An Evaluation of Extension Activities in the Development of Aquaculture in Kerala

Aquaculture is one of the prime catalysts for the socio-economic development of Indian economy contributing to the nations food and nutritional security, export earnings, income and employment generation. In this study an evaluation of extension activities in the development of aquaculture in Kerala. This study was conducted with a view to examine how the Kerala fisheries department offered extension services to the aquaculture farmers in the freshwater and brackish water sectors of the state through various agencies like Fish Farmers Development Agency(FFDA), Brackish water Fish Farmers Development Agency (BFFDA). In this study there are 3 category of respondent’s fresh water beneficiary farmers, brackish water beneficiary farmers and fisheries extension officers. The main motive of the thesis is to make an attempt to explore the responses of local producers to the extension programs of the state with special reference to the aquaculture sector of Kerala, India. The most important technical constraint faced by the fresh water farmers was lack of knowledge followed by non-availability of quality seeds. In the case of brackish water farming, it was infection of disease followed by lack of knowledge. The overall activities of the department of fisheries were ‘fairly good’. It indicate the need for improvements in the delivery of extension services to various target groups. The state fisheries department has already moving towards evolving these modes of extension activities by community participation.

Situación nutricional de la infancia en Bogotá D.C. : evolución de resultados del Sistema de Vigilancia Alimentaria y Nutricional (SISVAN) 1998-2009

El estado nutricional es un indicador de calidad de vida de los individuos; la malnutrición se ha constituido en una problemática de la población infantil de países en vía de desarrollo cuya reducción se ha incluido en los objetivos del Milenio; para su abordaje, Colombia implementó el Sistema de Vigilancia Epidemiológica Alimentaria y Nutricional –SISVAN- que desde 1998, ha recopilado información del estado nutricional de niños y niñas. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo longitudinal con un análisis evolutivo (pruebas ANOVA y Bonferoni) de la malnutrición en infantes de Bogotá, con base en los reportes del SISVAN desde 1998 al 2009. La clasificación nutricional se determinó mediante gráficas de la NCHS. Empleamos software SPSS 15. Resultados: 1’836.903 registros totales depurados (895638 niñas y 941265 niños), pertenecientes a 20 localidades de Bogotá. La prevalencia de malnutrición encontrada varía según el indicador antropométrico utilizado (Peso/Edad, Talla/Edad y Peso/Talla), así: desnutrición global varía de 2.6%(1998) a 2.8%(2009); de 1.5%(1998) a 1.6%(2009) para sobrepeso y para obesidad 0.8% según el indicador Peso/Edad para ambos géneros. Indicador Talla/Edad: prevalencias de 5.1%(1998) a 4.8%(2009) para desnutrición crónica y retraso de crecimiento de 11.7%(1998) a 11.1% (2009). Indicador Peso/Talla se encuentra: 12.7%(1998) a 12.6%(2009) para desnutrición aguda, 4.9%(1998) a 4.2%(2009) para sobrepeso y para obesidad de 4.8%(1998) a 4.0%(2009). Conclusiones: Existen diferencias significativas entre las prevalencias de desnutrición, sobrepeso y obesidad durante los años de reporte del SISVAN, observándose una tendencia al decrecimiento en obesidad, desnutrición aguda y crónica, y a un comportamiento sin variaciones para sobrepeso.

Agricultura urbana en Bogotá. Una evaluación externa-participativa.

En la última década, uno de los problemas considerados más relevantes de la política pública colombiana es la Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional, que contempla no sólo la disponibilidad y el acceso a los alimentos, sino también la utilización y estabilidad (disponibilidad continua) de alimentos sanos, limpios e inocuos para el consumo humano. En este marco, el gobierno de Garzón dio inicio política pública “Bogotá sin indiferencia”, junto con el programa “Bogotá sin Hambre”, que pretendía a través de diversos proyectos garantizar el derecho a la alimentación de la población de escasos recursos; uno de ellos es el proyecto 319 de Agricultura Urbana, el cual presenta continuidad hasta el momento. La presente investigación, realiza una evaluación externa y participativa al proyecto, desentrañando a través de la metodología del marco lógico, los objetivos y metas de dicho proyecto, para seguidamente evaluarlo apoyándose en la propuesta de Cohen y Franco (1992) y García y Ramírez (1994); bajo el supuesto de que su sostenibilidad depende del tipo de huerta, del apoyo institucional y del empoderamiento de los beneficiarios. Desde la mirada de los beneficiarios, se adelantó la evaluación de tres Estudios de Caso que permitieron desvelar los principios que regulan la política pública, las dificultades y problemas estructurales existentes a la misma.

Factores asociados a deficiencia de zinc en niños colombianos entre 1 y 4 años de edad

Introducción: Las deficiencias de micronutrientes continúan siendo un problema de salud pública en la población infantil, dentro de las ellas se ha encontrado a la deficiencia de zinc causa importante de morbi-mortalidad en los países en desarrollo, la nutrición adecuada de zinc es esencial para un crecimiento adecuado, inmunocompetencia y desarrollo neuroconductual; se dispone de información insuficiente sobre el estado de zinc en la población preescolar lo cual dificulta la expansión de las intervenciones para el control de su deficiencia. Colombia presenta una deficiencia de este micronutriente, considerándose a nivel mundial como un problema de salud pública moderado a severo. Una evaluación sobre la prevalencia y factores determinantes asociados puede proporcionar datos sobre el riesgo de deficiencia de zinc en una población, considerando factores demográficos, sociales y nutricionales que podrían predisponer a la población preescolar colombiana a sufrir este déficit. Metodología: Estudio observacional de corte transversal que incluyó 4275 niños entre 1 y 4 años, utilizando datos de la Encuesta Nacional de Situación Nutricional (ENSIN-2010). Se realizaron análisis bivariados y multivariados para determinar factores asociados positiva y negativamente con deficiencia de zinc. Resultados: El 49,1% de los niños encuestados cursaban con deficiencia de zinc. Los factores de riesgo asociados a deficiencia de zinc encontrados fueron menor edad, peso y talla bajos, vivir en región Atlántica, región Central, Territorios Nacionales, vivienda en área de población dispersa, pertenencia a etnia afrocolombiana, pertenencia a etnia indígena, estar afiliado a régimen subsidiado, no estar afiliado a ningún régimen de salud, madre sin educación, no asistencia a programa de alimentación dirigido y el grado severo de inseguridad Conclusiones: El déficit de zinc en los niños entre 1 y 4 años de edad es multifactorial, siendo un reflejo probable de la situación de inequidad de la población colombiana, en especial, la más pobre y vulnerable. Palabras clave: Zinc, Deficiencia de zinc, factores asociados, niños entre 1 y 4 años, Colombia

A Educação alimentar e nutricional : práticas pedagógicas em Escolas do Município de Ubajara-CE

Umas das grandes causas de problemas nutricionais é a falta de Educação Alimentar e Nutricional, que, na maioria das vezes, consiste em simples orientações e técnicas educativas inadequadas e tradicionais. Portanto, a pesquisa analisou a Educação Alimentar e Nutricional, mais especificamente as práticas pedagógicas utilizadas pelos professores das escolas públicas do município de Ubajara-Ce, realizando entrevistas com os docentes que ministram Ciências Naturais no 8º ano de três escolas municipais e aplicando-se também um questionário para os alunos. Todos os docentes possuem graduação em Pedagogia e Pós-Graduação em áreas não afins com a temática. Não houve formação continuada sobre o assunto, mas de acordo com o questionário, os alunos possuem os conhecimentos sobre o tema, onde estatisticamente não houve diferenças significativas ao nível de 5% para a maioria das questões. Ao analisar o discurso dos docentes, a metodologia de ensino utilizada tem tendência ao ensino sócio e individualizado com a exposição oral, debates, dinâmicas e entre os recursos didáticos estão a lousa, livros e recursos audiovisuais. Somente as práticas pedagógicas dos Professores 1 e 3 tomam um caráter de práticas reflexivas, nos levando a concluir que independente das diferenças entre as práticas pedagógicas, todas levaram ao aprendizado do aluno.

Effect of addition of protein fractions extracted from flours of different baking quality on gluten rheology

The effect of change of the rheological properties of gluten with the addition of fractions with specific molecular weight was investigated. Fractions extracted from Hereward, Riband and Soissons flours were added to the dough prior to gluten extraction. Once extracted, the glutens were subjected to temperature sweeps and creep recovery rheological tests. In the temperature sweeps, Hereward fractions containing the larger polypeptides had a strengthening effect on the gluten, indicated by a decrease in tan delta and an increase in elastic creep recovery, while those fractions that comprised monomeric gliadins had a weakening effect. Adding total gluten also had a strengthening effect. For the biscuit-making flour Riband, the results were quite the reverse: all fractions appeared to strengthen the gluten network, while the addition of total gluten did not have a strengthening effect. For Soissons gluten, the addition of total gluten had a strengthening effect while adding any individual fraction weakened the gluten. The results were confirmed with creep-recovery tests.

Seasonal intercomparison of observational rainfall datasets over India during the southwest monsoon season

The Indian monsoon is an important component of Earth's climate system, accurate forecasting of its mean rainfall being essential for regional food and water security. Accurate measurement of the rainfall is essential for various water-related applications, the evaluation of numerical models and detection and attribution of trends, but a variety of different gridded rainfall datasets are available for these purposes. In this study, six gridded rainfall datasets are compared against the India Meteorological Department (IMD) gridded rainfall dataset, chosen as the most representative of the observed system due to its high gauge density. The datasets comprise those based solely on rain gauge observations and those merging rain gauge data with satellite-derived products. Various skill scores and subjective comparisons are carried out for the Indian region during the south-west monsoon season (June to September). Relative biases and skill metrics are documented at all-India and sub-regional scales. In the gauge-based (land-only) category, Asian Precipitation-Highly-Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of water resources (APHRODITE) and Global Precipitation Climatology Center (GPCC) datasets perform better relative to the others in terms of a variety of skill metrics. In the merged category, the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) dataset is shown to perform better than the Climate Prediction Center Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) for the Indian monsoon in terms of various metrics, when compared with the IMD gridded data. Most of the datasets have difficulty in representing rainfall over orographic regions including the Western Ghats mountains, in north-east India and the Himalayan foothills. The wide range of skill scores seen among the datasets and even the change of sign of bias found in some years are causes of concern. This uncertainty between datasets is largest in north-east India. These results will help those studying the Indian monsoon region to select an appropriate dataset depending on their application and focus of research.

JULES-crop: a parametrisation of crops in the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator

Studies of climate change impacts on the terrestrial biosphere have been completed without recognition of the integrated nature of the biosphere. Improved assessment of the impacts of climate change on food and water security requires the development and use of models not only representing each component but also their interactions. To meet this requirement the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) land surface model has been modified to include a generic parametrisation of annual crops. The new model, JULES-crop, is described and evaluation at global and site levels for the four globally important crops; wheat, soybean, maize and rice. JULES-crop demonstrates skill in simulating the inter-annual variations of yield for maize and soybean at the global and country levels, and for wheat for major spring wheat producing countries. The impact of the new parametrisation, compared to the standard configuration, on the simulation of surface heat fluxes is largely an alteration of the partitioning between latent and sensible heat fluxes during the later part of the growing season. Further evaluation at the site level shows the model captures the seasonality of leaf area index, gross primary production and canopy height better than in the standard JULES. However, this does not lead to an improvement in the simulation of sensible and latent heat fluxes. The performance of JULES-crop from both an Earth system and crop yield model perspective is encouraging. However, more effort is needed to develop the parametrisation of the model for specific applications. Key future model developments identified include the introduction of processes such as irrigation and nitrogen limitation which will enable better representation of the spatial variability in yield.

Nutritional information of meals supplied by companies, participating in the workers` meal program in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Objective. To compare the nutritional value of meals provided by companies participating in the Workers` Meal Program in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, to the nutritional recommendations and guidelines established by the Ministry of Health for the Brazilian population. Methods. The 72 companies studied were grouped according to economic sector (industrial, services, or commerce), size (micro, small, medium, or large), meal preparation modality (prepared on-site by the company itself, on-site by a hired caterer, or off-site by a hired caterer), and supervision by a dietitian (yes or no). The per capita amount of food was determined based on the lunch, dinner, and supper menus for three days. The nutritional value of the meals was defined by the amount of calories, carbohydrates, protein, total fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sugars, cholesterol, and fruits and vegetables. Results. Most of the menus were deficient in the number of fruits and vegetables (63.9%) and amount of polyunsaturated fat (83.3%), but high in total fat (47.2%) and cholesterol (62.5%). Group 2, composed of mostly medium and large companies, supervised by a dietician, belonging to the industrial and/or service sectors, and using a hired caterer, on averaged served meals with higher calorie content (P < 0.001), higher percentage of polyunsaturated fat (P < 0.001), more cholesterol (P = 0.015), and more fruits and vegetables (P < 0.001) than Group 1, which was composed of micro and small companies from the commercial sector, that prepare the meals themselves on-site, and are not supervised by a dietitian. Regarding the nutrition guidelines set for the Brazilian population, Group 2 meals were better in terms of fruit and vegetable servings (P < 0.001). Group I meals were better in terms of cholesterol content (P = 0.05). Conclusions. More specific action is required targeting company officers and managers in charge of food and nutrition services, especially in companies without dietitian supervision.

Are information sources associated with Australian`s beliefs about the necessity of meat?

The aim of this study was to examine whether use of and trust in health, food, and nutrition information sources are associated with the belief that meat is a necessary dietary component. Over 700 South Australians participated in a questionnaire survey that included questions on frequency of use of and level of trust in information sources, vegetarian status, meat beliefs, and demography. It was found that information sources are associated with the belief that meat is necessary, since they
accounted for over 40% of the variance for all respondents. The most important associations were: lack of use of unorthodox sources; trust in orthodox sources; trust in advertising and the mass media; and trust in and use of social sources. There were differences in which predictors were important, however, depending on the respondent's sex, age, and vegetarian status. The implications of these observed communities of interest for health promotion are discussed.

Children's healthful eating : from research to practice

This paper provides a brief overview of some of the challenges facing the world community in promoting the nutrition status of schoolchildren. It begins by describing the main objectives and aims of children's nutrition promotion and then moves to consider the needs and environments of schoolchildren, the purposes of education and food and nutrition promotion, and the domains of schools and teachers. In the second part of the paper the evidence bases for food and nutrition promotion are considered, especially the gaps in current knowledge. This leads to a discussion of useful practice models as well as a case study of a school health promotion program in Australia. The final part of the paper examines some proposals for schoolchildren's food and nutrition policies, which might be implemented in local schools as well as nationally and internationally. The main theme underlying these proposals is that policies must be created and their effectiveness monitored regularly and reported back to schoolteachers, health workers, school communities, and governments.

Simplified or erroneous? It’s a fine line

Novice learners need to have simplified explanations because they are unable to understand fuller, more-involved explanations. However, there is a dangerously thin line between simplified explanations and over-simplified erroneous explanations, which lead to later misunderstandings and misconceptions. It is harder to unlearn misunderstandings and misconceptions, than to learn something new ab initio.

It is virtually impossible for any teacher to know everything that students will need for future study and careers, as each subject will lead to a myriad of pathways. For example, in my undergraduate 1st year class, students will go into numerous majors across more than 16 degree programs ranging from arts to zoology and from engineering to food-and-nutrition.