Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the relation between family functioning and children's response to treatment for overweight in a primary care setting. Methods: Sixty predominantly African American (72%) parents of children who are overweight were recruited from a pediatric outpatient clinic to provide information about family functioning. Children's success in treatment was tracked through medical chart review. Results: Parents' baseline self-report of family adaptability was associated with child body mass index z-scores (zBMI) at 3-month follow-up, although this association was no longer significant once baseline child zBMI was taken into account. Conclusions: Families with greater ability to adopt/implement changes may have children who do better in weight loss treatment. This preliminary study provides a model for integrating family systems ideas into pediatric overweight research and offers heuristic value as well as directions for future research in primary care settings.

Regular consumption of dairy is thought to aid in preserving lean body mass while decreasing body fat, however, studies have reported inconsistent results. The overall aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the influence of dairy consumption on body composition, specifically body fat percentage, among college-aged individuals in Mississippi. Total dairy consumption, type of dairy, and the relationship between race and sex were examined in 580 participants aged 18-26 years. Two-tailed correlation tests revealed a nonsignificant relationship between frequency of dairy consumption and body fat percentage among males, (r = .02, p = .68, n = 98) and females, (r = .06, p = .17, n = 469). There was also a nonsignificant interaction among race categories and dairy consumption. Future studies examining college-aged individuals should be performed with a more diverse sample to see if a relationship exists.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: B, page: 0911. Includes bibliographical references.

Globally, overweight and obesity in childhood has already reached pandemic proportions, and this condition is associated with various health problems such as, insulin-resistance, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular problems, such as hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, and stroke. Overweight and obesity are increasing in most countries, especially developing countries where the rates of obesity have tripled in those that have adapted a Western lifestyle. In low- and middle-income populations, particularly in urban areas, overweight and obesity in children is on the increase. Thus body composition profiles are used to determine the risk category of children such as underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. Overweight and obesity have a negative impact on both the physical and psychological levels of wellbeing during childhood and adolescence. Research on African and South African children living in rural areas on the body composition and prevalence rates will provide an opportunity to understand the role of development in children and adolescents and the importance thereof. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of body composition and the effect of gender, age, and race on body composition. This dissertation comprises four chapters, of which one chapter can be read independently as it is written in the form of a research article. MAIN FINDINGS A literature review was conducted to gain more insight regarding body composition status of children throughout the world, and in Africa and South Africa, and the role that body composition plays in children and adolescents. The importance of these aspects is highlighted and discussed in Chapter Two. Cross-sectional data on a total of 280 learners (109 boys and 171 girls) aged 14 years, who are part of the Physical Activity Longitudinal Study from the Tlokwe municipality area, are participants in the study. Body mass, stature, and skinfolds were used to determine body composition and body mass index of the participants. All data was analysed using SPSS Version 21.0 (SPSS Inc., 2012). The statistical level was set at p-value ≤ 0.05. The results of this study indicate that out of 280 learners 13.1% are overweight, 29.1% normal weight and 57.8% underweight. Boys had a lower overweight value when compared to the girls (9.1% vs 15.7%). In addition, the results show that African girls had a higher prevalence for overweight (15.8% vs 15.4%) than their Caucasian counterparts. As for the impact of gender, age and race-independent effects on body composition or BMI, the results also show no significant (p ≥ 0.05) age-independent effect on body composition measures of percentage body fat, sum of six skinfolds, fat free mass and waist-to-height ratio. In conclusion, overweight and obesity is a growing problem among children and adolescents, especially African girls and Caucasian girls in the Tlokwe municipality. Furthermore, recommendations are made about the implementation of school-screening programmes in semi-urban areas. The role of the government, parents, and teachers, and the importance of health professionals must also be considered. / MSc (Biokinetics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Globally, overweight and obesity in childhood has already reached pandemic proportions, and this condition is associated with various health problems such as, insulin-resistance, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular problems, such as hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, and stroke. Overweight and obesity are increasing in most countries, especially developing countries where the rates of obesity have tripled in those that have adapted a Western lifestyle. In low- and middle-income populations, particularly in urban areas, overweight and obesity in children is on the increase. Thus body composition profiles are used to determine the risk category of children such as underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. Overweight and obesity have a negative impact on both the physical and psychological levels of wellbeing during childhood and adolescence. Research on African and South African children living in rural areas on the body composition and prevalence rates will provide an opportunity to understand the role of development in children and adolescents and the importance thereof. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of body composition and the effect of gender, age, and race on body composition. This dissertation comprises four chapters, of which one chapter can be read independently as it is written in the form of a research article. MAIN FINDINGS A literature review was conducted to gain more insight regarding body composition status of children throughout the world, and in Africa and South Africa, and the role that body composition plays in children and adolescents. The importance of these aspects is highlighted and discussed in Chapter Two. Cross-sectional data on a total of 280 learners (109 boys and 171 girls) aged 14 years, who are part of the Physical Activity Longitudinal Study from the Tlokwe municipality area, are participants in the study. Body mass, stature, and skinfolds were used to determine body composition and body mass index of the participants. All data was analysed using SPSS Version 21.0 (SPSS Inc., 2012). The statistical level was set at p-value ≤ 0.05. The results of this study indicate that out of 280 learners 13.1% are overweight, 29.1% normal weight and 57.8% underweight. Boys had a lower overweight value when compared to the girls (9.1% vs 15.7%). In addition, the results show that African girls had a higher prevalence for overweight (15.8% vs 15.4%) than their Caucasian counterparts. As for the impact of gender, age and race-independent effects on body composition or BMI, the results also show no significant (p ≥ 0.05) age-independent effect on body composition measures of percentage body fat, sum of six skinfolds, fat free mass and waist-to-height ratio. In conclusion, overweight and obesity is a growing problem among children and adolescents, especially African girls and Caucasian girls in the Tlokwe municipality. Furthermore, recommendations are made about the implementation of school-screening programmes in semi-urban areas. The role of the government, parents, and teachers, and the importance of health professionals must also be considered. / MSc (Biokinetics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Syftet med studien var att undersöka skolsköterskors inställning till gymnasieungdomars övervikt. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av två fokusgruppsintervjuer. Den första gruppen bestod av tre skolsköterskor och den andra av fem. Data har analyserats med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. De tre kategorier som kom fram var övervikt som hälsoproblem, bedömning och diagnostik och hälsofrämjande åtgärder vilket visade att många skolsköterskor uppfattade sig ha större problem med anorexia bland eleverna jämfört med övervikt. Ofta hade ungdomarna fått fetma innan skolsköterskorna ansåg sig reagera på övervikten. Skolsköterskorna uppfattade en skillnad i övervikt hos ungdomarna mellan olika gymnasieprogram. De ansåg också att övervikt kan vara svårt att tala om och att problemet kunde vara svårt att åtgärda på grund av att tiden inte räcker till. Skolsköterskorna menade att de hade en god förståelse för hur övervikt uppstår och hur problemet kan åtgärdas. Slutsatsen är att skolsköterskorna inte uppfattade övervikt som ett stort problem bland skolungdomar. De menade att problemet är litet i jämförelse med andra hälsoproblem. När övervikten betraktas i relation till andra problem kan det finnas en risk att problemet underskattas. För att klargöra detta behövs dock ytterligare undersökningar. / The aim of the study was to investigate the school nurses' attitudes towards overweight among teenagers. The study was conducted using two focus group interviews. The first group consisted of three school nurses and the other of five. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Three categories appeared: overweight as a health problem; assessment and diagnosis; and health promotion. It showed that many nurses perceived the greater problem was anorexia among students compared to obesity. Often the young people had become obese before school nurses reacted to their overweight condition. The school nurses perceived that there is a difference between high school programs in percentage of adolescents who are overweight. They also found that overweight can be difficult to talk about. The problem could be difficult to deal with because of insufficient time. The school nurses felt that they had a good understanding of how obesity occurs and the measures to be taken. The conclusion is that school nurses did not perceive obesity as a major problem among schoolchildren. They argued that the problem is small in comparison to other health problems. When weight is considered in relation to other problems, there may be a risk that the overweight is underestimated. However, to clarify this, further studies are needed.

These studies investigated 1) mechanisms underlying the well-established reduction in orthostatic tolerance (OT) that occurs in humans during heat stress (HS) relative to normothermia (NT) with particular focus on determining factors contributing to the high degree of inter-individual variability in this phenomenon; and 2) influence of obesity on OT, and mechanisms underlying reduced OT, should it exist. In Study #1, OT was assessed during lower body negative pressure (LBNP), and quantified with a cumulative stress index (CSI). Differences in CSI (CSIdiff) between thermal conditions were used to categorize individuals most (LargeDiff) and least (SmallDiff) affected by HS (P<0.001). Cerebral perfusion [indexed as middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCA Vm̳̳e̳a̳n̳)] was reduced during HS compared to NT (P<0.001); however, the magnitude of reduction did not differ between groups (P=0.51). In the initial stage of LBNP during HS (LBNP20), MCA Vm̳̳e̳a̳n̳ and end-tidal CO₂ (PETC̳O̳₂) were reduced, and heart rate (HR) was higher in the LargeDiff group compared to SmallDiff group (all P<0.05); yet, mean arterial pressure was similar (P=0.23) suggesting impaired mechanisms regulating MCA Vm̳̳e̳a̳n̳ may affect OT. In Study #2, mechanisms of cerebrovascular control were compared in LargeDiff and SmallDiff individuals. Although estimates of cerebral autoregulation (CA) and cerebrovascular reactivity to CO₂ were improved and reduced respectively, during HS compared to NT (all P<0.05), no relationship existed between CA or cerebral reactivity to hypocapnia and CSIdiff (all P>0.05). In Study #3, OT was lower in obese compared to non-obese individuals (P<0.01), and BMI was negatively correlated with CSI (R = -0.47; P < 0.01). HR was elevated at rest and in every level of LBNP (all P<0.05) in obese; yet, peak HR during LBNP was similar between groups (P=0.90). MCA Vm̳̳e̳a̳n̳ and cerebral vascular conductance were similar at rest and during LBNP (both P>0.05), and CA was similar between groups (P>0.05). In summary, a high HR prior to-, and a high HR and reduced MCA Vm̳̳e̳a̳n̳ at the onset of an orthostatic challenge result in reduced OT during HS in healthy individuals; however, reduced OT in obese is related to a higher %peak HR at rest. / text

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), individuals who identified themselves as African-American or Black have the highest rate of obesity in the United States. The higher prevalence of overweight and obesity among the African-American population correlates to an increased risk for a number of diseases (including heart disease, diabetes, and several cancers) and an increased mortality rate for the African American population. Through focus groups and interviews, the research I will present focuses on perceptions of overweight and obesity among African-Americans, including any cultural beliefs associated with overweight, obesity and African-Americans. I examined cultural norms of body image, food preference (including "soul food" and other foods traditionally associated with African-American culture), and access to healthy foods and how the familial unit deals with issues of overweight and obesity. I also explored popular explanatory models surrounding the cultural acceptance of overweight and obesity in the African-American culture. Finally, I attempted to uncover the role that socioeconomic status plays in the acceptance, belief and/or knowledge of these models. A total of 80 participants who identify as African-American or Black were chosen using non-probability sampling techniques to participate in this research. I conducted 3 focus groups and 60 one on one interviews. Each participant in the focus group and one on one interview filled out a brief questionnaire about their perceptions of their own body image in conjunction with their interview. Varying socioeconomic status was sought amongst interview participants while similar socioeconomic status and education level were sought among focus group participants so that each person within the group felt as comfortable as possible sharing their experiences with weight and food. In my paper, I will discuss common themes that emerged in focus groups and interviews regarding perceptions of obesity among my participants.