Spring 2019 Course: Art and Sensory Acuity (taught by Christine Lee)

For the course Art and Sensory Acuity, we looked at how our perception and ability to experience a range of sensation can inform the creation of artistic and design based work. We explored perception through the lens of artist James Turrell’s Roden Crater, under which specific materials, environment, and conditions present, shaped our sensory experience. Concurrently we expanded our sensory acuity through engagement with guest speakers ASU Assoc. Professor Patrick Young and Assist. Professor Christy Spackman, Ed Krupp Director of Griffith Observatory, and writer Lawrence Weschler, to develop a deeper sensibility across media, time and space. The resulting sculptural forms/prototypes, performance, and installations were designed and constructed in response to the collective experience.

Mixed media.

Spring 2019 Course: Indigenous Stories and Sky Science (taught by Wanda Dalla Costa)

Roden Crater is situated in the territorial homelands of at least eight Arizona tribes. To honor local history and the continued practice of Indigenous sky science in the southwest, the field lab Indigenous Stories and Sky Science will view the Crater through the lens of Indigeneity. The students, who went on a five-day journey to Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, meeting locals, interacting with place and touring sites of sky observation, shared their experience using the four knowledges of community resilience: empirical, traditional, revealed and contemporary (From Johnson, et al. (2015). Weaving Indigenous and sustainability sciences to diversify our methods).

Mixed media.

Spring 2019 Course: Indigenous Stories and Sky Science (taught by Wanda Dalla Costa)

Roden Crater is situated in the territorial homelands of at least eight Arizona tribes. To honor local history and the continued practice of Indigenous sky science in the southwest, the field lab Indigenous Stories and Sky Science will view the Crater through the lens of Indigeneity. The students, who went on a five-day journey to Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, meeting locals, interacting with place and touring sites of sky observation, shared their experience using the four knowledges of community resilience: empirical, traditional, revealed and contemporary (From Johnson, et al. (2015). Weaving Indigenous and sustainability sciences to diversify our methods).

Collected fallen palo verde blossoms.

Spring 2019 Course: Art and Sensory Acuity (taught by Christine Lee)

For the course Art and Sensory Acuity, we looked at how our perception and ability to experience a range of sensation can inform the creation of artistic and design based work. We explored perception through the lens of artist James Turrell’s Roden Crater, under which specific materials, environment, and conditions present, shaped our sensory experience. Concurrently we expanded our sensory acuity through engagement with guest speakers ASU Assoc. Professor Patrick Young and Assist. Professor Christy Spackman, Ed Krupp Director of Griffith Observatory, and writer Lawrence Weschler, to develop a deeper sensibility across media, time and space. The resulting sculptural forms/prototypes, performance, and installations were designed and constructed in response to the collective experience.

Spring 2019 Course: Indigenous Stories and Sky Science (taught by Wanda Dalla Costa)

Roden Crater is situated in the territorial homelands of at least eight Arizona tribes. To honor local history and the continued practice of Indigenous sky science in the southwest, the field lab Indigenous Stories and Sky Science will view the Crater through the lens of Indigeneity. The students, who went on a five-day journey to Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, meeting locals, interacting with place and touring sites of sky observation, shared their experience using the four knowledges of community resilience: empirical, traditional, revealed and contemporary (From Johnson, et al. (2015). Weaving Indigenous and sustainability sciences to diversify our methods).

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and the resulting closures of schools, businesses, and restaurants led to a massive economic disruption in Arizona. The unemployment rate at its peak reached 14.2% (April 2020) - a level even higher than during the great recession of 2008. High unemployment rates, coupled with a breakdown of local and national food supply chains, led to a remarkable increase in food insecurity rates among Arizona households. More than a year later, as vaccines became widely available and restrictions were lifted, schools and business began to reopen, and most activities slowly returned to pre-pandemic standards. The effects of the pandemic on food insecurity and food-related behaviors, however, might have long-lasting effects. This brief describes levels of food insecurity, food assistance program participation, job disruption, and food related behaviors among 814 households in Arizona, in the 12 months preceding the pandemic (March 2019 – March 2020) and approximately one year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic ( January 2021 –April 2021). Data collection took place between April and May 2021.

Background

Participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) among 0- to 5-year-old children is associated with healthier diets. Extension of dietary benefits to older, age-ineligible children (5-18 years old) residing in WIC households has not been fully investigated.

Objective

Examine the association between household WIC participation and dietary behaviors of age-ineligible children.

Design

Cross-sectional secondary analysis of data collected from 2 independent panels (2009-2010 and 2014) of the New Jersey Child Health Study, using household surveys. Questions derived from national surveys assessed consumption frequency of specific foods among 5- to 18-year-old children.

Participants/setting

The analytic sample included 616 age-ineligible children from households with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level, 398 of whom were from WIC-participating households.

Main outcome measures

Eating behaviors were measured as frequency of daily consumption of fruit, vegetables, 100% juice, sugar-sweetened beverages, and sweet and salty snacks.

Statistical analysis

Multivariable negative binomial models examined the association between eating behaviors and household WIC participation status adjusting for child’s age, sex, and race; mother’s education; city of residence; household size; and panel. Results are expressed as incidence rate ratios (IRRs).

Results

Household WIC participation was not associated with dietary behaviors among age-ineligible children (5-18 years old) in the overall sample. However, healthier dietary patterns were observed for specific demographic groups. Compared with age-ineligible children in non-WIC households, age-ineligible children in WIC households had (1) a higher frequency of vegetable consumption among 12- to 18-year-old children (IRR = 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-1.58; P = .015); (2) a marginally significant higher frequency of 100% juice consumption among females (IRR = 1.27; 95% CI 1.00-1.62; P = .053); and (3) a lower frequency of sugar-sweetened beverages consumption among Hispanic children (IRR = 0.61; 95% CI 0.43-0.86; P = .004).

Conclusions

Household WIC participation may positively influence dietary behaviors of age-ineligible children, suggesting a possible WIC spillover effect. Revisions to WIC package composition should consider the possible dietary implications for all children in the household.

Background

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the country’s largest nutrition assistance program for low-income populations. Although SNAP has been shown to reduce food insecurity, research findings on the diet quality of program participants are inconsistent.

Objective

This study evaluated whether the community food environment is a potential moderator of the association between SNAP participation and eating behaviors.

Design

This cross-sectional study used participant data from a telephone survey of 2,211 households in four cities in New Jersey. Data were collected from two cross-sectional panels from 2009 to 2010 and 2014. Food outlet data were purchased from commercial sources and classified as supermarkets, small grocery stores, convenience stores, or limited service restaurants.

Participants/setting

Analysis is limited to 983 respondents (588 SNAP participants) with household incomes below 130% of the federal poverty level.

Main outcome measures

Eating behaviors were assessed as frequency of consumption of fruit, vegetables, salad, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Statistical analyses performed

Interaction and stratified analyses using gamma regression determined the differences in the association between SNAP participation and eating behaviors by the presence or absence of food outlets adjusted for covariates.

Results

SNAP participation was associated with a higher frequency of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages (P<0.05) when respondents lived within ¼ to ½ mile of a small grocery store, supermarket, and limited service restaurant. SNAP participants who did not live close to a convenience store reported a lower frequency of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (P=0.01), and those living more than ½ mile away from a supermarket reported a lower frequency of fruit consumption (P=0.03).

Conclusions

The findings from this study suggest that the community food environment may play a role in moderating the association between SNAP participation and eating behaviors. Although SNAP participation is associated with some unhealthy behaviors, this association may only hold true when respondents live in certain food environments.

Background

The transition from the home to college is a phase in which emerging adults shift toward more unhealthy eating and physical activity patterns, higher body mass indices, thus increasing risk of overweight/obesity. Currently, little is understood about how changing friendship networks shape weight gain behaviors. This paper describes the recruitment, data collection, and data analytic protocols for the SPARC (Social impact of Physical Activity and nutRition in College) study, a longitudinal examination of the mechanisms by which friends and friendship networks influence nutrition and physical activity behaviors and weight gain in the transition to college life.

Methods

The SPARC study aims to follow 1450 university freshmen from a large university over an academic year, collecting data on multiple aspects of friends and friendship networks. Integrating multiple types of data related to student lives, ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) are administered via a cell phone application, devilSPARC. EMAs collected in four 1-week periods (a total of 4 EMA waves) are integrated with linked data from web-based surveys and anthropometric measurements conducted at four times points (for a total of eight data collection periods including EMAs, separated by ~1 month). University databases will provide student card data, allowing integration of both time-dated data on food purchasing, use of physical activity venues, and geographical information system (GIS) locations of these activities relative to other students in their social networks.

Discussion

Findings are intended to guide the development of more effective interventions to enhance behaviors among college students that protect against weight gain during college.