Images of public breastfeeding are viewed less favorably by men in the sample than are images of private breastfeeding. Knowledge and attitudes toward breastfeeding are positively associated with perception of breastfeeding images.

Public health enjoyed a number of successes over the twentieth century. However, public health agencies have arguably been ill equipped to sustain these successes and address the complex threats we face today, including morbidity and mortality associated with persistent chronic diseases and emerging infectious diseases, in the context of flat funding and new and changing health care legislation. Transformational leaders, who are not afraid of taking risks to develop innovative approaches to combat present-day threats, are needed within public health agencies. We propose the Public Health Innovation Model (PHIM) as a tool for public health leaders who wish to integrate innovation into public health practice. This model merges traditional public health program planning models with innovation principles adapted from the private sector, including design thinking, seeking funding from private sector entities, and more strongly emphasizing program outcomes. We also discuss principles that leaders should consider adopting when transitioning to the PHIM, including cross-collaboration, community buy-in, human-centered assessment, autonomy and creativity, rapid experimentation and prototyping, and accountability to outcomes.

BackgroundAlthough the Health & Fitness category of the Apple App Store features hundreds of calorie counting apps, the extent to which popular calorie counting apps include health behavior theory is unknown.ObjectiveThis study evaluates the presence of health behavior theory in calorie counting apps.MethodsData for this study came from an extensive content analysis of the 10 most popular calorie counting apps in the Health & Fitness category of the Apple App Store.ResultsEach app was given a theory score to reflect the extent to which health behavior theory was integrated into the app. The highest possible score was 60. Out of the 10 apps evaluated, My Diet Coach obtained the highest theory score of 15. MapMyFitness and Yumget received the lowest scores of 0. The average theory score among the apps was 5.6.ConclusionsMost of the calorie counting apps in the sample contained minimal health behavior theory.

Background Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is a major global priority. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Building the Resilience of Vulnerable Communities in Burkina Faso (BRB) project, an agricultural development program, improved women’s empowerment, as measured by the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI). Methods This study used a longitudinal, quasi-experimental study design. Participants included both treatment and comparison groups (total N = 751) comprising female members of savings groups and their husbands or main male household member in Burkina Faso. All participants completed the pro-WEAI questionnaire at both baseline and endline. The treatment group received a comprehensive intervention package consisting of agriculture loans and services, microenterprise loans, and education, nutrition education, and women’s empowerment programs including gender-based discussions designed to facilitate personalized changes in gender relations. Results The proportion of the treatment group achieving empowerment did not change from baseline for women, but improved substantially for men. Women from the comparison group saw an increase in empowerment at endline while men saw a substantial decrease. Gender parity was high for women in both groups at baseline and increased slightly at endline. Women were more likely to have adequate empowerment in input in productive decisions, group membership, and membership in influential groups than men while men were more likely to have adequate empowerment in attitudes about domestic violence, control over use of income, and work balance than women. Participants from the treatment group reported an increase in the average number of empowerment indicators that they were adequate in while the comparison group saw a decrease in average adequacy over time (p = 0.002) after controlling for age, sex, and level of education. Conclusion Despite starting at an empowerment disadvantage, the treatment group experienced gains in individual indicators of empowerment while the comparison group men and women experienced mixed results, with the women gaining, and the men losing empowerment. This research suggests that the BRB intervention may have provided some protection for the treatment group when they faced an economic down-turn prior to the endline, indicative of household resilience. Future research should consider and strengthen relationships between resilience and empowerment.

One in three homes in Utah (USA) contains dangerous levels of radon. Except for a radon mitigation certification law, Utah’s radon laws are nonexistent. To determine public perception of state policies on radon testing and mitigation, a social cognitive theory-based 52-item questionnaire was administered to residents (N = 307) who visited the Utah County Health Department (UCHD) during the study period. Respondents were divided into an Environmental Health Group (n = 110), who purchased a radon kit, and Vital Records Control Group (n = 197), who filed/obtained birth/death certificates at UCHD. Ninety percent responded they had never tested their homes for radon, and 99% were not aware of state policies regarding radon. Support for various radon policies was significantly associated with older age (odds ratios (OR): 0.37–0.52), being female (OR: 2.60–7.79), lower annual family income (OR: 2.27), and theoretical constructs of behavioral modeling (OR: 2.31–2.55) and risk perception (OR: 2.55–3.71). To increase awareness, testing, and remediation, respondents suggested increasing public education/awareness, requiring testing in homes, businesses, and public buildings, and increasing access to testing. Multi-sectoral radon risk reduction programs could incorporate behavioral modeling and risk perception as components to create a radon testing and mitigation culture in Utah.

Background: The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, launched in 1975 by the Government of India, provides various health services to children and their mothers at ICDS centres. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to understand 1) the extent to which women living in Rajasthan, India utilize services provided by ICDS centres and 2) the factors that are associated with their use. Methods: Freedom from Hunger and Freedom from Hunger India Trust, in collaboration with two local partners in Rajasthan, India, conducted a baseline assessment with 403 pregnant women and women with young children belonging to self-help groups to compare use of ICDS centres with key demographic variables and measures of poverty, food security and nutrition, curative care related to diarrhea, coping strategies, and household decision-making. Results: The results revealed that households that accessed ICDS services were more likely to report receiving nutrition information from ICDS centres, to purchase ORS in the last year, and to give oral rehydration solution (ORS) to children who had diarrhea. Women who decide how much food to serve each family member or spend money without discussing it first with someone else were more likely to receive benefits from ICDS centres. Those who spoke with their spouse about household nutrition needs were less likely to report accessing ICDS services. Conclusion: Interventions aimed at increasing utilization of ICDS centres in this region may find it beneficial to increase female participation in health care decisions, likely through spousal communication and gender relations.

In India, women and children continue to experience food insecurity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the Rajasthan Nutrition Project (RNP) led to changes in 1) dietary habits and nutrition, and 2) indicators of gender equality, female autonomy, and empowerment. This study surveyed women belonging to self-help groups who were pregnant or who had young children. Over the course of the intervention, significant improvements were seen in the following indicators: breastfeeding within one hour of birth, exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months, food insecurity of children and mothers, household decision-making, communication, mobility, and domestic violence. These findings suggest that the RNP is a promising intervention for improving nutrition and female autonomy in Rajasthan, India. Additional research is needed to determine if the RNP would be equally as effective in other regions of India, or in populations outside of India.

Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) are Arctic-breeding shorebirds that use staging sites in Atlantic Canada during their annual migration to South America. The Bay of Fundy has long been recognized as a critical staging site for migrating Semipalmated Sandpipers and supports a large prey base. The diet of adult sandpipers in the Bay is flexible but the diet of juveniles, which arrive later, is not well documented. Comparatively little is known about the prey base and how it is utilized by sandpipers at sites in Atlantic Canada outside the Bay. Plasma metabolite measures can provide useful insight to assess habitat quality for sandpipers and have not yet been measured in Semipalmated Sandpipers in Atlantic Canada. To address these knowledge gaps we sampled shorebird habitat to estimate invertebrate availability in the Bay of Fundy and the Northumberland Strait. Concurrently, we collected blood samples from adult and juvenile sandpipers for analysis of plasma metabolite levels and isotopic estimates of dietary niche in both regions. We found that sites on the Northumberland Strait hosted a more diverse and variable prey base than sites within the Bay of Fundy, and that sandpipers were selective when foraging there, appearing to prefer bivalves. Juveniles may occupy a broader dietary niche than adults along the Northumberland Strait, though appear to gain weight as efficiently. Sandpipers sampled along the Northumberland Strait had higher plasma triglyceride concentrations than those within the Bay of Fundy, which may suggest differences in fattening rate or dietary fat intake. Sandpipers that had lower triglyceride concentrations on the Northumberland Strait were more likely to move into the Bay of Fundy, while sandpipers with high triglyceride values tended to remain on the Strait. These data suggest that sandpipers made movement decisions within the region depending on their physiological state. Our results suggest adult and juvenile Semipalmated Sandpipers successfully use a variety of staging habitats in Atlantic Canada. This is an encouraging finding for sandpiper conservation in the region, but also indicates that maintaining access to a broad variety of staging habitats is critical, supporting calls for stronger conservation measures throughout the region.