Exploring Familial Themes in Malaysian Students’ Eating Behaviors

Food-related attitudes and habits are integral to overall well-being, especially among international college students who often practice poor eating habits and experience high levels of stress from factors like school and sociocultural adjustment. Utilizing in-depth interviews, this study explored how family experiences impact food-related habits, attitudes, and beliefs of Malaysian college students in the U.S. Findings indicate that early experiences with family substantially impact current habits that persist even after coming to the U.S. and that dietary choices and habits are heavily embedded in cultural background and family history. Family influenced current habits through multiple means, including modeling, direct teaching, and indirectly through various family activities. Even though there were some persistent and lasting eating habits and behaviors, students also experienced some dietary changes and conflicting dietary practices after coming to the U.S. These findings are important for universities to consider so that appropriate steps can be taken to ensure the health and wellbeing of Malaysian and other international students in the U.S

The Family Mealtime Study: Parent Socialization and Context During Family Meals

Research on the family mealtime has shown its importance for youths\u27 dietary attitudes and behaviors. Youths who have more frequent family meals often have more healthful dietary behaviors. However, little is known about the context and processes related to how family mealtimes affect youths\u27 dietary behaviors. To address this gap, we examined the context of family mealtimes and parent socialization that occurs during family meals through mealtime observations and interviews. Family mealtimes are valued by parents, and our findings can be useful to Extension professionals in educating parents and families regarding shaping of family mealtimes, feeding strategies, and nutrition

Exploring the Relationship Between Program Experience and Youth Developmental Outcomes

Program quality is an important topic for improving out-of-school time youth development programs. High levels of program quality may contribute to enhanced positive youth development outcomes. This paper explores aspects of program quality in the California 4-H Youth Development Program and its relationship to positive youth development outcomes. Results indicated few demographic differences in program quality as experienced and reported by youth. Youths who reported higher levels of program quality also reported higher levels of positive youth development outcomes. Emotional safety and relationship building, two aspects of program quality, were the most consistent predictors of positive youth development outcomes. Youth development programs should assess their current program quality practices to look for needs, especially related to emotional safety and relationship building. Further, program administration and staff should model critical aspects of program quality for direct service provider

Youth Science Learning as/for Community Participation: Examples from Youth Participatory Action Research

Youth development programs often provide young people with science learning experiences. We argue for reframing youth science learning from a focus on individual scientific literacy to an emphasis on collective scientific literacy—community science—to support young people in using science to address issues in their lives and communities. We provide examples from youth participatory action research (YPAR), one community science pedagogical approach. The YPAR model supports youth in deciding upon an environmental, economic, or social issue; designing and implementing research; and using their research findings to improve their community. We implemented YPAR with eight cohorts of youth over three years at five schools in Northern California. Using data generated from educator interviews and youth focus groups and analyzed with inductive thematic analysis, we explored what youth and educators reported about science engagement and learning. While YPAR projects offered opportunities for youth to strengthen scientific literacy, youth did not join a YPAR program because it was science education. Instead, as youth selected a personally meaningful topic, they began to see how they might affect community change. Engaging learners in relevant educational experiences situated in authentic community issues may improve motivation for deeper and sustained participation in science learning. Our YPAR example demonstrated an approach to learning STEM in youth development programs by ensuring relevancy and connection to community

Volunteer Outcomes and Impact: The Contributions and Consequences of Volunteering in 4-H

Youth development volunteers are relied upon by many youth organizations to deliver educational programming, and consequently, fulfill organizations’ missions. Our study explored the consequences of volunteering in youth services by focusing on volunteer outcomes (consequences of volunteering on the volunteer) and volunteer impacts (volunteers’ contributions to the organization). We collected 1,245 open-ended responses to 2 questions from adults who served as volunteers in the University of California 4-H Youth Development Program. We applied iterative inductive thematic analysis without a pre-existing coding scheme to each question independently. Volunteers described their impacts on 4-H as expanding and maintaining programs for children, providing support to and teaching youth, and helping to realize youth outcomes. By volunteering, adults reported outcomes including developing skills, improving well-being, and deepening connections with others

Exploring Familial Themes in Malaysian Students\u27 Eating Behaviors

As international students, Malaysian students have the added stress of adapting to new food as well as to the responsibilities of preparing their own meals. Failure to do so would jeopardize the health and studies of Malaysian students. In order to address this problem, the purpose of this study was to explore and understand the role of family on the eating behaviors and food choices of Malaysian students who live apart from their families. Five Malaysian students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were interviewed. Six themes were identified in this study; “family plays an important role,” “family mealtimes,” parental preferences and decision-making, parental advice, “lasting habits,” and culture and family history. These findings would be useful to encourage Malaysian families to practice good eating habits with students since young and continue to keep checking in with students regarding their eating behaviors, especially when they are studying overseas

The family mealtime study: Parent socialization and context during and surrounding family mealtimes

Past research showed that family mealtimes positively impact youth\u27s dietary behaviors. However, the processes through which these benefits occur are unclear. Understanding the aspects of family mealtimes such as parent socialization and mealtime context can increase the understanding of how family mealtimes may benefit youths’ dietary behaviors. This mixed methods study identified occurrences around family mealtimes that might impact youths’ dietary behaviors. One hundred parent-child dyads completed surveys. A subsample of 40 families participated in family mealtime observations and 20 parents were interviewed. Quantitative findings showed that parents engaged in various food- and mealtime-related socialization behaviors like parent modeling, parent communication about food and nutrition, and parent feeding practices. Parents’ beliefs about family meals and about media use during mealtimes shaped the context of family meals and impacted youths’ dietary behaviors. Parent communication about nutrition and physical activity was a significant predictor of children’s weight concerns, even after accounting for parent resources and frequency of family meals. Parent modeling was a significant predictor of children’s consumption of outside food. Higher household income predicted lower youths’ weight concerns and longer parent work hours outside the home predicted higher children’s consumption of outside food. Parents’ controlling feeding practices and values/beliefs about family meals were correlated to youths’ dietary behaviors. Families who ate together more also had children who reported higher preferences for healthy foods and lower consumption of outside food. Qualitative findings showed that mealtime is a platform through which parents teach children about food and nutrition. Mealtime routines and activities like meal planning, grocery shopping, and cleaning-up were important components of family mealtime, and family meals were important for bonding and communication. Obesity prevention interventions should include educating and engaging parents to implement family mealtimes with an emphasis on socializing and building a connection between family members. Focus should also be given to help parents address resource-related challenges in having family meals. Parents should also be educated on providing a healthy home food environment, especially in the availability of healthy foods, in order to promote healthier dietary behaviors in youths

The Cultural Contexts of Children’s Prosocial Behaviors

In 1976 Beatrice Whiting famously urged researchers to “unpackage” the concept of culture and related constructs. She highlighted the need in social and behavioral research to tease out the complex and often interwoven factors that might underlie superficial culture group differences in child outcomes and suggested looking more closely at the child’s learning environment, the details within which could provide important insight regarding children’s behaviors that could better explain how culture might be manifested in the developmental landscape (Whiting, 1976). Almost 40 years later, the importance of culture in children’s development is widely recognized, nonetheless researchers continue to wrestle with questions of what role culture plays in socialization, how it is manifested, and consequently how to measure its effects on child outcomes. In this chapter, we review current research on the interplay between culture and prosocial behavior and attempt to identify future directions toward this end

Social Networking Sites: What They Are and How to Navigate Them (Leader Guide)

The use of social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn has dramatically increased in recent years. Today, over 50 percent of teens and 35 percent of adults in the U.S. are using at least one type of social networking site. If used well, these sites can have many personal and professional benefits. Social networking can be a fun way to communicate with others, and an effective way to expand one’s social and professional connections. It is important to practice good judgment and proper “netiquette” when developing personal profiles and interacting with others through such sites. This community program will introduce participants to social networking sites. Participants will increase their knowledge about social networking sites and how to effectively use them