The National Institutes of Health identifies that one in three adults is obese. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 and above. Patients with obesity may deny themselves healthcare due to the mistreatment and mistrust they may develop within the healthcare system. If the prejudice against obese patients is addressed, it could prevent future issues for patients and healthcare providers. Not only can bias against obese patients lead to injury, but it can also lead worsening conditions. When a patient perceives the stigma of a weight bias from a caregiver, it can cause them to withdraw their trust that may develop towards depression, or anxiety about their medical condition. There are three types of biases that are defined as implicit, overt, and covert. Identifying obesity biases is the subject of this study. Obesity bias is an increasing concern in the healthcare system. As professional health care providers it is the Registered Nurse’s (RN) duty to ensure that all patients are treated with utmost respect and care. Ensuring that all patients including obese patients are cared for can provide for increased positive healthcare outcomes. Nursing students are not resistant to obesity-related biases. The objective of this study was to review the negative perceptions that nursing students may hold against obese patients. An obesity bias study was conducted utilizing an online survey to evaluate a South East Georgia School of Nursing (SEGSON) Bachelor level students. The results from 200 students conveyed only a slight increase in obesity biases.

Kudzu is an invasive, tuberous vine growing in the southeast US. Kudzu root is 14-35% starch and has been used in China for home cooking by various methods. In the US, the use of kudzu starch is limited. This study compared standing height, percent moisture, and nutrient composition of gluten-free chocolate cake prepared with a kudzu starch-thickened aqueous mixture to similar gluten-free chocolate cake prepared with water or gluten-containing chocolate cake (controls). The standing height for control wheat flour cake (CW) was 47.4±1.3mm, the control rice flour cake (CR) was 36.1±1.1mm, wheat flour cake with kudzu (KW) was 49.5±0.3mm, and the rice flour cake with kudzu (KR) was 40.3±0.5mm. The results indicated that adding kudzu starch to either wheat or rice flour cake resulted in significant increases in heights compared to similar flour cake prepared without kudzu starch. The percent moisture of KW compared to CW was significantly higher (P<0.01). The KR had significantly higher percent moisture compared to CW (P<0.05). Percent moisture in all other cakes did not significantly differ. This suggests that kudzu starch can be used increase or maintain the standing height of cake while minimally changing the moisture content of the cakes. The nutritional composition of the cakes did not significantly differ in protein and fat, but the carbohydrates were higher in the kudzu containing cakes compared to the controls. This study shows that the addition of kudzu can help maintain or improve texture of gluten-free cakes. Future studies will examine consumer acceptability of the cakes.

Mental health is becoming an increasingly important topic within Generation Z. 39% of college students in the United States reported experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety (Burwell, 2018). Conversely, researchers have shown an inverse relationship between high levels of optimism and depression, as well as between optimism and suicide ideation (Chang, Martos, Sallay, Change, Wright, Najarian, & Lee, 2016). Additionally, Optimism has been negatively correlated with negative psychological outcomes (Chang, et al., 2016). The purpose of this study will be to examine dispositional optimism within female Generation Z university students. Researchers will use a qualitative interviewing process to capture the full essence of an individual’s experience with optimism by asking the singular question “what does optimism mean to you?” Further probing questions will be asked to gather the most complete and detailed experience from the individual. The interviews will then be analyzed using a phenomenological analysis technique. From this, a thematic structure on the lived experience of Optimism will be created. Discussions of Optimism and future directions of optimism research will take place.

Each year, 1 in every 4 deaths in the United States is a result of heart disease (CDC, 2020). As the leading cause of death among women and men from various ethnicities, heart disease is wildly overlooked when making life decisions.Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans, largely due to the typical Western diet & daily choices. The disease is also the cause of death in ten times more women than breast cancer (Lewis, et al., 2017). White men have the highest incidence ( p. 704) while American Indian or Alaskan native women have the lowest rates of heart disease compared to the nation’s population in 2017 (National Vital Statistics report, Heron, M. 2017).

The purpose of this study is to compare relevant factors that influence heart health in undergraduate students at Georgia Southern University of various backgrounds and lifestyles. Students were provided with a link to the survey on Folio in undergraduate classes during the Fall 2020 semester with professors that allowed me to distribute the heart health survey to their class. Inclusion criteria were classification as an undergraduate student at Georgia Southern University in one of the chosen classes.

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a therapeutic approach that uses therapy dogs to improve the clinical goals of individuals who need rehabilitative support. While AAT research within the health professions is developing, there is support showing that this type of milieu therapy has potential benefits when working with children with literacy concerns. Within the field of communication sciences and disorders (CSD), AAT can be used by speech-language pathologists to establish goal-directed therapy sessions to improve children’s literacy skills. This paper will highlight current literature that explores the use of AAT within literacy interventions, the use of evidence-based measures, and the feasibility of using therapy dogs within clinical sessions.

Within my research, I will identify which constraints prohibit sport participation during adolescent years, with consideration of sociodemographic backgrounds, and how these constraints influence sport preference. The subjects for this study will be within the 20 year age group. Using a mixed-method approach I will be using a survey to ask questions to test my theory. Within the survey questions, I will ask hierarchical questions, obtain socio-demographic information about the subjects growing up, as well as where the subjects were socioeconomically at a certain age. The survey questions would then be analyzed, looking at whether there’s a difference in sports preference as an adolescent and as an adult. This will lead to the interview portion of the study if there is a difference in sports preference. For the interview process, I will be interviewing the subjects who agreed to come in for further questioning. I will be asking questions that would allow me to compare their adolescent sports preference and participation with their current sport preference and participation in sports. This would allow me to identify if any constraints influenced the change, and if so, which ones. This study would be predominately important in identifying constraints that prohibit sport participation and influence sport preference. The theory that I will use in my study is known as the Hierarchical Leisure Constraint theory. This theory investigates the impact of constraints on people’s behavior. I would use this theory to see which constraints (interpersonal/ or structural) prohibit sport participation thus, driving an individual to certain sport preferences.

Anxiety in college students has been a relevant topic in today’s society, and because of the COVID-19 pandemic researchers have been trying to understand the impact this has had on college student’s anxiety. So, the purpose of this study is to look for patterns of anxiety that developed from being a college student, during COVID-19. This study fits into current literature because the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing and has affected everyone in a way, so there is abundant current literature on this topic of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected college students. The participant for this ethnographic study will be 1, 20-year-old white male, who is an undergraduate at Georgia Southern University. In this study, the participant undergoes virtual interviews and observations, where each interview starts with a prompted question and then the participant leads the rest of the interview. There are 5 interviews spread out throughout 5 weeks. Throughout the study there is also naturalistic observation, where I am able to witness the level of his anxiety on a day-to-day basis in each interview. All interviews were recorded and transcripts were made from the recording. These transcripts were analyzed using a combination of phenomenological analysis from Moustakas (1994) Czech (2001).