Nutrition interventions for low-income, elderly women.

OBJECTIVE: To help low-income, older South Carolinian women bring their food choices and nutritional practices in closer alignment with broadly accepted recommendations for healthful eating. METHODS: Included the creation of an infrastructure of collaborators to examine existing data, develop research questions, and collect and analyze focus group data. RESULTS: Include identification of socioenvironmental, personal, and behavioral factors affecting the nutritional health of elderly women used in the development of nutrition education modules and messages to be delivered through lay educators and videos. CONCLUSION: Effective nutrition interventions involving low-income, elderly women must use an ecological approach including behavioral and organizational change.

Daily boron intake from the American diet.

Interest in boron as a naturally occurring trace element nutrient from the food supply is increasing. Mounting evidence suggests that boron is essential to human beings. This study explores the major food and beverage contributors of boron and estimates of daily boron intake from the American diet. Previous estimates in the literature of dietary boron consumption are based on limited foods and population segments. In this study we provide a more comprehensive assessment of boron consumption by the US population. A boron nutrient database of 1,944 individual foods was developed. These foods represent 95.3% by weight of all foods consumed in the US Department of Agriculture 1989-1991 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (1989-1991 CSFII). The Boron Nutrient Database (version 1.0) was then linked to the 3-day food records of 11,009 respondents to the 1989-1991 CSFII to generate the average daily boron intake for each person. The weighted 5th percentile, median, mean, and 95th percentile boron intakes, respectively, are 0.43, 1.02, 1.17 and 2.42 mg/day for men; 0.33, 0.83, 0.96 and 1.94 mg/day for women; and 0.40, 0.86, 1.01 and 2.18 mg/day for pregnant women. For vegetarian adults, these intakes are 0.46, 1.30, 1.47 and 2.74 mg/day for men and 0.33, 1.00, 1.29 and 4.18 mg/day for women. The top 2 boron contributors, coffee and milk, are low in boron, yet they make up 12% of the total boron intake by virtue of the volume consumed. Among the top 50 boron contributors, peanut butter, wine, raisins, peanuts, and other nuts are high in boron. As more data become available on daily boron requirements, the results of this study may be used to assess whether Americans' daily intake of boron is adequate.

Patterns of tobacco and alcohol use among sedentary, exercising, nonathletic, and athletic youth.

Through a statewide random design, 7,846 9th to 12th grade students in 81 South Carolina public schools were selected to complete the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Mantel-Haenszel Chi-Square, general linear models, and logistic regression were used to examine the relation between the independent variables of race, gender, and physical activity status with the dependent variables of tobacco and alcohol use while controlling for race, gender, and participation in physical education classes. The six physical activity levels ranged from sedentary nonathletes to athletes participating on two or more sports teams. Highly active athletes drank more frequently than did low-activity nonathletes (p = .002) and sedentary nonathletes (p = .006), and they were more likely to binge drink (p = .004). Athletic groups were less likely to smoke than were the nonathletic groups (p < .0001) with "sedentary nonathletes" the heaviest smokers of all groups. Athletes were more likely to use smokeless tobacco (p < .0001) than nonathletes although this difference disappeared when controlling for gender and race. This research supports other findings about prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among athletic youth. In addition, it reveals that athletic youth are at an increased risk of alcohol use and binge drinking. Possible factors such as the risk-taking tendencies of team sport athletes should be investigated.