This diploma thesis is divided into theoretical and empirical part. The theoretical part focuses on healthy lifestyle of young children. It describes the development of young children, proper nutrition, development of eating habits from an early age, children's obesity, obesity prevention at primary school and health education in primary school. The empirical part of this diploma thesis contains results of the research and project which deals with obesity prevention that was realized in selected primary school. The main purpose of this research is to find out what is the actual situation in the area of eating habits of children in the first grade of the selected primary school and what opinion parents have on the catering offered by the school.

The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity is increasing at an alarming rate in the United States. Currently more than 1 in 3 children aged 2-19 are overweight or obese. This is of major concern because childhood overweight and obesity leads to chronic conditions such as type II diabetes and tracks into adulthood, where more severe adverse health outcomes arise. In this study I used the premise of the social ecological model (SEM) to analyze the common levels that a child is exposed to daily; the intrapersonal level, the interpersonal level, the school level, and the community level to better understand what risk factors are significantly associated with child weight status. Data came from the 2012 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) (n=41,361). Frequencies and confidence intervals were used to describe risk factors at each level. Bivariate analyses were conducted between each risk factor and the outcome variable. Using all risk factors that were significantly associated with overweight and obesity in the bivariate analyses, multinomial logistic regressions were performed for each SEM level. The 4 SEM levels were then analyzed together using stagewise multinomial logistic regression. A significance level cutoff of 0.05 was applied to all analyses. Thirty-three percent of participants were overweight or obese. Child sex, race, age, child physical activity participation, mother’s education and health, the child’s family structure, the child’s participation in extracurricular activities, frequency of family meals at home, safety and engagement in school, the number of amenities and the safety and support within their communities were found to be significantly associated with child weight status. The odds ratios of the covariates in the final stagewise model were similar to those in each individual model. Understanding both the risk factors associated with child overweight and obesity in each individual level and in the complete socio-ecological perspective is important when working toward more effective policy and program creation and the reduction of childhood obesity. Recognizing that all levels of a child's SEM influence his or her likelihood of being overweight or obese can lead to more effective strategies that tackle multiple SEM levels collectively instead of each level independently.

Aim of the study: To get better insights into the profile of body composition, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children aged 11, 13 and 15 years old and to analyze relationship of overweight and obesity with some behavioral and social health factors in Lithuania. Objectives: To establish the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school-age children (11, 13 and 15 years old) in Lithuania. To describe the distribution of obesity and overweight by age, gender, nationality, family affluence, living place and household groups of school age children. To establish the statistical relationship of obesity and overweight with nutritional habits and physical activity and to analyze the relation of overweight and obesity with self-rated health and self body image. Methods: In this master’s research work the selected primary source of existing research raw data from the HBSC questionnaire survey 2009/10 was used. The author of the master’s thesis has provided his own contribution by selecting the research topic, formulating the research questions, identifying the questionnaire items relevant to the topic and also conducting statistical analysis, interpretation of data. The analysis of the data (3338 questionnaires of 11, 13 and 15 year old school children were analyzed) was calculated in percentages, averages. IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 and MS Excel 2007 were applied for calculations and visual presentation of the results. The significance level when p<0.05 was... [to full text] / Tyrimo tikslas: Ištirti 11, 13 ir 15 metų amžiaus Lietuvos moksleivių kūno sudėjimą, antsvorio ir nutukimo paplitimą bei išanalizuoti jų sąsajas su kai kuriais elgsenos ir socialiniai sveikatos veiksniais. Uždaviniai: Nustatyti antsvorio ir nutukimo paplitimą tarp mokyklinio amžiaus (11, 13 ir 15 metų) vaikų Lietuvoje. Aprašyti mokinių antsvorio ir nutukimo pasiskirstymą pagal amžių, lytį, tautybę, šeimos pragyvenimo lygį, gyvenamąją vietą, šeimyninę sudėtį. Nustatyti antsvorio ir nutukimo statistines sąsajas su mitybos ypatumais ir fiziniu aktyvumu bei išanalizuoti sąryšį su savo sveikatos vertinimu bei savo kūno įvaizdžio suvokimu. Metodai: Duomenys šiam magistriniam tiriamajam darbui buvo paimti iš 2009/10 metų HBSC anketinio tyrimo. Magistro tezių autorius pats pasirinko tyrimo temą, suformulavo tyrimo klausimus, atrinko su tema susijusius anketos klausimus, atliko statistinę duomenų analizę ir interpretaciją. Išanalizuotos 3338 11, 13 ir 15 metų amžiaus moksleivių anketos, rezultatai pateikti procentais, vidurkiai. Statistiniams skaičiavimams naudotas IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 paketas, grafinis rezultatų pateikimas atliktas MS Excel 2007 pagalba. Reikšmingumo lygmuo, kai p<0,05, buvo laikomas kaip statistiškai reikšmingas. Rezultatai: 10,8% 11, 13 ir 15 metų amžiaus Lietuvos moksleivių turėjo antsvorį, 1,6% iš jų nustatytas nutukimas. Be to, procentai mažėja didėjant amžiui. Statistiškai reikšmingai (p<0,05) antsvorio ir nutukimo paplitimas buvo didesnis tarp berniukų (16... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

p. 1-93 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-04-08T18:19:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Artigo Nadia Moraes SEG.pdf: 389390 bytes, checksum: 70881d959184a8395057265ae30bd724 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-04-09T13:15:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Artigo Nadia Moraes SEG.pdf: 389390 bytes, checksum: 70881d959184a8395057265ae30bd724 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-04-09T13:15:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Artigo Nadia Moraes SEG.pdf: 389390 bytes, checksum: 70881d959184a8395057265ae30bd724 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Introdução: A obesidade é uma doença crônica, multifatorial, que resulta do acúmulo de tecido gorduroso, regionalizado ou em todo o corpo, em resposta à diferença positiva entre consumo e gasto energético. O sobrepeso, evento que precede à obesidade, e a obesidade vêm ocorrendo expressivamente em crianças de todo o mundo e não somente em adultos, como mostravam as informações de um passado remoto. Metodologia: Trata-se de estudo caso-controle, envolvendo 336 crianças de 7 a 14 anos de idade; 112 constituem o grupo de casos prevalentes e 224 o grupo controle; emparelhados por idade e sexo. Foram realizadas medidas antropométricas e coletadas informações referentes ao contexto sócio econômico da família, história familiar de doenças crônicas não transmissíveis, estilo de vida e consumo alimentar das crianças investigadas. Adotou-se a regressão logística condicional para avaliar as relações investigadas, aceitando-se o valor de p de 0,05 para as inferências estatísticas. Resultados: A alta escolaridade materna (OR: 3,31; IC95%:1,68-6,54), o elevado consumo de alimentos de origem animal (OR=2,80; IC95%:1,21-6,47); a história familiar de obesidade (OR=2,45; IC95%: 1,39-4,32) e de dislipidemia (OR=1,80; IC95%:1,03-3,17), além do tempo dedicado ao uso da televisão (OR=2,03; IC95%: 1,14- 3,64) se constituem em fatores de exposição para a ocorrência do sobrepeso e da obesidade entre as crianças investigadas. Conclusão: Dada à relevância epidemiológica do sobrepeso e da obesidade na infância, tanto pela sua magnitude quanto pela contribuição para o desenvolvimento de outras doenças crônicas não transmissíveis, a prevenção desses transtornos nutricionais, estruturada em mudanças positivas na dieta e no estilo de vida desde a infância, deve assumir prioridade na agenda de saúde do país. / Salvador

(in English): A total of 62% of the Czech adult population currently suffer from overweight or obesity (BMI over 25). Overweight problems are mostly caused by bad eating and exercising habits. The web application Self-Coaching with cognitive behavioral therapy elements helps overweight or obese users to gradually change their bad habits. The objective of the research part of the thesis is to evaluate the effect of a 5-week use of the web application Self-Coaching and to find out whether or not this effect changes if the users are provided with a virtual intervention of an instructor trained in a cognitive behavioral approach to obesity treatment. I evaluated the percentage of weight loss as compared to the initial body weight, the energy and nutritional balance of the diet, vegetable intake, physical activity, the number of days of using the application and the use of the psychological section of the application (psycho-coaching). Weight loss was the identified main effect of the web application Self-Coaching. After five weeks, the users lost on average 2.5% of their initial weight. The intervention of the instructor helped to increase the number of days, for which the users used Self-Coaching.

The current epidemic of overweight and obesity has been partly credited to a growing trend for snacking and sedentary work behaviors. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional survey was to investigate whether the difference between snack food reinforcement during work and non-work hours and work food motives predicted BMI among U. S. office workers. This study was based on the theoretical framework of the individual differences theory, in the context of the behavioral choice theory and reinforcement theory. The independent variables were food reinforcement and food motives; the dependent variable was BMI. Descriptive, correlational, and exploratory analyses were used. The survey was administered to a sample of 100 adult male and female office workers using SurveyMonkey. The results of the study determined that there was a statistically significant difference in food reinforcement during work hours versus non-work hours; however, only change in intensity was a statistically significant predictor for the workers' BMI class scores (p < .05). Moreover, during work-hours, office workers were willing to exert more effort (pay more) to obtain these snack foods than during non-work hours. An increase in work intensity was associated with an increase in the odds of being obese, with an odds ratio of 1.050 (95% C.I. [1.016, 1.084]). Food motives were not associated with BMI class scores (p < .05). These analyses have provided support for the hypotheses that food reinforcement is greater during work hours among office workers. As a result, they have significant positive social change implications which include relative policy changes within companies, tailoring the workplace environment to meet individual needs, providing healthier snack food choices, and increasing prices on high energy-dense foods. The workplace environment can provide opportunities for dietary, physical and worksite environmental change as well as individual behavior changes. It is important to continue to investigate how the workplace food environment may influence energy intake and weight-related behaviors to create awareness among this population. The more individuals and organizations know about these environmental food-related behaviors, the more opportunity they may have to take action in mitigating risk for weight gain during work and non-work hours.

Contexte : L’obésité est une problématique multifactorielle qui peut s’accompagner d’un lot de complications autant chez les enfants que chez les adultes. Certains comportements alimentaires ont été associés à l’obésité pédiatrique, comme manger en absence de faim (MAF). Or, les déterminants de MAF n’ont pas tous été élucidés, en partie parce que ce comportement est difficile à évaluer. Objectifs : Le premier objectif est d’effectuer une revue systématique sur les déterminants individuels, familiaux et environnementaux de MAF chez les enfants et les adolescents âgés de 3 à 17 ans. Le deuxième objectif est de valider une traduction française d’un questionnaire permettant de mesurer MAF chez les enfants québécois de 7 à 15 ans. Méthodes : Pour la revue systématique (objectif #1), les critères d’éligibilité incluaient, entre autres, une population pédiatrique (3 à 17 ans) et l’évaluation d’au moins un facteur associé à MAF. Pour la validation transculturelle du questionnaire (objectif #2), des garçons et des filles âgés de 7 à 15 ans ont rempli le questionnaire à deux reprises dans un intervalle de 4 semaines. Nous avons évalué la validité de construit (structure et association avec le score z d’IMC) et la fidélité du questionnaire (cohérence interne et stabilité temporelle). Résultats : La synthèse des 81 articles inclus dans la revue systématique a révélé que chez les enfants, MAF était positivement associé à l’âge, à l’adiposité et à la présence de l’allèle A du gène FTO (fat mass and obesity associated gene). MAF semblait également davantage présent les garçons que chez les filles, mais certains facteurs familiaux, comme l’utilisation de pratiques parentales restrictives, étaient davantage associés à la présence de MAF chez les filles. MAF semble se stabiliser et persister à l’adolescence. L’étude sur la validation du questionnaire a montré que le questionnaire traduit possède une structure similaire à celle du questionnaire original. Chacune des 3 dimensions (émotions négatives, la fatigue ou l’ennui et les facteurs externes) avait une cohérence interne et une stabilité adéquate et MAF en réponse aux émotions négatives était associé à un score z d’IMC plus élevé. Conclusion : Ce mémoire contribuera au développement des connaissances sur le comportement MAF chez les enfants et les adolescents, en faisant le point sur les facteurs qui sont associés à MAF et en fournissant un outil permettant de mesurer facilement MAF en français / Background: Obesity is a multifactorial problematic which can lead to a variety of complications in both children and adults. Eating behaviors have been associated with obesity during childhood, such as eating in the absence of hunger (EAH). However, not all determinants of EAH have been elucidated, in part because this behavior is difficult to assess. Objectives: The first objective is to conduct a systematic review of the literature on individual, familial and environmental factors associated with EAH in children and adolescents aged 3-17 years old. The second objective is to perform a transcultural validation of a French translation of a questionnaire for the assessment of EAH in children and adolescents aged 7-15 years old. Methods: For the systematic review (objective #1), eligibility criteria for the study selection included a pediatric population (3-17 years of age) and evaluation of at least one factor potentially associated with EAH. For the transcultural validation of the questionnaire (objective #2), boys and girls aged 7-15 years old completed the questionnaire twice within 4 weeks. We assessed construct validity (structural validity and associations with BMI z-score) and reliability (internal consistency and temporal stability) of the questionnaire. Results: Synthesis of the 81 included studies in this systematic review revealed that among children, EAH is positively associated with age, with adiposity and with the presence of the A allele of the FTO gene (fat mass and obesity associated gene. This behavior is also more prevalent among boys than girls, but some familial factors, such as parental restrictive feeding practices, were associated with more EAH in girls. EAH also appears to remain present into adolescence. The transcultural validation revealed that the French translated version of the questionnaire had a similar structure compared to the original questionnaire. All dimensions (negative affect, fatigue/boredom and external cues) had an adequate internal consistency and temporal stability and EAH in response to negative affect was associated with a higher BMI z-score. Conclusions: This dissertation will contribute to fill the knowledge gaps about EAH in children and adolescents, by identifying factors associated with EAH and by providing a tool to easily measure EAH in French.

Dietary intake is a strong determinate of the health of an individual. Healthy eating is an important prevention to non-communicable diseases. If behaviour is to be changed insight into what the attitudes and barriers are to eating healthily amongst adolescents is imperative. This can provide knowledge for future prevention campaigns for healthy eating to prevent overweight and obesity. The purpose of the study was to quantitatively describe what attitudes adolescent females have towards healthy eating and what potential barriers omits them from adopting healthy eating behaviours. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. Girls (N=73) from 3 public all girls’ high schools within Durban, KZN, participated in this study. The findings revealed that overall adolescent girls have a positive attitude to healthy eating. A lack of time, the foods sold in the school shop and the conveniences of less healthy food have been identified as barriers to healthy eating. / Health Studies / M. A. (Public Health)

Submitted by SBI Biblioteca Digital (sbi.bibliotecadigital@puc-campinas.edu.br) on 2018-04-09T13:41:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ANITA COLLETES BELLODI.pdf: 4974375 bytes, checksum: 3bdee6ea638525af435f08f10b15571b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-09T13:41:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ANITA COLLETES BELLODI.pdf: 4974375 bytes, checksum: 3bdee6ea638525af435f08f10b15571b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-22 / Pontif?cia Universidade Cat?lica de Campinas - PUC - Campinas / Overweight in children and adolescents, which includes obesity and excessive body mass indexes, configure a serious public health problem. Understanding the relationships among some of the modifiable variables involved is the general objective of this Thesis, which was elaborated in three studies. Study 1 presented a systematic review of the literature on psychological and psychosocial variables related to Overweight in childhood and adolescence (three to 18 years old). Were applied descriptors indexed by the American Psychological Association (APA): obesity OR overweight, AND Child Psychology OR Child Characteristics OR Adolescent characteristics OR Adolescent Psychology OR psychosocial development, in the multidisciplinary databases of Academic Search Premier, including empirical studies, reviewed by pairs, published in the last 10 years. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were the most common evaluated. Studies have indicated that these symptoms are more frequent in children and adolescents who are overweight or obese compared to those with normal weight. Other psychological variables were less evaluated, but were shown to be influential, such as temperament. Therefore, it is suggested that child / adolescent overweight studies analyze a greater number of variables, including biological, psychological and social variables, applying more integrative statistical analyzes, such as network analysis, for a comprehensive and procedural evaluation. Study 2 analyzed data from a cross-sectional study of 3,471 public school students aged three to 13 years from the city of Campinas, SP - Brazil. Measurements of 31 variables were submitted to agglutination, remaining 16 variables, which were applied correlations analyzes, predictions and bivariate correlation network analysis and principal components analysis. We found 33.7% of students with overweight, 17.5% with obesity and 16.2% with excessive body mass. The network analysis showed that under stress these children and adolescents tend to have higher cholesterol levels, followed by a greater use of medications or supplements, and an increase in physical activity, higher ratios for boys and non-white ethnicity. Eating the lunch provided by the school and being female served as a protective factor for cardiovascular risk. It is concluded that stress is impacting the physical health of students, increasing their cardiovascular risk. We suggest actions that verify the sources of stress for this child and youth population and propose policies to manage these conditions. Study 3 analyzed 37 variables: psychosocial (ethnicity, psychosocial risk, city of residence, study in public or private school, influences of advertisements on food), treatment variables (time in treatment, periodicity, comorbidities, medical treatments), family variables (sex, age, body mass index (BMI), physical activity habit, diabetes of the mother, smoking during pregnancy, complications in pregnancy or childbirth, feeding behaviors such as restriction for weight loss, health restrictions, pressure and monitoring, adaptative/non-adaptative coping), child or adolescent variables (gender, age, weight at birth, exclusive breastfeeding, physical activity, hours of physical activity per week, hours of sleep, snacking from home to school, place of meals, screen time, temperament characteristics of effort control, negative affect, extroversion, adaptive and non-adaptive coping) and outcome variables: excessive body mass and obesity. There were 80 participants, 40 patients aged three to 17 years, from a pediatric endocrinology clinic of a university hospital in Campinas, SP - Brazil, and their caregiver (responsible family member), totaling 40 caregivers. Weight and height of participants were measured, and BMI was calculated. Psychosocial Assessment Tool (2.0), Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire, Motivational Theory of Coping Scale - 12, Children's Behavior Questionnaire, Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire - Revised. The network analysis emphasized that overweight begins with impaired maternal health, especially with diabetes mellitus and complications in pregnancy and childbirth, while children / adolescents with a negative temperament affective feature have poor adaptive coping in a context of psychosocial risk. This information should guide prevention strategies in women's health and gestational health, followed by multidisciplinary care programs for the patient and their caregiver, for those already under treatment. With the data from the three studies, it is a general conclusion that treatments for overweight based exclusively on indications of healthy life habits are insufficient. For prevention of overweight in children / adolescents, it is suggested to focus on maternal health and actions to reduce psychosocial risk. To achieve greater success in adherence to treatment, it is necessary to broaden the evaluation of psychological and psychosocial aspects, including stress and stressors evaluation, temperament, coping, in a multidisciplinary and contextualized assessment of the family psychosocial risk, and the economic and social reality of the target population. / El exceso de peso (EP), en ni?os y adolescentes, que incluye el sobrepeso y la obesidad, se presenta como un grave problema de salud p?blica. Comprender las relaciones entre algunas de las variables modificables involucradas es objetivo general de esta Tesis, que fue elaborada en tres estudios. El estudio 1 present? un levantamiento sistem?tico de literatura sobre variables psicol?gicas y psicosociales relacionadas al EP en la infancia y adolescencia (3 a 18 a?os). Se aplic? descriptores indexados por la American Psychological Association (APA): obesity OR overweight, AND Child Psychology OR Child Characteristics OR Adolescent characteristics OR Adolescent Psychology OR psychosocial development, en las bases de datos multidisciplinares de la Academic Search Premier, incluyendo estudios emp?ricos, revisados por pares en idioma ingl?s, publicados entre los a?os 2007 y 2017. Los s?ntomas depresivos y de ansiedad fueron los m?s comunes evaluados. Los estudios indicaron que estos s?ntomas son m?s frecuentes en los ni?os y adolescentes con sobrepeso o obesidad, si se compara con aquellos con peso normal. Otras variables psicol?gicas fueron menos evaluadas, pero se mostraron influyentes, tales como el temperamento. Por eso, se sugiere que los estudios del EP del ni?o / adolescente analizan mayor n?mero de variables, incluyendo biol?gicas, psicol?gicas y sociales, aplicando an?lisis estad?sticas m?s integrativas, como el an?lisis de red, para una evaluaci?n amplia y procesal. El estudio 2 analiz? datos de un estudio transversal con 3.471 estudiantes de escuelas p?blicas, de 7 a 13 a?os, de la ciudad de Campinas ? SP, Brasil. Las medidas de 31 variables fueron sometidas a la aglutinaci?n, restando 16 variables, las cuales se aplicaron an?lisis de correlaciones, predicciones y an?lisis de red de correlaci?n bivariada y an?lisis de componentes principales. Se encontr? 33,7% de estudiantes con EP, 17,5% con obesidad y 16,2% con sobrepeso. El an?lisis de red mostr? que, sufriendo estr?s, estos ni?os y adolescentes tienden a presentar niveles de colesterol m?s elevados, seguido por un mayor uso de medicamentos o suplementos, y un aumento de la actividad f?sica, relaciones mayores para ni?os y de etnia no blanca. Alimentarse con la merienda proporcionada por la escuela y ser del sexo femenino actu? como factor de protecci?n para el riesgo cardiovascular. Se concluye que el estr?s est? impactando la salud f?sica de los estudiantes, aumentando su riesgo cardiovascular. Se sugieren acciones que verifiquen las fuentes de estr?s para esta poblaci?n infantojuvenil y que propongan pol?ticas de manejo de esas condiciones. El estudio 3 analiz? 37 variables: psicosociales (etnia, riesgo psicosocial, ciudad de residencia, estudiar en escuela p?blica o particular, influencias de propagandas en la alimentaci?n), variables del tratamiento (tiempo en tratamiento, periodicidad, comorbilidades, especialidades m?dicas), variables familiares (sexo, edad, ?ndice de masa corporal (IMC), h?bito de actividad f?sica, diabetes de la genitora, tabaquismo de la genitora en la gestaci?n, complicaciones en la gestaci?n o parto, comportamientos de alimentaci?n v?a restricci?n para p?rdida de peso, restricci?n para la salud, presi?n y monitoreo, coping adaptativo y mal adaptativo), variables del ni?o o adolescente (sexo, edad, peso al nacer, lactancia materna exclusiva (AME), realizaci?n de actividad f?sica, horas de actividad f?sica por semana, horas de sue?o, h?bito de llevar la merienda de casa para la escuela, lugar de realizaci?n de comidas, tiempo en dispositivos con pantalla, caracter?sticas de temperamento de control con esfuerzo, afecto negativo, extroversi?n, coping adaptativo y el mal adaptativo) y las variables de desenlace: sobrepeso y obesidad (EP). Se tuvo a 80 participantes, siendo 40 pacientes, de 3 a 17 a?os, de un ambulatorio de obesidad infantil de la endocrinolog?a de un hospital universitario de Campinas ? SP, Brasil y su cuidador (familiar responsable), totalizando 40 cuidadores. El peso y la altura de los participantes fueron evaluados y se calcul? el IMC. Se aplic? individualmente instrumentos, de acuerdo con cada edad: Ficha de Caracterizaci?n, Psychosocial Assessment Tool (2.0), Compreensive Feeding Practices Questionnarie, Motivacional Theory of Coping Scale - 12, Children?s Behavior Questionnarie, Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire ? Revised. El an?lisis de red destac? que el EP se inicia con la salud materna perjudicada, principalmente con diabetes mellitus y complicaciones en el embarazo y parto, ya los ni?os / adolescentes con caracter?stica de afecto negativo de temperamento, presentan coping mal adaptativo, en contexto de riesgo psicosocial. Estas informaciones deben orientar estrategias de prevenci?n en salud de la mujer y salud gestacional, seguido por programas de atenci?n multidisciplinaria para el paciente y su cuidador, para aquellos ya en tratamiento. Frente a los datos de los tres estudios, se concluye en general que los tratamientos para EP basados exclusivamente en indicaciones de h?bitos de vida saludables son insuficientes. Para la prevenci?n del EP en ni?os / adolescentes, se sugiere foco en salud materna y acciones que disminuyen riesgo psicosocial. Para alcanzar m?s ?xito en la adhesi?n al tratamiento, es necesario ampliar la evaluaci?n de los aspectos psicol?gicos y psicosociales, incluyendo evaluaci?n sobre estr?s y estresores, temperamento, coping, en evaluaci?n multidisciplinaria y contextualizada al riesgo psicosocial familiar, ya la realidad econ?mica y social de la poblaci?n objetivo. / O excesso de peso (EP), em crian?as e adolescentes, que inclui o sobrepeso e a obesidade, apresenta-se como um grave problema de sa?de p?blica. Compreender as rela??es entre algumas das vari?veis modific?veis envolvidas ? objetivo geral desta Tese, que foi elaborada em tr?s estudos. O Estudo 1 apresentou um levantamento sistem?tico de literatura sobre vari?veis psicol?gicas e psicossociais relacionadas ao EP na inf?ncia e adolesc?ncia (tr?s a 18 anos). Aplicou-se descritores indexados pela American Psychological Association (APA): obesity OR overweight, AND Child Psychology OR Child Characteristics OR Adolescent characteristics OR Adolescent Psychology OR psychosocial development, nas bases de dados multidisciplinares da Academic Search Premier, incluindo estudos emp?ricos, revisados por pares, em idioma ingl?s, publicados entre os anos de 2007 e 2017. Sintomas depressivos e de ansiedade foram os mais comuns avaliados. A revis?o indicou que esses sintomas s?o mais frequentes nas crian?as e adolescentes com sobrepeso ou obesidade, se comparadas ?quelas com peso normal. Outras vari?veis psicol?gicas foram menos avaliadas, mas se mostraram influentes, tais como o temperamento. Por isto, ? sugerido que as pesquisas do EP da crian?a/adolescente analisem maior n?mero de vari?veis, incluindo biol?gicas, psicol?gicas e sociais, aplicando-se an?lises estat?sticas mais integrativas, como a an?lise de rede, para uma avalia??o ampla e processual. O Estudo 2 analisou dados de um estudo transversal com 3.471 estudantes de escolas p?blicas, de sete a 13 anos, da cidade de Campinas ? SP. Medidas de 31 vari?veis foram submetidas ? aglutina??o, restando 16 vari?veis, as quais aplicaram-se an?lises de correla??es, predi??es e an?lise de rede de correla??o bivariada e an?lise de componentes principais. Encontrou-se 33,7% de estudantes com EP, 17,5% com obesidade e 16,2 % com sobrepeso. A an?lise de rede mostrou que, sob estresse, essas crian?as e adolescentes tendem a apresentar n?veis de colesterol mais elevados, seguido por um maior uso de medica??es ou suplementos, e um aumento da atividade f?sica, rela??es maiores para meninos e de etnia n?o branca. Alimentar-se com a merenda fornecida pela escola e ser do sexo feminino atuou como fator de prote??o para o risco cardiovascular. Conclui-se que o estresse est? impactando a sa?de f?sica dos estudantes, aumentando seu risco cardiovascular. Sugerem-se a??es que verifiquem as fontes de estresse para esta popula??o infantojuvenil e que proponham pol?ticas de manejo dessas condi??es. O Estudo 3 analisou 37 vari?veis: psicossociais (etnia, risco psicossocial, cidade de resid?ncia, estudar em escola p?blica ou particular, influ?ncias de propagandas na alimenta??o), vari?veis do tratamento (tempo em tratamento, periodicidade, comorbidades, especialidades m?dicas), vari?veis familiares (sexo, idade, ?ndice de massa corporal (IMC), h?bito de atividade f?sica, diabetes da genitora, tabagismo da genitora na gesta??o, complica??es na gesta??o ou parto, comportamentos de alimentar via restri??o para perda de peso, restri??o para sa?de, press?o e monitoramento, coping adaptativo e mal adaptativo), vari?veis da crian?a ou adolescente (sexo, idade, peso ao nascer, amamenta??o materna exclusiva (AME), realiza??o de atividade f?sica, horas de atividade f?sica por semana, horas de sono, h?bito de levar lanche de casa para a escola, local de realiza??o de refei??es, tempo em dispositivos com tela, caracter?sticas de temperamento de controle com esfor?o, afeto negativo, extrovers?o, coping adaptativo e mal adaptativo) e as vari?veis de desfecho: sobrepeso e obesidade (EP). Teve 80 participantes, sendo 40 pacientes, de tr?s a 17 anos, de um ambulat?rio de obesidade infantil da endocrinologia de um hospital universit?rio de Campinas ? SP e seus cuidadores (familiar respons?vel), totalizando 40 cuidadores. Peso e altura dos participantes foram aferidos e calculou-se o IMC. Aplicou-se individualmente instrumentos, de acordo com cada idade: Ficha de Caracteriza??o, Psychosocial Assessment Tool (2.0), Compreensive Feeding Practices Questionnarie, Motivacional Theory of Coping Scale - 12, Children?s Behavior Questionnarie, Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire ? Revised. A an?lise de rede destacou que o EP se inicia com a sa?de materna prejudicada, principalmente com diabetes mellitus e complica??es na gravidez e parto. As crian?as/adolescentes com caracter?stica de afeto negativo de temperamento apresentam coping mal adaptativo, em contexto de risco psicossocial. Essas informa??es devem orientar estrat?gias de preven??o em sa?de da mulher e sa?de gestacional, seguido por programas de atendimento multidisciplinar para o paciente e seu cuidador, para aqueles j? em tratamento. Frente aos dados dos tr?s estudos, conclui-se no geral, que os tratamentos para EP baseados exclusivamente em indica??es de h?bitos de vida saud?veis s?o insuficientes. Para preven??o do EP em crian?as/adolescentes, sugere-se foco em sa?de materna e a??es que diminuam o risco psicossocial. Para atingir mais sucesso na ades?o ao tratamento, ? necess?rio ampliar a avalia??o dos aspectos psicol?gicos e psicossociais, incluindo a avalia??o do estresse e estressores, temperamento, coping, em avalia??o multidisciplinar e contextualizada ao risco psicossocial familiar, e ? realidade econ?mica e social da popula??o-alvo.

Dietary intake is a strong determinate of the health of an individual. Healthy eating is an important prevention to non-communicable diseases. If behaviour is to be changed insight into what the attitudes and barriers are to eating healthily amongst adolescents is imperative. This can provide knowledge for future prevention campaigns for healthy eating to prevent overweight and obesity. The purpose of the study was to quantitatively describe what attitudes adolescent females have towards healthy eating and what potential barriers omits them from adopting healthy eating behaviours. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. Girls (N=73) from 3 public all girls’ high schools within Durban, KZN, participated in this study. The findings revealed that overall adolescent girls have a positive attitude to healthy eating. A lack of time, the foods sold in the school shop and the conveniences of less healthy food have been identified as barriers to healthy eating. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)