A Descriptive Analysis of Redemption Patterns by Vendor Type Among: WIC Participants in Massachusetts.

Background: The retail environment is an important determinant of food package redemption in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Objective: The objectives of this study were to describe where Massachusetts WIC households redeemed their food benefits each month and monthly variations in benefit redemption depending on a household's most frequently used vendor type each month.

Design: These were cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of administrative data provided by Massachusetts WIC.

Food Marketing Practices of Major Online Grocery Retailers in the United States, 2019-2020.

Background: Food marketing influences consumers' preferences for and selection of marketed products. Although a substantial body of research has described food-marketing practices in brick-and-mortar stores, no research has examined food marketing in online grocery retail despite its growing importance as a source of food-at-home purchases.

Objective: To develop and apply a coding instrument to describe food marketing and the nutritional quality of marketed products in online grocery stores.

Comparing Online and In-Store Grocery Purchases.

Objective: To describe the grocery shopping patterns of people who shopped both online and in-store and evaluate whether shoppers purchased fewer unhealthy, impulse-sensitive items online.

Design: Secondary analysis of 44 weeks of grocery transaction data collected for fruit and vegetable incentive trials in 2 Maine supermarkets.

Participants: A total of 137 primary household shoppers who shopped at least once in-store and online (curbside pickup) for 5,573 total transactions MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES AND ANALYSIS: Paired t tests and descriptive analyses compared online and in-store transactions with respect to frequency, total spending, number of items purchased, and spending on 10 food groups and 34 subgroups.

Comparing shopper characteristics by online grocery ordering use among households in low-income communities in Maine.

Objective: Online grocery shopping could improve access to healthy food, but it may not be equally accessible to all populations - especially those at higher risk for food insecurity. The current study aimed to compare the socio-demographic characteristics of families who ordered groceries online v. those who only shopped in-store.

Supermarkets in Cyberspace: A Conceptual Framework to Capture the Influence of Online Food Retail Environments on Consumer Behavior.

The rapid increase in online shopping and the extension of online food purchase and delivery services to federal nutrition program participants highlight the need for a conceptual framework capturing the influence of online food retail environments on consumer behaviors. This study aims to develop such a conceptual framework. To achieve this, mixed methods were used, including: (1) a literature review and development of an initial framework; (2) key informant interviews; (3) pilot testing and refinement of the draft framework; and (4) a group discussion with experts to establish content validity.

Physicians' political party affiliation and clinical management of obesity.

Studies have documented that few patients with obesity receive evidence-based care. One provider characteristic that may impact clinical obesity care, but that has been under studied to date, is political party affiliation. This study sought to evaluate how primary care physicians (PCPs) report managing patients with obesity and assess whether there are differences between Democratic and Republican PCPs.

The Effect of Graphic Warnings on Sugary-Drink Purchasing.

Governments have proposed text warning labels to decrease consumption of sugary drinks-a contributor to chronic diseases such as diabetes. However, they may be less effective than more evocative, graphic warning labels. We field-tested the effectiveness of graphic warning labels (vs.

100% Juice, Fruit, and Vegetable Intake Among Children in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and Nonparticipants.

Introduction: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides monthly food packages to low-income children (aged 1-4 years) in the U.S., including 128 ounces of 100% fruit juice and an $8 cash value voucher for purchasing fruits and vegetables.

Interventions to prevent global childhood overweight and obesity: a systematic review.

In view of the prevalence, health consequences, and costs of childhood obesity, there has been substantial interest in identifying effective interventions to prevent excess weight gain in young people. In this systematic review, we expand on previous reviews of obesity prevention interventions by including recent studies (until May 23, 2017) from all parts of the world. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Plus, Web of Science, CAB Abstracts, and PAIS Index and included randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies, or natural experiments with: (1) a control group; (2) minimum follow-up of 12 months for community-based and home-based interventions or 6 months for school-based and preschool-based interventions; and (3) a primary outcome of BMI, BMI Z score, BMI percentile, body fat percentage, skinfold thickness, waist circumference, or prevalence of overweight or obesity.

Successes and Challenges in School Meal Reform: Qualitative Insights From Food Service Directors.

Background: The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) directed the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to revise school meal standards to increase healthy food offerings. A critical stakeholder in the implementation of standards is Food Service Directors (FSDs). We sought to examine FSDs' perspectives on revised school meal standards to gain insight into successful implementation strategies.

Policy approach to nutrition and physical activity education in health care professional training.

Nutrition and physical activity are key risk factors for a host of today's most prevalent and costly chronic conditions, such as obesity and diabetes; yet, health care providers are not adequately trained to educate patients on the components of a healthy lifestyle. The purpose of this article is to underscore the need for improved nutrition and physical activity training among health care professionals and to explore opportunities for how policy can help support a shift in training. We first identify key barriers to sufficient training in nutrition and physical activity.

Discordance rates between preliminary and final radiology reports on cross-sectional imaging studies at a level 1 trauma center.

Rationale And Objectives: The goal was to determine discordance rates between preliminary radiology reports provided by on-call radiology house staff and final reports from attending radiologists on cross-sectional imaging studies requested by emergency department staff after hours.

Materials And Methods: A triplicate carbon copy reporting form was developed to provide permanent records of preliminary radiology reports and to facilitate communication of discrepant results to the emergency department. Data were collected over 21 weeks to determine the number of discordant readings.

Preservation of normal cognitive functioning in elderly subjects with extensive white-matter lesions of long duration.

Although deep white-matter brain lesions are seen on magnetic resonance imaging in about one third of elderly subjects, their clinical significance is not known. In 1984, we studied three retired teachers who had extensive deep white-matter brain lesions on magnetic resonance imaging, yet functioned cognitively at an above-average level. Blinded review of 1981 computed tomographic scans revealed patchy white-matter lucencies for two of the subjects.

Computed tomographic evidence for generalized sulcal and ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia.

Quantification of ventricular and sulcal volumes from the computed tomographic (CT) scans of 45 schizophrenic patients and 57 normal controls was carried out using a semi-automated computerized approach. The sizes of all cerebrospinal fluid spaces measured were significantly related to age in the control population. An age regression model was used to compare patients and controls.

Brain computerized tomography in subtypes of severe chronic schizophrenia.

Computerized tomographic (CT) brain scans were obtained in severely ill, chronic schizophrenic patients hospitalized in a long-term in-patient facility of a Veterans Administration hospital, and compared to CT brain scans from an age, sex and education-matched normal control population. In contrast to results obtained in our previous studies with younger, less severely ill, chronic schizophrenic patients, the current study population exhibited significantly increased rankings of third ventricular size and of fronto-tempero-sylvian atrophy, compared to normal control subjects.

Computer-interactive method for quantifying cerebrospinal fluid and tissue in brain CT scans: effects of aging.

Presented here is a modification of a previously developed, computed, semiautomated system for quantifying the amount of CSF and tissue on brain CT scans. The technique automatically strips skull from brain and applies a two-dimensional high-pass filter to reduce spectral-shift artifact. The resultant images are presented along with the raw images, section by section, on a screen for fluid-tissue differentiation by a human scorer.

Neurologic dysfunction in patients treated for small cell carcinoma of the lung: a clinical and radiological study.

The neurologic dysfunction in 7 patients treated for small cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung by combination chemotherapy and prophylactic brain irradiation was evaluated. The disease appeared to be a diffuse encephalopathy frequently affecting the higher cortical functions. Five out of seven patients had progressive dysfunction leading to death in 1 to 26 months; one patient had stabilization of symptoms followed by death in 21 months, probably from the neurologic disease as well as SCC; one patient's symptoms improved.

The ventricular-brain ratio on computed tomography scans: validity and proper use.

The planimetric measurement of the area of the ventricles on a computed tomographic section is a convenient and useful method of assessing ventricular size when more sophisticated techniques are not available. It is commonly reported as a planimetric ventricular-brain ratio or VBR. Ventricular size is related to cranial size in normal adults which provides a rationale for the use of a ratio of areas.

CT measures of cerebrospinal fluid volume in alcoholics and normal volunteers.

Cranial computed tomography (CT) scans were obtained in 46 male chronic alcoholics and 31 normal male volunteers. Automated methods were used to estimate the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume in various intracranial zones. Measures of the ventricular fluid volume, the volume of fluid in cortical areas on CT sections at the level of the ventricles, and the sulcal fluid volumes on two convexity sections were computed.

Computed tomography in schizophrenics and normal volunteers. I. Fluid volume.

Recent findings of enlarged ventricles and sulcal widening in the computed tomographic (CT) scans of schizophrenic subjects have raised questions about the etiology and treatment of this disorder. Measures obtained from computerized analyses of CT scans of 30 schizophrenic and 33 normal subjects showed no significant difference between the groups in ventricular or sulcal fluid volumes. The discrepancy between our findings and those of other investigators may have been due to different measurement techniques or to differences in the samples.

Computed tomography in schizophrenics and normal volunteers. II. Cranial asymmetry.

We studied cranial asymmetry in 31 schizophrenics and 32 normal volunteers, all of whom were male and right-handed. Automated measures of computed tomographic (CT) scans were used to estimate global hemicranial and hemispheric ventricular volume differences. A manual method was used to measure hemicranial asymmetries between the widths of the frontal and occipital areas on CT images.