What we eat and drink, and the state of our health as a result of how we behave, is not just a matter of personal choice. This observation is fundamental to the public health approach.
In this issue, Giskes et al. Reference Giskes, Kamphuis, van Lenthe, Kremers, Droomers and Brug1 review studies measuring associations between environmental factors and dietary intakes among adults. Few studies adequately examine social contributors to the obesity pandemic, such as availability of fast-food stores, marketing of unhealthy foods and supersizing.
Marketing of food and drinks to children continues to be a hot topic. Cowburn and BoxerReference Cowburn and Boxer2 analyse food advertising in magazines aimed at children and young people. They suggest that regulations which restrict food advertising on broadcast media may lead to more non-broadcast advertising.
Madanat et al. Reference Madanat, Brown and Hawks3 report on the eating habits of Jordanian women and note the troublesome effects of Western marketing and advertising. Senerath et al. Reference Senarath, Dibley and Agho4 identify associations between different breast-feeding practices and infant morbidity. Smith et al. Reference Smith, Baxter, Hardin, Guinn, Royer and Litaker5 report on a study designed to investigate the effect of observing school meals on children's dietary reports.
Is nutrient supplementation and fortification useful? Hendricks et al. Reference Hendricks, Beardsley, Bourne, Mzamo and Golden6 report on a study of vitamin A supplementation in South Africa. Knudsen et al. Reference Knudsen, Hansen, Oversen, Mikkelsen and Olsen7 note the compliance of Danish women with national recommendations on iron supplementation during pregnancy.
Iodine deficiency continues to be a major public health nutrition challenge. Assey et al. Reference Assey, Mgoba, Mlingi, Sanga, Ndossi and Greiner8 report on a study of iodine levels in salt and iodine deficiency in school-aged children in Tanzania. They identify important improvements associated with an iodised salt intervention in a region of Africa previously identified as severely iodine-deficient.
Also in this issue, Mamabolo et al. Reference Mamabolo, Kruger, Lennox, Monyeki, Pienaar and Underhay9 explore the relationship between physical activity and body composition of black township adolescents in South Africa; and Su et al. Reference Su, Zhao, Binns, Scott and Oddy10 analyse the relationship between exercise and breast-feeding initiation and duration among Australian women. Both studies reinforce the importance of sustained physical activity.
