Introduction: Teaching is a stressful occupation due to high-stake job demands and limited resources, which were exacerbated during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study assessed the prevalence of perceived stress and explored its predictors among elementary school teachers employed at schools serving predominantly low-income populations in five cities in the United States. Method: Our study analyzed the data among selected schools that were collected through the Brighter Bites teacher survey which comprised items measuring sociodemographic characteristics, perceived stress, perceived general health, food insecurity, and concerns regarding social determinants of health needs. The predictors of perceived stress were examined using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) with schools as the random variable. Findings: A total of 685 teachers were included in the analysis (84.9% female, 38.1% Hispanic, 57.6% <5 years of teaching experience). Most (85.4%) of the teachers stated they were stressed “sometimes”/“often.” Results from adjusted GLMM showed that teachers who were food insecure (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.33, confidence interval [CI]: [1.63, 3.35]), those who had concerns regarding financial stability (2.68 [1.91, 3.75]), food availability (1.69 [1.15, 2.48]), food affordability (2.27 [1.57, 3.28]), availability/affordability of housing (2.21 [1.33, 3.67]), access to childcare (1.76 [1.06, 2.92]), and access to a clinic/doctor (1.60 [1.10, 2.33]) were at significantly greater odds of reporting perceived stress. Conclusion/Application for Practice: Our study demonstrates the heightened impact of COVID-19 on the mental well-being of teachers across a wide range of social needs. Stress management and additional social service programs are suggested to support teachers to mitigate pandemic impact.

Introduction US school systems underwent major upheaval, including closures, implementation of virtual and/or hybrid learning, and stringent infection mitigation protocols, during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to examine the association between food insecurity and perceived health, perceived stress, and social determinants of health concerns among elementary schoolteachers serving predominantly low-income children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Brighter Bites, a nonprofit organization that weekly distributes fresh fruits and vegetables and nutrition education materials to more than 300 schools serving racial and ethnic minority populations with low income, conducts annual surveys of participating teachers to help determine subsequent efforts to support schools and families during the school year. We analyzed self-reported data collected electronically by the Brighter Bites teachers survey in 76 elementary schools during summer 2020. We used generalized linear mixed models to measure the association between food insecurity and health-related concerns. Results Of 862 teachers who responded to the survey, 685 answered the 2 questions about food insecurity status; of these, 199 (29.1%) reported experiencing food insecurity. Food insecurity was positively associated with poor perceived general health, greater perceived stress, concerns about various social determinants of health, and changes in fruit and vegetable consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion Our study demonstrated the high prevalence of food insecurity and highlights its associated factors among elementary schoolteachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It calls attention to the high correlation of various concerns among elementary schoolteachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further intervention and policy efforts are needed to relieve food insecurity–related concerns and enhance well-being among teachers.

Purpose: Skull is the most studied skeletal remaining as enamel and bones are the last ones to disintegrate after death. The clivus is one such dense part of the skull base and most of the time it is recovered intact from a damaged or incinerated skull and can be used as an indicator in identification. The present study is aimed to perform a radiomorphometric analysis of the clivus using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and to assess its pertinence in age and gender estimation. Materials and Methods: The CBCT images of 254 (162 males, 92 females) subjects were obtained from New tom Giano HR (QR SRL Company, Verona, Italy) CBCT machine at 90 kVp, 6 mA for 7.2 s at the field of view (16 × 18), voxel size of 300 in the age group of 6–70 years were chosen. The clivus widths and lengths were measured using NNT software programs on axial and sagittal reconstructed images. Results: Mean clivus lengths and widths were significantly different in male and female patients. Bivariate correlations showed that there was a stronger association of the clivus lengths and widths to age when considered a linear combination as opposed to when taken individually in both female and male patients. Association between the linear combination of the clivus lengths and widths with age was found to be the highest in female patients among all the results (R = 0.553). All the above results were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: CBCT measurements of clivus dimensions can be used reliably for anthropometric analysis as they are precisely associated with age and gender. Hence, it can be concluded that these dimensions can be used as a supplementary or only parameter when other parameters are uneventful in medicolegal cases.