The Status and Trends of Food Fraud in Tamale, Ghana

Despite its seriousness, food fraud has not received the necessary attention in Ghana’s discourse on food safety. Food fraud is generally considered as the intentional misrepresentation of the contents or identity of food for economic gain. The study was aimed at assessing the food fraud awareness level of participants as well as the foods most likely to be implicated in food fraud cases in Tamale, Ghana. Data was collected from 385 participants, including food business operators and consumers, via a simple random sampling technique using a structured questionnaire. Most participants (54%) were not aware of food fraud and its related activities before the study. Beverages and juices, fruits and vegetables, spices, oils, meat and fish, baked foods, honey, milk, and semi-processed local foods such as groundnut paste, "Dawadawa," “Kulikuli zim,” and “Agushi powder” were all revealed to be implicated in food fraud by respondents. Adulteration was the most common food fraud action, but tampering, substitution, and mislabeling were also identified as ongoing in the study area. “Moora” (Bixa orellana seeds) was revealed as the key adulterant used in most foods. Food fraud, which is a threat to consumer health and well-being, is active in the region and is predicted to increase without strict regulation and increased sensitization about its dangers. The fight against food fraud should be refocused on making food defense systems like vulnerability analysis and critical control points (VACCP) a key aspect of food safety systems to tackle food fraud.

Gingivitis in children with down syndrome: Review of local and systemic factors

Objective@#To describe various local and systemic factors as the cause of gingivitis and to find out the main etiological factors of gingivitis in children with DS.@*Methods@#We searched PubMed and Google Scholar for Indonesian and English references either in the form of textbook, research results, reviews, and internet articles on the topic. We screened and selected the relevant articles for inclusion into the review. @*Results@#In children with DS, apart from poor oral hygiene, the increasing incidence of gingivitis is caused by changes in other local factors related to systemic factors, such as oral dysfunction, dental and gingival abnormalities, changes in the oral microbial profile, and salivary characteristics. Furthermore, systemic immunodeficiency, changes in inflammatory mediators and proteolytic enzymes, and intellectual subnormality are considered as systemic factors.@*Conclusion@#There is no main etiological factor of gingivitis in children with DS since various local and systemic factors are interrelated with each other causing gingivitis. The severity of gingivitis in children with DS presumably were caused by the systemic factors. Furthermore, good oral hygiene habits and the dentist's intervention in periodontal health can significantly reduce gingivitis in DS patients.

Do Factors Associated Self-rated Good Health and Their Influences Differ between Males and Females across Different Age Groups in Korean and Australia?

OBJECTIVES: This was a comparative study between Australia and Korea that investigated whether and to what extent factors related to self-rated good health (SRGH) differ by gender among age groups. METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis of data that were collected in nationally representative, cross-sectional, and population-based surveys. We analyzed Australian and Korean participants > 20 years of age using 2011 data from the Australian National Nutritional Physical Activity Survey (n = 9,276) and the Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (n = 5,915). Analyses were based on multiple logistic regression after controlling for covariates. RESULTS: Factors associated with SRGH and the extent of their influence differed by gender among age groups within each nation. Australian SRGH was associated with more factors than Korean SRGH, except in participants > 65 years old. Many differences among adults aged 20–44 years were observed, particularly with regard to the influence of socioeconomic factors. Living with a spouse only influenced SRGH in men 20–44 years old in both countries, negatively for Korean men and positively for Australian men. In this same age group, SRGH was positively influenced by employment and attainment of a higher education level in Australian men but not among Korean men; among women, income, but not education, affected SRGH in Korea, whereas in Australia, women were more influenced by education than by income. Lack of chronic disease had a strong influence on SRGH in both countries and was influential in all Australians and Koreans except those ≥ 65 years old. CONCLUSION: Broad features of society should be considered when discussing health and differences in associated factors and their influences. For focused public health interventions of population groups, it is also necessary to consider gender and age groups within social environments.

Effects of Cardiac Rehabilitation Teaching Program on Knowledge Level and Compliance of Health Behavior for Patients with Myocardial Infarction / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation teaching program on knowledge level and compliance of health behavior for the patients with myocardial infarction. METHOD: The subjects were 47 patients 23 were assigned to the experimental group and 24 were for the control. The cardiac rehabilitation teaching program is a individualized teaching program which was delivered to the experimental group during hospitalization period by present researcher. Data were collected through questionnaire surveys for knowledge level and compliance of health behavior from September 15, 1999 to December 31, 2000. The collected data was analyzed by using the SAS program. RESULTS: 1. With regard to the knowledge scores 1) The total knowledge level in the experimental group was significantly higher than in the control group. 2) As to the knowledge domains, nature of disease, risk factors, diet, medication, exercise, and daily activities were significantly higher in score in the experimental group than in the control group. 2. With regard to the compliance of health behavior 1) The average compliance with good health behavior was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group. 2) As to the health behavior domains smoking cessation, diet, stress management, regular exercise, and other measures for lifestyle modification were significantly higher in score in the experimental group than in the control group. 3. The pre-treatment knowledge score was positively correlated to the post-treatment knowledge score and post-treatment knowledge score was positively correlated to the post-treatment compliance of health behaviors. CONCLUSION: The above findings indicate that the cardiac rehabilitation teaching program for the experimental group was effective in increasing level of knowledge and improvement f compliance with good health behavior of patients with myocardial infarction.

Disease-related Knowledge Level and Compliance of Health Behavior in Patients with Myocardial Infarction According to the Atherosclerotic Risk Factors / 성인간호학회지

PURPOSE: This study purposed to examine the disease-related knowledge level and compliance with good health behavior in patients with myocardial infarction according to the atherosclerotic risk factors. METHOD: The subjects consisted of 72 patients with myocardial infarction and the data were collected by interviewing the subjects with questionnaires and reviewing their medical records from September, 15, 1999 to July 31, 2000. Data were analyzed using the SAS program. RESULTS: 1) With regard to atherosclerotic risk factors: of the subjects, 91.7% lacked regular exercise, followed by smoking (61.1%). 2) The average knowledge score of the patients was 19.7 and the average compliance score was 53.9. 3) There were no significant differences in the total knowledge scores according to the patients' atherosclerotic risk factors. 4) Non-diabetics were significantly higher in knowledge scores on domain of risk factors than the diabetics. 5) The overweight patients were significantly higher in knowledge score on domain of nature of disease than the normal-weight patients. 6) The total compliance scores of the non-smokers were significantly higher than those of the smokers. 7) The total compliance scores of the patients who do regular exercise were significantly higher than those of the patients who forgo regular exercise. 8) The non-smokers were significantly higher in compliance scores on domain of diet than the smokers. 9) The diabetic patients were significantly higher in compliance scores on domain of smoking cessation than the non-diabetics. 10) Patients who do regular exercise were significantly higher in compliance scores on other domains than the patients who forgo regular exercise. CONCLUSION: According to the above findings, it can be concluded that intensive nursing care and education should be provided to patients who have atherosclerotic risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, lack of exercise, over weight, or hypercholesterolemia to increase disease related knowledge level and to improve compliance with good health behavior.