Wm. Alex McIntosh

Progress in the Development of a Nutritional Risk Index

The development of a 16-item nutritional risk index (NRI) is chronicled from its inception through its application in three studies designed to assess its reliability and validity. Study I involved a survey of 401 community-dwelling elderly in St. Louis, Missouri who were interviewed at baseline, 4-5 mo later, and 1 yr later. Study II involved a cross-sectional survey of 377 male outpatients attending two clinics at the St. Louis Veterans Administration Medical Center. Study III involved a cross-sectional survey of 424 community-dwelling elderly in Houston, Texas. Internal consistency reliability coefficients ranged between 0.47 and 0.60, and test-retest reliability coefficients ranged between 0.65 and 0.71. Validity was established by using the NRI to predict the use of health services, as well as by correlating it with a variety of anthropometric, laboratory, and clinical markers of nutritional status. The utility of the NRI for future applications is discussed.

Sociologies of food and nutrition

Introduction. An Overview of Sociological Approaches to Food and Nutrition. Culture and Food. The Social Organization of Food Activities and Nutritional Status. Social Stratification: The Distribution of Food and Nutrition. The Body and Sociology. The Sociology of Famine. Food and Social Change. The State and Food and Nutrition. Food and Nutrition as Social Problems. The Sociology of Food and Nutrition: A Sociological Assessment. Index.

The Effect of Mainstream Religious Social Controls on Adolescent Drug Use in Rural Areas

Religion has been described as one of several controls on deviance. This paper addresses the controlling effects of several dimensions of commitment to mainstream religion on rural adolescent drug use. The sample includes both rural and urban adolescents. The findings suggest that while religious commitment is one of the more powerful forms of social control on drug use, the regulatory power of all social controls, including dimensions of commitment such as church attendance and salience, decline as the seriousness of the drug use increases. Religious preference was found to have little significant impact on either rural or urban drug use.

Review of the polls: acceptance of abortion among white Catholics and Protestants, 1962 and 1975.

Two surveys of white American Protestants and Roman Catholics during 1962 and 1975 asked three questions dealing with the legalization of abortion. The data indicate that there has been a slight Protestant-Catholic decrease in attitudinal differences. Nearly all Protestant categories became more favorable toward abortion. By contrast, the Catholics who became relatively more accepting of abortion were primarily those who were young.

Social Network and Social Background Characteristics of Elderly Who Live and Eat Alone

Solitary eating is increasingly viewed as a factor in nutritional risk for the aged. Similarly, those elderly who live alone are thought to be at risk. Using data drawn from 424 elderly Texans, the elderlys four possible living-eating arrangements were examined. Findings included the greater the number of companions and percentage of kin in the social network, the less likely are the elderly to both live and eat alone. Males, those with greater income, and those who are older are also less likely to live and eat alone. Those who live alone but eat with others are female, of low income, but of higher education than those elderly who both live and eat with others.

Age and Drug Use by Rural and Urban Adolescents

This is a survey undertaken to assess the importance of age in determining the use of both conventional (licit) and deviant (illicit) drugs among junior and high school students in the Brazos Valley, Texas, in 1976. In addition the age-drug use relationships were examined in terms of the age, sex, and residence of the respondents. The results show that the use of conventional drugs (e.g., tobacco and alcohol) increases with age, but no such relationship obtains for deviant drugs. Curvilinear relationships are evidenced in the deviant drug-age relationships. Patterns of drug use appear to be characteristic by specific sex, racial, and residential subgroups. Black females, especially those from rural areas use deviant drugs such as hallucinogens, heroin, cocaine, and solvents at rates which equal or exceed the rates of other subgroups, but are 30 per cent less likely to use beer than urban white females.

Dietary Behavior, Dietary Adequacy, and Religious Social Support: An Exploratory Study

Little attention has been paid to religion as a source of social support. Various forms of social support including, religion have shown to have positive effects on health and preventative health behavior. Only recently has dietary behavior and dietary adequacy been considered by such approaches. No research has examined the association of religious social support and diet. This research, based on a sample of elderly in Virginia, explores the idea that religious commitment, as a form of social support, is positively associated with dietary behavior and dietary adequacy. The findings suggest that religious commitment is weakly associated with dietary adequacy and behavior; however, this association is partially altered by both religious preference and localism.

The Symbolization of Eggs in American Culture: A Sociologic Analysis

Objective: To demonstrate that the recent decline in egg consumption in the United States was, in part, the result of a food scare that began in the 1960’s. Methods: Using the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, the frequency of articles about eggs, dietary cholesterol and heart disease in popular magazines was obtained. A content analysis was performed on a random sample of these articles. Results: The increased trend in magazine articles and public statements by groups such as the American Heart Association linking eggs, blood cholesterol and heart disease is associated with the downward trend in egg consumption. Conclusions: Public exposure to negative messages about particular foods can contribute to a decline in their consumption. Exposure to more consistently positive messages about foods can bring about an increase in the consumption of those foods.

Religion, Social Support, Food-Related Social Support, Diet, Nutrition, and Anthropometrics in Older Adults

Religion is an important aspect of many peoples lives, especially for older adults. However, very little data exists about the relationships between religion, food-related social support, diet, nutrition, and anthropometrics in older U.S. adults. Social support may be a possible mechanism for religion-diet/nutrition relationships. This analysis examined these relationships in a sample of 424 older individuals. Religion was related to some dietary behaviors in men, and in dietary behaviors and anthropometrics in women. Religions relationship with anthropometrics as well as diet in women may have been due to womens greater religiousness and involvement in food acquisition, preparation, and distribution in religious gatherings.

Effectiveness in Voluntary Organizations: An Empirical Assessment

Abstract In the tradition of Knoke and Wood (1981) the effects of resources mobilization, employee commitment, and bureaucratization on the effectiveness of voluntary organizations were explored. The respondents consisted of ninety-five percent of the volunteers and all the administrators of a food distribution center and its satellites in the most economically depressed area of Texas. It was found that organizational effectiveness is a result of commitment (involvement). Effective service to the client is increased by member autonomy and participation in decision making, by identification with and loyalty to the organization, and by resource mobilization. As autonomy, participation in decision-making, involvement, and resource mobilization decline, unmet needs of clients increase.