Dimitrios Papandreou, Pavlos Malindretos and Israel Rousso
The aim of this study is to record the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to explore any relationship with nutritional status in Greek children aged 6‐15 years.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to record the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to explore any relationship with nutritional status in Greek children aged 6‐15 years.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 524 children participated in the study. Anthropometric and dietary characteristics were recorded for all subjects.
Findings
The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 21.1 per cent and 8.4 per cent for boys and 17.6 and 7.3 per cent for girls, respectively. Dietary intakes of energy, fat, protein, lipids and sugar were higher in overweight and obese children compared with the normal ones ( p < 0.001), while fibre intake was lower in the overweight and obese group ( p < 0.001) than in the normal group. The current study gives an estimation of overweight and obesity in children from Northern Greece. The composition of diet, especially low in fibre, vitamin D and high in energy and fat may play a role in the etiology of obesity.
Originality/value
The paper presents information on obesity prevalence in a Mediterranean country as well as integration of some nutrients in the etiology of obesity.
Details
Keywords
Dimitrios Papandreou, Pavlos Malindretos and Israel Rousso
Waist circumference (WC) is a better predictor than total body fat for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and a sensitive marker of abdominal obesity for both adults and…
Abstract
Purpose
Waist circumference (WC) is a better predictor than total body fat for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and a sensitive marker of abdominal obesity for both adults and children. The purpose of this paper is to provide, for the first time, percentile curves of WC in children from Thessaloniki, northern Greece.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 607 children (324 boys‐283 girls) aged 7‐15 years participated in the study. Sex‐specific descriptive statistics for three age groups (7‐9, 10‐12 and 13‐15) and smoothed percentiles curves of WC were derived and presented.
Findings
WC increased with age in both boys and girls. Boys had higher mean values of WC in two age groups (10‐12 and 13‐15 years) compared with girls, while girls showed a higher mean value in the age group of 7‐9 years compared with boys. Percentile levels were higher for girls above the 90th percentile for the age groups of 7‐9 and 10‐12 years. WC correlated closely with body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.90 vs 0.89, for boys and girls, respectively). Reference curves of WC were provided for the first time. Considering the lack of such reference curves and also the high incidence of pediatric obesity in northern Greece's children, the paper aims to help identify and prevent early obesity risk factors associated with high WC values.
Originality/value
The paper informs nutritionists and clinical dietitians of new data of percentile ranges regarding waist circumference in a pediatric population.
Details
Keywords
The late twentieth-century spread of interest in the notion of “reparations” cannot be understood apart from the semantic meanings of the word itself. The term is one of the…
Abstract
The late twentieth-century spread of interest in the notion of “reparations” cannot be understood apart from the semantic meanings of the word itself. The term is one of the “re-words” that Charles Maier has identified as the object of rising interest among various groups in recent years.6 The first thing that must be said is that the word came to be transformed, sometime after World War II, from its earlier connotation of “war reparations” into something much broader. Before the Second World War, the use of “war” as a modifier here would have been nearly redundant; in that era, it went without saying that “reparations” were an outgrowth of war. The paradigmatic case of reparations, perhaps, was that mandated by the Versailles Treaty that ended World War I and imposed heavy obligations on the Germans to compensate the Allies for their wartime losses. In cases such as this, the term was synonymous with “indemnities”; again, the use of “war” to modify the main term would have been largely superfluous. It went without saying – in English at least – that “reparations” was an exaction imposed by the winners of a war on the losers, who were said to have been responsible for the damage caused by the conflict.7
Amit Gupta and Pushpendra Priyadarshi
There is dearth of research pertaining to how persons with disability (PWDs) view their career and the issues they face in career development; past studies highlight either the…
Abstract
Purpose
There is dearth of research pertaining to how persons with disability (PWDs) view their career and the issues they face in career development; past studies highlight either the organizational initiatives or individual factors in this regard. The present study bridges this gap by studying the PWDs' experiences and perceptions on challenges in their career development.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory study through interview of professionally qualified PWDs in India, who have a permanent employment.
Findings
PWDs experience that affirmative action has a negative fallout as it leads to positive discrimination and hence, adversely affects their confidence and development.
Research limitations/implications
The present study throws up new themes in the organizational climate that the PWDs face in career development, future studies can understand the aspirations of PWDs toward career and focus on the how the PWDs engage in shaping their career. Researchers can explore strategies that PWDs plan/adopt in creating a sustainable career for themselves. Scholars can also map the issues raised by PWDs with the career outcomes.
Social implications
The Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016, of Government of India introduces a social model of disability in India. This paper deploys the social model of disability to enhance our understanding of the disability climate in India from a new lens.
Originality/value
This study introduces new themes that depict the environmental factors and are related to the organizational climate rather than self-focused issues of PWDs. The paper introduces two new subjective criteria, voiced by PWDs, for career development – a well-crafted capability-based career path and role of inspirational platforms. It introduces hitherto undiscovered issues toward career development, faced by PWDs who have a secure employment and a professional career. This is the first exclusive study of PWDs employed in public sector and thus, brings uniqueness in the context.
Details
Keywords
Casey A. Holtz and Robert A. Fox
Behavior problems are common in toddlers and preschoolers. Richman, Stevenson, and Graham (1975) identified difficulties with eating, sleeping, toileting, temper, fears, peer…
Abstract
Behavior problems are common in toddlers and preschoolers. Richman, Stevenson, and Graham (1975) identified difficulties with eating, sleeping, toileting, temper, fears, peer relations, and activity as typical in this young population. While all young children should be expected to experience behavior problems as part of their normal development, an ongoing challenge in the field has been to determine when these “normal” developmental problems rise to the level of being considered “clinical” behavior problems (Keenan & Wakschlag, 2000). For example, when does a two-year-old child's tantrum behavior, a three-year-old's urinary accidents, and a four-year-old's defiance become clinically significant? To answer these questions, clinicians must examine the frequency, intensity, and durability of these difficulties, their potential to cause injury to the child or others, the extent to which they interfere with the child development, and the degree to which they disrupt the lives of their siblings, caregivers, peers, teachers, and others.
Tharun Dolla and Boeing Laishram
Effective maintenance of rural roads is an essential aspect of public infrastructure delivery. However, governments failed to upkeep the built infrastructure. Accordingly, this…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective maintenance of rural roads is an essential aspect of public infrastructure delivery. However, governments failed to upkeep the built infrastructure. Accordingly, this study addresses this pressing issue by identifying attributes, skills and resources for asset maintenance. To do this, collaborative governance, a recent plausible alternative in the public policy literature, is used.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature review proffered 29 strategies for operationalising collaborative governance principles. A questionnaire survey with the public sector representatives comprising top-level, mid-level and lower-level engineers was used to test the applicability of these strategies in rural infrastructure maintenance of India. The rated responses concerning strategies were subjected to exploratory factor analysis to determine the underlying structure for reducing the dimensions to make them practically operational.
Findings
The exploratory factor analysis showed that six dimensions play an essential role in initiating and promoting collaboration. This parsimonious framework suggests building a common collaborative framework, communicating vision and fostering communities, leadership, increasing the industry's capacity, transparency of power and responsibilities, and technical and financial resources. Thus, governments’ initiatives to build collaboration is most prominent in initiating and sustaining a successful collaboration.
Practical implications
The practical strategies reinforced through this study can formalise self-initiated regimes or independently convened regimes to a federally directed regime well within the scope of the national programmes. Thus, findings primarily have considerable implications to emerging countries where reducing the unit costs to save the public exchequer from wastage and preventing assets from becoming dilapidate are essential.
Originality/value
Public sector practitioners often lack the essential skills and innovative thinking and thus offered new knowledge would transform the traditional practices in infrastructure maintenance. Theoretically, the present research advances the understanding of structures and processes for collaborative governance theory to non-contractual infrastructure asset management literature.