Preventive medicine
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E-cigarette use has increased rapidly among U. S. adults. However, reasons for use among adults are unclear. ⋯ Tank use was associated with greater prevalence of citing every assessed reason except convenience and curiosity. Cessation- and health-related factors are primary reasons cited for e-cigarette use among adults, and flavorings are more commonly cited by younger adults. Efforts are warranted to provide consumers with accurate information on the health effects of e-cigarettes and to ensure that flavoring and other unregulated features do not promote nicotine addiction, particularly among young adults.
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The overall burden of gun violence death and injury in the US is now well understood. However, no study has shown the extent to which gun violence is associated with the individual lives of Americans. ⋯ Nearly all Americans of all racial/ethnic groups are likely to know a victim of gun violence in their social network during their lifetime.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2016
Associations between physical activity and the neighbourhood social environment: baseline results from the HABITAT multilevel study.
Limitations have arisen when measuring associations between the neighbourhood social environment and physical activity, including same-source bias, and the reliability of aggregated neighbourhood-level social environment measures. This study examines cross-sectional associations between the neighbourhood social environment (perceptions of incivilities, crime, and social cohesion) and self-reported physical activity, while accounting for same-source bias and reliability of neighbourhood-level exposure measures, using data from a large population-based clustered sample. This investigation included 11,035 residents aged 40-65years from 200 neighbourhoods in Brisbane, Australia, in 2007. ⋯ No associations were found between social cohesion and physical activity. This study provides a basis from which to gain a clearer understanding of the relationship between the neighbourhood social environment and individual physical activity. Further work is required to explore the pathways between perceptions of the neighbourhood social environment and physical activity.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2016
American health improvement depends upon addressing class disparities.
The gap in health status between the United States and other (OECD) developed countries not only persists but has widened over the past decade. This has occurred despite major declines in smoking prevalence. But as with other health problems, such as obesity, gun violence, and teenage pregnancy, progress against smoking has disproportionately benefitted the better off segments of the American population. ⋯ This national health disparity is not simply a factor of the multicultural nature of American society, because it persists when the health of the whites only is compared with the more racially homogeneous OECD nations. The complexity of our poor health performance rules out a single intervention. But it is clear that without focusing on the less fortunate members of our society, especially those in the Southeast, our performance will continue to lag, and possibly deteriorate further.
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Food security is a condition achieved when all members of a household have access to adequate food at all times for a healthy, active lifestyle. As of 2014, 14% of households in the United States were food insecure. ⋯ Moreover, we begin to speculate about behavioral and physiological mechanisms by which these conditions may influence one another, and discuss possible interventions through enhanced screening and treatment, parent training, and provision of high quality foods to vulnerable households. Further research is needed to the effects of child and parental mental health on metabolic outcomes in families with food insecurity.