Parents, but not their children, demonstrate greater delay discounting with resource scarcity

BACKGROUND: Individuals with obesity tend to discount the future (delay discounting), focusing on immediate gratification. Delay discounting is reliably related to indicators of economic scarcity (i.e., insufficient resources), including lower income and decreased educational attainment in adults. It is unclear whether the impact of these factors experienced by parents also influence child delay discounting between the ages of 8 and 12-years in families with obesity. METHODS: The relationship between indices of family income and delay discounting was studied in 452 families with parents and 6-12-year-old children with obesity. Differences in the relationships between parent economic, educational and Medicaid status, and parent and child delay discounting were tested. RESULTS: Results showed lower parent income (p = 0.019) and Medicaid status (p = 0.021) were differentially related to greater parent but not child delay discounting among systematic responders. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest differences in how indicators of scarcity influence delay discounting for parents and children, indicating that adults with scarce resources may be shaped to focus on immediate needs instead of long-term goals. It is possible that parents can reduce the impact of economic scarcity on their children during preadolescent years. These findings suggest a need for policy change to alleviate the burden of scarce conditions and intervention to modify delay discounting rate and to improve health-related choices and to address weight disparities

Correlates, determinants, and effectiveness of childcare educators’ practices and behaviours on preschoolers’ physical activity and eating behaviours: a systematic review protocol

Abstract: Background: Worldwide, approximately 12% of children under the age of 5 are either overweight or obese. As many young children spend 30 h or more per week in childcare centres with childcare educators. Targeting childcare educators as role models may prove an effective strategy for the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity. This manuscript describes the methods to systematically review existing literature relating to how childcare educators influence children’s healthy eating and physical activity behaviours, as well as the links between specific practices and behaviours of childcare educators and children’s healthy lifestyle behaviours. Methods: Relevant peer-reviewed studies will be identified through a computerized literature search in six databases: PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Science Direct, CINAHL, Wiley and SportDiscus. Quantitative studies written in English or French reporting the correlates, predictors or effectiveness of childcare educators’ practices and behaviours on preschoolers’ healthy eating and physical activity behaviours will be included. The quality of retained studies will be assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. Descriptive summary statistics of study characteristics will be reported as well as the study designs and exposure and outcome measures. Inter-rater agreements for study selection and quality assessments will be reported and unadjusted, and adjusted results will be presented. Reporting of the systematic review will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Discussion: This systematic review will contribute to a better understanding of the potential of childcare educators as role models for young children, as well as the influence (or impact) of their behaviours and intervention on children’s short- and long-term health. It will provide important information that could be used to improve obesity prevention strategies and initiatives, as well as to guide the improvement or implementation of effective healthy eating and physical activity policies in childcare centres. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO (CRD42014012973

In-hospital informal caregivers' needs as perceived by themselves and by the nursing staff in Northern Greece: A descriptive study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Informal care is common in many countries, especially in Greece, where families provide care in hospitals. Health education and informational needs are important factors for family members which are often underestimated by nursing staff. The aim of this study was to compare the perceptions of the nurses and the in-hospital informal caregivers about the in-hospital informal caregivers' knowledge and informational needs, as well as the factors that influence these perceptions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a non-experimental descriptive study conducted in three general hospitals in Greece. The sample consisted of 320 nurses and 370 in-hospital informal caregivers who completed questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using t-tests; group comparisons were conducted using ANOVA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The score of the questionnaire for health education and informational needs was significantly greater for informal caregivers (57.1 ± 6.9 and 26.6 ± 2.8) than for nurses (53.4 ± 5.7 and 22.4 ± 3.1) (p < 0.001). For the nursing staff, the factors that influence the informational needs of patients' caregivers were <it>level of education </it>and <it>working experience</it>, while for the caregivers the <it>level of education </it>was independently associated with the score for the health education needs. Finally, <it>age, marital status</it>, and <it>level of education </it>of informal caregivers' were independently associated with informational needs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The in-hospital informal caregivers perceived that they have more educational and informational needs than the nurses did. The findings of this study also show that the nursing staff has to identify the needs of in-hospital informal caregivers in order to be able to meet these needs.</p

Associations between severity of obesity in childhood and adolescence, obesity onset and parental BMI: a longitudinal cohort study

Objective: To explore the relationship between severity of obesity at age 7 and age 15, age at onset of obesity, and parental body mass index (BMI) in obese children and adolescents. Design: Longitudinal cohort study.Subjects:Obese children (n231) and their parents (n462) from the Swedish National Childhood Obesity Centre. Methods: Multivariate regression analyses were applied with severity of obesity (BMI standard deviation score (BMI SDS)) and onset of obesity as dependent variables. The effect of parental BMI was evaluated and in the final models adjusted for gender, parental education, age at onset of obesity, severity of obesity at age 7 and obesity treatment. Results: For severity of obesity at age 7, a positive correlation with maternal BMI was indicated (P<0.05). Severity of obesity at this age also showed a strong negative correlation with the age at onset of obesity. Severity of obesity at age 15 was significantly correlated with both maternal and paternal BMI (P≥0.01). In addition, BMI SDS at age 15 differed by gender (higher for boys) and was positively correlated with severity of obesity at age 7 and negatively correlated with treatment. Also, a negative correlation was indicated at this age for parental education. No correlation with age at onset was found at age 15. For age at onset of obesity there was no relevant correlation with parental BMI. Children within the highest tertile of the BMI SDS range were more likely to have two obese parents. Conclusion: The impact of parental BMI on the severity of obesity in children is strengthened as the child grows into adolescence, whereas the age at onset is probably of less importance than previously thought. The influence of parental relative weight primarily affects the severity of childhood obesity and not the timing. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex