ResumoObjetivo: Determinar o nível de qualidade global da dieta, preditores sociodemográficos de qualidade da dieta e a associação entre qualidade da dieta e peso corporal em uma amostra nacionalmente representativa de pré-escolares. Métodos:Estudo transversal utilizando uma amostra de crianças de 2 a 5 anos com dados sociodemográficos, alimentares e antropométricos (n = 1.521) do National Health and Examination Survey 1999-2002. A qualidade global da dieta foi determinada através do Índice de Qualidade da Dieta Infantil Revisado. Preditores sociodemográficos (idade, sexo, grupo sociodemográfico e étnico, renda domiciliar, freqüência escolar, participação em programa federal de alimentação) de qualidade da dieta foram determinados através de modelos de regressão linear múltipla na amostra total e estratificados por renda domiciliar para aquelas elegíveis no programa Food Stamp (< 1,3 da razão pobreza/renda) ou no Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (razão pobreza/renda < 1,85). A associação entre qualidade da dieta e a prevalência de obesidade infantil foi avaliada através dos testes de qui-quadrado de Pearson. Significância estatística foi estabelecida em p ≤ 0,05. Toda a análise foi conduzida por meio de rotinas complexas de delineamento da pesquisa.Resultados: Em média, os pré-escolares consumiram níveis subótimos de grãos integrais, frutas, vegetais e laticínios. A qualidade global da dieta diminuiu proporcionalmente ao aumento de idade (coeficiente beta: -2,38, p < 0,001), mas melhorou proporcionalmente ao aumento de renda domiciliar na amostra integral (coeficiente beta: 1,22, p < 0,001), mas não nas sub-populações de baixa renda. Crianças méxico-americanas apresentaram melhor qualidade de dieta do que crianças brancas não-hispânicas (coeficiente de beta: 2,18, p < 0,033), principalmente no grupo de baixa renda (coeficiente de beta: 3,57, p < 0,006). A prevalência de obesidade infantil diminuiu significativamente com o aumento da qualidade da dieta. Conclusões:A qualidade da dieta de pré-escolares precisa ser melhorada para dar apoio à prevenção de obesidade infantil nas fases iniciais da vida. Results: On average, preschooler consumed suboptimal levels of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and dairy. Overall diet quality decreased with increasing age (beta-coefficient: -2.38, p < 0.001) but improved with increasing family income in the full sample (beta-coefficient: 1.22, p < 0.001) but not in the low-income subpopulations. Mexican American children had significantly better diet quality than non-Hispanic white children (beta-coefficient: 2.18, p < 0.033) especially in the low income group (beta-coefficient: 3.57, p < 0.006). Childhood obesity prevalence decreased significantly with increasing diet quality. Conclusions:Preschooler's diet quality needs to be improved to support the prevention of childhood obesity early in life.J Pediatr (Rio J). 2008;84(1):26-34: Diet, diet surveys, obesity, food quality.

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It is well recognized that the informal economy—unregulated economic activities that generate real or in‐kind income—features prominently in the day‐to‐day lives of many in the developing world. Researchers have begun to explore the informal economy in developed countries but this work has focussed primarily on urban areas to the neglect of rural areas. In this paper the nature and correlates of informal work in nonmetropolitan Pennsylvania are described through an analysis of survey data on 505 families. Results indicate that participation in informal activities is widespread, is not more typical of the poor, does not contribute greatly to family income on average but does help many poor families weather difficult economic times, is both economically and noneconomically motivated, and, net of other sociodemographic variables, is positively related to rurality of residence and formal labor supply.

We examine race and residential variation in the prevalence of female‐headed households with children and how household composition is associated with several key economic well‐being outcomes using data from the 2000 5% Public Use Microdata Sample of the U.S. Census. Special attention is paid to cohabiting female‐headed households with children and those that are headed by a single grandmother caring for at least one grandchild, because these are becoming more common living arrangements among female‐headed households with children. We find that in 2000: (1) cohabiting and grandmother female‐headed households with children comprised over one‐fourth of all female‐headed households with children, (2) household poverty is highest for female‐headed households with children that do not have other adult household earners, (3) earned income from other household members lifts many cohabiting and grandparental female‐headed households out of poverty, as does retirement and Social Security income for grandmother headed households, and (4) poverty is highest among racial/ethnic minorities and for female‐headed households with children in nonmetro compared to central cities and suburban areas.

Labor market areas (LMAs) have long been a staple of regional and urban analysis. As commuting patterns have expanded over time, these areas have become larger and more complex, and the dichotomous designation of a county either belonging to an LMA or not may no longer be adequate. We apply recent advances in network science to conduct a more refined analysis of U.S. commuting patterns, and examine their effects on local economic growth. Results show that network degree and entropy measures explain variations in county per capita income growth patterns. Higher in- and out-commuting entropies are associated with lower per capita income growth, but their interaction enhances economic growth in places simultaneously open to both in- and out-commuters. Using these results, common ground may be found for creating new forms of regional governance that better reflect local realities of cross-county border flows of workers and economic activity. Copyright (c) 2010 Copyright the Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc..