Health Promotion Perspectives
Volume:10 Issue: 4, Nov 2020

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has caused major public concern and posed challenges to societies across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic might have implications for health-related behaviors, such as physical activity, among people in different age groups. Lately, a number of papers have offered suggestions and recommendations on how to stay physically active during the novel coronavirus pandemic while take into account safety measures and precautions. Many of these suggestions and recommendations might be relevant for health professionals and health practitioners working to facilitate physical activity, health, and well-being among children and young people. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper provides an overview of (a) suggestions and recommendations on physical activities; and (b) safety measures and precautions while being physically active.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to claim lives around the world and, to some extent, reflects the failure of international cooperation. Global health diplomacy (GHD) can be a bridge for international cooperation for tackling public health crises, strengthening health systems through emphasizing universal health coverage for sustainable and equitable development, and rebuilding multilateral organizations. It can be a catalyst for future global health initiatives. Health should not be used as a political tool at the cost of people’s lives, nor should it become a proxy for geopolitics but can be used to diffuse tensions and create a positive environment for political dialogue. Health diplomacy’s focus should be to mitigate inequality by making available diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines as a global public good. The implications for the lack of international cooperation will lead to increased global disparities and inequities as the countries that cannot procure vaccines will find their population more vulnerable to the pandemic’s repercussion. Though the international cooperation on trade has suffered the impact of geopolitical shifts and competition, through engaging in GHD, the governments can align the trade and health policies. Amid this global health crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO) has faced an increase in International Health Regulations violations, limiting its influence and response during this COVID-19 pandemic. Nations need to develop a sense of cooperation that serves as the basis for a mutual strategic trust for international development. The priorities of all the countries should be to find the areas of common interest, common operational overlap on development issues, and resource allocation for this global fight against COVID-19.

Between 2010 and 2018, the Philippines had a 203% increase in new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections. The use of condoms is an effective and practical means to prevent HIV transmission. The purpose of this study was to identify facilitators and barriers to condom use among Filipinos guided by the Ecological Model of Health Promotion.

A systematic review of literature using electronic databases was performed using the following keywords: “condom,” “Filipinos,” and “Philippines.” To be included in this review, papers should be (1) research studies, (2) studies that examined condom use, and (3) studies that sampled Filipinos residing in the Philippines. The final sample comprised of 27 articles.

Multiple and interrelated factors at the individual and social environment levels influence condom use among different groups of Filipinos. Majority of these factors originated at the intrapersonal level. Some of the facilitators to condom use were knowledge on HIV, higher perceived HIV risk, peer support, positive manager attitude, health provider engagement, and city ordinances. In contrast, some of the barriers to condom use were discomfort and displeasure on condom use, low parental communication, lack of sex education, social stigma, and the high price of condoms.

A collaborative, culturally-sensitive, and population-specific approach is essential to develop and implement acceptable, sustainable, and successful condom use interventions.

Nowadays, young people face several health challenges. As children and teenagers spend most of their time in the classroom, schools may have the opportunity to positively influence students’ quality of life, playing a crucial role in fostering their health. The aim of this review was to analyze evidence that demonstrated why school is the ideal setting for the promotion of young generations’ wellbeing.

We have reviewed the available literature about health promotion in school setting, searching for articles and books published from 1977 to 2020. A total of 74 articles and 17 books were selected and assessed.

The promotion of students’ wellbeing could reduce the prevalence of measurable unhealthy outcomes and improve their academic achievements. At least 80% of all cases of heart diseases, strokes, type 2 diabetes and one third of all cancers can be prevented through health education. In this perspective, primary prevention and health promotion should start as early as possible, finding in the school the ideal setting of action. Effective school-based preventive approaches should raise students’ motivation towards a personal interiorization of health knowledge and develop in young people a critical thinking about harmful consequences of the most common risky behaviours. Educators should receive adequate training concerning health topics and become expert in the most innovative approaches to effectively engage students in adopting healthy lifestyles.

As primary educational institution, school should integrate students’ health promotion in its ordinary teaching and learning practices in the perspective of “better health through better schools”.

Despite the high rate of HIV infections, there is still high rate of early unprotected sex, unintended pregnancy, and unsafe abortions especially among unmarried adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) 10-24 years of age in sub Saharan Africa. AGYW face challenges in accessing health care, contraception needs, and power to negotiate safer sex. This study aimed to estimate the rate of pregnancy among AGYW aged 10-24, 10-19 and 15-19 years in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) economic region.

A systematic review and meta-analysis was used to describe the prevalence of pregnancy among AGYW in 15 SADC member countries between January 2007 and December 2017. The articles were extracted from PubMed/MEDLINE, African Index Medicus, and other reports. They were screened and reviewed according to PRISMA methodology to fulfil study eligibility criteria.

The overall regional weighted pregnancy prevalence among AGYW 10-24 years of age was 25% (95% CI: 21% to 29%). Furthermore, sub-population 10-19 years was 22% (95% CI: 19% to 26%) while 15-19 years was 24% (18% to 30%). There was a significant heterogeneity detected between the studies (I2 =99.78%, P<0.001), even within individual countries.

The findings revealed a high pregnancy rate among AGYW in the SADC region. This prompts the need to explore innovative research and programs expanding and improving sexual and reproductive health communication to reduce risk and exposure of adolescents to early planned, unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, SRHR challenges, access to care, HIV/ STIs, as well as other risk strategies.

Contemporary cosmetology, apart from beautifying and caring for the human body, deals also with prevention aimed at maintaining health and physical fitness as long as possible. The profession of a cosmetologist so understood is closely related to the modern concept of health promotion, the part of which is health education. The objective of this review was to evaluate whether a cosmetologist may be a health promoter, and whether a beauty salon may serve as a place for conducting educational programs.

A systematic review was done using several electronic databases such as PubMed (including MEDLINE), Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, Embase, and Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO) and related keywords. The studies published in English between 2008 and 2018 which had specifically mentioned the role of a cosmetologist in the area of health promotion and health education were included.

In total, 7 articles met the study criteria. It was found that cosmetologists have the potential to promote pro-health activities. The results of this review also suggest that beauty salons are suitable places for increasing pro-health awareness and can be successfully used to conduct educational programs about healthy lifestyle, as well as skin, breast and cervical cancer prevention.

A well-educated and aware of health risks cosmetologist seems to be the right person to transmit and spread knowledge about the proper lifestyle in her workplace and the local environment. A beauty salon, as a place of social interaction, may constitute an area of implementation of pro-health educational programs.

This study aimed to investigate the association between prenatal/infancy factors and lipid profile in children and adolescents.

This multicentric national study was conducted in 30 provinces in Iran. It comprised 4200 participants, aged 7-18 years, from the fifth survey of a national surveillance program. History regarding birth weight, as well as the type of consumed milk and food during infancy was obtained from parents. In addition to physical examinations, fasting blood samples were obtained to assess the lipid profile of these students.

Data from 3844 participants were available (91.5% participation rate), 52.4 % of students were boys. Mean (SD) age of participants was 12.3(3.2) years. Consuming cow milk in the first two years significantly increased the risk of high triglycerides (TG) (odds ratio [OR]: 2.77, 95% CI: 1.32-5.85, P: 0.01), elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (P<0.05) and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (P <0.05). Students who had consumed commercially made food as complementary feeding were 93% more likely to have high LDL (OR: 1.93, 95% CI=1.19-3.13, P: 0.01) and 90% more likely to have high TG than students who had consumed homemade food (OR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.15-3.12, P: 0.01). The aforementioned figures were not significantly associated with an elevated total cholesterol (TC) level.

Our findings revealed that the history of using human milk and home-made food as complementary feeding was associated with better lipid profile in childhood and early adolescence. Increasing public knowledge in this regard might be useful for encouragement of healthier life prevention of chronic diseases.

Background:

 Concern for the development of actions against COVID-19 has continued to grow since February 2020. Government responses remain a crucial part of preventing virus transmission through policy formulation and strengthening national capacity.

This study has used quantitative analysis, using secondary data from 177 countries. The variables consist of Global Health Security (GHS) category and COVID-19 pandemic. An analysis of the appropriateness of the government’s policy response in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic was carried out by comparing the two variables.

The study indicated a significant relationship between global health security category and pandemic score (P<0.01). There were 37 countries out of 177 (20.9%) categorized as under-reaction and least-reaction. 

Conclusion:

Pandemic COVID-19 score, rated based on doubling time, is directly significant with the health security category. The government should improve its responsiveness and preparation to improve national capacity during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Given the high prevalence of physical inactivity among Asian immigrants and its potential negative effects on health, more attention should be paid to identifying factors that might affect their participation in leisure time physician activity (LTPA). This study examined how perceived environmental characteristics are related to self-efficacy and LTPA among Asian immigrants in the United States.

This cross-sectional study collected data from an on-line survey administered through Qualtrics, a web-based survey software company. In the data analysis, 512 Asian immigrants were included. As independent variables, we assessed perceived environmental characteristics with regard to the perceived accessibility of LTPA-related sites and neighborhood quality. As mediating and outcome variables, we measured self-efficacy and LTPA, respectively. Using AMOS version 22, a path analysis was conducted to measure model fit.

The perceived accessibility of the LTPA-related sites (b=0.10, P=0.04) and self-efficacy (b=0.26, P=0.001) were positively related to LTPA. Perceived neighborhood quality (b=0.11, P=0.012 was positively associated with self-efficacy, yet not directly associated with LTPA. Selfefficacy mediated the relationship between the perceived accessibility of LTPA-related sites and LTPA (estimate=0.036, 95% CI=0.015–0.067, P=0.003).

This study suggests that perceiving easy access to LTPA-related sites and living in quality neighborhoods can encourage people to participate in LTPA more often by increasing their self-efficacy toward LTPA. These findings highlight a need for public infrastructural investments to improve accessibility to LTPA-related resources and neighborhood quality, which can potentially increase self-efficacy and promote LTPA among Asian immigrants.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most frequent cause of chronic liver disease in the world. The current interventional trial aimed to evaluate the effects of supplementation with oleoylethanolamide (OEA) in combination with weight loss intervention on some atherogenic indices as well as hematological parameters in patients newly diagnosed with NAFLD.

In this triple-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 76 obese patients with NAFLD confirmed by ultra-sonographic findings were randomly assigned to receive a weight reduction diet plus either 250 mg OEA (n=38) or placebo (n=38) for 12 weeks. Atherogenic factors including total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)/HDL-C, triglyceride (TG)/HDL-C, non-HDL-C/ HDL-C ratios and non-HDL-C level, as well as hematological parameters were assessed before and after intervention.

After adjustment for potential confounding factors, between group analyses demonstrated a significantly lower LDL-C/HDL-C, TG/HDL-C, and non-HDL-C/HDL-C ratios in the OEA group compared to the placebo, post-intervention (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06 to 0.85, P=0.024; 95% CI: -2.06 to -0.05, P=0.039; 95% CI: -1.05 to -0.02, P=0.042, respectively). Additionally, OEA supplementation could significantly decrease the levels of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) compared to the placebo at the endpoint after considering potential confounding variables (95% CI: -0.56 to -0.003, P=0.041). No significant differences were found between the two study groups in terms of other hematological parameters.

The results of the current study indicated that OEA supplementation had beneficial effects on LDL-C/HDL-C, TG/HDL-C, and non-HDL-C/HDL-C ratios as well as RDW in obese patients with NAFLD

Physical activity (PA) programs are inexpensive, non-pharmaceutical and universally accessible options with demonstrated efficacy in reducing menopausal symptoms. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a behavioral strategy for initiating and sustaining PA with the hope to reduce or eliminate menopausal symptoms.

Menopausal and perimenopausal women (n=190) were randomly assigned to intervention (n=95) and non-intervention (n=95) groups using a random-numbers table. The intervention group consisted of 18 neighborhood network subgroups, each consisting of five to six women known to one another. They participated in a 12-week regular PA program, augmented by eight interactive group education and discussion sessions. The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) self-report instrument was used to determine perceived severity of menopausal symptoms.

The intervention group showed a significant reduction in the frequency and severity of menopausal symptoms (P<0.001). Those whose symptoms rated severe/very severe for hot flushes were reduced from 30.1% to 11.8%. Also, participants whose sleep problems and joint discomfort rated severe/very severe declined from 28% to 6.5% and joint discomfort rated severe or very severe was reduced from 52.7% to 4.4%, respectively. Conversely in the nonintervention group, hot flushes, sleep problems and joint problems got significantly worse (P<0.05).

Implementing educational program that increases awareness of PA benefits in combination with existing neighborhood networks that facilitate communication and cooperation may increase PA levels and decrease menopausal symptoms. Such networks offer a low-cost means of improving quality of life (QOL) for perimenopausal and menopausal women.

The study goal was to evaluate the nutritional impact of a healthy snack intervention on a southern university campus.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted during the fall 2017 semester weekly for 14 weeks in a large southern U.S. university. For the intervention, half of vending snacks in four campus residential halls (housing from 216 to 361 students) were substituted with snacks complying with federal Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards for K-12 schools. For analysis, data from the Nutrition Facts labels of 14 vending machines or from manufacturer’s websites was collected by trained graduate and undergraduate researchers.

On average, for each Smart Snack sold, there was a statistically significant reduction of 99.38 calories (CI=42.32, 156.43), 4 g saturated fat (CI = 2.23, 5.75), and 10.06 g of sugar (CI=2.92, 17.20). An average reduction of 41.88 mg in sodium and an increase of 0.81g in fiber was also found, but was not statistically significant. There was a significant difference (t(16)= 3.02, P<0.025, 95% CI = 10.77, 55.79) between the Quality Score of Smart Snacks (M=59.13, SD= ± 36.50) and that of non-compliant snacks (M=25.85, SD= ± 24.72).

The nutritional impact with even a 50% Smart Snack replacement is promising. Many available comparable snacks mimic the mouthfeel, taste, and appearance of their original full-fat, full-sodium, and full-sugar counterparts. Including healthier snack choices in vending machines may be a viable option for universities to transform the campus eating environment.

It is well-documented that active coping strategies can lead to better positive adjustment and psycho-social outcomes among individuals with disabilities and illnesses. However, little information exists related to exploring how coping is related to health benefits such as personal growth and life satisfaction in an international context. Thus, this study examined how the use of coping strategies is associated with personal growth and life satisfaction among individuals with physical disabilities in non-Western settings.

In this cross-sectional study, we employed a nonprobability methodology, purposive sampling, to recruit 351 participants who adults over the age of 18 living with a physical disability and currently enrolled in the Korean Disability Association. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to determine which types of coping strategies predicted personal growth and life satisfaction, while controlling for the effects of the demographic variables (i.e., gender and age).

With regard to personal growth, problem-solving coping strategy (β=0.663, P<0.001, 95% CI [0.51, 0.70]) was the strongest predictor, followed by avoidance coping strategy (β=-0.263, P<0.001, 95% CI [-0.37, -0.20]). As for life satisfaction, problem-solving coping strategy (β=0.268, P<0.001, 95% CI [0.18, 0.70]) was the strongest predictor, followed by social support seeking coping strategy (β=0.264, P<0.001, 95% CI [-0.19, 0.10]).

Our study suggests that problem-focused and social support coping strategies play important roles in improving the personal growth and life satisfaction among Korean individuals with physical disabilities. This study provides implications for health professionals seeking ways to facilitate the personal growth and enhance the life satisfaction of individuals with physical disabilities.

Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), this pilot study aimed to test an autonomy-supportive exercise instructing style to promote hedonic (seeking comfort and pleasure) and eudaimonic (seeking to develop the best within one and pursue excellence) orientations, exercise motivation, and psychological well-being of breast cancer survivors.

Twenty-four breast cancer survivors were randomized in either autonomy-supportive exercise instructing style (treatment condition) or usual exercise instructing style (control condition). The study consisted of a pre-intervention session followed by 22 exercise sessions and a post-intervention session. Hedonic and eudaimonic orientations, exercise motivation, and psychological well-being (subjective vitality) measured at baseline and post-intervention sessions.

As expected, participants in the treatment condition reported greater eudaimonic and hedonic orientations and subjective vitality compared to the participants in the control condition. The results showed no difference in exercise motivation across conditions.

We concluded that the SDT-based intervention was successful in helping breast cancer survivors increase hedonic and eudaimonic orientations and subjective vitality. Practical and theoretical implications, along with limitations and future research suggestions are discussed inside.

The directed forgetting paradigm involves individuals encoding a list of words (List 1; L1) and then, prior to encoding a second list of words (List 2; L2), they are given specific instructions to either remember all the words from L1 or to try and forget these words. In this paradigm, after encoding L1, those who are given the directed forgetting (DF) instructions tend to recall more words for L2 when compared to those who were given the remember (R) instructions (DF benefit effect). Similarly, those given the DF instructions tend to recall fewer words from L1 (DF cost effect). This DF phenomenon may, in part, occur via attentional inhibitory mechanisms, or mental context-change mechanisms, which may be influenced via acute exercise.

The present experiment investigates if acute exercise can facilitate DF when exercise occurs after L1 forgetting instructions. Participants (N=97; Mage = 21 years) were randomly assigned into either acute exercise (15-min high-intensity aerobic exercise) plus DF (EX + DF), 2) DF (directed forgetting) only (DF) or 3) R (remember) only (R). A standard two list (L1 and L2) DF paradigm was employed.

We observed evidence of a DF cost effect, but not a DF benefit effect. For L1, although both EX + DF and DF differed from R, there was no difference between EX + DF and DF. Further, although for L2, EX + DF was different than DF, neither of these groups differed when compared to R.

We reserve caution in suggesting that exercise had a DF effect.