Predicting body fat using weight–height indices

While body fat is the most accurate measure of obesity, its measurement requires special equipment that can be costly and time consuming to operate. Attention has thus typically focused on the easier to calculate body mass index (BMI). However, the ability of BMI to accurately identify obesity has been increasingly questioned. This paper focuses attention on whether more general body mass indices are appropriate measures of body fat. Using a data set of body fat, height, and weight measurements, general models are estimated which nest a wide variety of weight–height indices as special cases. In the absence of a race and gender categorisation, the conventional BMI was found to be the appropriate index with which to predict body fat. When such a categorisation was made, however, the BMI was never selected as the appropriate index. In general, predicted female body fat was some 10 kg higher than that of a male of identical build and predicted % body fat was over 11 percentage points higher, but age effects were smaller for females. Considerable racial differences in predicted body fat were found for males, but such differences were less marked for females. The implications of this finding for interpreting recent research on the effect of obesity on health, society, and economic factors are considered.     

An evaluation of the childhood family structure measures from the sixth wave of the British Household Panel Survey

Summary.  The paper performs an evaluation of the data that were collected in the sixth wave of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) on childhood family structure. After comparing such data with a large number of studies by using external sources, we find that the BHPS data overestimate the proportion of people who report an experience of life in a non-intact family during childhood by about 10%. Although an explanation based on recall error that deteriorates with the age of the BHPS respondents is possible, the overestimation is likely to be accounted for by non-ignorable attrition that may affect most of the comparison studies based on longitudinal data. Conversely, comparisons with other independent measurements from the BHPS itself reveal that the wave 6 data underestimate the proportion of young people who have lived at least part of their childhood in a non-intact family by about 8%. The probability of disagreement between these two sets of measures is strongly associated with poor interview characteristics, which may affect the comparison measure more than the wave 6 measure. Despite such differences, there is therefore a substantial degree of similarity between the family structure information that was collected in the sixth wave of the BHPS and the host of highly diverse records against which it has been compared.     

Working and disability expectancies at older ages: The role of childhood circumstances and education

The ability to work at older ages depends on health and education. Both accumulate starting very early in life. We assess how childhood disadvantages combine with education to affect working and health trajectories. Applying multistate period life tables to data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for the period 2008–2014, we estimate how the residual life expectancy at age 50 is distributed in number of years of work and disability, by number of childhood disadvantages, gender, and race/ethnicity. Our findings indicate that number of childhood disadvantages is negatively associated with work and positively with disability, irrespective of gender and race/ethnicity. Childhood disadvantages intersect with low education resulting in shorter lives, and redistributing life years from work to disability. Among the highly educated, health and work differences between groups of childhood disadvantage are small. Combining multistate models and inverse probability weighting, we show that the return of high education is greater among the most disadvantaged.     

In the flesh: a poetic inquiry into how fat female employees manage weight-related stigma

ABSTRACT

This paper engages with the question of how fat female employees manage weight-related stigma at work. We use poetic inquiry to show the reader how it feels for our participants to be stigmatized based on their size. We interviewed 22 women who self-identify as full-figured, fat, overweight, or obese. The results consist of six poems, five of which were written by us, the researchers. These ‘tri-voiced poems’ (Leavy 2010b) illustrate the spectrum of affective responses and stigma management strategies that our participants talked about, ranging from feeling anxious, super-smart, impeccable, and funny to rebellious and confident. The sixth poem was written by one of our participants and voices her first-person experiences and perspective. Our aim is to do justice in our writing to the emotions that circulated in the interviews and to make a political statement with regards to the stigmatizing practices in organizations related to size and health.     

Factors that influence elementary school teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of visually impaired children in Turkey

There is a scarcity of research on inclusion of visually impaired children in Turkey. Specifically, a gap exists concerning the attitudes of elementary school teachers towards the inclusion of visually impaired children in mainstream schools. This article uses data from two questionnaires, leveraging the responses of 253 teachers from rural and urban areas. The results demonstrate that elementary school teachers commonly hold positive attitudes towards the inclusion of visually impaired children and that teachers’ initial and in-service training about inclusion positively influenced their attitudes. Our findings are in contrast with earlier research which argues that teachers do not hold positive attitudes to inclusion, and highlights that a key barrier to inclusion stems from elementary school teachers feeling unprepared to teach visually impaired children. We conclude that greater post-qualification training is required to enable teachers to operationalise different approaches that facilitate the inclusion of visually impaired children.     

回归文本：解读贾宝玉与秦可卿的关系——贾宝玉论之六

秦可卿在整部《红楼梦》中有着不同寻常的结构意义。秦可卿是作者安排的一个核心人物,她的遽然死去是作者安排的一个情节高潮,一个埋葬恶浊丑陋的高潮。在这个高潮中,主人公贾宝玉穿梭其中,并和秦可卿发生了谜一样的关系。贾宝玉和秦可卿关系非同一般,主要有三个情节可以说明,即卧室梦游、探病流泪、闻逝吐血。这三个情节从心理分析的角度可以解释贾宝玉痴情欲绝的原因。也是打开数百年来解读秦可卿、贾宝玉形象谜团的钥匙。从现存的文本考察,秦可卿无疑是宝玉的性启蒙老师。有理由推论,是秦可卿的诱惑使得贾宝玉遽入梦境,在那太虚梦境里,宝玉受到了近乎性虐待的伤害,使他对性产生了恐惧,造成了他心因性的精神阳痿。     

“Which One Is Yours?”: Children and Ethnography

This paper explores roles that children play in ethnographic research. Based on the limited literature on children in the field, and drawing on examples from ethnographies across disciplines, I identify four roles for children: 1) as “wedges,” or as instrumentally important in helping adult ethnographers gain access in various ways; 2) as collaborators; 3) as objects of study; and 4) as subjects of study. I also discuss the ways in which these roles illuminate key methodological issues in ethnography, like reflexivity, ethics, and agency. The paper synthesizes and integrates previously disconnected research on the presence of children in the field with ethnographies in which children and childhood are the topics of research. I draw on my own fieldwork experiences for further illustration.

Total testosterone levels are correlated to metabolic syndrome components

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a constellation of interrelated risk factors of metabolic origin. Some studies suggest a possible link between low total testosterone (TT) levels and the presence of MetS.

Aim: To analyze the strength and independence of associations between TT and MetS components in non-diabetic men.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 143 non-diabetic men older than 40 were analyzed.

Main outcomes measure: Blood samples were collected to evaluate metabolic profile and TT levels. MetS was defined as the presence of three or more of the following characteristics: fasting blood glucose levels?≥?100?mg/dL, triglyceride?≥?150?mg/dL, HDL-c??102?cm.

Results: Mean age of the study population was 61.5?±?8.61 years old. MetS was present in 47.9% of the individuals. Thirty-four men had low TT and MetS was observed in 23 (70%) against 50 (46%) in those with normal TT (≥?300?ng/dL) (OR 4.94, p?p?=?0.03) and HDL-c (Beta: 0.19; p?=?0.04) remained significantly correlated with TT levels.

Conclusions: Low TT levels were associated with MetS diagnosis. Abdominal obesity was the MetS component independently correlated to low TT levels.     

Risk Factors for Homelessness Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youths: A Developmental Milestone Approach

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths are over-represented in the homeless population. To examine why some LGB youths become homeless, this report compares homeless and non-homeless LGB youths. Of the 156 LGB youths, 48% reported ever being homeless (i.e., running away or being evicted from home). Results indicate that sexual orientation awareness and the initiation of sexual behavior occurred earlier in homeless than in non-homeless LGB youths and predated the first homeless episode. Substance use was more frequent and first occurred at an earlier age in homeless as compared to non-homeless LGB youths; however, substance use occurred subsequent to first homelessness. Childhood sexual abuse was associated with homelessness; and, early sexual orientation development was related to homelessness among youths without a history of sexual abuse. Findings suggest that interventions should help youths cope with their unfolding sexual orientation and work to prevent or address the consequences of sexual abuse.