Most empirical research studying the link between neighborhood environments and child obesity risks are conducted in contexts such as the U.S., with pronounced patterns of residential segregation, making it difficult to extrapolate how far built environment characteristics contribute to socioeconomic disparities in obesity risks in less segregated contexts. Using a large national dataset of almost 625,000 students’ height and weight data collected at ages 7, 11 and 14, between 2004 and 2015, this paper explores whether differences in eight neighborhood characteristics measuring access to different type of food outlets, parks and other active spaces, and public transport infrastructure might be responsible for socioeconomic differences in child obesity risks in Singapore, a city-state with relatively low levels of residential segregation. Through descriptive analyses we find that socioeconomic disparities in child BMIz in Singapore widened from 2004 onwards. However, while longitudinal regression models with individual and time fixed effects suggest that family socioeconomic status modified the relationship between environmental exposures and BMIz, there does not seem to be a clear, unequivocal relationship between built environment changes and the observed widening of the socioeconomic obesity gap. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9681885/

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0271739

The public health measures implemented in Singapore to manage potential COVID-19 infection are examined. The country's experience with the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003 formed the basis of these measures. Critical information gaps necessary to help manage the COVID-19 epidemic are also described.

News frames influence destination reputation. Research primarily focuses on social media impact relative to destination reputation. Newspaper reporting is a major source of information which remains a study area underexplored when assessing news media framing. This study fills the gap by analyzing how newspapers from tourist generating countries such as China, USA, and Australia portrayed reputable destinations like New Zealand's and Singapore's efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The ProQuest library database was used to collect 192 newspaper articles. The software Qualtrics Text iQ and Leximancer were used to track sentiments, identify themes and concepts correlating with literature on tourism crisis management. Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic yields a negatively lower sentiment value for New Zealand, than Singapore's higher sentiment value. The contribution lies in the relationship concept emphasizing shifts in destination reputation corollary to crisis management, and to account for reputation fluctuations in media framework theory. Ltd

Preventive health behaviors such as hand hygiene are crucial amidst pandemics like COVID-19 but reports on nonadherence persist. This could be due to the lack of Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC), a cognitive-motivational construct known to improve health-related behaviors. Therefore, we examined the relationship between CFC and five behaviors - mask-wearing, social distancing, hand hygiene, excessive necessities buying, and COVID-19 information searching using an internet-based Singapore-wide survey conducted from April 20 to May 4, 2020. Behavioral differences 2 weeks before and after the state-wide confinement were examined using paired t-tests. Relationships between CFC and COVID-19 behaviors were examined using regression analyses adjusted for depression and anxiety. Participants were regrouped into three categories - increased behavior performance, maintained high performance, and maintained low performance where mean differences were analysed using MANOVA. Three hundred and thirty-six participants completed the survey (mean age, SD = 32.9 years [SD = 12.6]; 38.7% males). CFCfuture predicted mask wearing (B = 0.16; p <. 05), social distancing (B = 0.0.19; p <. 01), hand hygiene (B = 0.17; p <. 01), and information searching (B = 0.21; p <. 001). CFCimmediate predicted hand hygiene (B = 0.09; p <. 05), excessive necessities buying (B = 0.07; p <. 05) and information searching (B = 0.08; p <. 05). Anxiety predicted excessive buying (B = 0.08; p <. 05) and hand hygiene (B = 0.13; p <. 01). Post-hoc test showed significantly higher CFCfuture (p <. 01) in participants who increased and maintained high behavioral performance.

Objective: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the relative contributions of mental and physical conditions to days out of role among adults aged 18 years and above in Singapore.

Methods: The Singapore Mental Health Study was a cross-sectional epidemiological survey of a nationally representative sample of residents aged 18 years or older. Diagnosis of mental disorders was established using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview; while chronic physical conditions were established using a checklist. Days out of role were assessed using a WHO Disability Assessment Schedule item. Multivariate regression analyses were used to estimate individual-level and societal-level effects of disorders.

Results: Overall, 8.7% of respondents reported at least one day out of role, with a mean of 5.8 days. The most disabling conditions at the individual level were cancer (118.9 additional days), cardiovascular diseases (93.5), and bipolar disorder (71.0). At the societal level, cardiovascular diseases contributed the highest population attributable risk proportion (45%), followed by cancer (39.3%), and hypertension (13.5%).

Conclusions: Mental and physical conditions are linked to significant losses in productivity for society as well as role disability for individuals, underscoring the need to enhance prevention and intervention efforts to increase overall productivity and improve individual functioning.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/10/e012693

We compared 2 sociocultural cohorts with different duration of exposure to graphic health warning labels (GHWL), to investigate a possible desensitisation to their use. We further studied how a differing awareness and emotional impact of smoking-associated risks could be used to prevent this. Structured interviews of patients from the general respiratory department were undertaken between 2012 and 2013 in 2 tertiary hospitals in Singapore and London. 266 participants were studied, 163 Londoners (35% smokers, 54% male, age 52±18 years) and 103 Singaporeans (53% smokers, p=0.003; 78% male, p<0.001; age 58±15 years, p=0.012). 50 items assessed demographics, smoking history, knowledge and the deterring impact of smoking-associated risks. After showing 10 GHWL, the impact on emotional response, cognitive processing and intended smoking behaviour was recorded. Singaporeans scored lower than the Londoners across all label processing constructs, and this was consistent for the smoking and non-smoking groups. Londoners experienced more 'disgust' and felt GHWL were more effective at preventing initiation of, or quitting, smoking. Singaporeans had a lower awareness of lung cancer (82% vs 96%, p<0.001), despite ranking it as the most deterring consequence of smoking. Overall, 'blindness' was the least known potential risk (28%), despite being ranked as more deterring than 'stroke' and 'oral cancer' in all participants. The length of exposure to GHWL impacts on the effectiveness. However, acknowledging the different levels of awareness and emotional impact of smoking-associated risks within different sociocultural cohorts could be used to maintain their impact.;Objectives We compared 2 sociocultural cohorts with different duration of exposure to graphic health warning labels (GHWL), to investigate a possible desensitisation to their use. We further studied how a differing awareness and emotional impact of smoking-associated risks could be used to prevent this. Setting Structured interviews of patients from the general respiratory department were undertaken between 2012 and 2013 in 2 tertiary hospitals in Singapore and London. Participants 266 participants were studied, 163 Londoners (35% smokers, 54% male, age 52±18 years) and 103 Singaporeans (53% smokers, p=0.003; 78% male, p<0.001; age 58±15 years, p=0.012). Main outcomes and measures 50 items assessed demographics, smoking history, knowledge and the deterring impact of smoking-associated risks. After showing 10 GHWL, the impact on emotional response, cognitive processing and intended smoking behaviour was recorded. Results Singaporeans scored lower than the Londoners across all label processing constructs, and this was consistent for the smoking and non-smoking groups. Londoners experienced more 'disgust' and felt GHWL were more effective at preventing initiation of, or quitting, smoking. Singaporeans had a lower awareness of lung cancer (82% vs 96%, p<0.001), despite ranking it as the most deterring consequence of smoking. Overall, 'blindness' was the least known potential risk (28%), despite being ranked as more deterring than 'stroke' and 'oral cancer' in all participants. Conclusions The length of exposure to GHWL impacts on the effectiveness. However, acknowledging the different levels of awareness and emotional impact of smoking-associated risks within different sociocultural cohorts could be used to maintain their impact.;ObjectivesWe compared 2 sociocultural cohorts with different duration of exposure to graphic health warning labels (GHWL), to investigate a possible desensitisation to their use. We further studied how a differing awareness and emotional impact of smoking-associated risks could be used to prevent this.SettingStructured interviews of patients from the general respiratory department were undertaken between 2012 and 2013 in 2 tertiary hospitals in Singapore and London.Participants266 participants were studied, 163 Londoners (35% smokers, 54% male, age 52±18 years) and 103 Singaporeans (53% smokers, p=0.003; 78% male, p<0.001; age 58±15 years, p=0.012).Main outcomes and measures50 items assessed demographics, smoking history, knowledge and the deterring impact of smoking-associated risks. After showing 10 GHWL, the impact on emotional response, cognitive processing and intended smoking behaviour was recorded.ResultsSingaporeans scored lower than the Londoners across all label processing constructs, and this was consistent for the smoking and non-smoking groups. Londoners experienced more ‘disgust’ and felt GHWL were more effective at preventing initiation of, or quitting, smoking. Singaporeans had a lower awareness of lung cancer (82% vs 96%, p<0.001), despite ranking it as the most deterring consequence of smoking. Overall, ‘blindness’ was the least known potential risk (28%), despite being ranked as more deterring than ‘stroke’ and ‘oral cancer’ in all participants.ConclusionsThe length of exposure to GHWL impacts on the effectiveness. However, acknowledging the different levels of awareness and emotional impact of smoking-associated risks within different sociocultural cohorts could be used to maintain their impact.