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Spicing Up School Lunch: A Look At One School District's Attempts To Remedy America's Convoluted School Lunch Policies, Case Study Analysis Of Claremont Unified School District, Allison Mcelwee

CMC Senior Theses

The United States possesses a well intentioned but misguided lunch program, leaving children overfed but malnourished. Currently, a revolution is under way to transform programs around the country by incorporating locally grown and fresh ingredients, as well as integrating hands-on educational experiences with gardening and nutrition. The Claremont Unified School District (CUSD) makes up a group of schools that once heavily relied on unhealthy processed foods for providing lunch. Through a series of modifications in the past three years, CUSD’s program has been remodeled to feature more local produce and fresh ingredients, independent of USDA commodities or large scale agriculture. …

Les Coûts Du Mariage—Les Transactions Matrimoniales Dans Le Monde En Développement, Sajeda Amin, Ashish Bajracharya

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Au cours des deux dernières décennies, le Population Council a receuilli une multitude d'informations sur les causes et les corrélats du mariage des enfants et documenté ses effets néfastes sur le bien-être des femmes et des filles. Dans de nombreuses régions du monde en développement, la compréhension du mariage des enfants est au coeur de la conception de programmes qui favorisent des transitions saines vers l'âge adulte. Les travaux de recherche du Population Council soulignent également l'importance des rituels et des pratiques d'échange matrimoniales dans le monde et éclairent les différences considérables entre ces pratiques. Promouvoir des transitions vers l'âge …

Ampliación De Programas Para Adolescentes Vulnerables: Experiencias, Entendimientos Y Evidencia, Martha Brady

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El deseo de la comunidad de desarrollo internacional por aliviar la pobreza y mejorar los resultados de la salud presenta una oportunidad extraordinaria para transformar la vida de la gente joven, particularmente de las niñas. Ciclos de analfabetismo, escasas posibilidades de trabajo y aislamiento social pueden frenarse, pero requerirán de esfuerzos coordinados para alcanzar a una gran cantidad de niñas adolescentes vulnerables con programas sólidos construídos en base a los valores. El hecho de ampliar los programas piloto efectivos será crítico para lograr estos objetivos. A pesar de que hay un cuerpo de búsqueda en expansión alrededor de intervenciones de …

Sexual And Reproductive Health Of Young People In India: A Review Of Policies, Laws And Programmes, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, K.G. Santhya

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper synthesizes the key policies, laws, and programs in India that focus on or have implications for the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people. It includes a summary of what is known about the sexual and reproductive health situation of young people, an assessment of the salient features of current policies, laws, and programs, and a discussion of the extent to which these policies, laws, and programs have responded to the sexual and reproductive health needs of young women and men. The review by the Population Council clearly shows that there is considerable recognition of the …

Supporting Married Girls: Calling Attention To A Neglected Group, K.G. Santhya, Annabel Erulkar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In the next ten years, if current patterns continue, more than 100 million girls will marry before the age of 18, according to Population Council analyses of United Nations country data. Child marriage—any marriage that occurs before age 18—is considered a human rights violation by international convention. Marriage transforms virtually all aspects of girls’ lives. Typically, girls who marry are moved from their familial home and village, lose contact with friends, initiate sexual activity with someone they barely know, and soon become mothers. In Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, and elsewhere, the Council is undertaking research to better understand …

Leveling The Playing Field: Building Girls' Sports Programs And Creating New Opportunities, Martha Brady

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, more girls and women are participating in sports than ever before. Even in the most unlikely settings, girls are stepping onto playing fields, joining teams, and participating in ways that were unprecedented a decade ago. The burgeoning interest in girls’ and women’s sports around the globe provides an opportune moment to examine the role of sports in adolescent girls’ lives and build the evidence base for future programming and policy development. This brief reports on the collaboration between Population Council researchers and partners, including sports organizations, women’s groups, international development agencies, and ministries of youth, in …

Programs To Address Child Marriage: Framing The Problem, Sajeda Amin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Eradicating child marriage has long been on the agenda of the United Nations and of individual countries. Indeed, all countries where child marriage occurs are signatories to international charters and covenants that discourage the practice. Despite these agreements, marriage before age 18—often without the young bride’s consent—persists. Population Council researchers are seeking to prevent child marriage and support married girls in several countries, including Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Vietnam. Programs include expanding opportunities (education, livelihoods) for girls, especially those most at risk of early marriage, and working directly with gatekeepers to remove barriers that …

Costs Of Marriage—Marriage Transactions In The Developing World, Sajeda Amin, Ashish Bajracharya

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Over the past two decades the Population Council has amassed a wealth of information on the causes and correlates of child marriage and documented its adverse effects on the well-being of women and girls. In many parts of the developing world, understanding child marriage is central to designing programs that promote healthy transitions to adulthood. Council research also underscores the importance of rituals and practices of marriage exchange around the globe and documents the considerable variation in these practices. Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief No. 35 synthesizes some broad themes that have emerged from research on …

Conception D'Un Programme Centré Sur Les Filles : Boîte À Outils Pour L'Elaboration, Le Renforcement Et L'Expansion De Programmes Destinés Aux Adolescentes, Karen Austrian, Dennitah Ghati

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

“Conception d’un programme centré sur les filles: Boîte à outils pour l’elaboration, le renforcement et l’expansion de programmes destinés aux adolescentes” est un ensemble d’outils et de directives pour renforcer les programmes destinés aux adolescentes dans les zones urbaines du Kenya. Basée sur les discussions d’une réunion de 2010 du Kenya Adolescent Girls’ Brain Trust, organisée par le Centre Binti Pamoja et le Population Council, la boîte à outils s’adresse à toute personne désireuse de travailler avec des adolescentes de 10 à 24 ans. Elle peut être utile au concepteur ou à l’exécutant d’un programme, à la personne chargée de …

First Generation Of Gender And Hiv Programs: Seeking Clarity And Synergy, Judith Bruce, Nicole Haberland, Amy Joyce, Eva Roca, Tobey Nelson Sapiano

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In the past decade, there have been expanding resources to address the underlying gender dimensions of HIV. This has been particularly urgent in sub-Saharan Africa as the female-to-male infection ratios in young populations has reached 3 to 1 and sometimes above. The phrase “gender and HIV” has become commonplace yet does not provide any specific guidance as to target audiences, content, or measurable results. It can include everything from microcredit programs for HIV-positive women, to workplace programs seeking to change negative male norms, to efforts to increase respect for diverse sexual and gender identities. This review, conducted by the Population …

National Efforts Toward Fgm-Free Villages In Egypt: The Evidence Of Impact, Ghada Barsoum, Nadia Rifaat, Omaima El-Gibaly, Nihal Elwan, Natalie Forcier

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report is a midterm evaluation and documentation of the process and approach of the FGM-Free Village Model implemented in Egypt by the National Council of Childhood and Motherhood with assistance from the Population Council. In a comparison of responses from women and men in intervention groups to those in nonintervention (control) villages, data analysis shows that the program has been successful in changing views and attitudes toward female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is an entrenched generational practice, and eradicating it in a community requires concerted effort over an extended period of time. This evaluation strongly recommends that efforts be …

Survey Of Young People In Egypt (Sype) 2009—Final Report, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This document contains the Final Report for SYPE 2009. Responding to a dearth of data on youth in Egypt, the Population Council conducted a comprehensive situation analysis of Egyptian adolescents and young people: the Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) 2009, which covered a nationally representative sample of 15,029 young people aged 10-29. SYPE collected data on the five key life transitions of education, work, family formation; health; and civic and political participation. SYPE follows up an earlier survey conducted by the Population Council in 1997, The Adolescence and Social Change in Egypt (ASCE) survey. SYPE updates the results …

Empowering Adolescent Girls In Rural Bangladesh: Kishori Abhijan, Sajeda Amin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In 2001, UNICEF initiated a pilot intervention to test whether livelihoods opportunities could ameliorate early marriage and other adverse outcomes for girls in rural Bangladesh. Kishori Abhijan (“Adolescent Girls’ Adventure”) aimed to lower school dropout rates, increase girls’ independent economic activity, and raise the age at which girls marry. Life-skills training consisted of enhancing self-esteem and leadership skills and providing education related to gender roles and discrimination, health and nutrition, and legislation and legal rights, particularly early marriage and girls’ and women’s rights. Livelihoods training included vocational skills. As noted in Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief …

Costing And Economic Analysis Of Strengthening Union Level Facility For Providing Normal Delivery And Newborn Care Services In Bangladesh, Sushil Ranjan Howlader

Reproductive Health

For a long time, the reduction of the maternal mortality ratio has constituted a major challenge for the health, nutrition, and population sector of Bangladesh. The objectives of this Population Council study is to estimate the costs of the additional inputs required for strengthening Health and Family Welfare Centers (HFWC) for providing normal delivery and newborn care services, the cost-effectiveness, and the financial implications of the addition of capacity. Results clearly show that the benefit-cost ratio for the intervention will be quite high. Some additional measures on the demand side should thus adopted. Intensive behavior change communication activities including interpersonal …

Shaping Demand And Practices To Improve Family Health Outcomes In Northern India: A Framework For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council

Reproductive Health

An initiative from the Population Council could help in developing a comprehensive communication strategy to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health, and nutrition outcomes in Uttar Pradesh and other northern states of India. The identification of key barriers to and facilitating factors for selected target behaviors that have a direct bearing on maternal and child health could go a long way in packaging specific messages for different stakeholders, such as women, husbands, elder family members, opinion makers in the community, and frontline health workers. One of the key deliverables of this publication is to fill an important knowledge gap …

Survey Of Domestic And Work Life Experience And Reproductive Health Of Women Workers Of Selected Industrial Compounds In Ha Noi, Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Nguyen Hong Phuong

Reproductive Health

The Population Council Viet Nam and local stakeholders undertook a collaborative project in Ha Noi entitled “Improving the health care response to gender-based violence.” The study’s objectives were: 1) to assess the knowledge and experience of female workers about gender-based violence; 2) to assess knowledge and practice of women workers on reproductive health focusing on abortion; and 3) to make recommendation for the Ha Noi Health Service to improve the women workers’ knowledge on gender-based violence, choice of contraceptive method, reproductive health care, and abortion. The women factory workers, who have higher levels of education than their peers in the …

Increasing Access To Safe Abortion In Rural Maharashtra: Outcomes Of A Comprehensive Abortion Care Model, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, A.J. Francis Zavier, Rajib Acharya, Shveta Kalyanwala

Reproductive Health

This assessment of a Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC) model was conducted by the Population Council on behalf of the Consortium for Safe Abortions in India. The goal of the Consortium is to increase access to legal, safe, and comprehensive abortion services, including post-abortion family planning, in the public health system, and especially among the rural poor. This report describes the CAC model implemented in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, and examines the extent to which the model improved (a) the availability and quality of abortion services in public sector facilities, and (b) women’s awareness and experiences with regard to abortion services. It …

Increasing Access To Safe Abortion In Rural Rajasthan: Outcomes Of A Comprehensive Abortion Care Model, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, A.J. Francis Zavier, Rajib Acharya, Shveta Kalyanwala

Reproductive Health

This report describes an assessment by the Population Council of the Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC) model implemented in Tonk district, Rajasthan. Findings highlight that at the time of the baseline survey, the availability of abortion services was limited; also evident was the poor quality of abortion-related care. Given this context, and given the short duration of implementation, the changes achieved by the intervention are promising. The district-level CAC model succeeded in strengthening facilities, training providers, and increasing women’s access to safe abortion services at the Primary Health Centre level. Community-level activities were less successful, attributable to a considerable extent to …

Scaling Up The Provision Of Family Planning Messages In Antenatal And Postpartum Services In Upper Egypt, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Sally Saher

Reproductive Health

An operations research study by the Population Council’s FRONTIERS program in 20 facilities in Upper Egypt showed that integration of birth spacing messages into antenatal and postpartum care was feasible, acceptable to women and their husbands, and was associated with increased postpartum contraception. This report describes the initial and scale-up phases, their outcomes, challenges, and recommendations for improvement. In addition to successfully scaling up the program, the main achievement was securing the support and investment of senior MoHP officials at the central level, as well as the support and commitment of managers and supervisors at governorate and district levels. The …

The Prevention And Management Of Hiv And Sexual And Gender-Based Violence: Responding To The Needs Of Survivors And Those-At-Risk, Sarah Raifman, Ian Askew, Sajeda Amin, Jill Keesbury, Saiqa Mullick, Judith A. Diers, Meiwita P. Budiharsana, Chi-Chi Undie, Mary Zama, Mantshi Menziwa, Sherry Hutchinson, Naomi Rutenberg

Reproductive Health

The Population Council seeks to understand the social, economic, political, and physical context of risks for sexual and gender-based violence and HIV. Among the top priorities of Council research are supporting and evaluating efforts to prevent violence and HIV, including creating safe spaces for adolescent girls, and working with men and boys to change gender norms within the community; and comprehensively responding to the needs of survivors (including those who are HIV-infected) by strengthening health systems and integrating services. The purpose of this guide is to provide practical guidance on the steps necessary to establish and strengthen sexual violence (SV) …

Community Health Workers And The Media Can Be Effective In Providing Health Information To Married Adolescent Girls In The Community, Population Council

Reproductive Health

Past research has found that married adolescent girls in Nyanza Province, Kenya, face higher risks of HIV infection than unmarried but sexually active girls their age in the province and other parts of the country. To address this challenge, the Population Council’s APHIA II Operations Research Project, in collaboration with Well Told Story and the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, developed a study to assess the effectiveness of an intervention designed to increase married adolescent girls’ access to comprehensive reproductive health and HIV information and services in Homa Bay and Rachuonyo districts. The study found that using interactive communication …

Levels, Trends And Determinants Of Contraceptive Use Among Adolescent Girls In Kenya, Francis Obare, Harriet Birungi, Chi-Chi Undie, Monica Wanjiru, Wilson Liambila, Ian Askew

Reproductive Health

In Kenya, recent trends in contraceptive use among currently married women aged 15–49 years show that after experiencing a stall between 1998 and 2003, the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) increased between 2003 and 2008–2009. Although the increase in CPR after 2003 is encouraging, there is limited understanding of how these changes affected adolescents, especially girls, given the unique sexual and reproductive health challenges that they face. This report is based on a secondary analysis of the Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys (KDHS) data to understand the trends, differentials, and determinants of contraceptive use among adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in …

Increasing Access To Family Planning (Fp) And Reproductive Health (Rh) Services Through Task-Sharing Between Community Health Workers (Chws) And Community Mid-Level Professionals In Large-Scale Public-Sector Programs: A Literature Review To Help Guide Case Studies, James R. Foreit, Sarah Raifman

Reproductive Health

This literature review covers case studies related to community-based distribution of family planning programs, and community health worker (CHW) programs that included family planning and other reproductive health services. It offers essential processes and implications for additional operations research which look at constraints and factors critical to introducing new program procedures or strengthening existing ones.

Informe Años Dos Movil.Com: Evaluación De La Línea Final Resumen De Hallazgos Principales, Annik Sorhaindo, Xipatl Contreras, Kate S. Wilson, Sandra G. Garcia

Reproductive Health

This report highlights the findings of the endline evaluation of a two-year leadership project aimed at indigenous youth in Oaxaca, Mexico: Movil.com. Movil.com is a community project headed by peers and built on elements of other models. It is similar to a cascaded peer education and training model, in which nuclear leaders are trained who, in turn, train facilitators of larger groups. The Population Council office in Mexico evaluated the project at the request of the social organization that implements it, the Rosales Castellanos Women's Study Group, an NGO that has worked for more than 30 years with indigenous communities …

A 'Once In A Generation Opportunity'? Narratives About The Potential Impact Of Ohs Harmonisation On Smaller Firms In Australia, Rowena Barrett, Susanne Bahn, Susan Mayson

Research outputs 2011

Regulatory reform will see the introduction of harmonised Occupational Health and Safety laws across Australia. Here we consider the potential impact of this on smaller firms as the first step in assessing how they may adapt to this regulatory change. We use textual data consisting of recent media and blogs that highlight key stakeholders’ perceptions of the purpose and outcomes of harmonisation on smaller firms. The narratives perpetuate the negative discourse of regulation, not only for smaller firms, but for other key stakeholders. Critical analysis of stakeholders’ views of the effects of harmonisation articulates constraints and possibilities of regulatory change …

School-Based Strategies To Address Cyber Bullying, Donna Cross, Helen Monks, Marilyn Campbell, Barbara Spears, Phillips Slee

Research outputs 2011

Bullying and victimisation among school-age children are recognised as a major public health problem. In its 2009 report on the Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study (ACBPS), the Child Health Promotion Research Centre of Edith Cowan University reported that just over one quarter (27 per cent) of school students aged 8 to 14 years were bullied and 9 per cent bullied others on a frequent basis – every few weeks or more often (Cross et al, 2009).

The Implementation Of Electronic Health Records: A Two Country Comparison, Helen Cripps, Craig Standing, Vesna Prijatelj

Research outputs 2011

The adoption of electronic health records has been significantly slower in Australia than many European countries. This paper compares the implementation process in Australia with Slovenia, looking at the benefits, drawbacks and success factors of ehealth implementation. The authors use case studies collected in each country to discuss issues around ehealth implementation. Though Slovenia has progressed much further down the road of ehealth the commonality of the experiences between both cases was striking.

Promoting Tobacco Cessation Via The Workplace: Opportunities For Improvement, M. Courtney Hughes, Emily M. Yette, Peggy A. Hannon, Jeffrey R. Harris, Nguyet M. Tran, Terry R. Reid

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Introduction: Little research exists on the prevalence of evidence-based tobacco cessation practices in workplaces, employer promotion of state-sponsored quitlines and predictors of these practices.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of the 2008 Healthy Worksite Survey, a telephone survey administered to Washington employers with 50 or more employees (n¼693). The objectives were to describe workplaces’ implementation of evidence-based tobacco cessation practices and identify key predictors of implementation in order to highlight opportunities for interventions.

Results: Among these employers, 38.6% promoted quitting tobacco, and 33.8% offered insurance coverage for cessation medications and counselling, 27.5% referred no-smoking violators to cessation services, and 5.7% included the …

Food Deserts' And 'Food Swamps' In Hillsborough County, Florida: Unequal Access To Supermarkets And Fast-Food Restaurants, Dana Beth Stein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that the suburbanization of supermarkets has created `food deserts', defined as areas where socially disadvantaged individuals lack access to nutritious food outlets. Additionally, the growing presence of fast-food restaurants has created `food swamps', or areas where socially disadvantaged individuals encounter an overabundance of unhealthy food outlets. While previous studies have analyzed either `food deserts' or `food swamps' using conventional statistical techniques, a more comprehensive approach that includes samples of both healthy and unhealthy entities and considers the variety of available food options is necessary to improve our understanding of the local food environment and related disparities.

This …

Effects Of Calcium Supplementation On Cardiovascular Disease In Postmenopausal Women, Raizel Robinson

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

The following is an excerpt from the introduction of the article: In the United States, 53% of the population use dietary supplements. Of the people using supplements, 43% use calcium and 37% use vitamin D. However, 63% of women older than 60 years of age reported using dietary supplements (Park et al., 2009). Calcium supplementation, without co-administered vitamin D, increases the risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascularrelated diseases among postmenopausal women. On the contrary, calcium supplementation with accompanied vitamin D may not produce similar effects.