This study examines if interdisciplinary teaching can be said to facilitate the learning and use of fractions by Swedish 12-year-old pupils. Home and Consumer Studies is well suited to interdisciplinary teaching, and young people can therefore find it interesting to study maths since the setting is relevant to them. Building on variation theory and a learning study, we examined pupils’ (n18) ability to double fractions greater than ½ when using a recipe. The general results show that what is to be learned benefits if it is presented in different ways, that teachers should not take pupils’ knowledge for granted, and mathematically that it is not necessary to divide something to be able to double it. We argue that the study shows that genuine problems based on pupils’ interest and life world can enhance motivation and, in turn, learning.

Facially expressed emotions play a role in communication between individuals. They form another means of expressing oneself besides verbal expressions or self-reporting of feelings and perceptions on psychometric scales and are implicit in nature. This study aimed to evaluate the extent and specificity of evoking facial expressed emotions by basic tastes and to evaluate if facially expressed emotions provide additional information to explicit measures. The emotions were characterised upon tasting the five basic tastes in aqueous solutions at three different concentrations levels. The sensory and emotional responses reported were obtained from a 21-membered taste panel. Facial reactions and facially expressed emotions depended on the taste quality and taste intensity. However, the facially expressed emotions were generally weak even for the relatively strong taste intensities. Bitter (caffeine), sour (citric acid) and salty (sodium chloride) lead to clear disgust and surprise responses, whereas, sweet (sucrose) and umami (glutamic acid monosodium salt) taste gave weakly noticeable facially expressed emotions. Although correlations between the expressed emotions and hedonic responses were observed, the affective experience had a limited predictive ability for the facially expressed emotion at the individual level. In conclusion, psychometric rating of the hedonic response is easier to assess than facially expressed emotions although it may not completely represent the dimensions of the emotional experience.

Increasing competition and regulatory changes place micro-sized enterprises (MSEs) in the agri-food sector under strong competitive pressure. Smallness may be a substantial barrier to success. Previous research suggests that networks can be used strategically to combat these constraints. However, there is a lack of understanding of the extent to which this finding may be applicable to MSEs and the local agri-food sector. Based on eight in-depth interviews of agri-food MSEs, it is concluded that MSEs apply networks to strengthen their competitive advantage – for example, by forming stronger customer relationships. The MSEs are using their networks to combat their size-related disadvantages, but not by growing; rather, the networks enable them to remain small and independent while further strengthening their position as small producers.

Det obligatoriska ämnet hem- och konsumentkunskap (hkk) syftar till att elever ska utveckla kunskaper och intresse för hushållets verksamheter. På grundsärskolan i Sverige har elever med lindrig utvecklingsstörning tre gånger så mycket hkk som elever i grundskolan. Den här studien fokuserar på ämnesdidaktik i hkk på grundsärskolan. Mat, måltider och hälsa är ett centralt innehåll i hkk och innefattar hur man lagar mat genom val av matlagningsmetoder, recept, ingredienser och redskap. Att lära sig laga mat har historiskt sett skett genom att man har varit tillsammans med de som behärskar kunskapen och sedan tagit efter. Att kunna laga mat kan ses som kunskaper för livet och kan bidra till mer hälsosamma matvanor. Att förstå hur elever lär sig matlagning är därför något centralt för att utveckla en ämnesdidaktik inom hkk. Syftet med studien är att undersöka och diskutera vilka artefakter som elever möter och använder sig av när de lär sig matlagning i hkk-undervisning. Teoretisk utgångspunkt är sociokulturell teori med särskilt fokus på elevers användning av artefakter. Metoden är deltagande observation. Resultatet visar att elever i de undersökta grupperna har stora svårigheter att använda recept för att lära sig laga mat, ändå är recept något som lärare måste förhålla sig till enligt kursplanen. Hur kan praktiskt kunnande likt matlagning läras ut? Är receptet som instruktion en didaktisk omöjlighet? De spörsmål som studien ger upphov till rör inte enkom elever med särskilda behov, utan förmodligen många andra som behöver lära sig matlagning. Vad kan vara problemet med att göra deltagande observationer i en studie som denna? Vilka likheter och skillnader kan man tala om när det gäller ämnesdidaktik i teoretiska respektive praktiska ämnen?

Korvstoppning, ölbryggeri och ostmakeri. Matnörderiet har kanske aldrig varit så stort som i dag. Men betyder det att vi fått bättre kunskap om maten vi stoppar i oss och hur den blir till? Knappast, menar Albina Brunnosson, lärare vid Högskolan i Kristianstad och doktorand i kostvetenskap vid Uppsala universitet. I veckans debatt skriver hon att behovet av skolans minsta ämne är större än någonsin. Inte minst för jämställdheten.

Recipes are not only part of today's cooking culture, they are also part of the Swedish syllabus of home economics. The aim of this study was to investigate what kinds of difficulties students with mild intellectual disabilities have using recipes during cooking lessons in home economics. We conducted an ethnographically inspired approach, with a total of 44 h of accompanying observations. Three compulsory schools for students with intellectual disabilities were enrolled in the study, and 37 students and three teachers were included. The socio-cultural theory of learning has been used as a theoretical framework. The findings reveal both that recipes are central artefacts during the cooking lessons and that the students have various difficulties using the recipes. The difficulties vary, and they concern both how the recipes are designed and the purport of the recipes. Difficulties in relation to the design included, for example, the separation of ingredients and instructions in the text and the large amount of information given in both the whole and the parts of the recipes. The difficulties in relation to the purport – that is, the meaning or sense of the recipe – were the ingredients, the kitchen utensils and the knowledge of how to perform a specific task. These difficulties can be considered special in relation to the use of the recipes. We suggest the concept of ‘recipe literacy’ to capture the complex knowledge of using recipes.

Education and research within the interdisciplinary subject food and meal science can be mediated through science, craft and creativity and cooking is a central activity. This paper aims at elucidating some aspects of cooking through the perspectives “Culture and Communication” “Food Science” and “Nutrition and Health”. This was done through a survey among students and teachers. The results stress the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to understand the different aspects of cooking and the prominent view on cooking as a cultural and communicative activity.

Background. Linear programming has been used extensively as a tool for nutritional recommendations. Extending the methodology to food formulation presents new challenges, since not all combinations of nutritious ingredients will produce an acceptable food. Furthermore, it would help in implementation and in ensuring the feasibility of the suggested recommendations.

Objective. To extend the previously used linear programming methodology from diet optimization to food formulation using consistency constraints. In addition, to exemplify usability using the case of a porridge mix formulation for emergency situations in rural Mozambique.

Methods. The linear programming method was extended with a consistency constraint based on previously published empirical studies on swelling of starch in soft porridges. The new method was exemplified using the formulation of a nutritious, minimum-cost porridge mix for children aged 1 to 2 years for use as a complete relief food, based primarily on local ingredients, in rural Mozambique.

Results. A nutritious porridge fulfilling the consistency constraints was found; however, the minimum cost was unfeasible with local ingredients only. This illustrates the challenges in formulating nutritious yet economically feasible foods from local ingredients. The high cost was caused by the high cost of mineral-rich foods. A nutritious, low-cost porridge that fulfills the consistency constraints was obtained by including supplements of zinc and calcium salts as ingredients.

Conclusions. The optimizations were successful in fulfilling all constraints and provided a feasible porridge, showing that the extended constrained linear programming methodology provides a systematic tool for designing nutritious foods. 

Academia plays a main role in knowledge discovery and dissemination of knowledge. Amongst the fundamental reasons behind university education lies preparing students to use and contribute with that knowledge within contexts of industry, as well as society in large. We here see three types of actors, i.e., universities, students, and industry, which by several reasons all are gained by close cooperation already in university education. Quite often though we see a gap between education and possible student recruitment. Here, the value of being employable increases through work based projects supported by education. Even though we can see willingness according such kind of cooperation from both academia and industry, experiences show that there are barriers towards actually implementing this. That may in turn depend on common lack of knowledge on how to establish university-industry connections, and how to negotiate on student involvement, ownership of work, etc. Conclusions therefore show a need for an established organization that mediates between academia and industry, and that have well developed structures for project workflow, project result ownership, etc. Demola may here have that role as an award winning platform for industry driven projects with focus on students. Demola provides a win-win-win relationship between university, students, and industry, and has clear structures for cooperation between those. Experiences have shown that Demola is promising as a mediator, as well as a provider of multi-disciplinary industry close projects, where those may be plugged into educational programs in suitable ways. This contribution will provide an overview of Demola as a platform for industry close student projects. Demola may furthermore be used as a platform for research projects. Experiences will here be covered as a concrete example on a Demola student project. Moreover, learning outcomes in contexts of CDIO Syllabus, evaluations, and corresponding CDIO-standards, will be presented.

In Europe the percentage of citizens aged 65 and over is increasing at an unprecedented rate, and is expected to account for over 30% of the population by 2050. Coupled with an increase in life expectancy, this massive demographic change calls for a major effort to ensure quality of life in our older population. A thorough understanding of the elderly as food consumers, their nutritional needs, their food perception and preferences are increasingly needed. The role of food in healthy aging was a prominent theme at the 6th European Conference on Sensory and Consumer Research, which had quality of life across the life span as a focal point. This short paper is based on a workshop held at the EuroSense meeting, focusing on research from sensory and consumer scientists. The workshop featured contributions focusing on food-related perception, needs and behavior of the elderly, and aimed at demonstrating the relevance of sensory and consumer scientists in promoting food-related well-being in an aging population. The workshop contributions are here reviewed and summarized three main themes: nutritional needs, food perception and aging, and behavioral drivers of food consumption.

The acceptance of novel foods by children is related to a number of factors, and differences in taste sensitivity may form some specific challenges. High sensitivity might be a barrier to the acceptance of sour/bitter products by children. This study investigated the effect of sensitivity to bitter, sour, sweet, and salty tastes on the acceptance of Nordic juices in 9- to 11-year-old children. A total of 328 children were subjected to two taste sensitivity tests for quinine, citric acid, sucrose, and NaCl. Their acceptance of six juices (carrot, rosehip, sea-buckthorn, lingonberry, grapefruit, and aronia) was measured. Bitter sensitivity was found to be significantly correlated to the intake of the sweet sea-buckthorn and lingonberry juices; the most bitter-sensitive children exhibited the highest intake of these juices. The opposite relationship was found for bitter sensitivity and the intake of the bitter grapefruit juice. Sour, sweet, and salt sensitivities did not affect the intake of any of the juices. Liking scores were not affected by sensitivity. In conclusion, bitter sensitivity appears to influence food intake in children to a greater extent than sour, sweet, or salt sensitivity. Bitter-sensitive children exhibited a reduced intake of grapefruit juice and a higher intake of sucrose-sweetened juices. Thus, bitter sensitivity might be a challenge in the acceptance of certain bitter foods.

In several studies, it has been found that repeated exposure to a novel food increases children’s acceptance of the exposure food. The present study, investigated how repeated exposure influences the acceptance of two Nordic berry juices, and whether the development depends on initial liking of the product, in 9–11 year-old children. The study had 317 participants. Two groups of children were exposed to either sea-buckthorn (n = 92) or aronia (n = 105) juice eight times, and performed two follow-up sessions 3 and 6 months after the 8th exposure. A third group (n = 120) served as controls. During pre and post-test sessions all participating children evaluated acceptance of both juices.

Intake of sea-buckthorn juice increased significantly over the eight exposures (55.1 ± 7.3 till 108.8 ± 12.3) and remained high after 6 months (131.1 ± 13.2). Intake of aronia juice was only increased at follow-up sessions. Liking did not develop significantly for any of the juices across exposures. When children were grouped by their initial liking increased intake across exposures was observed regardless of initial liking of sea-buckthorn. Liking developed similarly for both juices. A significant increase was found for the ‘initial dislikers’ only. This study demonstrates how exposure effects are influenced by initial liking; it appears that changes in familiarity explain the changes seen for sea-buckthorn among ‘dislikers’. ‘Initial dislikers’ had the most benefit from repeated exposures, but did not reach ‘initial likers’ across eight exposures; more exposures in the group of ‘initial dislikers’ had possibly led to even higher liking and intake. The increased intake observed for ‘neutral likers’ and ‘initial likers’ of sea-buckthorn was not explained by increased familiarity or increased liking.

In this chapter, a detailed review of the current understanding of the physical processes of droplet breakup in a high-pressure homogenizer (HPH) is presented, covering breakup mechanisms by laminar shear in the gap inlet and its boundary layers, by local turbulence in the gap exit jet, and by cavitation. Experimental evidence of the effetcts of homogenization pressure, Thoma number, dispersed and continuous phase viscosity, and dispersed phase volume fraction in relation to implications on dominant mechanisms of droplet breakup is also discussed.

BACKGROUND: Health-related illnesses such as obesity and diabetes continue to increase, particularly in groups of low socioeconomic status. The increasing cost of nutritious food has been suggested as an explanation.

OBJECTIVE: To construct a price index describing the cost of a diet adhering to nutritional recommendations for a rational and knowledgeable consumer and, furthermore, to investigate which nutrients have become more expensive to obtain over time.

METHODS: Linear programming and goal programming were used to calculate two optimal and nutritious diets for each year in the interval under different assumptions. The first model describes the rational choice of a cost-minimizing consumer; the second, the choice of a consumer trying to deviate as little as possible from average consumption. Shadow price analysis was used to investigate how nutrients contribute to the diet cost.

RESULTS: The cost of a diet adhering to nutritional recommendations has not increased more than general food prices in Sweden between 1980 and 2012. However, following nutrient recommendations increases the diet cost even for a rational consumer, particularly for vitamin D, iron, and selenium. The cost of adhering to the vitamin D recommendation has increased faster than the general food prices.

CONCLUSIONS: Not adhering to recommendations (especially those for vitamin D) offers an opportunity for consumers to lower the diet cost. However, the cost of nutritious diets has not increased more than the cost of food in general between 1980 and 2012 in Sweden.

Historically, home economics in general, and the consumer education sections in particular, have been criticized for transferring norms and values of conservative elites to the masses. This is in stark contrast to contemporary theoretical views of a modern home economics aimed at educating emancipated and critical citizens, and also to modern curricula that emphasize the consequences of consumption rather than dogma. A previous study has indicated that formally unqualified teachers see the transfer of consumption norms and values without support in the curriculum as an important objective of home economics teaching, a practice that is questionable from a democratic perspective. This follow-up study investigates to what extent formally qualified home economics teachers show intentions to transfer consumption norms and values without support in the curriculum to students, by using content analysis of 201 survey responses from Swedish qualified home economics teachers and comparing to data from a previously published study on formally unqualified teachers. It is concluded that the qualified teachers demonstrate intentions to transfer unsupported norms and values, though, to a lower degree than unqualified teachers. The results are interpreted by adopting a values education perspective on home economics. This indicates that the observed emphasis on norms and values could be seen partly as a lack of a proficient professional metalanguage among the teachers, and partly as a consequence of the focus on developing a pre-defined moral of consumption in home economics literature. The implications on how to develop home economics teacher education to reduce norm and value transfer intentions are discussed based on the empirical findings and the theoretical framework. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Overconsumption is a widely used term in science, media and among concerned consumers. What do we mean by this term? This study is based on the assumption that both the public debate on consumption and consumer research could benefit from better understanding how this term is used and from clarifying the definition. The primary aim of this study was to describe how the term ‘overconsumption’ is being used in the contemporary scientific debate in fields related to consumer studies. This was done by studying the use of the term in scientific journal papers between 2010 and 2012 using qualitative content analysis. It is concluded that overconsumption is often described as consumption of hedonic goods by individuals with undesirable personality traits, low moral or belonging to minority groups. Furthermore, overconsumption is described as having detrimental effects both on the individual consumer, the society and the environment; however, direct individual effects are more frequently mentioned in the studies. The term is seldom defined explicitly. This might lead to confusion and misunderstanding between research fields and between different stakeholders. A structured framework for generating clear and useful definitions is suggested in this study, based on the reviewed papers and a theoretical framework from moral philosophy.

The emulsification process is primarily determined by the rate of fragmentation and coalescence of emulsion drops. However, there is presently no fast, reliable method for measuring these rates for pilot and production scale high pressure homogenizers.

In this paper a method for simultaneous estimating fragmentation and coalescence is developed and tested based on the work of Hounslow and Ni (2004). Kernel type as well as rate extraction is performed based on the development of the total number of drops when recirculation an emulsion through a high-pressure homogenizer. The method has many advantages such as not requiring any specialty chemicals or complex analytical equipment. All measurements are made using laser diffraction equipment that is already standard for analyzing the effect of homogenization.

Experiments show fragmentation and coalescence rates close to that seen in previous studies and the scaling of coalescence rate and fragmentation with homogenizing pressure is in accordance with theory.

Direct determination of hydrodynamic radius from retention time is an advantage of the field-flow fractionation techniques. However, this is not always completely straight forward since non-idealities exist and assumptions have been made in deriving the retention equations. In this study we investigate the effect on accuracy from two factors: (1) level of sophistication of the equations used to determine channel height from a calibration experiment and (2) the influence of secondary relaxation on the accuracy of hydrodynamic radius determination. A new improved technique for estimating the channel height from calibration experiments is suggested. It is concluded that severe systematic error can arise if the most common channel height equations are used and an alternative more rigorous approach is described. For secondary relaxation it is concluded that this effect increases with the cross-flow decay rate. The secondary relaxation effect is quantified for different conditions. This is part one of two. In the second part the determination of hydrodynamic radius are evaluated experimentally under similar conditions.

Föredraget bygger på den färska avhandlingen Contested food : the construction of home and consumer studies as a cultural space. Elever berättar att de upplever sig som delaktiga i matarbetet hemma - de får vara med och bestämma och anses som en viktig del i familjens mataktiviteter, även om de kanske inte lagar alla maten själva. I skolan däremot upplever de sig som utestängda från vissa för matarbetet väsentliga delar. Det här får som konsekvens att maten i Hem- och konsumentkunskapen upplevs som fejk och oautentisk - den handlar om ett liv långt bort i framtiden och inte om livet här och nu. I kontrast till detta finns lärarnas beskrivning, som är förankrad i de ursprungliga anledningarna till att införa mat som en del av skolundervisningen. Jag kommer att berätta om ett skolämne som är fyllt av motsägelser och paradoxer.

The media, as a source of information, is supposed to have a significant role in effecting people's environmental knowledge and attitudes. The purpose of this study was to find students' perceptions of environmental issues as presented in the media and how students in Finland, Lithuania and Sweden used these media sources in the matters related to environmental issues. The most important source of environmental knowledge was found to be the Internet, followed by newspapers, television, school and education. In their own lives, students discussed environmental issues every day and, to some extent, in social media, discussion forums and blogs. In Finland, newspapers represented the most important source of environmental knowledge; in Lithuania, environmental organisations were the most prevalent, and, in Sweden, it was in a school or educational context. Based on these results, it was concluded that, in order to reach both genders of students in different countries and to more greatly benefit from all sources of information, a variety of media should be used in education for sustainability.

Background: Limited data are available on body composition (BC) and physical function in healthy adults >80 y, potentially hampering development of reference values. We aimed to study 1) BC and physical function and 2) changes in hand-grip strength over a 4-year period in a community dwelling elderly Swedish population.

Methods: Apparently healthy, community-dwelling men (n=51) and women (n=51) aged >83y were measured by Sit to Stand-test, hand grip strength, body height, body weight and BC using a Bioimpedance Spectroscopy (Impedimed). The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board in Gothenburg as an addition to Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone (T176-12).

Results: Mean age 86.5 y, no age difference between sexes. Men and women performed equally well at the Sit to Stand-test. Men were significantly stronger with a mean HGS of 34.1 kg compared to women of 19.5 kg. 15 % had a BMI below 22 kg/m2. According to skeletal muscle index (SMI) 64 % were assessed as having severe sarcopenia (Cruz-Jentoft et al 2010).

Conclusion: In this healthy elderly population BC and physical function was well preserved compared to previous studies, although many were classified as sarcopenic according to current cut-offs. Results from this study can be used as reference values for healthy community-dwelling elderly in high age.

In this study we investigate the effect of programmed cross-flows on the error in the hydrodynamic radii (rh) determination with asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AsFlFFF). Three different standard polystyrene particles (nominal radii of 30 and 40 and 50 nm) are fractionated with exponentially and linearly decaying cross-flows with different decay rates. Hydrodynamic radii are calculated according to retention theory including steric effects. Rapid decay is expected to give rise to systematic deviations in rh determination. The error in rh was found to be small when decay rates with half-lives longer than 6 min were used, whereas steeper decays could give rise to errors as high as 16% of the particle size. The error is often explained in terms of secondary relaxation. However, comparisons show that experimental errors are significantly larger than what would be expected due to secondary relaxation, suggesting that other factors also have to be considered in order to fully understand deviations for rapidly decaying cross-flow.

Purpose: Unhealthy eating and lifestyle as well as low physical activity is a growing problem and are estimated to be among the primary causes for the growth in obesity and overweight among the adult population. In the ‘settings approach’ institutions such as the workplace are seen as arenas in which eating behavioural patterns can be influenced. This arena tends to grow in importance as more companies provide workplace food with increasing nutritional attention and develop not only lunch offers, but also take away offers. However settings based scientific literature has shown that interventions tend to give only modest effect when sustainability of intervention is used as a measure.

Methods: The paper is based on a review of literature on workplace healthy eating based projects and research, mainly with focus on Sweden and Denmark carried out in the Good Food at Work project.

Results: Important elements in this kind of interventions are management commitment, education, supporting organisational structures, employee participation, and integrated perspective on risk factors at the workplace and the everyday life of employees.

Discussion: The paper suggests that a socio nutritional approach to promotion of healthy eating at workplace is needed if workplace interventions are to be successful. It argues that a socio-technical approach (Clausen and Yoshinaka, 2007) where innovation is considered as a multi-stakeholder process in which interaction between the social constitution of the workplace (Seltz & Hildebrandt, 1989), the change agents, and societal influence (Thorsen et al, 2005) play an important role in the shaping of healthy workplace eating.

Syftet med projektet har varit att utveckla frukt- och bärdrycker till äldre på boenden i Skåne, drycker som kan bidra till att ge extra energi och näring. Syftet har även varit att skapa en nätverksplattform samt undersöka möjligheterna till ett innovativt arbetssätt för upphandling av de utvecklade produkterna. Projektet har utgått från det behov av goda näringsrika och energirika livsmedel som definierats när det gäller äldre, oavsett svårigheter att inta mat. Detta behov har kopplats till en strävan att öka den regionala produktionen av frukt- och bärråvaror och undersöka möjligheterna att sälja högkvalitativa produkter på den offentliga marknaden. Det långsiktiga målet är att genom att öppna för försäljning av frukt- och bärprodukter också öka sysselsättningen inom primärproduktionen i regionen. Dryckesprodukter har utvecklats bestående av frukt- och bärråvara från äpple, jordgubbe och svartvinbär vilka kombinerats med näringstillskott i form av vegetabiliskt protein och fett i form av rapsolja. Drycken har utvecklats med målet att ge äldre på boenden ett gott alternativ till de mellanmål som idag serveras på äldreboenden i kommuner.

Humans are dependent on the service species and ecosystems provide. Being able to identify species is a key to understanding biodiversity. The purpose of this study was to clarify student teachers’ (N=426) interest in and conceptions of the importance of species identification and the relationship between biodiversity and sustainable development. The data was collected by the aid of using a semi-structured questionnaire with fixed and open questions. Student teachers explained their interest in plants and animals in a pragmatic, cognitive or emotional and aesthetic way. Pragmatic, cognitive and educational views where used to explain the importance of species identification today and in the future. Few students had a professional view. The relationships between species identification and sustainable development were described with cognitive, pragmatic, conservational and educational views, whereas the relationship between biodiversity and sustainable development were mostly categorised in the no, cognitive, ecological and conservational views. The student teachers´ conceptual framework related to biodiversity and the relationships between species identification and sustainable development were limited. The results are compared with related literature. This study increases and broadens researchers’ and teacher educators’, knowledge about the challenges of species identification in teacher education and at schools.

The risk of malnutrition increases with ageing, resulting in poorer health and higher risk of disease. Eating difficulties are important risk factors for malnutrition. Moreover, independence in relation to food and meals is highly rated by the elderly and has been associated with health and well-being. The purpose of this literature overview was to provide insights into nutritional status, food choice and preferences as well as the meal situations of home-living elderly (65+) people with motoric eating difficulties focusing on Scandinavia. The overall aim is to support independence and to prevent malnutrition. Nutritional status in the elderly was found to be negatively influenced by motoric eating difficulties including problems with manipulating food on the plate and transporting food to the mouth. Motoric eating difficulties may result in practical simplifications such as use of pre-prepared meals, less advanced cooking, and omission of certain meal constituents in order to avoid e.g. mismanagement and spillage. Eating difficulties are often accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame. Choosing smaller portions, reducing the number of eating episodes and not cooking independently have been associated with a higher risk of malnutrition. The nutritional effects of eating difficulties may be exacerbated by diminished chemosensory functions. Furthermore, both past and present food preferences should be considered in order to meet nutritional needs and meal satisfaction. Development of refined and socially accepted eating aids, in combination with tasty and nutritious products, is important in order to promote healthy and independent living among home-living elderly with motoric eating difficulties.

Allt fler uppnår allt högre åldrar. Idag utgör de 80 år och äldre ca en halv miljon, och i slutet av 2040-talet över 1 miljon. Andelen friska och aktiva äldre, oavsett ålder, är högre än någonsin. Emellertid ökar risken för funktionsned- sättningar och sjukdom, och ett stort antal i hög ålder (över 80 år) har bety- dande behov av stöd och hjälp.

En betydelsefull aspekt av äldres levnadsvanor är de vanor som kan kopplas till maten och måltiden, det kan handla om exempelvis livsmedelsval, måltids- mönster eller utformningen den dagliga måltidssituationen. Goda matvanor är bra för hälsan och välbefinnandet och är en förutsättning för att bibehålla hälsa . Att kunna påverka sitt eget val av mat utgör en central del i känslan av valfrihet och kontroll över tillvaron och för att bibehålla identiteten, trots hög ålder och "frailty". Kännedom om den enskildes preferenser och vanor rörande mat och dryck samt möjligheten för den äldre att efter egen förmåga vara delaktig och aktiv i beslut kring detta är därmed en förutsättning för god omvårdnad.

Tre lärare och forskare från Högskolan Kristianstad har i denna skrift samman- fattat det rådande kunskapsläget på området äldres mat- och måltidssitua- tion på ett lättillgängligt sätt. Kunskapssammanställningen utgör en del av projektet Aktivt Åldrande – individuellt anpassade måltidslösningar för hälsa och livskvalitet hos äldre finansierat VINNOVA i utlysningen "En hållbar innovativ livsmedelskedja som möter framtidens behov".

Knowledge of species, interest in nature, and nature experiences are the factors that best promote interest in and understanding of environmental issues, biodiversity and sustainable life. The aim of this study is to investigate how well student teachers can identify common local species, their interests in and ideas about species identification and about the importance of species identification for biodiversity and sustainability. Totally 456 student teachers for primary schools were tested using an identification test and a questionnaire consisting of fixed and open questions. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to get a more holistic view of students’ level of knowledge. The student teachers in Nordic countries identified species reasonably well, while the student teachers in Lithuania identified only up to four species. Experiential learning outdoors was suggested by the majority of students as the most efficient learning method, followed by experiential learning indoors, project work and experimental learning. They regarded the knowledge of species as ‘important’ or ‘very important’ for citizens today, for sustainable development and for biodiversity. Our conclusion is that teaching and learning methods for education of biodiversity and sustainable development should always include experiential and project-based methods in authentic environments.

People’s knowledge about nature, their interest in nature, their nature experiences, and their values and emotions regarding nature are factors that promote people’s positive views on environmental issues and sustainability. Knowing the variation and patterns in teachers’ and student teachers’ views is an essential step in considering the ways in which sustainability might be interpreted and enacted in schools and in teacher education. The aim of this study is to analyze student teachers’ views on the importance of species and species identification in general and as a part of their professional development regarding their understanding of biodiversity and sustainability. A total of 426 student teachers in Finland, Norway, and Sweden answered a questionnaire consisting of fixed and open-ended questions. Mixed methods were used: t test and analysis of variance for quantitative data and inductive and deductive, model-based content analysis for qualitative data. According to the majority of student teachers (85%), both species identification and biodiversity are important for sustainability; species identification in general was important to 58% of them. Their statements about importance contained mostly ecological views (46%), followed by emotional (17%), educational (16%), and utilitarian (11%) views. The remainder of the student teachers’ statements (10%) contained negativistic or indifferent views. The reasons for the low percentage of educational views are discussed. The implications of the results for teacher education worldwide are emphasized, especially the importance of those teaching methods that have the potential to increase student teachers’ understanding of sustainability.

Forskningsanknytning är ett mångfacetterat begrepp och relationen mellan forskning och utbildning har blivit en ständigt aktuell fråga. Angelägenheten att knyta undervisning och forskning till varandra går tillbaka till Humboldtprincipen, dvs. den princip som etablerades av Wilhelm von Humboldt i början av 1800-talet. Det centrala i denna princip är att professorer och akademiska lärare både ska forska och undervisa och även involvera studenter på högre nivå i sin forskning.

Få kvalitativa studier har genomförts avseende lärares egen erfarenhet om sambandet mellan undervisning och forskning. I ett fåtal studier med akademisk personal har det framkommit att det förekommer en påtaglig variation mellan akademikers erfarenheter och syn på förhållandet mellan forskning och undervisning. Somliga menar att forskning och undervisning är ömsesidigt förenliga aktiviteter medan andra menar att det finns lite eller inget samband mellan forskning och undervisning. Ett stort antal universitetslärare upplever också ett motstånd från studenterna som ibland anses svårt att överbrygga.

I föreliggande studie är undersökningsgruppen åtta disputerade handledare och examinatorer i Naturvetenskapernas didaktik inom lärarutbildningens examensarbeten och kurser. Syftet är att rama in de väsentliga parametrar som respondenterna anser att deras forskarutbildning bidragit till avseende deras roll som handledare och examinatorer av lärarstudenternas examensarbeten. Vidare undersöks de forskande lärarnas attityder och förhållningssätt till tidfördelningen av arbetsuppgifterna undervisning och forskning i tjänsten.

En universitetslärare har idag flera olika roller att fylla, universitetslärarrollen håller på att förändras. Många lärare inom akademien vill både forska och undervisa. När det gäller respondenternas självvärdering av sin forskarutbildning och relevans för handledaruppdraget anser de bland annat att den stärkt deras roll som handledare genom att de blivit modigare på olika plan vilket möjliggör ett annat sätt att utmana studenterna, den vetenskapliga säkerheten har stärkts och ett metaperspektiv har vuxit fram. Olika kurser inom forskarutbildningen har också haft avgörande betydelse för att bättre klara av uppdraget. Strategier i samband med handledningen är idag t.ex. att förmå studenter att följa en tidsplan, betona skrivprocessens betydelse och att väcka studenternas nyfikenhet i ett inledande skede.

Hur viktig uppgiften upplevs vara för individen respektive institutionen är något som berörs av respondenterna och hur en organisation som gör det möjligt för forskare att själva också få möjlighet att forska skulle kunna se ut. De vittnar om att studenter på lärarprogrammet ofta har en negativ inställning till uppsatsskrivning och uppgifter som kräver vetenskapliga perspektiv och kritiska förhållningssätt. Det avspeglar sig i statusen att ta på sig olika uppdrag inom organisationen och budskapet från ledningen är numera att den individuella karriären premieras. Konkurrensen lärare och forskare emellan kan bidra till att studenter kommer i kläm när det t.ex. gäller kvalitetssäkring.

Kopplingen mellan forskning och undervisning visar sig vara problematisk och för att inom lärarutbildningen vara behörig examinator för kurser krävs att vara disputerad. Detta förstärker maktspelet mellan adjunkter, lektorer, docenter och professorer i tider då diskussioner om förvaltning av forskningsanknytning i grundutbildning är högaktuell. Hur många olika roller det är möjligt att en universitetslektor ska klara av i sitt yrkesuppdrag?

Citizens need to be prepared on socio- scientific issues in order to argue in interdisciplinary subjects related to cycles in soil, air and water, and the increased greenhouse effect. The ecological, economic and social perspectives must be understood as a whole, while the consumption of resources stems from various conflicts of interest. Focus in the study is to investigate how students in secondary school argue in a long term perspective about their ability to act in food-, water- and energy issues. Interviews and questionnaires have been the data collection methods. The analytical method was to reflect the students' statements regarding the external and internal environment in which the Earth System Science respective Agens´ model accounted analyzers. Most pupils expressed egocentric and short-term perspectives in their reasoning and they reflected on their lack of factual knowledge from school.

Sjutton lärarstudenter i idrott och hälsa deltog i ett utvecklingsprojekt på lärosätet med syftet att undersöka hur studenternas resonemang i hälsa och miljö utvecklades under de tre månaderna projektet varade. Datainsamlingen bestod av enkäter och fokusgruppsintervjuer. Seminarier med föreläsningar och diskussioner samt ett studiebesök vid ett Science center utgjorde aktiviteter i projektet. Studenterna uttryckte sina kunskapsbrister och kritiserade undervisningen de genomgått i hållbar utveckling i ungdomsskolan och lärarutbildningen, och menade att den oftast handlat om sopsortering. De kopplade efterhand samman människors hårdutnyttjande av skog och mark med försämring av människans livsvillkor och hälsa. Merparten av studenterna vidgade perspektivet, från ett egocentriskt till ett biocentriskt synsätt. Studenterna sade sig under studien utveckla ett personligt engagemang för hälsa och miljö.

Det förekommer brister avseende forskningsanknytningen i lärarutbildningen (Hattie & Marsh, 2006). I studien fångas den yttre miljön tillsammans med teknikutvecklingens påverkan. Levnadsvanor och handlingsberedskap inkluderas också i studien och benämns den inre miljön. Syftet var att undersöka en grupp lärarstudenters sätt att resonera kring hälso- och miljöfrågor under ett tremånadersprojekt. Centralt var att via seminarieform vägleda studenterna, som befann sig i slutfasen av sin lärarutbildning, i integrerad aktuell didaktisk forskning om folkhälsovetenskap, miljövetenskap och lärande för hållbar utveckling, samt undersöka deras syn på begreppet forskningsanknytning.

Övergripande frågeställning var:

Hur resonerar lärarstudenter i hälso- och miljöfrågor kopplat till den yttre och inre miljön?

Studenterna uttryckte också sina erfarenheter av forskningsanknytning i utbildningen.

Sjutton studenter i lärarutbildningen deltog i projektet. Seminarier, enkäter och fokusgruppsintervjuer genomfördes. Teoretiska utgångspunkter för analysen var Agens modell för hälsofaktorer och System jorden (Dahlgren & Whitehead, 1991; Andersson, 2001).

Studenterna uttryckte sina kunskapsbrister och kritiserade undervisningen de genomgått i hållbar utveckling i ungdomsskolan och lärarutbildningen, och menade att den oftast handlat om sopsortering. Så småningom kopplade de samman människors hårdutnyttjande av skog och mark genom transporter till och från träning med försämring av människans livsvillkor och hälsa. Studenterna vidgade perspektivet, från de innersta till de yttre sfärerna. Studenterna fann svårigheter att definiera ”forskningsanknytning” och ingen hade sökt eller läst vetenskapliga artiklar av nyfikenhet eller eget intresse. Den integrerade utgångspunkten kan likt frågor med naturvetenskapligt innehåll utifrån ett samhällsperspektiv medverka till utveckling av undervisningsredskap i kommande lärargärning (Ekborg et al., 2009). En medveten strategi var att förmedla vårt eget forskningsarbete vilket ligger i linje med Hattie & Marsh (1996) som pekar vikten av att studenter får möjlighet att möta sina lärare i forskarrollen, samt på de brister som kan uppstå då forskningsaktiviteter och undervisningsaktiviteter isoleras ifrån varandra. Lärarstudenter möter inte forskning eller konfronteras med forskningsfrågor kontinuerligt vilket kan tolkas som att forskning inte tillhör själva professionen. Det är viktigt att reflektera kring lärandeprocesser i högre utbildning.

Background: Limited data are available on body composition (BC) and physical function in healthy adults >80 y, potentially hampering development of reference values. We aimed to study 1) BC and physical function and 2) changes in hand-grip strength over a 4-year period in a community dwelling elderly Swedish population.

Methods: Apparently healthy, community-dwelling men (n=51) and women (n=51) aged >83y were measured by Sit to Stand-test, hand grip strength, body height, body weight and BC using a Bioimpedance Spectroscopy (Impedimed). The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board in Gothenburg as an addition to Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone (T176-12).

Results: Mean age 86.5 y, no age difference between sexes. Men and women performed equally well at the Sit to Stand-test. Men were significantly stronger with a mean HGS of 34.1 kg compared to women of 19.5 kg. 15 % had a BMI below 22 kg/m2. According to skeletal muscle index (SMI) 64 % were assessed as having severe sarcopenia (Cruz-Jentoft et al 2010).

Conclusion: In this healthy elderly population BC and physical function was well preserved compared to previous studies, although many were classified as sarcopenic according to current cut-offs. Results from this study can be used as reference values for healthy community-dwelling elderly in high age.