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The Effects Of The Implementation Of Green Carts On New Yorkers' Bmi, Ana L. Pacheco

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the Green Cart Initiative implemented by the New York City Mayor’s Office of Food Policy. The Initiative was implemented to bring fresh fruits and vegetables in a fast, cheap, and efficient way to neighborhoods considered food deserts and areas with high rates of obesity.

“Mexico, Public Policy And Obesity In A Global Context”, Daniela Carina Bermudez

Master's Theses

Mexico has one of the most obese populations in the world. A country known for its diversity of rich flavorful food is drowning in low nutritional food products. This thesis examines Mexico’s obesity epidemic within the larger global context of international economic trade policies, public policies and Mexico’s health policies. The key research questions are 1) why is there an obesity epidemic in Mexico? and 2) what remedies should Mexico implement to control it? This thesis contributes to a viable policy strategy for the Mexican government to control and prevent the further increase of this obesity epidemic. Reviewing both the …

Probiotic Yoghourt For Health, Nutrition And Women's Empowerment In Kenya: A Community-Based Approach, Ellena Andoniou

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The dissertation aims to examine the impacts of probiotic yoghourt on health, nutrition and women’s empowerment within the context of HIV/AIDS in Kenya. Mixed methods that combine quantiative and qualitative approaches are used to understand the effects of probiotic yoghourt on the health, nutrition and quality of life for men and women. Results of the quantiative analysis (n=227) demonstrated that the probiotic yoghourt confers a variety of health benefits – physiological (fewer urogenital conditions and digestive problems; reduced dependence on medical treatment), and psychological (perceived improvements with bodily appearance, felt an increased meaningfulness with life). Results of the qualitative analysis …

Design For Working Day’S Lunchtime: Lunch With Me, Han Zhang

Theses

Lunch is one of the indispensable meals to take in a day. Eating lunch energizes our bodies and makes us concentrate more on our work. Nowadays, people always have a hard time enjoying their lunch during weekdays most especially college students and office workers because of their fast working mode. These people have limited time during lunch break or working in not so ideal place to eat such as their office. Unlike having meals with families, eating lunch with colleagues can be a huge opportunity of socializing with each other. Fresh new connections can be made in these occasions.

“Lunch …

Til Death Did Us Part, The Story Of The Health And Death Of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Mary E. Edgecomb

Graduate Theses

The awe of celebrity, including presidents, creates the impression of beings who are larger than life, without the problems of the common man. Franklin D. Roosevelt, unbeknownst to many Americans, had significant health issues. These health issues predate his paralytic illness and worsened during his presidency. Efforts to maintain his image as the unconquerable president of the United Sates led to concealment of these problems and, in turn, negatively impacted his medical care. While most previous studies focused on individual health issues, this research will show a continuum of medical problems that not only impacted his presidency but also were …

Examining Illness Invalidation And Illness Perception In Relation To Physical Functioning In The Context Of Cardiovascular Disease, Jaclyn Ciera Turner

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Invalidation is defined as the perception of cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses of others that are experienced as denying, lecturing, overprotecting, not supporting, and not acknowledging with the respect to the condition of the patient (Kool, 2012). Invalidation has also been suggested to negatively impact patients’ physical health (Kool, 2012). One specific type of invalidation is illness invalidation (II), defined as attitudes of distrust, suspicion, lack of support for, or acknowledgement that a patient is suffering from an illness (Blom et al., 2011). In addition to II, illness perception (IP) is another construct that has been linked to negative physical …

Ganja And Geriatrics: The Health Benefits And Risks Of Medicinal Cannabis For Older Adults, Tyla Jd Hughes

Culminating Projects in Gerontology

As the United States population grays, it faces a myriad of controversial issues regarding older adults. One such issue is the use of various types of alternative medication, specifically the use of marijuana as a treatment for a variety of ailments. It is important to explore all possible routes on how to treat this portion of this population that may be suffering from different types of illnesses, diseases, and pain that may be more commonplace in older adults. As a graying nation, there is fundamental importance of being well informed about the topic of medical marijuana. It is vital to …

Health Educators’ Perceptions Of Factors Related To The Implementation Of School-Based Sexual Education, Kari Ellis

Honors Theses

Mississippi is one of the leading states in both teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infection rates. In an effort to limit these rates, Mississippi passed House Bill 999 in 2011. This bill mandated sexual education in public schools throughout the state. However, since the passage of the bill there have been many factors that impact the way this curriculum is taught. To better understand these factors, how they affect educators, and how schools are addressing them, this study surveyed educators who taught some form of sex-related education curriculum from 2011 to 2016. The findings show that educators believe many factors …

Benefits Of Incorporating Health And Wellness Education Into The Fifth Grade Curriculum, Allison Brown

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This senior capstone examines the benefits of incorporating health and wellness education for 100 fifth graders from three different classrooms in a local Monterey County elementary school to gain their perspectives about the different aspects of health and wellness. Through the use of literature review, anonymous surveys with students and three fifth grader teachers, the result findings indicate that incorporating health and wellness education into fifth grade curriculum would benefit students to have a better health and wellness.

Remote Patient Monitoring Using Health Bands With Activity Level Prescription, Pranay Shirolkar

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

With the advent of new commercially available consumer grade fitness and health devices, it is now possible and very common for users to obtain, store, share and learn about some of their important physiological metrics such as steps taken, heart rate, quality of sleep and skin temperature. For devices with this wearable technology, it is common to find these sensors embedded in a smart watch, or dedicated wearable wrist bands such that among other functionalities of a wearable device, it is capable of smartly assisting users about their activity levels by leveraging the fact that these devices can be, and …

Remote Patient Monitoring Using Health Bands With Activity Level Prescription, Pranay Shirolkar

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

With the advent of new commercially available consumer grade fitness and health devices, it is now possible and very common for users to obtain, store, share and learn about some of their important physiological metrics such as steps taken, heart rate, quality of sleep and skin temperature. For devices with this wearable technology, it is common to find these sensors embedded in a smart watch, or dedicated wearable wrist bands such that among other functionalities of a wearable device, it is capable of smartly assisting users about their activity levels by leveraging the fact that these devices can be, and …

African American Men’S Health: Regulating Race-Related Stress Through Cognitive Flexibility, Brian P. Littleton

Dissertations

African American men have one the highest preventable mortality and morbidity rates in the United States (Rich, 2000; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). Moreover, there is substantial health disparity between African American men and White men in the United States (Smedley, Stith, & Nelson, 2003). It has been stated that pervasive racism and discrimination are the most significant contributors for the disparity. Studies have shown race-related stress, which is derived from experiencing racism, discrimination or having internalized feelings as the result of an individual’s racial status, has been associated with blood pressure, emotional distress, and physical health …

Secondary Analysis Of Morbidity Data From A Rural Haitian Village., Emma Karin Draluck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with most of the population surviving on $1 per day. Health outcomes among Haitians are poor, with a life expectancy 16 years less than the US. The majority of health research in Haiti has been narrow, focusing on specific issues like tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, maternal health, and cholera. Unfortunately, this has resulted an incomplete understanding of health in Haiti. This study aims to fill this gap by describing the most common health complaints, how they differ by age, sex, and temporality, and if there are associations between these health issues and environmental …

Transnational Engagement And Immigrants’ Well-Being In Canada, Jonathan Anim Amoyaw

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

After migration, most immigrants do not dissociate themselves from their relational networks in their homeland. Instead, they nourish, reproduce, and maintain ties with their non-migrant relatives and friends by engaging in various forms of transnational activities. Within the transnational paradigm, remittances are central to maintaining transnational relationships. Immigrants’ demonstration of affection and solidarity in the absence of physical propinquity and intimacy is highly contingent on their remittance transfers. Over the years, the motives, determinants, benefits, and consequences of these financial flows on the well-being of recipients in origin communities have been extensively studied. However, the existing literature is mainly informed …

Three Essays On The Effects Of Childbearing On Economic Well-Being And Health, Ramazan Onur Altindag

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chapter 1: Couples in Turkey exhibit son preference through son-biased differential stopping behavior that does not cause a sex ratio imbalance in the population. Demand for sons leads to lower ratios of boys to girls in larger families but higher ratios in smaller families. Girls are born earlier than their male siblings, and son-biased fertility behavior is persistent in response to decline in fertility over time and across households with parents from different backgrounds. Parents use contraceptive methods to halt fertility following a male birth. The sibling sex composition is associated with gender disparities in health. Among third- or later-born …

Overtime Work Hours, Health Behaviors And Health Outcomes For Correctional Officers: An Examination Of Moderated Effects, Diana C. Tubbs

Master's Theses

Most of the existing research on corrections officers (COs) has focused on stress and burnout as well as the organizational factors that contribute to these outcomes. Recent studies have also revealed that COs are more likely to be obese and hypertensive than the general population. Studies not specific to corrections provide evidence that overtime hours are associated with poor employee health, and the present study aimed to address this general lack of research on the potential health impacts of overtime hours for COs. More specifically, this study investigated whether the effect of healthy behaviors on health and wellness outcomes changed, …

Social Connectedness, Social Support And The Health Of Older Adults: A Comparison Of Immigrant And Native-Born Canadians, Natalie Iciaszczyk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Considerable research exists on the influence of social relationships for health in old age. However, few studies have compared the associations of social connectedness and social support with the health of older adults. Using data from the CCHS-Healthy Aging, this study examines how these constructs are related to the self-reported health status of immigrant and native-born adults aged 65+. Results show that social connectedness and social support are differently associated with health in later life; whereas connectedness is linked to better health, social support is negatively related with health once levels of social connectedness are considered. Furthermore, these associations hold …

Relationship Satisfaction And Health Outcomes In The Context Of Personality, Janine Galione

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-reported dissatisfaction in romantic relationships is a well-documented risk factor for impaired physical health outcomes. Most research has focused on identifying the mechanisms that could potentially explain this link, but it is just as important to explore what type of person is more vulnerable to the quality of romantic relationships. Relationship satisfaction may be more consequential in the context of some personality traits than others. We examined whether each of the five factor traits interacts with self-reported relationship satisfaction to predict three health outcomes over 18 months: major physical health events, health perceptions, and health behaviors. The hypotheses for this …

A Qualitative Review Of The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) And Recommendations For Improving Nutritional Output, Shefa F. Saulat

Public Health Capstone Projects

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) is a federal food assistance program for income-eligible individuals and households aimed at preventing hunger and improving nutrition (SNAP, 2016). Although immense growth in the program over the years has served millions of people, a growing body of research has found that program participants consume more calories, less fresh fruits and vegetables, and purchase more sugar-sweetened beverages than their non-participant counterparts (Leung, Blumenthal, Hoffnagle, Jensen, Foerster, Nestle, & Willett, 2013; Nguyen, Shuval, Njike, & Katz, 2014; Bleich, Vine, & Wolfson, 2013).

Additionally, other studies have found that SNAP participants consume more high-fat dairy and processed …

Essays On Human Capital Complementarities, Hiroaki Mori

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The thesis consists of three chapters that study the interplay between skills and health in shaping labour market outcomes. I focus on two distinct but related issues: i) the wage losses among older workers due to work-limiting health conditions, and ii) the long lasting effects of childhood health conditions on human capital formation. Chapter two studies how health conditions among older workers affect their wages depending on the characteristics of their occupations. The U.S. Social Security Act defines disability as the inability due to health conditions to perform physically or mentally demanding tasks. To examine the potentially task-specific nature of …

Psychometric Properties Of Three Common Depression Measures In Breast Cancer Patients With Major Depressive Disorder, Audrey Ashton File

Doctoral Dissertations

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women in the United States and MDD is the most common mental health problem in women with breast cancer. There is lack of research on measures of depression in this population. This study examined the psychometric properties of three commonly used depression measures, the BDI-II, CES-D, and HRSD, with clinically depressed breast cancer patients (n = 127). Findings revealed the measures displayed good distributional characteristics, internal consistency, and convergent validity. Discriminative validity with the BAI was not demonstrated, however, and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the existing models of these …

Radiography Students: Factors Contributing To Their Stress And Methods Of Coping, Kayla A. Rosenbaum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

College students experience high levels of stress, especially those in health care programs. The purpose of this study was to determine what factors contribute to Tennessee radiography student stress levels and the methods by which they cope with stress. Additionally, do demographic factors affect radiography student stress levels? The research was conducted February 4 to March 30, 2016. A survey was distributed to students in a radiography program at two and four year colleges in Tennessee. Participants were asked questions on factors that influence their stress levels, coping strategies, and health issues experienced in the past year. Descriptive statistics, independent …

Neurobiological Correlates Of Stress And The Pathophysiology Of Depression: Associations Among Social Victimization, Il-6, Crp, And Bdnf Val66met, Allyson Antoinette Arana

Psychology Dissertations

Peer victimization, a common psychosocial stressor in adolescence, is linked to adverse health outcomes ranging from depression to changes in biological functioning. Social victimization is particularly harmful given the importance placed on peer relations and social status during this developmental period. This dissertation evaluated the associations among social victimization, physical health, psychological health, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, and inflammatory biomarkers (IL-6 and CRP) in a diverse sample of adolescents (N = 254). Social victimization was related to depressive symptoms, health problems, and inflammation, partially replicating a previous study. BDNF Val66Met moderated the link between social victimization and health outcomes, such …

Connecting For Better Health: Discovering Differences In Self-­‐Reported Preference In The Environment Of Social Media In Healthcare Communications, Ashley Zeh

Theses

Though working as a vital service to the community, health care companies have the same

challenges as other businesses needing to remain competitive in the marketplace. Health care providers, however, have the additional challenge of providing healthcare communications that are valuable to society. Social media presents a new environment for healthcare providers to communicate and form a relationship with their patient community. Better insights into this new environment are necessary in order to establish how patients self-report differences in preference for the different types of technology-mediated communications. Through survey methods, this study looks into the differences in self-reported claims of …

Examining Infant Health Outcomes Impacted By South Carolina's Regionalized System Of Perinatal Care, Michael Grady Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal regionalization systems have been shown to reduce the risk of neonatal mortality when very low birth weight infants are delivered in Level III hospitals with neonatal intensive care units, sub-specialist staffing, and adequate experience caring for high-risk pregnancies and neonates. However, studies to date examining the association between delivery in Level III hospitals and neonatal mortality have not accounted for censoring due to fetal deaths. Furthermore, studies of perinatal regionalization to date have not adequately assessed the association between delivery hospital level of care and the infant’s hospital length of stay. This dissertation examined 8,594 very low birth weight …

Environmental And Community Health In South San Diego County: A Behavior Analysis Of Recreational Ocean Users Along Imperial Beach, California, Trista Brophy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Garbage & sewage runoff into the Pacific Ocean at the shoreline along the U.S./Mexico Border region poses serious health and environmental threats. The purpose of this study was to analyze the current beach users’ behavioral factors that may be linked to illness prevalence from Coronado Island to the U.S./Mexico border at Imperial Beach in San Diego County. It is a continuation of a study completed by Wildcoast and Imperial Beach Clinic in 2011. The study tried to answer the following two major questions: How have the number of illnesses reported by users along South San Diego County beaches changed in …

Obesity Over The Life Course: Perspectives In Health And Mortality, Noura E. Insolera

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation seeks to examine obesity in different contexts throughout the life course. Through empirical analyses, separate stages of the life course are considered: namely childhood through adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood. By using a life course perspective, it is possible to consider longitudinal and intergenerational approaches to these questions, which will update and inform the current debates surrounding obesity.

Beginning with children, the intergenerational transmission of diet disease knowledge, socioeconomic status, and child health behaviors are considered in their associations with the outcomes of child diet in 2002, and in turn their associations with child obesity in 2007. Information …

Polychlorinated Biphenyl (Pcb) Pollution Of The Hudson River: Social Policy And Health Considerations, Laura Schad

Honors Theses

The purpose of this paper is to examine pollution in the Hudson River and the role General Electric has had in creating this problem. The focus will be on social issues and problems that have emerged as a result of the environmental damage from pollution. Until recently, there was little research done on the health and environmental justice issues that impact the New York communities where GE’s factories were located. This paper examines the material collected and studies that were done which document Hudson River pollution and the contributions as well as cleanup efforts of General Electric. The overall problems …

A Culture Of Vaginas: Representations Of The Vagina In The 21st Century America, Kyra M. Detone

Honors Theses

In 1996, Eve Ensler opened her acclaimed, off-Broadway performance of The Vagina Monologues in New York City with these lines: “I bet you’re worried. I was worried. That’s why I began this piece. I was worried about vaginas.” These lines and Ensler’s monologues as a whole pose a provocative question for the modern woman, one that has been present in feminist dialogue since the late 1960s: Does the vagina have a community in American society? Nearly three decades after the first production of The Vagina Monologues, in what is argued to be a “post-feminist” period, scholars, writers, artists, and …

The Creative Warrior: A Holistic Approach To Health And Longevity, Daniel Robert Gray

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

When we look at artists in contemporary society it is unfortunate how many of them turn to drugs, alcohol, and suicide as a means to cope with and escape the world. Sadly, there are artists who never live long enough to have a career or share their brilliance with the world. This tragedy is the underlying motivation for this project. One of our goals at the school where I teach, Idyllwild Arts Academy, is to help prepare students for a life in the arts. For the most part we focus on the skills and concepts of their discipline. This …