IU'S MOHAMMAD TORABI HONORED BY INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR HEALTH, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, RECREATION, SPORT AND DANCE. - States News Service

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The following information was released by Indiana University - Bloomington:

Mohammad Torabi, interim dean of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Indiana University, has been awarded the President's Special Plaque from the International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance.

Mohammad Torabi

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The award is in appreciation and recognition for Torabi's outstanding meritorious service to the organization and the field. He received the award recently during the council's 53rd Anniversary World Congress and Exposition meeting in Cairo.

Torabi has served as editor of the Health Education Monograph Series, assistant research editor of the Journal of School Health and a research editor for the American Journal of Health Behavior. His numerous leadership positions in professional associations include serving as a member of the national executive board of the American School Health Association, at-large member of the National Council of the American Lung Association, board member of the American Association for Health Education and member of the national executive committee of Eta Sigma Gamma, a health science honorary. He served as president of the American Academy of Health Behavior and as vice president for the North American regional office of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education. Torabi has also served as president of the American Lung Association of Indiana and president of the IU Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.

Torabi's contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, such as the Research Council Award of the American School Health Association and the Midwest District Scholar of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. He also received the Outstanding Researcher Award by the School of HPER, IU's President's Award for Distinguished Teaching, the School of HPER Outstanding Teacher Award, the Murray Auerbach Medal of the American Lung Association of Indiana, the National Distinguished Service Award by the American School Health Association, the IU Distinguished Service Award and the IU W. George Pinnell Award for outstanding service.

Torabi's research focus is in the area of measurement and evaluation of school and public health education programs and factors associated with health behavior. His research extends into health promotion and key factors related to individuals' decisions in the prevention of drug abuse, cancer and HIV/AIDS infection. His research is published extensively in a variety of major journals in the field. Torabi has served as a research consultant for various state and national organizations including governmental and nongovernmental agencies, and he has presented his research at major national and international conferences.

The International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance, founded in 1958, is the largest membership-based international umbrella organization that includes professors, researchers and coaches in the fields of health, physical education, recreation, sport and related areas, as well as educational or research institutions and departments.

About the School of HPER

Health, Education maintain most-accepted dep?ts in survey.(Opinion & Editorial) - Manila Bulletin

JOEY says no other contender will be considered for the prez because GMA has a lock on it.

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Summit was designed to reduce too much political confrontation and create a climate of tolerance. After 3 days of speechifying, they're back to square 1.

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Lakas will start searching for a Veep to GMA in 2004. Is Tito Guingona in the list?

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Summit is proposing an election in 2004 to choose delegates to a constitutional convention. The campaign line: Elect Gloria while we do the Cha-cha.

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Some of our leaders are bent on imposing a parliamentary form of gov't if not a federal system.

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A South African millionaire spent $20 million for the privilege of becoming the 1st tourist in space. He flew into space in a Russian rocket last week and is back on the ground, poorer in pocket but richer in spirit.

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13 pipe bombs sent through the mail were found in cities in middle America. 1st it was anthrax, now it's an explosion in the mailbox.

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Prez Jacques Chirac was reelected in a landslide victory over extreme right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, after a dramatic race that shook Franco to its foundations.

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Analysts say that most French voters don't like Chirac, who has been linked to corruption, but they would rather vote for the crook rather than the fascist.

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France's much-admired democracy had to survive on negative voting this time around.

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The DepEd and the DoH continue to hold the Nos. 1 and 2 spots as the dep'ts with the best approval ratings in the latest polls of SWS and Pulse Asia.

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The polls reveal how education and health services are so close to the heart of Pinoys in the grassroots and how much they like the work due in these areas.

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The work of the 2 dep'ts should spur other parts of Prez GMA's gov't. Now if only the grandstanding trapos will let serious public servants do their jobs.

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Newly-approved drugs are riskier than the older ones and patients should avoid them when equally effective old drugs are available, says a study reported in the Journal of American Medical Association.

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Among the recent drugs taken off the market with harmful side effects were a heartburn drug, a diabetes pill and an irritable bowel syndrome treatment.

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At this school, health education starts in the `cafe'. - Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)

Byline: Bob Condor

At the private Ross School in East Hampton, N.Y., the students in 5th through 12th grades eat breakfast and lunch in the same 'cafe' as teachers and staff.

'It's multigenerational,' said Ann Cooper, executive chef and director of wellness and nutrition at the school. 'No one gets different or better food.'

What everyone gets is 'regional, organic and sustainable' food.

The menu includes items such as vegetable salmon quesadillas, Tuscan bean soup, spinach salad with blue cheese and bacon, carrot herb bread, sauteed chicken with roasted eggplant, basmati rice with mushrooms and jerk tempeh (a soy 'meat') with fried plantains. Pear sorbet is a typical dessert item.

Breakfast features muffins baked from scratch, hand-mixed granola, fresh fruit, yogurt, organic milk and a hot entree.

Student favorites such as macaroni and cheese or pasta with tomato sauce are served 'about once a month' because they are popular. Cooper serves hamburgers about twice a year.

Most often, she is devoted to building variety into the menu based on connecting to the local food supply. Consequently, she buys produce only when in season, then freezes sauces and whole fruits and vegetables for the hundreds of recipes used during the school year.

'We try to buy local first even if it's not organic produce. We make the effort to understand the local farmer's use of chemical inputs and how the food is grown.

'Sometimes it is more important to sustainability (of the local economy) to buy conventional. We can help farmers make the transition to organic.'

Just about now, skeptics are thinking, 'OK, sure, fine, it works in the Hamptons on Long Island at a private school with tuition rates that match or exceed many people's annual mortgage payments.'

Eyebrows might raise a skooch higher when you find out Ross can be described as an alternative-education school.

Cooper anticipated the doubters. She oversees the preparation of more than 1,300 daily breakfasts and lunches at both the Ross School and a nearby public school. She wanted to show it can fit into the taxpayer education model.

What's more, Cooper is helping to recharge the lunch programs of the New York City public schools. As part of the city's Community Food Resource Center, which has received a Kellogg Foundation grant to plot better nutrition for school kids, Cooper will develop recipes and provide solid proof that good food doesn't have to cost more.

She started the Ross initiative in September of the 2001-02 school year, confining to within the same food-service budget limit as used in the previous year. The program will be positively reviewed in a Harvard University study to be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Cooper discussed her work as the guest speaker for 'Better Food for Our Children,' a luncheon held recently in Chicago.

'We're just in the preliminary stages in New York City,' said Cooper, author of 'Bitter Harvest: A Chef's Perspective on the Hidden Dangers in the Food We Eat' (Routledge, $29.95). 'The first goals are to lower fat content and encourage the students to make healthier choices toward whole fruits, vegetables and grains. At this point, we're not even mentioning organic. We have to start somewhere.'

Cooper emphasized that a good place to start in any school district is eliminating junk foods, such as sodas, chip snacks and candy. She doesn't oppose the use of vending machines, but wants them filled with 100-percent juices, spring water, all-fruit rollups and other healthful drinks and snacks.

'Organic milk is dispensed in school machines in upstate New York,' Cooper said. 'It's possible to be healthy across the board.'

Surprisingly, Cooper said, the Ross students expressed little reluctance at the radical menu change.

'We give them numerous choices each day and really work on communicating to the students,' she said. 'We walk the dining room and ask them what they liked and didn't like. We want them to taste and try everything. The kids always find something to eat.'

One contributing strategy is to require each Ross student to plan and prepare an entire healthy meal before he or she can graduate. The students do it as part of a health class that covers sustainability of local farms, organic food supply and balanced nutrition.

'We are educating the kids and their palates,' Cooper said. 'Their palates do change. They become much more open to eating different foods.'

Different as in better_but the same as the teachers and staff.

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(Bob Condor writes for the Chicago Tribune. Write to him at: the Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.)

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(c) 2003, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicago.tribune.com/

SEN. BROWN ISSUES STATEMENT AT HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS COMMITTEE HEARING ON ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE - US Fed News Service, Including US State News

The office of Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has issued the following statement:

United States Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today chaired a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on the rise of antimicrobial resistance. The hearing addressed the proliferation of methicillin-Staphylococcusaureus (MRSA) and other drug resistant infections.

Last year Brown introduced the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance (STAAR) Act, legislation that would address antimicrobial resistance, with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). This legislation would promote research on new antibiotics and establish an Office of Antimicrobial Resistance (OAR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to coordinate the activities of agencies involved in drug resistance.

SENATOR BROWN'S STATEMENT:

'I'd like to thank our witnesses for joining us this morning. We welcome your insights as the committee examines a phenomenon that clearly has not received the attention it deserves.

'Over the last year, we have seen news reports about outbreaks around the country of dangerous infections for which there are few treatment options. One of the most common is a strain of staph infection that is resistant to penicillin and other related antibiotics, commonly referred to by the acronym MRSA.

'While MRSA was previously thought to occur only in hospital settings, Americans have begun to contract it in the community-at schools and through sporting activities. Last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that MRSA infections occur in approximately 94,000 people each year and are associated with approximately 19,000 deaths-that supersedes AIDS deaths-a scourge that has taken hard thinking and legislation to help treat.

'MRSA is a wake-up call. It signals the need-the urgent need-to confront antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance can occur whenever antibiotics are used inappropriately-when doctors overprescribe, when patients don't understand the importance of taking their full course of therapy, when animals are fed antibiotics to maintain health rather than to restore it, and when, in various ways, antimicrobials find their way into the environment.

'All of this takes its toll and in recent years, infections that used to be easily treated with antimicrobials are now drug resistant, leading to much more serious, sometimes life-threatening infections. We will hear testimony today from Brandon Noble who will share how his MRSA infection has had a profound effect on his life. Thank you, Brandon, for being here.

'Unfortunately, MRSA is just one of the drug-resistant infections setting the clock back on modern medicine. When our soldiers come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, they may face yet another deadly threat: drug resistant strains of acinetobacter.

'There are numerous drug resistant organisms, some of which could be avoided with better infection control practices on the part of medical personnel in hospitals and even simple hand washing. Our witness, Dr. Brennan, will elaborate on the issue of hospital-based infection control.

'It's clear that we also need new antimicrobial agents, which simultaneously move medical science forward and make up for the ground lost to drug-resistance. But there are barriers to creating new antibiotics. One of those barriers is profitability. Except in the rare case, antibiotics are short-term treatments, which mean they don't bring in as much revenue as those for chronic problems. We will hear from Dr. Eisenstein and Dr. Tollefson about some of the challenges we face in antibiotic development.

'We will also hear from Dr. Tenover, of the CDC, who will describe their efforts to track and combat antimicrobial resistance.

'Drs. Graham and Vogel will speak about the use of antimicrobials in animal feed. Chairman Kennedy has been instrumental in raising the profile of this important issue.

'In my state of Ohio, there were 12 outbreaks of MRSA last year. Ohioans contracted MRSA in health care settings, in the workplace, on sports teams, and in corrections facilities.

'I would like to relate the story of Dr. Froncie Gutman of Chagrin Falls, Chairman of Ophthalmology for 22 years at the Cleveland Clinic. In April of 2007, Dr. Gutman came down with pneumonia. By the time he went to the hospital, he was semi-conscious. He was given an antibiotic common in the treatment of bacterial pneumonia. But after a week, he wasn't getting better. His blood pressure dropped, he was going into septic shock, and his kidneys were shutting down. The doctors weren't able to identify the organism that was causing the infection. He was taken to surgery where a portion of his lung was removed and they were able then to identify the organism, MRSA. Dr. Gutman was in a coma for more than a week. Fortunately, he regained consciousness, and with the help of a newer antibiotic called Zyvox, Dr. Gutman has recovered. The message Dr. Gutman wants to convey about his experience is this: No matter the quality of care he received at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Gutman would not be alive today without Zyvox. Now he is concerned about what will happen when these organisms adapt to Zyvox.

'Antimicrobial-resistance is a powerful counterforce undermining our nation's progress against infectious disease. We should not underestimate it and we must not ignore it. My friend, Senator Hatch, and I introduced the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance Act to reinvigorate efforts to combat antimicrobial-resistance-efforts that accelerated in the late 90s-and then stalled. Our bill would launch a coordinated effort to prevent outbreaks of MRSA and other dangerous drug-resistant infections. It would jumpstart research on superbugs and explore strategies to ensure a robust pipeline for new antibiotic drugs. I thank Senator Hatch for his leadership on this issue and for introducing this bill with me.

Reports from J. Oetzel and Co-Researchers Add New Data to Research in Health Education Research.(Report) - Education Letter

'The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of community capacity for American Indian communities. The study included development and testing phases to ensure face, content, construct, and predictive validity,' researchers in Albuquerque, United States report.

'There were 500 participants in two southwest tribes who completed a detailed community profile, which contained 21 common items in five dimensions (communication, sense of community, youth, elders, and language/culture). In addition, subscales of women and leadership were included in one tribe each,' wrote J. Oetzel and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: 'Confirmatory factor analysis primarily supported the factorial structure of the instruments, and the seven dimensions were found to correlate with previously validated measures of social capital, historical trauma, community influence, and physical health in expected directions.'

Oetzel and colleagues published their study in Health Education & Behavior (Creating an Instrument to Measure People's Perception of Community Capacity in American Indian Communities. Health Education & Behavior, 2011;38(3):301-310).

For additional information, contact J. Oetzel, MSC03 2240, Albuquerque, NM 87106, United States.

Publisher contact information for the journal Health Education & Behavior is: Sage Publications Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA.

Keywords: City:Albuquerque, State:New Mexico, Country:United States, Region:North and Central America, Health Education Research

Studies from B.M. Kennedy et al Further Understanding of Health Education Research.(Report) - Education Letter

According to the authors of recent research from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 'In this paper, challenges to recruiting African Americans specifically for a dietary feeding trial are examined, learning experiences gained and suggestions to overcome these challenges in future trials are discussed. A total of 333 individuals were randomized in the trial and 234 (167 sibling pairs and 67 parents/siblings) completed the dietary intervention and required DNA blood sampling for genetic analysis.'

'The trial used multiple strategies for recruitment. Hand distributed letters and flyers through mass distribution at various churches resulted in the largest number (n = 153, 46%) of African Americans in the trial. Word of mouth accounted for the second largest number (n = 120, 36%) and included prior study participants. These two recruitment sources represented 82% (n = 273) of the total number of individuals randomized in GET READI. The remaining 18% (n = 60) consisted of a combination of sources including printed message on check stubs, newspaper articles, radio and TV appearances, screening events and presentations. Though challenging, the recruitment efforts for GET READI produced a significant number of African American participants despite the inability to complete the trial as planned because of low recruitment yields,' wrote B.M. Kennedy and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: 'Nevertheless, the recruitment process produced substantial numbers that successfully completed all study requirements.'

Kennedy and colleagues published their study in Health Education Research (Challenges to recruitment and retention of African Americans in the gene-environment trial of response to dietary interventions (GET READI) for heart health. Health Education Research, 2011;26(5):923-936).

For additional information, contact B.M. Kennedy, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Outpatient Clinic, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, United States.

Publisher contact information for the journal Health Education Research is: Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon St., Oxford OX2 6DP, England.

Keywords: City:Baton Rouge, State:Louisiana, Country:United States, Region:North and Central America

Study results from Children's Hospital provide new insights into health education.(Clinical report) - Education Letter

According to recent research from the United States, 'Few measurement instruments for children's eating behaviors and beliefs have been specifically validated for African-American children. Validation within this population is important because of potential cultural and ethnic influences.'

'were to evaluate established and newly developed or adapted dietary psychosocial measures in a sample of 303 preadolescent African-American girls and their caregivers. Acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >= 0.70) was found for measures of girls' self-efficacy for healthy eating, outcome expectancies for healthy eating, positive family support for healthy eating and household availability of low-fat food and fruit, juice and vegetables (FJV). Evidence for concurrent validity was found with significant associations between self-efficacy for healthy eating and lower intake of energy (r = -0.17) and fat grams (r = -0.16). Greater FJV availability was associated with greater FJV intake (r = 0.14) and lower body mass index (BMI) in girls (r = -0.12). Positive family support for healthy eating was associated with higher BMI in girls (r = 0.41),' wrote D.A. Sherrillmittleman and colleagues, Children's Hospital.

The researchers concluded: 'These results contribute to the development of scales to evaluate prevention interventions related to dietary intake in African-American children.'

Sherrillmittleman and colleagues published their study in Health Education Research (Measurement characteristics of dietary psychosocial scales in a Weight Gain Prevention Study with 8-to 10-year-old African-American girls. Health Education Research, 2009;24(4):586-595).

For additional information, contact D.A. Sherrillmittleman, St. Jude Children's Hospital & Research Center, Dept. of Epidemiology & Cancer Control, 262 Danny Thomas Pl, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.

Publisher contact information for the journal Health Education Research is: Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon St., Oxford OX2 6DP, England.

Keywords: United States, Memphis, Life Sciences, Weight Gain, Pediatrics, Psychosocial, Behavior, Health & Society, Children's Hospital.

American Board of Medical Specialties Reports Research in Health Education Research. - Education Letter

According to the authors of recent research from Chicago, Illinois, 'During the last decade, interest in assessing professionalism in medical education has increased exponentially and has led to the development of many new assessment tools. Efforts to validate the scores produced by tools designed to assess professionalism have lagged well behind the development of these tools.'

'This paper provides a structured framework for collecting evidence to support the validity of assessments of professionalism. The paper begins with a short history of the concept of validity in the context of psychological assessment. It then describes Michael Kane's approach to validity as a structured argument. The majority of the paper then focuses on how Kane's framework can be applied to assessments of professionalism,' wrote B.E. Clauser and colleagues, American Board of Medical Specialties.

The researchers concluded: 'Examples are provided from the literature, and recommendations for future investigation are made in areas where the literature is deficient.'

Clauser and colleagues published their study in Advances in Health Sciences Education (Validity considerations in the assessment of professionalism. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 2012;17(2):165-181).

For additional information, contact B.E. Clauser, Amer Board Med Specialties, Chicago, IL, United States.

Publisher contact information for the journal Advances in Health Sciences Education is: Springer, Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands.

Keywords: City:Chicago, State:Illinois, Country:United States, Region:North and Central America, Health Education Research

New health education research has been reported by M.B. Scales et al. - Education Letter

According to a study from the United States, 'The present study examined how adolescents perceive the relationship between smoking and stress and where they learn that smoking cigarettes may be an effective stress-reduction mechanism. Eight focus groups were conducted with low-income African American and European American 14- to 16-year-olds in urban and rural locations, in which they suggested that the primary reasons why they smoked-namely, as a coping mechanism (to calm nerves), for social acceptance, and because of environmental influences.'

'Family issues, boyfriend/girlfriend problems, and school were common stressors. Although participants overwhelmingly believed that people smoke to reduce their stress, a few believed that cigarettes do not actually reduce stress. When asked for examples of smoking in popular media, teens predominantly generated examples of individuals smoking to reduce stress,' wrote M.B. Scales and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: 'Ethnic and gender differences were found among the types of media in which they had seen smoking, their opinions of anti-smoking messages, and the media's perceived influence..'

Scales and colleagues published the results of their research in Health Education & Behavior (Adolescents' Perceptions of Smoking and Stress Reduction. Health Education & Behavior, 2009;36(4):746-758).

For additional information, contact M.B. Scales, 115 Perimeter Center W, Suite 380, Atlanta, GA 30346, USA.

The publisher of the journal Health Education & Behavior can be contacted at: Sage Publications Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA.

Keywords: United States, Atlanta, Life Sciences, Behavior, Health & Society.