Sunday, September 15, 2019

From 2017... Under-reporting of total energy intake is a common and well-known source of measurement error in dietary assessment; this bias is particularly significant in obese individuals

From 2017... People with a body mass index ⩾30 under-report their dietary intake: A systematic review. Helena Wehling, Joanne Lusher. Journal of Health Psychology, July 21, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317714318

Abstract: Under-reporting of total energy intake is a common and well-known source of measurement error in dietary assessment, and evidence suggests that this bias is particularly significant in obese individuals. After a multi-stage selection process of eligible papers, this literature review appraised 34 papers detailing the accuracy of self-reported dietary intake in people with an obese body mass index (BMI ⩾ 30). The available literature to date shows that having a body mass index ⩾30 is associated with significant under-reporting of food intake. Future research should look into identifying effective techniques to reduce this bias in clinical practice.

Keywords: 24-hour dietary recall, dietary intake, nutrition assessment, obesity, self-reported energy intake, under-reporting

Masters Athletes and chess players reported a lower prevalence of chronic disease

Masters or pawns? Examining injury and chronic disease in male Masters Athletes and chess players compared to population norms from the Canadian Community Health Survey. Shruti Patelia, Rachael C. Stone, Rona El-Bakri, Mehrnaz Adli & Joseph Baker. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, volume 15, Article number: 15 (2018).

Abstract
Background: Identifying the optimal type and amount of activity for the maintenance of function in older adults has proved challenging. On the one hand, Masters Athletes have been proposed as the ideal model of successful aging but most of this research has focused on physical functioning. On the other hand, the importance of cognitive engagement has been emphasized, which may be more strongly related to activities such as playing chess. The current study aimed to compare physical health outcomes (i.e., prevalence of physical injury and chronic disease) among older athletes and chess players. Masters Athletes and chess players were recruited from track and field and chess competitions within the province of Ontario. In addition to these primary groups, moderately active and inactive older adults from Canadian Community Health Survey were also included for comparison.

Results: Masters Athletes had significantly higher rates of injury with the lowest rates of chronic disease, compared to all other activity groups. In contrast, chess players reported lower rates of injury compared to Masters Athletes as well as lower prevalence of chronic diseases compared to the moderately active and inactive groups. The normative groups reported the lowest rate of injury, but increased prevalence of chronic diseases compared to Masters Athletes and chess players.

Conclusions: Findings from this study indicate that both athletic and cognitive engagement may be positively related to the physical health of older adults, since Masters Athletes and chess players reported a lower prevalence of chronic disease. Importantly, the results expand our current understanding of health by providing evidence for physical health outcomes associated with an activity that is primarily associated with cognitive health.

Check also The Effect of Chess on Standardized Test Score Gains. David I. Poston, Kathryn K. Vandenkieboom. SAGE Open, August 31, 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/09/chess-players-are-generally-of-higher.html

These synthetic husbands have an average income that is about 58% higher, & 30% more likely to be employed, than the actual unmarried men that are currently available to unmarried women

Mismatches in the Marriage Market. Daniel T. Lichter  Joseph P. Price  Jeffrey M. Swigert. Journal of Marriage and Family, September 4 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12603

Abstract
Objective: This article provides an assessment of whether unmarried women currently face demographic shortages of marital partners in the U.S. marriage market.

Background: One explanation for the declines in marriage is the putative shortage of economically attractive partners for unmarried women to marry. Previous studies provide mixed results but are usually focused narrowly on sex ratio imbalances rather than identifying shortages on the multiple socioeconomic characteristics that typically sort women and men into marriages.

Methods: This study identifies recent marriages from the 2008 to 2012 and 2013 to 2017 cumulative 5‐year files of the American Community Survey. Data imputation methods provide estimates of the sociodemographic characteristics of unmarried women's potential (or synthetic) spouses who resemble the husbands of otherwise comparable married women. These estimates are compared with the actual distribution of unmarried men at the national, state, and local area levels to identify marriage market imbalances.

Results: These synthetic husbands have an average income that is about 58% higher than the actual unmarried men that are currently available to unmarried women. They also are 30% more likely to be employed (90% vs. 70%) and 19% more likely to have a college degree (30% vs. 25%). Racial and ethnic minorities, especially Black women, face serious shortages of potential marital partners, as do low socioeconomic status and high socioeconomic status unmarried women, both at the national and subnational levels.

Conclusions: This study reveals large deficits in the supply of potential male spouses. One implication is that the unmarried may remain unmarried or marry less well‐suited partners.


Games of chance: A near miss is said to occur when feedback for a loss approximates a win (“cherry–cherry–lemon” on a slot machine); experiments failed to support the "near-miss effect" hypothesis

The Near-Miss Effect in Slot Machines: A Review and Experimental Analysis Over Half a Century Later. Jeffrey M. Pisklak, Joshua J. H. Yong, Marcia L. Spetch. Journal of Gambling Studies, September 14 2019. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-019-09891-8

Abstract: In games of chance, a near miss is said to occur when feedback for a loss approximates a win. For instance, obtaining “cherry–cherry–lemon” on a slot machine could be considered a near miss. Sixty-six years ago, B.F. Skinner first proposed the idea that near-miss events might reinforce continued play in slot machines, and despite some inconsistencies in the experimental literature, belief in this “near-miss effect” has remained strong. In the present manuscript, we will review this literature and present experimental assessments of the near-miss effect on the frequency of the gambling response. Experiment 1 used a tightly controlled resistance-to-extinction procedure in pigeons to evaluate the putative reinforcing effect of near misses relative to a control “far-miss” reel pattern. Experiment 2 extended Experiment 1’s procedure to human participants. The results of both experiments failed to support the near-miss effect hypothesis. Experiment 3 used a further simplified procedure to assess the validity of the resistance-to-extinction paradigm when a probable conditional reinforcer was present on the reel stimuli. Although a clear conditional response was obtained from the reel, subsequent testing in extinction revealed no conditionally reinforcing function of this stimulus on operant response frequency.

Keywords: Gambling Reinforcement Near-miss Near-hit Pigeons Humans