Browsing by Subject "Physical Activity"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    African American fathers’ social support and relationship quality with daughters’ physical activity beliefs and behaviors.
    (2022-08) Harris, Tony
    Across childhood and adolescence, physical activity (PA) levels decline more frequently for African American (AA) females. Parents are important socializing agents of childhood PA motivation through supportive and encouraging behaviors. Littleinformation, however, exists on parental influence of AA girls, especially related to fathers' beliefs and behaviors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between AA fathers' social support and daughter PA self-efficacy, enjoyment, and PA behavior. Eleven father-daughter dyads participated based on in-person and online recruiting. Daughters responded to survey items related to father-daughter relationship quality, paternal support for PA, PA enjoyment, self-efficacy, and weekly PA levels. Due to the small sample size, descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were calculated between variables of parental influence and daughters' PA beliefs and behavior. Mean age was 43.8±4.6 and 11±0.8 years for fathers and daughters. Fathers' mean BMI was 30.8±4.8 kg/m2. Daughters' mean BMI-for-age percentile was 52.5±38.3 with almost half (46%) having healthy weight. Households were >80% dual parent, 73% included both biological parents, and 91% of fathers lived with daughters full-time. Mean paternal social support was 3.5 ± 0.5 out of 5, indicating moderate to high support. Mean fatherdaughter relationship quality was strong, 4.03± 0.6 out of 5. Daughters reported a mean of 7±3.9 hours/ week of total PA, mean PA enjoyment 4.5 ± 0.7 out of 5 and PA selfefficacy as 4.2 ± 0.6 out of 5, both indicating high levels. Most correlations among perceived paternal support and daughter psychosocial and PA outcomes were low to moderate: father-daughter relationship quality (r=.54), daughter total PA (r=.31), PA enjoyment (r=.39), and PA self-efficacy (r=.26). Father-daughter relationship quality was not correlated with any of the daughter PA outcomes. The findings of this study provide preliminary evidence of the relationship among AA paternal support and daughters' psychosocial and PA outcomes. The small sample size is a limitation and suggestions are provided for recruitment strategies with this population.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Energizers for Nutrition Education
    (University of Minnesota Extension, 2011)
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Essays on the Effect of Environmental Factors on Health Choices and Health Behavior of Individuals
    (2015-07) Katare, Bhagyashree
    Understanding the causes of spread of obesity is important to address public health concern and formulate public policy. Causally identifying factors that influence the spread of obesity is difficult. Specifically, it is difficult to disentangle the contextual effects or environmental factors that drive weight gain in individuals from the self-selection of individuals into groups that share common, potentially unobserved, characteristics. In my first paper I tried to disentangle these competing explanations by collecting data from a unique population of international students. I surveyed international graduate students at 48 public universities across the United States. I used this data to investigate the effect of obesity prevalence in a particular region on international students' weight gain. Results show that students studying in areas with a lower prevalence of obesity show a significantly lower increase in their weight compared to students studying in areas with a higher prevalence of obesity. In the second essay I used the restricted-use New Immigrant Survey 2003 data to study the association between surrounding environmental factors and BMI of recent immigrants to the United States. Immigrants also offer a unique opportunity to disentangle the self-selection and contextual effects while studying the effect of environmental factors on the weight gain in individuals. I find statistically significant effects on the immigrants' BMI levels. Immigrants residing in areas with lower prevalence of obesity have significantly lower BMI levels compared to those residing in areas with higher prevalence of obesity. Results show that dietary change in immigrants is influenced by the local environmental factors and that dietary change affects the BMI levels of the immigrants. The third essay is an intervention study to promote physical exercise among freshman students at a university in the Midwest. I investigated the effect of social norming and financial incentives on promoting physical exercise among randomly selected freshman students. Through the third essay, I investigate the effectiveness of two policies that have been proven to modify individual behaviors in encouraging healthy behavior.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Ethnicity/Race, Sex and Physical Activity: Supporting Physical Activity from Childhood to Adulthood in Diverse Populations
    (2017-07) Miller, Jonathan
    Interventions to increase population physical activity are often conducted in diverse populations, particularly in schools. Understanding differences in intervention effects and determinants of physical activity across population subgroups should help improve the effectiveness of interventions. We examined how an intervention effect and determinants of physical activity differ by or are consistent across ethnicities/races and the sexes. In the first manuscript, we estimated the effect of the Minne-Loppet Ski Program, an elementary school cross-country ski intervention, on motivation to exercise and tested whether effects differ by ethnicities/race or sex. Motivation to ski increased among Minne-Loppet Ski program participants compared to students in control classrooms. Motivation to exercise increased among African American and white participants but not Hispanic participants. In the second manuscript, we used cross-sectional data from Project EAT-2010 to test a social-ecological model of determinants of physical activity. Determinants clustered into eight factors. A factor that included personal and social determinants had the strongest association with physical activity. In the third manuscript, we used cross-sectional data from Project EAT-2010 to estimate differences in personal, social and environmental determinants of physical activity across ethnicities/races and the sexes in middle and high school students. Most determinants of physical activity did not vary by ethnicity/race. Among females, neighborhood road connectivity, distance to trails and perceived mother’s physical activity differed in their associations with physical activity by ethnicity/race. Among males home media equipment and sports participation differed in their associations with physical activity by ethnicity/race. In the fourth manuscript we used longitudinal data from Project EAT-I through EAT-IV to estimate differences in trajectories of physical activity and its determinants across ethnicities/races and the sexes in middle and high school students. Declines in physical activity happened later among males than among females. Only the association of BMI with physical activity differed by ethnicity/race and sex. The results from these analyses show that there is a great deal of consistency in the determinants of physical activity across ethnicities/races, but differences that emerge should be considered when implementing future physical activity interventions.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The family environment and adolescent girls’ weight and weight-related behaviors: implications for obesity prevention programs.
    (2010-05) Bauer, Katherine Werdann
    Introduction: Over one-third of adolescent girls in the United States are overweight or obese, and most are not regularly physically activity (PA), watch excessive television (TV), frequently consume soft drinks, and consume an insufficient amount of fruits and vegetables (FV). Although studies have observed associations between factors in the family environment and youths' participation in these behaviors, questions remain as to how families can best help their adolescent daughters achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Additionally, while school-based obesity prevention interventions offer great potential to help youth modify their behavior and weight, it is unknown whether adolescents can make meaningful improvements without support and resources from their families. Utilizing data from New Moves, a school-based physical activity and nutrition intervention, this dissertation aims to 1) explore sociodemographic differences in girls' weight-related family environments, 2) test cross-sectional associations between family environment factors and girls' total PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA, TV use, soft drink intake, FV intake, body mass index (BMI), and body composition, and 3) determine whether factors in girls' family environments are associated with girls' improvements in behavior, BMI, and body composition over the course of New Moves, as well as whether factors in the family environment modify the effect of New Moves. Method: Subjects included 253 adolescent girls from 12 schools who participated in New Moves (mean age = 15.7) and one of their parents. At baseline, parents completed surveys assessing the family environment. At baseline and post-intervention 9-12 months later, girls' PA and TV use were measured by a 3-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR) and dietary intake by survey measures. Height and weight were measured by study staff and body fat was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Hierarchical linear and logistic regression models were used to address study aims. Results: Girls' family environments differed in many ways by girls' race/ethnicity, foreign-born status, and parental education. These differences frequently reflected the disparities in weight and weight-related behavior observed among adolescent girls in other study populations. Several cross-sectional associations were observed between family environment factors and girls' behavior and weight. Parental modeling of eating and physical activity consistently predicted girls' behavior, home food availability was positively associated with girls' intake of soft drinks and FV, and more frequent family meals were associated with greater FV intake. In contrast, few relationships were observed between the family environment and girls' odds of successful behavior, BMI, and/or body composition change over the course of New Moves. However, the pattern of significant associations suggests that girls from less supportive family environments were more likely to successfully modify their behavior, BMI, and body composition. For example, girls from families that provided more support for PA had a lower odds of increasing their PA (OR=.62, p=.04), girls who had high home soft drink availability had a greater odds of decreasing their soft drink intake (OR=1.99, p<.01), girls with more TVs at home had a greater odds of decreasing their BMI (OR=1.65, p=.04), and girls with more media resources at home had a greater odds of decreasing their body fat (OR=1.87, p=.03). None of the family environment factors examined modified the effect of New Moves on girls' behavior or body composition. However, the number of TVs in girls' homes served as a modifier of the effect of New Moves on girls' BMI with no intervention effect seen among girls with 3 or fewer TVs, while girls in the intervention condition with 4 or more TVs at home had a lower baseline-adjusted BMI post-intervention as compared to girls in the control condition with 4 or more TVs at home. Conclusions: This dissertation provides additional support for the role of the family environment in youths' weight-related behaviors, weight, and body composition. While girls with less supportive family environments were at greater risk for being physically inactive, having poor dietary intake, and being overweight or obese, few associations were observed between girls' family environments and improvement of their weight-related behavior, BMI, and body composition during the course of a school-based intervention. These findings suggest that school-based interventions offer an opportunity to decrease the risk of obesity among all adolescent girls, especially those who receive less support and resources for healthful behavior from their families.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Fueling Physical Activity with a Hybrid Motivational System: How Multiple Sources of Motivation and Experiences Promote Physical Activity Across Contexts and Time
    (2023-05) Furman, Celina
    A critical feature of physical activity as a health behavior is that it must be performed regularly, and ideally over the course of one’s lifetime. However, only a small number of people engage in recommended amounts of physical activity to attain its health benefits, and interventions have had limited success in producing long-term behavioral adherence. Thus, more work is needed to identify constructs that produce lasting changes in physical activity. To understand physical activity as a repeated behavior, this dissertation presents a novel dynamic model of physical activity that describes how multiple sources of motivation work together in a hybrid manner to drive physical activity across contexts and time, and specifies how the outcomes afforded by physical activity help to sustain or undermine motivation for subsequent physical activity. Two studies were conducted to test a set of predictions derived from this model. First, a combination of intrinsic and instrumental motives is posited to be important for sustaining strong physical activity intentions, especially when one encounters barriers to physical activity. Study 1 used hypothetical scenarios to examine how these motives work together to strengthen physical activity intentions under various circumstances that differ in the extent to which they tempt participants to skip their planned exercise. Findings provided mixed evidence for the role of instrumental motivation, but suggest that intrinsic motivation may help sustain intentions across contexts by reducing the extent to which various barriers tempt one to skip their exercise. Second, affective and instrumental outcomes of physical activity are suggested to have distinct feedback loops that influence motivation for subsequent physical activity. Study 2 experimentally manipulated these different outcomes through an in-person exercise paradigm, and tested their relationships with motivation and intentions for continued exercise. A 2-week follow-up assessment examined the sustainability of each outcome as fueling sources of intentions over time. Findings provided evidence for distinct affective and instrumental feedback loops, but their implications for sustaining intentions over time are unclear. Recommendations for refining my model based on evidence obtained through Studies 1 and 2 are discussed alongside directions for future research.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Qualitative analysis of diet, physical activity, and body image of children using focus groups and Photovoice and quantitative analysis of dietitians’ perspectives on integrating sustainable agriculture into professional practice using survey methodology
    (2016-06) Heidelberger, Lindsay
    This study explored the food, physical activity, and body image perspectives of low-income children living in urban Minnesota and dietitians’ perceptions on including sustainable agriculture into their professional practice. The research was conducted in four phases. The first three phases used qualitative methodology and the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as the theoretical framework. For the first two phases of research, focus groups and Photovoice were conducted to gather information on children’s food environments, dietary habits, and physical activity practices. The third phase explored low-income, African American and Native American children’s perceptions on body image and body image assessment tools using focus groups and two body image assessment instruments. The fourth phase used quantitative methodology to investigate dietitians’ perspectives on including sustainable agriculture in dietetics practice. The survey was informed using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and administered to registered dietitians in the U.S. Data analysis for the focus groups and interviews used the open coding method. Photographs were coded using a coding protocol that was developed and agreed upon by the two researchers. SPSS was used to analyze body dissatisfaction and the dietitian survey data. Analysis included descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, Pearson correlations, and stepwise regressions. Seven themes were identified across focus groups related to diet, health, and physical activity; four themes were identified from the food environment Photovoice data; and three themes from the physical activity Photovoice data. Three themes emerged from analysis of the body image focus groups. Quantitative data from the body image research revealed that obese and overweight children viewed themselves as healthy weight. Results of the survey with dietitians showed that all four TPB variables correlated with behavior in 2013 and that intention was the most predictive of behavior to include environmental issues into practice. Findings from the first three phases provided insight into how children view their food and physical activity environments and can inform interventions to better meet the needs of low-income, urban children of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Results from the fourth phase of research can help the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics identify dietitians’ educational needs related to sustainable agriculture.