No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The aim of our study is to provide a broader understanding of how important the design of the public space is in relation to the safety of the inhabitants. We intend to shed light on the city planners perspective in the planning of redevelopments of two existing districts in Malmö. In other words, the paper examines how city planners in Malmö plan two different areas so that they go from unsafe to safe. We also discuss the definition of the concept of safety and how important the safety of citizens is for residential areas to become attractive. In the study, we investigate this phenomenon by analyzing planning programs over each district. We analyzed a planprogram over Kroksbäck and Holma as well as a planprogram over Amiralsgatan and station Persborg. The choice of these areas was due to the fact that they are two areas that today are perceived as unsafe and vulnerable areas. For this reason, it is appropriate to analyze how the sites are planned to reshape according to the plan programs. To give a broader view of the safety aspect and how the place looks and is experienced today, we also chose to make site analyzes of each place. The site analyzes are intended to give a more personal idea of how the authors experience the site based on the safety aspect. The object of study is used to discuss how design can affect the safety in public spaces. In conclusion, we expect to be able to give a more concrete answer to how the design of the physical environment can affect security with the help and guidance through previous research by authors such as Jane Jacobs (2005).

<p>Food—where we obtain it, how we obtain it, and so forth—is just one of myriad considerations in everyday life. Considerations about food can be particularly salient for lone mothers, who face a set of challenges in supporting their families, including being the sole caregivers of their children. In examining a case study of Hamilton, Ontario, this research utilizes qualitative methods (interviews and mental maps) and a feminist geography lens to understand the complexity of food insecurity for lone mothers living in two neighbourhoods characterized by a low socio-economic status. Feminist geography offers a unique perspective for understanding food insecurity with its philosophy of improving women’s lives and its story-telling and meaning-making methods. This thesis will explore qualitative themes from face-to-face interviews (<em>n</em>=7) and a focus group (<em>n</em>=1, 5 participants) that include: the distance and time taken to acquire food; loving and caring for one’s child(ren); contextual considerations mothers have to weigh in order to choose food resources, the need for structural change; strategies mothers used to provide for their families; and feelings around being a lone mother. Together, these themes paint a rich and nuanced picture of food insecurity for lone mothers in Hamilton and they illuminate how and where food intersects with household functions and structural forces, such as social assistance. The findings also point to places where social change can take place to improve quality of life.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Introduction: While the paradoxical association between overweight and household food insecurity (HFI) is well established amongst low-income women, findings remain inconclusive amongst children. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between household food insecurity (HFI) and child overweight outcomes in an inner-city, pre-school and school aged population. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional study design augmented by validated Early Pregnancy Study (EPS) data collected during a pregnancy 6 years prior. A random subset of mothers of child-bearing age (23-44 years) and the child resulting from that pregnancy (between 4-7 years of age at time of re-enrollment) were tracked and re-enrolled in this follow-up study. The primary exposure, HFI, was captured using an adaptation of the standardized US Food Security Scale -- embedded within a larger self-report questionnaire addressing selected maternal and child influences (such as health, exercise, and dietary risk factors) on child weight patterns. Maternal and the child BMI outcome was determined through in-home clinical assessment of height and weight and using standard CDC based cutoffs to classify weight status. Self-report and biologically confirmed prenatal EPS data were also obtained to establish useful baseline data and to enhance study results. Exploratory hypotheses examined: (1) Interrelatedness between select maternal and child health, social-environmental, and socio-demographic exposures and (2) Household food insecurity (HFI), prenatal and current maternal and child exposures were explored for their relationship with child BMI. Results: Thirty-six mother-child dyads participated in this follow-up study. Twenty-eight percent of mothers reported HFI; 83% of mothers were classified as overweight or obese and 58% of children were categorized as at-risk for overweight or overweight. Most bi-variate analyses yielded non-significant results, though in-utero drug use was significantly correlated, and mothers who tested positive for tobacco use during pregnancy were also likely to test positive for marijuana use, as determined through biological confirmation (p&lt;0.05). Additionally, current maternal BMI as well as current maternal hip-to-waist ratio were each significantly associated with current child BMI (p&lt;0.05). One unexpected finding included a significant association between current maternal BMI and presence of a co-morbidity in the child (p&lt;0.05). No significant relationships were found between HFI or additional exploratory multivariate models looking at independent effects of prenatal and current maternal-child exposures in predicting child overweight, though current maternal BMI was predictive of child overweight in most analyses. Access to electronic medical record information was highly predictive of participation in this follow-up study (p&lt;0.001). Discussion: This study provided an opportunity to better characterize an attrition-prone population, and, while it is possible to track and identify these women through electronic medical record databases, recruitment efforts were labor-intensive and attrition rates particularly high (~22% of mothers re-enrolled). Overall, the influence of household food insecurity on child overweight remains unclear. However, study findings also demonstrated that maternal weight alone was highly predictive of child overweight as early as pre-school, mirroring empirical evidence in this area. Ultimately, childhood obesity is more effectively prevented when treated as a familial concern. Future studies should continue to explore cumulative influences catalyzing obesity in young children in order to better inform understanding of early obesity onset. / Public Health

The present study investigates the self-care and health maintenance strategies undertaken by individuals from Halton Region, Ontario living with type 2 diabetes and receiving assistance from food acquisition services such as community food re-distribution centres and food banks. This qualitative research project pulls narrative and thematic interview data from 18 semi-structured one-on-one interviews analyzed with syndemic theory and social determinants of health frameworks to demonstrate how clustering non-communicable diseases and social conditions disproportionately affect those in the lowest income category, and interact with each other to exacerbate the negative health effects of each condition alone. The contributions of this study are theoretical and applied. Theoretical contributions augment existing evidence for the study of non-communicable diseases using a syndemic model. The study participants demonstrated syndemic clustering of five conditions: type 2 diabetes, food insecurity, low income, poor mental health, and activity limitation. Further, this study suggests an applied element to the syndemic model through an approach to health and diabetes care that incorporates the whole person as opposed to a single disease as a unit of care. As suggested through the findings of research participant testimony, a diabetes health care centre, in addition to traditional diabetes care, would ideally screen and offer care for the other common clustered conditions listed in the syndemic elements above. Thus, the centre would provide nutrition, physical activity, mental health, and social supports to patients. As well, it is recommended that future research contributes to prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases through social, political, and economic in form of increasing government and healthcare supports for people living with low-income and food insecurity. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This study looks at how individuals from Halton Region, Ontario maintain their health while living with type 2 diabetes and reduced access to healthy, fresh food. The project uses interview data from 18 one-on-one interviews to demonstrate how people with low income suffer from poorer overall health. Specifically, five conditions affected the study participants’ health: type 2 diabetes, reduced access to healthy food, low income, poor mental health, and reduced financial or physical access to exercise or activities of daily living (activity limitation). To combat these conditions, this study suggests an approach to health and diabetes care that looks at the whole person. Evidence and participant suggestions indicate a diabetes health care centre that screens and offers care for other common conditions that occur such as the elements listed above, and also provides nutrition care, physical activity, and social support to patients.