Relative validity of food intake estimates using a food frequency questionnaire is associated with sex, age, and other personal characteristics

We invostigated the validity of food intake estimates obtained by a self-administered FFQ relative to weighed food records (WFR) and the extent to which demographic, anthropometric, and social characteristics explain differences between these methods. A community-based sample of 96 Australian adults completed a FFQ and 12 d of WFR over 12 mo. The FFQ was adapted to the Australian setting from the questionnaire used in the US Nurses' Health Study. Spearman rank correlation coefficients ranged from 0.08 for other vegetables to 0.88 for tea. Exact agreement by quartiles of intake ranged from 27% (eggs) to 63% (tea). Differences between FFQ and WFR regressed on personal characteristics were significantly associated with at least 1 characteristic for 20 of the 37 foods. Sex was significantly associated with differences for 17 food groups, including 5 specific vegetable groups and 2 total fruit and vegetable groups. Use of dietary supplements and the presence of a medical condition were associated with differences for 5 foods; age, school leaving age, and occupation were associated with differences for 1-3 foods. BMI was rot associated with differences for any foods. Regression models explained from 3% (wholemeal bread) to 37% (for all cereals and products) of variation in differences between methods. We conclude that the relative validity of intake estimates obtained by FFQ is different for men and women for a large number of foods. These results highlight the need for appropriate adjustment of diet-disease relations for factors affecting the validity of food intake estimates.

Some like it wet - biological characteristics underpinning tolerance of extreme water stress events in Antarctic bryophytes

Antarctic bryophyte communities presently tolerate physiological extremes in water availability, surviving both desiccation and submergence events. We investigated the relative ability of three Antarctic moss species to tolerate physiological extremes in water availability and identified physiological, morphological, and biochemical characteristics that assist species performance under such conditions. Tolerance of desiccation and submergence was investigated using chlorophyll fluorescence during a series of field- and laboratory-based water stress events. Turf water retention and degree of natural habitat submergence were determined from gametophyte shoot size and density, and delta C-13 signatures, respectively. Finally, compounds likely to assist membrane structure and function during desiccation events (fatty acids and soluble carbohydrates) were determined. The results of this study show significant differences in the performance of the three study species under contrasting water stress events. The results indicate that the three study species occupy distinctly different ecological niches with respect to water relations, and provide a physiological explanation for present species distributions. The poor tolerance of submergence seen in Ceratodon purpureus helps explain its restriction to drier sites and conversely, the low tolerance of desiccation and high tolerance of submergence displayed by the endemic Grimmia antarctici is consistent with its restriction to wet habitats. Finally the flexible response observed for Bryum pseudotriquetrum is consistent with its co-occurrence with the other two species across the bryophyte habitat spectrum. The likely effects of future climate change induced shifts in water availability are discussed with respect to future community dynamics.

The effect of personal characteristics on the validity of nutrient intake estimates using a food-frequency questionnaire

Objective: To assess validity of the Nambour food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) relative to weighed food records (WFRs), and the extent to which selected demographic, anthropometric and social characteristics explain differences between the two dietary methods. Design: Inter-method validity study; 129-item FFQ vs. 12 days of WFR over 12 months. Setting: Community-based Nambour Skin Cancer Prevention Trial. Subjects: One hundred and fifteen of 168 randomly selected participants in the trial (68% acceptance rate) aged 25-75 years. Results: Spearman correlations between intakes from the two methods ranged from 0.18 to 0.71 for energy-adjusted values. Differences between FFQ and WFR regressed on personal characteristics were significantly associated with at least one characteristic for 16 of the 21 nutrients. Sex was significantly associated with differences for nine nutrients; body mass index (BMI), presence of any medical condition and age were each significantly associated with differences for three to six nutrients; use of dietary supplements and occupation were associated with differences for one nutrient each. There was no consistency in the direction of the significant associations. Regression models explained from 7% (riboflavin) to 27% (saturated fat) of variation in differences in intakes. Conclusions: The relative validity of FFQ estimates for many nutrients is quite different for males than for females. Age, BMI, medical condition and level of intake were also associated with relative validity for some nutrients, resulting in the need to adjust intakes estimates for these in modelling diet-disease relationships. Estimates for cholesterol, beta-carotene equivalents, retinol equivalents, thiamine, riboflavin and calcium would not benefit from this.

Belief in dealing with depression alone: Results from community surveys of adolescents and adults

Background: Community surveys have found that some people believe that it is better to deal with depression alone rather than seek help. However, there has been little research into the characteristics of this group. Methods: Data were drawn from three Australian surveys: (1) a national survey of 1001 adults aged 18+ years; (2) a school survey of 552 students aged 14-16 years from two regions; (3) a survey of 577 young people aged 12-17 years from the Melbourne region. In all three surveys, participants who believed it would be helpful to deal with depression alone were contrasted with those who believed it would be harmful in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, recognition of depression in a vignette, contact with people who experienced depression, beliefs about treatments, beliefs about using substances, beliefs about long-term outcomes, and beliefs about causes. Results: In both adolescents and adults, belief in dealing with depression alone was associated with male gender, less favourable views about mental health professionals, more favourable views about using substances to deal with depression, and a more positive expectation about the outcome if treatment is not sought. Adolescents believing in dealing with depression alone had more favourable views about some potential helpers, such as church workers and pharmacists. In adults, but not adolescents, there was an association with the belief that depression is caused by personal weakness. Limitations: The surveys did not directly ask about reasons for believing that dealing with depression alone would be helpful and did not assess actual help-seeking. Conclusions: Factors encouraging dealing with depression alone are a belief that it is a self-limiting disorder, that substances are an effective way to deal with it and, in adults, that depression is due to personal weakness. Consistent with previous research, males are an important target group for encouraging seeking help to deal with depression. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Maternal health during pregnancy and perinatal mortality in Bangladesh: evidence form a large-scale community-based clinical trial

Perinatal mortality is very high in Bangladesh. In this setting, few community-level studies have assessed the influence of underlying maternal health factors on perinatal outcomes. We used the data from a community-based clinical controlled trial conducted between 1994 and 1997 in the catchment areas of a large MCH/FP hospital located in Mirpur, a suburban area of Dhaka in Bangladesh, to investigate the levels of perinatal mortality and its associated maternal health factors during pregnancy. A total of 2007 women were followed after recruitment up to delivery, maternal death, or until they dropped out of the study. Of these, 1584 who gave birth formed our study subjects. The stillbirth rate was 39.1 per 1000 births [95% confidence interval (CI) 39.0, 39.3] and the perinatal mortality rate (up to 3 days) was 54.3 per 1000 births [95% CI 54.0, 54.6] among the study population. In the fully adjusted logistic regression model, the risk of perinatal mortality was as high as 2.7 times [95% CI 1.5, 4.9] more likely for women with hypertensive disorders, 5.0 times [95% CI 2.3, 10.8] as high for women who had antepartum haemorrhage and 2.6 times [95% CI 1.2, 5.8] as high for women who had higher haemoglobin levels in pregnancy when compared with their counterparts. The inclusion of potential confounding variables such as poor obstetric history, sociodemographic characteristics and preterm delivery influenced only marginally the net effect of important maternal health factors associated with perinatal mortality. Perinatal mortality in the study setting was significantly associated with poor maternal health conditions during pregnancy. The results of this study point towards the urgent need for monitoring complications in high-risk pregnancies, calling for the specific components of the safe motherhood programme interventions that are designed to manage these complications of pregnancy.

Who made the final decision?: Social characteristics and initiator status of marriage breakdown

In this lecture presented in August 2005, Belinda Hewitt from the University of Queensland discussed the findings from a report she co-authored with Associate Professor Mark Western and Professor Janeen Baxter from the University of Queensland Social Research Centre on the relationship between social characteristics that have been found to be associated with marriage breakdown and the initiator status of separation.

Flirting with Spirituality within Community Development Practice

In this paper Peter will consider some contemporary discourses of spirituality, the potential dangers of some spirituality, and then discuss how spirituality can contribute to an ‘enchanted’ framework of community development.

Should the health community promote smokeless tobacco (snus) as a harm reduction measure?

Background to the debate: The tobacco control community is divided on whether or not to inform the public that using oral, smokeless tobacco (Swedish snus) is less hazardous to health than smoking tobacco. Proponents of 'harm reduction' point to the Swedish experience. Snus seems to be widely used as an alternative to cigarettes in Sweden, say these proponents, contributing to the low overall prevalence of smoking and smoking-related disease. Harm reduction proponents thus argue that the health community should actively inform inveterate cigarette smokers of the benefits of switching to snus. However, critics of harm reduction say that snus has its own risks, that no form of tobacco should ever be promoted, and that Sweden’s experience is likely to be specific to that culture and not transferable to other settings. Critics also remain deeply suspicious that the tobacco industry will use snus marketing as a 'gateway' to promote cigarettes. In the interests of promoting debate, the authors (who are collaborators on a research project on the future of tobacco control) have agreed to outline the strongest arguments for and against promoting Swedish snus as a form of harm reduction.