Individual and Public-Program Adaptation: Coping with Heat Waves in Five Cities in Canada

Heat Alert and Response Systems (HARS) are currently undergoing testing and implementation in Canada. These programs seek to reduce the adverse health effects of heat waves on human health by issuing weather forecasts and warnings, informing individuals about possible protections from excessive heat, and providing such protections to vulnerable subpopulations and individuals at risk. For these programs to be designed effectively, it is important to know how individuals perceive the heat, what their experience with heat-related illness is, how they protect themselves from excessive heat, and how they acquire information about such protections. In September 2010, we conducted a survey of households in 5 cities in Canada to study these issues. At the time of the survey, these cities had not implemented heat outreach and response systems. The study results indicate that individuals' recollections of recent heat wave events were generally accurate. About 21% of the sample reported feeling unwell during the most recent heat spell, but these illnesses were generally minor. Only in 25 cases out of 243, these illnesses were confirmed or diagnosed by a health care professional. The rate at which our respondents reported heat-related illnesses was higher among those with cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, was higher among younger respondents and bore no relationship with the availability of air conditioning at home. Most of the respondents indicated that they would not dismiss themselves as

Factors predicting the portion size and perceived fillingness of evening meals in Danish and Iris households

Purpose:
This study explored how meal-related variables, socio-demographics and psychological predispositions affect the portion
size and perceived fillingness of an evening meal in Danish and Irish households.
Methods:
Using survey data collected in 2115 respondents from Denmark (DK) and the Island of Ireland (IOI), we compared four
sets of predictors of the portion size chosen for four evening meals (i.e. pizza/soup/chicken salad/pork meal): Biological
variables (hunger, thirst), socio-demographic variables (gender, age, BMI); psychological predispositions (cognitive
restraint, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, general health interest) and meal-related variables (expected fillingness,
perceived healthiness, liking, frequency of consumption). We also compared five sets of predictors (the previous
four plus portion size) of perceived portion fillingness.
Results:
Portion size selections were associated mainly with demographic variables (gender, BMI) and psychological predispositions
(cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating). In addition, only liking and sometimes expected healthiness (mealrelated
variables) appeared as drivers. Conversely, perceived portion fillingness was mostly influenced by the selected
portion size as well as expected fillingness and liking. There were some differences between meals; e.g. GHI not a
predictor for Pizza but a predictor for Chicken salad. Also some country differences were observed; emotional eating
predicted portion selection in the IOI but not DK.
Conclusions:
When making portion size selections at home, psychological predispositions, restrained and uncontrolled eating as well
as meal-related variables, liking and healthiness explained the decisions. However, surprisingly, individuals’ expected
fillingness of a food did not influence their portion size selection but was a driver of fillingness of the selected portion.