Identifying the Education Needs and Conveying Related Information on Nutrition Topics for Pre-School Age Children by Educating Parents Through Writing and Media Communication.

As nutrition topics continue to gain media attention the general public is increasingly exposed to nutrition recommendations. The mass communication of health information presents increased education opportunity to promote implementation of healthy habits. In contrast, this increased presence also presents a risk of increased communication of information unsupported by scientific evidence. As these unreliable recommendations are communicated with frequency through popular sources it is the responsibility of healthcare professionals to provide the public with accurate and scientifically supported information. This information must be presented in a clear and appealing way in order to gain the attention of the public, helping to educate and make recommendations to support healthy habits that are realistic and maintainable. Young children grow and learn in an environment constantly surrounded by these forms of mass communication, making education vital to instill healthy habits that can maintained as they grow up. This project provided a healthy foundation for pre-school age children by educating their parents through a series of newsletters providing information on topics related to nutrition for pre-school aged children. Newsletter topics were chosen to reflect the education needs of parents as were identified through a focus group. This focus group was hosted at Oakland Beach School, in Warwick RI, and was composed of eight parents of pre-school age children. The evidence collected through the focus group reflected the need for information on many nutrition-related topics. Strong focus-group evidence and additional research further identified the need for education in the specific areas chosen as the newsletter topics. The topics chosen included: Overcoming picky eating, consuming more fruits and vegetables, and planning meals in advance. Research on these topics was gathered and presented through printed newsletters that were designed to be fun and easy to understand. These newsletters included information, helpful tips, healthy recipes, and activities intended to educate both parents and children. The development of these newsletters required scientific facts to be interpreted and communicated at an 8th grade reading level, which is recommended for education of the general public. These newsletters also included activities for the parents to complete with their children, allowing them to learn and work together. The presentation of the information and activities was designed to draw in the reader and create a clear understanding of the topics conveyed. By educating parents through these newsletters they will have tools to educate and empower their children to make healthy choices throughout their lives

An Examination of Work to Family Spillover, Family Meal Rituals, and Parenting Styles on Children's Outcome of Obesity

Obesity has been on the rise for several decades in both children and adults. Furthermore, obesity is associated with diseases. Children's environment is suspected to affect children's eating habits and lack of exercise, but the salient aspects of children's environments are still not well understood. The present research addresses the possibility that work to family spillover may disrupt family eating patterns and children's physical activity sufficient enough to cause weight gain. Other researchers have examined the environment of the family in terms of parenting style and family rituals. This literature however has not examined the possible moderating effect of parenting styles on the effects of work to family spillover on children's obesity. The study included a cross-sectional sample of children and adolescents (n = 312) in a Houston study. Participants included both parents (if a father was present in the household) and one child aged either 9-11 or 13-15. Bivariate, multivariate, and logistic regression analyses were performed. Work to family spillover, family meal rituals and parenting styles were found to have a relationship with children obesity measures for both age groups. However, these relationships are less strong when combined into a full model. Only a mothers' work strain was associated with increased odds of having overweight children in the 9-11 age group. Although the relationship between mothers? work strain and mothers' controlling parenting style and obesity-related variables remained significant, there was no evidence that a maternal or paternal parenting style moderates the relationship between work spillover and children obesity measures. Father dinner ritual importance was associated with lower odds of having overweight children among 13-15 year old adolescents. However, findings did not support hypothesis that family meal ritual variables children eating while watching TV, mother eating while watching TV nor Father dinner ritual (all significant in the full model) moderated the positive relationship between mothers work strain and overweight, at-risk for overweight, or healthy weight children for neither age group

Health Inequalities in Children and Adolescents: A Scoping Review of the Mediating and Moderating Effects of Family Characteristics

This scoping review systematically mapped evidence of the mediating and moderating effects of family characteristics on health inequalities in school-aged children and adolescents (6–18 years) in countries with developed economies in Europe and North America. We conducted a systematic scoping review following the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews recommendations. We searched the PubMed, PsycINFO and Scopus databases. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts and full texts. Evidence was synthesized narratively. Of the 12,403 records initially identified, 50 articles were included in the synthesis. The included studies were conducted in the United States (n = 27), Europe (n = 18), Canada (n = 3), or in multiple countries combined (n = 2). We found that mental health was the most frequently assessed health outcome. The included studies reported that different family characteristics mediated or moderated health inequalities. Parental mental health, parenting practices, and parent-child-relationships were most frequently examined, and were found to be important mediating or moderating factors. In addition, family conflict and distress were relevant family characteristics. Future research should integrate additional health outcomes besides mental health, and attempt to integrate the complexity of families. The family characteristics identified in this review represent potential starting points for reducing health inequalities in childhood and adolescence.Peer Reviewe

Measuring parent food practices: a systematic review of existing measures and examination of instruments

During the last decade, there has been a rapid increase in development of instruments to measure parent food practices. Because these instruments often measure different constructs, or define common constructs differently, an evaluation of these instruments is needed. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify existing measures of parent food practices and to assess the quality of their development. The initial search used terms capturing home environment, parenting behaviors, feeding practices and eating behaviors, and was performed in October of 2009 using PubMed/Medline, PsychInfo, Web of knowledge (ISI), and ERIC, and updated in July of 2012. A review of titles and abstracts was used to narrow results, after which full articles were retrieved and reviewed. Only articles describing development of measures of parenting food practices designed for families with children 2-12 years old were retained for the current review. For each article, two reviewers extracted data and appraised the quality of processes used for instrument development and evaluation. The initial search yielded 28,378 unique titles; review of titles and abstracts narrowed the pool to 1,352 articles; from which 57 unique instruments were identified. The review update yielded 1,772 new titles from which14 additional instruments were identified. The extraction and appraisal process found that 49% of instruments clearly identified and defined concepts to be measured, and 46% used theory to guide instrument development. Most instruments (80%) had some reliability testing, with internal consistency being the most common (79%). Test-retest or inter-rater reliability was reported for less than half the instruments. Some form of validity evidence was reported for 84% of instruments. Construct validity was most commonly presented (86%), usually with analysis of associations with child diet or weight/BMI. While many measures of food parenting practices have emerged, particularly in recent years, few have demonstrated solid development methods. Substantial variation in items across different scales/constructs makes comparison between instruments extremely difficult. Future efforts should be directed toward consensus development of food parenting practices constructs and measures

An Exploration of College Students’ Cooking Behavior and Factors That Influence That Behavior Using Social Cognitive Theory

Patterns of weight gain and poor diets in young adulthood, along with associations between cooking involvement, frequency, and skills and improved dietary intake, suggest that exploration of cooking knowledge, attitudes, and behavior among college students is warranted. This research employed a concurrent parallel mixed methods design and a social cognitive theory framework to study cooking perceptions among college students at a public university in a southern state with obesity rates among the highest in the U.S. Survey respondents (N=159) scored 9.3+1.1/10 on cooking knowledge, and mean ratings on SCT-related cooking constructs were 39.2+7.4/48 (skill); 8.1+3.2, 9.3+3.4, and 10.1+4.2 out of 18 (willingness to invest time, physical effort, and mental effort, respectively); 32.5+6.9/42 (outcome expectations); 21.7+4.0/36 (attitudes, expectancies, expectations); and 15.7+3.0/20 (confidence). In the SCT construct model (F=5.417, R2=.225), only cooking skill was a significant predictor of cooking behavior, whereas in the model that also included demographics (F=5.062, R2=.613), no SCT constructs were significant and living off-campus was the strongest predictor (p Several themes emerging from focus groups (N=15) suggested approaches that universities might take within the context of wellness programming to encourage healthy eating. Most respondents lacked basic culinary skills, suggesting cooking programs or classes start with the basics. Benefits of cooking identified in both study components could be used in developing and promoting cooking classes. Cooking providing control over what is eaten was most strongly affirmed, and health benefits, desirable social experiences, and opportunities for creativity were other outcome expectations. Outcome expectancies relevant to choosing to cook included the desire to save time and effort in light of other priorities while in school, and cooking as a life skill needed to live on their own. Lack of facilities/equipment in their campus living situation was seen as a barrier to cooking, and media sources like cooking videos and cable television programs provided opportunities for observational learning that could be easily accessed. With many students not acquiring skills in their homes growing up, an inclusion of cooking classes and resources as part of university wellness programming may help young adults develop a life skill important for healthy food consumption