Papers by Robert Muenchen
The FASEB Journal
Background: Childhood obesity is a critical public health problem. There is a crucial need to ide... more Background: Childhood obesity is a critical public health problem. There is a crucial need to identify environmental factors that either encourage or prevent obesogenic behaviors. The home food environment is one of the primary environments in which children are exposed to food. Therefore, it is crucial to study how the home food availability influences dietary intake and weight status. Objective: This study examines parental report of household food availability of fruits, vegetables, and milk, and its association with child weight status and child dietary intake of these foods. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, based on surveys from 489 students in grades 3-12 their parents in 2009. Child participants were Destination ImagiNation® finalists. Child data collection included surveys based on the Youth Risk Surveillance Survey and anthropometric measurements of height and weight used to calculate child z-BMI. Parents self-reported their heights and weights and home food availability. Descriptive statistics were conducted and multiple linear regression was used to predict whether or not a relationship existed between home food availability, child weight status, and dietary intake of fruits, vegetables, and milk. Results: Overall, 12.5% of participants were overweight and 6.7% were obese. Approximately26% of participants consumed 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day and 17% consumed 3 or more glasses of milk per day. However, a no significant relationship was found between home availability of fruits, vegetables, and milk and the reported intake of these foods. Although a significant association was also found between parent and child weight status, no significant association was found between home food availability and child weight status. Conclusions: Compared to national data, a larger proportion of this sample was classified as normal weight and consumed the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables and milk. Parents reported high availability of fruits, vegetables, and milk products. However, no significance was found between the reported availability of these foods and weight status or dietary intake of fruits, vegetables, or milk. v
Abstract: The authors conduct an exhaustive analysis of broadcast news transcripts from the one-y... more Abstract: The authors conduct an exhaustive analysis of broadcast news transcripts from the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks to the U.S. congressional authorization of force against Iraq. News organizations overall used framing words and phrases complementary to the Bush Administration push for war. Fox News, even more than CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, and public broadcasting, emphasized pro-war framing terms. Fox News over a longer time frame also generally trailed CNN in stories covering the absence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, the lack of a pre-war link between Iraq and al-Qaeda, majority international public opinion about the war, and the number of American casualties. ********** The bestselling book Don't Think of an Elephant!, subtitled Know Your Values and Frame the Debate, detailed some of the word choices with which the George W. Bush Administration subtly shifted public debate. Inheritance or estate taxes were called death taxes. Tax cuts were ca...
Adolescence, Feb 1, 1995
The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships among gender, age, and self-image o... more The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships among gender, age, and self-image of adolescents attending three secondary schools in Jamaica. The relatively few studies that have been done regarding self-perceptions of these youth are not only dated but have utilized a unidimensional conceptualization of the self. The Offer Self-Image Questionnaire which employs a multidimensional construct of the self was administered to a sample of 174 Jamaican adolescents ranging in age from 14 to 18 years (M = 15.90 years, SD = 1.21). Results revealed statistically significant effects for both gender and age. Gender was found to be significant on one self-image dimension: Morals, while age differences were evident on six dimensions: Social Relationships, Morals, Sexual Attitudes, Mastery of the External World, Vocational and Educational Goals, and Emotional Health. The results in some instances were contrary to those of past research. Discussion focused on cultural socialization and other factors affecting youth in Jamaican society.
Journal of Medical Speech Language Pathology, Dec 1, 2003
Background: Childhood obesity is a critical public health problem. There is a crucial need to ide... more Background: Childhood obesity is a critical public health problem. There is a crucial need to identify environmental factors that either encourage or prevent obesogenic behaviors. The home food environment is one of the primary environments in which children are exposed to food. Therefore, it is crucial to study how the home food availability influences dietary intake and weight status. Objective: This study examines parental report of household food availability of fruits, vegetables, and milk, and its association with child weight status and child dietary intake of these foods. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, based on surveys from 489 students in grades 3-12 their parents in 2009. Child participants were Destination ImagiNation® finalists. Child data collection included surveys based on the Youth Risk Surveillance Survey and anthropometric measurements of height and weight used to calculate child z-BMI. Parents self-reported their heights and weights and home food availability. Descriptive statistics were conducted and multiple linear regression was used to predict whether or not a relationship existed between home food availability, child weight status, and dietary intake of fruits, vegetables, and milk. Results: Overall, 12.5% of participants were overweight and 6.7% were obese. Approximately26% of participants consumed 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day and 17% consumed 3 or more glasses of milk per day. However, a no significant relationship was found between home availability of fruits, vegetables, and milk and the reported intake of these foods. Although a significant association was also found between parent and child weight status, no significant association was found between home food availability and child weight status. Conclusions: Compared to national data, a larger proportion of this sample was classified as normal weight and consumed the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables and milk. Parents reported high availability of fruits, vegetables, and milk products. However, no significance was found between the reported availability of these foods and weight status or dietary intake of fruits, vegetables, or milk. v
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services
In an effort to bridge the gap in learning in the affective domain, nurse educators must understa... more In an effort to bridge the gap in learning in the affective domain, nurse educators must understand and develop meaningful teaching strategies. Specific strategies designed to facilitate cognitive understanding of the affective response can be found in entertainment films. The findings of this study suggest that the use of entertainment films with guidance is effective in teaching empathetic responses. The continued study of the complex phenomenon in developing an understanding of the many variables that comprise not only the experience of empathy, but also the transference of the experience into helping interventions.
The present study was conducted to evaluate the problem-solving ability of children with hearing ... more The present study was conducted to evaluate the problem-solving ability of children with hearing impairment. The performance of a group of children with hearing impairment (HI Group) was compared to that of a group of children with normal hearing (NH Group). The participants were asked to solve two types of mathematical problems: those requiring computation alone and word problems requiring the use of both language and mathematical computation. The results of this study revealed that there were no significant differences between the HI Group and NH Group in the ability to solve mathematical equations involving the use of language and mathematical computation problems. Additionally, it was found that problem-solving ability was related to language ability, but not to hearing ability in the children with hearing impairment.
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
ABSTRACT Generating data is far more important to R users than it is to SAS or SPSS users. As we ... more ABSTRACT Generating data is far more important to R users than it is to SAS or SPSS users. As we have seen, many R functions are controlled by numeric, character, or logical vectors. You can generate those vectors using the methods in this chapter, making quick work of otherwise tedious tasks.
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
Statistics and Computing, 2008
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Papers by Robert Muenchen