American journal of preventive medicine
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Planners have relied on the urban development boundary (UDB)/urban growth boundary (UGB) and central business district (CBD) to encourage contiguous urban development and conserve infrastructure. However, no studies have specifically examined the relationship between proximity to the UDB/UGB and CBD and walking behavior. ⋯ Given the lack of walking and walkable destinations observed in proximity to the UDB/UGB boundary, a sprawl repair approach could be implemented, which strategically introduces mixed-use zoning to encourage walking throughout the boundary's zone.
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Brain health may be affected by modifiable lifestyle factors; consuming fish and antioxidative omega-3 fatty acids may reduce brain structural abnormality risk. ⋯ Dietary consumption of baked or broiled fish is related to larger gray matter volumes independent of omega-3 fatty acid content. These findings suggest that a confluence of lifestyle factors influence brain health, adding to the growing body of evidence that prevention strategies for late-life brain health need to begin decades earlier.
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Factors associated with e-cigarette use: a national population survey of current and former smokers.
Few national surveys document the prevalence of e-cigarette use in the U.S. The existing metric to assess current use likely identifies individuals who have recently tried an e-cigarette but do not continue to use the product. ⋯ Improved survey measures for e-cigarette use are needed. The identification of established e-cigarette users may provide insight to product features or other individual factors that are associated with sustained use of e-cigarettes.
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The recent popularity of electronic (e)-cigarettes and their rapid uptake by youth has ignited the debate about their role as a harm-reduction strategy. Harm reduction in the context of tobacco control contends that in societies that have achieved considerable success in curbing smoking, leaving the remaining hard-to-quit smokers with an abstinence-only option is unfair, especially when less-harmful choices are available. On one side of the debate are those who call for caution in endorsing such products until critical pieces of evidence about their safety and potential become available, whereas the other side argues that waiting until all questions about e-cigarettes are answered is dogma driven. In this piece, I try to discuss the unresolvable contention between harm-reduction goals of offering safer options to smokers, and those of e-cigarette makers of being commercially viable and profitable.
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Alcohol use disorders are a serious public health concern among soldiers. Although deployment-related exposures have been linked with alcohol use disorders in soldiers, less is understood about the link between modifiable, civilian stressors and post-deployment alcohol use disorders. ⋯ Independent of deployment-related exposures, post-deployment civilian stressors are associated with the onset of alcohol use disorder among reserve-component soldiers. Concerted investment to address daily civilian difficulties associated with reintegration into civilian life may be needed to prevent new cases of alcohol use disorders among returning military personnel.