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The purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of the factors related to parents' intention to make weight-reducing lifestyle changes for their children. Previous research has examined parental perception of weight and adoption of weight loss behaviors, but many determinants remain unknown, including possible psychological and motivational factors that may facilitate self-efficacy and parents' intention to make weight-reducing lifestyle changes for their children. This study was a cross-sectional survey of 100 parents of obese children 6-12 years old attending primary care clinic in an urban academic practice. Parents completed the Family Demographics Questionnaire, the Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire (Clark et al., 1991) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (Radloff, 1977). Parents' height and weight were measured to calculate BMI. Logistic regression analyses of intention to follow provider advice included predictors of parents' self-efficacy for maintaining their child's diet, parents' self-perception of weight and controlling variables of child gender, child age, parents' BMI, ethnicity, and income. Parents' self-efficacy was found to be a significant predictor of parents' intention to follow the provider's recommendations; parents with higher self-efficacy scores were more likely to show intention to follow provider's recommendations (OR = 1.05, p < .001). Parents' level of depressive symptoms was a significant predictor of parents' self-efficacy; as level of depressive symptoms increased, parents' self-efficacy decreased. Depressive symptoms, together with legal guardian status and child's age predicted 16% of the total variance of parents' self-efficacy (B = -17.98, p < .01). The association of parents' self-perception of weight and intention did not achieve statistical significance; however, parents who perceived their provider to be overweight were less likely to intend to follow the provider's instructions (OR = 0.29, p < .03). Parents reporting a child with co-morbid health problems were less likely to show intention to follow weight loss recommendations in every analysis. These study results have implications for the training needs of pediatric providers to enable more effective interventions and improve overall outcome for the obese child, as well as implications for public health programs incorporating family participation into healthy lifestyle interventions for children. / Public Health

Introduction: Recent research indicates that breastfeeding may be protective against obesity risk. The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate the possible associations between breastfeeding, later maternal feeding strategies, and later child eating behaviors that could protect against obesity. Methods: This study examined hypothesized associations between infant feeding type (breastfed [BF], bottle-fed breastmilk [PUMP], bottle-fed formula [FM]) and both current child eating styles (internal cues in eating) and current maternal feeding styles (related to control) in a sample of three to six year old children. Infant feeding information was obtained via retrospective self-report with medical chart verification. Maternal feeding styles of "restriction" and "monitoring" and child eating behaviors of "satiety responsiveness" and "food responsiveness," were measured through validated questionnaires. It was hypothesized that children who were breastfed without bottle would have less maternal restriction and monitoring in their feeding and higher satiety response and lower food responsiveness than children who were breastfed with bottle or formula fed. Exploratory hypotheses were examined: (1) Maternal feeding and child eating behaviors were examined for interrelations and (2) Maternal feeding and child eating styles were explored for their relationship with obesity measures. Results: Among the 111 mothers, the mother-child pairs were classified in groups as follows: 41 BF, 25 PUMP, and 45 FORM. One-way ANOVA analyses did not find significant mean differences between these groups in restriction, monitoring, satiety response, and food responsiveness. However, multivariate analyses found the PUMP group had an unadjusted odds ratio of 0.33 (95% CI: 0.12-0.96) for high satiety level and after adjustment for child gender, maternal BMI, maternal educational level, maternal race, and maternal restraint in her own eating, the odds ratio was reduced to 0.27 (95% CI: 0.07-0.98). Correlations were found between the CFQ and CEBQ subscales. Correlations were found between food responsiveness and obesity outcomes, and satiety response and lower BMI. Discussion: This evidence supports the suggestion that breastfeeding without a bottle might allow infants to grow to have more positive eating behaviors. Future studies should expand upon these strategies in a prospective manner to promote clearer understanding of the breastfeeding-obesity factors. / Public Health

Master of Public Health / Public Health Interdepartmental Program / Tandalayo Kidd / Heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes are the leading causes of death in the United States. In addition, the prevalence of obesity has significantly increased since the 1970s. In Kansas, 37% of adults are overweight and 24% are obese. These chronic diseases and conditions tend to be prevented by and/or managed with both adequate physical activity and a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. In Kansas 48.5% of adults meet the current recommendations for physical activity set by the American Heart Association, while 20% of adults consume the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. Public health officials need to work together to encourage Kansas adults to increase their participation in physical activity and consumption of fruits and vegetables to help prevent future health problems or manage current chronic diseases. To help address these health issues in Kansas, Kansas State University Research and Extension developed the 8-week Kansans Move into Health nutrition and physical activity program, building its framework around the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Using TPB, participants address attitudes and perceived norms as well as perform specific behaviors associated with healthy eating and physical activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of condensing the 8-week nutrition and physical activity program into four one-hour classes using a pre- and post-survey. Nineteen participants from the Johnson County community signed up to participate with 63% (n=12) completing the program. Results indicated that participants changed their belief that nutritious foods are more expensive (p≤0.05). Furthermore, participants gained knowledge in how to prepare healthy snacks that are quick and easy. All other measures did not change (n=19; p>0.05). Future research evaluating longer program interventions could better assess attitudes and perceived norms associated with healthy behaviors and determine whether the increase in knowledge leads to behavior change.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Nutrition / David A. Dzewaltowski / Consumption of fruits and vegetables (FV) contributes to healthy growth and development among youth. For effective intervention development, an understanding of the underlying casual influences on consumption is needed. The current dissertation is intended to identify whether influences on youth fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) vary by age, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES). The series of four chapters focus on self-efficacy for FVC and proxy efficacy to influence other adults to provide supportive FV environments. Chapter One reviews studies examining the influences on youth FVC. Consistently across studies, FV preferences and FV availability influenced youth FVC. Chapter Two and Chapter Three report studies documenting that children's confidence (proxy efficacy) to influence parents to make FV available and to influence other adults (after-school staff) to make FV available are independent but related constructs to self-efficacy to eat fruits and self-efficacy to eat vegetables. Differences were found in these constructs according to school demographic variables and youth demographic variables. Chapter Two reports that youth attending elementary schools with lower concentrations of racial/ethnic diversity and higher concentrations of high SES were more confident in influencing their parents to make FV available than youth attending schools with higher concentrations of racial/ethnic diversity and higher concentrations of low SES. Although analyses of cross sectional data collected on elementary-aged youth presented in Chapter 3 showed no demographic differences at the school level, Chapter Four examined longitudinal data across sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade and found demographic differences using youth level variables. Across the middle school years, youth declined in proxy efficacy and racial/ethnic minority youth declined at a significantly faster rate than white youth. Each year, male and lower SES youth were significantly lower in proxy efficacy than females and higher SES youth, respectively. Thus, school or youth demographic differences in self-efficacy and proxy efficacy may contribute to the understanding of why males and lower SES youth eat less FV than females and higher SES youth.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Nutrition / David A. Dzewaltowski / The prevalence of obesity within the U.S. has risen dramatically in the past thirty years. Recent changes in food and physical activity environments may contribute to increased obesity prevalence, suggesting that disparities in these environments may be linked to the increased risk of obesity observed in low-income, and racial/ethnic minority women. This dissertation characterizes the local food environment experienced by low-income women who participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Kansas, evaluates whether characteristics of the local food environment contribute to obesity risk, and examines how these relationships vary across the urban-rural continuum. Chapter One reviews the relevant literature examining the association between obesity and local food environments, and identifies three testable hypotheses that serve as the framework for later chapters. Chapter Two characterizes the local food environment and examines geographic, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in the availability of small grocery stores and supermarkets. Chapter Three examines the association between store availability and obesity risk at an individual level among participants in the WIC Program, while Chapter Four utilizes multi-level modeling to examine the relationships between tract deprivation, tract store availability and body mass index (BMI). Significant geographic disparities were observed in the availability of small grocery and supermarkets. Racial and ethnic disparities observed within tracts were not observed when examining store availability in a 1-mile radius around the residence of WIC mothers. The majority of women participating in the WIC program resided within a 1-mile radius of a small grocery store, and micropolitan and metropolitan WIC mothers had a multiplicity of food stores available within a 3-mile radius of residence. Food store availability was associated with increased obesity risk only in micropolitan areas. The availability of food stores did not mediate the association between tract deprivation and BMI, which varied across the urban-rural continuum. Overall, these results suggest that the relationship between local food environments and eating behaviors is complex, that limited store availability does not contribute to increased obesity risk in vulnerable populations, and that the association between local food environments and obesity risk varies across the urban-rural continuum.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Nutrition / Craig A. Harms / The overall aim of this dissertation was to ascertain the influences of lifestyle factors on airway health in children and young adults. In Study 1 (Chapter 2) the effect of a high-fat meal on airway inflammation and hyper-responsiveness was examined. Results revealed a post-prandial increase (p<0.05) in total cholesterol (~4%), triglycerides (~93%), and exhaled nitric oxide (a marker of airway inflammation, ~19%) two-hours following a high-fat meal (74.2±4.1g fat). These novel findings suggest that a high-fat meal may contribute to impaired airway function. In study 2 (Chapter 3) we assessed the role of body fat and physical activity (PA) on airway health in prepubescent children. This study revealed that children with higher-body-fat levels (>21%), who were not meeting current PA recommendations, experienced greater (p<0.05) amounts of post-exercise airway narrowing (FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1-second, ~11%), as compared to children with lower-body-fat (<21%), who were meeting PA guidelines. These findings suggest that elevated adiposity and low PA levels may place children at risk for development of asthma and asthma-like symptoms. In study 3 (Chapter 4), based on study 2 results, we assessed the impact of 8 weeks of high-intensity interval training on airway health in children who were not meeting PA guidelines. We determined that high-intensity training significantly increased V02max (~24%), and decreased total cholesterol (~11%) and LDL cholesterol (~35%). Additionally, we found improvements (p<0.05) in ∆FEV1 both post-exercise (pre: -7.6±2.2%, post: -1.3±1.8%) and post-eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (pre: -6.7±2.2%, post: -1.4±1.5%) with training. Further, Lower-body-fat and higher V02max subjects experienced significantly greater improvement in ∆FEV1 following training than higher-body-fat and lower V02max subjects (r=-0.80, r=0.73, respectively). These results suggest that in children, high-intensity training can ameliorate the negative health consequences of inactivity. However, increased body fat, and low V02max levels may constrain these improvements. This series of studies underscores the importance of dietary habits, body composition, and PA for airway health in children and young adults. These findings may be useful in determining policies and practices impacting children’s health, and could facilitate protocol development for prevention of asthma-like symptoms.

La proprotéine convertase subtilisine/kexine type 9 (PCSK9) favorise la dégradation post-transcriptionnelle du récepteur des lipoprotéines de faible densité (LDLr) dans les hépatocytes et augmente le LDL-cholestérol dans le plasma. Cependant, il n’est pas clair si la PCSK9 joue un rôle dans l’intestin. Dans cette étude, nous caractérisons les variations de la PCSK9 et du LDLr dans les cellules Caco-2/15 différentiées en fonction d’une variété d’effecteurs potentiels. Le cholestérol (100 µM) lié à l’albumine ou présenté en micelles a réduit de façon significative l’expression génique (30%, p<0,05) et l’expression protéique (50%, p<0,05) de la PCSK9. Étonnamment, une diminution similaire dans le LDLr protéique a été enregistrée (45%, p<0,05). Les cellules traitées avec le 25-hydroxycholestérol (50 µM) présentent également des réductions significatives dans l’ARNm (37%, p<0,01) et la protéine (75%, p<0,001) de la PCSK9. Une baisse des expressions génique (30%, p<0,05) et protéique (57%, p<0,01) a également été constatée dans le LDLr. Des diminutions ont aussi été observées pour la HMG CoA réductase et la protéine liant l’élément de réponse aux stérols SREBP-2. Il a été démontré que le SREBP-2 peut activer transcriptionnellement la PCSK9 par le biais de la liaison de SREBP-2 à son élément de réponse aux stérols situé dans la région proximale du promoteur de la PCSK9. Inversement, la déplétion du contenu cellulaire en cholestérol par l’hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrine a augmenté l’expression génique de la PCSK9 (20%, p<0,05) et son contenu protéique (540%, p<0,001), en parallèle avec les niveaux protéiques de SREBP-2. L’ajout des acides biliaires taurocholate et déoxycholate dans le milieu apical des cellules intestinales Caco-2/15 a provoqué une baisse d’expression génique (30%, p<0,01) et une hausse d’expression protéique (43%, p<0,01) de la PCSK9 respectivement, probablement via la modulation du FXR (farnesoid X receptor). Ces données combinées semblent donc indiquer que la PCSK9 fonctionne comme un senseur de stérols dans le petit intestin. / Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) posttranslationally promotes the degradation of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLr) in hepatocytes and increases plasma LDL cholesterol. It is not clear, however, whether PCSK9 plays a role in the small intestine. Here, we characterized the patterns of variations of PCSK9 and LDLr in fully differentiated Caco-2/15 cells as a function of various potential effectors. Cholesterol (100 µM) solubilised in albumin or micelles significantly down-regulated PCSK9 gene (30%, p<0,05) and protein expression (50%, p<0,05), surprisingly in concert with a decrease in LDLr protein levels (45%, p<0,05). 25-hydroxycholesterol (50 µM) treated cells also displayed significant reduction in PCSK9 gene (37 %, p<0,01) and protein (75% p<0,001) expression, while LDLr showed a decrease at the gene (30%, p< 0,05) and protein (57%, p<0,01) levels, respectively. The amounts of PCSK9 mRNA and protein in Caco-2/15 cells were associated to the regulation of HMG-CoA reductase and sterol regulatory element binding protein-2 (SREBP-2) that can transcriptionally activate PCSK9 via sterol-regulatory elements located in its proximal promoter region. On the other hand, depletion of cholesterol content by hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrine up-regulated PCSK9 transcripts (20%, p<0,05) and protein mass (540%, p<0,001), in parallel with SREBP-2 protein levels. The addition of bile acids, taurocholate and deoxycholate, to the apical culture medium lowered PCSK9 gene expression (30%, p<0,01) and raised PCSK9 protein expression (43%, p<0,01) respectively, probably via the modulation of farnesoid X receptor. Combined, these data indicate that PCSK9 functions as a sensor of sterol in the small intestine.

L'exposition à la lumière des solutions de nutrition parentérale (NP) génère des peroxydes tels que l'H2O2 et l'ascorbylperoxyde (AscOOH). Cette absence de photo-protection provoque une augmentation des triglycérides (TG) plasmatique chez les enfants prématurés et chez un modèle animal, ayant un stress oxydatif et une stéatose hépatique indépendante de l’exposition au H2O2. Nous pensons que l'AscOOH est l'agent actif conduisant à l'élévation des TG. Le but est d'investiguer le rôle de l'AscOOH sur les métabolismes du glucose et des lipides à l'aide d'un modèle animal néonatal de NP. / The light exposure of parenteral nutritive solutions generates peroxides such as H2O2 and ascorbylperoxide. This absence of photo-protection is associated with higher plasma triacylglycerol concentration (TG) in premature infants and, in animals, with oxidative stress and a H2O2 independent hepatic steatosis. We hypothesized that ascorbylperoxide is the active agent leading to high TG. The aim was to investigate the role of ascorbylperoxide on glucose and lipid metabolism in an animal model of neonatal parenteral nutrition.

Introduction: Les aidants des personnes âgées (PA) atteintes de la démence de type Alzheimer (DTA) sont confrontés à de nombreux défis lors du soin de leurs proches, y compris ceux liés à l’alimentation. Cependant, ces défis restent méconnus et les stratégies créées pour les gérer sont encore peu efficaces. Objectifs: Identifier les difficultés rencontrées par les aidants pendant la gestion de l’alimentation des PA atteintes de la DTA ayant participé à une intervention nutritionnelle (l’étude NIS) et dégager leurs opinions concernant cette intervention. Sujets: Trente-trois aidants des PA avec DTA du groupe intervention de l’étude NIS ont été ciblés. Méthodes: L’approche qualitative a été employée lors des entrevues individuelles auprès de ces aidants. Les entrevues ont été transcrites et le verbatim fut soumis à une analyse thématique. Résultats: Vingt-quatre aidants ont été interviewés. Quelque 58,4 % avaient 70 ans et plus et 58,3 % étaient des conjoint (es) des patients affectés. Quatre catégories de thèmes furent dégagées menant à l’identification des défis alimentaires suivants: les changements des habitudes alimentaires (altération des préférences); les perturbations du comportement alimentaire (ex. l’oubli de repas); la dépendance à la préparation des repas. L’utilité des conseils, la gentillesse et la compétence du personnel NIS, la documentation écrite offerte et la durée du suivi ont été appréciées par les aidants. Conclusion: Une meilleure compréhension de l'expérience de soin vécu par l’aidant est essentielle au développement des interventions nutritionnelles adaptées aux besoins des aidants et des PA atteintes de la DTA. / Introduction: Caregivers of older adults suffering from Alzheimer disease (AD) are confronted by many challenges related to the care of their family members, including dietary management. However these challenges remain poorly understood by health professionals and strategies for managing these challenges are still not very effective. Objectives: To identify difficulties encountered by caregivers related to dietary management of their family members with AD taking part in a nutritional intervention (NIS study), and to gather their opinions about this intervention. Subjects: Thirty-three caregivers of older adults with AD were targeted from the NIS study intervention group. Methods: Using a qualitative approach, individual interviews were conducted with these caregivers, the verbatim was transcribed and a thematic analysis was carried out. Results: Twenty-four caregivers were interviewed. Some 58.4 % were 70 years old and older and 58.3 % were spouses of the patients. Four categories of themes emerged, leading to the identification of the following dietary challenges: changes in food habits (e.g. modification of food preferences); eating behavior disturbances (e.g.forgetting meals); dependence for meal preparation. The usefulness of the nutrition counseling, the kindness and the competence of the NIS personnel, the written material offered and the length of the follow-up were appreciated by the caregivers. Conclusion: A better understanding of the caregiver’s experience is essential for the development of nutrition interventions adapted to the needs of caregivers and older adults with AD.