Preventive medicine
-
Preventive medicine · Jan 1988
Physical activity and mental health in the United States and Canada: evidence from four population surveys.
Secondary analysis of four surveys was carried out in order to examine the association of physical activity and various aspects of mental health in the household populations of the United States and Canada. Level of physical activity was shown to be positively associated with general well-being, lower levels of anxiety and depression, and positive mood. This relationship is independent of the effects of socioeconomic status and physical health, and described younger and older members of both sexes. ⋯ The robustness of this conclusion stems from the nature of the data sources: four population samples in two countries over the span of 10 years in which physical activity levels were assessed by four techniques and psychological status was assessed by six distinct scales. Although the surveys are cross-sectional, the most plausible explanation for the results is that physical activity enhances mental health in certain respects. Data on the comparative effects of recreation and housework suggest that quality of time, and not mere energy expenditure, must be taken into account in attempts to explain the psychological benefits of physical activity.
-
Preventive medicine · Nov 1987
The development of scales to measure social support for diet and exercise behaviors.
The purpose of this study was to develop measures of perceived social support specific to health-related eating and exercise behaviors. In Study I, specific supportive and nonsupportive behaviors were identified through interviews with 40 individuals making health-behavior changes. In Study II, items derived from the interviews were administered to 171 subjects. ⋯ Social support scales were correlated with respective self-reported dietary and exercise habits, providing evidence of concurrent criterion-related validity. A measure of general social support was not related to the specific social support scales or to reported health habits. These scales are among the first measures of social support behaviors specific to dietary- and exercise-habit change.
-
Preventive medicine · Jul 1987
Comparative StudyDiet and the excretion and enterohepatic cycling of estrogens.
Urinary and fecal excretion and plasma levels of estrogens were measured in pre- and postmenopausal women eating different diets. When premenopausal U. S. women eating a "Western diet," comprising high fat (40% of calories) and low fiber, were compared with age-matched vegetarians eating a moderate-fat (30%), high-fiber diet, it was found that the vegetarians excreted threefold more estrogen in their feces, had lower urinary excretion, and had 15-20% lower plasma estrogen levels. ⋯ S. pre- and postmenopausal women eating a Western diet were compared with recent Asian immigrants eating a very low-fat diet (20-25% of calories), similar results were obtained except that plasma estrogen levels were 30% lower among Orientals compared with those among Western omnivore women. Correlation analysis of dietary components and plasma estrogen showed that plasma estrogen was positively associated with fat and was negatively associated with fiber. The results indicate that diet can alter the route of excretion of estrogen by influencing the enterohepatic circulation and that this, in turn, influences plasma estrogen levels.
-
Preventive medicine · May 1987
Smokeless tobacco use among male adolescents: patterns, correlates, predictors, and the use of other drugs.
Questionnaire data from a sample of 3,023 adolescents indicated that over 60% of boys have tried smokeless tobacco, and 7% use it daily. Daily users reported an average of 5.3 uses per day. Among boys the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use in the past 6 months (18.8%) was higher than that for cigarette use (10.4%). ⋯ Among daily users, the initial rate of use was the best prospective predictor of rate of use at follow-up (r = 0.576). Smokeless tobacco use was related to the use of other drugs, with 83% of male daily users indicating concurrent use of alcohol, marijuana, and/or cigarettes (tau = 0.354, 0.210, and 0.284, respectively). The use of smokeless tobacco was a prospective risk factor for the onset or increased use of cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana.
-
Preventive medicine · May 1987
Adolescent smokeless tobacco incidence: relations with other drugs and psychosocial variables.
This article presents data regarding the prevalence of trying smokeless tobacco in a longitudinal sample of 2,714 urban, ethnically diverse adolescent males and females. A predominance of trial use was found in white males in 8th and 9th grades. Also presented is the relation of smokeless tobacco onset to experimentation with other drugs (cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana), cigarette smoking in significant others, self-image as a smoker, risk taking, and smoking refusal self-efficacy. ⋯ Finally, onset was more probable in individuals who had previously tried alcoholic beverages and marijuana, and who reported enjoying taking risks. A multivariate logistic regression analysis retained sex, smoking level, beer and wine use, and risk taking as predictors of smokeless tobacco onset. Apparently, smokeless tobacco is an additional activity in which drug-experimenting male adolescents are likely to participate.