A Comparison of Weight-Related Behaviors of Hispanic Mothers and Children by Acculturation Level

Hispanic mothers and children in the United States experience a high prevalence of obesity, which may be affected by maternal acculturation level. Little is known about the association of acculturation on weight-related behaviors. This study describes differences in weight-related behaviors by acculturation level of Hispanic mothers residing in the U.S. and compares them to behaviors of White mothers. Acculturation level was determined using personal acculturation and acculturation environment variables. Cluster analysis of acculturation variables identified three groups of Hispanic mothers: low personal and environmental acculturation (n = 46), high personal and low environmental acculturation (n = 65), and high personal and environmental acculturation (n = 38). Results indicate that, compared to White mothers (n = 340), the least acculturated cluster of Hispanic mothers tended to model physical activity less often and the most acculturated exerted more pressure on children to eat. Mothers in the least acculturated cluster tended to rate children’s health status lower, indicate that children had greater fruit juice and less milk intakes, have more meals in locations associated with less healthy meals, and have the least space and supports for physical activity. Findings highlight relationships between maternal acculturation level and weight-related behaviors and suggest strategies for helping acculturating Hispanic mothers create healthier lifestyles and home environments.

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A positive deviance-based qualitative study of stress, coping, and feeding practices among low-income, Hispanic mothers whose children do versus do not meet guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake

Health Education Research ◽

10.1093/her/cyaa037 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 35 (6) ◽

pp. 584-604

Author(s):

Eleanor Shonkoff ◽

Sara C Folta ◽

Theodore Fitopoulos ◽

Cynthia N Ramirez ◽

Ricky Bluthenthal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Qualitative Study ◽

Low Income ◽

Comparison Group ◽

Vegetable Intake ◽

Feeding Practices ◽

The United States ◽

Positive Deviance ◽

Healthy Weight ◽

Hispanic Mothers

Abstract Less than 1% of children in the United States concurrently meet guidelines for fruit/vegetable intake, physical activity, screen time, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Prior evidence suggests that parents of this 1% potentially cope with stress differently. This qualitative study used a positive deviance-based approach to locate mothers whose children avoided negative feeding outcomes despite being ‘high-risk’ for obesity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Spanish for two groups: low-income, Hispanic mothers whose children were normal weight and met recommendations for fruits/vegetables and physical activity (n = 5); and a comparison group whose children had obesity and did not meet guidelines (n = 8). Topics included weight-related parenting practices, attitudes toward health, and stress management. Interviews were transcribed, translated, and coded using NVivo for theoretically driven thematic analysis. Results suggested that mothers viewed stress differently. Mothers of healthy weight children believed stress could be prevented, such as by paying children more attention or directing one’s attention away from stressors; comparison group mothers tended to report stress about managing their child’s eating and about financial worries. Future research is needed to understand the underlying sources of these differences (e.g. personality traits, coping practices) and test whether stress prevention interventions can promote healthy parental feeding practices.

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Cross-Country Variation in Obesity Patterns among Older Americans and Europeans

Forum for Health Economics & Policy ◽

10.2202/1558-9544.1087 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Pierre-Carl Michaud ◽

Arthur H.O. van Soest ◽

Tatiana Andreyeva

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Economic Status ◽

The United States ◽

Calorie Intake ◽

Obese People ◽

Older Americans ◽

Health Aging ◽

Prevalence Of Obesity ◽

The Difference ◽

The Right

While the fraction of obese people is not as large in Europe as in the United States, obesity is becoming an important issue in Europe as well. Using comparable data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the Health and Retirement Study in the U.S. (HRS), we analyze the correlates of obesity in the population ages 50 and above, focusing on measures of energy intake and expenditure as well as socio-economic status. We find that obesity rates differ substantially on both sides of the Atlantic and across European countries, with most of the difference coming from the right tail of the weight distribution. The well-known SES gradient in the prevalence of obesity differs across countries and cannot be fully explained by the variation in food expenditure or physical activity. Obesity is associated with lack of physical activity, calorie intake, time spent on cooking, and time and money spent on eating at home and away from home, but some of these associations vary across countries. More research is needed to analyze why this is the case.

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Low levels of activity, resulting in fewer kilo-calories used than consumed, contribute to the high prevalence of obesity in the United States

ACSMʼs Health & Fitness Journal ◽

10.1249/00135124-199803001-00011 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 2 (Supplment) ◽

pp. 30

Author(s):

Liz Applegate

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

The United States ◽

High Prevalence ◽

Prevalence Of Obesity ◽

Low Levels

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Association Between Insufficiently Physically Active and the Prevalence of Obesity in the United States

Journal of Physical Activity and Health ◽

10.1123/jpah.6.1.1 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

David W. Brock ◽

Olivia Thomas ◽

Charles D. Cowan ◽

David B. Allison ◽

Glenn A. Gaesser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Least Squares ◽

Household Income ◽

Weighted Least Squares ◽

The United States ◽

Median Household Income ◽

Least Squares Regression ◽

Physically Active ◽

Us States ◽

Prevalence Of Obesity

Background:Numerous public health organizations have adopted national physical activity recommendations. Despite these recommendations, over half of the US population does not meet the minimum recommendation for physical activity, with large variations across individual US states.Methods:Using the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) prevalence data for physical activity and obesity by state, we performed a weighted least squares regression using prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) as the dependent variable and insufficiently physically active (included completely sedentary), age, race, gender, and median household income as the independent variables.Results:The unadjusted weighted least squares regression revealed a strong correlation between a state’s prevalence of obesity and the prevalence of insufficiently physically active (R = .76, R2 = .58, P < .0001). After adjusting for age, gender, race, and median household income, the prevalence of insufficiently physically active is still a significant predictor of the state prevalence of obesity (partial R = .44, R2 = .19 P = .004).Conclusion:Macroenvironmental and sociopolitical disparities between individual US states that transcend simple state-level demographic factors need to be examined more rigorously to identify unique barriers and promoters of physical activity.

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Obesity-related Aspects of the Home Environment: Differences among White Mothers, High Acculturation Level (AL) Hispanic Mothers, and Low AL Hispanic Mothers

Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics ◽

10.1016/j.jand.2019.06.092 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 119 (9) ◽

pp. A25

Author(s):

C. Delaney ◽

C. Byrd-Bredbenner

Keyword(s):

Home Environment ◽

Hispanic Mothers ◽

White Mothers ◽

Acculturation Level

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National trends in cardiovascular health metrics among Iranian adults using results of three cross-sectional STEPwise approaches to surveillance surveys

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-79322-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Fatemeh Rahmani ◽

Samaneh Asgari ◽

Davood Khalili ◽

Ali Siamak Habibi Moeini ◽

Maryam Tohidi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Cardiovascular Health ◽

Activity Level ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Current Smoking ◽

The Public ◽

High Prevalence ◽

Prevalence Of Obesity ◽

Study Population ◽

National Trends

AbstractTo examine the trends of 7 cardiovascular health metrics (CVH metrics) incorporate of smoking, physical activity, diet, body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC), and blood pressure (BP) level during three cross-sectional STEPwise approaches to surveillance (STEPS), 2007–2016, among Iranian adults. The study population consisted of 19,841 women and 17,243 men, aged 20–65 years. The CVH metrics were categorized as ‘ideal’, ‘intermediate’, and ‘poor’. The sex-stratified weighted prevalence rate of each CVH metrics was reported. The conditional probability of each poor versus combined intermediate and ideal metric was analyzed using logistic regression. In 2016 compared to 2007, the prevalence of poor BP level (20.4% vs. 23.7%), smoking (13.7% vs. 23.8%), TC ≥ 240 mg/dl (2.4% vs. 11.2%) and FPG < 100 mg/dl (75.6% vs. 82.3%) declined, whereas poor physical activity level (49.7% vs. 30%), poor healthy diet score (38.1% vs. 4.1%), BMI levels ≥ 25 kg/m2 (62.8% vs. 57.8%) increased. Despite a high prevalence of obesity among women, it remained constant in women but showed an increasing trend in men; moreover, the trends of low physical activity and current smoking were better for women. Despite some improvement in CVH metrics, < 4% of Iranian adults meet ≥ 6 CVH metrics in 2016; this issue needs intervention at the public health level using a multi-component strategy.

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Nutrition Education in Chilean Primary Schools

Food and Nutrition Bulletin ◽

10.1177/15648265050262s208 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 26 (2_suppl2) ◽

pp. S179-S185 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sonia Olivares ◽

Isabel Zacarías ◽

Margarita Andrade ◽

Juliana Kain ◽

Lydia Lera ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Nutrition Education ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Ministry Of Education ◽

Text Book ◽

Cd Rom ◽

High Prevalence ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

Baseline Information ◽

Prevalence Of Obesity

The purpose of this study was to incorporate nutrition education in Chilean primary schools. The baseline information included nutritional status, food consumption and physical activity of 1,701 children from 3rd to 7th grade in ten urban and rural schools. Main results showed a high prevalence of obesity (15.4%) and overweight (19.6%), low consumption of vegetables, fruits, and dairy products, high intake of snacks and a low level of physical activity, especially in girls. Because the Ministry of Education does not allow the incorporation of new programs into the curriculum, the educational strategy was based on the development of a text book, a teacher's guide, five practical guides for students from third to eighth grade and a CD-Rom. These materials were validated by 36 teachers in six schools through an educational intervention. Teachers and students considered the educational materials useful, motivational and easy to understand. This program is being implemented in 57 schools.

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Obesity, Nutrition, and Physical Activity

Mayo Clinic Preventive Medicine and Public Health Board Review ◽

10.1093/med/9780199743018.003.0009 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 127-137

Author(s):

Donald D. Hensrud

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Health Benefits ◽

The United States ◽

Dietary Factors ◽

Long Term Results ◽

Childhood And Adolescence ◽

Prevalence Of Obesity ◽

Treatment Of Obesity

The prevalence of obesity has increased markedly over the past few decades in the United States. This increase has occurred across all ethnic groups and all ages, including childhood and adolescence. After obesity has developed, long-term results from the treatment of obesity are generally poor. The importance of diet and nutrition in the prevention of the disease has been widely reported. An estimated 365,000 deaths occur each year because of suboptimal diet and activity habits. Dietary factors play a prominent role in 5 of the 10 leading causes of death for Americans: heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and cerebrovascular disease. The health benefits of physical activity and exercise are broad, strong, and well-documented. Health benefits appear to increase linearly with the total amount of physical activity.

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