Evaluation of Messages to Motivate Parents to Promote Intake of Calcium-Rich Foods in Early Adolescents

M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2015.Includes bibliographical references.Parental practices such as role modeling and setting rules and expectations influence intake of calcium-rich foods and beverages (CRFB) in early adolescents. This study aimed to test three posters promoting such parental practices with respect to comprehension, cultural and personal relevance, and ability to motivate parents to encourage CRFB intake. Interviews were conducted with 14 Hispanic and 6 Asian parents from three states to evaluate two posters containing images and taglines tailored to these racial/ethnic groups, entitled “Good play starts with calcium” and “Strong families start with good nutrition.” Responses were reviewed for common themes. For the message, “Good play starts with calcium,” both groups of parents understood the message to provide CRFB to their children for adequate calcium intake. Only Hispanics, however, recognized the connection between calcium intake and strong bones. For the message, “Strong families start with good nutrition,” both groups had difficulty understanding that the foods pictured contained calcium and should be provided to ensure adequate intake. Both posters were considered culturally and personally relevant; however, respondents did not indicate motivation to provide CRFB in response to posters. Given the issues identified regarding comprehension and ability to motivate parents, modifications are needed to emphasize the connection between images and taglines featured in the posters and calcium intake for use in a future intervention to improve CRFB-promoting practices among parents of early adolescents

Quantifying cancer risk from exposures to medical imaging in the Risk of Pediatric and Adolescent Cancer Associated with Medical Imaging (RIC) Study: research methods and cohort profile

PurposeThe Risk of Pediatric and Adolescent Cancer Associated with Medical Imaging (RIC) Study is quantifying the association between cumulative radiation exposure from fetal and/or childhood medical imaging and subsequent cancer risk. This manuscript describes the study cohorts and research methods.MethodsThe RIC Study is a longitudinal study of children in two retrospective cohorts from 6 U.S. healthcare systems and from Ontario, Canada over the period 1995-2017. The fetal-exposure cohort includes children whose mothers were enrolled in the healthcare system during their entire pregnancy and followed to age 20. The childhood-exposure cohort includes children born into the system and followed while continuously enrolled. Imaging utilization was determined using administrative data. Computed tomography (CT) parameters were collected to estimate individualized patient organ dosimetry. Organ dose libraries for average exposures were constructed for radiography, fluoroscopy, and angiography, while diagnostic radiopharmaceutical biokinetic models were applied to estimate organ doses received in nuclear medicine procedures. Cancers were ascertained from local and state/provincial cancer registry linkages.ResultsThe fetal-exposure cohort includes 3,474,000 children among whom 6,606 cancers (2394 leukemias) were diagnosed over 37,659,582 person-years; 0.5% had in utero exposure to CT, 4.0% radiography, 0.5% fluoroscopy, 0.04% angiography, 0.2% nuclear medicine. The childhood-exposure cohort includes 3,724,632 children in whom 6,358 cancers (2,372 leukemias) were diagnosed over 36,190,027 person-years; 5.9% were exposed to CT, 61.1% radiography, 6.0% fluoroscopy, 0.4% angiography, 1.5% nuclear medicine.ConclusionThe RIC Study is poised to be the largest study addressing risk of childhood and adolescent cancer associated with ionizing radiation from medical imaging, estimated with individualized patient organ dosimetry