Objective: To describe the development and application of the School Food Environment Assessment Tools and a novel scoring system to assess the integration of healthy and environmentally sustainable food initiatives in elementary and secondary schools.
Design: The cross-sectional study included direct observations of physical food environments and interviews with key school personnel regarding food-related programmes and policies. A five-point scoring system was then developed to assess actions across six domains: (i) food gardens; (ii) composting systems; (iii) food preparation activities; (iv) food-related teaching and learning activities; and availability of (v) healthy food; and (vi) environmentally sustainable food.
Setting: Vancouver, Canada.
Subjects: A purposive sample of public schools (n 33) from all six sectors of the Vancouver Board of Education.
Results: Schools scored highest in the areas of food garden and compost system development and use. Regular integration of food-related teaching and learning activities and hands-on food preparation experiences were also commonly reported. Most schools demonstrated rudimentary efforts to make healthy and environmentally sustainable food choices available, but in general scored lowest on these two domains. Moreover, no schools reported widespread initiatives fully supporting availability or integration of healthy or environmentally sustainable foods across campus.
Conclusions: More work is needed in all areas to fully integrate programmes and policies that support healthy, environmentally sustainable food systems in Vancouver schools. The assessment tools and proposed indicators offer a practical approach for researchers, policy makers and school stakeholders to assess school food system environments, identify priority areas for intervention and track relevant changes over time.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1368980015000531 | DOI Listing |
J Crohns Colitis
January 2025
Servei d'Aparell Digestiu, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol (Badalona, Catalonia, Spain).
Background And Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) develops in genetically susceptible individuals exposed to certain environmental factors, of which only a few have been established. We aimed to assess whether bariatric surgery (BS) and severe obesity are associated with an increased risk of developing IBD.
Methods: Adults diagnosed with obesity or severe obesity between 2005 and 2020 were identified from the Catalan Health Surveillance System; those diagnosed with IBD prior to the diagnosis of obesity or severe obesity were excluded.
World J Microbiol Biotechnol
January 2025
Area of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, OneHealth-UR Research Group, University of La Rioja, 26006, Logroño, Spain.
Mammalian milk contains a variety of complex bioactive and nutritional components and microorganisms. These microorganisms have diverse compositions and functional roles that impact host health and disease pathophysiology, especially mastitis. The advent and use of high throughput omics technologies, including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, metametabolomics, as well as culturomics in milk microbiome studies suggest strong relationships between host phenotype and milk microbiome signatures in mastitis.
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January 2025
National Engineering Research Center of Green Feeds and Healthy Livestock Industry, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.
The widespread use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria, which pose significant threats to animal health and food safety. Host defense peptides (HDPs) have emerged as promising alternatives because of their unique antimicrobial properties and minimal resistance induction. However, the high costs associated with HDP production and incorporation into animal management practices hinder their widespread application.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Nano
January 2025
School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518000, China.
Electrochemical nitrate reduction (NORR) to ammonia presents a promising alternative strategy to the traditional Haber-Bosch process. However, the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) reduces the Faradaic efficiency toward ammonia, while the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) increases the energy consumption. This study designs IrCu alloy nanoparticles as a bifunctional catalyst to achieve efficient NORR and OER while suppressing the unwanted HER.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Health Res
January 2025
Health Sciences Institute, University for International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redenção, Ceará, Brazil.
Climate change poses a significant threat to human health. Long-term climate effects on childhood asthma hospitalizations depend on the population's geographic region. These effects in tropical drylands are not well understood.
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