There was growing concern in New Zealand in the 1990�s that Food Security: access by all people at all times to enough food for an active healthy life, was not being achieved, despite an abundant food supply. A study of a convenience sample of 40 families with children (58 adults and 92 children) whose sole income was a government welfare benefit was undertaken. Two-thirds of these households regularly relied on a limited variety of food; one-half did not have a sufficient amount of food because of lack of money and outstanding debts. Over the previous year two-thirds had sourced food from a food bank and one-third had been gifted food from friends or relatives. Women�s intakes were compromised regularly but not children�s. All of the women experienced worry about feeding their household. One-fifth were overweight and over 40% obese despite low reported daily energy intakes (median (SE) 5.7 (0.5) MJ) compared to national data. Six repeated 24-hour diet recalls collected randomly over a two-week period enabled calculation of usual daily intake and the prevalence of inadequate intake for eight micronutrients which were disturbingly high. The children�s growth patterns compared favourably with US population percentiles. The National Nutrition Survey (NNS97) allowed the adaption of eight questions--developed by Reid using qualitative methods--to eight indicator statements about food security to be addressed by each participant on behalf of them or their household. Prevalence was significantly higher (p<0.05) for females compared to males for the majority of indicator statements among New Zealand European and Others (NZEO) and Maori. NZEO reported the most food security; Pacific people reported the least and Maori fell between the two. There was a significant increasing linear trend of food security with age (p<0.001) after adjusting for gender. Rasch analysis was performed on 1868 households where participants reported some food insecurity. The responses were ranked according to the proportion and ordering of their positive responses to eight indices of food security, achieving reliability (Cronbach�s Alpha) close to the conventionally accepted level of 0.7. The eight indices were ranked on the same scale; the minimum score -1.66 was achieved by the index �use special food grants/banks� (the index least reported and most severe) and the maximum score 1.86 was achieved by the index �variety of foods eaten limited� (the index most reported and least severe). Categories of food security were assigned using scale cut points: �fully/almost fully food secure�; �moderate food security�; �low food security�. Category status was associated with consumption of recommended number of daily serves of fruit, vegetables, fruits and vegetables, consumption of leaner meats, fatty meats and daily serves of bread. By ANOVA and controlling for sex, ethnicity, Index of Deprivation, urban/rural location, age, level of education, income, and household size, category of household food security was associated with the level of daily intake of total fat, saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, cholesterol, glucose, fructose, lactose, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and vitamin C. Dietary data were from the primary 24-hour diet recall of respondents. Participants in the fully/almost fully food secure category of households had a mean BMI of 28.7 compared to those moderately secure (29.2) and of low food security (29.5) (p=0.015 for difference among categories). In the Children�s Nutrition Survey 2002 (CNS02) data set, the same eight indices were used and food insecurity was experienced significantly more often by children in the largest households, those in the most deprived areas of residence (NZDep01 Quintile) and those of Pacific and Maori ethnicity compared to NZEO children. Rasch analysis was performed on responses for 1561 households with children which reported some food insecurity. Subject reliability was close to 0.7 (the conventionally acceptable level). The distribution of the eight indices on the Rasch scale was similar to that observed among the NNS97 households and almost identical to the sub-set of households with children, from that dataset. Categories of food security status were assigned as in the NN5S97 and they predicted daily nutrient intake levels of children: total sugars, lactose, vitamm A, β-carotene, vitamin B12 and calcium. A more rigorous assigning of categories at the low/moderate scale cut-off, resulted in a further association with level of intake of glucose, fructose and folate. Mean BMI across categories of food security did not differ. Collectively these data provide unequivocal evidence that food insecurity exists in New Zealand, that it can be quantified and associated with nutrition outcomes. It has a negative impact on the nutrient intakes of both adults and children and a negative impact on the body weight status of adults. These data have implications for nutrition and health professionals and policy makers in New Zealand. They also add to the world-wide body of knowledge of the experience of, and the measurement and predictive potential of food security in populations where the food supply appears plentiful.

Thesis (MEd - Curriculum Leadership) -- University of South Australia, 1992

Bibliography: leaves 453-487. / xxiii, 487 leaves : ill. map ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Marginal farm families face a never-ending risk of loss of land followed by a further weakening of their livelihood-base. This thesis develops a methodology by which the vulnerable can be identified, characterises their existing and potential production systems and explores necessary shifts in approach by State and non-government organisations that will not only reduce vulnerability but empower marginal farm families. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Politics, 1997

The subject of this study is the debate on poverty and its relief which took place in England in the last decade of the eighteenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth.

The poverty of the individual household is a leading cause of children engaging in work in order to contribute to household survival. The importance of children's financial contribution to the household means that in order to eliminate child labour, alternative sources of income have to be made available. / Microfinance is perceived to have the potential of addressing these issues by enabling households to save or borrow money to start up or expand enterprises thereby securing additional income and making children's financial contribution to a household less significant. However, while microfinance is considered a tool designed for the poor, it has been shown to have difficulties in reaching the poorest households, which is also the very group most at risk of having to rely on child labour for survival. Furthermore, the limited credit available through microfinance, and the lack of special skills frequently force entrepreneurs to engage in labour intensive activities with marginal profits. These types of activities are also where children are often found to be working. / Based on data collected from two urban areas in the Philippines using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, this thesis reviews microfinance as a tool in targeting child labour. Specifically it analyses the extent to which microfinance contributes to a decrease or increase in child labour and whether the impact varies according to the gender of the child. The thesis also reviews the ability of microfinance to affect all households with working children, and how the findings correspond with current economic theories on the household. / This research shows that in the selected areas the main reasons for children engaging in economic work arise from either: the need to generate an additional income from outside the household setting, in part to cover educational and other expenses brought on by the child him or herself; or the role of children as supplier of additional labour input into labour intensive household enterprises, in particular those which are the main source of income for the household. Children, in particular girls, also frequently act as labour substitutes for the mother in household work. / This thesis confirms that microfinance programs have difficulties in reaching all households with child labourers. The main reasons are risk aversion among the poorest households and the apparent direct or indirect exclusion of this group by other members of the programs. The main cause of the risk aversion arises from the fear of being excluded from essential informal credit networks on which the poorest households in particular depend. / Microfinance has the ability to impact on households where children work to generate an extra source of income. For households which depend on children's input into the household MSE, there appear to he limited impact of microfinance participation on the households' need for child labour. There are indications that the household's ability to benefit from microfinance participation depends on its existing income level. While the aim of the microfinance programmes is to support the creation or expansion of enterprises, the intense competition and low marginal returns means that closure rates are high. As a consequence the effects of microfinance loans are often short lived. Further, microfinance loans are unable to change the labour intensive nature of the production and the household dependence on children's labour. This research also finds that the impact differs between children as there is a strong division of children's work based on gender and age.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, 1987. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves 136-138.

Thesis (M.A.)--Cincinnati Christian Seminary, 1989. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-147).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-129). Also available online through Digital Dissertations

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on January 29, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Project (D. Min.)--Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-87).