An economic evaluation of strategies to ensure safer drinking water in the homes of families with young children in select United States locations.

Introduction: In the United States, safe, accessible drinking water is not equitable due to source water contamination, unreliable water treatment, or hazardous plumbing infrastructure. Drinking water free of lead, nitrates, and arsenic is vital for infant and young children's health. Methods: Researchers conducted a study combining single-case study review methods and economic evaluation for 6 US policies or programs. Researchers used case-study findings, activity-based costing, publicly available US population data, and existing literature to create 5-year cost projections (2020-2024) for strategies to address lead, nitrates, or arsenic in drinking water from private wells or community water systems for families with low incomes and young children aged 0-5y. Researchers estimated the number of households reached and the costs by activity and payer of implementing each policy or program using case-specific geographic location and eligibility criteria. Results: The total number of households reached varied from 295 to 135,000 depending on water source, population of focus, and geographic location. Focused strategies reached higher proportions of families with low incomes and young children. Community water system and state-wide strategies had the broadest reach. The total annual program cost per household that received information about their water quality ranged from $75 to $2,780. Of this cost, the portion paid by the household varied from $0.12 to $1,590, not including mitigation. Conclusions: These findings can inform local decisions about policies and programs in communities seeking to increase awareness and access to safer drinking water, particularly in homes of families with low incomes and young children.

State-level estimates of childhood obesity prevalence in the United States corrected for report bias.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: State-specific obesity prevalence data are critical to public health efforts to address the childhood obesity epidemic. However, few states administer objectively measured body mass index (BMI) surveillance programs. This study reports state-specific childhood obesity prevalence by age and sex correcting for parent-reported child height and weight bias. SUBJECTS/METHODS: As part of the Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost Effectiveness Study (CHOICES), we developed childhood obesity prevalence estimates for states for the period 2005-2010 using data from the 2010 US Census and American Community Survey (ACS), 2003-2004 and 2007-2008 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) (n=133 213), and 2005-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) (n=9377; ages 2-17). Measured height and weight data from NHANES were used to correct parent-report bias in NSCH using a non-parametric statistical matching algorithm. Model estimates were validated against surveillance data from five states (AR, FL, MA, PA and TN) that conduct censuses of children across a range of grades. RESULTS: Parent-reported height and weight resulted in the largest overestimation of childhood obesity in males ages 2-5 years (NSCH: 42.36% vs NHANES: 11.44%). The CHOICES model estimates for this group (12.81%) and for all age and sex categories were not statistically different from NHANES. Our modeled obesity prevalence aligned closely with measured data from five validation states, with a 0.64 percentage point mean difference (range: 0.23-1.39) and a high correlation coefficient (r=0.96, P=0.009). Estimated state-specific childhood obesity prevalence ranged from 11.0 to 20.4%. CONCLUSION: Uncorrected estimates of childhood obesity prevalence from NSCH vary widely from measured national data, from a 278% overestimate among males aged 2-5 years to a 44% underestimate among females aged 14-17 years. This study demonstrates the validity of the CHOICES matching methods to correct the bias of parent-reported BMI data and highlights the need for public release of more recent data from the 2011 to 2012 NSCH.

Women and smoking in Hollywood movies: a content analysis.

OBJECTIVES: We analyzed the portrayal of smoking in Hollywood films starring 10 popular actressess. METHODS: Five movies were randomly sampled for each actress, for a total of 96 hours of film footage that was analyzed in 1116 5-minute intervals. RESULTS: Leading female actors were as likely to smoke in movies aimed at juvenile audiences (PG/PG-13) as in R-rated movies, whereas male actors were 2.5 times more likely to smoke in R-rated movies. PG/PG-13-rated movies were less likely than R-rated movies to contain negative messages about smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking is highly prevalent in Hollywood films featuring popular actressess and may influence young audiences for whom movie stars serve as role models.

Research questions concerning insulin-like growth factor-1.

The Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention (HCCP) convened a workshop on June 4, 1999 in Boston, MA. The objectives of the meeting were to briefly review the current state of knowledge in the area of insulin-like growth factor-1 physiology as related to cancer risk, to define the area's major remaining gaps in knowledge, and lastly to discuss research opportunities.