Objective To assess caregivers’ perceptions of the extent to which the food marketing environment influences food consumption among African-American children (aged 3–11 years) in order to generate potential strategies to make the marketing environment more favourable to healthier eating. Design Individual semi-structured interviews with caregivers were conducted by trained community leaders to ascertain their awareness of and perceptions about food marketing environments contributing to African-American children’s food consumption. Setting Six predominantly African-American communities in metro Birmingham, Alabama, USA with high proportions of school-age children and lower-income residents. Subjects Caregivers (n 25) were predominantly female (93 %) and either parents/guardians (64 %) or grandparents (28 %) of African-American children aged 3–11 years. Caregiver mean age was 43 years and 46% had lived in their current residence for over 10 years. Results Caregivers reported all aspects of the food marketing matrix as supporting unhealthy eating among African-American youth. Child preference for foods higher in fat and sugar, lower pricing of less healthy foods, limited access to healthier food retailers and targeted advertisements were particularly influential on the food selection, acquisition and consumption of children. Company loyalty, corporate sponsorship of local events and conflicts over parental v. food company responsibility contributed to less consensus about the overall impact (positive or negative) of food companies in African-American communities. Conclusions While caregivers perceived aspects of their food marketing environments as primarily contributing to unhealthy eating among African-American children, framing the demand for changes in the food marketing environments of African-American youth may be particularly challenging.

Personal computer technology provides point to point training of complex material with high definition supporting graphics. We wanted to determine if complex materials with high definition graphics could be used with Internet training. We also wanted to determine if outcome measures were equivalent to a traditional on campus course and if the student's perceptions of the experience were positive. A gross anatomy course using the following measures to compare performance with an on-campus cohort was used to answer the question: paper and pencil exam scores, laboratory exams, case studies, and evaluations of case studies. The average number of points earned by the 22 on-campus PA students was 405 and for the 8 DL -PA students 402. The average number of points earned by students in other training programs ranged from 417 for Physical Therapy students (the highest) to 397 for Occupational Therapists (the lowest). Differences between student cohorts are attributed to demand characteristics requiring PT students to obtain 80% criteria to pass while other students were required to obtain 70%.

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