American journal of preventive medicine
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The relationships among food access, foods consumed, and nutritional status and health in developing countries are not well understood. Between 2013 and 2018, differences in the rural food environment and access to food, nutritional status, and body size in the rural villages where the Pune Maternal Nutrition birth cohort was recruited were measured and analyzed. ⋯ Results demonstrate a strong link between rural food access, foods consumed, and measures of nutritional status in an undernourished, mostly vegetarian, rural population.
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Smoking has been linked with depressive symptoms in adolescents, but data on secondhand smoking and depressive symptoms in low- and middle-income countries are scarce. Thus, this study analyzes the association between secondhand smoking and depressive symptoms among in-school adolescents from 22 low- and middle-income countries. ⋯ There was a positive association between secondhand smoking and depressive symptoms among in-school adolescents from low- and middle-income countries. Further research should investigate causality and assess whether prevention of exposure to secondhand smoke can have a positive effect on the mental well-being of adolescents.
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The Affordable Care Act mandated that health plans cover preventive health services without patient cost sharing. A process, based on the analyses of medical claims data, is presented that allows companies to assess whether their healthcare plans are providing employees and dependents with age- and sex-appropriate high-priority preventive healthcare services. ⋯ Only a minority of individuals received a complete set of the defined high-priority preventive healthcare services. The process presented here allows employers to routinely analyze their medical claims data to assess the performance of their health and wellness plans in delivering these preventive services. The strengths and weaknesses of this approach are also described.
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This study examines the implementation of North Carolina's statewide naloxone standing order and identifies community characteristics associated with pharmacy stocking and willingness to sell naloxone under the standing order. ⋯ Though more than half of the pharmacies in North Carolina participate in the standing order for naloxone, efforts to identify the best practices for ensuring widespread implementation of statewide standing orders for naloxone are warranted.
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Research has documented the health benefits of physical activity among older adults, but the relationship between physical activity and healthcare costs remains unexplored at the population level. Using data from 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, this study investigates the extent to which physical activity prevalence is associated with healthcare costs among older adults. ⋯ Results revealed a time lag effect highlighted by a delayed inverse relationship between state-level physical activity prevalence and healthcare costs among older adults. This evidence offers governments and communities new insights to guide policymaking on long-term public investment in physical activity intervention programs.