Dietary habits and children's family lives

Purpose : To investigate associations between 'less healthy eating' and 'unhealthy snacking' at age 11, and family life (family structure, meals and maternal employment status) together with potential socio-economic confounders and gender. Methods : Children participated in a school-based survey, questionnaires also being completed by parents. Analyses were based on those with complete data, weighted to account for bias in return of parental questionnaires (N = 2146). Data from a dietary inventory, questions on food choice and snacks were used to classify 'less healthy eating' and 'unhealthy snacking'. Results : 'Less healthy eating' (57%) and 'unhealthy snacking' (32%) were associated with greater deprivation, fewer maternal qualifications and being male. Compared with children of full-time homemakers, the likelihood of 'less healthy eating' was reduced among those whose mothers worked part-time (this effect remaining after socio-economic adjustment), full-time (effect removed after adjustment), or were unemployed, sick or disabled (effect emerging after adjustment). 'Unhealthy snacking' was not related to maternal employment, and neither measure was associated with family structure or daily meals. Conclusions : There was no evidence that family structure or meals were associated with children's diets, although maternal employment had a positive association. Contrasting with the size of these effects, relationships between diet and socio-economic status were strong

Relationship between Snacking Patterns, Diet Quality and Risk of Overweight and Abdominal Obesity in Children

Snacking is very common among Americans; the impact of variety of snacking patterns on nutrient intake and weight status is unclear. This study examined the associations of snacking patterns on nutrient intake and weight in U.S. children 2-18 years (n=14,220) participating in the 2001-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Cluster analysis generated 12 distinct snacking patterns, explaining 57% of variance in total calories consumed. Only 8% of the children did not consume snacks on the day of the 24-hour recall. Cakes, cookies and pastries was the most common snacking pattern (16%) followed by miscellaneous snacks (e.g. whole milk, orange juice and meat/fish/poultry; 13%), and crackers and salty snacks (10%). Most snacking patterns resulted in higher total energy intake than the no snack pattern. After controlling for energy intake, most snacking patterns resulted in higher intakes of fiber; vitamins A, C, B12, and K; riboflavin; folate; potassium; calcium; zinc; and magnesium than the no snack pattern. However, most of the snacking patterns resulted in higher total intake of saturated fatty acids, solid fats, added sugars, and sodium (nutrients to limit). Several of the snacking patterns (i.e. cakes/cookies/pastries, crackers/salty snacks, sweets, and other grains) were associated with a reduced risk of overweight and abdominal obesity. Overall, several snacking patterns compared with non-snackers had better diet quality and were less likely to be overweight or obese and less likely to have abdominal obesity. Education is needed to improve snacking patterns in terms of nutrients to limit in the diet

Hubungan Antara Tingkat Pengetahuan Ibu Tentang Demam Tifoid Terhadap Kebiasaan Jajan Anak Sekolah Dasar

Background Infectious disease abdominal typhus or typhoid fever is transmitted through food and drink that contaminated with S.typhi. In Indonesia, typhoid is endemic are often found in big cities. Typhoid fever is more commonly is closely associated with the snacking behavior.Aim to prove the association between the level of maternal knowledge about typhoid fever with snacking behavior of elementary school pupils.Methods This was an analytic-observational study with cross sectional study design. Samples of this study were mothers who had elementary school pupils children lived in Kedungmundu (endemic area). Sampling done by using questionnaire. Data were being tested statistically with Chi-square/ Fischer test.Result this study showed 13 mothers (72,2%) with moderate-high knowledge level about typhoid fever having elementary school pupil with rare snacking behavior and 5 mother (27,8%) having elementary school pupil with often snacking behavior. This study also showed 1 mother (16,7%) with poor knowledge level about typhoid fever having elementary school pupil with rare snacking behavior and 5 mothers (83,3%) having elementary school pupil with often snacking behavior. There was a significant association between mother's knowledge level about typhoid fever and elementary school pupil snacking behavior(p=0,017, PR=3,0). there was no significant association between elementary school pupil snacking behavior and friends invitation (p=0,4), amount of pocket money(p=0,2), and the number of snack places.Conclusion Levels of maternal knowledge about typhoid fever had a significant association with snacking behavior of elementary school pupils

Diet behaviour among young people in transition to adulthood (18–25 year olds) : a mixed method study

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Influence of Media on Overweight and Obesity Among Latino Youth

Outlines findings about how media marketing affects the health-related behaviors of Latino youth, including trends in television viewing, fast-food advertisement in low-income Latino communities, and snacking and caloric intake. Lists policy implications

Using a gamified monitoring app to change adolescents' snack intake : the development of the REWARD app and evaluation design

Background: As the snacking pattern of European adolescents is of great concern, effective interventions are necessary. Till now health promotion efforts in children and adolescents have had only limited success in changing adolescents' eating patterns and anthropometrics. Therefore, the present study proposes an innovative approach to influence dietary behaviors in youth based on new insights on effective behavior change strategies and attractive intervention channels to engage adolescents. This article describes the rationale, the development, and evaluation design of the 'Snack Track School' app. The aim of the app is to improve the snacking patterns of Flemish 14- to 16-year olds. Methods: The development of the app was informed by the systematic, stepwise, iterative, and collaborative principles of the Intervention Mapping protocol. A four week mHealth intervention was developed based on the dual-system model with behavioral change strategies targeting both the reflective (i.e., active learning, advance organizers, mere exposure, goal-setting, monitoring, and feedback) and automatic processes (i.e., rewards and positive reinforcement). This intervention will be evaluated via a controlled pre-post design in Flemish schools among 1400 adolescents. Discussion: When this intervention including strategies focused on both the reflective and automatic pathway proves to be effective, it will offer a new scientifically-based vision, guidelines and practical tools for public health and health promotion (i.e., incorporation of learning theories in intervention programs)

The SNAPSHOT study protocol : SNAcking, Physical activity, Self-regulation, and Heart rate Over Time

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Mind the Gap? : An Intensive Longitudinal Study of Between-Person and Within-Person Intention-Behavior Relations

Acknowledgments This work was supported by the University of Konstanz, Germany. The first author was supported by a fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (Fellowship P2ZHP1_155103).Peer reviewedPostprin

Visualising future behaviour: Effects for snacking on biscuit bars, but no effects for snacking on fruit.

In this study, participants (N = 223) were randomised to visualise snacking on fruit, visualise snacking on biscuit bars or no visualisation, and intentions and attitudes towards fruit and biscuit bars, immediate selection of fruit or biscuit bars and subsequent consumption were measured. No effects of visualising snacking on fruit were found once background variables were taken into account. Visualising snacking on biscuit bars, however, resulted in greater intentions to consume biscuit bars (smallest β = 0.19, p < 0.01). These findings suggest that specifics of the visualised target behaviour may be important in visualisation. Further investigation is needed before recommending visualisation for increasing fruit consumption