scholarly journals Body Mass Index Screening and Follow-Up: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study of Pennsylvania School Nurses (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Francis ◽  
Alicia Marie Hoke ◽  
Jennifer Lynn Kraschnewski

BACKGROUND Childhood overweight and obesity health concerns can affect a student’s academic performance, so it is important to identify resources for school nurses that would help to improve self-efficacy, knowledge, and confidence when approaching parents with sensitive weight-related information and influence overall obesity prevention efforts in the school setting. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to conduct a Pennsylvania (PA) state-wide 29-item survey addressing school nursing barriers and practices, supplementing information already known in this area. Although the survey covered a range of topics, the focus was body mass index (BMI) screening and its related practice within the schools. METHODS We conducted a state-wide Web-based survey of school nurses in PA to understand current areas of care, find ways to address child health through school BMI screenings and follow up, and identify current educational gaps to assist school nurses with providing whole child care within the realm of weight management. Chi-square test of independence was conducted to determine the relationship between BMI screening follow up and interest in a BMI toolkit. RESULTS Nurse participants (N=210), with a 42% (210/500) response rate, represented 208 school districts across PA. Participants were asked about their current process for notifying parents of BMI screening results. The majority (116/210, 55.2%) send a letter home in the mail, while others (62/210, 29.5%) send a letter home with students. A small number (8/210, 3.8%) said they did not notify parents altogether, and some (39/210, 18.6%) notify parents electronically. More than one-third (75/210, 35.7%) of nurses reported receiving BMI screening inquiries from parents; however, under half (35/75, 46.7%) of those respondents indicated they follow up with parents whose child screens overweight or obese. Overall, the vast majority (182/210, 86.7%) do not follow up with parents whose child screens overweight or obese. The majority (150/210, 71.4%) of the nurses responded they would benefit from a toolkit with resources to assist with communication with parents and children about BMI screenings. A significant association between respondent follow up and interest in a BMI toolkit was observed (P=.01). CONCLUSIONS Schools must start recognizing the role school nurses play to monitor and promote children’s health. This goal might include involving them in school-based preventive programs, empowering them to lead initiatives that support whole child health and ensuring opportunities for professional development of interest to them. Nonetheless, the first step in facilitating obesity prevention methods within schools is to provide school nurses with meaningful tools that help facilitate conversations with parents, guardians, and caregivers regarding their child’s weight status and health through a BMI screening toolkit.

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn Medawar ◽  
Cornelia Enzenbach ◽  
Susanne Roehr ◽  
Arno Villringer ◽  
Steffi Riedel-Heller ◽  
...  

Restricting animal-based products from diet may exert beneficial effects on weight status; however, less is known about such a diet and emotional health. Moreover, personality traits, for example high neuroticism, may contribute to restrictive eating habits and potentially confound diet-health associations. We aim to systematically assess if restrictive dietary intake of animal-based products relates to lower weight and higher depressive symptoms, and if differences in personality traits play a significant role. Cross-sectional data from the baseline LIFE-Adult study were collected from 2011–2014 in Leipzig, Germany (n = 8943). Main outcomes of interest were dietary frequency of animal-derived products in the last year measured using a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), body-mass-index (BMI) (kg/m2), and the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Personality traits were assessed in a subsample of n = 7906 using the Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Higher restriction of animal-based product intake was associated with a lower BMI, but not with depression scores. Personality, i.e., lower extraversion, was related to lower frequency of animal product intake. Moreover, personality traits were significantly associated with depressive symptoms, i.e., higher neuroticism, lower extraversion, lower agreeableness, lower conscientiousness, and with higher BMI. These findings encourage future longitudinal studies to test the efficacy of restricting animal-based products as a preventive and therapeutic strategy for overweight and obesity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M Malina ◽  
María Eugenia Peña-Reyes ◽  
Guillermo Bali-Chávez ◽  
Bertis B Little

Objective. To evaluate change in body mass index (BMI) and weight status of indigenous youth in Oaxaca between the 1970s and 2007. Materials and methods. Heights and weights were measured in cross-sectional samples of school children 6-14 years in the 1970s (2 897) and 2007 (4 305); BMI was calculated. International Obesity Task Force cutoffs for weight status were used. BMI and prevalence of severe and moderate thinness, overweight and obesity were compared by year. Results. BMI increased significantly across time. Primary change in weight status occurred in overweight, 1970s, <2%; 2007, 7 to 12%. Little change occurred in thinness (<2%) and obesity (≤1%) in both surveys, except in children 6-9 years (obesity=4% in 2007). Conclusion. BMI and prevalence of overweight increased across all ages from the 1970s to 2007, but children 6-9 years appeared to be more at risk for obesity than youth 10-14 years. Prevalence of thinness was unchanged.


10.2196/11619 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. e11619
Author(s):  
Erica Francis ◽  
Alicia Marie Hoke ◽  
Jennifer Lynn Kraschnewski

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah E. Linder ◽  
Sasha Santiago ◽  
Eli D. Halbreich

Background and Aim: Obesity is a serious health issue in people and their pets, with a need for innovative and engaging prevention strategies. One possible strategy is a One Health approach incorporating dogs into prevention programs; however, little data exist in the U.S. about the association between weight status among dog owners and their dogs. The objective of this study was to determine if there was an association between body mass index of adult dog owners and corresponding weight status in their dogs.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional correlation study collected data from 38 adult dog owners aged 18 years and older and their dogs at three pet festivals throughout New England. Body mass index of dog owners and body condition scores of dogs were measured on site. Spearman correlation was used to compare weight status in dogs and their owners.Results: The median body mass index of dog owners was 26 (range of 17–53) and the median body condition score of dogs was 6 (range of 4–9). Frequency of overweight and obesity in dog owners was 31.6 and 26.3%, respectively, and 50.0 and 13.2% in dogs, also, respectively. Owner body mass index was positively correlated with dog body condition score (r = 0.60, p &lt; 0.001).Conclusion: Our findings support a possible association between overweight status in dogs and their owners. These findings could be leveraged in future interventions to promote healthier and more active lifestyles for both dog owners and their dogs in an engaging and innovative obesity prevention approach.


Diseases ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Sara Taleb ◽  
Leila Itani

(1) Background: Adolescence is a period of increased autonomy and independent decision making; it determines health behaviors that can persist into the future. Individual factors like food choices and unhealthy lifestyle have an essential role in the development and prevention of obesity among adolescents and are associated with the nutrition literacy of parents and other adults. While the association of parents’ nutrition literacy with adolescent BMI has been addressed, there is still a scarcity of studies that examine the effect of adolescents’ nutrition literacy on their eating habits and body mass index (BMI) status. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted that included 189 adolescents (68 with overweight and obesity and 121 with normal weight) aged between 14–19 years from four private schools in Tripoli, Lebanon. A self-administered questionnaire that included the Nutrition Literacy Assessment Instrument (NLAI) and the Adolescent Food Habits Checklist (AFHC) was used. Anthropometrics were measured using standardized procedures. The association between nutrition literacy, food habits and BMI was assessed using a chi squared test for independence and Poisson regression analysis where suitable. (3) Results: Results indicated no association between all five components of nutrition literacy and body mass index categories. Furthermore, there was no association between the Adolescent Food Habits Checklist and overweight or obese BMI status (RR = 0.947, 95%CI: 0.629–1.426) (p = 0.796). No association was observed between nutrition literacy and food habits, except for an inverse association with macronutrients literacy. (4) Conclusions: In conclusion, the study indicated that there was no association between the components of nutrition literacy with body mass index or with food habits, except for macronutrient literacy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameer Al-Ghamdi ◽  
Mamdouh M. Shubair ◽  
Abdulrahman Aldiab ◽  
Jamaan M. Al-Zahrani ◽  
Khaled K. Aldossari ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanica Lyngdoh ◽  
Bharathi Viswanathan ◽  
Edwin van Wijngaarden ◽  
Gary J. Myers ◽  
Pascal Bovet

We assessed the association between several cardiometabolic risk factors (CRFs) (blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, and glucose) in 390 young adults aged 19-20 years in Seychelles (Indian Ocean, Africa) and body mass index (BMI) measured either at the same time (cross-sectional analysis) or at the age of 12–15 years (longitudinal analysis). BMI tracked markedly between age of 12–15 and age of 19-20. BMI was strongly associated with all considered CRFs in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, with some exceptions. Comparing overweight participants with those having a BMI below the age-specific median, the odds ratios for high blood pressure were 5.4/4.7 (male/female) cross-sectionally and 2.5/3.9 longitudinally (P<0.05). Significant associations were also found for most other CRFs, with some exceptions. In linear regression analysis including both BMI at age of 12–15 and BMI at age of 19-20, only BMI at age of 19-20 remained significantly associated with most CRFs. We conclude that CRFs are predicted strongly by either current or past BMI levels in adolescents and young adults in this population. The observation that only current BMI remained associated with CRFs when including past and current levels together suggests that weight control at a later age may be effective in reducing CRFs in overweight children irrespective of past weight status.


Thorax ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 538-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Ekström ◽  
Jenny Hallberg ◽  
Inger Kull ◽  
Jennifer L P Protudjer ◽  
Per Thunqvist ◽  
...  

BackgroundFew large prospective studies have investigated the impact of body mass index (BMI) on lung function during childhood.MethodsUsing data collected between 2002 and 2013, we analysed associations between BMI status and lung function (assessed by spirometry) from 8 to 16 years, as well as cross-sectional associations with small airway function (impulse oscillometry) at 16 years in the BAMSE cohort (n=2889). At 16 years, cross-sectional associations with local and systemic inflammation were investigated by analysing FENO, blood eosinophils and neutrophils.ResultsOverweight and obesity at 8 years were associated with higher FVC, but lower FEV1/FVC ratio at 8 and 16 years. In boys, but not girls, obesity at 8 years was associated with a further reduction in FEV1/FVC between 8 and 16 years. In cross-sectional analyses, overweight and obesity were associated with higher frequency dependence of resistance (R5–20) and larger area under the reactance curve (AX0.5) at 16 years. Increased blood neutrophil counts were seen in overweight and obese girls, but not in boys. No association was found between BMI status and FENO. Persistent, but not transient, overweight/obesity between 8 and 16 years was associated with higher R5–20 and AX0.5 and lower FEV1/FVC (−2.8% (95% CI −4.1 to −1.2) in girls and −2.7% (95% CI −4.4 to −1.1) in boys) at 16 years, compared with persistent normal weight.ConclusionIn childhood and adolescence, overweight and obesity, particularly persistent overweight, were associated with evidence of airway obstruction, including the small airways.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (15) ◽  
pp. 1646-1652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars E Garnvik ◽  
Vegard Malmo ◽  
Imre Janszky ◽  
Ulrik Wisløff ◽  
Jan P Loennechen ◽  
...  

Background Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder, and high body mass index is a well-established risk factor for atrial fibrillation. The objective of this study was to examine the associations of physical activity and body mass index and risk of atrial fibrillation, and the modifying role of physical activity on the association between body mass index and atrial fibrillation. Design The design was a prospective cohort study. Methods This study followed 43,602 men and women from the HUNT3 study in 2006–2008 until first atrial fibrillation diagnosis or end of follow-up in 2015. Atrial fibrillation diagnoses were collected from hospital registers and validated by medical doctors. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to assess the association between physical activity, body mass index and atrial fibrillation. Results During a mean follow-up of 8.1 years (352,770 person-years), 1459 cases of atrial fibrillation were detected (4.1 events per 1000 person-years). Increasing levels of physical activity were associated with gradually lower risk of atrial fibrillation ( p trend 0.069). Overweight and obesity were associated with an 18% (hazard ratio 1.18, 95% confidence interval 1.03–1.35) and 59% (hazard ratio 1.59, 95% confidence interval 1.37–1.84) increased risk of atrial fibrillation, respectively. High levels of physical activity attenuated some of the higher atrial fibrillation risk in obese individuals (hazard ratio 1.53, 95% confidence interval 1.03–2.28 in active and 1.96, 95% confidence interval 1.44–2.67 in inactive) compared to normal weight active individuals. Conclusion Overweight and obesity were associated with increased risk of atrial fibrillation. Physical activity offsets some, but not all, atrial fibrillation risk associated with obesity.


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