There is limited study of the prevalence of childhood obesity and being overweight in 6 to 9 year old children living in Saskatchewan and Canada using the international standards and measured data. Limited data exists of the prevalence of obesity in rural and small urban communities. In 2000, a cross-sectional survey of children was conducted that primarily assessed the respiratory health of children in two southern Saskatchewan communities. Anthropometric measurements (height and weight) as well as child and familial data were available for 1241 children ages 6 to 9 years. Using data from this study and applying international standards for obesity and overweight developed by Cole and colleagues (2000) an analysis was undertaken to describe and compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity between communities and identify associated risk factors. Although the mean body mass index (BMI) differed statistically between communities, no differences in overweight and obesity were identified once the international standards were applied. The overall prevalence was 19.2% for being overweight and 5.2% for obesity. More girls than boys were overweight and obese at age 9. After adjusting for age, sex and community, maternal smoking during pregnancy and current gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea and/or diarrhea were associated with overweight and obesity. Lower physical activity in free time was associated with being overweight as a child. Children who were not consistently participating in physical education and sports in school were more likely to be overweight and obese. This research provides important new information regarding the prevalence and associated risk factors for overweight and obesity in school aged children in Saskatchewan. Although results concur with international prevalence rates of childhood obesity, children in this study were not as overweight or obese as previously reported data has shown for similar Canadian populations. Less physical activity, both in school and at home, may be important for the development and continuation of childhood obesity. Further research is necessary to explore reasons why obese and overweight children are experiencing significant digestive related health concerns.

Pediatric overweight is of paramount importance in Kentucky, as studies show prevalence rates are higher in the state than the national average. Research suggests that comprehensive treatments involving diet training, exercise training, and psychological counseling are most effective at reducing overweight in children. Little research has been done, however, to compare parents' and physicians' perceptions of obesity, its treatment, or barriers to weight management. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in attitudes toward pediatric obesity and weight management among parents and physicians, specifically related to the importance of diet training, exercise training, and psychological counseling. Surveys were sent to a population of pediatricians and family practitioners serving pediatric patients in the ten-county Barren River Area Development District of south-central Kentucky and to a convenience sample of 160 parents, identified when they brought their child(ren) to a physician for an office visit. Data were analyzed 1) descriptively and 2) inferentially to test hypotheses. Frequencies and measures of central tendency were conducted on categorical and continuous data. A series of t-tests were conducted at a 95% confidence interval to determine if differences existed between parents and physicians concerning the importance of 1) diet training, 2) exercise training, or 3) psychological counseling to pediatric weight control. Results showed a 42.9% prevalence of overweight among the children of sampled parents. Results also showed that physicians rated the three treatment modalities under study as significantly more important than did parents. Additionally, parents and physicians identified different barriers to the successful treatment of child overweight. While physicians felt child and family adherence issues presented the largest barriers, parents cited cost and self-esteem concerns as larger barriers to pediatric weight management. This study has many public health implications, including potential benefits from awareness efforts and educational training related to the identification of child overweight and the importance of a comprehensive treatment strategy. Additionally, physicians who are aware of parents' concerns related to finances and their child's self-esteem might be able to tailor their educational efforts to address those concerns, thus increasing treatment adherence.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is on the rise. Being overweight or obese is associated with serious medical, psychological, and social consequences. The main social consequence of being overweight or obese is stigma, which is detrimental to overweight and obese people. Three types of obesity stigma reduction interventions have been proposed and tested: changing attributions, increasing empathy, and social consensus. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of these interventions and to determine the effectiveness of an intervention that incorporates major elements of the three interventions. Three hundred eighty one University of Manitoba undergraduate students participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to one of five intervention groups: status quo group, changing attributions group, increasing empathy group, social consensus group, and multi-level intervention group. The interventions involved presenting participants with information intended to influence participants’ perceptions of overweight and obese individuals. Pre-test and post-test ratings were obtained on participants’ attributions about weight, feelings about obese people, and endorsement of positive and negative stereotypes of obese people. Analyses of these ratings revealed that the empathy and multi-level interventions are the only interventions that improved attributions, feelings, and endorsement of stereotypes, and this suggests that the multi-level and empathy interventions were the most powerful. On the other hand, the attribution intervention had the largest overall effect and affected attributions, feelings, and negative stereotypes. Therefore, there are reasons to believe that the attribution intervention was the most powerful in this study. Participants were subsequently asked to rate a target overweight person. Half of all participants were informed that the target was overweight because of medical reasons, while the other half were informed that the target was overweight because of regular overeating and a sedentary lifestyle. Surprisingly, the intervention groups did not significantly differ in target ratings on any variable. Reasons for this lack of effect are discussed. A main effect did occur in the ratings of the target for controllability information. Specifically, participants who were informed that the target was overweight for uncontrollable reasons (e.g., glandular disorder) reported more favorable ratings in liking her and not blaming her, as compared to participants who were informed that the target was overweight for controllable reasons (e.g., regular overeating and sedentary lifestyle). Ratings of the target’s characteristics and physical attractiveness did not change with this manipulation. Overall, this study provided logical and consistent results, while adding specific information to the literature. Further, this study offered a new, effective intervention for obesity stigma reduction, as well as providing some support for the empathy and attribution interventions. These three interventions proved to be the strongest in this study, and perhaps they will one day be used as part of a more global intervention to reduce stigma and discrimination toward overweight and obese people. / October 2008

ABSTRACT SANDRA C. METCALF Associations of Youth Weight Status Categories and Cholesterol Levels: Analysis of Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (Under the direction of RODNEY LYN, PhD, Assistant Professor) Obesity is recognized as a risk factor for dyslipidemia, however studies specific to overweight youth and dyslipidemia are scarce. Nonetheless, expert bodies have established BMI at the 85th percentile or greater as the threshold for “at risk” in youth and advocate for lipid screening. This study analyzed associations of weight categories and occurrence of dyslipidemia among a multi-racial sample of youth 6 to 18 years of age. In this NHANES cohort, overweight youth were at significant increased risk of dyslipidemias of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Obese children and adolescents demonstrated even higher risk. This study supports the hypothesis that overweight youth are at increased risk for dyslipidemia. Despite the increased risk, test agreement for overweight and dyslipidemia was poor. BMI at the 85th percentile did not provide good discrimination in detecting children with dyslipidemia and use of this threshold warrants further review.

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.

Health seeking behaviour is important in older people with hypertension and overweight, in terms of managing health factors that are related to their health and illness. However, health seeking behaviour of Thai older people is not well documented. This qualitative study aimed to describe health seeking behaviour of overweight hypertensive older people. Seven older women and three men participated in this study through purposive sampling. Qualitative data were gathered via in-depth interviews and were analyzed using content analysis. The results of this study illustrated that older people started to seek health care after understanding the need to seek health care due to the severity of their symptoms. The older people began illness management by using their knowledge to take care of themselves. If management was ineffective, they would seek health care from professional health care providers and traditional healers. Additionally, family members play important roles in the health seeking behaviour of older people. In particular, Thai older people with hypertension and overweight demonstrate various health seeking behaviours that are useful to health care providers in providing appropriate care to these older people, aiming to promote better health of the older people.

Children are a group of patients that require special knowledge from the anesthesia staff, both general and specific. Theoretical knowledge and practical experience is necessary to adequately care for the child as it anatomically, physiologically and mentally may differ from adult patients. A growing problem in the pediatric population is overweight and obesity. From a stagnation in the early 2000s the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children in the world are again increasing.The purpose of this study was to examine peri-operative care of overweight and obese children. Systematic searches were done in PubMed, CINAHL and Scopus. After the quality audit according to SBU, twelve articles were included for analysis. Results suggest that overweight and obese children have a higher risk of respiratory peri-operative complications. The risk of hospital admission after outpatient surgery was also greater in this group as well as higher costs for health care. Overweight and obese children are complex subjects with more frequent peri-operative risk factors than normal-weight children. This group requires special knowledge of the anesthesia staff. More studies are required to secure evidence in anesthetic care for overweight and obese children.

There is limited study of the prevalence of childhood obesity and being overweight in 6 to 9 year old children living in Saskatchewan and Canada using the international standards and measured data. Limited data exists of the prevalence of obesity in rural and small urban communities. In 2000, a cross-sectional survey of children was conducted that primarily assessed the respiratory health of children in two southern Saskatchewan communities. Anthropometric measurements (height and weight) as well as child and familial data were available for 1241 children ages 6 to 9 years. Using data from this study and applying international standards for obesity and overweight developed by Cole and colleagues (2000) an analysis was undertaken to describe and compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity between communities and identify associated risk factors. Although the mean body mass index (BMI) differed statistically between communities, no differences in overweight and obesity were identified once the international standards were applied. The overall prevalence was 19.2% for being overweight and 5.2% for obesity. More girls than boys were overweight and obese at age 9. After adjusting for age, sex and community, maternal smoking during pregnancy and current gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea and/or diarrhea were associated with overweight and obesity. Lower physical activity in free time was associated with being overweight as a child. Children who were not consistently participating in physical education and sports in school were more likely to be overweight and obese. This research provides important new information regarding the prevalence and associated risk factors for overweight and obesity in school aged children in Saskatchewan. Although results concur with international prevalence rates of childhood obesity, children in this study were not as overweight or obese as previously reported data has shown for similar Canadian populations. Less physical activity, both in school and at home, may be important for the development and continuation of childhood obesity. Further research is necessary to explore reasons why obese and overweight children are experiencing significant digestive related health concerns.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Jönköping : Hälsohögskolan, 2009. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 71 p. Includes bibliographical references.