No abstract

Serious concerns have been raised by many stakeholders in environmental issues including Cross River State Government, educationists, non-governmental organisations and even, the international funding agencies, about the quality and level of environmental information that can be accessed in both print and electronic media. This has become imperative because proper understanding of the origin of the present environmental challenges is the key to minimise the on-going abuses in future. This study was undertaken to investigate the level of environmental awareness issues contained in comprehensive passages present in English Language textbooks used by Junior Secondary School students in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study involves counting and analysing the number of passages dealing with environmental issues in 27 textbooks based on the four types of environments: abiotic, biotic, neutral and social. Two research questions were formulated and used to guide the study. Observed data were analysed using simple percentage technique. Results show that issues concerning the environment were reflected in all the textbooks but sometimes in an undesirable proportion. It was concluded that the practice of emphasising social and abiotic environments issues at the detriment of others do not auger well for proper development and impartation of environmental awareness to students.   Received: 28 July 2021 / Accepted: 30 September 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

Context: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, hypertension, kidney diseases, and diabetes account for sizeable proportion of global deaths. The proximate causes aside biological and genetics are behavioral risk factors include dietary practices. Unhealthy dietary practice leading to the occurrence of NCDs blamed for the drawback of social and economic development of lower- and middle-income countries. Aims: This research focuses on establishing links among the political economy framework (education, occupation, income, residential place, and mass media), dietary practices, and the occurrence of NCDs in Ghana. Settings and Design: It adopted a mixed method approach using the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (2014), with a sample of 4122 and 32 qualitative interviews from four regions. Subjects and Methods: In-depth, key informant interviews, focus groups discussions, and secondary data were used. The qualitative arm was analyzed using the thematic content analysis. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive statistics and probit regression were used to ascertain the influences of the constituents of political economy using individual's dietary intakes. Results: The present study found that, differences in income levels (P < 0.05), residential place of stay (P < 0.05), and access to mass media (P < 0.05) were statistically significant to dietary practices and had major implications for NCDs occurrence. The qualitative outcome revealed that, educational and occupational status of individuals may influence dietary practices. The regression revealed that females are exposed to unhealthy dietary practices by 6.2% points. Moreover, rural dwelling had moderate influence on unhealthy dietary practices (3.3% points) than urban dwelling. Again, professionals, sales, and service categories have 5.8%, 5.7%, and 7.6% points unhealthy practices, respectively.