Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Examining Climate Change-Health Nexus In Ghana, Lucia Kafui Hussey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Climate change is one of today’s most pressing global issues with its physical, biological and social impacts widely recognized. One area of concern is its potential health consequences. The postulated health effects from climate change are far-reaching that climate change induced health risks are signaled as the most pressing problems to public health in the 21^st century. Although developing countries such as Ghana had been suggested as a vulnerable hotspot for the health consequences of climate change, there is a paucity of empirical research on climate change and its health linkages in the country.

The purpose of this dissertation …

Active And Safe Routes To School: Evaluating School Travel Planning To Support Children's Active Travel, Adrian Nicholas Buttazzoni

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Most Canadian children are not achieving their daily recommended physical activity (PA) levels despite the many emotional, psychological, and physical benefits of PA. Walking or wheeling to/from school, or active school travel (AST), is a viable method for improving children’s daily participation in PA. In Canada, the Active and Safe Routes to School initiative promotes AST through its comprehensive School Travel Planning (STP) program. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, broadly, this thesis investigates the i) implementation and ii) effectiveness of a regional, two-year STP program supporting AST. This thesis includes a systematic review of AST intervention models implemented in North America, …

Risk Perceptions Of Smoking In China, Imran Syed

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Approximately one million smokers die in China every year. Risk perceptions of smoking have been theorized as being important in explaining behaviour change and have been found to be associated with initiating and quitting smoking. This study examined the extent to which smokers in China perceive risks associated with smoking (i.e., perceived likelihood of getting a smoking-related disease) and the roles of socio-demographic factors (i.e., gender, age, ethnicity, income and education) and knowledge of the consequences of smoking in explaining risk perceptions of smoking. Participants included 4861 smokers from six cities in China. The prevalence of perceived risk for smoking …

Examining Geographic Variation In Children's Perceived Barriers To Physical Activity And The Implications On Behaviour, Leah Gabrielle Taylor

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Low levels of physical activity among Canadian children has become a national public health issue. Recent research has suggested that children’s physical activity levels are associated with their perceptions of their everyday environments. A better understanding of the formation of these perceptions within different contexts is needed to explain the extent of the relationship. Using a multi-tool quantitative protocol, this thesis examines geographic variation in socio-ecological factors influencing children’s perceptions of barriers to PA, and the extent to which perceptions mediate the relationship of the environment and PA. Results indicate that perceptions form within contexts, and have an influence on …

Standing And Dynamic Sitting In The University Classroom, Siobhan Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Students almost exclusively sit in class, which translates to large amounts of forced sedentary behaviour and this in turn may have negative health consequences. The effect alternative postures have on classroom performance of university students remains unknown.

Using a randomized counterbalanced design, pilot study 1 (N=40) and 2 (N=20) investigated the effect of alternative postures on 3-minute and 50-minute classroom performance, respectively. In study 3, university students’ (N=1005) and faculty (N=218) acceptability to alternative workstations in the university classroom was assessed using a mixed method approach.

This thesis provides preliminary evidence that there is no difference between classic sitting, dynamic …