Kent State Interns

This study explores dietary iron levels in men and women and the bioavailability of iron in each gender. The study has 873 participants. There were 495 men and 378 women. All the women who participated were pre-menopausal, not pregnant and not currently breast feeding. The study was done for seven days; this is an appropriate amount of time for an individual’s nutritional status to be evaluated. The goal of this study was for the authors to predict the prevalence of iron intake and find a specific amount of iron intake that can help to maintain an appropriate iron balance for optimal health. Some iron intake data was used from another study performed by the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. This data collection involved an interview with each person participating and it also had each person who was participating undergo blood and urine tests for a series of seven days (this being a minimum amount for the collection). They analyzed the data they received through an MEIA ki...

Being a gardening and cultural diversity advocate, I wanted to be assess the influence of gardening in the Navajo (Native American people from South-western United States) population. From prior research and working with this population in person, it is known that the rates of diabetes and obesity in these communities are higher than national rates due to this population incorporating process foods in their diets and not growing their own food as their bodies were accustomed to. A healthy diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables would aid in prevention and reductions of such rates. Therefore, this project focused on promoting gardening to make vegetables and fruits more convenient and accessible at the comfort of their own home. As previous research in this area has shown, gardeners on average consume two more servings of fruits and vegetables than non-gardeners. Thirty participants were recruited by flyer distribution at chapter houses, senior centers, and community centers, from four...

Being involved with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), both as a participant and as an employee that help/ encouraged elegiable applicants, I support this program and find it important to stay up-to date with as it is a government assistance program set to help low income invdividuals/families receive access to food. SNAP is in fact the largest federal food assistance program in the United States designed to “provide supplemental support to alleviate food insecurity and improve dietary intake.” Currently 1 in 7 Americans (47.6 million people) receive governmental support to purchase any kind of food as long as it is not alcohol, nutritional supplements, heated food or food served to eat on location. In recent years, it has been an ongoing discussion amongst policymakers, public health nutritionists and anti-hunger advocates to be engaged in how to modify SNAP policies to maximize nutritional implications for SNAP recipients. On the other hand, SNAP participants and l...

Being Hispanic (most of my family comes/lives in Baja California, Mexico) and noticing anemia running in my family, I was quickly drawn to this article. This article examined the etiology and factors contributing to anemia in women and children as anemia is a public health problem among that population in rural Baja California, Mexico. This article is a cross-sectional study comprised of 118 women (15–49 years of age) and 25 children (24–59 months of age), conducted during the year of 2012. Participants completed a health and dietary survey and underwent anemia testing. A sample of venous blood was collected from anemic participants to determine the etiology. Six random community tiendas (small stores) were chosen to establish the types of foods available for purchase. The results showed a prevalence of anemia for women was 22% and 20% for children. Women from low socioeconomic status households and women enrolled in the government assistance program (Prospera) were significantly more ...

When looking up community and nutrition topics via google, I saw there was an eatrightPRO web link associated with the google search; this link took me to the AND earrightPRO Public Health and Community Nutrition resource page (http://www.eatrightpro.org/resources/practice/practice-resources/public-health-and-community). I am very glad I stumbled upon this webpage as it provides very useful and creditable public health and community nutrition websites/resources. The topic that drew my attention was the Self-Assessment Tool for Public Health/Community Nutritionists (http://www.epi.umn.edu/let/assessment/index.shtm). I was drawn to this topic because I have a passion for community nutrition/public health; therefore, I had to take the test to find out the results. The test comprised of four modules and was done through the University of Minnesota. Module 1: Self-Reflection; involved question that ask about current public health/community nutrition involvement and future plans. Module 2: S...

While American childhood obesity may have leveled off in recent years, the level is still too high. Of the English speaking world, the United States still has the largest population of obese children. Over 23% boys and 19% of girls in America are obese. However, America is no longer the world leader in obese children. We have been overtaken by Polynesia, over 25% of their girls and 22% of their boys are now obese.   The worldwide level of childhood obesity has increased rapidly. The WHO has recently conducted a study that found that the number of obese children has increased from 11 million to 120 million worldwide in just 4 decades. These numbers do not include the children who qualify as overweight. Should this trend continue, we are on course to have more obese children than underweight children. The WHO is citing lack of physical activity, poor nutritional educations, and an overabundance of energy dense foods as the cause of this rapid increase. The WHO is calling for leg...

With the rise of childhood obesity finding ways to properly nourish our children is imperative. According to the latest NHANES data, children in this country under consume whole fruits and vegetables. Adolescents consume the least amount of vegetables as compared to recommendations than any other age group. While fruit consumption may be adequate, 1/3 of the fruits consumed by children are coming from fruit juices rather than whole fruits. Finding ways to improve the dietary quality of America’s children is imperative. One obvious avenue for exacting change is within the schools. The Healthiest Schools Initiative is a movement that aims to inspire a healthy food environment within schools. One school district in rural Georgia is making great strives to improving the health of their children. They serve 89% of their children lunch and 76% are participating in breakfast. They also serve dinner in several of their schools. They have had huge success with their farm to school programs...