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This article briefly outlines the main objectives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) programme of research in support of dietary surveys. It summarises the current portfolio of projects, then discusses in more depth the six projects being undertaken on further analysis of data from government dietary surveys, drawing on papers presented by the researchers at the annual meeting of this programme in London on 2 June 1998.

During and after the Second World War, the British diet was severely limited. Sweets, sugar and fatty foods were among the foods in short supply, but as soon as they became freely available again, consumption of these and other enjoyable foods rose rapidly. An increased interest in health in the 1980s led to a reversal of a number of these changes. Quantifies the changes which occurred in the 1980s. Concludes that the proportion of fat in the British diet remains high, because although intakes of fat have fallen, so too have intakes of sugar and starchy foods. Nevertheless, the amount of saturated fat has fallen substantially towards the target set in The Health of the Nation.

Explores the background to the launch of a new qualification in public health nutrition ‐ Registered Public Health Nutritionist (RPHNutr) ‐ in the UK. This new qualification was led by the Nutrition Society and aims to set professional standards, promote the recognition of the need for such expertise, promote the role, create links with other relevant bodies, and provide a publicly available register of qualified people. Defines the role of public health nutritionist and outlines the requirements for accreditation.

Summarizes the main recommendations of a new report from the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) entitled Obesity in Scotland: Integrating Prevention with Weight Management. Describes how being overweight carries an increased risk of a wide range of health problems and how the report is especially concerned about the measurement and management of their various risk factors.

This paper aims to explore the sexuality of individuals with psychopathic traits. Sexuality is not only a physiological need but also a way by which people connect to others. According to a Darwinian perspective, psychopathic traits are seen as adaptive responses to environmental conditions, and as a nonpathological and reproductively viable life history strategy, although superficial emotionality and a detached interpersonal style characterise individuals who are high on psychopathic traits.

Data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development are analysed. This is a prospective longitudinal study of 411 London males, with face-to-face interviews from 8 to 48 years of age.

Men who are high on psychopathic traits were likely to drift from one relationship to another, without a particular attachment to any of them, and to be sexually promiscuous. They never used contraception, which increased their likelihood of having several children from different partners.

Findings provide an insight into the non-criminal sexual behaviour of males with high psychopathic traits; evidence on a pattern of unsafe/risky sexual relations by males with high psychopathic traits; information on targeting risk factors to prevent the intergenerational transmission of psychopathy.

These findings are significant in highlighting the impact of psychopathic traits upon interpersonal and family dynamics in community samples, as detecting the impact of problematic intimate relationships is difficult in the absence of evident criminality. Rather than completely neglecting their children, men with psychopathic traits spent time with their sons but not with their daughters.

As numerous scholars have noted, the law takes a strikingly incoherent approach to adolescent reproduction. States overwhelmingly allow a teenage girl to independently consent to pregnancy care and medical treatment for her child, and even to give up her child for adoption, all without notice to her parents, but require parental notice or consent for abortion. This chapter argues that this oft-noted contradiction in the law on teenage reproductive decision-making is in fact not as contradictory as it first appears. A closer look at the law’s apparently conflicting approaches to teenage abortion and teenage childbirth exposes common ground that scholars have overlooked. The chapter compares the full spectrum of minors’ reproductive rights and unmasks deep similarities in the law on adolescent reproduction – in particular an undercurrent of desire to punish (female) teenage sexuality, whether pregnant girls choose abortion or childbirth. It demonstrates that in practice, the law undermines adolescents’ reproductive rights, whichever path of pregnancy resolution they choose. At the same time that the law thwarts adolescents’ access to abortion care, it also fails to protect adolescents’ rights as parents. The analysis shows that these two superficially conflicting sets of rules in fact work in tandem to enforce a traditional gender script – that self-sacrificing mothers should give birth and give up their infants to better circumstances, no matter the emotional costs to themselves. This chapter also suggests novel policy solutions to the difficulties posed by adolescent reproduction by urging reforms that look to third parties other than parents or the State to better support adolescent decision-making relating to pregnancy and parenting.

In this chapter, we explore the implications of benign and malicious envy in the workplace and suggest methods by which leaders can manage the situational context to minimize negative responses to envy and promote positive responses. We argue that three aspects of the organizational context are especially influential in the development of envy: perceptions of fairness, employees’ feelings of control over their situation, and organizational culture. All three impact whether felt envy will be benign or malicious. In addition, the right organizational culture can prevent any feelings of malicious envy from leading to undesirable behaviors. We suggest that by fostering justice, promoting employee feelings of control, and exemplifying an ethical organizational culture leaders can manage the manifestation of envy and resulting behaviors in a positive direction.

Purpose – This chapter will discuss how the positional self and prior experiences can influence the emotional self within the research journey, for example, being a sibling and losing a sibling. It explores the researcher’s emotional experience when working with children and their families, with a specific focus on the influence of the researcher presence and the sibling equilibrium.

Methodology/Approach – The chapter draws on the dramaturgical social interactions encountered in qualitative research which explored the experiences of siblings living in the context of cystic fibrosis. The study uses narrative inquiry and creative participatory methods to elicit sibling stories and provides insight into their worlds.

Findings – The chapter reflects on specific situations encountered on entering, engaging in and leaving the field, which had a significant emotional impact. Two sibling vignettes will be presented along with a discussion of how reflective metaphorical expression can be applied as a method of processing and coping with the research context.

Originality/Value – The chapter argues that the positional self and prior experiences can influence the emotional self within the research journey, and that reflective metaphorical expression can be used as a strategy to process thoughts and gain greater understanding of a situation as well as to provide an emotional release for the researcher. It also suggests that conducting research over a longer time period, as opposed to one visit, can be beneficial in terms of participant and researcher emotional transition.