This paper assesses whether the Clean Air Act and its Amendments have been equally successful in ensuring the right to healthful air quality in both advantaged and disadvantaged communities in the United States. Using a method to rank air quality established by the American Lung Association in its 2009 State of the Air report along with EPA air quality data, we assess the environmental justice dimensions of air pollution exposure and access to air quality information in the United States. We focus on the race, age, and poverty demographics of communities with differing levels of ozone and particulate matter exposure, as well as communities with and without air quality information. Focusing on PM_2.5 and ozone, we find that within areas covered by the monitoring networks, non-Hispanic blacks are consistently overrepresented in communities with the poorest air quality. The results for older and younger age as well as poverty vary by the pollution metric under consideration. Rural areas are typically outside the bounds of air quality monitoring networks leaving large segments of the population without information about their ambient air quality. These results suggest that substantial areas of the United States lack monitoring data, and among areas where monitoring data are available, low income and minority communities tend to experience higher ambient pollution levels.

To quantify the number and type of students failing to secure basic needs.Students attending 22 postsecondary schools in the United States in Fall 2019.The Adult Food Security Module and part of th...

Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) have been widely used as an effective alternative to conventional insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) for over a decade. Due to the growing number of field trials and interventions reporting the effectiveness of LLINs in controlling malaria, there is a need to systematically review the literature on LLINs and ITNs to examine the relative effectiveness and characteristics of both insecticide nettings. A systematic review of over 2000 scholarly articles published since the year 2000 was conducted. The odds ratios (ORs) of insecticidal net effectiveness in reducing malaria were recorded. The final dataset included 26 articles for meta-regression analysis, with a sample size of 154 subgroup observations. While there is substantial heterogeneity in study characteristics and effect size, we found that the overall OR for reducing malaria by LLIN use was 0.44 (95% CI = 0.41–0.48, p < 0.01) indicating a risk reduction of 56%, while ITNs were slightly less effective with an OR of 0.59 (95% CI = 0.57–0.61, p <0.01). A meta-regression model confirms that LLINs are significantly more effective than ITNs in the prevention of malaria, when controlling for other covariates. For both types of nets, protective efficacy was greater in high transmission areas when nets were used for an extended period. However, cross-sectional studies may overestimate the effect of the nets. The results surprisingly suggest that nets are less effective in protecting children under the age of five, which may be due to differences in child behavior or inadequate coverage. Compared to a previous meta-analysis, insecticide-treated nets appear to have improved their efficacy despite the risks of insecticide resistance. These findings have practical implications for policymakers seeking effective malaria control strategies.

Objective: To assess the relationship between food insecurity, sleep quality, and days with mental and physical health issues among college students.Design: An online survey was administered. Food insecurity was assessed using the ten-item Adult Food Security Survey Module. Sleep was measured using the nineteen-item Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Mental health and physical health were measured using three items from the Healthy Days Core Module. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to assess the relationship between food insecurity, sleep quality, and days with poor mental and physical health.Setting: Twenty-two higher education institutions.Participants: College students (n 17 686) enrolled at one of twenty-two participating universities.Results: Compared with food-secure students, those classified as food insecure (43·4 %) had higher PSQI scores indicating poorer sleep quality (P < 0·0001) and reported more days with poor mental (P < 0·0001) and physical (P < 0·0001) health as well as days when mental and physical health prevented them from completing daily activities (P < 0·0001). Food-insecure students had higher adjusted odds of having poor sleep quality (adjusted OR (AOR): 1·13; 95 % CI 1·12, 1·14), days with poor physical health (AOR: 1·01; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·02), days with poor mental health (AOR: 1·03; 95 % CI 1·02, 1·03) and days when poor mental or physical health prevented them from completing daily activities (AOR: 1·03; 95 % CI 1·02, 1·04).Conclusions: College students report high food insecurity which is associated with poor mental and physical health, and sleep quality. Multi-level policy changes and campus wellness programmes are needed to prevent food insecurity and improve student health-related outcomes.