This pilot study assessed the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of a novel approach to facilitating dietary change and weight loss in obese adults by presenting vegan environmental, health and farm animal treatment information in a 6 week, group-based, educational nutrition program (called a vegan healthy eating program). Twenty-nine (29) medically stable, obese adults were recruited from 3 ambulatory care clinics at UCSF and enrolled using partial randomization into one of two serially occurring intervention groups (Group 1 n=14, followed by Group 2 n=15). A delayed intervention control group (n=9) was used, consisting of participants enrolled in Group 2 who were available for collection of baseline measures prior to the start of Group 1s intervention. All intervention participants provided data immediately following their vegan healthy eating program (2 months post baseline) and again at 3 and 9 months post baseline. 10% of initial contacts (29 patients) met inclusion and exclusion criteria and were enrolled; 25 participants were retained at 3 months, 20 at 9 months. Mean intervention session satisfaction as measured by anonymous surveys using a 1-7 Likert scale (1=extremely unsatisfied, 7=extremely satisfied) was 6.2 (SD=1.1). Statistically significant reductions in calories from animal products, percent fat, cholesterol and increases in the recommended food score, fruits and vegetable servings were observed within the intervention group only, at all timepoints. Mean weight change was +2.8 lbs (3.0, n=8, p=0.035) in control participants after 4.3 weeks, and -3.4 lbs (5.0, n=25, p=0.002), -5.9 lbs (7.7, n=25, p=0.001), and -8.8 lbs (14.2, n=20, p=0.012) after 7.3, 15.6 and 41.7 weeks in intervention participants, respectively. In conclusion, this vegan healthy eating program demonstrated good feasibility, high satisfaction, and facilitated a shift towards a plant-based diet and modest, progressive short-term weight loss among intervention participants.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Feb. 1, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 13-15).

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 19, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Kathleen Warner Slane. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Laurie Grubbs, Florida State University, School of Nursing. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Feb. 25, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Vidakovic, Branislav; Committee Member: Edwards, Paula; Committee Member: Griffin, Paul; Committee Member: Grinter, Rebecca; Committee Member: Mullis, Rebecca. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

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: With adolescent obesity increasing in many developed and developing countries, many studies have investigated the effects of dietary habits on adolescent obesity. However, night-eating, which may lead to extra caloric intake and weight gain, is understudied. Given adolescents’ behavior patterns required during this period to be likely to influence long term behaviors, the present study investigated the prevalence of night-eating in Hong Kong adolescents and its association with weight status, dinner habits, bedtime, and the interval between dinner time and bedtime. Methods: This study was a secondary analysis with a sample of 24885 adolescents based on the dataset of Hong Kong Student Surveillance (HKSOS) project which was a school-based cross-sectional survey conducted in 2006/07. The subjects reported the number of days they had night-eating per week, the usual time they had dinner, the time spent on dinner, and bedtime. The interval between dinner time and bedtime was calculated and classified as long (4 hours or more) or short (below 4 hours). Weight status was estimated based on the self-reported weight and height. The prevalence of night-eating and distributions of dinner habits and bedtime were examined using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and percentage). Logistic regression and multiple linear regression models with robust standard errors accounting for school clustering effects were used (Stata 11.0) to estimate crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) and regression coefficients for associations about night-eating. Results: Half (50.2%) the subjects reported any night-eating and 21.9% reported frequent night-eating of more than three days a week. The change of BMI z-score was positive associated with night-eating (Coefficient: 0.204; 95%CI: 0.175-0.233), and night-eaters were 13% (95%CI: 6%-20%) more likely to be obese. Compared with early dinner time group, the normal dinner time group was 11% (95% CI: 6%-15%) less likely to have night-eating. Students who reported normal and slow eating speed were 30% (95 % CI: 22%-39%) and 147% (95% CI: 113%-187%) more likely to have night-eating compared with quick eating speed group; the late-sleepers were 43% (95% CI: 35%--53%) and 25% (95%CI: 18%--34%) more likely to have night-eating on weekday and weekend, respectively, compared with early-sleepers. Besides, it was observed that adolescents having longer interval between dinner time and bedtime were 22% (95% CI: 5%--42%) more likely to have night-eating. Conclusion: The prevalence of night-eating was 50.2% in Hong Kong students. The night-eating was positively related with obesity, and the relationship was the first time to be estimated in Hong Kong adolescents. Besides, the relative early dinner time (compared with bedtime), slow dinner speed, late bedtime and long interval between dinner time and bedtime were positively associated with night-eating. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

No description available.

This study profiles the usual dietary habits of independent-living elderly from alternative methodological perspectives. The primary objective was to validate a comprehensive dietary questionnaire developed for use in epidemiology against the results of household refuse analysis, an independent, continuous measure of dietary behavior. Members of 44 one-and two-person households residing in a retirement community in southern Arizona completed a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Subsequently, all refuse discarded by participating households during the following six weeks was collected and recorded by researchers. During the final week, respondents completed a recall questionnaire asking them to report their dietary habits during the study period. Analysis compared the results of survey and material measures of monthly household consumption at the levels of total intake, food group, and food item. Primary indices of agreement or association between measures included tests of mean difference, correlation coefficients, and percentage of subjects misclassified in tertile comparisons. Agreement between the results of measures was very good, with significant exceptions. Survey and refuse estimates of mean monthly quantity of total intake differed by less than one percent. Significant differences between mean estimates of consumption produced by each measure were found for three of 10 food group categories, and 19 of 73 food items compared. The correlation coefficient for comparisons between survey and refuse estimates of total intake was .72, and positive associations were also evident for the large majority of other items examined. Fifty-seven percent of subjects were classified into equivalent tertiles by both survey and refuse estimates of total intake. Percentages classified into equivalent tertiles in food group comparisons ranged from 48 to 70 percent. Potential effects of sources of error in refuse were also examined. Significant differences between results of the measures clustered among food items commonly associated with health risk or benefit, or items which serve as accessory elements in meals. These results suggest that, although brief food frequency questionnaires can provide valid estimates of usual diet for the majority of food categories, social desirability response effects may significantly affect reported consumption of some items.

No description available.