Theses (M.S.)--Marshall University, 2005. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains vii, 101 p. Bibliography: p. 67-79.

The issue of childhood obesity has become a pandemic of increasing prevalence and concern. Many behaviors contributing to overweight and obesity, such as dietary intake and physical activity, are learned in childhood. It is known that parents are key agents for change in their children. Therefore, interventions aimed at decreasing childhood overweight and obesity should be targeted at parents. Many parents state that they know the healthy dietary and physical activity behaviors they should adopt for their children, but lack the confidence, or self-efficacy, to enact these behaviors. A review of the literature for self-efficacy for behaviors in these domains in parents, adults and children uncovered many key elements involved. A search for an instrument to measure parental self-efficacy was unsuccessful in locating such an instrument, so several instruments in related domains were analyzed for content and utility for the generation of a new questionnaire. A 34-item questionnaire to measure parental self-efficacy for enacting healthy dietary and physical activity behaviors in their children 6-11 years old was developed and tested with a sample of 146 parents of children 6-11 years old, who could read and write English and had access to a computer with the internet. Internal reliability of the total scale was 0.94 and the two factors, dietary behaviors (DB) and physical activity behaviors (PAB) were 0.93 and 0.94, respectively. Test-retest reliability was also significant (p

The current study was designed to test the utility of a multivariate rnodel to predict health care utilization, absenteeism, and achievement functioning. The model included demographic factors and measures of physical health status as well as psychosocial predictors (child mental health, child developmental status, and family functioning). Four dependent variables were used including encounters with the health clinic at schoot primary care utilization, absenteeism (partial and whole days for the current year), and achievement status. Multiple regression analyses were performed to determine whether psychosocial factors would account for significant portions of the variance beyond that predicted by health and demographic factors. Results revealed that psychosocial predictors contributed significantly to the prediction of school and primary care health encounters. Predictors of absenteeism and achievement also included contributions of psychosocial factors although they were less robust. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1944.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1990.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1944.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1992.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1991.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1990.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nutrition and Metabolism, Department of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences. Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on April 28, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.