An Earlier First Meal Timing Associate with Weight Loss Effectiveness in A 12-Week Weight Loss Support Program

Recent studies have reported that meal timing may play an important role in weight regulation, however it is unknown whether the timing of meals is related to the amount of weight loss. This study aimed to examine the relationship between indices of meal timing and weight loss during weight loss intervention in adults. A 12-week weight loss support program was conducted for 97 adults (age: 47.6 ± 8.3 years, BMI: 25.4 ± 3.7 kg/m2). After the program, body weight decreased by −3.0 ± 2.7%. Only the start of the eating window was positively correlated with the weight change rate in both sexes (men: r = 0.321, p = 0.022; women: r = 0.360, p = 0.014). The participants were divided into two groups based on the start of the eating window as follows: the early group (6:48 ± 0:21 AM) and the late group (8:11 ± 1:05 AM). The weight loss rate in the early group was significantly higher (−3.8 ± 2.7%) than that in the late group (−2.2 ± 2.5%). The present results showed that the start of the early eating window was associated with weight loss and suggested paying attention to meal timing when doing weight loss.

Can government financial support enhance job creations: insights from Oman

Purpose Promoting and supporting entrepreneurship is a critical pillar of Oman’s vision 2040. The need to understand to what extent the effectiveness of public funds given to micro and small enterprises in Oman as well as to understand the characteristics of the funds that can drive the impact of such government financial support programs on those enterprises motivated us to conduct this study. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the government loan support programs on job creation in micro and small enterprises in Oman. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses were tested using data collected from 1,127 micro and small enterprises that received loan supports from the Government of Oman. The authors explored the impact of a set of predictors on a dependent variable (job creation) to understand to what extent do the supported micro and small enterprise characteristics significantly influence job creations in the enterprises. Multiple regression and General Linear Model Multivariate Analysis statistical techniques were used to test the hypotheses. Findings There is a positive relationship between government supported firms’ characteristics and job creation for both nationals and expatriates’ employment. The empirical results suggest that, when compared with the micro enterprises, the small enterprises were able to create more jobs for nationals than for expatriates, although the effect of the support program on job creation was significant for both groups. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature debate on the effectiveness of Oman’s entrepreneurship policy. Using multivariate analysis, the study analyzes the public support program for enterprises in Oman and how it can be improved to support the Oman 2040 Vision.

Challenges Encountered and Technical Assistance Needed by Parents and Learners Utilizing Modular Distance Learning: Basis for a Proposed Support Program

The shift from face-to face to distance learning brought about by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is a major adjustment to all school administrators, teachers, students and parents. The study aimed to determine the challenges encountered and needed support of parents and learners in an elementary school of the Schools Division of Meycauayan City as basis for crafting a contextualized support program. It employed a mixed method design using survey-questionnaire and interview guide as data gathering tools to 123 parents and 10 learners respectively. Frequency and percentage were used to describe the demographic profile, frequency counts and ranking were used on the challenges encountered and support/technical assistance needed by parents while thematic analysis was used to describe the experiences of the learners. The study found out that difficulty in independent learning, difficulty in concentrating on studies and parent’s limited knowledge on the content of child’s lessons are the top struggles of parents in the modular distance learning while almost all learner-respondents describe their experiences of distance learning as difficult because of difficulty in learning by themselves, lack of reference materials for more examples, limited guidance from parents and teachers, challenges in load to research and difficulty in understanding English. Moreover, both respondents are unanimous in declaring that provision of additional reference materials will greatly help lessen the struggles they encountered. Therefore, it is recommended that the support program crafted should be implemented and monitored to fully reinforce the continuity of learning amidst the challenges encountered in the first quarter.