Browsing by Subject "Body weight"

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Dietary behavior in low income postpartum women : psychosocial and body weight correlates
(2004-05) George, Goldy Chacko, 1973-; Freeland-Graves, Jeanne H.
The purpose of this research was to examine psychosocial and body weight correlates of dietary behavior in low-income tri-ethnic women. In Study 1, a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed and validated against diet records in 95 college women and 50 low-income postpartum women. Pearson's correlations were 0.42 among college women and 0.45 among low-income women. Cross-classification of participants into quartiles resulted in 76% of college women and 79% of low-income women being classified correctly. These results suggested that the FFQ was valid for dietary assessment among young women in the southwestern United States. In Study 2, approximately 160 mothers were recruited in the hospital 0-1 days following childbirth, and prepregnancy weight and demographic information were obtained. Weight was measured at 6 months and 1 year postpartum; psychosocial factors were assessed at 1 year. Diet during pregnancy and postpartum was assessed via food frequency questionnaires administered at 1.5 months, and at 6 and 12 months postpartum, respectively. From pregnancy to postpartum, % calories from fat (delta = +1.1%, p<0.05) and added sugar (delta = +2.0%, p<0.05) increased. A greater percentage of lactating than non-lactating women (64% vs. 38%, p<0.05) met recommendations for fruits during pregnancy. Mean intakes of calcium, vitamin A and dairy foods were higher in women who had retained <10% of their prepregnancy weight at 1 year postpartum than in those who had gained [greater-than or equal to] 10%. During late postpartum, women in the highest tertile of compliance with dietary recommendations had a more positive body image (p<0.041) than those in the lowest tertile, and less neglect of self-care (p<0.001), weight-related distress (p<0.006), stress (p<0.009), depressive symptoms (p<0.020), and perceived barriers to weight loss (p<0.039). These findings suggest that the transition from pregnancy to postpartum is associated with a negative impact on dietary behavior in low-income women. Intakes of calcium, vitamin A and dairy foods may be associated with lower weight retention in postpartum. Furthermore, psychosocial variables may influence adherence to dietary guidelines during this time.
Influences on physical activity in Latino adolescents over time
(2017-08-11) Tovar, Marlene; Rew, Lynn; Johnson, Karen E., (Ph. D. in nursing); Garcia, Alexandra A; Marquez , David X; von Sternberg, Kirk L
Compared to ethnic groups, Latinos are disproportionally at risk for developing chronic diseases that are preventable with adequate physical activity, which has been effective in lowering health risks. Latino youths are the least physically active among adolescents; however, factors influencing their physical activity are understudied. Latent growth structural equation modeling was used for the analyses of cohort-sequential longitudinal secondary data. Tests of invariance indicated that data was equivalent across the cohorts. This study examined moderate physical activity (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) trajectories in a nonprobability sample of 615 self-reported Latino adolescents aged 14 to 18 using an adapted theoretical framework, Pender’s Health Promotion model. It also examined the effects of age; gender; family annual income; parent’s marital status; and self-perceptions in physical appearance, body weight, athletic competence, social acceptance, global self-worth, ethnic identity, social connectedness, and parent-adolescent communication on physical activity intercept and slope. The analyses included addressing subsets of incomplete data, and maximum likelihood methodology was used to decrease bias in the likelihood estimates. Findings revealed two distinctive physical activity trajectories with different influences through middle adolescence in Latino youths. The average MPA was below recommendations and steady without gender differences, whereas the average VPA met national recommendations with gender differences at initial status and declined linearly and steadily in both girls and boys. Almost 6 out of 10 parents reported an annual family income of US$40,000 or less, and 64.5% were married at enrollment. Salient findings indicated that having a family with a higher annual income than others or married parents did not impact physical activity in Latino youths. However, those who showed more athletic competence also had more VPA when they were in grade 9, and those with more parent-adolescent communication or more changes in body weight perceptions had more MPA. Those with the highest scores in social connectedness had less MPA when participants were in grade 9, and those with the largest gains in social connectedness had a lower VPA change rate. Implications of the findings for nursing practice, education policy, and research are discussed.
Weight control, self-perception, and self-esteem in adolescence : the role of schools and social comparison
(2011-05) Mueller, Anna Strassmann; Muller, Chandra; Raley, R. Kelly; Frank, Kenneth; Hayward, Mark; Umberson, Debra; Crosnoe, Robert
For adolescents, body weight can be a complicated and sometimes difficult issue. Though the majority of adolescents report being aware of normative gendered body ideals, how adolescents incorporate or reject these ideals into their own weight-control decisions or sense of self can vary dramatically, largely in reaction to their social experiences with body ideals in the local, immediate contexts of their daily lives. The role of one such local context - schools - has remained largely unexplored in existing literature. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and multi-level modeling, I investigate the role high school weight cultures play in the development of adolescents’ weight-loss behaviors, overweight self-perceptions, and self-esteem. I employ social comparison theories, specifically the idea of who may serve as a likely target for social comparison - general others, similar others, or high status others - to develop hypotheses about which aspects of the school context may be associated with various aspects of adolescents’ body weight. Overall, my results indicate that there is a strong relationship between adolescents’ weight-loss behavior, self-perception and self-esteem and the weight-related culture in the school. For example, adolescent boys, on average, are significantly less likely to report perceiving themselves as overweight or engaging in weight-loss behaviors when they attend schools where there are many overweight boys in the student body. I also find that there is some variation within the school in terms of which peers are most salient to adolescents’ behaviors and self-perceptions. Both boys and girls are particularly impacted by the values and behaviors of similar others, when similarity is defined by same-sex adolescents of a similar body size. For example, on average, overweight adolescent girls are significantly more likely to report engaging in weight-loss behaviors when a higher proportion of overweight girls in their school also are engaged in weight-loss behaviors. The same pattern is found among adolescent boys. Overall, these findings suggest that meso-level social contexts - like schools - may be particularly important to how individuals incorporate macro-level beliefs or values - like gendered body ideals - into their own behaviors and self-concepts.