Suchergebnisse

There are many studies on urban heat island, however, very few for cities located at low latitude. In one sense, heat island is a useful indicator for urbanization. So the examples in tropical cities are very important from the environmental point of view on a global scale. This article deals with investigations made in two cities of Northeast Brazil. Main purpose of this study was to observe heat island in arid and semi-arid areas in cities located at the low latitude

This paper discusses the question about the right to the city and the influences of the dispute for the city on urban mobility, using São Paulo, Brazil's largest city, as a study case. We present the concept of the human mobility transition, which relates to the idea of large shifts in human mobility dynamics that have affected the constitution and development of urban settlements, the structure of the urban form, and social networks. We then argue that the latest stage of this transition is heavily influenced by the fact that cities have become both the arena for and the object of the political struggle between unsustainable economic growth and sustainable human development. Health consequences of the dispute for the city in the context of urban mobility are discussed. Final section uses the case of São Paulo to illustrate these arguments, focusing on changes that occurred from the end of the 19th century onwards.

In March 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) published revised guidelines on sugar intake that call on national governments to institute policies to reduce sugar intake and increase the scope for regulation of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). In face of the growing threat of regulatory action on SSBs, transnational beverage companies are responding in multiple ways, including investing in the formulation and sales of artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs), promoted as healthier alternatives to SSBs. The absence of consistent evidence to support the role of ASBs in preventing weight gain and the lack of studies on other long-term effects on health strengthen the position that ASBs should not be promoted as part of a healthy diet. The promotion of ASBs must be discussed in a broader context of the additional potential impacts on health and the environment. In addition, a more robust evidence base, free of conflicts of interest, is needed.

OBJECTIVE. To describe the prevalence of "active" (self-propelled, human-powered) transportation in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region over the past decade. METHODS. MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica (Embase), SportDiscus, Lilacs, MediCarib, Web of Science, OVID, CINAHL, Scopus, Google Scholar, National Transportation Library, and TRIS/TRID were searched for articles on active transportation published between January 2003 and December 2014 with (at least) a title and abstract in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Research was included in the study if the two reviewing authors agreed it 1) was conducted in an adult sample (≥ 18 years old), 2) was designed to be representative of any LAC area, and 3) reported at least one measure of active transportation. Reference lists of included papers and retrieved reviews were also checked. A total of 129 key informants (87 scientific experts and 42 government authorities) were contacted to identify additional candidate publications. Two other authors extracted the data independently. RESULTS. A total of 10 459 unique records were found; the full texts of 143 were reviewed; and a total of 45 studies were included in the study, yielding estimates for 72 LAC settings, most of which were in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia. No eligible studies were found for the years 2003–2004, resulting in a 10-year study time frame. Estimates were available for walking, cycling, or the combination of both, with a high degree of heterogeneity (heterogeneity index (I2) ≥ 99%). The median prevalence of active transportation (combining walking and cycling) was 12.0%, ranging from 5.1% (in Palmas, Brazil) to 58.9% (in Rio Claro, Brazil). Men cycled more than women in all regions for which information was available. The opposite was true for walking. CONCLUSIONS. Prevalence of active transportation in LAC varied widely, with great heterogeneity and uneven distribution of studies across countries, indicating the need for efforts to build comprehensive surveillance systems with standardized, timely, ...