Background Obesity is a global public health crisis. Obesity in adolescents tends to track into adulthood. Home dining is one of the preventive measures which can achieve some of the recommended factors that might protect against weight gain and obesity. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the correlates of home dinner, and the association between home dinner and weight status in Hong Kong adolescent. Methods All data used in this study was adopted from a local study done by the Hong Kong Student Obesity Surveillance (HKSOS) project 2006-2007. For the association between family meal frequency and weight status, multi-nominal logistic regression was used for analysis. For further analysis, significant (p<0.05) correlates and frequency of dining at home were set as independent and dependent variables, respectively. All correlates were adopted in multivariate logistic regression, resulting in crude and mutually adjusted odds ratios for frequency of dining at home. Results In total, 65.7% of subjects had dinner at home at least 4 times per week. More frequent dining at home ( 4 - 7 vs. 0 - 3 times per week ) was correlated with female sex, lower socioeconomic status, smoking, intact family structure, no full time job mothers and her parenting styles. Subjects who had dinner at home more frequently had higher consumption of cereals, vegetables, high fat food, and snack and soft drink. They also reported watching more TV during meals and a greater feeling of fullness after meals. Adolescents with more frequent home dining were 14% ( 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.20 ) less likely to be obese. Conclusions Statistically significant correlations of frequent home dinners with adolescents’ background characteristics and dietary habits were found. Adolescents who had more dinners at home were less likely to be obese. These findings need to be confirmed by prospective studies and interventional studies. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Background: Weight misperceptions are common in adolescents and doctors’ advice may help clarify these misperceptions. Few studies have examined how common physicians assess various weight-related factors, including physical measurements, lifestyle factors, and obesity-related medical risks, based on adolescents’ reports and patient characteristics that predict such assessments. Physicians’ weight comments were associated with weight perception in overweight patients, however, such association was unclear in non-overweight adolescents. Objectives: The present study aimed to 1) examine how common adolescents received weight-related factors from private practitioners; 2) identify factors associated with these assessments; 3) assess how common adolescents received weight comments from private practitioners; 4) examine the association of body weight comments by private practitioners with weight perception in adolescents, intention to do more non-exercise physical activity (NEPA), and perceived risk of chronic disease for being overweight. Methods: In the Hong Kong Student Obesity Surveillance (HKSOS) project, 33692 students (44.9% boys; mean age 14.8, SD 1.9 years) from 42 randomly selected schools completed an anonymous questionnaire. The students were asked whether in the past 12 months any private practitioner (or their nurses) had assessed their height, weight, waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI), diet, and physical activity. Students were also asked to report any weight status comments received from private practitioners. Perceived risk of chronic disease for being overweight and intention to do more NEPA were also reported. Weight status was based on self-reported weight and height. Multiple imputation was used to replace missing values. Logistic (or ordinal logistic) regression was used to assess the association between student characteristics and assessment of each weight-related factor, and the association of weight comments with adolescent weight perception, perceived risk of chronic disease, and intention to do more NEPA. Results: Among 13283 students who had doctor consultations in the past 12 months, 37.9% received physical measurements or lifestyle enquiries, with weight (20.8%), height (16.8%) and blood pressure (11.5%) being the most common, followed by diet (8.1%), BMI (6.3%), WC (4.6%), and physical activity (4.6%). In general, adolescents who were female, older, underweight or overweight/obese, had parents with higher education level, and had actively asked private practitioners for advice about weight were more likely to receive assessments of weight-related factors. Less than one-fifth (16.8%) of adolescents received height and weight or BMI assessments. Nearly 3 in 10 (28.7%) adolescents reported receiving weight status comments from private practitioners, of which 59.8% were correct. Correct weight status comments were associated with correct weight perceptions among adolescents regardless of weight status. Being told by a private practitioner that one is too fat was positively associated with perceiving higher risk of chronic disease for being overweight in normal weight and overweight adolescents, and more intention to do NEPA in all adolescents. Conclusions: Weight-related factors in adolescents were infrequently assessed by private practitioners in Hong Kong. Generally, unhealthy weight, higher parental education and advice-seeking by adolescents predicted these assessments. Receiving correct weight comments predicted correct adolescent weight perceptions. Practitioners should routinely assess and advise adolescents on weight status. / published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Service Management / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

by Joan, Fung-yee Chan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-99). / Abstract and questionnaire also in Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iv / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER ONE - --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Slimness As An Updated Trend --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Physical Appearance as the Main Concern for Adolescents --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Stigma of Being Overweight --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Possible Psychological Correlates of Overweight --- p.5 / Chapter 1.5 --- Females are More Preoccupied with Appearance? --- p.10 / Chapter 1.6 --- Differences in Psychological Profiles of Boys and Girls with Diffprent Weight --- p.13 / Chapter 1.7 --- Subjective Satisfaction of Weight and Body Shape --- p.15 / Chapter 1.8 --- Related Local Findings --- p.17 / Chapter 1.9 --- Objectives of the Present Study --- p.20 / Chapter 1.10 --- The Use of EDI-2 --- p.22 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO - --- METHODOLOGY --- p.24 / Chapter 2 1 --- Subjects --- p.24 / Chapter 2.2 --- Measures / Scales --- p.24 / Chapter 2.3 --- Procedure --- p.32 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE - --- RESULTS --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1 --- Demographic Characteristics of Sample --- p.34 / Chapter 3.2 --- Prevalence of Overweight Among the Sample --- p.36 / Chapter 3.3 --- Satisfaction of Overall Body Shape --- p.38 / Chapter 3.4 --- Dissatisfaction Towards Different Body Parts --- p.39 / Chapter 3.5 --- Sex Differences --- p.41 / Chapter 3.6 --- Differences in Psychological Profile Among Different Weight Groups --- p.47 / Chapter 3.7 --- Psychological Profiles of Different Weight Groups with Different Levels of Body Shape Satisfaction --- p.53 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR - --- DISCUSSION / Chapter 4.1 --- The Prevalence of Obesity among Chinese Adolescentsin Hong Kong --- p.68 / Chapter 4.2 --- Differences in Psychosocial Variables --- p.68 / Chapter 4.3 --- "“Normative Dissatisfaction"" Towards Own Body Shape" --- p.70 / Chapter 4.4 --- Differences in Psychological Profile between Boys and Girls --- p.73 / Chapter 4.5 --- Effect of Weight among Boys and Girls --- p.76 / Chapter 4.6 --- Effect of Subjective Satisfaction with Own Body Shape --- p.82 / Chapter 4.7 --- Conclusions --- p.87 / Chapter 4.8 --- Limitations of the Present Study --- p.89 / Chapter 4.9 --- Recommendations for Future Studies --- p.91 / REFERENCES --- p.93 / APPENDIX --- p.100

Background and objectives. Spurred by the longstanding interest in the intimate relationship between anxiety and depression, different conceptual models of negative affectivity have been proposed to account for their common and unique features. The two-factor model (Tellegen, 1985; Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988) proposes that Negative Affect (NA) represents a nonspecific factor common to both depression and anxiety, whereas low Positive Affect (PA) is a specific factor to depressed mood. The tripartite model (Clark & Watson, 1991b) divides symptoms into three groups: Negative Affect (general distress) symptoms that are largely non-specific; low Positive Affect (anhedonia) symptoms that are specific to depression; and Physiological Hyperarousal (PH) symptoms that are unique to anxiety. The structural model of negative affectivity (Zinbarg et al., 1994; Zinbarg & Barlow, 1996; Brown et al., 1998) postulates NA and PA as higher order factors under which PH, DSM-IV anxiety and depression are subsumed as lower order factors in a hierarchical arrangement. For the cognitive approach, Beck's cognitive content-specificity hypothesis (Beck, 1976) emphasizes the important role of specific cognitions in differentiating anxiety and depression. The objectives of the present study were: (1) To examine the relationship between anxiety and depression in an adolescent sample of Hong Kong; (2) To examine the phenotypic structure of anxiety and depression in the Hong Kong adolescent sample; and (3) To assess the validity and applicability of the western negative affectivity models and cognitive model for differentiating anxiety and depression in the Hong Kong adolescent sample. / Conclusions. Overall, the present study provides good support for the affective models of negative affectivity and the cognitive model developed in the west which constitutes a good basis for elucidating the relationship between anxiety and depression in the Chinese adolescents of Hong Kong. Although cross-cultural differences in anxiety and depressive symptoms are not directly addressed in this study, the results tend to suggest that Chinese adolescents do not uniformly over or under-report depressive or anxiety symptoms as compare to their Western reference groups. The results generally support the view that there is a large degree of universality or commonality of emotional constructs and affect structures between adolescents in the East and West. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) / Results. Good construct and concurrent validity were established for all the scales applied. Both the two-factor model and the tripartite model showed good fit to our data which also supported the various predictions by the models. Moreover, the results provided good evidence for the hierarchical model in which NA and PA were interpreted as higher orders, whereas Physiological Hyperarousal (PH), DSM-IV anxiety disorders, and depression were specific lower order factors. Consistent with the content-specificity hypothesis, anxious and depressive cognitions were found to specifically predict anxiety and depressive symptoms respectively. / Kwok, Wai Yee Alice. / "April 2007." / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-01, Section: B, page: 0221. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-179). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work