Abstracts

"Altering the Perceptions of WIC Health Professionals About Childhood Obesity Using Video with Facilitated Group Discussion." Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2004, Robert C. Whitaker, Susan N. Sherman, Leigh A. Chamberlin, and Scott W. Powers. Health professionals agree that childhood is the time to begin efforts to prevent obesity. With nearly half of all infants and a quarter of children age one to four enrolled in WIC at some point, the program is posed to play an important role in addressing obesity prevention through its public health nutrition services. This study involved producing a documentary video about several WIC families, followed by group discussion among WIC health professionals about barriers and solutions to addressing obesity in children. More information about this award-winning documentary video can be obtained at http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/fitwic. Reprints available while supply lasts; call 609-275-2350. 

"Neighborhood Playgrounds, Fast Food Restaurants, and Crime: Relationships to Overweight in Low-Income Preschool Children." Preventive Medicine, January 2004, Hillary L. Burdette and Robert C. Whitaker. This cross-sectional study examined over 7,000 low-income children between the ages of 3 and 5 living in Cincinnati. The authors hypothesized that children who lived farther from playgrounds, closer to fast food restaurants, and in unsafe neighborhoods might be more likely to be overweight. They conclude that overweight was not associated with proximity to playgrounds and fast food restaurants or with level of neighborhood crime. Reprints available while supply lasts; call 609-275-2350.

“Depressive Symptoms in Low-Income Mothers and Emotional and Social Functioning in Their Preschool Children.” Ambulatory Pediatrics, November/December 2003, Hillary L. Burdette, Robert C. Whitaker, Jean Harvey-Berino, and Robert S. Kahn. Discusses factors that modify the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and emotional and social functioning in low-income preschool children. Presents the results of a survey of 295 low-income mothers enrolled in the Vermont WIC Program, finding that both the sex of the child and the smoking status of the mother appear to influence this relationship.

"Do Quality Improvement Strategies for Medicaid Enrollees Differ in Medicaid-Dominant Versus Commercial Managed Care Organizations?" The American Journal of Managed Care, December 2003, Suzanne Felt-Lisk and Marsha R. Gold. Policymakers have historically disagreed about whether Medicaid beneficiaries should be directed toward managed care plans that specialize in serving the Medicaid population or whether it is better to attract plans with large commercial enrollments. The researchers sought to examine whether it matters, in terms of quality improvement and access to commercial networks, for states to contract with Medicaid-dominant versus commercial managed care plans. Both types of plans reported an extensive array of quality improvement initiatives, and face barriers that limit the effectiveness of their initiatives. Their programs were mostly similar, although Medicaid plans tended to specialize in priority conditions for the Medicaid population and commercial plans tended to develop programs for accreditation by NCQA.

“Eating at School: How the National School Lunch Program Affects Children’s Diets.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, November 2003, Philip M. Gleason and Carol W. Suitor. Examines the impact of participation in the National School Lunch Program on children’s dietary intake at lunchtime and over 24 hours, using a fixed effects model to control for unobserved differences between participants and nonparticipants. Finds that eating a school lunch leads to increased intake (at lunch and over 24 hours) of six vitamins and minerals, as well as dietary fiber. Participation also leads to a tradeoff in children's intakes of added sugar and dietary fat—those who eat a school lunch have higher intakes of dietary fat than nonparticipants but lower intakes of added sugars. Reprints available while supplies last; call 609-275-2350.

"Child Care Quality Matters: How Conclusions May Vary With Context." Child Development, July/August 2003, John M. Love, Linda Harrison, Avi Sagi, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, Christine Ross, Judy Ungerer, Helen Raikes, Christy Brady-Smith, Kimberly Boller, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Jill Constantine, Ellen Eliason Kisker, Diane Paulsell, and Rachel Chazan-Cohen. Does more time spent in child care—even in centers that are good quality—lead to behavioral problems in young children? A recent National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study of early child care reported that children who spend more time with a caregiver other than their mother tend to have more behavior problems, even if the quality of care is good. The authors of this paper explore whether the link between behavior problems and time spent in early child care shows up in other situations, using data from Australia, Israel, and the United States collected in child care settings with different ranges of child care regulations and quality. The study included families from a variety of cultures, races, family backgrounds, and incomes. Because of this diversity, the findings are useful for understanding how quality and quantity of child care can influence young children both intellectually and behaviorally. Reprints available while supply lasts; call 609-275-2350.

"Has School-to-Work Worked?" The School-to-Work Movement: Origins and Destinations, 2003, Alan M. Hershey. Despite uncertainty about whether school-to-work concepts will play a lead role in redirecting schools, the school-to-work movement has helped to elevate awareness among educators, students, and parents of the contribution that career exposure, workplace experience, and goal-oriented educational decisions can make to a successful future. Although school-to-work has not achieved the ambitious goals set forth in the legislation, it has probably contributed a constructive thread to the evolving fabric of American Education.

"Design and Analysis of Unit Cost Estimation Studies: How Many Hospital Diagnoses? How Many Countries?" Health Economics, July 2003, Henry A. Glick, Sean M. Orzol, Joseph F. Tooley, Daniel Polsky, and Josephine O. Mauskopf. Addresses three cost questions that commonly arise in multinational trials: (1) In countries where investigators plan to collect hospital unit cost estimates for a selected set of diagnoses, how should one estimate unit costs for the remaining diagnoses observed in the trial for which cost data were not collected? (2) For how many hospital diagnoses should estimates be obtained? (3) For how many countries should they be obtained? The authors used unit cost data collected in four western European countries and three relative value measures from the U.S. Medicare diagnosis-related group (DRG) payment system, finding that mean length of stay from the U.S. system is a good predictor of unit costs in four countries in Europe.

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