Three weight loss competitions were held in business/ industrial settings. One competition was between three banks; the other two were within industries, either between employee teams selected at random or between divisions of the industry. Attrition in the competitions was less than I per cent and weight loss averaged 5.5 kg. Both employees and management reported positive changes in morale and employee/management relations, and both considered the competition important to the success of the program. The costeffectiveness ratio ($2.93 per I per cent reduction in percentage overweight) is the best yet reported. (Am J Public Health 1984; 74:1283-1285 Health promotion at the work site has potential for improving public health,'-2 but in the weight control area, programs have not transferred well from clinical to work settings; the typical worksite program reports nearly double the attrition and half the weight loss found for similar programs in the clinic.3-7 One way to improve these results may be to introduce health promotion competitions to enhance motivation and social support. This paper describes the use of weight loss competitions in three work settings. MethodsThree separate competitions were held in Lycoming County, an area of 119,000 population in north central Pennsylvania. Employees in all participating industries were invited to participate. Subjects less than 10 per cent overweight were excluded from the main analyses.Competition 1 (Three Banks)-A challenge for competition was issued by the presidents of three banks* with a total of 570 employees. In the three banks, 176 employees (31 per cent of the work force) participated in the 12-week program; 112 persons were more than 10 per cent overweight.Competition 2 (Litton)-Fifty-three of 225 employees of a manufacturing firm (Litton Industries) participated in the 13-week program. The participants were assigned randomly to one of three teams within the industry. Participants were weighed weekly by a member of the research team who was not connected with industry. At each weigh-in, the participants received an installment of a behavioral treatment manual8 which emphasized self-monitoring, stimulus control, slowing eating, reinforcement, social support, attitude change, nutrition, and exercise. A large board (4 x 5 ft) was placed in a prominent location in each workplace to show the weekly progress of each team. The boards provided weekly feedback and acted as incentives. Emnployees and management completed a post-program questionnaire to rate several aspects of the program. They rated changes on five-point scales in morale, energy level, employee-management relations, absenteeism, and work performance.Results were analyzed using analyses of variance and covariance with initial weight as the covariate. Chi square analyses were used to evaluate questionnaire responses and correlations were used to test for associations between weight change and questionnaire responses. The covariance analyses yielded the same pattern of results as the analyses o...

All children in Grades 3 through 12 of one school system completed a survey about health habits and beliefs including smoking and eating habits, perceptions of exercise, weight, and parental involvement in health. The surveys were factor-analyzed within grade and sex, and the overall factors that emerged were Smoking Habits, Family Discussion of Health, Family Thinking About Health, Nutritional Habits, and Health Locus of Control. Analysis of variance of each factor revealed that girls generally reported healthier food habits than did boys. However, girls reported more smoking and less exercise. There are also changes in habits and belief with age; junior high school is a particularly important time for the development of several habits. The findings are discussed in relation to theories of child development and the implications for the content and timing of future health education intervention programs with children.

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Assessed the olfactory acuity of 120 6-94 yr olds by means of magnitude production in a simple motor task. 7 concentrations of n-propanol, ranging from 100 to 1.56%, served as odorants. Remarkable consistency across concentrations was found in Ss of all ages, those in the younger and older age groups generating the most similar functions. Evidence of olfactory decline in the oldest Os was lacking, suggested only by the greater incidence of nonresponse at weaker concentrations in the intermediate 40-50 yr group. It is proposed that phylogenetically and ontogenetically early sensitivities (e.g., olfaction and touch) are likely to be among the last to decline when the organism is under stress as, for example, in aging. (27 ref)

Experimentation with both cigarettes and smokeless tobacco by children in grades 3-12 in a school district in Pennsylvania was related to peer experimentation, parental use. and personal beliefs about the harm of the product for both males and females. Experimentation with both products had begun as early as the third grade and increased with age, with a major increase in experimentation during junior high school. Nearly half the males in grades 7-12 did not believe smokeless tobacco was harmful. (Am J Puiblic Health

Background/Objectives: In South Africa (SA), the prevalence of obesity in women is 56%, with black women being most at risk (62%). Studies in the United States have demonstrated ethnic differences in resting (REE) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) between African American (AA) and their white counterparts. We investigated whether differences in EE exist in black and white SA women, explaining, in part, the ethnic obesity prevalence differences. Subjects/Methods: We measured REE, TDEE and physical activity EE (PAEE) in lean (BMI o25 kg m À2 ) and obese (BMI 430 kg m À2 ) SA women (N ¼ 44, 30±6 year). REE, TDEE, PAEE and total awake EE were measured during a 21 h stay in a respiration chamber. Results: Black and white subjects within obese and lean groups were not significantly different for age, mass, BMI and % body fat. However, fat-free mass (kg FFM) was consistently lower in the black women (Po0.01) in both weight groups. After adjusting EE measurements for differences in FFM, REE was not significantly different for either body weight or ethnicity, although 24 h TDEE (kJ) was significantly greater in the obese women (Po0.01) and white women (Po0.05). Total awake non-PAEE was not significantly different for either groups, while total awake time was only significantly lower for the lean groups (Po0.01). Total PAEE (kJ min À1 ) was significantly lower in the lean (Po0.001) and black groups (Po0.01). Conclusions: In this sample of matched, lean and obese, black and white SA women, differences in TDEE were largely explained by ethnic differences in PAEE, and were not as a result of ethnic differences in REE.

This article describes a set of studies which compare the effectiveness of innovative interventions led by older peers and which included a parent component with teacher-led interventions for nutrition, blood pressure, and smoking prevention. Information about the agreement between parents' and children's (grades six through eight) perception of the children's health behavior and family interaction was also found, by surveying parents and children in 1051 households. Both teacher-led and older peer-led interventions were successful in increasing behavioral capabilities for nutrition and blood pressure, measured one year after the interventions. Results of the parent-child survey showed reasonable agreement between parents and children for reports of the child's exercise, dieting, and fast food consumption, but poorer agreement for smoking and perceptions of family interaction. Results are discussed in relation to the planning of future programs designed to address the importance of peer and parental role models.

Competition is an effective means of promoting weight loss in worksite programs. This study was designed to determine the most effective structure of competition through a comparison of two kinds of competition within one worksite. Two competitions were between teams and one was among individuals. While all three competitions produced significant weight loss and lower attrition than previous worksite programs, the team competitions produced significantly lower attrition rates and significantly greater weight loss than the individual competition. Patterns of loss over time and the distribution of losses for groups also differed, with a smaller proportion of successful participants in the individual competition. The results suggest that team support as well as competition is a necessary component of effective worksite weight loss competitions.