Ability of Bioelectrical Impedance to Predict Percentage Fat Mass in Children of Two Different Ethnic Origins

Detailed analysis of body composition in children has helped to understand changes that occur in growth and disease. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) has gained popularity as a simple, non-invasive and inexpensive tool of body composition assessment. Being an indirect technique, prediction equations have to be used in the assessment of body composition. There are many prediction equations available in the literature for the assessment of body composition from BIA. This study aims to cross-validate some of those prediction equations to determine the suitability of their use on Australian children of white Caucasian and Sri Lankan origins. Height, weight and BIA were measured. Total body water was measured using the isotope dilution method (D2O). Fat-mass (FM) and %FM were estimated from BIA using ten prediction equations described in the literature. Five to 14.99-year-old healthy, 96 white Caucasians and 42 Sri Lankan children were studied. The equation of Schaefer et al was the most suitable prediction equation for this group with the lowest mean bias for %FM assessment in both Caucasian (–1.0±9.6%) and Sri Lankan (1.6±5.2%) children and the fat content of the individuals did not influence the predictions by this equation. Impedance index (height2/impedance) explained for 80% of TBW in white Caucasians and 93% in Sri Lankans and figures were similar for the prediction of FFM. We conclude that BIA can be used effectively in the assessment of body composition in children. However, for the assessment of body composition using BIA, either prediction equations should be derived to suit the local populations or existing equations should be cross-validated to determine their suitability before their application.

Ethnic Print Media in the multicultural nation of Canada: A case study of the black newspaper in Montreal

This article explores the social and cultural roles of ethnic print media in the country within the prism of Canada's multicultural policy. Specifically, the article examines how the ethnic groups are framed in the mainstream national media in Canada and then examines how these ethnic media are [re]constructing their own identities in contrast to their framed identities in the mainstream national print media such as the Globe and Mail, National Post and Toronto Sun. In exploring the overall socio-political impacts of these ethnic print media on the social fabrics and cultural identity in Canadian society, Montreal Community Contact, an ethnic newspaper of the black community in Montreal, is used as a case study. Copyright © 2006 SAGE Publications.

Understanding problem gambling in two ethnic communities in Brisbane, Queensland - A pilot study

This paper aims to present findings from a pilot study on understanding gambling within the Greek and Vietnamese communities in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland State. It explores gambling behaviour among gamblers and views of workers from their own communities. Rich data were obtained by conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews. Three themes that emerged are the causes of gambling, the impact of gambling, and participants' views on existing delivery of gambling services. It appears that a more culturally appropriate gambling service is necessary to address the needs and problems of gamblers from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Chinese social location and ethnic newspaper exposure

No abstract

An examination of the relationship between social locations of Chinese immigrants and their ethnic newspaper dependency

This study drew upon media system dependency theory (MSD) and social identity theory to examine the relationship between social locations of Chinese immigrants and their dependency on Chinese ethnic newspapers. Data was obtained from a survey participated by 265 respondents with Chinese origin but currently residing in Australia. Results indicated that among the three indicators of social location, age appeared to be a strong positive predictor of the dependency on ethnic newspapers for information. Respondents who stayed longer in the host country tended to be more frequent readers of ethnic newspapers as well. Education did not appear as a significant predictor of ethnic newspaper dependency. These findings suggested the need for us to further investigate the impact of ethnic print media on ethnic minorities in the age of various information sources offered by new technologies.

Ambivalent 'selves': Japanese women's diasporic experiences in Australian higher education

In an age of globalisation and internationalisation, how women learn to represent themselves in terms of their cultural, social and gender identities in the wider world is significant. A group of 17 Japanese women studying in postgraduate courses in three Australian universities were interviewed for part of this longitudinal project, and their case studies are presented in this paper to portray the women's lived experiences and interpret how higher education overseas affects their reconstruction of their 'selves' and traditional Japanese femininity. I set my analytic framework through a discussion of the forceful globalisation of higher education and discourses of identity and 'self', and then analyse the present status of Japanese women in contemporary Japan. I then provide excerpts of the women's narratives which indicate ambivalent 'selves' in transition. Two possibilities have arisen from their narratives to illuminate this ambivalence - one possibility is that women's positive experiences in Australia and their increased and diverse exposure to and experience of other cultures may influence cultural change such as the transformation of constructs of women at home, and challenge existing identity and femininity discourses in Japan. The second possibility is that negative aspects of their 'diasporic experiences' can also articulate other complex identity politics, such as Japanese women's 'double marginalisation' which means being both a woman and a member of an ethnic minority group, conflicts between the homogenisation of 'Asian women' and representations of 'new Japanese women', and their sense of belongingness to their original culture. These contradictory phenomena of identity formations within Japanese women have the potential to shift the debate and challenge current essentialist views of hegemonic homogenisation of regional identities.