Download or read book The Influence of Social Determinants of Health and the Built Environment on the Weight Status of Preschoolers in Alberta written by Jessica Wijesundera and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Background Underweight, overweight, and obesity in early childhood can compromise health over the life course. Underweight, an indicator of undernutrition, can lead to higher morbidity, restricted growth, and delayed development. Overweight and obesity can lead to health conditions such as cardiovascular stress, skeletal stress, and asthma at an early age. Contextual factors in a child's upbringing, such as social determinants of health (SDH) and the built environment, impact health inequities and may have protective or harmful effects towards developing underweight, overweight and obesity in early childhood. My thesis has two objectives: (a) to examine associations between social determinants of health and weight status in preschool children in Edmonton and Calgary, Canada and (b) to examine relationships between built environment variables related to physical activity and excess weight status in preschoolers in Edmonton and Calgary, Canada. Methods In Chapter 2, I conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine associations between social determinants of health, including ethnicity, maternal immigration status, neighborhood-level income, urban versus rural residence, and material and social deprivation on weight status in preschool children in Edmonton and Calgary. I ran three multinomial regression models, where the outcome variable was child weight status. The first model studied associations between child ethnicity, maternal immigration status, neighborhood-level income, and residence with child weight status. The second and third models individually estimated associations 3 between material and social deprivation and child weight status. In Chapter 3, I conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine associations between the distance to nearest playground, distance to nearest major park, distance to nearest school, number of street intersections, number of major parks, number of major playgrounds, and weight status in preschoolers in Edmonton and Calgary. I ran three binomial logistic regression models, where the outcome variable was child weight status examined in 2 categories (normal weight and excess weight[overweight and obesity]). The first model examined individual associations between each of the built environment variables and the likelihood of excess weight. The second model examined combined associations between all built environment variables and the likelihood of having excess weight. The third model examined combined associations between all built environment variables and odds of having excess weight, while additionally adjusting for child sex, age at BMI measurement, ethnicity, annual neighborhood-level income, and city. Results In Chapter 2(n=169,465), I found that children with Chinese ethnicity were less likely to have overweight (Relative Risk Ratio[RRR]: 0.63) and obesity (RRR: 0.47) and children with South Asian ethnicity were more likely to have underweight (RRR: 3.95) and obesity (RRR: 1.38). Children with mothers who immigrated to Canada were less likely to have underweight (RRR: 0.70) and obesity (RRR: 0.70). Every $10,000 increase in income was associated with a decrease in the likelihood of children having overweight (RRR: 0.94) and obesity (RRR: 0.87). Relative to the least deprived quintile, children in the most materially deprived quintile were more likely to have underweight (RRR: 1.98), overweight (RRR: 1.56) and obesity (RRR: 3.32). Children in the most socially deprived quintile were more likely to have overweight (RRR: 1.25) and obesity 4 (RRR: 1.40) (all p

Download or read book Determinants of Body Weight Status in Pre school Children with a Focus on the Built Environment and Social Factors written by Yusheng Zhou and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Obesity Place and Environment written by Julie Franzon and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The issue of overweight and obesity in childhood has received a great deal of recent attention in both the academic literature and popular media. These discussions have tended to concentrate on individual responses to behavioural and nutritional choices, with limited exploration of how the wider social and economic environment might influence weight outcomes. However there is a growing body of research which has identified area level effects on health outcomes, and this suggests that location should be an important consideration in obesity research. Currently, very little formal investigation of weight status has been conducted among children of preschool age and location is not routinely considered in obesity research, especially at the small area level and particularly with reference to children. Given that childhood overweight is known to persist into adulthood and that behavioural change may be easier to effect in preschoolers, it is appropriate to focus research attention on this age group. This study explores an administrative data set containing over 120 000 individual records collected over ten years and supplied by the South Australian Children, Youth and Women's Health Service. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are used to determine the prevalence, distribution and area-level correlates of obesity in South Australian four year old children between 1995 and 2003. It aims to determine if there has been significant variation in the spatial distribution of obesity prevalence between different communities over this time period, and to detect relationships between weight status, socio-economic variables and environmental attributes at a small scale which may be able to explain some of the discrepancy. These are investigated in conjunction with the data items available for the individual children in this data set. A univariate analysis approach using cross-tabulation and chi square testing has been used to explore the relationships between the obesity prevalence of the study population and selected socio-demographic and environmental variables at a small area level. The Australian Census of Population and Housing is the primary source of socio-demographic data, but other variables including housing characteristics, proximity to fast food outlets, proximity to recreational areas and the walkability of neighbourhoods have also been examined. Analysis of this data set reveals an increase in obesity prevalence over time, in line with national and international trends. For individual children, birth weight, ethnicity and breastfeeding history appear to be particularly influential in the development of overweight at four years of age, but there is nevertheless a distinct spatial patterning of obesity prevalence throughout the state, and also within the metropolitan Adelaide area. While there is generally a positive association between socio-economic status and obesity, these relationships are not necessarily straightforward and the area-level physical and social environmental variables actually show a varying relationship with obesity prevalence in different communities. This study has clearly identified neighbourhood characteristics as an important component in the complex etiology of obesity development in even very young children. It has shown that aspects of environment such as ethnicity and disadvantage should be taken into account when targeting and tailoring public health initiatives to combat the development of obesity in these populations. The exploration of this unique, administrative data set with reference to location has illustrated the complexity of the relationship between biology and environment in the development of overweight and obesity in young children. This has implications for policy development across many spheres of government.

Download or read book Social and Environmental Disparities in Physical Activity and Childhood Obesity in 2 5 year old Children written by Alexis Jones and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social and environmental factors are important determinants of physical activity (PA) and childhood obesity. The purposes of this study were to 1) explore associations of social-demographics (i.e., ethnicity, social-economic status [SES], gender), PA, sedentary behavior (SB), and BMI percentile with social/built environment and 2) explore SES disparities in environmental determinants of health. This cross-sectional study recruited 40 preschoolers (Mage=3.55 years; 75% girls; 17.5% low SES; 30% Hispanic; 10% overweight/obese). Parent-report surveys measured social-demographics, PA outcomes, and social/built environment. Results indicated higher SES children engaged in more PA and less SB than low-SES peers. SES significantly associated with PA, obesity, crime safety, inside space, stimulation variety, and fine and gross motor toys (r’s range from -0.5 to 0.57; p.05). Obesity significantly associated with inside space (r=-.54; p

Download or read book Effects of the Built Environment on Childhood Obesity written by Robert Sandy and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We study the effects of urban environment on childhood obesity by concentrating on the effects of walking trails and crime close to children's homes on their BMI and obesity status. We use a unique dataset, which combines information on recreational trails in Indianapolis with data on violent crimes and anthropomorphic and diagnostic data from children's clinic visits between 1996 and 2005. We find that having a trail near a home reduces children's weight. However, the effect depends on the amount of nearby violent crimes. Significant reductions occur only in low crime areas and trails could have opposite effects on weight in high crime areas. These effects are primarily among boys, older children, and children who live in higher income neighborhoods. Evaluated at the mean length of trails this effect for older children in no crime areas would be a reduction of two pounds of the body weight. Falsification tests using planned trails instead of existing trails, show that trails are more likely to be located in areas with heavier children, suggesting that our results on effects of trails represent a lower bound.

Download or read book Children s Physical Activity and the Built Environment written by Christine A. Mitchell (M. A.) and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Childhood obesity rates have risen dramatically since 1981, in part due to decreased physical activity (PA) levels. Research suggests that PA is influenced in part by an individual's exposure to and engagement with their built environment. Using a multi-tool protocol, this thesis examines how (a) neighbourhood opportunities facilitate or constrain children's moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and (b) contextual environmental exposure facilitates or constrains children's MVPA. Results suggest that children's MVPA is influenced by their built environment, but more so by the contextual environments that they are directly exposed to rather than their overall neighbourhood settings. Children are mobile and unlikely to never leave their neighbourhood, especially considering that many parents drive their children to activities outside their neighbourhood. Examining contextual environmental exposure is a novel approach that can be used by researchers to clarify the environments that exert an influence on children's MVPA.

Download or read book Associations of Built and Social Neighborhood Environment Variables with Pediatric BMI Z score and Changes in BMI Z score written by Kimberly M. Daniels and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction: Child obesity remains a major public health challenge and neighborhood environments could have a significant role in driving the epidemic. However existing evidence on the impact of neighborhoods on child obesity remains inconclusive. I conducted a systematic literature review of longitudinal studies analyzing the associations between built and social neighborhood environment exposures and pediatric weight. I also conducted a cross-sectional and longitudinal study of these exposures' associations with BMI z-score using geographically linked electronic heath records (EHR) from a large sample of urban-dwelling, predominantly African American children. Methods: The literature search included six databases searched over 2011 to 2017. Thirty-one longitudinal studies met the inclusion criteria. Information on the study populations, exposure and outcome measures, and main results were extracted. To conduct the cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses I used a pediatric integrated EHR database of children residing in Philadelphia from 2007-2016. I used a generalized estimating equation to analyze the cross-sectional associations between built and social neighborhood environment variables with BMI z-score. I also examined synergisms between built and social environment variables. I used a fixed effects model to analyze the associations between a change in the neighborhood environment with a change in BMI z-score. In both analyses I examined whether associations were modified by age, sex, neighborhood SES, or population density. Results: Most longitudinal studies of the relationship between the built and social environment are prospective cohort studies conducted in high income western countries. The literature review showed that higher access to greenness, parks, and physical activity facilities were associated with less weight gain and lower obesity incidence. The literature also showed that increases in crime were associated with increases in BMI and higher obesity incidence. Cross-sectional analyses showed that higher greenness and Walk Score℗ʼ were associated with lower BMI z-scores. Higher access to healthy food and physical activity facilities was associated with higher BMI z-scores. I did not find synergisms between built and social environment exposures. Longitudinal analyses showed that increases greenness and safety were associated with decreases in BMI z-score. The effects of safety were stronger in younger children than older children. Increases in social cohesion were associated with increases in BMI z-score and this effect was stronger in boys than in girls. Conclusions: Greenness and safety are associated with decreases in weight in children. Further research is needed to understand associations between changes in healthy food stores, physical activity facilities, urban form, and social cohesion with changes in pediatric BMI.

Download or read book Household Chaos in Toddlerhood written by Kathryn Lila Krupsky and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction: Public health efforts to curb the obesity epidemic in the United States have shifted focus towards obesity prevention strategies in early stages of life. While most studies examining the etiology of excess weight gain in childhood have focused on behavioral factors, like dietary intake and physical activity, recent literature suggests prevention strategies may benefit from targeting complex interactions between children, their caregivers, and the broader social and material context of family home environments. In response, obesity preventions researchers are considering the potential influence of chaos in childhood obesity risk, as well as the role of caregiver-child interactions in healthy weight development; very few studies have simultaneously considered chaos and caregiver-child interactions in the context of childhood obesity risk. Thus, the current dissertation aimed to examine risk pathways from chaos to childhood obesity directly, and through aspects of caregiver-child feeding interactions. All studies included in this dissertation use data from the Play & Grow study, a contemporary cohort of caregiver-toddler dyads (N = 299) from central Ohio. The cohort was constructed to examine children’s weight trajectories in early childhood, with respect to caregiver-child mealtime and play time interactions, children’s self-regulation, and children’s gestational age. Study 1: Chaos has implications for child health that may extend to childhood obesity. Yet, results from studies describing associations between chaos and childhood obesity are mixed. Challenges to studying chaos-obesity relationships may include inconsistencies in operationalizing chaos and reliance on caregiver perceptions. Furthermore, multiple pathways may link chaos to obesity, though few have been empirically examined. A concurrent mixed methods analysis was conducted to describe home and neighborhood chaos using a subsample 283 caregiver-toddlers dyads from the Play & Grow study. Quantitative data consisted of a 21-item audit of neighborhood and household conditions. Qualitative data included brief ethnographies from rapid participant observation techniques. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the underlying structure of environmental and household chaos. A thematic content analysis was completed to identify potential pathways linking chaos to childhood obesity. Results indicated chaos was comprised of multiple factors, including household disorganization and neighborhood noise. Unique themes, such as child behavior and caregiver-child interactions, were identified from analysis of the ethnographies. Results support the notion that chaos is a complex construct composed of multiple factors and the mechanisms linking chaos to childhood obesity may be equally complex. Study 2: Disparate literature examining associations between chaos and child weight outcomes in early-life limits what conclusions can be drawn about the role—if any—of chaos in child weight development. Therefore, the second study of this dissertation aimed to assess cross-sectional associations between household chaos and child weight outcomes. Multivariable log-binomial models were constructed to examine cross-sectional associations between household disorganization, one aspect of household chaos and child weight status at 24-months. Results suggest household disorganization was not cross-sectionally associated with toddler weight status. These findings contribute to other studies reporting null associations between chaos and child weight outcomes in early-life, though future analyses should focus on longitudinal assessments of chaos and child weight trajectories. Study 3: Numerous measures exist for examining caregiver feeding practices, but few assess specific aspects of feeding environments agreed upon by caregivers and their children or competing feeding strategies discussed in leading feeding frameworks. In response to this gap in methodology, the Feeding Strategies Questionnaire (FSQ) was developed. The psychometric properties of the FSQ have only been described in two studies, which report heterogenous structures and utilized samples with limited generalizability. Therefore, the third study conducted as part of this dissertation examined the psychometric properties of the FSQ within the Play & Grow cohort. Analyses are limited to participants with complete FSQ data (n = 293), which was administered to participating caregivers via survey during the 24-month assessment. The initial 32-items, six factor structure of the FSQ, reported in the original development study, was tested in the Play & Grow cohort using confirmatory factor analysis. Fit indices suggested model fit was inadequate (RMSEA = 0.089 (90% CI: 0.084, 0.094); CFI = 0.85; TLI = 0.83). Therefore, an exploratory factor analysis using the 32 items was conducted to identify a parsimonious model structure. The final factor structure utilized 23 items, which loaded onto four factors: Mealtime Scheduling, Caregiver Control of Intake, Child Control of Intake, and Unstructured Mealtimes. Fit indices for the new model structure were better (RMSEA = 0.097 (90% CI: 0.090, 0.010), CFI = 0.91, and TLI = 0.90). These findings suggest a modified version of the FSQ may be an age-appropriate measure for examining caregiver feeding practices among caregivers with toddlers. Study 4: Few studies describe the influence of chaos on specific feeding behaviors used by caregivers of toddlers. Therefore, the fourth study in this dissertation aimed to examine the direct and interactive associations between chaos, child temperament, and caregiver feeding practices. One aspect of chaos, household disorganization, was assessed using direct observations of household conditions when children were 24-months. Caregivers described three dimensions of child temperament, negative affect, surgency, and effortful control, via survey. Four caregiver feeding practices were reported by caregivers using the modified Feeding Strategies Questionnaire. The analytic sample was restricted to participants with complete data on all study variables (n = 275). Multivariable linear regression models were constructed to examine associations between household disorganization and caregiver reported feeding strategies. Interactive effects were assessed using interaction terms between household disorganization and variables describing child temperament. Higher levels of household disorganization and higher levels of child effortful control were significantly associated with more child control of intake. There was no evidence to suggest household disorganization and child temperament had interactive effects on caregiver feeding practices. Conclusions: Goals to significantly reduce the number of U.S. children with obesity requires multifaceted strategies which account for the numerous complexities associated with obesity treatment and prevention. The studies included in this dissertation highlight how one feature of family home environments, chaos, may add to those complexities. Through detailed, direct observations of environmental and household chaos, this dissertation underscores the necessity for nuance and specificity in studies examining chaos as a risk factor for childhood obesity. Within a bioecological frame, these studies discuss the pathways by which chaos may reduce a family’s capacity to promote healthy child weight development. The long-term goal of this program of research is to develop recommendations for family-based, childhood obesity prevention strategies.

Download or read book Obesity and the Built Environment written by Samuel Simcha Schiffrin Gold and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Understanding the Influencing Factors on Obesity Among Children Focused on Demographic Background Physical Activity Eating Behavior and Health Concerns written by Alejandra Pinto and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this research is to understand the influencing factors on obesity among children focused on demographic background, physical activity, eating behavior, and health concerns. The objectives of this analysis are to review the factors contributing to the increase of childhood obesity in recent years. The research was intended to provide intervention strategies on a micro, mezzo, and macro level to reduce the percentage of childhood obesity due to their demographic background, physical inactivity, eating behavior, and health. Obesity has shown to be an individual, family, school, community, and social issue-affecting children. Parent's body mass index predicted children's body mass index. Latino families tend to be at higher risk for childhood obesity and face a variety of barriers such as lack of resources to support healthy eating behavior and culturally sensitive interventions therefore making it challenging to receive services. The home environment and community are substantial in the influence on weight status in children therefore developing alternative sleeping routines in the home, decreasing screen time, greater access to healthy food options, and safety are important. Type 2 diabetes is being diagnosed at a younger age than previous years, however limiting high fat calorie meals and beverages, establishing a meal schedule, increasing healthy meals and physical activities are interventions that can help prevent and decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes at an early age. This literature review provides support on the rapid increase in obesity and discusses interventions to decrease rates among obese children.

Download or read book The Effects of Socioeconomic Built Environment and Food Environment Factors on Childhood Obesity in Montclair California written by Krystal Redman and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Built Environment s Relationships with Dietary and Physical Activity Lifestyles and Obesity Prevalence written by Shahinshah Azim and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the twenty-first century. It is both a disease itself and a major risk factor for many other life-threatening diseases. It has been rapidly growing worldwide during the last four to five decades and continues to affect millions of people in the world. Researchers and practitioners agree that in addition to genealogical/biological factors, obesogenic diets and physical inactivity are two major risk factors of obesity. Longitudinal data and research in the USA show that rapid growth in obesity rates during the last four to five decades coincided with declines in dietary quality and increasing sedentary lifestyles. Finding appropriate and effective policy interventions to control the obesity epidemic is a challenge for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. In this dissertation, my goal is to investigate the relationships of the built environment with dietary and physical activity lifestyles and obesity prevalence. I conducted three independent but related studies. I examined the relationships of built-environmental factors with obesogenic dietary-intake patters (chapter 2), with physical inactivity lifestyles (chapter 3), and obesity prevalence (chapter 4). In each chapter, I formed a conceptual model of independent and control variables on one side and the dependent variable on the other. I drew on the socioecological framework and place-based perspective that includes demographic, social, cultural, and economic factors as well as the built-environmental or structural/infrastructural conditions of the place as possible determinants of population health. My broader goal was to investigate and understand the potential roles of built environment factors from the smart growth perspective. Therefore, I controlled other socioecological factors to isolate their roles and examine the specific relationships of the built environment in each study. In chapter 2, I examined whether and what aspects of local built-environment factors (independent variables) have relationships with dietary-intake standards in the counties of the USA (insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables) (dependent variable). I investigated whether the availability and accessibility of different built-environment structures and infrastructures, i.e. different types of food outlets, have relationships with the local populations insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables in the counties of the USA when other socioecological factors are controlled. I also investigated whether the built environment features that form the local commuting environment have relationships with the local populations dietary intake standards (insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables) in the counties of the USA, controlling for other socioecological factors. I measured the local commuting environment as distances to workplaces, and the availability of transportation facilities in the counties of the USA. In chapter 3, I examined the relationships between the built environment factors (independent variables) and physical inactivity prevalence in the county (dependent variable). More specifically, I examined the relationships of the built environment for the availability of physical activity facilities and access to these facilities with physical inactivity rates in the counties of the USA. I also included the neighborhood crime rate as a measure of safe neighborhoods to examine its relationships with physical inactivity prevalence. I also examined built environment variables for local commuting environments to examine their relationships with physical inactivity prevalence in the counties of the USA. I used distances to workplaces and the availability of transportation facilities as measures of the local commuting environment. Chapter 4 provides a comprehensive study that examines the direct relationships between built environment factors (independent variables) and obesity rates in the counties of the USA (dependent variable). My conceptual model describes that shortcomings in the food environment, physical activity environment, and commuting environment together may lead to obesity prevalence. I formulated my questions accordingly to examine the relationships of these environments with obesity prevalence in the counties of the USA. I used all factors studied in chapters 2 and 3 to examine the direct relationship of these factors with obesity prevalence. This is a county-level national study. The data on all my variables were collected, compiled, or computed at the county-level. These are cross-sectional data and are publicly available from official websites and used by government agencies for national reports. I used county-data for 48 contiguous states in the USA. I excluded Alaska and Hawaii due to large missing data for many variables included in the study. In each chapter, I used multiple regression analyses and examined these relationships at the national level and within different county-types and county-groups. Specifically, I used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to test my model for each chapter on the data of (1) all counties in the USA included in this study (main analyses at national level); (2) 9 county-types formed based on the characteristics given under rural-urban continuum codes (RUCC); and (3) county-groups based on similarities in characteristics such as size, metropolitan-nonmetropolitan status, rurality/urbanicity, and socioecological factors. The purpose of conducting multiple analyses was to find out if the variables in my models had similar relationships in counties having similar or different characteristics mentioned above and whether the findings at the national level were consistent for county-types and their groups. For each case, I developed specified models in multiple steps. I conducted regression analyses with control variables, with independent variables, and combined analyses with control and independent variables. The results of the three studies in this dissertation show that most of the built environment factors included in the study are important and they have significant relationships with the dependent variable in each study. The built environments for food, physical activity, and local commuting environments variables pertaining to the built environments for food, physical activity, and local commuting environments have significant relationships with the dependent variables at the national level and for different county-groups and county-types. The demographic/socioeconomic variables i.e. the control variables turn out to be important variables. Their beta values are high, generally higher than the beta values for built environment variables. However, some built-environment variables also turn out to be quite important. Their beta values are also high in all models. The results further show that some built environment variables are more important than others as they are present in most of the models. The results of this dissertation have some important policy implications. These results show that different socioecological factors, particularly the built environment factors that I included for examination can influence dietary-intake, physical inactivity and, subsequently, obesity prevalence among populations. These factors that form food and physical activity environments can create obesogenic environments. These factors pertain to different fields including the organizations and agencies engaged in urban-rural development, infrastructural design, housing, transportation, and so on. Private businesses form an important component of the population-health domain, and their role is important for any change/modifications in the structural/infrastructural design of the built environments. Therefore, an intergovernmental, inter-organizational, and intersectoral collaboration is required for policy formulation and implementation to control the obesity epidemic.

Download or read book Obesity in the Built Environment written by Charles Eagle Fritz III and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global prevalence of obesity and overweight has rapidly increased over the past few decades. The relative growth rate of the epidemic, particularly in more developed countries, has triggered efforts to explore environmental determinants of weight gain. Research on how the built environment affects weight gain, and health more broadly, has been widely undertaken by public health, epidemiology, and geography disciplines, yet no clear relationships have been identified. Moreover, research on the Canadian context is generally lacking. Methods native to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial epidemiology may prove effective to furthering contemporary knowledge of the built environment determinants of obesity, and overall, contribute to wider disciplines involved. The first paper of this thesis reviews literature from the spatial epidemiology discipline to glean insight from recent methodological development of spatial clustering tools and provide guidelines for practical application. The second paper explores the spatial clustering of obesity and examines the built environment for potential correlates. Both papers take a unique perspective within the respected disciplines they are informing, and thus provide novel results for future research and development.

Download or read book Individual Family and Neighbourhood Contributions to Child Excess Weight and Screen Time Among Two Australian Cohorts written by Elizabeth Allen and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The complexity of child overweight and obesity has been discussed in a substantial amount of literature. Yet few attempts have been made to disentangle the complexity. It is hypothesised that child weight status is influenced by multilevel factors operating within a highly complex set of social, cultural and economic conditions. Opportunities for activity or exercise and material resources, among other things, further constrain behaviour. These factors are important translators and mediators of behaviour, and thus can adversely influence health behaviours and weight status. This study sought to determine (1) what role proximal (individual and family) and more distal (neighbourhood) characteristics play in contributing to excess weight and screen time, and (2) whether screen time is a mediator of proximal and distal contributions to overweight and obesity among children in Australia. A multilevel approach examining the proximal and distal contributions using logistic regression and binary mediation statistical techniques was adopted to assess the research aims, using cross-sectional data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). LSAC is a nationally representative omnibus survey. Data from Wave 3 (conducted in 2008) was used to explore the contributions for preschoolers (4-5 year olds) and primary schoolers (8-9 year olds). More than one-fifth of preschoolers and primary schoolers were overweight or obese, while most preschoolers and primary schoolers engaged in more than the recommended threshold of two hours of screen time per day. Binary mediation analyses showed screen time to significantly mediate proximal and distal contributions to excess weight for both cohorts. Of the individual, family and neighbourhood contributions to excess weight among children aged 4-5 and 8-9 years, maternal protective parenting and excess weight (respectively) made the most substantial contributions to the likelihood of child overweight and obesity. Conversely, child preferences for active pastimes were most protective. The major contributors differed to reflect more behaviour-oriented influences when assessed in the case of screen time. Maternal excess weight featured for the younger children, while intake of energy-dense food and drinks was most influential among the older children in promoting the likelihood of excess screen time. Adequate fruit and vegetable intake was shown to be associated with reducing the likelihood of risky screen-time behaviours in children of both age groups. These relationships were confirmed when screen time was assessed as a mediator in models by which characteristics contribute to excess weight either directly or indirectly. Unexpectedly few of the neighbourhood variables were found to be significant in the analyses. Rather, individual and family level factors were mostly found to make contributions to overweight and obesity and excess screen time among preschoolers and primary schoolers. This is not to say that the hypothesised contributions of neighbourhood level characteristics should not be included in intervention. The findings presented in this thesis show that child excess weight is best understood within the environments from which it arises. Effective public health intervention strategies aimed at preventing and ameliorating child overweight and obesity in Australia would thus be best placed adopting a holistic multidimensional approach.

Download or read book Impacting the Home Environment Toward the Prevention of Childhood Obesity written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The environment can be broadly defined as all things external to an individual. One of the most important environments for children is the home in which they live, particularly with regard to the role that parents play to provide opportunities for healthful development, including adequate physical activity and healthful eating habits. Parents are the gatekeepers of children's healthful opportunities, and are influential in numerous aspects related to obesity. The present paper consists of four chapters related to impacting the home environment for prevention of obesity in children. Although obesity is a complex issue, its cause is energy imbalance, wherein less energy is expended than is consumed. Consideration of both sides of the equation is essential for obesity prevention. In this dissertation, chapter 1 serves as a literature review for the home food environment. A conceptual model is presented as an attempt to place relevant literature in the greater context of environmental variables related to childhood obesity. Frequent family meals have been shown to be protective for child and adolescent obesity, and to promote fruit and vegetable consumption. However, time pressures and lack of cooking skills are potential barriers to this healthful practice. Decreases in television viewing and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption are other home environmental aspects showing promise in the obesity prevention literature. Chapters two and three address the influence of parents on children's obesity-preventive behaviors and relative weight status. These chapters help to inform the planning of interventions to prevent obesity in children. Parent-child shared physical activity may hold promise as a strategy to decrease the likelihood of children becoming obese, and bonding may be an important consideration in programs aimed at obesity treatment or prevention. Chapter four describes the evaluation of an intervention developed to impact the home environment of young girl scouts. This intervention was implemented by troop leaders altering troop-meeting environments toward more healthful opportunities for physical activity and nutrition, and through the delivery of a scouts-tailored curriculum. Results of the intervention showed marked changes to troop meeting environments, but apparently little impact on parents or the home environment.

Download or read book Early Childhood Grows Up written by Linda Miller and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-11-08 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once the Cinderella of the education system, early years education has evolved into a much more substantially funded sector with staff experiencing greater opportunities for higher-level training and education as well as increasing demands. This book reflects practitioner debates about fundamental questions such as whether or not their field of work is a profession at all. Two key arguments are presented. The first is that early years education has matured to the point that pedagogical and regulatory frameworks have been introduced and linked to a terminology of professionalism. This has opened up a space for early years practitioners – as insiders of this historically undervalued sector – to question the nature of their practice. The questioning leads to the second argument: the need for a new future for early years education marked by a ‘critical ecology’ of the profession. This is a future in which educators maintain an attitude of critical enquiry in all aspects of their role, assessing the genuine needs of the sector, factoring in the different political and cultural milieux that influence it, and acting to transform it. In exploring the issues, this book begins by recording in detail the daily work of early years educators from six countries: Australia, England, Finland, Germany, New Zealand and Sweden. These case studies explore what it means to act professionally in a particular context; perceptions of what being a ‘professional’ in early childhood education means (including practitioners’ self perceptions and external perspectives); and common features of practice in each context. It moves on to analyse the wider socio-political forces that affect this day-to-day practice and recommends that practitioners act as transformative agents informed by the political and social realities of their time.

Download or read book Why Weight this Booklet is for You written by Alberta. Alberta Social Services and Community Health and published by Vegreville, Alta. : Alberta, Social Services and Community Health, Vegreville Health Unit. This book was released on 1980* with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: