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6 p., Objectives To assess risk factors associated with non-fatal injuries (NFIs) from road traffic accidents (RTAs) or falls. Methods Our study included 151 609 participants from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological study. Participants reported whether they experienced injuries within the past 12 months that limited normal activities. Additional questions elicited data on risk factors. We employed multivariable logistic regression to analyse data. Results Overall, 5979 participants (3.9% of 151 609) reported at least one NFI. Total number of NFIs was 6300: 1428 were caused by RTAs (22.7%), 1948 by falls (30.9%) and 2924 by other causes (46.4%). Married/common law status was associated with fewer falls, but not with RTA. Age 65–70 years was associated with fewer RTAs, but more falls; age 55–64 years was associated with more falls. Male versus female was associated with more RTAs and fewer falls. In lower-middle-income countries, rural residence was associated with more RTAs and falls; in low-income countries, rural residence was associated with fewer RTAs. Previous alcohol use was associated with more RTAs and falls; current alcohol use was associated with more falls. Education was not associated with either NFI type. Conclusions This study of persons aged 35–70 years found that some risk factors for NFI differ according to whether the injury is related to RTA or falls. Policymakers may use these differences to guide the design of prevention policies for RTA-related or fall-related NFI.

Digital, Methods We assessed fruit and vegetable consumption using data from country-specific, validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study, which enrolled participants from communities in 18 countries between Jan 1, 2003, and Dec 31, 2013. We documented household income data from participants in these communities; we also recorded the diversity and non-sale prices of fruits and vegetables from grocery stores and market places between Jan 1, 2009, and Dec 31, 2013. We determined the cost of fruits and vegetables relative to income per household member. Linear random effects models, adjusting for the clustering of households within communities, were used to assess mean fruit and vegetable intake by their relative cost. Findings Of 143 305 participants who reported plausible energy intake in the food frequency questionnaire, mean fruit and vegetable intake was 3·76 servings (95% CI 3·66–3·86) per day. Mean daily consumption was 2·14 servings (1·93–2·36) in low-income countries (LICs), 3·17 servings (2·99–3·35) in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), 4·31 servings (4·09–4·53) in upper-middle-income countries (UMICs), and 5·42 servings (5·13–5·71) in high-income countries (HICs). In 130 402 participants who had household income data available, the cost of two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables per day per individual accounted for 51·97% (95% CI 46·06–57·88) of household income in LICs, 18·10% (14·53–21·68) in LMICs, 15·87% (11·51–20·23) in UMICs, and 1·85% (−3·90 to 7·59) in HICs (ptrend=0·0001). In all regions, a higher percentage of income to meet the guidelines was required in rural areas than in urban areas (p, Ciencias Médicas y de la Salud

In South Africa, malnutrition and poverty often co-exist with urbanization, which is associated with significant dietary change mostly due to neglect of indigenous foods and loss of indigenous knowledge. The article is based on a study that was aimed at assessing the availability, cultivation, consumption and general knowledge about indigenous plant foods in rural and urban communities. A comparative study was conducted in rural and urban populations of the North West Province of South Africa. Data were collected using a questionnaire (n=396 households), key informant interviews (n=4) and four focus groups. The rural area had more plant food available and consumed than the urban area, and fewer species were used as edible food material than expected. Consumers noted a decline in the availability of the species. The main reasons attributed to this decline wereinsufficient rainfall, poor soil quality, deforestation and over harvesting. Consumption of indigenous foods was influenced by price, culture, seasonality/availability, accessibility and diversity in markets. The elderly were more knowledgeable compared to the younger age groups and knowledge was widely distributed in rural areas. The study revealed thatthere was no cultivation of indigenous crops in the urban areas. In the rural areas, cultivation of indigenous crops was limited to a number of species and restricted to household consumption.Keywords: Indigenous knowledge, consumption, indigenous and traditional plant foods, cultivation, consumer.

Background: Obesity and other noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factors are increasing in low- and middle-income countries. There are few data on the association between increased added sugar intake and NCD risk in these countries. Objective: We assessed the relation between added sugar intake and NCD risk factors in an African cohort study. Added sugars were defined as all monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods and beverages during processing, cooking, and at the table. Design: We conducted a 5-y follow-up of a cohort of 2010 urban and rural men and women aged 30–70 y of age at recruitment in 2005 from the North West Province in South Africa. Results: Added sugar intake, particularly in rural areas, has increased rapidly in the past 5 y. In rural areas, the proportion of adults who consumed sucrose-sweetened beverages approximately doubled (for men, from 25% to 56%; for women, from 33% to 63%) in the past 5 y. After adjustment, subjects who consumed more added sugars (≥10% energy from added sugars) compared with those who consumed less added sugars had a higher waist circumference [mean difference (95% CI): 1.07 cm (0.35, 1.79 cm)] and body mass index (in kg/m2) [0.43 (0.12, 0.74)] and lower HDL cholesterol [−0.08 mmol/L (−0.14, 0.002 mmol/L)]. Conclusions: This cohort showed dramatic increases in added sugars and sucrose-sweetened beverage consumption in both urban and rural areas. Increased consumption was associated with increased NCD risk factors. In addition, the study showed that the nutrition transition has reached a remote rural area in South Africa. Urgent action is needed to address these trends http://dx.doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.113.069005 http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/99/6/1479.full.pdf+html

BACKGROUND More than 80% of deaths from cardiovascular disease are estimated to occur in low-income and middle-income countries, but the reasons are unknown. METHODS We enrolled 156,424 persons from 628 urban and rural communities in 17 countries (3 high-income, 10 middle-income, and 4 low-income countries) and assessed their cardiovascular risk using the INTERHEART Risk Score, a validated score for quantifying risk-factor burden without the use of laboratory testing (with higher scores indicating greater risk-factor burden). Participants were followed for incident cardiovascular disease and death for a mean of 4.1 years. RESULTS The mean INTERHEART Risk Score was highest in high-income countries, inter- mediate in middle-income countries, and lowest in low-income countries (P

High susceptibility of the African population to develop cardiovascular disease obliges us to investigate possible contributing risk factors. Our aim was to determine whether low 25(OH)D status is associated with increased blood pressure and carotid-radial pulse wave velocity in black South African women. We studied 291 urban women (mean age: 57.5669.00 yrs.). 25(OH)D status was determined by serum 25(OH)D levels. Women were stratified into sufficient (.30 ng/ ml), and insufficient/deficient (,30 ng/ml) groups. Cardiovascular variables were compared between groups. Women with low 25(OH)D levels had significantly higher SBP (150.8627.1 vs. 137.6621.0), DBP (94.7614.5 vs. 89.3612.3) and PP (53.15(50.7;55.7) vs. 46.3(29.4;84.6)) compared to women with sufficient levels. No significant difference was observed with regards to c-rPWV. ANCOVA analyses still revealed significant differences between the two groups with regards to SBP, DBP as well as PP. Partial correlations revealed significant inverse association between SBP and 25(OH)D (p = .04;r =2.12). Women with low 25(OH)D levels were ,2 times more likely to have high SBP (95% CI: 3.23;1.05). To conclude, women with deficient/insufficient 25(OH)D had significantly higher SBP compared to women with a sufficient 25(OH) status http://www.plosone.org http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0054554 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054554 South Africa-Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development, South African National Research Foundation (NRF GUN nos. 2069139 and FA2006040700010), North-West University, and the South African Medical Research Council

Multidisciplinary partnerships in community-specific writing or storytelling projects – A case study. Partnerships are used as strategy in various sectors of society, especially in order to reach goals which are unattainable for independent individuals, institutions or academic disciplines. The complexity of community-specific creative writing and storytelling projects (including the variety of languages, literacy levels and socio-economic issues in the country, as well as practical aspects such as funding, access to communities et cetera) means that such projects cannot easily be run by individual persons or organisations but that collaboration is needed. The aim of this overview article is to investigate multidisciplinary partnerships in community projects which promote community-specific writing and storytelling, focusing on one such project in particular. As background the situation in South Africa with regard to writing and storytelling in communities is sketched. The focus then shifts to multidisciplinary partnerships. A case study is discussed to highlight the complexity of such partnerships. This article addresses the dearth of research on partnerships in the context of creative writing or storytelling projects in communities. Although multidisciplinary partnerships do have their challenges, the article concludes that they can bring balance and wealth to community development previously unexplored. OPSOMING: Vennootskappe word in verskeie sektore van die samelewing as strategie gebruik, veral om doelwitte na te streef wat buite bereik is van individue, instansies of akademiese dissiplines wat onafhanklik werk. Die kompleksiteit van gemeenskapseie woordkunsprojekte (onder andere die verskeidenheid tale, geletterdheidsvlakke, en sosiaal-maatskaplike problematiek in die land, asook praktiese aspekte soos befondsing, toegang tot gemeenskappe, ensovoorts) bring mee dat sodanige projekte gewoonlik nie deur ’n enkelpersoon of -instansie uitgevoer kan word nie, maar dat daar samewerking van verskillende partye nodig is. Die doel van dié oorsigartikel is om ondersoek in te stel na multidissiplinêre vennootskappe binne gemeenskapsprojekte ter bevordering van gemeenskapseie woordkuns, met bespreking van een sodanige spesifieke projek. Ter agtergrond word die woordkunssituasie in Suid-Afrika belig, waarná die fokus na multidissiplinêre vennootskappe verskuif. ’n Gevallestudie word bespreek om die kompleksiteit van sodanige vennootskappe te belig. Die artikel roer die gebrek aan navorsing oor vennootskappe binne die verband van gemeenskapseie woordkuns aan, asook die voordele en uitdagings daaraan verbonde. Hoewel multidissiplinêre vennootskappe hul kwota vraagstukke meebring, word daar in die artikel tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat dit ook ’n balans en rykdom na gemeenskapsontwikkeling bring wat voorheen nie ondersoek is nie. http://www.literator.org.za/index.php/literator http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/lit.v34i2.426

This study aimed to investigate consumers' expectations of furniture labels during the pre-purchase information search, in order to propose furniture labels that would serve as a more relevant source of external information during the consumer decision-making process. A mixed-method approach using a two-phase exploratory design was followed. The qualitative phase consisted of semi-structured interviews with experienced sales assistants, while the quantitative phase entailed a questionnaire filled out by consumers during furniture shopping. These results were used to design potential furniture labels during a final phase. Qualitative findings indicated participants' opinions regarding the appearance of and information on specific types of furniture. General information requested to be on furniture labels included price, care instructions, guarantees, warrantees, style and dimensions. Quantitative results showed that the majority of respondents deemed the price, materials used, cleaning instructions, guarantees and warrantees as important information that should appear on furniture labels. This coincided with their pre-purchase search criteria. There was no practically significant difference between consumers' expectations of the information and appearance of different types of furniture labels. Consumers therefore expect all labels to be similar in appearance and to contain general information, apart from product-specific information that would be necessary on different types of furniture, for example leather furniture. Appearance characteristics of furniture labels, such as colour, size and layout, were summarized and potential furniture labels were recommended accordingly. These labels can be used by product developers, marketers and the furniture industry to assist consumers during their pre-purchase information search. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2011.01059.x http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2011.01059.x/pdf

Objective : This study examined whether the association between socio-economic status (SES) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in black South Africans from the North West Province had shifted from the more affluent groups with higher SES to the less affluent, lower SES groups over a period of nine years. Method : Cross-sectional baseline data of 2 010 urban and rural subjects (35 years and older) participating in the Prospective Urban and Rural (PURE) study and collected in 2005 were analysed to examine the relationship of level of education, employment and urban or rural residence with dietary intakes and other CVD risk factors. These relationships were compared to those found nine years earlier in the Transition and Health during the Urbanisation of South Africans (THUSA) study conducted in the same area. Results : The results showed that urban women had higher body mass index (BMI), serum triglyceride and fasting glucose levels compared to rural women and that both urban men and women had higher blood pressures and followed a more Westernised diet. However, rural men and women had higher plasma fibrinogen levels. The more highly educated subjects (which included both urban and rural subjects) were younger than those with no or only primary school education. Few of the risk factors differed significantly between education groups, except that more highly educated men and women had lower BMIs, and women had lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels. These women also followed a more prudent diet than those with only primary school education. Employed men and women had higher BMIs, higher energy intakes but lower plasma fibrinogen levels, and employed women had lower triglyceride levels. No significant differences in total serum cholesterol values were observed. Conclusion : These results suggest a drift of CVD risk factors from groups with higher SES to groups with a lower SES from 1996 to 2005, indicating that interventions to prevent CVD should also be targeted at Africans living in rural areas, those with low educational levels, and the unemployed. http://dx.doi.org/10.5830/CVJA-2012-018