American journal of preventive medicine
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Substantial research has been dedicated to understanding the reasons for the dramatic rise in obesity rates in the U.S. in the last 2 decades. Animal studies and epidemiologic studies in children have suggested that air pollution might contribute to weight gain. This study investigates the association between ambient air pollution and weight gain over 16 years of follow-up (1995-2011) in a large cohort of African-American women in the U.S. ⋯ The results do not provide support for an association of air pollution with weight gain in African-American adult women.
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In 2012, the updated U.S. Department of Agriculture school meals standards and a competitive food law similar to the fully implemented version of the national Smart Snack standards went into effect in Massachusetts. This study evaluated the impact of these updated school meal standards and Massachusetts' comprehensive competitive food standards on school food revenues and school lunch participation. ⋯ Schools experienced initial revenue losses after implementation of the standards, yet longer-term school food revenues were not impacted and school meal participation increased among children eligible for reduced-price meals. Weakening the school meal or competitive food guidelines based on revenue concerns appears unwarranted.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Warm Handoff Versus Fax Referral for Linking Hospitalized Smokers to Quitlines.
Few hospitals treat patients' tobacco dependence. To be effective, hospital-initiated cessation interventions must provide at least 1 month of supportive contact post-discharge. ⋯ One in four inpatient smokers referred to quitline by either method were abstinent at 6 months post-discharge. Among motivated smokers, fax referral and warm handoff are efficient and comparatively effective ways to link smokers with evidence-based care. For hospitals, warm handoff is a less expensive and more effective method for enrolling smokers in quitline services.
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African American and Latino children experience higher rates of traumatic injury and mortality, but the extent to which parents of different races and ethnicities disparately enact injury prevention behaviors has not been fully characterized. The objective of this study is to evaluate the association between caregiver race/ethnicity and adherence to injury prevention recommendations. ⋯ A high prevalence of non-adherence to recommended injury prevention behaviors is common across racial/ethnic categories for caregivers of infants among a diverse sample of families from low-SES backgrounds.