11 pages, Background: Teenage pregnancy is a major public health concern, especially in low- and middle-income countries, due to various social, economic and cultural influences on teenage girls. These pregnancies prove to have negative long-term effects on the health status of both the mother and the child where there are high risks of further complications and poor nutrition among the pregnant woman and the unborn child.
Methodology: This review combined searches from databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar. The main languages of the included articles were restricted to English, and the themes for the search were limited to teenage pregnancies and child malnutrition. The selection criteria were studies published between 2010 and 2023, and peer-reviewed articles that involved adolescent mothers between the ages of 10-19 years and different child nutrition outcomes.
Results: This study shows that teenage mothers are more likely to suffer some pregnancy complications, such as anaemia, which is made worse by poor maternal diets. These complications result in poor child health outcomes including stunting, wasting and low birth weight. The review revealed influential factors related to teenagers’ pregnancy including poverty, illiteracy, early marriage and unavailability of reproductive health facilities to all. Conversely, high-income countries record fewer incidences of these outcomes owing to improved and enhanced medical care services and social welfare provisions.
Conclusion: Findings from this review underscore issues that require intervention such as; education on the broader aspects of sexual and reproductive health, access to healthcare services, socio-economic empowerment, and addressing cultural factors through community mobilization. The realization of these strategies can greatly enhance maternal and child health outcomes. Future research should incorporate longitudinal designs and employ panel data analysis to investigate other social and economic effects of teenage pregnancy.
14pgs, The World Health Organization (WHO) has used communication methods to promote the international ban of the agricultural pesticides paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos. This ban has led to misunderstanding among farmers who still use these chemicals, which may be available under different brand names. Communication with the non-scientific community is uncertain leading to miscommunication, especially where scientific language is used. Governments have banned the use of these agricultural chemicals. The scientific arguments are not necessarily understood by famers so they may ignore the prohibition and continue using them or other similar chemicals. This study uses story-telling and qualitative research methods where a questionnaire is combined with the content analytical technique. The quantitative research method was used to collect data in the field where 351 participants took part. Participatory action research is a method where community farmers engaged in self-reflection on the impact of chemicals on their fields, their health and the health of others. Their understanding of the non-chemical usage model and good agricultural practice farmers in the vicinity, especially as they were personally involved in the creation of the media from script preparation, to acting, filming, and evaluating the final docu-dramas. The findings of the docu–drama programmes of 5 GAP farmers are presented to identify the perception of how to avoid using chemicals and their solutions for tangerine farmers through a manual that is the media output from the project and the resulting findings suggesting that the factors related to the effectiveness of scientific communication are divided into pull factors and push factors.
7 pages, Pecans are a heart-healthy food, serving as an excellent source of unsaturated fatty acids, micronutrients, and phytochemicals. Despite rapid growth of the U.S. pecan export in global market, domestic pecan consumption has been stagnating, especially in attracting young consumers. This study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of nutrition education brochure that utilizes two information formats-rich media and traditional media-for promoting nutritional knowledge of pecans among young consumers. The experiment followed a between-subjects 2 x 2 design. Four versions of digital brochures were developed to manipulate two independent variables: video (absent vs. present) and recipe (absent vs. present). The findings indicated that including a video in the digital brochure can help increase consumers’ perceived information quality, and recipe content can help increase consumers' trust in the nutrition information and information source. The results also showed that for consumers with a lower prior knowledge regarding pecans, educational materials including a video were more effective than materials without a video. Such strategies to promote pecan consumption could benefit the pecan industry as well as public health.
5pgs, Attention to stress and mental health among agricultural producers has increased over recent years, and Cooperative Extension has been active in offering educational workshops and resources to agricultural audiences. This article describes the process and effectiveness of expanding two (university) Extension farm stress management programs to Cooperative Extension in other states through a national Farm Stress Management Summit. The two-day training Summit provided deeper knowledge about farm stress issues and prepared Extension professionals to offer behavioral health programs in their own communities and respective states. Evaluation findings highlight effective aspects of the Summit and next steps.
9pgs, The goal of this literature review was to identify evidence-based curricula that support youth mental health with special attention to inclusion of access, equity, and belonging (AEB). Four databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2019 related to youth mental health curricula. A total of 1446 articles were identified, and 171 articles underwent a full-text review. Of the 61 curricula identified, 44% addressed AEB to some extent and 65% showed program effectiveness. Four programs were recommended (Sources of Strength, Teen Mental Health First Aid, Dynamic Mindfulness, and Youth Mental Health First Aid) and eight conditionally recommended.
3 pages, This article provides a brief overview of Farm Dinner Theater (FDT), a novel intervention that positively influences the health and safety behaviors of senior family farmers and their family. The FDT uses principles of adult learning and engages the audience in conversations about their health and safety experiences. The FDT was developed through interdisciplinary community-engaged research and tested using a repeated measures design with 553 intervention and 317 comparison participants. Significant changes were reported and the FDT is now being used by Extension through the use of a toolkit developed by the project.
Online issue. 3 pages., Announces a new core program area, Integrated Health Disparities, in Illinois Extension. Purpose: "To provide leadership and resources in the crusade to address health inequities." Priority issues will include health promotion and education, healthcare access, behavioral health, and community well-being.
25 pages, Decreasing the consumption of meat and dairy has been identified as an effective strategy for protecting the health of humans and the planet. More specifically, transitioning to diets that are lower in animal-source foods and higher in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains offers a promising opportunity to better align consumer behaviors with contemporary nutritional and ecological goals. However, given the limited understanding of how these changes in dietary behaviors can be best promoted, there is a need to explore the merits of community-based approaches to meat reduction and their capacity to advance more sustainable practices of eating at the individual, household, and community levels. To address this gap in the literature, we surveyed more than 100 American households participating in a communitywide, 12-week-long Meatless Monday challenge and tracked the changes in their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and food choices over a nine-month period. The case study provided herein highlights a number of key findings from our evaluation. Most notably, our results demonstrate the value of community-based efforts in initiating and maintaining dietary behavior change and provide preliminary insights into the unique roles of multilevel interventions and diverse stakeholder engagement in promoting healthier, more sustainable diets.
Online from periodical., Article briefly describes research indicating the windows of opportunity for encouraging babies to eat and like fruits and vegetables.
Online from publisher. 2 pages., "The effects of misinformation during a pandemic, especially via social media, highlight how important it is for produce companies to have a clear, correct, calm message." Author cites importance of being sensitive to the needs of those being served. Cites examples of adjusted messaging during the COVID-19 pamdemic.
USA: Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12130
Notes:
Online from publisher. 4 pages., Brief identification and description of teaching activities to help learners apply critical thinking skills to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the hazards of agricultural work and prevention measures to take.
12 pages, According to the World Health Organization a diet high in vegetables may reduce the risk of coronary heart diseases, stroke, and certain types of cancer. In addition, vegetables have lower carbon footprints than most other foods. The main objective in this paper is to find drivers behind vegetable consumption, with emphasis on health and environmental motivation. We used the theory of planned behavior together with direct acyclic graphs as a theoretical basis. The empirical analysis applied the graded response model and bounded beta regression with survey data from 2019. The main results show that health attitude is a stronger motivator for vegetable consumption than environmental attitudes.
1 page., Via IFAS Extension, University of Florida, These flyers, written by Natalie Seymour, Mary Yavelak, Candice Christian, and Ben Chapman (NC State University Extension), provide quick, digestible information regarding prevention of COVID-19 and procedures for food service, grocery stores, and other food-related businesses. This flyer in particular provides guidance regarding takeout and COVID-19. Published by the UF/IFAS Food Science and Human Nutrition Department.
1 page., Via IFAS Extension, University of Florida, These flyers, written by Natalie Seymour, Mary Yavelak, Candice Christian, and Ben Chapman (NC State University Extension), provide quick, digestible information regarding prevention of COVID-19 and procedures for food service, grocery stores, and other food-related businesses. This flyer in particular provides information about food safety in relation to COVID-19. Published by the UF/IFAS Food Science and Human Nutrition Department.
Online via Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Australia-based university educators evaluated learner participation and perceptions in an evidence-based Massive Open Online Course(MOOC) about nutrition and provided recommendations for engaging international online lay audiences with diverse backgrounds. Findings highlighted complexities of delivering such education "in the online space crowded with food advertising and nutrition conjecture."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11097
Notes:
Online from ACES News, University of Illinois. 2 pages., Findings of a survey among farmers in Wisconsin suggested that respondents were open to receiving agricultural health and safety information from any source. Preferred methods of delivery: magazines and newspapers, face-to-face communication. Least preferred: social media, the internet and phone support lines.
7 pages., Article # 6IAW6, via online journal., Although Extension educators have harnessed the power of technology as an important vehicle for conveying research-based content, it is important that the power of traditional educational methods not be overlooked. These traditional methods remain ideas that work, have worked, and continue to work even today. In this article, we spotlight these traditional ideas by presenting a social marketing campaign that engages limited-resource audiences via themed print educational materials—posters, brochures, and bookmarks. Evaluation results indicate that the campaign has been successful in engaging the target audience and motivating them regarding the adoption of healthful behavior changes.
10 pages., Article #:4FEA4, via online journal., Childhood obesity is one of the leading problems facing Americans today. As children continue to struggle with both obesity and food insecurity, many parents and doctors look to schools to be responsible for providing healthful meals. The aim of the Farm to School (F2S) program is to bring fresh, local produce into school cafeterias. Aligning with Extension goals, the F2S program provides an opportunity for both the development of healthful lifestyles and increases in agricultural profits. Through interviews with producers and school food service directors, we determined ways Extension programming can be used to improve the efficiency of the F2S program.
16 pages., Article #:3RIB3, via online journal., Research on the family mealtime has shown its importance for youths' dietary attitudes and behaviors. Youths who have more frequent family meals often have more healthful dietary behaviors. However, little is known about the context and processes related to how family mealtimes affect youths' dietary behaviors. To address this gap, we examined the context of family mealtimes and parent socialization that occurs during family meals through mealtime observations and interviews. Family mealtimes are valued by parents, and our findings can be useful to Extension professionals in educating parents and families regarding shaping of family mealtimes, feeding strategies, and nutrition.
24 pages., via online journal., Biofortification of staple crops to combat micronutrient deficiencies is gaining global recognition. Projects promoting biofortified food crops use intensive agriculture-nutrition education and extension activities to increase adoption of such crops. This study examines the effect of such programs on the adoption and diffusion of orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). It finds that intensive agriculture-nutrition education and extension programs adopted by some of the biofortification projects increases the adoption and diffusion of OFSP. Specifically, participation in mother-to-mother nutrition support clubs and nutrition-focused health talks affect its adoption and diffusion, but with varying degrees of importance. The paper discusses the implications of these findings.
8 pages., More than 800 Australian adults responded to an electronic questionnaire distributed via email and social media. Respondents "were challenged to accurately perceive silhouettes corresponding to an obese body mass index (BMI) in themselves and others. Misperception of weight status was more likely to exist among those with a BMI less than 18.5 - or 30 or more ("overweight" and "obese"). "Silhouettes may act as an effective visual cue in initiating weight related discussions."
18 pages., via online journal., Genetically modified (GM) foods have attracted a great deal of controversy. While some consumers and organizations regard GM foods as safe, many other consumers and organizations remain concerned about their potential health risks. The results of three studies suggest that consumers respond differently to persuasive messages regarding GM foods on the basis of their preexisting attitudes. Weak anti-GM consumers tend to comply with a variety of pro-GM messages. In contrast, strong anti-GM consumers exhibit message-opposing behavior. Moreover, they respond just as negatively to a safety message (claiming that GM foods are safe) as to a risk message (claiming that GM foods are unsafe). The mechanism underlying these effects is consumers’ perceived health risk. A benefit message claiming that GM foods are beneficial (e.g., more nutritious than their conventional counterparts) is a better alternative for strong anti-GM consumers. Finally, the results suggest that persuasive messages do not significantly change pro-GM consumers’ evaluations of these foods.
12 pages, via online journal, This study aimed to investigate elementary school students’ needs and preferences regarding urban agriculture. In total, 1268 students in grades 4 to 6 at four elementary schools in Seoul, South Korea, participated in the study. A 21-item questionnaire was developed and distributed in each school by trained researchers for 3 weeks in Oct. 2017. More than 73.7% of the students reported having an awareness of and need for urban agriculture, and 86.8% (N = 1048) indicated their participation intention. Students noted needing urban agriculture for scientific inquiry and recommended including a learning activity in urban agriculture (35.4%, N = 400) for psychological stability and stress reduction (20.9%, N = 236), and for leisure and hobby purposes (16.2%, N = 183). Students reported participating in urban agriculture activities in indoor and outdoor spaces (33.8%, N = 423) for more than 30 minutes and less than 60 minutes (42.0%, N = 525) twice per week (40.2%, N = 501) with friends (72.9%, N = 818). Preferred urban agriculture indoor activities were planting plants (21.8%, N = 822), arranging flowers (20.9%, N = 788), and making craftwork using plants (18.9%, N = 714). Harvesting (20.8%, N = 790), watering (15.1%, N = 570), and planting transplants (13.1%, N = 493) were preferred outdoor activities. Other preferred activities included playing with livestock (22.4%, N = 884), cooking with the harvested crops (21.3%, N = 805), and feeding livestock (17.2%, N = 650). The female students demonstrated greater perception, experience, awareness of the necessity, and willingness to participate in urban agriculture compared with male students (P = 0.01). The lower the grade, the more students perceived the necessity of urban agriculture (P < 0.001). The results of this study can provide basic data for the practical development of urban agriculture programs for elementary school students.
Kite, James (author), Gale, Joanne (author), Grunsell, Anne (author), Bellew, William (author), Lee, Vincy (author), Lloyd, Beverley (author), Maxwell, Michelle (author), Vineburg, John (author), and Bauman, Adrian (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2018-06
Published:
Australia
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10376
8 pages., Via online journal., With growing interest in food system solutions to address poor health outcomes related to preventable chronic diseases, organizations and researchers are examining the value of community gardens as interventions to promote individual and community health. Research suggests that participation in community gardens improves access to fresh, healthy foods and increases fruit and vegetable consumption. In addition to these physical benefits, research also documents a variety of social and communal benefits, by expanding social capital, stabilizing neighborhoods, and cultivating relationships. Unfortunately, most of these studies focus on a specific case, cross case, or intervention studies within a geographically specific locale. Learning lessons from successful community garden programs can be difficult because community gardens often rely on the synergy of a complex network of support agencies that assist in various technical and educational capacities. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the use of a framework for program development and evaluation that stakeholders, including extension, can adopt to show program outcomes. The framework used a Delphi approach with a diverse panel of community garden stakeholders to reach consensus about program outcomes. The study demonstrated that the panel could reach consensus on a variety of short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes.
5 pages, via online journal, The tool kit Mobilizing Rural Communities to Prevent Childhood Obesity is the product of a seven-state multidisciplinary research project focused on enhancing obesity prevention efforts by integrating community coaching into the work of rural community coalitions. The interactive tool kit is available at no cost both in print form and online, and it consists of five tutorials that present best practices and lessons learned throughout the research project. Extension professionals working within health promotion coalitions may wish to use or promote the tool kit. Coalition members can complete the activities contained in the tool kit individually or as a group.
Oparinde, Adewale (author), Birol, Ekin (author), Murekezi, Abdoul (author), Katsvairo, Lister (author), Diressie, Michael T. (author), Nkundimana, Jean d'amour (author), and Butare, Louis (author)
Format:
Journal article
Language:
English / French
Publication Date:
2017-06-29
Published:
Rwanda: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08314
Taylor, Carl (author), Symon, Elizabeth B. (author), Dabbs, Amy (author), Way, Alexander (author), Thompson, Olivia M. (author), and Center for Livable Communities
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2017-04
Published:
United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10447
7 pages., Via online journal., South Carolina public schools consistently rank low in academic performance. In addition, 39% of elementary, 40% of middle, and 30% of high school students within the state are classified as overweight or obese. School garden-based learning (GBL) is a low-cost and high-impact initiative that addresses both poor academic performance and childhood obesity. This study examined how school-based gardens, as part of a pilot farm-to-school (FtS) initiative, are administered and used within academic and cafeteria meal programs. An online survey was developed and sent to 102 educators who previously completed an online training course entitled School Gardening for South Carolina Educators during the 2012–15 academic school years. Data were collected from 37 educators (36% response rate). Survey results indicate that the majority of these educators, although they completed the training course, were unaware that their garden was a component of an FtS program. Moreover, gardens were not integrated with school-wide programs, especially in the cafeteria: most gardens did not contribute food to the cafeteria and meals offered most often did not align with plants learned about in the gardens. Successes of the pilot program were that the majority of educators started and maintained their garden for over 1 year and they were able to use their gardens during the day for academic instruction in multiple disciplines, including math, science, and nutrition.
Glass, Sara (author), Fanzo, Jessica (author), and Berman Institute of Bioethics, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
Berman Institute of Bioethics, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, 1809 Ashland Avenue, Deering Hall, Baltimore, MD, United States
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2017-04
Published:
USA: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 162 Document Number: D08099
Finn, Symma (author), O'Fallon, Liam (author), and Division of Extramural Research and Training, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Resources, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2017-04
Published:
USA: Superintendent of Documents
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 164 Document Number: D08303
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 32 Document Number: D10616
Notes:
12 pages., via website, Health Communication Capacity Collaborative., U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID Guatemala)and the Health Communication Capacity Collaboration(HC3)of Johns Hopkins University led this strategy in Guatemala from 2012-2016.
Wu, Helen W. (author), Backman, Desiree (author), Kizer, Kenneth W. (author), and Institute for Population Health Improvement, UC Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA, United States
California Department of Health Care Services, Institute for Population Health Improvement, UC Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA, United States
UC Davis School of Medicine, Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, Sacramento, CA, United States
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2017
Published:
USA: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Inc
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08139
Kadiyala, Suneetha (author), Morgan, Emily H. (author), Cyriac, Shruthi (author), Margolies, Amy (author), Roopnaraine, Terry (author), and Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH), London, United Kingdom
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
St. Johns Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
Independent consultant, Brasilia, DF, Brazil
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2016-10-13
Published:
India: Public Library of Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 164 Document Number: D08245
