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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causal relationship between risk experienced within the real estate industry and that of the overall market in the UK context. The motivation behind this research is to investigate whether the real estate sector transmits risk to the wider marketplace and whether this phenomenon existed, or was exacerbated, during the most recent financial crisis.

The study was undertaken over a 20‐year timeframe, from 1990 to 2010, with special attention being awarded to the global financial crisis (GFC) period from 2008 to 2010. The paper first undertakes graphical modeling of market and industry volatilities in an attempt to identify which industry drives market uncertainty. This is followed by quantitative computation of industry‐specific volatility, which is employed in examining the relationship between these volatilities using block exogeneity/Granger causality tests. Rolling sample analysis and impulse response functions are employed as robustness tests to substantiate the main results.

First, the analysis confirms research that finance industry volatility is a leader in driving market volatility. Second, it expands on these findings to identify the real estate sector as being a key source of this causal relationship. It finds that real estate risk is the one that regularly drives finance industry volatility over the 20‐year sample period. Third, and most importantly, it emerges that the causal link between the real estate sector and market volatility is at its strongest leading up to the most recent financial crisis. More specifically, the real estate investment trusts sub‐sector of real estate industry volatility is the one that has the strongest unidirectional relationship with market‐wide volatility, both directly and indirectly, through driving the finance industry volatility during the GFC.

These findings are significant for market participants, such as pension funds, which need to protect their assets from a stock market crash. Furthermore, anticipating a downturn by observing the trends in real estate sector volatility is highly advantageous in informing their trading strategies now and into the future. Policy makers likewise need a signal of an impending credit crunch and can utilize real estate market statistics to pre‐empt a freezing up of the credit markets.

The purpose of this paper is to assess nutritional habits and body composition parameters in the group of Polish pupils and students.

The study was conducted by the body composition analysis using the biological impedance method applying TANITA analyzer and diagnostic survey method using standardized direct interview with selected elements of the Sarzynska test. The research was carried out in various regions of Poland on a group of 1,000 pupils and students, using a targeted sample selection in the following subgroups: 250 middle school pupils, 250 high school students, 250 students living in a family home and 250 students living in an academic home.

Significantly the worst nutritional habits according to the Sarzynska test are shown by students living in academic home. As many as 21.6 percent of them eat very badly, while only 10.4 percent of students living in a family home eat very badly. This may indicate a lack of conditions, skills and time to prepare healthy meals, but also the lack of parental control in relation to what their child eats. The middle school pupils eat the healthiest meals (64.4 percent). It can be seen the regularity that the older the child is, the smaller the percentage of people in the healthy group.

A research limitation was the little sample size of the study (1,000 person) and participants might have felt uncomfortable during research.

People planning class schedules should also plan breaks for a full-value meal. It is necessary to organize affordable courses that would teach simple and fast food preparation that does not require a lot of equipment and little popular ingredients. It would also be necessary to draw parents’ attention to excessive care and the fact that not allowing children to “experiment” in the kitchen may arouse in them the reluctance and fear of cooking.

Among students, one should conduct universal education regarding a healthy lifestyle, which should focus on the subject of proper nutrition and physical activity, because there are no systemic solutions that would include adults. In order to improve nutritional habits, social rooms in academic homes should be adjusted so that students have the conditions to prepare nutritious meals, as well as provide access to canteens, where students would receive a reasonable meal at a reasonable price. The qualifications of the staff working there should also be improved.

The present study adds to the existing body of literature nutritional habits and body composition parameters in the group of Polish pupils and students. The results are the foundation for providing recommendations to policy makers, universitets, schools, food organizations and parents.