E

Select a term to view the definition:
  • EAR cut-point method

    Professional Description:

    EAR cut-point method is used to determine the prevalence of inadequacy for a group or more specifically the proportion of a group with intakes below the EAR.

  • ECE

    Professional Description:

    Early Childhood Educator or Education

  • Ecologic Study

    Professional Description:

    "A study in which the units of analysis are populations or groups of people rather than individuals. An example is the study of the relationship between the distribution of income and mortality rates in states or provinces. Conclusions of ecological studies may not apply to individuals; thus caution is needed to avoid the ecological fallacy."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Ecological Fallacy

    Professional Description:

    "An erroneous inference that may occur because an association observed between variables on an aggregate level does not necessarily represent or reflect the association that exists at an individual level; a causal relationship that exists on a group level or among groups may not exist among the group individuals."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Effect Size

    Professional Description:

    "This term has different meanings in different disciplines. it is sometimes used to refer to a standardized measure of a treatment effect, but in epidemiology it usually refers to the strength of association of a health outcome with a risk factor."

    Source: Patton SB. Epidemiology for Canadian students, principles, methods and critical appraisal, 2nd edition. Canada: Brush Education Inc.; 2018.

    Consumer Description:

    This is the difference in outcomes between the intervention and the control groups, which is expressed in the units of comparison, i.e. such as the difference between the averages, proportions, the correlations or the ratio: risk ratio, hazard ratio or odds ratio.

  • Encopresis

    Professional Description:

    Encopresis or fecal incontinence occurs when stool (formed, semi-formed or liquid) seeps around the fecal mass and leaks out.

  • Endophenotype

    Professional Description:

    Measurable components unseen by the unaided eye along the pathway between disease and distal genotype. It may be neurophysiological, biochemical, endocrinological, neuroanatomical, cognitive, or neuropsychological in nature.

    Source: Gottesman II, Gould TD. The endophenotype concept in psychiatry: etymology and strategic intentions. Am J Psychiatry. 2003;160(4):636-45. Abstract available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12668349

  • Endurance capacity

    Professional Description:

    Endurance capacity is the time to fatigue (or time to exhaustion) at a fixed exercise intensity or pace.

  • Enteric coated

    Professional Description:

    Enteric coated is being or possessing a coating designed to pass through the stomach unaltered and to disintegrate in the intestines.

  • Enteric Hyperoxaluria

    Professional Description:

    A condition that occurs in individuals with intestinal malabsorption of fat.

  • Enterobacter sakazakii

    Professional Description:

    Referred to now as Cronobacter spp.

  • Enteropathy

    Professional Description:

    Enteropathy is a disease of the intestinal tract.

  • Environmental Racism

    Professional Description:

    "Intentional or unintentional racial discrimination in environmental policy‐making, enforcement of regulations and laws, and targeting of communities for the disposal of toxic waste and siting of polluting industries".

    Source: Oxford Reference. Available from: https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095753679

  • Epitope

    Professional Description:

    An epitope is a single antigenic site on a protein against which an antibody reacts. An epitope is composed of several amino acids in a sequence and configuration that elicits an immunological response and the production of antibodies designed to couple with that specific structure.

  • Equity-seeking Groups

    Professional Description:

    Groups that take an active role in changing processes and structures that influence health. It may also refer to socially disadvantaged, excluded or marginalized populations who experience significant barriers to fully participating in society. These barriers include attitudinal, historic, social and environmental barriers.

    Sources:
    National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH). Let’s talk: Populations and the power of language. National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health, St. Francis Xavier University; 2013.
    Equity and Inclusion Office. Equity & Inclusion Glossary of Terms: Equity Seeking. The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. No date.

  • Erythropoiesis

    Professional Description:

    Erythropoiesis, also called erythroctopoiesis, is the production of red blood cells.

  • Escape extinction

    Professional Description:

    Escape extinction involves not allowing an escape from, or avoidance of, the appropriate eating behaviour. An example of this may involve positioning the spoon in front of the child’s mouth until the bite is accepted, thereby preventing the child from escaping or avoiding the bite.

    Source: MacNaul HL, Neely LC. Systematic review of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior without extinction for individuals with autism. Behavior modification. 2018 May;42(3):398-421.

  • Estimated Average Requirement

    Professional Description:

    Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) is the nutrient intake value that is estimated to meet the requirement defined by a specified indicator of adequacy in 50% of the individuals in a life stage and gender group.

  • Estimated Energy Requirement

    Professional Description:

    Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) is the average dietary energy intake that is predicted to maintain energy balance in a healthy adult of a defined age, gender, weight, height, and a level of physical activity that is consistent with good health.

  • Estrogen receptor negative

    Professional Description:

    Breast cancer cells that do not have receptors for estrogen.


    Source: breastcancer.org

  • Estrogen receptor positive

    Professional Description:

    The breast cancer cells that have receptors for estrogen.


    Source: breastcancer.org

  • Euvolemia

    Professional Description:

    Euvolemia is the presence of the proper amount of blood or fluid in the body.

  • Evidence-based Dietetics Practice

    Professional Description:

    Evidence-based dietetics practice is about asking questions, systematically finding research evidence, and assessing the validity, applicability and importance of that evidence. This evidence-based information is then combined with the dietitian's expertise and judgment and the client’s or community’s unique values and circumstances to guide decision-making in dietetics.

    International Confederation of Dietetic Associations (2010)

  • Evidence-Based Medicine

    Professional Description:

    "1. The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. Evidence-based clinical practice requires integration of individual clinical expertise and patient preferences with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research, and consideration of available resources. 2. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) can be considered a subcategory of evidence-based health care, which also includes other branches of health care practice such as evidence-based nursing or evidence-based physiotherapy. EBM subcategories include evidence-based surgery and evidence-based cardiology."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Evidence-Based Practice

    Professional Description:

    "The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. Evidence-based clinical practice requires integration of individual clinical expertise and patient preferences with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research, and consideration of available resources."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Excitotoxicity

    Professional Description:

    A process where neurons are damaged or destroyed through excess stimulation and receptor activation because of imbalances in neurotransmitters and ions. Neuronal cell membranes are damaged because of the primary injury, leading to a loss of K+ and an influx of Na+ and Ca+ ions. Neurons use electrical signaling to communicate, and this ion imbalance causes depolarization of the cell, which leads to random propagation of nerve impulses. Uncontrolled firing of neurons results in the undesired release of neurotransmitters and glutamate, which damage receptors on surrounding neurons, increasing the rate of cell death by up-regulating cell apoptosis pathways.

  • Exclusive breastfeeding

    Professional Description:

    Exclusive breastfeeding is when no food or liquid other than breastmilk, not even water, is given to the infant from birth by the mother, health care provider, or family member/supporter.

  • Exposure technique

    Professional Description:

    Exposure techniques involve exposing the individual to the anxiety source or its context without the intention to cause any danger. Doing so is thought to help overcome anxiety or distress.

    Source: Reilly EE, Anderson LM, Gorrell S, Schaumberg K, Anderson DA. Expanding exposure‐based interventions for eating disorders. Inter J Eating Dis. 2017 Oct;50(10):1137-41.

  • Extensively hydrolyzed infant formula

    Professional Description:

    An extensively hydrolyzed infant formula is a formula in which the constituents, especially the proteins, have been hydrolyzed (“digested”) by enzymatic activity to yield single amino acids and small peptides to achieve a product that has few proteins capable of initiating an immunological response.