Habitual Practice Research Articles

Twelve Years Follow Up - Prevalence Trends Of Physical Inactivity And Overweight In Brazilian Adolescents

PURPOSE: Determine the physical inactivity and overweight prevalence in adolescents living at São Paulo State (Brazil) from 2005 to 2017. METHODS: We evaluated 3,845 adolescents as part of a cohort study that started in 2005 in São Paulo city. In this study we analyzed 2.012 both sex adolescents that were followed in 2005, 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2017. In 2005, adolescents were from 15 to 18 years of age. We assessed the habitual physical activity practice by International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-short-8 version) considering active (AT) the adolescents that accumulated at least 300 minutes per week of moderate-vigorous PA and inactive (INA) if less than 300 min/week were reported. Body weight (kg) and height (m) were self-reported by questionnaire. BMI was calculated and the respective criteria for overweight classification were considered for Brazilian adolescents (CONDE and MONTEIRO, 2006). The anthropometry tendency changed overtime, and a linear regression model was designed to express the annual physical inactivity prevalence average and the excess of body weight. The significance was p<.05. RESULTS: In general, the prevalence of physical inactivity in 2005 was 50.4%, with significant increase to 53.2% (2009); 56.7% (2013); 59.2% (2015) and 60.2% (2017), with 0.91% annual increase. Higher variation was observed in girls than boys (1.32% x 0.89% per year). The overweight prevalence followed similar trend: 2005 (16.7%); 21.2% (2009); 25.8%); 28.2% (2013), 28.7% (2015) and 29.3% (2017) with 1.29% increase per year (p<.05). Girls presented significantly and higher percentage change than boys (1.56 vs. 1.15% per year). CONCLUSIONS: Data showed progressive trend of high physical inactivity and body fat increase, leading to an incidence of obesity in the next 10 years around 71.0% of all adolescents living in Sao Paulo State 37.2% of physically inactive behavior. These data suggests an early development of cardiovascular disease, with higher impact in girls than boys. Also data strongly suggest to effectiveness of public health policies towards the physical inactivity prevention and the excess of body mass among adolescents are related to unhealthy behaviors of eating, drinking and PA.

Skin Bleaching Among African and Afro-Caribbean Women in New York City: Primary Findings from a P30 Pilot Study.

IntroductionThe application of skin bleaching products to inhibit melanogenesis is a common practice within the African diaspora. Despite the adverse health effects of skin bleaching, rigorous studies investigating skin bleaching behavior among these populations in the United States are limited. In our P30 pilot study, we explored predictors of skin bleaching practice intensity among African and Afro-Caribbean women.MethodsIn collaboration with our Community Engagement Core, we conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the relationship between demographic and psychosocial predictors and skin-bleaching-related practice patterns among African and Afro-Caribbean women in New York City.ResultsAmong the 76 participants recruited, the median age at the initiation of skin bleaching was 19.5 (16–25) years, yielding a median duration of 13.5 (6–23) years. Although pregnant women were not actively recruited for the study, 13.2% (n = 10) of the participants used skin bleaching products while pregnant or possibly breastfeeding. Nativeness and education were associated with various components of skin bleaching practice intensity, including duration of skin bleaching, daily use of products, and bleaching of the entire body. Participants’ perceived skin-color-related quality of life was not associated with skin bleaching practice intensity.ConclusionSkin bleaching is a habitual practice that likely requires culturally sensitive interventions to promote behavioral change. The existence of prenatal and postnatal exposure to mercury, hydroquinone, and other potentially harmful chemicals in skin bleaching products highlights an urgent need to explore the adverse effects of skin bleaching practices on birth outcomes and the growth and neurodevelopment of young babies.

Fingolimod in multiple sclerosis: profile of use in habitual practice

ObjectivesFingolimod is the first oral drug indicated in monotherapy as a modifier of the course of very active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The safety profile of fingolimod is well established...

Getting started in research, redefined: five questions for clinically focused physicians in family medicine.

Research is crucial to the development of family medicine around the world. However, family physicians in practice often hesitate to enter into investigative endeavours. Common reasons for such hesitation include limited exposure to the process of conducting research and the belief that research is best conducted by academic scholars. Our intent here is to encourage clinically focused family physicians’ involvement in research activities by explaining how they can cultivate inquisitiveness so as to develop questions for exploration. We present an approach to research that focuses on five steps emergent from the day-to-day, habitual practice of family medicine, wherever in the world it is practised. We illustrate this approach by describing a successful practice-based research study. We conclude by inviting all family physicians to consider integrating research into their practice lives so as to expand their professional horizons and help educate the next generation of global family physicians.

Cultivating virtuous course designers

Technical communicators are often charged with creating access to meaning through technology. However, these practices can have marginalizing effects. This article argues for reimagining accessibility through virtue ethics. Rather than identifying accessibility as an addition to document design or a set of guidelines, virtue ethics situates accessibility as a habitual practice, part of one's character. This article describes the application of virtue ethics in a university partnership, which sought to create a culture of accessibility through three goals: to consider accessibility as an on-going process, to consider accessibility as a "vital" part of all document design, and to recognize accessibility as a shared responsibility among stakeholders. Focusing on the virtues of courage and justice, we interpret data from a survey of instructors and then provide suggestions on how others can join the accessibility conversation.

Telemedicine: contributions, difficulties and key factors for implementation in the prison setting

Information and communication technologies are transforming the way we understand health, via a hyper-connected world in which patients, professionals and society take on new challenges and roles. This change is creating an ecosystem called connected health, in which telemedicine acquires special importance when distance (not only geographical), is a critical factor. It can respond to financial, social or safety needs or questions of dignity, as is the case with prisoners when they are transferred handcuffed and under custody to hospitals. Bringing health services closer to patients who cannot autonomously travel contributes towards humanising healthcare. Tele-consultations, long-distance encounters between patients and health professionals, reduce the direct and social costs inherent to habitual clinical practice and are very highly valued by patients in prison. Despite its potential benefits in the prison setting, the implementation of telemedicine in Spain continues to be scarce and irregular, which, amongst other things, is due to a lack of awareness of this healthcare practice, the severe shortage of resources currently endemic to the prison health service system and the lack of interoperability solutions for clinical information between the healthcare administration and the prison health services, which unfortunately continue to depend on an organisation outside the healthcare ambit (the Ministry of Home Affairs), despite the legal provisions requiring them to be fully integrated into regional health services. The SARA (Administration Applications and Networks Systems) Network and the Reúnete© Service offer solid, secure, free technology is available to all prisons, to set in motion telemedicine programs at a nationwide level.

La tutoría universitaria como práctica docente: fundamentos y métodos para el desarrollo de planes de acción tutorial en la universidad

Resumen La tutoría alcanza, hoy día, una especial consideración en los procesos de formación de los aspirantes a maestros y profesores. Sin embargo, su práctica habitual promueve un distanciamiento con la didáctica, relegándola a una mera atención al alumnado en relación con cuestiones que no inciden, esencialmente, en el alcance de los propósitos que la universidad debe perseguir. En este trabajo, se pretende ofrecer una significación adecuada de la tutoría en la educación superior, con singular proyección en la formación inicial de los profesores de todo el sistema educativo, promoviendo acciones que la sitúen en el lugar que, como práctica docente, le corresponde. Una revisión crítica de las concepciones y prácticas de la tutoría universitaria, y de sus efectos y consideraciones sobre los alumnos, permite ofrecer los fundamentos y métodos que se precisan para alcanzar el exigente cometido que la didáctica universitaria persigue en la formación inicial de los futuros docentes.

Exploring the behavioural drivers of veterinary surgeon antibiotic prescribing: a qualitative study of companion animal veterinary surgeons in the UK

BackgroundMulti-drug resistant bacteria are an increasing concern in both human and veterinary medicine. Inappropriate prescribing and use of antibiotics within veterinary medicine may be a contributory factor to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The ‘One Health’ Initiative aims to work across species and environments to reduce AMR, however; little is currently known about the factors which influence antibiotic prescribing among veterinary surgeons in companion animal practice.This paper reports on qualitative data analysis of interviews with veterinary surgeons whose practice partially or wholly focuses on companion animals (N = 16). The objective of the research was to explore the drivers of companion animal veterinary surgeons’ antibiotic prescribing behaviours. The veterinary surgeons interviewed were all practising within the UK (England (n = 4), Scotland (n = 11), Northern Ireland (n = 1)). A behavioural thematic analysis of the data was undertaken, which identified barriers and facilitators to specific prescribing-related behaviours.ResultsFive components of prescribing behaviours were identified: 1) confirming clinical need for antibiotics; 2) responding to clients; 3) confirming diagnosis; 4) determining dose, duration and type of antibiotic; and 5) preventing infection around surgery (with attendant appropriate and inappropriate antibiotic prescribing behaviours). Barriers to appropriate prescribing identified include: business, diagnostic, fear, habitual practice and pharmaceutical factors. Facilitators include: AMR awareness, infection prevention, professional learning and regulation and government factors.ConclusionThis paper uses a behavioural lens to examine drivers which are an influence on veterinary surgeons’ prescribing behaviours. The paper contributes new understandings about factors which influence antibiotic prescribing behaviours among companion animal veterinary surgeons. This analysis provides evidence to inform future interventions, which are focused on changing prescribing behaviours, in order to address the pressing public health concern of AMR.

Perception and practice of 'healthy' diet in relation to noncommunicable diseases among the urban and rural people in northern Ethiopia: a community-based qualitative study.

ABSTRACTDietary habits are related to the risks of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, of which burdens are increasing in low-income countries including Ethiopia. Although several epidemiological studies of NCD risk factors were conducted in Ethiopia, qualitative studies on people’s dietary habit in relation to NCDs have not been conducted yet. This study aims to describe people’s perception and practice of ‘healthy’ diet, and barriers to practice ‘healthy’ diet, paying attention to the dynamics between the perception and practice. We conducted 16 key informant interviews and eight focus group discussions in an urban and a rural areas in northern Ethiopia between November 2014 and January 2016. Audio-records in local language were transcribed word-for-word, and translated into English. English text data were analyzed qualitatively, through constant comparative analysis following the principles of the grounded theory. Three themes have emerged: (1) dietary habit perceived as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for health; (2) reasons for continuing current ‘unhealthy’ dietary habit; and (3) current dietary habit perceived as ‘traditional.’ People’s practice was mostly consistent with their perception, while they sometimes practiced contrary to the perception because of personal preference and physical or financial obstacles. People were often indifferent of health implications of their habitual dietary practice, such as drinking a lot of sweet coffee. We showed dynamics between perception and practice of ‘healthy’ diet among people in northern Ethiopia. It is needed to increase awareness of NCDs both among the urban and rural people and to improve the social environment for removing the obstacles.

Exposure of Inorganic Mercury in the General Population and Ethnic Minorities in New York City and Its Associations with Skin Lightening Practice

Skin lightening practice (SLP) was identified as a source of inorganic mercury exposure among Caribbean-born blacks and Dominicans, who had geometric mean urine mercury concentration ([GMuHg]) &amp;#8805;1 ng/ml compared to 0.69 ng/ml among the general population in the 2004 New York City Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NYC HANES). We assessed such a pattern using the 2013-2014 HANES (n&amp;#61;1408), which also asked about the usage of skin lightening cream in the past 30 days. In addition, we present the preliminary results from a pilot study on SLP among NYC women of African and Afro-Caribbean ancestries (n&amp;#61;74) who have been bleaching their skin for a year.The population-weighted SLP prevalence was 5.5% overall and 8.1% among the Caribbean population (n&amp;#61;355). The overall [GMuHg] and its 95th percentile was 0.37 and 1.7 ng/ml, similar to the levels found among subgroups such as participants with SLP, the Caribbean population, or the Caribbean participants with SLP. Among those with SLP (n&amp;#61;75), 70% were female, 37% were Hispanic, 36% were Caribbean, and their [uHg] ranged from 0.063 ng/ml to 11ng/ml. Significant factors (p&amp;lt;0.05) associated with [uHg] were being non-US born, higher family income (&amp;#8805;$100,000), having silver-colored dental fillings and frequent fish or shellfish consumption (&amp;#8805;3 times in the past 30 days). In our pilot study, 81% participants were non-US born, about 50% from Jamaica or the Ivory Coast, 89% reported more than 3 years of SLP, 77% used daily, and 12% used while pregnant/breastfeeding.We observed an overall decrease in the population level [GMuHg] in NYC compared to the previous study, and did not find elevated [GMuHg] among the Caribbean or SLP population. Our SLP-focused pilot study showed that SLP is a habitual practice, and the existence of prenatal and postnatal exposures related to SLP may warrant further investigation especially among vulnerable subgroups (e.g., Jamaicans and West Africans) where SLP is more prevalent.

Effects of Practicing Physical Activity During Ramadan Fasting on Health-Related Indices: An Updated Brief Review

Based on Moon observation, every year, adults healthy Muslims practiced Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF) for 29 or 30 consecutive days. During RIF Muslims are allowed to food and fluid intake only during night (from sunset to sunrise). Thus, behavioral changes are observed during RIF (e.g., food and sleep habits). Despite these changes, many healthy Muslims maintain their normal habitual physical exercise practice during RIF. However, changes in blood lipids, metabolic markers, electrolytes and hematological parameters during RIF in practitioners of physical activity are yet poorly studied. Therefore, the present review article will summarize the health specific effects of RIF in subjects engaged in physical training during Ramadan.

An Enquiry on Fish Selling Culture at South Sumatera: Investigation from Islamic Perspective

The diversity in Indonesia makes each region having their model of live, behavior and the mode of transactions. South Sumatera is one of those regions that have been practicing a way of fish sale which is different from others. Fish is sold directly from a pit underneath water flow called lebung through an auction model. This different model of regular sale and auction evokes curiosity as to whether it conforms to shariah requirements or not. The purpose of this research is to investigate the habitual transaction of fish sale in this region. This paper will focus on the practice of people at Seri Kembang I village about the sale by carrying out qualitative approach in a field research involving observation, interview and documentation as the means for collecting data. All data collected will be analyzed through evaluation process by comparing the practice over the actual standard. We conclude that such practice is deemed to be non-permissible since it does not pass some of the standards, especially the garar element. We also provide some suggestion as the alternative of this habitual practice.

The eating habits of mothers and their pre-school children in Japan

Background The eating habits of mothers and children in infancy are important. It is not only impact their own present health, but may effect children's health of lifelong, since early childhood is a crucial moment to formulate basic lifestyle habits. The mothers raise children in infancy could implement healthy lifestyle to prevent lifestyle related diseases of children in future. The aim of this study is to describe eating habits of mothers and their children in Japan. Method A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to women who have children whose age were 3 to 6-years-old at three nursing schools in a regional town, Japan. The questionnaire was about their demographics, lifestyle, and eating habits of mothers and their children. Results In total, 113 women were answered. We excluded the women's data with missing variables. As a result of the exclusion, 95 mothers and their children were the analysis subjects for this research. There were no mothers and children who were on a dietetic treatment. The mean age of women was 36.4 ± 5.3-years-old. The mean age of their children was 4.5 ± 1.0-years-old. The mean body mass index (BMI) of mothers was 21.8 ± 3.4. The mean Kaup index of children was 15.5 ± 1.8. There were 13 (13.7%) women who were underweight (BMI is below 18.5), 68 (71.6%) women were normal weight status (BMI is 18.5 to 24.9), and 14 (14.7%) women who were in overweight status (BMI is more than 25.0). There were 34 (35.8%) children who were underweight (Kaup index is below 15.0), and 68 children who were in normal weight status (Kaup index is 15.0 to 17.9). The number of children who were in overweight status (Kaup index is more than 18.0) was 14 (14.7%). In this study, many mothers and their children had good eating habits. For example, most of the mothers (80.0%) and their children (91.6%) were eating breakfast every day. There was no association between mothers’ and children's good eating habits. While, there were 73 (76.8%) children and 70 (73.7%) mothers who do something at meals, as an example, they were in the habit of watching television while eating. The agreement of this habitual practice between mothers and children was substantial by kappa statistics (κ = 0.633). In regards to dietary supplements use, four children (4.2%) were using dietary supplements including calcium, minerals, or multivitamins, and one child used it before. On the other hand, 47 (49.7%) mothers used to have dietary supplement, and 11 (11.7%) mothers were using some supplements. Discussion The rate of dietary supplements use among Japanese children is lower than children in the United States, Australia and China. We, however, suppose that Japanese children using dietary supplements increase thought the effectiveness is not clear yet. A previous study showed that Japanese mothers who were supplement user tended to use dietary supplements for their children. The number of women who have experience of dietary use is increasing in Japan. There, therefore, is possibility of using supplement for children will increase in Japan. Health education including dietary supplements use is a pressing public health issue to develop healthy dietary habits for mothers and children.

The Egyptian General Directorate for Protecting Public Morality

The Egyptian General Directorate for Protecting Public Morality

Qian Divination and Its Ritual Adaptations in Chinese Buddhism

This article analyzes Buddhist variations of the so called temple oracle (qian 籤 divination) that can be traced historically in the form of sets of answers for people seeking counsel about their future. The ritual is commonly known as a habitual practice in popular religious temples today. Three different ritual texts elucidate modes in which the temple oracle has been woven into Buddhist practice: a doctrinal variation (connected to the aspect of jiao 教) has come to us through the fifth-century Consecration Sūtra; in the sixth-century Sūtra on the Divination of the Effect of Good and Evil Actions can be found a practice-oriented integration (connected to the aspect of xiu 修); and a nominal adaptation (connected to the aspect of ming 名) is preserved with the thirteenth-century Efficacious Slips of Tianzhu. The temple oracle in China is based on long-standing East Asian traditions as Carole Morgan demonstrated about twenty-five years ago in this journal. Based on the initial results presented at the end of this article, future research might shed light on how this tradition evolved in the context of a pan-Asian and Buddhist exchange process.

Novel Commonplaces: Quotation, Epigraphs, and Literary Authority

Until the middle of the nineteenth century, commonplacing was a habitual practice of middle-class US households, undertaken by children and adults alike to record notable quotations and to cultivate their literary taste. Though it declined in popularity with the rise of the scrapbook in the midcentury, commonplacing was for centuries a standard feature of both educational curricula and domestic literacy, with generations of students instructed in the intellectual and moral benefits of selecting and copying passages culled from reading. Commonplace books offer a wealth of vital information about US literary culture, for they not only illuminate eighteenth- and nineteenth-century reading practices by allowing us to discern what US readers valued in various genres, but they also help to document what middle-class and well-to-do Americans were reading. In showing that many Americans were attentively reading and excerpting the works of such less remembered figures as Caroline Sheridan Norton, Charles A. Sprague, and Edward Young, these books may even be said to reveal an alternative canon of nineteenth-century national reading preferences. In addition, commonplace books also affirm the particular status of the quotation, which was so prized that readers dedicated much of their time to the selection and transcription of select passages. According to Barbara Benedict, these handpicked excerpts revealed both the reader’s taste in as well as his or her eye for a well-chosen phrase or a keen observation, and as evinced by the frequency with which commonplacers exchanged and commented on each other’s selections, readers could readily expect to be judged for their choice of quotations (51).

A New Approach to the Classification of Gaelic Song

A New Approach to the Classification of Gaelic Song Virginia Blankenhorn (bio) A good deal of water has flowed under the bridge since James Ross published "A Classification of Gaelic Folk-Song" in 1957.1 Ross's study was typical of a time when scholars favored a clinical and taxonomical approach to oral traditional culture, before modern theories about text, context, and genre began to raise good questions about the application of scientific methods to the analysis of cultural activity. The search for answers to these questions has greatly advanced the way ethnographers and ethnomusicologists understand culture, including the cultures of the Gael.2 After six decades, it seems fitting to revisit Ross's classification system, and to examine whether the effort of constructing such a system is still worthwhile or not. In The Anthropology of Music, Alan Merriam (1964:209) suggests that we understand musical activity by considering the uses and functions that music serves within a given culture: In the study of human behavior we search constantly … not only for the descriptive facts about music, but, more important, for the meaning of music. We wish to know not only what a thing is, but, more significantly, what it does for people and how it does it. Merriam defines the uses of music as "the ways in which music is employed in human society … the habitual practice or customary exercise of music either as a thing in itself or in conjunction with other activities" (210), suggesting that the uses of music can be understood in terms of how musical activity is manifest in daily life—in what social contexts it occurs, and to what utilitarian purposes it is deployed. Function, on the other hand, "concerns the reasons for [music's] employment, particularly the broader purpose which it serves" (ibid.). He contrasts a song's express utility—what it is used for by and within the community, how the people put it to conscious use—with its meaning for that community, how its members feel about that song, and what it says about their life together. He writes (ibid.): Function may not be expressed or even understood from the standpoint of folk evaluation. … The sense in which we use these terms, then, refers to the understanding of what music does for human beings as evaluated by the outside observer … As Merriam suggests, these "functional" concepts may go without saying within the community itself. Indeed, John Shaw's Cape Breton experience seems to indicate as much. Shaw (2010:22) recalls what his informants said when he asked them why they sang: [W]ithout exception the singers regarded it as a non-question and registered a degree of polite confusion as to what was intended by it. The only really coherent answer, that of my friend Dan Allan Gillis of Broad Cove, stated the shared cultural perception concisely enough: "Singing songs? Well, I don't know. People have been singing songs since the world began." The underlying message coming from a people whose favorite pastime is to speculate, usually with great eloquence, on anything encountered in their daily experience, is that singing is a fundamental property of creation along with humankind, the natural environment or the passage of time. In the world-view of their community it doesn't need explaining. Similarly, Thomas McKean (1997:139) observes of his subject, song-maker Iain MacNeacail of Skye, that while he might classify his compositions as nothing more than pastimes: song-making, learning and singing were such a part of daily life that they also functioned on many other levels. … MacNeacail, as part of the community, may not see some of the other ways the songs work; he is unable to gain an objective perspective (and it probably does not occur to him to try). Even so, the gradual transformation of the Gàidhealtachd, the decline of traditional work and leisure contexts, and the increasing influence of the dominant culture have long prompted Gaels to think carefully about their community's legacy of traditional song and lore, and the role that legacy played in the life of the community, in the lives of their parents and grandparents. As a consequence, our understandings of both...

On Energy Reconciliation Diagnose and Their Malfunction: A Proposal of Routes Corrections, Case of Study: Geothermal Power Cycle

In actual energy process in operation, the appearance of Malfunctions that affect the performance and efficiency of the system must be taken care of and evaluated. Previously, in this article, a method to evaluate Malfunctions in energy processes in operation has been presented/described. This method Consists of an evaluation of the current test state (AS) of an energy process and a comparison to a guaranteed reference state (on/off design) (RS), reconciling malfunction by malfunction from the AS to the RS. Moreover, derived from different observations of the scientific community related to the path of reconciliation and order to assess malfunctions. In this article, these are answered and an analysis is made comparative of the reconciliation to fixed demand of power and to fixed load of mass flow and it is possible to make a comparative of different models of reconciliation. Finally the route of correction of Malfunctions is proposed, based on the most habitual practice in the energetic processes, to be implemented in the energy diagnosis reconciliation models in general. The analysis and results are developed for a Rankine organic geothermal steam cycle.

Educational intervention on knowledge of cervical cancer and uptake of Pap smear test among market women in Niger State, Nigeria.

Cervical cancer is the most common female genital tract carcinoma worldwide. It is increasingly becoming the leading carcinoma seen among women in the developing world. The aim of our study was to showcase the effect of educational intervention on the knowledge of cervical cancer and subsequently the uptake of Pap smear test amongst market women in Niger state, Nigeria. The state has a rich network of markets in all the local government areas because of the fishing activities, bountiful agricultural produce yearly and its situation to the North of the national capital, Abuja. This was a quasi-experimental study conducted in two groups with pre and post intervention data collection. Sample size was determined based on a previous similar study done in Nigeria. Multi stage sampling technique was used for recruiting the study participants. SPSS statistical software was used for data entry, editing and analysis. Respondents’ knowledge of cervical cancer were comparable at pre-intervention but were statistically significantly better (P<0.0001) at post-intervention in the intervention group compared to the control group for every variable measured. However, there was only a (Fisher’s exact, P=0.621) compared to the control group. This study showed an increase in knowledge about cervical cancer and Pap smear test however the uptake of Pap smear test remained low even after intervention. This underscores the need for sustained intervention programs to eventually translate knowledge acquired to habitual practice.

The Back to Sleep Campaign, Positional Cranial Deformity, and the Foramen Magnum: New Lessons Learned from Old Pachacamac Crania

In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics discouraged prone sleeping positions because of its association with sudden infant death syndrome. The recommendations prompted the United States Public Health Service to begin the “Back to Sleep Campaign,” to promote the habitual practice of placing newborns to sleep in a supine or side‐lying positions. After the Back to Sleep Campaign was initiated, there was a sudden increase in the incidence of deformational plagiocephaly. Therefore, research is warranted regarding effects on the influence of extrinsic forces on the development of the cranium. This study utilized ‘traditional’ and geometric morphometric techniques to compare the foramen magnum size and shape of Peruvian crania from the Samuel George Morton Collection, largely from Pachacamac and likely to have undergone intentional cranial deformation, to those of craniofacially diverse cultures that were not reputed to practice intentional cranial deformation. The results demonstrate statistically significant differences in the sagittal dimension of the foramen magnum between groups. Likewise, geometric morphometric analysis revealed differences in foraminal shapes between groups. The results of this study suggest that extrinsic compressive forces likely alter the structure of the foramen magnum. These findings should be taken into consideration with regard to modern‐day newborn sleeping positions and positional cranial deformation.Support or Funding InformationWV Research Challenge Fund [HEPC.dsr.14.13]