0

Background: With increased research on the influence of the built environment on physical activity, methods of assessing environmental attributes have to be developed according to different research requirements. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the approach to develop and test a simple and eff?cient audit tool to get a quick overview of environmental characteristics along a route or in a neighborhood. Methods: Based on a selection of existing audit instruments, the...

Anti-malarial drugs are being used inappropriately for sick children in Zambia -- a problem that can be addressed by arming community health workers with a simple rapid-diagnostic test and a supply of antibiotics, a study led by researchers at Boston University School of Public Health has found. Listen to Kojo Yeboah-Antwi, assistant professor of international health at BUSPH, and David Hamer, professor of international health at BUSPH, discuss the study. Learn more at...

BACKGROUND: Sugar-sweetened soft drinks have been linked to a number of adverse health outcomes such as high weight gain. Therefore, artificially sweetened soft drinks are often promoted as an alternative. However, the safety of artificial sweeteners has been disputed, and consequences of high intakes of artificial sweeteners for pregnant women have been minimally addressed. OBJECTIVE: We examined the association between intakes of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drinks and...

Background: In nonmalaria regions, iron/folic acid supplementation during pregnancy protects newborns against preterm delivery and early neonatal death. Other studies from malaria-endemic areas have reported an adverse effect of iron supplements on malaria prevalence in pregnant women. Objective: We examined the association between iron/folic acid supplements and prenatal antimalaria prophylaxis on neonatal mortality in malaria-endemic countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Design: This...

Context: Concern over liability is a barrier to allowing community use of school property for the purpose of engaging in active sport and recreational activities. Recreational user statutes have the potential to limit liability for public schools when use occurs outside of regular school hours, reduce the fear of liability among school administrators, and increase opportunities for access to school facilities for recreation and physical activity by community members. The purpose of this...

My postercast provides an overview of my thesis on the food culture of City Heights, which includes the purpose of my research, findings/analysis, and an explanation to how the knowledge that is gathered from my thesis could contribute to grassroots mobilization.

Keywords: active transport, traffic calming, shared-lane marking, sustainable transport, public health

BACKGROUND: It is a public health recommendation to accumulate at least 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity physical activity. Although pedometers are widely used as a physical activity-monitoring tool, they are unable to measure activity intensity. Translating current physical activity recommendations into a pedometer-based guideline could increase the public health impact of physical activity interventions. METHODS: A community sample of 97 adults (60% women, with a mean age of 32.1...

This video describes a forthcoming paper in PLoS Medicine by Daniel Mäusezahl and colleagues. The paper is going to be published on the 18th August; it's under embargo until August 17th at 5PM Pacific Time. Citation: Maeusezahl D, Christen A, Duran Pacheco G, Tellez FA, Iriarte M, et al. (2009) Solar Drinking Water Disinfection (SODIS) to Reduce Childhood Diarrhoea in Rural Bolivia: A Cluster-Randomized, Controlled Trial. PLoS Med 6(8): e1000125. doi: For the press release and more...