Nutrition Commons^™

Obesity And Food Choices Among Faculty And Staff At A Large Urban University, Marjorie Freedman, Rebecca Rubinstein

Faculty Publications

Objective: In order to address increasing health care costs associated with obesity, this study sought to determine prevalence of overweight and obesity and examine eating behaviors, food choices, health beliefs, and attitudes of university employees. Participants and Methods: An online survey was distributed to > 3,800 faculty and staff at a large public metropolitan university in Winter 2008. Results: Almost half (48%) of 806 respondents were classified as overweight or obese. Compared to those with normal weights, overweight and obese respondents consumed fewer fruits and vegetables (p < .05), were less confident in making healthful food choices (p < .001), and were more influenced by food choices available in on-campus dining facilities (p < .05). Conclusions: Obesity among university employees warrants attention. Because these employees have less self-efficacy and consume less healthful diets than their normal weight colleagues, universities need to improve on-campus access to healthful foods.

Development, Evaluation, And Validation Of Environmental Assessment Tools To Evaluate The College Nutrition Environment, Marjorie Freedman

Faculty Publications

Objective: To develop, evaluate, and validate 2 nutrition environment assessment tools (surveys), for specific use in combating overweight on college/university campuses.Participants and Methods: Invitations to complete surveys were e-mailed to food service and health center directors at 47 universities, Winter 2008. Overall response rate was 48%. Responses from the 39 individuals who completed tool evaluations at the end of each survey were analyzed. Follow-up interviews and site visits performed through Summer 2008 validated responses. Results: The majority of respondents (64%) indicated tools were effective at assessing their nutrition environments; 78% believed these types of assessment tools to be important to …

Sodexo Leading Environmental Change At Lehigh Valley Health Network, Andrew Barsky Cdm, Cfpp

Clinical Nutrition Service

No abstract provided.

Endocrine Disruptors And Obesity: An Examination Of Selected Persistent Organic Pollutants In The Nhanes 1999-2002 Data, Mai A. Elobeid, Miguel A. Padilla, David W. Brock, Douglas M. Ruden, David B. Allison

Psychology Faculty Publications

Recent evidence suggests that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may cause perturbations in endogenous hormonal regulation that predispose to weight gain. Using data from NHANES (1999-2002), we investigated the association between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) via multiple linear regressions. Consistent interaction was found between gender, ln oxychlordane and ln p,p' DDT. Also, we found an association between WC and ln oxychlordane and ln hpcdd in subjects with detectable levels of POPs, whereas an association between WC and ln p,p' DDT was observed in all subjects. Furthermore, ln Ocdd showed an increase with …

Polychlorinated Biphenyl-Induced Endothelial Cell Dysfunction And Its Modulation By Dietary Lipids, Zuzana Majkova

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death in Western societies. Endothelial dysfunction is an early event in the pathology of atherosclerosis, which is an underlying cause in the majority of cardiovascular events. Exposure to persistent environmental pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), is a risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis.

First, we tested a hypothesis that coplanar PCBs, dioxin-like chemicals with affinity for aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), can stimulate up-regulation of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), an endothelium-derived chemokine that attracts monocytes into sub-endothelial space in early stages of atherosclerosis. Coplanar PCBs 77 and 126 increased expression of …

Survival And Inflammation In Patients With Heart Failure: The Impact Of Overweight, Obesity, Diabetes And Fruit And Vegetable Consumption, Heather Payne-Emerson

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Overweight and obesity are paradoxically associated with better survival in patients with heart failure (HF). This association is poorly understood, in part because the impact of diabetes (DM) on survival of overweight and obese HF patients has not been considered. Inflammation may contribute to worse survival in overweight and obese HF patients with DM, and levels of inflammation may be associated with fruit and vegetable consumption. However, neither of these relationships has been investigated in patients with HF.

The purposes of this dissertation were to a) examine the effect of DM on survival of overweight and obese patients with HF, …

Role Of Group X Secretory Phospholipase A2 In Murine Adipocytes, Xia Li

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The secretory phospholipase A₂ (sPLA₂) family is a group of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of glycerophospholipids at the sn-2 position, generating free fatty acids and lysophospholipids. The sPLA₂ family has been implicated in various physiological and pathological activities. Eleven sPLA₂’s have been identified in mammals, and the function of each isoform likely reflects its tissue distribution and substrate specificity. Studies in vitro indicate that Group X (GX) sPLA₂ potently releases arachidonic acid (AA) and lysophosphatidylcholine from mammalian cell membranes. Interestingly, some of the biological effects mediated by GX sPLA₂ in vitro …

Multidisciplinary Survivorship Care, Sue N. Gardner Rn, Msn, Crnp, Aocnp, Gregory Harper Md, Phd, Dorothy Morrone Rnc, Ms, Ocn, Jennifer Brennan Rd, Cso, Andrea Geshan Rn, Msw, Diane Brong Lcsw, Jennifer Roeder Mspt, Mba

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.