Maternal and best friends\u27 influences on meal-skipping behaviours

Skipping meals is particularly common during adolescence and can have a detrimental effect on multiple aspects of adolescent health.&nbsp;Understanding the correlates of meal-skipping behaviours is important for the design of nutrition interventions. The present study examined&nbsp;maternal and best friends&rsquo; influences on adolescent meal-skipping behaviours. Frequency of skipping breakfast, lunch and dinner was&nbsp;assessed using a Web-based survey completed by 3001 adolescent boys and girls from years 7 and 9 of secondary schools in Victoria,&nbsp;Australia. Perceived best friend and maternal meal skipping, modelling of healthy eating (eating healthy food, limiting junk food,&nbsp;eating fruit and vegetables) and weight watching were assessed. Best friend and maternal factors were differentially associated with&nbsp;meal-skipping behaviours. For example, boys and girls who perceived that their best friend often skipped meals were more likely to&nbsp;skip lunch (OR &frac14; 2&middot;01, 95% CI 1&middot;33, 3&middot;04 and OR &frac14; 1&middot;93, 95% CI 1&middot;41, 2&middot;65; P,0&middot;001). Boys and girls who perceived that their mother&nbsp;often skipped meals were more likely to skip breakfast (OR &frac14; 1&middot;48, 95% CI 1&middot;01, 2&middot;15; P,0&middot;05 and OR &frac14; 1&middot;93, 95% CI 1&middot;42, 2&middot;59;&nbsp;P,0&middot;001) and lunch (OR &frac14; 2&middot;05, 95% CI 1&middot;35, 3&middot;12 and OR &frac14; 2&middot;02, 95% CI 1&middot;43, 2&middot;86; P,0&middot;001). Educating adolescents on how to&nbsp;assess and interpret unhealthy eating behaviours that they observe from significant others may be one nutrition promotion strategy to&nbsp;reduce meal-skipping behaviour. The involvement of mothers may be particularly important in such efforts. Encouraging a peer subculture&nbsp;that promotes regular consumption of meals and educates adolescents on the detrimental impact of meal-skipping behaviour on health&nbsp;may also offer a promising nutrition promotion strategy.</span

On Shape and Being Shaped - Rethinking the Urban Built Environment as a Catalyst of Childhood Inactivity and Obesity

Childhood obesity, although a preventable condition, remains a major global public health concern. Despite tremendous efforts, researchers and policymakers have been unable to turn the tide on children’s weight gain. In recent years, Health Geographers have increasingly acknowledged the role of place in determining children’s levels of extracurricular physical activity, thereby influencing their body shapes. This recognition has not, however, led to a full understanding of the triad connecting the built environment to children’s physical activity and body composition. My dissertation therefore aimed to fill this gap by comprehensively uncovering the dynamics at work in this triad. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design was adopted, combining the strengths of quantitative spatial epidemiology and the qualitative exploration of children’s context-specific lifeworlds in London. The integration of findings obtained through these different research lenses showed that the built environment was severely implicated in determining the body composition of young citizens. This effect, however, was not direct, as out-of-school activity emerged as the crucial pivot mediating the built environmental-body composition relation. Through numbers and narratives, the myriad ways in which the environment, activity and body shape interacted were unveiled. First, I demonstrated the need to disentangle extracurricular physical activity and body mass metrics into their prime components. Having done so, I established that active school travel constitutes a primary pathway in tackling the overweight and obesity epidemic, due to its fat-mass-reducing effect and close associations with the built environment. Integration of quantitative and qualitative evidence showed how proximity to school, traffic safety, the provision of safe and well-maintained pavements and crossroads, and parental perceptions were crucially involved in this relationship. Having contributed to the translation of these findings into policy and practice through concrete policy recommendations, this research constitutes a bold step towards the creation of activity-inciting, leptogenic environments for children.ESRC DTP Scholarship; grant number: ES/J500033/1 Gonville & Caius College Cambridge, Gonville Scholarshi

The psychological determinants of healthy eating and physical activity among adolescents in Dubai

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyThis research examined the psychosocial factors influencing physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake behaviour, intentions and health cognitions in secondary school children in the United Arab Emirates. Study 1 examined the prediction of Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) and Prototype/Willingness Model (Gibbons and Gerrard, 1995) on behaviour, intentions and cognitions in 536 secondary school students. Findings indicated that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and prototype perceptions accounted for a significant proportion of behavioural intentions, after controlling for parental behaviour. Prototype variables, especially similarity, improved the predicting validity of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Some differences between age and gender were noted. Prototype similarity appeared to be the strongest predictor of behavioural intentions out of the prototype measures. Study 2 tested the effectiveness of an action planning intervention (Gollwitzer, 1993) and image intervention (Gibbons and Gerrard,1995) in 188 secondary school students. A longitudinal design was employed collecting data over 6 months measuring behaviour, behavioural interventions and components from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Prototype/Willingness Model. Participants in the action‐planning group were asked to form specific implementation intentions of physical activity and fruitand vegetable intake. Participants in the image group were asked to consider favourable behaviour specific prototype and describe them. Findings revealed no significant intervention effects on intentions or behaviour. Some significant effects were seen on health cognitions across time points and conditions. Study 3 explored knowledge, outcome expectations, facilitators and social modelling, drawing from Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) by conducting 8 semistructured focus group interviews (N=40). Emerging themes were: ‘Knowledge of physical activity’, ‘Impact on health, wellbeing and physical appearance’, ‘Having fun together’, ‘Important role models’ ‘Knowledge of healthy eating’, ‘Physical and psychological rewards’, ‘Availability and appearance’ and ‘Sometimes yummy and sometimes yucky’. Findings highlighted enjoyment and social factors as strong influences of physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake. The overall findings provided some evidence for future implications and further quantitative and qualitative approaches were recommended to further establish the influential factors of children’s healthy eating and physical activity habits in the Middle East

Correlates of sugar-sweetened beverages consumption among adolescents

Objective: To identify correlates and underlying beliefs regarding the adolescents’ intention to abstain from consuming sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and the consumption of ≤1 daily portion of SSB. Design: Correlational study. Setting: Region of Chaudière-Appalaches in the province of Quebec, Canada. Participants: 311 adolescents aged 13–18 years completed a self-administrated online questionnaire based on the Reasoned Action Approach. Frequency and quantity of different types of SSB within the past month were measured. Results: Total mean SSB intake was 882·6 ml/d (654·0 kJ/d ). Only 11·3 % abstained from SSB within the last month. Intention to abstain from SSB was explained by identification as SSB abstainers ( β = 0·47), perceived norm ( β = 0·32), attitude ( β = 0·30), age 13–14 years ( β = –0·27) and perception of the school environment ( β = 0·14), which explained 66 % of the variance. Consumption of ≤1 daily portion of SSB was explained by the intention to abstain (OR = 1·55; 95 % CI 1·14, 2·11), perceived behavioural control to abstain (OR = 1·80; 95 % CI 1·29, 2·52), sex (girls v. boys: OR = 2·34; 95 % CI 1·37, 3·98) and socio-economic status (advantaged v. disadvantaged school: OR = 2·08; 95 % CI 1·21, 3·56). Underlying beliefs (i.e. more energy, decreased risk of addiction and friends’ approval) associated with intention as well as perceived barriers (e.g. access to SSB, after an activity that makes you thirsty), and facilitating factors (e.g. access to water) linked to SSB consumption were identified. Conclusions: The results can inform public health interventions to decrease SSB consumption and their associated health problems among adolescents

A longitudinal analysis of physical activity and overweight/obesity in adolescents in Saskatoon

Overweight and obesity, one of the most common public health problems in affluent societies, have become epidemic not only in Canada but also throughout the world. Obesity is also a major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease and disability such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disorders. Studies have demonstrated clearly that higher intake of cholesterol and saturated fats and generally higher intake of energy-dense food are a key determinant of increasing levels of obesity and overweight in children. Physical activity is also recognized as a major factor in preventing obesity among children. Environmental factors—by which we mean both social (such as social support, social networks) and physical environment (such as access to physical activity amenities, roads and trails, grocery stores)—in generally believed to have a powerful influence on either limiting or enhancing the effects of fundamental determinants (diet and physical activity) of obesity in children. This thesis focuses on one of the key determinants, physical activity, and in turn examines factors that are related to changing physical activity in children. This research was designed to examine two major questions: (1) How do physical activity and overweigh/obesity change over time in a cohort of adolescents in Saskatoon? Are there differences in the patterns of change in overweight/obesity and physical activity between boys and girls? (2) What are the effects of family/friends and physical environments on the changing patterns of physical activity in this sample? The data used in this study was taken from the in motion studies’ longitudinal data. Study participants include 837 adolescents from12-18 years of age from two high schools and five elementary schools from two diverse geographic areas in Saskatoon (low and high socioeconomic status). Physical activity patterns of adolescents were investigated over a five-month period (e.g., type, frequency, and duration). Participants were also asked to respond to questions on demographics, social support, perceived benefits and barriers of physical activity, and health practices. The results of this study indicated that overweight/obesity increased with age, while physical activity decreased with age for both boys and girls. Boys overall were more likely to be physically active than were girls. Adolescents who received greater direct support from family members were 21% more likely to sustain their physical activity levels (relative odds 1.21; 95% CI 1.17, 1.24); in contrast, the more the family’s indirect support the 5.4% less sustaining were the adolescents’ physical activity (relative odds 0.94; 95% CI 0.91, 0.98). Home environments which were ‘rich’ in resources relevant to physical activity had 4% greater influence on adolescents’ physical activity levels, and this relationship was stronger than that of the influence of living in certain neighbourhoods (relative odds 1.04; 95% CI 1.03, 1.05). This research shed some greater understanding of the impact of family’s support and physical environment factors on adolescents’ continued physical activity levels. The implications of results for further research, targeted programs, and social policy is discussed in the thesis

Examining geographic variation in children\u27s perceived barriers to physical activity and the implications on behaviour

Low levels of physical activity among Canadian children has become a national public health issue. Recent research has suggested that children’s physical activity levels are associated with their perceptions of their everyday environments. A better understanding of the formation of these perceptions within different contexts is needed to explain the extent of the relationship. Using a multi-tool quantitative protocol, this thesis examines geographic variation in socio-ecological factors influencing children’s perceptions of barriers to PA, and the extent to which perceptions mediate the relationship of the environment and PA. Results indicate that perceptions form within contexts, and have an influence on PA. The studies take place in Northwestern and Southwestern Ontario. This research provides a starting point for future research, policy, and practice to consider how structures of children’s environments determine experiences of PA, suggesting a new way to conceptualize behaviour to determine effective strategies for improving children’s PA and overall health