Promoting better family meals for girls attending summer programs

Numerous cross-sectional studies and some longitudinal studies have identified the positive attributes and protective effects of the traditional family meal. Children and adolescents who frequently eat meals with their families are more likely to eat fruits & vegetables, less likely to consume fried foods, soda, or sweets, less likely to have disordered eating patterns, and less likely to be overweight. However, very few published reports evaluate programs designed to increase the frequency or quality of family meals. Therefore, the purpose of this program was to promote better family meals at home for girls attending a summer program by improving the girls’ food preparation skills, and abilities to be family change agents for more healthful family mealtimes

Does self-determined motivation interact with environmental contexts to influence moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during a girls' youth sport camp?

Objective: To explore whether basketball player's self-determined motivation interacts with environmental contexts and coach training to influence percentage time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (%MVPA). Methods: A secondary analysis of data from 76 girls (mean ± SD, 10.5 ± 1.0 years) was conducted. Players were classified as high self-determined motivation (HSDM) or low self-determined motivation (LSDM) and randomised to trained (intervention) or untrained (control) coaches. Training included 2 workshops on strategies for activity-promoting practices. Girls were exposed to environmental contexts (practices and games) led by a trained/untrained coach (depending on arm) and one without coaches (free time) daily. Girls wore accelerometers each day. Using mixed random-effects models, the influence of motivation, context and training on %MVPA was analysed. Results: Trained coaches' practices were associated with the greatest %MVPA with no difference between HSDM and LSDM players (38.28 ± 1.77%; 37.64 ± 1.80%; p = 0.66). HSDM players had significantly greater %MVPA versus LSDM players during untrained coaches' practices (23.58 ± 1.77%; 20.51 ± 1.78%; p = 0.03). During games with trained coaches, HSDM players had greater %MVPA compared to LSDM players (23.79 ± 1.76%; 18.56 ± 1.74%; p < 0.001). No between-group difference in %MVPA during free time was found (12.85 ± 0.82%; 13.39 ± 0.84%; p = 0.64). Conclusion: The impact of individual differences in self-determined motivation on %MVPA during practices was attenuated when coaches were trained to implement activity-promoting practices

Competitive Orientations Among Intercollegiate Athletes: Is Winning The Only Thing.

Abstract: In this exploratory investigation of competitive orientations, intercollegiate athletes from a highly competitive Division I program and nonathletes from the same university completed Gill&apos;s Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) which assesses competitiveness, win and goal orientation; Vealey&apos;s Competitive Orientation Inventory (COI) which assesses the relative importance of performing well (performance) and winning (outcome) in competitive sports; and Helmreich and Spence&apos;s Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire (WOFO), a general achievement orientation measure. A Gender X Athlete/Nonathlete MANOVA yielded both gender and athlete/nonathlete main effects and no interaction. The gender difference was most evident for competitiveness scores, with males scoring higher than females on competitiveness and win orientation. Athletes scored higher than nonathletes on most measures, but especially so on the sport-specific competitiveness score. Athletes also placed more emphasis on performance and less on outcome than nonathletes did. A secondary analysis compared the eight athletic teams and revealed considerable variation among teams. Generally the team differences were not gender differences but seemed to reflect the competitive structure of the activity. Article: Individual differences in achievement orientation and competitiveness are quite obvious among sport participants and these differences logically relate to sport achievement behaviors and success. According to both Atkinson&apos;s (1974) achievement motivation theory and more current cognitive approaches, highly achievement-oriented individuals approach achievement situations, try hard and strive for success against achievement standards, and persist in the face of failure. These same achievement behaviors should lead to success in athletics. Highly successful athletes are those who enter competitive sports and accept challenges, who set and strive for high performance standards, and who persist in those efforts until they attain their goals. Thus, highly successful athletes should be characterized by high achievement motivation. Despite the appealing logic of the relationship between achievement orientation and athletic success, sport psychology research has not demonstrated any consistent relationship between global achievement motivation constructs and sport achievement behavior

Indicators of community physical activity resources and opportunities and variation by community sociodemographic characteristics: A scoping review

Objective: This scoping review synthesizes studies examining community-level variability in physical activity resource (assets) and opportunity (organized group physical activity services) availability by community sociodemographic characteristics to describe methodologies for measuring resources/opportunities, indicators characterizing availability, and associations between community-level sociodemographic characteristics and availability. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus for literature through 2022. Eligible studies quantitatively examined measures of physical activity resource/opportunity availability by community-level racial, ethnic, and/or socioeconomic characteristics within geospatially defined communities. Extracted data included: community geospatial definitions, sociodemographic characteristics assessed, methodologies for measuring and indicators of community physical activity resource/opportunity availability, and study findings. Results: Among the 46 included studies, community geospatial units were defined by 28 different community boundaries (e.g., town), and 13% of studies were conducted in rural areas. Nearly all (98%) studies measured community-level socioeconomic status, and 45% of studies measured race/ethnicity. A total of 41 indicators of physical activity resource/opportunity availability were identified. Most studies (91%) assessed built environment resources (e.g., parks), while 8.7% of studies assessed opportunities (e.g., programs). Of 141 associations/ differences between community sociodemographic characteristics and resource/opportunity availability, 29.8% indicated greater availability in communities of higher socioeconomic status or lower prevalence of minority populations. The remaining findings were in the opposite direction (9.2%), non-significant (36.9%), or mixed (24.1%). Conclusions: Variability in physical activity resources/opportunities by community sociodemographic characteristics was not consistently evident. However, the indicators synthesized may be useful for informing population health improvement efforts by illuminating the physical and social conditions impacting population physical activity outcomes

Physical activity patterns across time-segmented youth sport flag football practice.

BACKGROUND: Youth sport (YS) reaches a large number of children world-wide and contributes substantially to children's daily physical activity (PA), yet less than half of YS time has been shown to be spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Physical activity during practice is likely to vary depending on practice structure that changes across YS time, therefore the purpose of this study was 1) to describe the type and frequency of segments of time, defined by contextual characteristics of practice structure, during YS practices and 2) determine the influence of these segments on PA. METHODS: Research assistants video-recorded the full duration of 28 practices from 14 boys' flag football teams (2 practices/team) while children concurrently (N = 111, aged 5-11 years, mean 7.9 ± 1.2 years) wore ActiGraph GT1M accelerometers to measure PA. Observers divided videos of each practice into continuous context time segments (N = 204; mean-segments-per-practice = 7.3, SD = 2.5) using start/stop points defined by change in context characteristics, and assigned a value for task (e.g., management, gameplay, etc.), member arrangement (e.g., small group, whole group, etc.), and setting demand (i.e., fosters participation, fosters exclusion). Segments were then paired with accelerometer data. Data were analyzed using a multilevel model with segment as unit of analysis. RESULTS: Whole practices averaged 34 ± 2.4% of time spent in MVPA. Free-play (51.5 ± 5.5%), gameplay (53.6 ± 3.7%), and warm-up (53.9 ± 3.6%) segments had greater percentage of time (%time) in MVPA compared to fitness (36.8 ± 4.4%) segments (p ≤ .01). Greater %time was spent in MVPA during free-play segments compared to scrimmage (30.2 ± 4.6%), strategy (30.6 ± 3.2%), and sport-skill (31.6 ± 3.1%) segments (p ≤ .01), and in segments that fostered participation (36.1 ± 2.7%) than segments that fostered exclusion (29.1 ± 3.0%; p ≤ .01). Significantly greater %time was spent in low-energy stationary behavior in fitness (15.7 ± 3.4%) than gameplay (4.0 ± 2.9%) segments (p ≤ .01), and in sport-skill (17.6 ± 2.2%) than free-play (8.2 ± 4.2%), gameplay, and warm-up (10.6 ± 2.6%) segments (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The %time spent in low-energy stationary behavior and in MVPA differed by characteristics of task and setting demand of the segment. Restructuring the routine of YS practice to include segments conducive to MVPA could increase %time spent in MVPA during practice. As YS reaches a large number of children worldwide, increasing PA during YS has the potential to create a public health impact

Fundraising, celebrations and classroom rewards are substantial sources of unhealthy foods and beverages on public school campuses

Objective: The emphasis in school nutrition policy has been on vending and competitive items. Our study was designed to characterize and quantify the amount and source of other foods and beverages on school campuses. Design: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using a specially designed objective nutrition observation system. Setting: One low-income school district in southern California with six elementary and two middle schools. Subjects: Data were not collected from individual children. A total of 4033 students, 42 % of whom were Hispanic/Latino, 26 % African American and 21 % non-Hispanic white, were observed across school settings. Results: Data were collected continuously from 9 January 2008 to 16 June 2010. Healthy foods had, per serving, total energy ≤732 kJ (≤175 kcal), total fat content ≤35 %, total saturated fat ≤10 %, sugar less ≤15 g, sodium <200 mg and trans-fat ≤0·5 g. Healthy beverages were only 100 % juice or water, and unflavoured non-fat, 1 %, 2 % milk and soya or rice milk. The system had high inter-rater reliability (r = 0·78 to 0·99), percentage agreement (83 % to 100 %) and test–retest reliability (r = 0·81 to 0·98). Significantly more unhealthy foods and beverages than healthy items were observed on all campuses (P < 0·001). An average of 1·26 (sd 0·46) items per student per week was found with an average of 0·86 (sd 0·34) unhealthy items per child per week. Conclusions: There were substantial amounts of unhealthy foods and beverages brought onto campuses for classroom rewards, celebrations and fundraising that should be targeted for intervention

Provider reported implementation of nutrition-related practices in childcare centers and family childcare homes in rural and urban Nebraska

Approximately 15 million children under age 6 are in childcare settings, offering childcare providers an opportunity to influence children’s dietary intake. Childcare settings vary in organizational structure – childcare centers (CCCs) vs. family childcare homes (FCCHs) – and in geographical location – urban vs. rural. Research on the nutrition-related best practices across these childcare settings is scarce. The objective of this study is to compare nutrition-related best practices of CCCs and FCCHs that participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) in rural and urban Nebraska. Nebraska providers (urban n = 591; rural n = 579) reported implementation level, implementation difficulty and barriers to implementing evidence-informed food served and mealtime practices. Chi-square tests comparing CCCs and FCCHs in urban Nebraska and CCCs and FCCHs in rural Nebraska showed sub-optimal implementation for some practices across all groups, including limiting fried meats and high sugar/ high fat foods, using healthier foods or non-food treats for celebrations and serving meals family style. Significant differences (p \u3c .05) between CCCs and FCCHs also emerged, especially with regard to perceived barriers to implementing best practices. For example, CCCs reported not having enough money to cover the cost of meals for providers, lack of control over foods served and storage problems, whereas FCCHs reported lack of time to prepare healthier foods and sit with children during mealtimes. Findings suggest that policy and public health interventions may need to be targeted to address the unique challenges of implementing evidence-informed practices within different organizational structures and geographic locations

Wildcat wellness coaching feasibility trial: protocol for home-based health behavior mentoring in girls

Citation: Cull, B. J., Rosenkranz, S. K., Dzewaltowski, D. A., Teeman, C. S., Knutson, C. K., & Rosenkranz, R. R. (2016). Wildcat wellness coaching feasibility trial: protocol for home-based health behavior mentoring in girls. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 2(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-016-0066-yChildhood obesity is a major public health problem, with one third of America’s children classified as either overweight or obese. Obesity prevention and health promotion programs using components such as wellness coaching and home-based interventions have shown promise, but there is a lack of published research evaluating the impact of a combined home-based and wellness coaching intervention for obesity prevention and health promotion in young girls. The main objective of this study is to test the feasibility of such an intervention on metrics related to recruitment, intervention delivery, and health-related outcome assessments. The secondary outcome is to evaluate the possibility of change in health-related psychosocial, behavioral, and biomedical outcomes in our sample of participants

Evaluating the Implementation and Effectiveness of the SWITCH-MS: An Ecological, Multi-Component Adolescent Obesity Prevention Intervention

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of an ecological, multi-component adolescent obesity prevention intervention called School Wellness Integration Targeting Child Health-Middle School (SWITCH-MS).Methods: Following the effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 3 quasi-experimental design, seven middle schools (377 students) in Iowa, United States, were stratified into experienced (n= 3; 110 students) or inexperienced (n= 4; 267 students) groups to receive the 12-week SWITCH-MS intervention. To evaluate implementation, school informants (n= 10) responded to a survey and students completed behavioral tracking in the classroom on a website. For effectiveness evaluation, students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades completed a validated questionnaire before and after intervention, to measure behaviors of physical activity (PA; Do ), screen-based activity ( View ), and fruits and vegetable consumption ( Chew ).Results: The two groups of schools showed similar levels of implementation for best practices, awareness, and engagement. Behavioral tracking rate favored the experienced schools early on (47.5% vs. 11.7%), but differences leveled off in weeks 3-12 (sustained at 30.1-44.3%). Linear mixed models demonstrated significant time effects for Do (at school and out of school;p\u3c 0.01) and View behaviors (p= 0.02), after controlling for student- and school-level covariates.Conclusions: This study demonstrates that prior experience with SWITCH-MS may not be a prominent factor for implementation and effectiveness, although greater experience is associated with favorable behavioral tracking when the intervention is first launched