Community-Led Interventions to Address Food Inequity.

Approximately 1 in 6 children in the United States, and 1 in 5 children in our local county (Hamilton County, Ohio), are food insecure. Here, we describe a novel community-academic partnership to address food inequity through distributed leadership and shared power with local neighborhood leaders. Using neighborhood-level data and community voice, 3 Cincinnati neighborhoods with high rates of poverty and food insecurity were selected as the primary intervention targets. Neighborhood leadership councils with community members representing each neighborhood were created. These councils requested intervention proposals and then decided which community designed interventions would receive grant funding. The academic partner provided grant funding distribution, quality improvement support, and data guidance and support for all partners, as well as community engagement support if desired by the community-led intervention leaders. In its first year (2021-2022), 9 interventions were funded, moving more than $250 000 into community-designed and community-led interventions to promote food security in 3 disadvantaged neighborhoods. Through leveraging community partnerships, these initiatives supplied 89 039 equivalent meals, including 56 244 pounds of produce, serving at least 3106 families in 3 neighborhoods in Cincinnati. Critical to the success of the initiatives were distributed leadership, shared power, word of mouth, and community engagement. The success of this type of community-academic partnership shows promise to address a wide variety of social and health challenges.

College students' patterns of electronic nicotine delivery system use and other substance use.

Objective: Electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) use on college campuses increased dramatically in recent years. Little is known about how ENDS use among college students relates to other substance use. Participants: Undergraduates (n = 3,917) at a mid-sized Midwestern public university in the United States. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data and latent class analysis of ENDS, cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and non-medical use of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication. Results: Over 95% of ENDS users fit into one of two classes comprising a minority of college students engaged in multiple and often problematic substance use behaviors. Only 4% of ENDS users were grouped into a class comprising 85% of the sample and characterized by either little/no substance use or moderate alcohol consumption. Conclusions: ENDS use in this sample was not indicative of general exploration with substances, nor was it indicative of isolated tobacco use, but rather more heavy and problematic substance use.

Correlates of Resilience in Hispanic Young Adults.

Research on health disparities among Hispanic/Latino populations has begun to look at resiliency as a key component to the health risk profile of Hispanics. However, there are still gaps in the research about the specific factors. This study sought to examine the relationship between factors in 4 primary domains-behavioral, psychological, social, and cultural-and resilience in Hispanic young adults. We used data from Project RED, which included 1503 Hispanic young adults. Results indicate that cultural factors (acculturation and cultural identity), psychological factors (depression, stress, and coping), and social connectedness are important determinants of resilience among Hispanic young adults.