Matthew Bampton

Location of Food Stores Near Schools Does Not Predict the Weight Status of Maine High School Students.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between stores selling calorie-dense food near schools and student obesity risk, with the hypothesis that high availability predicts increased risk. METHODS Mail surveys determined height, weight, and calorie-dense food consumption for 552 students at 11 Maine high schools. Driving distance from all food stores within 2 km (1.24 miles) of schools (or the closest store) was computed, and the impact of food store density and proximity to schools on student body mass index was determined by logistic regression. RESULTS Ten schools had ≥ 1 store selling soda, and 8 schools had ≥1 fast-food restaurant within 1 km (0.62 miles). There were no significant relationships between the proximity or density of food stores around schools and student obesity risk. Students obtained sugar-sweetened beverages in many locations including at school. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Unhealthful food choices are ubiquitous. Consequently, stores selling these food items near schools have no significant affect on student obesity.

Predictors of Food Insecurity in Lewiston, Maine: A Community-Level Analysis

Food insecurity is a health hazard for those who experience it. At the national level, households that are poor, single parent, composed of racial minorities, and located in urban areas are more likely to be food insecure. However, less is known about food insecurity’s distribution at the community level. A standard food security questionnaire was used to conduct a telephone survey of food insecurity in Lewiston, Maine. Results were mapped in a geographic information system along with 2010 census data and previously collected data on Lewiston’s food stores. Logistic regression analysis revealed that fewer adults and the presence of children in the household, but not measures of urbanization and community poverty, predicted lower household food security. These results demonstrate that food insecurity is more widely disturbed in Lewiston, Maine, than might have been predicted and suggest that services to mitigate the impact of food insecurity should also be widely distributed.

Two Methods That Define the Scale of Obesogenic Environments: A Case Study of Lewiston–Auburn, Maine

Food environments may contribute to obesity (be obesogenic). However, the number of people living in environments deemed obesogenic may be impacted by how distance to food sources is measured. This study, in Lewiston–Auburn, Maine (L-A), used an existing definition of obesogenic environment based on the ratio of unhealthy to healthy food stores within 800 m, 2010 census data, and visits to all food stores/restaurants to build a geographic information system (GIS). This GIS yielded the population and number of single-parent households living in areas deemed obesogenic when distance was measured by Euclidian distance and by road network distance. L-A had 82 fast food restaurants and 81 food stores. We found that 43% of L-As 59 647 people lived in obesogneic environments when Euclidian distance was used but only 30% did so using road network distance. Single-parent households were at particular risk of living in obesogenic environments (P < .001, comparison by chi-square).

Evidence for a Former Transgressive Dune Field: Shetland Islands, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT Kelley, J.T.; Kelley, A.R.; Sorrell, L.; Bigelow, G., and Bampton, M., 2018. Evidence for a former transgressive dune field: Shetland Islands, United Kingdom. Transgressive sand dunes result from a large disturbance of a significant coastal sand dune field. Sand blows landward, covering whatever it encounters, including agricultural fields, forests, or human habitations. This investigation is of a beach-dune system in the Shetland Islands of northern Scotland that is known from historic documents and archaeological excavations to have experienced a sand invasion during the Little Ice Age (LIA). Ground-penetrating radar observations suggest remnants of pre-LIA dunes and buried soils. Excavation of dunes and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sand deposits confirm historic accounts but also document that the “event” lasted centuries. Geomorphological observations and OSL dates also indicate that earlier events occurred in this region, sometimes in association with known archaeological sites like Old Scatness and Jarlshof. Although the site studied is stable now, a sand invasion could occur again owing to increased storminess, removal of dune vegetation, or both. Mining of the dunes for aggregate places the contemporary beach in a more vulnerable position than earlier.

GIS-based analysis of harp and hooded seal sighting locations on shore in the Southern Gulf of Maine

Abstract Ice seals (harp and hooded seals) were rarely seen in the Gulf of Maine before 1990 but have been sighted with increased frequency since. To explore these types of sightings, we developed an analysis technique for events that occur at the irregular border between two polygons. We used a geographic information system and non-parametric statistics to analyze 584 ice seal sightings in the southern Gulf of Maine. Compared to harp seals, hooded seals were sighted closer to deep water and were less healthy; sicker animals were more likely than healthy ones to be sighted near high-energy intertidal zones. Using Ordinal Logistic Regression, we also found that high seal sighting densities occurred more often near public land and in the southwest of the study region. Given the opportunistic nature of this data set, and its inherent reporting biases, these correlations should be interpreted carefully; however this technique may be useful to analyze other “border” events.