Search

Canadian post-secondary students are vulnerable to food insecurity, yet lack of examination of this issue has prevented identification of policy and program solutions. This mixed-methods study aimed to characterize the experience of food insecurity among undergraduate students by eliciting barriers to food security, strategies used to manage food and money shortages, and perceived implications for health and academic achievement. Surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 students who demonstrated compromised financial access to food. Students normalized experiences of food insecurity as typical of post-secondary education but expressed anxiety and frustration with financial inaccessibility to healthy food, and described negative implications for their physical and mental health and their ability to perform well in school. Ongoing attempts to adapt or adjust to food insecurity had limited success. Findings highlight the need to challenge the "starving student" ideology, which normalizes the lack of access to healthy food during higher education.

Copyright of Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning is the property of Society for Teaching & Learning in Higher Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Measures that can provide reasonably accurate estimates of sugar-containing beverage (SCB) intake among children are needed. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the relative validity of a short beverage screener (Nutrition and Health Questionnaire, NHQ) compared to a 24-hour recall (Automated Self-Administered 24-h (ASA24) Dietary Assessment Tool-Canada) for assessing parent proxy-reported daily SCB intake among children aged 4–14 years from the TARGet Kids! research network in Toronto, Canada. Children for whom a NHQ completed between March 2018 and June 2019 and an ASA24 completed within one year were included. A total of 471 parents who completed the NHQ beverage screener were also asked to complete the ASA24. One-hundred sixty-three completed the ASA24 and of this group, 109 were analyzed. Estimates of daily intake of 100% juices, sweetened drinks and soda, and total SCBs from the two measures were compared. The mean difference in beverage intake, Spearman correlations, and Bland-Altman plots were estimated for continuous measures. The kappa coefficient, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated for dichotomous measures of any daily intake versus none. The mean difference in total SCB intake between the NHQ and ASA24 was 0.14 cups/day (95% CI 0.01, 0.29) and the correlation was 0.43 (95% CI 0.26, 0.57). Sensitivity and specificity for any daily SCB intake were 0.63 and 0.76, respectively. Overall, parent proxy-reporting of children's total SCB intake from a beverage screener can provide reasonable estimates of SCB intake when detailed dietary assessment is not feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To examine the correlates of current smoking among Metis aged 18 years and older, with a particular focus on culturally-specific factors. Cultural factors included spirituality, knowledge of an Aboriginal language, membership in a Metis organization and attendance at Metis cultural events. Demographic, geographic, socio-economic and health-related variables were also considered. METHODS: Data from 6,610 adult Metis aged 18 years and older who responded to the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey and Metis supplement were used to examine the correlates of current smoking using sequential binary logistic regression modelling. RESULTS: Overall, 39.9% of adult Metis respondents in the sample were current smokers. Adult Metis who reported a high level of spirituality were less likely to be current smokers. Those who spoke an Aboriginal language, or lived in a house where an Aboriginal language was spoken, were more likely to be current smokers. Being a member of a Metis organization and attending cultural events were not independently associated with current smoking. Metis with higher household income, greater education, higher self-perceived health, and greater physical activity participation were less likely to be current smokers, whereas those who reported heavy alcohol consumption were more likely to be current smokers. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that interventions aimed at reducing smoking among adult Metis might be more successful if they include some connection to spirituality. It is also evident that co-occurring risk behaviours, in addition to demographic and socio-economic factors, are important considerations when developing interventions to reduce smoking among this population. KEY WORDS: Smoking; tobacco; Indigenous population; adult; Canada La traduction du resume se trouve a la fin de l'article. OBJECTIF: Examiner les correlats du tabagisme actuel chez les Metis de 18 ans et plus, en accordant une attention particuliere aux facteurs propres a la culture. Les facteurs culturels etaient la spiritualite, la connaissance d'une langue autochtone, l'appartenance a une organisation metisse et la participation a des activites culturelles metisses. Des variables demographiques, geographiques, socioeconomiques et sanitaires ont aussi ete prises en compte. METHODE: Les donnees des 6 610 Metis adultes de 18 ans et plus ayant repondu a l'Enquete aupres des peuples autochtones de 2006 et au Supplement destine aux Metis ont servi a examiner les correlats du tabagisme actuel selon un modele de regression logistique binaire sequentielle. RESULTATS: Globalement, 39,9 % des repondants metis adultes de l'echantillon etaient des fumeurs actuels. Les Metis adultes ayant declare un haut niveau de spiritualite etaient moins susceptibles d'etre des fumeurs actuels. Ceux qui parlaient une langue autochtone ou qui vivaient dans une maison oU l'on parlait une langue autochtone etaient plus susceptibles d'etre des fumeurs actuels. L'appartenance a une organisation metisse et la participation a des manifestations culturelles n'etaient pas independamment associees au tabagisme actuel. Les Metis dont le revenu du menage, le niveau de scolarite, la sante autopercue et le niveau d'activite physique etaient plus eleves etaient moins susceptibles d'etre des fumeurs actuels, tandis que ceux ayant declare une forte consommation d'alcool etaient plus susceptibles d'etre des fumeurs actuels. CONCLUSIONS: Les interventions visant a reduire le tabagisme chez les Metis adultes pourraient etre plus fructueuses si elles incluaient un lien avec la spiritualite. On voit aussi que les comportements a risque concomitants, en plus des facteurs demographiques et socioeconomiques, sont d'importants facteurs a prendre en compte lorsqu'on elabore des interventions pour reduire le tabagisme dans cette population. MOTS CLES: tabagisme; tabac; population d'origine amerindienne; adulte; Canada doi: 10.17269/CJPH.106.5053, Aboriginal Canadians suffer from poorer health than non-Aboriginal Canadians. (1) Among the most notable medical conditions that characterize this diminished health status are cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. (1, 2) It [...]