The purpose of this cross-sectional population study was to provide an
assessment of weight status of a county's preschool population utilizing the new
growth charts and expressed as Body Mass Index, or BMI, -for- age percentile.
This study was conducted in conjunction with an annual health screen for incoming
kindergartners and consisted of two phases. The first phase involved assisting in
the collection of, and statistically analyzing preschoolers' data collected during the
Tillamook Health Screen on May 23-25th, 2001. Height, weight, blood pressure,
hemoglobin, and blood lead levels were measured. Also, the preschoolers' parents
completed a 24-hour food intake record and answered questions on mealtime
habits. Phase Two consisted of a mailed questionnaire that was sent to parents of
preschoolers who were screened in May, 2001, to investigate dairy food consumption, where meals are eaten, and physical activity habits of their preschoolers.
Four significant findings were documented in this research. Foremost,
Tillamook County preschoolers had a lower prevalence of healthy weight and a
higher prevalence of at risk of overweight and overweight levels than children their
age nationwide. Also, both systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased with
increasing BMI-for-age percentiles for males and females. Third, hours spent
viewing television—sedentary behavior—was positively related to BMI-for-age
percentiles. The combination of more hours of physical activity with less television
viewing time was inversely related to BMI-for-age percentiles. Last, Tillamook
County preschoolers who were above the healthy weight range ate more Food
Guide Pyramid servings of concentrated fats/sweets than children in the healthy
weight range.
Data that were not strong enough to reach conclusions about weight status
related to dairy product consumption, fat content of dairy products, mealtime
habits, meals eaten away from home, blood hemoglobin, and blood lead. Also, no
significant associations were found between dairy food intake and blood
hemoglobin, blood lead, or blood pressure.
Even at preschool ages, physical activity and diet are important to assess when
increasing rates of overweight levels and associated increases in blood pressure are
being investigated. / Graduation date: 2003
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/27271 |
| Date | 14 May 2002 |
| Creators | Frank, Sandra K. |
| Contributors | Georgiou, Constance |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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