School-based screening of the dietary intakes of third graders in rural Appalachian Ohio.

Background: Children in Appalachia are experiencing high levels of obesity, in large measure because of inferior diets. This study screened the dietary intake of third graders residing in 3 rural Appalachian counties in Ohio and determined whether the Food, Math, and Science Teaching Enhancement Resource Initiative (FoodMASTER) curriculum improved their dietary intake.

Methods: Dietary intake was measured for 238 third graders at the beginning of the 2007 to 2008 school year and for 224 third graders at the end of that year.

Using food as a tool to teach science to 3 grade students in Appalachian Ohio.

The Food, Math, and Science Teaching Enhancement Resource (FoodMASTER) Initiative is a compilation of programs aimed at using food as a tool to teach mathematics and science. In 2007-2008, a foods curriculum developed by professionals in nutrition and education was implemented in 10 3(rd)-grade classrooms in Appalachian Ohio; teachers in these classrooms implemented 45 hands-on foods activities that covered 10 food topics. Subjects included measurement; food safety; vegetables; fruits; milk and cheese; meat, poultry, and fish; eggs; fats; grains; and meal management.

Differential person functioning applied to baseball.

The question of whether a baseball player generally hits better against a left-handed or right-handed pitcher is difficult to answer since handedness is only one of many possible attributes of pitchers. The concept of differential functioning from psychometrics is applied, considering both the effect of the handedness of the pitcher and his earned run average (the mean number of runs scored against a pitcher per 9 innings pitched excluding runs due to errors). Two interesting cases are examined, a left-handed batter and a switch-hitter.