Using Family Backpacks as a Tool to Involve Families in Teaching Young Children About Healthy Eating

Children’s obesity rates have increased substantially over the past several decades, due in part to unhealthy eating habits. About 75% of preschool-aged children consume fewer fruits and vegetables than recommended for health. Because children begin developing eating habits during early childhood, obesity prevention programs are increasingly targeting young children in early childhood education (ECE) settings and are involving their families in teaching about healthy eating. The purpose of this pilot study is to assess the effectiveness of a family involvement activity known as the family backpack in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among 4- and 5-year-old children and their parents through hands-on activities that encourage them to explore and discuss fruits and vegetables at home. Forty-two families (22 experimental, 20 control) participated in the study. Families received a family backpack from their child’s ECE teacher and completed activities with their child at home during a specific week. Experimental-group backpacks contained a children’s book and three activities to encourage parent–child discussion about fruits and vegetables; control-group backpacks contained an unrelated book and activities. Children’s and parents’ fruit and vegetable consumption and frequency of serving fruits and vegetables at home were assessed using parent self-report surveys before and after completing backpack activities. Parents in the experimental group, but not the control group, reported increases in their own and their children’s fruit and vegetable consumption after completing family backpack activities. Family backpacks show promise as a tool for early childhood educators to help families reinforce and expand children’s learning and encourage healthy eating habits at home.     

A Methylome‐Wide Association Study of Trajectories of Oppositional Defiant Behaviors and Biological Overlap With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

In 671 mother–child (49% male) pairs from an epidemiological birth cohort, we investigated (a) prospective associations between DNA methylation (at birth) and trajectories (ages 7–13) of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and the ODD subdimensions of irritable and headstrong; (b) common biological pathways, indexed by DNA methylation, between ODD trajectories and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); (c) genetic influence on DNA methylation; and (d) prenatal risk exposure associations. Methylome‐wide significant associations were identified for the ODD and headstrong, but not for irritable. Overlap analysis indicated biological correlates between ODD, headstrong, and ADHD. DNA methylation in ODD and headstrong was (to a degree) genetically influenced. DNA methylation associated with prenatal risk exposures of maternal anxiety (headstrong) and cigarette smoking (ODD and headstrong).     

Care practice #3: continuous labor support

This updated edition of Care Practice Paper #3 presents the evidence for the benefits of continuous support in labor. The role of the doula is explained. Women are encouraged to plan for continuous support during labor and to consider including a woman experienced with childbirth among their labor support team.     

本期话题：多元语境中的话语场——文艺复兴时期关于亚里士多德《修辞学》的论争：传播理论的跨文化解读

本演讲探讨了欧洲早期艺复兴期间（大约1350—1700）为解读亚里士多德的（修辞学）中的论述所做出的努力,讨论了欧洲的注释在理解亚里士多德的（修辞学〉中所遇到的困难,关注了当时学意料之外的某些论争,并力图阐释引起这些论争的原因。作认为,人们力图阐释关于一种化的论述并力图从另一种化的需求和兴趣来解读这种论述的努力对中美两国具有重要意义,这些阐释所可能引发的结果也具有积极意义。作的这种解读对当今世界——对中国和“西方”国家富有更为广泛的意义——因为他在试图解读产生于一种化而被转译到另一种化的修辞学和传播学理论。作指出,在欧洲艺复兴时期,人们相信修辞学和社会很大程度上是一回事。修辞学能够使人们避免暴力、摆脱兽性,使许多不同人的思想统一起来,促成一种包容各种矛盾的和谐社会。修辞学使我们变得明。[第一段]     

How gender is constructed and experienced in the social world of the nursery school

This case study attempts to capture the way gender is constructed and experienced in the social world of the nursery school. It presents findings from a staff survey, structured and unstructured observations of one male’s and one female’s professional practice and one-to-one interviews with children aged three to four years. Despite practitioners’ reported intentions to challenge traditional notions of gender, construction of traditional gender distinctions was not problematised by staff and was upheld by comments of children. Children appeared to construct themselves in terms of gender stereotypes and were offered only limited alternative gender positions by the male and female practitioners.     

Ethical issues in consulting

Should NSPI establish on Ethics Committee? What is ethics, what are the ethical issues that confront consultants and how do they presently deal with them? This article is based on a year long research effort to identify common ethical dilemmas that arise in consultant-client relationships and the difficulties both parties have in resolving them.     

But I like PE: factors associated with enjoyment of physical education class in middle school girls

The current study examined associations between physical education (PE) class enjoyment and sociodemographic, personal, and perceived school environment factors among early adolescent girls. Participants included 1,511 sixth-grade girls who completed baseline assessments for the Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls, with 50% indicating they enjoyed PE class a lot. Variables positively associated with PE class enjoyment included physical activity level, perceived benefits of physical activity, self-efficacy for leisure time physical activity, and perceived school climate for girls' physical activity as influenced by teachers, while body mass index was inversely associated with PE class enjoyment. After adjusting for all variables in the model, PE class enjoyment was significantly greater in Blacks than in Whites. In model testing, with mutual adjustment for all variables, self-efficacy was the strongest correlate of PE class enjoyment, followed by perceived benefits, race/ethnicity, and teachers' support for girls' physical activity, as compared to boys, at school. The overall model explained 11% of the variance in PE class enjoyment. Findings suggest that efforts to enhance girls' self-efficacy and perceived benefits and to provide a supportive PE class environment that promotes gender equality can potentially increase PE class enjoyment among young girls.     

Combined individual scrummaging kinetics and muscular power predict competitive team scrum success

Scrummaging is a major component of Rugby Union gameplay. Successful scrummaging is dependent on the coordination of the forward players and the strength of the eight individuals. The study aim was to determine whether individual scrummaging kinetics and other candidate factors associated with scrummaging performance discriminate team scrum performances. Sixteen club-level forwards (stature: 1.80?±?0.1?m; mass: 99.0?±?18.2?kg) were initially divided into two scrummaging packs. A total of 10 various scrum permutations were tested, where players were randomly swapped between the two packs. Winning scrums were determined by two observers on opposite sides of the scrum. Fatigue (100?mm visual analogue scale (VAS)) and scrummaging effort (6–20 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)) were assessed following each scrum contest. Individual scrummaging kinetics were acquired through an instrumented scrum ergometer and muscular power indicated through vertical jump heights. Student’s t-tests were used to differentiate between winning and losing scrum packs. VAS and RPE were assessed using repeated measures ANOVAs. Winning scrum packs had significantly larger combined force magnitudes (p?<?.002), regardless of the player contribution calculations. Additionally, winning packs had less individual movement (p?=?.033) and higher combined vertical jump heights (p?<?.001) but were not significantly heavier (p?=?.759) than losing scrum packs. While perceived VAS and RPE values progressively increased (p?<?.001), no differences in the individual scrum magnitudes were observed between the 1st and 10th scrum (p?=?.418). The results indicated that the combination of individual forces, variation in movement and factors related to scrummaging performance, such as vertical jump height, were associated with team scrummaging success.     

Effects of an Early Family Intervention on Children's Memory: The Mediating Effects of Cortisol Levels

Developmental psychologists have long been concerned with the ways that early adversity influences children's long-term outcomes. In the current study, activity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis of medically at-risk (e.g., preterm) infants was measured as a result of maternal participation in a novel cognitively based home visitation program (versus a Healthy Start home visitation program). Maternal participation in the cognitive intervention predicted lower basal cortisol levels among infants—with reduced levels of maternal avoidance/withdrawal serving as a mediator of this relation. Lower cortisol levels in infancy, in turn, predicted higher verbal short-term memory (STM) at age 3. STM represents a cognitive ability that has importance for children's later educational outcomes. Findings provide experimental evidence concerning the pathway by which an early intervention may produce hormonal changes that can, in turn, influence children's learning outcomes.