Cross-sectional association of dietary water intakes and sources, and adiposity: National Adult Nutrition Survey, the Republic of Ireland

Background This paper establishes the prevalence of chemsex drug use among men who have sex with men (MSM), the extent to which these drugs are used in a sexual context, as well as their associated behaviours and circumstances of use. Methods: Data from a cross-sectional, online survey of 2328 MSM recruited via gay sociosexual media in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were analysed. Results: While almost half (48.8%) of participants had ever taken illicit drugs, lifetime chemsex drug use was less common (18.0%) and far fewer reported chemsex drug use in the last year (8.2%) or last 4 weeks (3.0%). Just over one-quarter (27.1%) of men who used chemsex drugs in the last year reported no sexualised drug use, but almost three-quarters (72.9%) did. Only 6.1% of the whole sample reported sexualised chemsex drug use in the last year. The odds of reporting chemsex in the last year were significantly higher for men aged 36–45 years (AOR = 1.96), single men (AOR = 1.83), men who were HIV positive (AOR = 4.01), men who report high-risk sex (AOR = 4.46), being fisted (AOR = 7.77) or had sex in exchange for goods other than money (AOR = 4.7) in the last year and men who reported an HIV test in the last 3 months (AOR = 1.53). Discussion: Only a small proportion of MSM in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland reported chemsex, and, for the first time, it is demonstrated that not all chemsex drug use was sexualised. Nevertheless, MSM who engage in chemsex (MWEC) reported substantial sexual risk inequalities. These novel findings highlight several opportunities for intervention, particularly around the multiple vulnerabilities of MWEC, opportunities for early identification of those most vulnerable to chemsex-related harm and the potential to develop a specialised responsive patient pathway.

Download Full-text

Attitudes towards and beliefs about nutrition and health among a random sample of adults in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1079/phn2001193 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 4 (5a) ◽

pp. 1117-1126 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

John M Kearney ◽

Michael J Gibney ◽

Barbara E Livingstone ◽

Paula J Robson ◽

Mairead Kiely ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Random Sample ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Healthy Diet ◽

Fruit And Vegetables ◽

Food Groups ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Republic Of Ireland ◽

The Republic

AbstractObjectivesFor effective healthy eating promotion, it is necessary to understand the attitudes towards and beliefs about nutrition of the general public. The objective of this study was to provide data on attitudes towards eating a healthy diet and the perceived need to alter eating habits from a random sample of adults in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland, using a self-administered questionnaire.DesignCross-sectional survey using a self-administered attitudinal questionnaire on beliefs and attitudes to healthy eating.SettingThe survey was carried out between October 1997 and October 1999 in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland.SubjectsA randomly selected sample of 1256 adults from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland completed the attitudinal questionnaire.ResultsA majority of subjects (62%) perceived that they make conscious efforts to eat a healthy diet either most of the time or quite often, while just over half (52%) agreed that they do not need to make changes to their diet as it is healthy enough. Subjects most likely to make conscious efforts to try to eat a healthy diet were females, older subjects (51-64 years) and those with the highest intakes of fruit and vegetables and lowest quartile of fat (% food energy). When self-assessed adequacy of fruit and vegetables was examined, two-thirds of the total sample felt they ate too little fruit while just one-third felt they ate too little vegetables.ConclusionResults of the present study, in general, revealed good agreement between attitude and behaviour with respect to healthy eating. This suggests that people appear to be reasonably accurate at evaluating their own diet in terms of how healthy it is. In terms of the two food groups examined in this study, some optimistic bias was evident for vegetables but not for fruit. It may be useful therefore to assess attitudes and beliefs about healthy eating by way of examining attitudes to such food groups individually.

Download Full-text

A Scoping Review of Children and Adolescents’ Active Travel in Ireland

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17062016 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (6) ◽

pp. 2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

João Costa ◽

Manolis Adamakis ◽

Wesley O’Brien ◽

João Martins

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Active Travel ◽

Self Report ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Republic Of Ireland ◽

Key Issues ◽

The Republic ◽

Study Designs

There appears to be a lack of existing data that comprehensively summarizes the evidence of children and adolescents’ active travel in the Republic of Ireland. In lieu of this, a scoping review was conducted to map the existing literature (2000–2020) on children and adolescents’ active travel in the Republic of Ireland. A scoping review design extracted a total of 19 publications, which show a consistent focus on the identified population’s active travel patterns, mainly to and from school, mostly self-report and cross-sectional research study designs; however, there are few longitudinal data, intervention and participatory studies. Key issues from these identified scoping review studies are discussed with the potential to better inform policy makers, practitioners and researchers to delineate programmes and strategies for promoting active travel among children and adolescents in the Republic of Ireland.

Download Full-text

Material, psychosocial and behavioural factors associated with self-reported health in the Republic of Ireland: cross-sectional results from the SLÁN survey

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002797 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. e002797 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Isabelle Niedhammer ◽

Sarra Kerrad ◽

Stefanie Schütte ◽

Jean-François Chastang ◽

Cecily C Kelleher

Keyword(s):

Cross Sectional ◽

Republic Of Ireland ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Reported Health ◽

The Republic ◽

Behavioural Factors

Download Full-text

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Irish children between 1990 and 2019

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980020000920 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (14) ◽

pp. 2512-2520

Author(s):

Aisling O’Donnell ◽

Maria Buffini ◽

Laura Kehoe ◽

Anne Nugent ◽

John Kearney ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Class ◽

Food Consumption ◽

Class Group ◽

Overweight And Obesity ◽

Anthropometric Data ◽

Nutrition Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

National Nutrition Survey ◽

The Republic ◽

Recent National Survey

AbstractObjective:The present study aimed to examine the temporal prevalence of overweight and obesity in Irish children through different methodologies and evaluate the change in rates between 1990 and 2019.Design:Anthropometric data from three Irish national food consumption surveys were used to examine the change in the prevalence of BMI and waist circumference-derived overweight and obesity levels.Setting:Three cross-sectional food consumption surveys from the Republic of Ireland: the Irish National Nutrition Survey (1990), the National Children’s Food Survey (2005) and The Second National Children’s Food Survey (2019).Participants:A demographically representative sample of Irish children aged 5–12 years: 1990 (n 148), 2005 (n 594) and 2019 (n 596).Results:Twelve percentage of children had overweight/obesity in 1990, which was significantly higher in 2005 at 25 % and significantly lower in 2019 at 16 % (P = 0·003). In 2019, more girls had overweight/obesity in comparison with boys (19 v. 14 %), whilst children from the lowest social class group had the highest levels of overweight/obesity (P = 0·019). Overall, the proportion of children with abdominal overweight/obesity was significantly lower in 2019 in comparison with 2005 (P ≤ 0·001).Conclusions:Evidence from the most recent national survey suggests that overweight and obesity levels are plateauing and in some cases reducing in children in Ireland. Despite this, rates remain high, with the highest prevalence in 2019 observed in girls and in those from the lowest social class group. Thus, overweight/obesity prevention and intervention policies are necessary and should be continued.

Download Full-text