| 1. |
- Hoy, Sara, et al.
(author)
-
Agents of change? Exploring relations among school staff connected to daily physical activity promotion in a Swedish secondary school from a social network perspective
- 2024
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Earlier research proposes that a school’s social environment among staff functions as an important facilitator for physical activity policy/curriculum dissemination, such as support among colleagues, physical activity ideas shared between teachers, as well as having individuals as ‘agents of change’. It is often proclaimed that physical education teachers inhabit these ‘agentic’ roles concerning physical activity and health promotion targeting youth during the school day. Despite this, little seems to have been researched concerning the agentic roles of physical educators and other school staff and their social networks within the school organization. Consequently, this study aims to explore relations among school staff regarding daily physical activity promotion in a Swedish secondary school from a social network perspective. This case study applied a convergent mixed method design with an emergent approach, where the qualitative ethnographic data and quantitative survey data were collected around the same time. Data was collected during one full school year from school staff at one secondary school (students aged 12-16 years, grades 7-9) in a larger urban area in Sweden. The sample included all staff within the school that interacts with secondary students, which involves school management, staff and teachers who are responsible for secondary students at some point during the school day, involved in student health or are engaged in physical activity, as well as physical education and health teachers. Our empirical material consists of field notes (180 hours of fieldwork), transcriptions from interviews (12 staff), as well as survey nomination data (23 participants). Qualitative data has been analyzed through a reflexive thematic analysis, and survey data through a social network analysis, and then further combined in an integrated analysis. Preliminary results of the current study show that the school staff’s social networks are characterized in different ways within close everyday-discussion colleague networks, peer networks concerning physical activity, and advisory networks regarding physical activity. In the everyday discussions among staff on topics regarding secondary students, physical education teachers are positioned as isolated islands in the networks. While physical education teachers hold a somewhat key role relating to discussions about physical activity, these discussions also go through other, and sometimes more influential, agents. Conflictingly, the physical education teachers still picture themselves as physical activity ambassadors for students’ daily physical activity. This picture is also shared by other school staff. At this school, the results shed light on important issues concerning how the social (network) context among school staff helps promote and inhibit physical activities for the students.
|
|
| 2. |
- Lee, Bruce Y., et al.
(author)
-
Research gaps and opportunities in precision nutrition : an NIH workshop report
- 2022
-
In: The American journal of clinical nutrition. - : Elsevier BV. - 1938-3207 .- 0002-9165. ; 116:6, s. 1877-1900
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Precision nutrition is an emerging concept that aims to develop nutrition recommendations tailored to different people's circumstances and biological characteristics. Responses to dietary change and the resulting health outcomes from consuming different diets may vary significantly between people based on interactions between their genetic backgrounds, physiology, microbiome, underlying health status, behaviors, social influences, and environmental exposures. On 11-12 January 2021, the National Institutes of Health convened a workshop entitled "Precision Nutrition: Research Gaps and Opportunities" to bring together experts to discuss the issues involved in better understanding and addressing precision nutrition. The workshop proceeded in 3 parts: part I covered many aspects of genetics and physiology that mediate the links between nutrient intake and health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer disease, and cancer; part II reviewed potential contributors to interindividual variability in dietary exposures and responses such as baseline nutritional status, circadian rhythm/sleep, environmental exposures, sensory properties of food, stress, inflammation, and the social determinants of health; part III presented the need for systems approaches, with new methods and technologies that can facilitate the study and implementation of precision nutrition, and workforce development needed to create a new generation of researchers. The workshop concluded that much research will be needed before more precise nutrition recommendations can be achieved. This includes better understanding and accounting for variables such as age, sex, ethnicity, medical history, genetics, and social and environmental factors. The advent of new methods and technologies and the availability of considerably more data bring tremendous opportunity. However, the field must proceed with appropriate levels of caution and make sure the factors listed above are all considered, and systems approaches and methods are incorporated. It will be important to develop and train an expanded workforce with the goal of reducing health disparities and improving precision nutritional advice for all Americans.
|
|
