This study examines the role of things in the making of New Netherland in the seventeenth century and the formation of New York in the early eighteenth century. With an attention to the translations of form and transculturations of meaning for objects, which have often led peripatetic lives, I focus on previously marginalized crafts and everyday objects like books, tea tables, chairs, hearth tiles, and other domestic goods found in peoples’ homes, to describe the way things connected people and places in early modern Dutch trade networks. Through a careful analysis of objects of material culture and depictions of material culture I focus on how the colony was physically constructed and ideologically imagined internally by the colonists and externally by other interested parties throughout Atlantic world. My research on the making, circulation, and consumption of things in and from New Netherland develops intersecting narratives of the past, some of them regional and localized, others cross-cultural, transnational, and global. By connecting artifacts, objects, and things to larger narratives it is possible to write a new history of materiality and the making of New Netherland, primarily in the seventeenth century but also in later histories. In what follows, through the examination of increasingly mobile and hybrid material cultures in the Dutch Republic and New Netherland, I demonstrate that just like materialism and morality, worldliness and homeliness were not binary constructs, but mutually constructive and inextricably intertwined in the oud and nieuw Netherlands. / Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2013-10-12 18:03:55.576

Master of Public Health / Department of Human Nutrition / Sandra B. Procter / Nutritionally vulnerable women are more apt to give birth to low birth weight, small for gestational babies who have increased medical complications and higher risk of mortality. Participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) prenatally has been found to enhance positive pregnancy outcomes for women; reduced risk of low birth weights and nutrient deficiencies thus reducing the costs associated with medical care for infants covered by Medicaid, the joint federal and state insurance program for low income women, which covers 40% of infants in the United States. Pregnant women covered by Medicaid insurance are normally at the most risk but are adjunct eligible for the WIC program. This descriptive cross-sectional research study determined the demographic and nutritional characteristics of Medicaid births in the WIC program compared to non-Medicaid births for the 2009 WIC program year, using the Kansas birth certificate, WIC program data linked to the birth certificate by unique identifying code. Results from the study show that the Kansas WIC and Medicaid programs are serving the target population for the objectives of the programs. Mothers of Medicaid births who received WIC food during pregnancy and those in the WIC program are of low socioeconomic status and they are more likely to be younger in age, of minority racial group, less educated, never married and less likely to breastfeed infants at discharge and high likelihood of smoking. Compared to Medicaid births that did not participate in the WIC program, women at the lower margins of low socioeconomic status participated in WIC, signaling that the most vulnerable were getting the needed services. Distinct findings from the Kansas WIC program reveal that Medicaid births in the WIC program were more likely to be breastfed at discharge, compared to Medicaid births not in the WIC program, even though WIC recipients had demographic characteristics associated with low breastfeeding patterns. A study investigating the reasons for not enrolling in WIC by Kansas Department of Health would be beneficial to the WIC program’s goal to provide nutrition support to low income eligible women, infants and children in Kansas.

Factors such as parental/caregiver influences and socioeconomic status have been shown to impact food-related attitudes and behaviors. Consequently, these attitudes and behaviors affect health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess, using the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), attitudes toward milk fat type and milk consumption among Texas WIC participants. Few studies, using this theoretical framework, have examined milk intake specifically among this population. Four hypotheses were proposed according to the theoretical model. The inclusionary criteria used for this study yielded a subset sample of 2,115; all cases included were Texas WIC participants. The results of this study show that caregivers' attitudes toward drinking and offering milk fat type are related. Caregivers' attitudes toward drinking milk fat type and the type of milk they drank were proven to be statistically significant. Similarly, caregivers' attitudes toward offering milk fat type and the milk fat type their children drank were proven to be significant. Caregivers' milk intakes were positively associated with children's milk intakes. It is evident that parental/caregiver modeling influences children's dietary habits. Parental/caregiver behaviors are important influences to consider when implementing nutrition education programs or intervention efforts, especially for participants of WIC. Improving caregivers' attitudes toward low-fat or fat-free milk intake can also contribute to healthier food-related choices.

No description available.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / All participants of the Indiana Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infant and Children (WIC) receive supplemental foods, nutrition education, and health care referrals. The Indiana WIC program established an online nutrition education program to help eliminate barriers to participants who are unable to be physically present for their second nutrition education appointments. The aim of this study was to compare the participation of WIC participants enrolled in standard in-person appointments with WIC participants enrolled in the Online Nutrition Education (ONE) pilot program by assessing the completion of the ONE lessons and the cash value benefit usage at 3 months after participants’ acceptance into the WIC program. A quasi-experiment was performed using a time series comparison of WIC participant attendance at their in-person nutrition education appointment to participants completion of an online nutrition education lesson. A second comparison of the two groups observed the participants redemption of their cash value benefit on fruits and vegetables (CVB). The increase in participation from 2019 to 2020 was statistically significant (P=0.035). Analysis showed that there was a significant difference (P ≤ 0.001) between the 2019 and 2020 CVB mean redemption rates. This study provides evidence that WIC participants are more likely to maintain their participation when offered the addition of an online nutrition education appointment type.

Abstract is available in Pediatrics.

Breastfeeding has been shown to protect both the mother and infant, and health care professionals consider it to be the best choice for feeding an infant. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides food, referrals to other social service programs, and nutrition and breastfeeding education for enrolled families. However, community support for the breastfeeding woman once she leaves the hospital is limited, especially in Philadelphia, PA. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the impact of prenatal breastfeeding education and understand the role that members of the community play in the infant feeding decision-making process. A purposive, convenience sample of 36 postpartum breastfeeding women enrolled for WIC benefits completed a survey and an in-depth interview about infant feeding choices and their support system at their return WIC appointment. The quantitative survey data were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and multiple regressions while the qualitative data were analyzed using Moustakas' modification of two methods, referred to as MVKMAP. The analysis of data showed that the postpartum breastfeeding education given at the WIC office had the most influence on participants' decision to breastfeed followed by prenatal education. Some participants reported receiving overwhelming breastfeeding support from the WIC peer counselor, which indicates that members of the WIC community play a role in the infant feeding decision making process. The study findings help to contribute to social change by identifying the need for breastfeeding support by medical providers, hospitals, and WIC offices at the prenatal period not only at the postpartum appointment.

A thorough collection of data was completed on Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) particpants in the Bear River Health District to help determine the nutrition education needs of that WIC population. Data were also collected on education, income, and ethnic groups form other states and districts in the nation for comparison with results of this study. The data collected in this study will provide an adequate data base for the future development of nutrition education materials for this district and perhaps other similar districts nationwide. The Bear River district participants, Logan clinic participants in particular, appear to be quite atypical in regard to education level and ethnic variation.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This pilot study examines the use of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program by the Burmese population in Indianapolis, Indiana. A significant number of Burmese people migrated to the Indianapolis area starting in 2004. Many of them are families with young children and are enrolled in the WIC program. Language barriers and cultural differences make it more difficult for the WIC program to meet the needs of these families. To what extent is the WIC program meeting their needs? To answer this question, Burmese WIC participants enrolled in the Marion County WIC program were invited to participate in this study. Study participants received a survey at the time of their appointment at the WIC office. The survey included questions that focus on how the Burmese people feel about the foods provided and the nutrition education they receive on the program. Of the 30 study participants, 28 of them or 93.3% reported WIC as being very helpful. Some foods were reported as not being utilized as frequently by the Burmese population on the WIC program, including tortillas, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta. In addition, twenty six of the 30 participants or 86.7% reported the nutrition education they receive on WIC as being very helpful. Participants reported learning many new things through WIC nutrition education including how best to feed their infants and children, as well as breastfeeding being the best for their babies.

The dissertation includes two projects. The first one studies the product market segmentation and output collusion within substitutes; the second one examines the effects of WIC program and peers on breastfeeding activities. In Chapter I, we extend the differentiated product model, first developed by Bowley (1924), by relaxing the assumption that each firm produces only one differentiated product. By doing so, we are able to analyze the potential for collusive market segmentation in a two stage decision framework, first in product space and second in output. We find that when firms cannot coordinate on output, the required discount factor that supports collusive market segmentation is strictly decreasing in product substitutability and is greater than partial output and full collusion. Overall we find that output collusion alone is easier to sustain than collusive product market segmentation. In Chapter II, we first use duration analysis techniques to estimate the effects of WIC participation on breastfeeding activities using a nationwide data. Income ineligible participants are excluded from the sample. The models with and without peer effects variables are both estimated. We find that the prenatal WIC participation status does not have significant effect on breastfeeding activities. Peer effects have significant positive effects on both partial and exclusive breastfeeding durations but not on breastfeeding initiation. The magnitude of the peer effects on each individual is different and depends on the individual’s propensity to breastfeed. The results on peer effects based on the full sample are consistent with the findings from restricted sample. Knowing more than five peers who breastfed increases the probability of initiating by 3.7% and the likelihood of breastfeeding at months 3 and 6 by more than 15%. It also increases the partial and exclusive breastfeeding durations by 9 and 3 weeks, respectively. The results suggest the presence of a social multiplier in breastfeeding. Any exogenous change in breastfeeding behavior due to policy interventions would result in an even greater change due to the bidirectional influences within peer groups. Peer effects play a more important role for breastfeeding duration than initiation.