Why is it that, real or not, we tend to reject things that associate us with being old? Case in point: A little over two decades ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a petition to allow prune producers to market their product as “dried plums.” They hoped the new designation might help remove any stigma for those who think prunes are only for grandparents.
Wait, I am a grandparent. And hooray, the California Prune Board says that, although prunes were referred to as dried plums in the past, they are now “embracing and proclaiming the wonders of California prunes with pride.”
Whether you call them prunes or dried plums, think of them first as an amazing functional food. That means prunes have other positive effects even beyond their impressive nutritional value.
What is it in prunes and prune juice, for example, that helps prevent constipation? Scientists say the attribute comes from the presence of dietary fiber as well as sorbitol, a sugar alcohol that acts as a mild laxative. At any rate, as little as 1/2 cup of prune juice or four to five prunes a day can keep the old (and young) gut working well.
What really screams out “functional” to me, however, is a growing body of evidence that shows how eating prunes can protect our bones. Two clinical trials from the University of Pennsylvania, for example, found less bone loss and improved bone density in older women who ate five to 10 prunes a day for six months to a year.
Researchers think one possible reason for this positive effect is related to the specific nutrients and other substances in prunes that fortify bones and reduce inflammation at the same time.
If you have diabetes, you may deduce from prune juice’s nutrition label that it’s got way too much sugar for comfort. Here’s the good news, though. Prune juice boasts three ingredients that work together to prevent spikes in blood sugar: dietary fiber, sorbitol (which is half as sweet at regular sugar) and fructose, natural fruit sugar that has a much lower effect on blood glucose than many other types of carbohydrates. Just remember to stick to a half-cup serving size unless your health professional advises you otherwise.
Once you open a bag of prunes, reseal it and store in a cool, dry place. You can also refrigerate prunes in an airtight container, says the California Prune Board.
So whether it’s prunes or dried plums you consider most socially acceptable, don’t be embarrassed to put them into your grocery cart. They make a great high-powered snack or try some really cool recipes at https://ift.tt/wO2vKhk.
Heck, you might even get your grandkids to like them.
Barbara Intermill is a registered dietitian nutritionist and syndicated columnist. Email her at barbara@quinnessentialnutrition.com. This column was written for MediaNews Group Inc. Visit at monterreyherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
“Be active, eat well”; we’ve heard how important it is to take care of ourselves. Living a healthy lifestyle can greatly improve how we feel and our quality of life. But how important is a healthy lifestyle? Previous studies have shown that leading a healthier lifestyle can extend life expectancy,1 but a new study claims it can also reduce the number of years spent living with dementia.2
Dementia is an international health concern
Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia impose huge social and economic strain on the healthcare system. In 2021, an estimated one in nine individuals in the U.S. aged 65 or older had dementia.3 Living with dementia requires extra resources including extra time from nurses and family members. The healthcare costs associated with dementia in 2021 were estimated at $355 billion in the U.S.4
If we can reduce the amount of time spent living with dementia, there would be a huge social and economic impact. It would improve the quality of life for those suffering and relieve healthcare staff, resources, and facilities.
The study claims that reducing time spent living with dementia may be as simple as leading a healthier lifestyle.2
What constitutes a “healthy” lifestyle?
The new study was published in the British Medical Journal. According to the research group, consisting of professionals from the United States and Switzerland, living a healthy lifestyle depends on exercising regularly, getting enough cognitive stimulation, and maintaining a well-balanced diet.2
2,449 people aged 65 or older from the southern Chicago area were included in the study. The average age of the participants was 76; there were 909 men and 1540 women included. Each participant was recruited through the Chicago Health and Aging Project, which collected population data between 1993 and 2012.5 Participants had no known history of dementia.2
Surveys were distributed to participants that evaluated their lifestyle choices. These questions measured five factors: smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, physical activity, and cognitive activities.2
Being exceptionally physically active was defined as greater or equal to 150 minutes per week. A “healthy diet” was defined as a Mediterranean-DASH diet; this diet incorporates high proportions of leafy greens and vegetables with low levels of saturated fats. Acceptable alcohol consumption was between 1-30g/day for men and 1-15g/day for women.
As lifestyle scores were calculated, influential variables were corrected for, including race, sex, education level, and genetic predisposition for dementia.
A healthier lifestyle can extend lifespan and time without dementia
The results of the study suggested that living a healthier lifestyle may increase life expectancy.2 For men at the age of 65 who lived the healthiest lifestyle, their life expectancy was 23.1 years. For men living the unhealthiest lifestyle, their life expectancy was 17.4 years at age 65. For women aged 65, those with the healthiest lifestyles had a life expectancy of 24.2 years and, for those with the unhealthiest lifestyles, theirs was 21.1 years.
Although those with healthier lifestyles were projected to have a longer life expectancy, these extra years did not correlate with more time living with dementia.
Specifically, for both men and women living the healthiest lifestyles, the time spent living with dementia was 10.8% and 6.1% of their remaining life, respectively.2 In comparison, the time spent living with dementia for men and women living the unhealthiest lifestyles was 19.3% and 12.0% of their remaining life, respectively.
That means that time spent living with dementia, as a percentage of remaining life, was reduced by almost half when healthier life choices were made.
HwaJung Choi, a research assistant professor with the University of Michigan, commented, “Promoting greater engagement in healthy lifestyles may increase dementia-free life years– by delaying the onset of dementia without extending life years spent with dementia”.6
She discussed the importance of incorporating these findings into programming to help delay the onset of dementia. She emphasized that reducing cases of dementia “is critically important in global efforts to reduce pressure on stressed healthcare systems, healthcare workers, and both paid and unpaid carers.” 6
References
Li, Y. et al. (2018). Impact of Healthy Lifestyle Factors on Life Expectancies in the US Population. Circulation;138:345-55. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047.
Dhana, K. et al. (2022). Healthy lifestyle and life expectancy with and without Alzheimer’s dementia: population based cohort study. British Medical Journal; 377: e068390. Doi: 10.1136/bmj-2021-068390.
Rajan, K.B. et al. (2021). Population estimate of people with clinical Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment in the United States (2020-2060). Alzheimer’s & Dementia; 17:1966-75. doi:10.1002/alz.12362.
Whole Foods Market plans to close its Englewood store after opening the grocery with great fanfare just six years ago.
The Englewood store as well as another one in the DePaul University Welcome Center in Lincoln Park are among six stores the grocery chain plans to close nationwide. The company was not specific about closing dates, saying the stores will close in the coming months.
“As we continue to position Whole Foods Market for long-term success, we regularly evaluate the performance and growth potential of each of our stores, and we have made the difficult decision to close six stores. We are supporting impacted Team Members through this transition and expect that all interested, eligible Team Members will find positions at our other locations,” a Whole Foods spokesperson said Friday.
The announcement to close one of the company’s two stores on the South Side — it has about a dozen in Chicago — comes just two days after it opened a nearly 66,000-square-foot store at 3 W. Chicago Ave. in the One Chicago high-rise. It replaces a store at 30 W. Huron St.
The company did not provide any information on how the stores closing were performing financially, although Amazon, which owns Whole Foods, on Thursday announced its first quarterly loss since 2015.
Shoppers head to Whole Foods Market in Englewood on Friday, the same day the company announced the store would be closing.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Shoppers at the Englewood market Friday were shocked to hear the news.
Phillip Backstrol was thrilled when the store opened six years ago. The 65-year-old prefers to shop at Whole Foods for the variety of organic vegetables.
“I thought it was great,” said Backstrol.
Now, Backstrol will need to drive downtown to find those vegetables.
Lashay Shambley works nearby at the Chase Bank at 62nd Street and Western Avenue, and now she’s not sure where she’ll go to get lunch.
“There’s nothing but Popeyes, McDonald’s and Wendy’s,” said Shambley, 21. “I kind of looked toward Whole Foods for like a healthy escape.”
Shambley’s concerns aren’t unfounded. When Whole Foods came to the neighborhood six years ago, it helped close a food desert gap by providing access to healthier, fresh foods.
Now, residents have access to an Aldi and Go Green Community Fresh market along the same block.
One resident, who didn’t want his name used, wasn’t upset Whole Foods was leaving the neighborhood.
“They said they were going to have lower prices for Englewood but they didn’t make that promise real,” the resident said. “I only come here because it’s right across the street from my house, but one apple juice is cheaper in Hyde Park than here.”
He added he’d rather spend his money at a locally owned grocery store, like the Go Green, than a conglomerate like Whole Foods.
Workers at other businesses in the 5.5 acre Englewood Square development anchored by Whole Foods —which includes a Starbucks and Chipotle —said the store definitely brought in shoppers, although they hoped to be able to weather the closure.
“Just like any place, you look around and can see another store and you want to see what they have,” said Malcom Silas, an employee at nearby DTLR fashion outlet, who said shoppers with Whole Foods bags often came to his shop a few doors down.
Silas thinks his store could lose some business, but, overall he doesn’t think it will impact the outlet’s receipts too much.
Customers walk out of Whole Foods Market in Englewood on Friday, the same day the company announced the store would be closing.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
‘The community needs a grocery store’
Local Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th) was not immediately available to comment.
Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) said she’s “sad,” but not at all surprised that the store derisively known as “Whole Paycheck” was closing its doors.
Taylor represents a South Side ward that includes Englewood with a border across the street from the Whole Foods store.
“The community needs a grocery store. Whole Foods was just expensive. And a lot of people did not shop there. So I understand it,” Taylor said.
“It’s sad. But I hope that we do one of two things: That we convince another grocer to come. Or we have our own home-grown grocer. We’ve got to do something, though. We cannot waste that TIF money. And the community needs a grocery store.”
$11 million city subsidy
With the relentless push from then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Whole Foods agreed to open the Englewood store amid concerns about whether residents of the impoverished South Side ward could afford to shop there.
The project depended on an $11 million city subsidy for site preparation that also required an expiring tax increment finance district to be extended while money was “ported over” from a neighboring TIF.
Taylor said she knew from the outset that Emanuel’s grand experiment wouldn’t work.
“I got a raise, and I can’t afford Whole Foods. It’s not cheap. I shop at Jewel when it’s on sale because that’s the type of paycheck that I had,” Taylor said.
“There’s a senior building right across the street from there. People that live in the community are either elders or new families. It just was too expensive. They needed a grocery store. But I never agreed with it being Whole Foods.”
Taylor acknowledged that the closing will only enlarge a food desert that deprives area residents of healthy and affordable shopping choices that include fruits and vegetables.
But, she said, “Ald. Coleman is a smart woman. And she’s probably gonna go out and find somebody who can take the space.”
Emanuel did not respond to a text message seeking comment. He is currently serving as U.S. ambassador to Japan.
His former Planning and Development Commissioner David Reifman refused to comment.
Shoppers lined up and celebrated the Whole Foods when it opened in Englewood Square in September 2016.
Sun-Times Media
Cecile DeMello, executive director at Teamwork Englewood, said many community groups supported the opening of the Whole Foods store.
“It showed real promise, and I think it continues to show real promise of how retailers could meet community needs and work with the community to help design something that was unique and important to things like a food desert and stuff like that,” DeMello said.
“The Englewood community is a community that continues to need investment and there is momentum in this community to continue to rebuild and corporate partners are one part of that journey. Government is another part of that journey. And resident-led initiatives are still another part of that journey as well. And that doesn’t change because one corporate partner is no longer here.”
Deal requires grocer on site through 2027
Before the city land that includes Whole Foods was sold to developer Leon Walker for $1, the City Council approved a redevelopment agreement that requires a grocery store to be located on that parcel through 2027.
That means Walker will have to find a grocery store replacement to occupy the site, sources said.
“We’re all working together to find the next operator,” Walker said in an interview. No timeline has been set.
“There’s been discussions and concerns for some time about Whole Foods being able to be successful in this location, but right now the key is were working together with the city and the aldermen and the community to find the best replacement operation to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Community input is “always an important factor,” Walker said. “But as you can see there are financial realities, there are macro events there are shifting. Corporate priorities all kinds of things have to be factored into the decision processing, of course.”
He argued that the project has already been a huge boon for redeveloping the area and showing its potential.
“This whole project has been about inspiring hope and it has done that,” he said. “ ... We’re finally bringing the density that an operator needs to be ultimately successful. It took too long to get the density, but now this administration understands that urgency and is making the investments so that we can get the bellies and the feet and the people there to help support and make the retailers successful.”
Even before a replacement is found, city planners pushed back against the notion that the closing of Whole Foods would leave behind a food desert, listing the Aldi’s and Go Green Fresh market, which the Inner-City Muslim Action Network opened on vacant land purchased from the city for $50,000.
“This is not a food desert. It reduces options for residents, which is a blow. But, it’s not like there’s no options out there. Two stores are within walking distance of this site,” said a source familiar with the area.
The blow from the Whole Foods closing will be further softened by the project known as, “Englewood Connect” otherwise known as Phase Two of the Englewood Square shopping center. It’s part of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s signature Invest South/West initiative, which Walker also praised.
City planning documents describe the $10.3 million project as an “eco-food hub” that will “establish culinary-related uses that empower employees and feed local residents.”
“The project will adaptively re-use the landmark Green Street fire station as the commercial kitchen, establish a business incubator to train start-up businesses, create a community ‘living room’ for local events and re-purpose vacant land with hoop houses that provide year-round farming operations,” according to a description posted on the Planning and Development website.
“A public plaza will serve as its focal point. Later phases will include a flexible market space and an event center.”
City assistance for the Phase 2 project — in the form of a TIF subsidy and land — is expected to go before the Community Development Commission as early as May 10.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel celebrated the Whole Foods when it opened in Englewood Square in September 2016.
Sun-Times Media
Excitement of 2016
Regardless of the future potential, the closing is a far cry from the excitement that was seen when the high-end retailer opened its doors in 2016.
Emanuel and Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb were joined on a stage by a host of politicians, including U.S. Rep, Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and leaders of community organizations that worked closely with the project, from Teamwork Englewood to R.A.G.E.
In addition to the $11 million in TIF funding, Englewood Square relied on $15 million in New Markets Tax Credit Program subsidies, bringing home to Englewood the national economic stimulus program President Bill Clinton launched in 1999.
Then, $500,000 came via crowdfunding, the first time that’s been used to finance new commercial construction in Chicago. And both developer and general contractor Ujamaa Construction are African American-owned; as is Power Construction, a contractor that did the Whole Foods build-out.
The store also carried a number or products from local businesses on its shelves.
While the store did not provide an update on how many employees worked in Englewood, it had said in the past that many of its 100 workers lived in the area. Workers declined to comment Friday, although they were surprised by the announcement, too —at least one employee just started a new job at the store the same day.
Shoppers lined up outside Whole Foods when it opened in Englewood Square in September 2016.
Sports nutrition brand Applied Nutrition has been announced as Nukeproof SRAM Factory Racing Team’s official sports nutrition partner, supporting the team’s squad of Enduro riders for the 2022 season.
The partnership will see Applied Nutrition working with Nukeproof’s riders, delivering sports nutrition to fuel them during training and competition together with recovery products to minimise their time off the bike.
Working principally with Nukeproof’s Factory riders competing in the Enduro World Series (EWS), the British National Enduro Series and several other domestic events across the world, riders will be fuelled by Applied Nutrition’s Endurance range of products.
Applied Nutrition’s Informed Sport tested Endurance range includes isotonic energy gels, carbohydrate and electrolyte drink, caffeine energy capsules and plant-based recovery protein powders.
The brand will also work with each rider to create tailor-made nutrition plans using its range of products to maximise their strength, stamina, performance and recovery throughout the season, with advice and plans designed to support each rider’s specific goals.
Nigel Page, Nukeproof SRAM Factory Racing Team manager, said: “Nutrition is vital in enduro, which is one of the most physically demanding disciplines in cycling, our riders cannot perform at their best if they don’t look after how they fuel and recover from each session in training or racing.
“Applied Nutrition is a highly regarded brand in professional sports and their evidence-based, scientifically supported approach to product development, combined with their rigorous testing programme and great tasting products was exactly what we were looking for, and a great
partnership for us.”
Thomas Ryder, managing director, Applied Nutrition, said: “The Enduro World Series is perfectly suited to our Endurance range of products that support athletes at all stages of activity, from carb-loading to recovery, in an easy to follow great tasting range.
Partnering with Nukeproof SRAM Factory Racing, a team engrained in MTB culture with such a rich history of results and performance is ideal for us to demonstrate to both pro and enthusiast riders the benefits of sports nutrition and highlight how correctly fuelling for a ride can improve performance and recovery.”
The negative impact of smoking on health inequalities in the UK means even if smoking stopped tomorrow, the full health benefits would not be seen until 40 years down the line.
New research shows that the maximum improvement that could be expected from a complete cessation of smoking is only around 2.5 years rather than the full 6.3 years which separate smokers and those that have never smoked.
The research by the International Longevity Centre (ILC) and Bayes Business School, titled "Leveling Up—The Great Health Challenge," shows how health inequalities, particularly smoking, impact the UK's health and working futures. The findings state that the UK Government's target of leveling up healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035 is unachievable, and can only be reached if much bolder policies are adopted.
The conclusions come ahead of the release of a Government white paper on health disparities, and the 2017-2022 Tobacco Control Plan—both of which are to be released this year—which aims to make England 'smoke free' by 2030. Most worryingly, the report says that even if all smoking ceased tomorrow, the impact could take 40 years to work through.
The report, led by Professor Les Mayhew of Bayes Business School, highlights that life expectancy has increased by more years than healthy years since 2001, with the time spent in ill health increasing as a result. Factors contributing to this include an aging population, negative health behaviors such as smoking, and the success of the NHS in keeping people alive.
To put the research into perspective, smoking is the major cause of death and ill health in the UK. It is implicated in deaths from cancer, heart, and respiratory disease accounting for about 75,000 deaths a year in England and half a million hospital admissions (92,000 deaths UK-wide). It affects all ages: For example, the health of a 34-year-old smoker is the same as that of someone aged 40 who has never smoked.
The geography of smoking, and deaths associated to lung cancer, is also strongly correlated with health expectancy and with deprivation. The local authorities with the highest prevalence of smoking, as ranked by the Office for National Statistics on their smoking index, are Blackpool, Kingston upon Hull, Barking and Dagenham. Those ranked lowest are Richmond upon Thames and Windsor.
Professor Mayhew, Head of Global Research at ILC and Professor of Statistics at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), said there is no silver bullet in untangling the web of how to solve this problem.
"The challenges involved in improving healthy life expectancy include the interconnected risk factors associated with smoking, such as tackling mental illness, drug abuse, obesity, poor housing, and deprivation among others. It means that while tackling smoking head-on is a welcome and necessary step, it is only the beginning of a much bigger journey towards leveling up."
"With differences of up to 15 years in health expectancy between the healthiest and least healthy areas, the scope to level up is definitely there—the policies just need to be much bolder in order to succeed."
Citation: A complete ban on all smoking would not improve healthy life expectancy for 40 years (2022, April 28) retrieved 28 April 2022 from https://ift.tt/JQgRaBy
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Tolu Adekeye, a Ph.D. student in the Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, has been named a finalist in the American Society for Nutrition’s (ASN) Young Minority Investigator Oral Competition, an educational activity that recognizes young investigators from underrepresented communities within the biomedical and life sciences presenting outstanding research.
The five finalists will be recognized during NUTRITION 2022 LIVE ONLINE, ASN’s annual scientific meeting that will be held virtually June 14–16.
Adekeye’s abstract for NUTRITION 2022 LIVE ONLINE is titled “Phenolic Extract(s) Promote(s) Wound Remodeling.”
The Young Minority Investigator Oral Competition is supported by DSM Nutritional Products.
Dion Dawson’s early life may have been filled with poverty, hardship and bouts of homelessness, but his last two years have been nothing short of meteoric.
In early 2020, Dawson was working overnights at an Amazon facility to help several family members pay bills in the midst of a pandemic. But by the end of 2021, following the death of George Floyd, he had started a nonprofit aimed at eliminating food insecurity and earned public recognition for his efforts to provide an oasis in a food desert.
This month, Dawson, 34, was one of 18 people from around the globe selected for the highly coveted annual Echoing Green fellowship, which will help fund his initiatives: Project Dream Fridge, a community refrigerator in the heart of Englewood where residents access fresh fruit and vegetables stocked daily, and Dream Deliveries, which delivers free food to homes across the city and suburbs.
“I’ve been blessed to be able to live presently in the moment,” Dawson told the Tribune. “When you come from a background where your family has struggled, where you have to worry about where your next meal will come from, it feels good to actually live in that moment and be able to relish in the fact that day-to-day operations are secure.”
Echoing Green is a corporate backed nonprofit that identifies future leaders who have shown bold or innovative problem solving in topics ranging from health, human rights, poverty and racial justice. Former first lady Michelle Obama was a fellow in 1991.
Green fellows receive an $80,000 stipend over 18 months and Dawson said he would use the money to expand his food delivery service, which has reached as far north as Evanston and west to Schiller Park. He plans to expand throughout Cook County. He’s looking toward loftier goals, with every $1 million raised being used to feed 1,000 families in a 50-mile radius.
“Echoing Green listened to me, listened to my ideas on where I think we have the best impact in changing the narrative in food insecurity,” he said, “and this is about getting to the root of the problem and where food insecurity is anywhere, not just in Englewood.”
The topic of food insecurity has a deep personal resonance for Dawson, the youngest of four sons raised on the streets of Englewood by a single mother. He lived much of his young life in homelessness as his mother struggled with substance abuse. Still, homelessness didn’t stop Dawson from finishing school, graduating from Holmes Elementary and Gage Park High schools.
After returning from a six-year stint in the Navy, Dawson found himself homeless again, living in his car, saying he had a difficult transition back to civilian life.
Dawson’s life took an unexpected detour in May 2020 after Floyd’s death. A community member asked Dawson to do something for his neighborhood in recognition of Juneteenth, an African American holiday that gained widespread support following Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. “I said I’m going to feed 100 families,” Dawson recalled.
What followed was a whirlwind that included two successful crowdfunding campaigns to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for families and the start of his own nonprofit, Dion’s Chicago Dream. That same year, Dawson and his wife were surprised by talk show host Ellen DeGeneres with a $25,000 check on her show for his community work.
Dawson said a real point of pride is that his program has grown from 30 households to 250 and that his organization of five owns its delivery vehicles and pays the crew a living wage.
Dawson said he remains committed to feeding people “no matter where they are. No matter if they’re in Streeterville, Englewood, West Pullman. Food insecurity doesn’t look like a certain person and it doesn’t come in a certain neighborhood.”
LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - Nursing students from Laredo College took some time to teach the public about nutrition and health.
On Wednesday morning, LC Vocational Nursing Students held an informative presentation at the Laredo Health Department.
Students were able to speak with people about different topics including hypertension, drug and alcohol abuse, and postpartum depression, just to name a few.
Local student Homero Contreras says this was an opportunity for him and his classmate to share some of their knowledge and skills.
Contreras says it was to inform others on what they have learned throughout the semester, and he believes it’s important for the community to know.
The teaching presentation is part of the nursing programs curriculum.
The FINANCIAL — UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) adds £14 million funding into research that puts improved health outcomes for people and the natural environment at its core. The funding, which has been awarded to 11 research projects, is the latest investment made by UKRI as part of its Transforming UK Food Systems Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF) programme.
To date, the SPF programme has awarded a total of £29 million funding to four large consortia projects, as well as a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT).
A whole food system approach
Each spanning between two and three years in total, the 11 new research programmes will address key issues such as:
obesity and public health sustainable agriculture alternative protein sources consumption patterns.
They will also take a food systems approach by integrating aspects from both:
production, processing, manufacturing and food environments healthier diets and consumption. Co-design for success
With the overarching aim of creating interventions that will transform the UK food system, all 11 projects:
integrate both social and natural sciences collaborate with at least one stakeholder organisation from government, business or civil society address current UK government research and development priorities. Making a real impact
Professor Melanie Welham, Executive Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Executive Sponsor of the Transforming UK Food Systems SPF programme, said:
We have awarded funding to 11 excellent interdisciplinary projects focusing on food systems research.
These projects cover areas such as the healthy consumption of under-utilised food stuffs, novel production systems and assessing whether cultured meat is a threat or an opportunity for UK farmers.
There are also projects seeking to improve health through reformulation or strategic menu design in catered environments.
We are at a very exciting point in the SPF programme and the portfolio of awards demonstrates the breadth of potential impact these projects can have on UK food systems transformation.
Human and environmental health centre stage
Professor Guy Poppy, Programme Director of the Transforming the UK Food Systems SPF programme, said:The food system affects all of us every day and plays an essential role in both human health and the health of the planet.
The 11 new projects joining our consortia and CDT means we now have a network of more than 37 UK research organisations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to UKRI.
That network is also supported by approximately 200 additional stakeholder organisations, including the private sector colleagues and other government departments and agencies.
The range of projects engaged in the SPF programme will help to address the complex challenges we face around dietary choice and methods of farming and will help to ensure there is sustainable and healthy food for everyone in the UK.
The excellent research and researchers will also help to establish solutions and frameworks that can be tried and tested across the global food system, with the UK leading the way towards healthier and more sustainable food for all.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - Food can be an issue during cancer treatment, since you don’t feel like eating. Things don’t taste right, maybe you can’t eat at all - but nutrition is the key to good recovery. Kelsey Allen with Gilda’s Club is here to tell us about a program they’re hosting that hones in on this very topic.
Nutrition Workshop (“Frankly Speaking About Cancer: Eating Well for Cancer Survivors”)
Wednesday, April 27 | 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Genesis West Medical Center | 1351 W. Central Park Ave., Davenport
Google Play is today officially launching its own version of privacy-related “nutrition labels” for apps. The company says it will begin to roll out the new Google Play Data safety section to users on a gradual basis, ahead of the July 20th deadline that requires developers to properly disclose the data their app collects, if and how it’s shared with third parties, the app’s security practices and more.
The company’s plan to introduce app privacy labels on Google Play was first announced last spring, months after Apple’s App Store introduced privacy labels on its own app marketplace.
While both sets of labels focus on informing users about how apps collect and manage data and user privacy, there are some key differences. Apple’s labels largely focus on what data is being collected, including data used for tracking purposes, and on informing the user what’s linked to them. Google’s labels, meanwhile, put a bigger focus on whether you can trust the data that’s collected is being handled responsibly by allowing developers to disclose if they follow best practices around data security.
The labels also give Android developers a way to make their case as to why they collect the data directly on the label, so users can understand how the data is used — for app functionality, personalization, etc. — to help inform the user’s decision to download the app. They can also see if the data collection is required or optional.
Google says that it heard from app developers that simply displaying the data an app collects without additional context was not enough, which is what prompted the label’s design.
At launch, the Google Play Data safety section will specifically detail the following, says Google:
Whether the developer is collecting data and for what purpose.
Whether the developer is sharing data with third parties.
The app’s security practices, like encryption of data in transit and whether users can ask for data to be deleted.
Whether a qualifying app has committed to following Google Play’s Families Policy designed to better protect children in the Play Store.
Whether the developer has validated their security practices against a global security standard (more specifically, the MASVS).
Image Credits: Google
Since introducing its plan for the labels, Google says it’s only made minor tweaks to the developer guidance and the store’s user interface and experience. This includes updates like encouraging developers to refer to their SDK providers’ data safety information and a new question about System services, among other clarifications and rewordings.
While the addition of the labels could, in theory, help Android users make better decisions about which apps they want to use, it’s not clear there’s an effort to actually check the data for accuracy at the time of submission. Asked how the data would be vetted, Google told us that developers are responsible for the information they provide. Google also said that if it finds a developer has misrepresented the data they’ve provided in violation of the policy, it won’t immediately remove the app — it will just ask the developer to fix it. Only if the app doesn’t comply would an action later be taken.
App privacy labels have already been accused of being an unreliable source of information following their launch on the App Store. According to a report by The Washington Post last year, many of the labels they reviewed in a spot-check provided false information. For instance, apps claiming they collected no data were actually found to be doing the opposite — collecting it and sharing it.
Image Credits: Google
In other words, the labels functioned to give users a false sense of security about how their data was accessed and used, rather than a real way to take action. Apple, however, had told The Washington Post it would routinely audit labels for accuracy. Google makes no such claims today.
Update: After initially responding that Google will make developers responsible for this data, the company clarified that it checks each Data safety section “using systems and processes that are continuously improving.”
Google has given developers until July 20 to fill out their Data Safety section details, but the Data Safety section is already rolling out to users on the Google Play store. That means many users will see apps without labels even as the product launches. That staggered release could also be by design, as it dissuades users from immediately going to check their favorite apps’ privacy and security practices; and by the time those labels arrive, users may have forgotten they had wanted to do this.
Users will begin to see the labels appear on their Android phones at some point over the next few weeks as the labels reach global users.
Correction, 12:34 p.m: The article has been updated to remove a reference to location and other permission requests, which is not new.
MANISTEE — A number of vendors, health care services providers and other exhibitors focused on promoting healthy lifestyles will be featured at the Manistee News Advocate Healthy Living Expo on Saturday.
The event, which is free to attend, runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the ballroom on the second floor of the Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts at 101 Maple St. in Manistee.
Michael Assink, News Advocate advertising director, said around 25 vendors will be on hand to help Manistee residents improve their health.
"There's everything from health care facilities, senior health care facilities to natural food producers," Assink said. "It's a pretty cool array of stuff to maybe help you live a little bit healthier life."
Some of the vendors on hand will include District Health Department #10; Michigan Department of Health and Human Services; New Life Health, LLC; Authentic 231; Maple Ridge Manor and more.
Assink said the event was designed to allow attendees to efficiently learn how they can improve their health.
"For folks coming, we try to make it so you can kind of get in, get a few cool ideas and get out within an hour," he said. "We don't want you to have to spend a whole Saturday wandering through 75 booths — that's not the idea. It's a free admission event that's just about trying to help the residents of the area find a few good ideas on being a little healthier."
The expo will feature demonstrations throughout the day.
"There will be I think five different demonstrations going on throughout the five-hour show," Assink said. "I believe there's a massage therapist demonstration, a holistic cooking demonstration and three or four others that will be going on. ... There will be half-hour little shows."
In late 2020, Canadian doctors made headlines for "prescribing nature," or recommended time outdoors based on research that suggests people who spent two or more hours in nature per week improved their health and wellbeing. Knowing this, transdisciplinary researchers from Drexel University investigated how nature relatedness -- simply feeling connected with the natural world -- benefits dietary diversity and fruit and vegetable intake, in a study recently published the American Journal of Health Promotion.
"Nature relatedness has been associated with better cognitive, psychological and physical health and greater levels of environmental stewardship. Our findings extend this list of benefits to include dietary intake," said Brandy-Joe Milliron, PhD, an associate professor in Drexel's College of Nursing and Health Professions and lead author of the publication. "We found people with higher nature relatedness were more likely to report healthful dietary intake, including greater dietary variety and higher fruit and vegetable consumption."
The research team surveyed over 300 adults in Philadelphia to measure their self-reported connection to nature, including their experience with and perspective of nature, and the foods and beverages they had consumed the previous day to assess their dietary diversity and estimate their daily fruit and vegetable consumption. Survey participants mirrored demographic characteristics (gender, income, education and race) of Philadelphia, as of the 2010 census. The data were collected between May and August 2017. The results of the survey showed that participants with a stronger connection to nature reported a more varied diet and ate more fruits and vegetables.
"This work can impact health promotion practices in two ways," said Milliron. "First, nature-based health promotion interventions may increase nature relatedness across the lifespan and potentially improve dietary intake. And second, augmenting dietary interventions with nature-based activities may lead to greater improvements in dietary quality."
The research team added that these findings highlight the potential for leveraging nature-based experiences or interventions such as incorporating green spaces or urban greening into city planning, integrating nature- and park-prescription programs into healthcare practices (similar to the Canadian model) and promoting nature-based experiences in the classroom settings, among many others.
But, the researchers noted, while improving dietary intake through nature-based interventions may be valuable, it is also complex.
"Future research should explore the ways different communities experience and value nature," said Dane Ward, PhD, assistant teaching professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and co-author of the study. "It needs to include how the intersections of environment, culture, race, history (including connection to land), social cohesion and other social and economic factors influence community identity relative to nature relatedness and dietary intake."
In late 2020, Canadian doctors made headlines for “prescribing nature,” or recommended time outdoors based on research that suggests people who spent two or more hours in nature per week improved their health and wellbeing. Knowing this, transdisciplinary researchers from Drexel University investigated how nature relatedness – simply feeling connected with the natural world – benefits dietary diversity and fruit and vegetable intake, in a study recently published the American Journal of Health Promotion.
“Nature relatedness has been associated with better cognitive, psychological and physical health and greater levels of environmental stewardship. Our findings extend this list of benefits to include dietary intake,” saidBrandy-Joe Milliron, PhD, an associate professor in Drexel’sCollege of Nursing and Health Professionsand lead author of the publication. “We found people with higher nature relatedness were more likely to report healthful dietary intake, including greater dietary variety and higher fruit and vegetable consumption.”
The research team surveyed over 300 adults in Philadelphia to measure their self-reported connection to nature, including their experience with and perspective of nature, and the foods and beverages they had consumed the previous day to assess their dietary diversity and estimate their daily fruit and vegetable consumption. Survey participants mirrored demographic characteristics (gender, income, education and race) of Philadelphia, as of the 2010 census. The data were collected between May and August 2017. The results of the survey showed that participants with a stronger connection to nature reported a more varied diet and ate more fruits and vegetables.
“This work can impact health promotion practices in two ways,” said Milliron. “First, nature-based health promotion interventions may increase nature relatedness across the lifespan and potentially improve dietary intake. And second, augmenting dietary interventions with nature-based activities may lead to greater improvements in dietary quality.”
The research team added that these findings highlight the potential for leveraging nature-based experiences or interventions such as incorporating green spaces or urban greening into city planning, integrating nature- and park-prescription programs into healthcare practices (similar to theCanadian model) and promoting nature-based experiences in the classroom settings, among many others.
But, the researchers noted, while improving dietary intake through nature-based interventions may be valuable, it is also complex.
“Future research should explore the ways different communities experience and value nature,” said Dane Ward, PhD, assistant teaching professor in theCollege of Arts and Sciencesand co-author of the study. “It needs to include how the intersections of environment, culture, race, history (including connection to land), social cohesion and other social and economic factors influence community identity relative to nature relatedness and dietary intake.”
Dahlia Stott, graduate student in the College of Nursing and Health Professions;Franco Montalto, PhDand Eugenia Ellis, PhD, both in the College of Engineering; Claire Chenault, Janeway Granche and Janell Mensinger, PhD, contributed to this research.
People could benefit from fully automated personal nutritional advice, as a new research paper shows that an app improved healthy diet in clinical trials.
A paper published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research today (Mon 25 April 22) shows how the eNutri app developed by researchers in human nutrition and biomedical engineering at the University of Reading helped people to eat more healthily. Participants who were given automated personalised nutrition advice improved their healthy diet score by 6% compared to a control group who were given general healthy eating guidance.
Dr Roz Fallaize, Dietitian and Research Fellow at the University of Reading's Department of Food and Nutritional Science said:
"The research demonstrates that the eNutri technology is effective in helping users to improve their healthy food intake, with a significant improvement in diet quality for the group who had access to automated, personalised nutrition advice."
"While having a registered nutritionist or dietitian giving personalised dietary advice is ideal, this is often only available to those with health concerns or with the financial resource to pay. There is also growing interest in nutrition apps and web services, but many commercial apps tend to focus on weight loss or calorie counting rather than healthy eating."
"Nutritional advice should always be focused on healthy, balanced diets and positive relationships with food, and I'm pleased that our study helped people eat better. One exciting aspect of the eNutri system is the potential to offer it to lots of people at low-cost"
Dr Rodrigo Zenun Franco, a PhD graduate from the University of Reading and lead author of the paper said:
"The eNutri app prioritises healthy eating based on evidence and uniquely uses a diet scoring system to provide food-based advice that is tailored to the individual user."
"We are continuing to develop eNutri to suit specific population groups including those with heart conditions and hope to make this available to the public in the future"
People were either assigned to receive personalised nutrition advice or given general healthy eating advice. Those in the personalised group then had their diets scored according to 11 criteria based on UK dietary guidance. The eNutri app gave an automated assessment of diet quality giving the user a 'healthy diet score' out of 100.
The 'healthy diet score' includes assessments of intake of fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, red and processed meat, with higher points awarded when users have the recommended intake of these. The personalised advice is then targeted to areas of their diet which they would benefit most from changing.
Consumption of calorie-rich, fatty and sugary foods have become popular among people today - especially the younger generation. The binge-eating culture, too, has gained popularity. Cravings for unhealthy food are at an all-time high. However, we must understand these have a negative impact on long-term health. Unhealthy or junk foods are laden with saturated fats, high sodium and sugar content which make us more prone to health problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity etc. Adding to the problem, these foods are made in such a way that can stimulate the feel-good centres in our brain triggering us to eat even more. The urge for eating unhealthy food is caused by several reasons such as stress, emotional eating and food euphoria. Another reason behind this is its availability at our convenience.
The first step to eating healthy is to remove all the cues that can lead to eating junk. Besides, having a healthy meal plan and stocking our kitchen pantry with healthy snack options can prove to be beneficial.
Here are three food alternatives to junk food cravings:
1. Almonds
Almonds are healthy and tasty and can be eaten raw, soaked or roasted. They are very convenient to carry and store in the house. Undoubtedly, they make for a healthy snacking choice. Almonds are low on the glycemic index and contain nutrients like fiber, good fats, vitamin E and minerals like magnesium and potassium. Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) has been shown to impart anti-ageing properties that may benefit skin health. A recently conducted research by University of Leeds, focused on the influence of almonds on appetite control, established how almonds can be beneficial for weight management. The results indicate that snacking on almonds also led to suppressed unconscious desire ("implicit wanting") to consume other high-fat foods, which is great for anyone trying to control their weight. Almonds are a good dupe for your sweet or savoury craving.
2. Fresh fruits
Fresh fruits like berries, bananas and apples are good alternatives to junk food. They are packed with essential nutrients, fiber and antioxidants that make a good addition to our diet. Berries are high in fiber and contain less sugar. On the other hand, bananas serve as a rich source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, dietary fiber and potassium. Apples are a good source of fiber and vitamin C. They also contain antioxidants, like vitamin E, and polyphenols that contribute to the fruit's numerous health benefits.
3. Yoghurt
Plain yoghurt is a great source of protein and calcium beneficial for our bones and muscles. It also contains vitamin B complex, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium making it a great addition to our diet. In addition to this, given its probiotic bacteria content, yoghurt is also good for gut health. Eating yoghurt improves metabolism and provides a feeling of satiety thereby, making it a great substitute for our junk food cravings.
Photo Credit: iStock
About The Author: Ritika Samaddar, Regional Head-Dietetics, Max Healthcare – Delhi
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
In a market dominated by powdered products, Laïta Nutrition has chosen to offer a liquid product, a market in which the company has experience.
There are three types of high-protein, ready-to-drink finished products, all developed with one ambition: making protein more readily available.
The company offers two high-protein drinks, one made with plant proteins and the other with cow's milk proteins, and a performance shot made with amino acids.
Laïta Nutrition said they offer opportunities for traditional stakeholders and those who wish to enter the sports nutrition market and reach out to consumers with more of a lifestyle focus.
Initially focused on bodybuilders and athletes sports nutrition has gradually opened up to more consumers who see sport and nutrition as a way of adopting a healthy lifestyle. The company said a new market is emerging with an adapted product-response to meet the different needs and expectations of this new kind of informed consumer.
Major trends are developing at the same time - some of which have been strengthened by the Covid pandemic - and are shaping innovations in this market.
Laïta Nutrition said since there is a new collective awareness of health issues a holistic approach to sports nutrition has emerged, with a market shift from the search for performance and muscle gain to the search for health and well-being through physical activity and food.
It added that, also, the trend for on-the-go consumption is driving new dynamics, as is the desire for natural products and technicality. The plant-based protein market is worth around €10bn ($10.7bn) worldwide, with an expected growth of around 7% over the forecast period.
In 2005, a girl named Rashida was born in Dingxi, a poor region in northwestern China. Dingxi has long been one of the most poverty-stricken regions in Gansu province, and China as a whole. The region’s economy is based on the agricultural and natural resource industries. The area hosts three hundred plus Chinese medicinal plants and herbs that are exported along with dried exports such as walnuts and wild apricots. Despite her family’s poverty, she grew up with a thirst for knowledge and a curiosity about the world. However, she does not yet know how many difficulties she would face as she grew up. Rashida’s brother was not asked to do farm work like Rashida but has been fully supported by the family to go to school. By contrast, the family was opposed to Rashida completing her education, and encouraged her to drop out of school as soon as possible to help the family to make ends meet. This transition to a place of work often results in other forms of discrimination in that context.
In the short years that Rashida did attend school, it was not easy. The teacher often used violence to solve the problem, leading to the intimidation of classmates. She would often be bullied by the boys. Moreover, relatives in the family advised Rashida not to continue studying, saying that girls do not need to study so much; they just need to marry. The family’s lack of support for her, teachers who demonstrated preference in educating males, and the local community discrimination against women made her a slave in this poor mountainous region. Her only recourse was to get married and have children at the age of fifteen or sixteen years old.
This story about Rashida illustrates the challenges that many women continue to face in poor areas in different regions of the world today. These challenges include family, bullying at school, and discrimination in work. There is tremendous pressure for women only to remain in school until marrying age, which is usually about fifteen or sixteen years old. Rashida’s story is not representative of northwest China only, but also illustrates the challenges for many young women in rural settings throughout the world. For example, young girls are forced to drop out of school as they reach the age for marriage, bullied by boys and even teachers at school, and discriminated against for pregnancy in the workplace.
With the rapid development of society, more people are becoming aware of the issue of gender inequality in regions such as western China and southern Sudan. However, in the poor rural areas of western China in thetwenty-first century, many women are still unable to receive the education they deserve due to lack of educational resources and gender discrimination. Women in South Sudan face the same problem in many cases. Lack of education for women in both regions is a crucial issue that needs to be fixed as the society keeps developing quickly. Whether a woman is educated or not is important for the whole family, because studies show that a well-educated woman can impact her children and the whole family since she is the principal provider of care that the child needs as the child grows up. According to a case study on the Impact of Educated Mother on Academic Achievement, “Academic performance of highly educated mother’s children is better than those whose mothers are not well educated. The evidence shows that 87% children, whose mothers are educated, are academically successful while the ratio of academically unsuccessful ratio was only 13 percent.”[1] Therefore, educating women is a problem that needs to be noticed and solved in order to make the society better. In this paper, barriers that post challenges for women to receive education will be discussed along several different avenues. My paper will examine the challenges of discrimination and bias that women are often presented within their family, school and finally the workplace. Furthermore, this paper will compare the problem of lacking education for women in western China and southern Sudan.
Analysis
The problems of lacking education that women face in western China stems from the family dynamic within the traditional Chinese culture where males carried the honor of the family name and were seen as the core of the family. For this reason, women were viewed as secondary and often looked over or unwanted. This mentality of thinking towards females is ingrained in Chinese culture, especially in western China, where the traditional folk atmosphere is stronger than that in the eastern China. For example, some Chinese rural areas have such a custom that women are not allowed to eat at the table, they can only squat or sit in the kitchen to eat. Such customs have lasted for thousands of years.
Historically, a woman’s role in the family dynamic was one of servitude. There were extremely strict doctrines in place, doctrine established in the Confucian era, that clearly divided not only the role between the man and woman but the hierarchy of importance between the two. Confucianism established a patriarchy in which women held no roles of authority and were powerless against women. Within Confucian literature, called The Analects, the five relationships are stressed which are father-child, ruler-subject, husband-wife, elder-brother -younger brother and friend-friend. Males were deemed the prize. If a woman could not give birth to a male, she was seen as damaged. (Le, 2019) It was the expectation that women were to be subordinate to men. Daughters were expected to be subordinate to their fathers. Wives were expected to be subordinate to their husbands. From youth, girls were trained for their role of wifehood. Education was not anticipated nor was it a requirement. The role of the woman was to remain at home in service to her husband and family. Her desire was to be pleasing only unto her husband. Therefore, the advancement of self was rejected and not embraced.
In the current generation within rural areas in western China, these same teachings that have been taught from generation to generation have remained. The idea of young women that are ambitious for an educated life is dismissed. This is in stark contrast to urban areas in which young girls have more opportunity. Confucianism plays a weaker role in rural areas than in cities, because in the past few decades, China has experienced urbanization, a large number of infrastructure construction and the development of the real estate market have attracted rural young people to work in cities, leaving only the elderly and children with low education level in rural areas. These old people have experienced the era of the cultural revolution, resulting in the low level of education. Moreover, the reason behind the division in thinking is because wealthier families that have resources that enable girls to attend school will give the opportunity. Rural areas are poor and without resources that will extend educational tools to girls. As a result, families will opt to invest in male children.
In China, family is the foundation of society. It is the idea that families are to have a collective identity which is filtered through one person, the head of household, the male. The advancement and interest of the family overwhelmingly takes priority and precedence over individual wants. The parental perception is that girls are devalued. The attitudes towards young women are often discriminatory. Therefore, the lack of education faced by western Chinese women is also influenced by the Chinese concept of family. Education is insisted upon males as they are seen to bring respect and advance the family legacy. The choice to send the male to school over the female is in direct response to the overall societal view of women and their role in the family unit. Although in many of the Chinese urban cities, women may hold positions, there is a wide pay gap which is in direct response to the educational gap between the two sexes. The low educational investment into young women is a norm in Chinese culture. The perspective of females in the workforce also contributes to the low educational investment. Parents understand the politics that plague the Chinese workforce. Women are told that they will only work in certain positions. They will only make a certain amount of money, strictly based on the fact that they are female. According to a survey report on the current situation of Chinese women’s workplace in 2020, the overall salary of working women is 17% lower than that of men. (Ifeng, 2020) Parents have a clear understanding of the treatment of women and choose to place their investment in the male who has a higher rate of success to bring the family financial prosperity. Males are thought to fuel the economic environment where women are thought to stagnate or hinder progress based on their lack of skill. Statistically, the proportion of women in technical posts is generally lower than that of men. Technical jobs seem to be exclusive to men, showing obvious characteristics of occupational gender deviation. Even if men and women work in the same work unit, when women’s educational level, marital status, age, work experience and other personal characteristic variables are the same as men, the possibility of women’s access to power is still significantly lower than men, and the incidence of women’s access to power is only 43.3% of men. (cnwomen.com, 2021)
This is in stark comparison to Chinese women in urban areas. This point demonstrates that women of urban origin still have a certain advantage in access to higher education in comparison with women of rural origin. However, in comparison with women students at private institutions, the difference between urban and rural women students at public institutions is fairly small. At public institutions, aside from the top universities, the difference in urban and rural women’s opportunities to attend school is on average less than 10 percent (Chinese Education and Society, 2010).
Young Chinese women’s education comes from within the home. Due to the ideology of the role of women to serve, elder women are often noted to train the younger women in becoming good wives and mothers. Young women are not empowered and are ill-advised to form a self-identity outside the role within their homes. Education motivates students to form opinions of how they see themselves in relation to the world around them. Education gives hope and an identity that belongs to oneself. Young Chinese women are not given that opportunity due to the doctrine that they are to become who their family, especially the males, have deemed them to be.
Young women in rural Sudan, located in the northeastern region of Africa face similar discrepancies. The area is south of the Sahara. The family structure involves immediate and extended family members. The father is the head of household and the official leader. He is responsible for all financial responsibilities. Young women are completely regarded as an afterthought, segregated from male counterparts within village events as well as their homes. Women and men are apart from one another. Young women are viewed as inferior to men, therefore, to hold the same space is to suggest that they are equal. Young women commune in group settings with one another. The role of the woman was that she is to tend to the activities of the children and household. The house is considered her domain. However, the woman’s main purpose was decided by her husband. Her role was to be a servant to her and his subject to his authority. This ideal of a woman’s role was upheld in such a way that most Sudanese women endure female circumcision to ensure that sex was purely enjoyed by the husband. Her complete identity is overshadowed by his perspective of who she is and what she is to become.
Education is not a requirement for young Sudanese women, The husband is the financial provider which stunts the woman’s potential to obtain financial independence. (Lutaaya, and Grawert, 1999) A woman is thought to have little to no choice which restricts her education, her independence, and her potential to thrive outside her lineage.
Family, what is to be the symbol of comfort, is a discouraging symbol of tormented doctrine that is a thief to both a Chinese and Sudanese woman’s ability to thrive.
In the event that a young Chinese girl can attend school to receive an education, we must examine the difficulties of receiving an education in a society that negates a female’s value outside of her home. First, we must understand that in rural China, poverty is overwhelming. Education is not free and comes with its financial burdens on an already strained family income. The young girl who is fortunate to attend, understands her responsibility to not only attend but to also excel and use those learned skills as a tool to assist her family into a more prosperous life.
However, the subculture in schools is not favorable to young girls. A report in 2016, stated that bullying in rural China was up by 26.10 percent. Although most of the bullying is done to males, because they are the majority, when it occurs to young girls, emotional scars are long-lasting. Young females are often the targets of bullying for a few reasons. The obvious, the family structure that males are preferred to females, perpetuates a superior complex in which Chinese boys unleash hatred of females being in a space that is not made for them. Secondly, girls outperform males in school. Girls are more apt to take schooling more seriously because of the financial burden taken on by their parents. School is viewed as a privilege; therefore, the majority of females understand the accountability in having a chair in the classroom. In many cases, bullying will lead to depression due to the feelings of isolation. Bullying will also bring about anxiety. However, many of the young women who attend school form a sisterhood or a bond and tend to stick together which helps to combat the effects of bullying (Jung Lee, 2014). Also, because young girls tend to outperform their male counterparts, teachers more than likely pay them extra attention and become more involved in protecting them from experiencing these incidents.
Although bullying also takes place in rural Sudan, it happens in a very different context. Education remains inaccessible due to the cultural norms in the nation to maintain traditional gender roles. Early-age marriage is dominant in keeping women from receiving an education. 10.7% of women aged 15 to 49 were married before the age of 15, and 38% were married before the age of 18. (Michelsen, 2017)
Once a young girl is married, her home becomes her priority, and she is under the jurisdiction of her husband. The husbands use financial dependency and physical violence to have their young wives submit to their demands.
The other form of bullying that takes place in rural villages is that of female circumcision. This is the process of removing the female’s clitoris from her vagina so that she does not experience pleasure during sex. In many villages, this is seen as a rite of passage before a young woman is married. However, it is often used as a tactic by the male to maintain his rule in the home. Most sexual violence occurs in this way. Painful sexual activities are stopped, but less painful forms of sexual contacts and activities are maintained. Exploring alternatives to penile–vaginal intercourse can be beneficial for the woman. However, such flexibility might be limited in some cultures where vaginal penetration is seen as the only acceptable form of sex (Abdulcadir, 2021).
In many of these villages, these violent rituals and early marriages are not stopped due to the accepted norm that has been passed down through generations.
In the workforce, Chinese women are adversely affected by marriage and having dependent children. They are more likely than men to experience (involuntary, in particular) job exit to fulfill their roles as wives and mothers and less likely to move up in the career ladder (Guangye, Wu, 2021). As rural China faces economic reform, the culture is still inundated with discrimination against women in the workforce. With the resurfacing of old values and capitalism, women are impacted by a huge wage gap, directly impacted by the inequality of education. Due to the disparities in the distribution of education, women are not given elaborate positions in companies. The hierarchy of the family has also played out in the corporate work culture. Men are dominant controls in the workforce. There are women who are highly educated. They are often overlooked, dismissed, and viewed passively when it comes to top-tier promotions and positions.
Due to the high rate of poverty in rural China, both the man and woman in the home are workers. However, the woman is expected to leave her position if she becomes pregnant to focus on raising the children. Society does not embrace the woman who can have a career and raise a family.
The workforce in Sudan is very similar in that the women make up 57 percent. Women hold jobs both in the home and in the field if approved by her husband. However, the family home remains the focus in the many villages. Women tend to lean towards more social roles than labor roles simply because it is more accepted in the family unit.
What would be the solution to the inequality of women in these areas? The easy answer is for men to view women as the equal or at the very least as human. This answer is complex and layered. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UHDR), the root document from which subsequent international human rights treaties have grown, reflects an integrated conception of human rights. The UHDR declares that everyone has civil and political rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, to freedom from slavery to freedom from torture, and to freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile. It also declares the right of everyone to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion and to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association with others. It sets out the democratic rights to take part in the conduct of public affairs, to vote, and to be elected in genuine periodic elections (Day, 2000). Again, the simple answer is to have males view women as equals. Women should have the ability to have reproductive rights, voting rights, equal pay, etc. Yet, the idea is more psychological than it is logical. In human interaction, there is one that must be superior. The perspective of women must change. The way in which inequality is resolved is by giving all females access to education. Education is power. When a female has knowledge, she can create a life for herself, her family and contribute to the advancement of this world. Allow women platforms of power and influence. Women are intelligent beings. Women are great nurturers because they are intuitive. In allowing women to have platforms, her voice can reach hearts and provoke thought. The biggest solution to end gender inequality is to stop violence against women. Death should not meet a woman because she wants an education or become her own person. Violence is not a vehicle to keep a woman in submissive harmful positions. Violence against women should be condemned and be subjected to dire consequences.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Chinese and Sudanese women are facing an extreme crisis. In the year of 2021, these women are enduring horrific torture physically, emotionally, and mentally just t be seen as human. The basic right to have an education without ridicule is what most desire. The idea that these women would like to have the ability to be a rev-thinking individual outside of family and culture. The horror in having to suppress the truth of who you are and what you need for yourself because you are not seen is incomprehensible. The social and cultural norms are creating generations that are suffocated by the ideologies of their ancestors. Freedom is a right that should not have to be bargained for. Inequality hinders growth. It stagnates progression and it stops the production of creativity in a society. The contribution of women is vast and shouldn’t be denied or taken for granted. There is power in the voice of a woman.
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