There Really a Relationship between Inequality and Obesity?

This paper examines the proposition, set out in The Spirit Level, that inequality is associated with high levels of obesity. It reviews existing literature and uses British Household Panel Survey data to study how district‐level and regional‐level income inequality is related to obesity in the UK. This is likely to be the first study of its type that uses individual‐level data that is representative of the UK population. We find little evidence to support policies that reduce income inequality with the aim of reducing obesity levels in the UK.     

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 literature on the economic causes of and policy responses to obesity

This paper discusses economic perspectives on obesity, summarizes the economic literature and outlines potential policy responses. The paper provides the most up-to-date review of the literature. The literature illustrates the potential role of informational market failures and the dichotomy between the private and social costs of obesity. Market failures can act to provide a rationale for government intervention. Suggested factors for explaining the increase in the prevalence of obesity are discussed as relating to imperfect information, lifestyle changes and technology changes. Some of the potential remedial policies that are being debated in the literature include applying Pigouvian taxes, labelling regulation and advertising limitations.