Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity has disproportionately affected Latino youth. This increase in obesity is seen with an increased incidence of Type 2 Diabetes. Objective/Hypothesis: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a community based lifestyle intervention, which encompassed nutrition education and physical activity, on…
Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity has disproportionately affected Latino youth. This increase in obesity is seen with an increased incidence of Type 2 Diabetes. Objective/Hypothesis: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a community based lifestyle intervention, which encompassed nutrition education and physical activity, on diabetes risk in pre-diabetic Latino adolescents. Diabetes risk was assessed using pancreatic beta cell function as measured by proinsulin: insulin ratio. It was hypothesized that reductions in added sugar intake and reductions in saturated fat intake will be associated with improved beta cell function as measured by proinsulin: insulin ratio. Study Design/Participants: In this quasi-experimental study design, n=17 pre-diabetic Latino adolescents between the ages of 14-16 participated in a lifestyle intervention. Methods: Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference, BMI) and body composition (body %) were determined for all participants at baseline and post intervention. Fasting proinsulin (PI), fasting insulin (I) and 2hr-OGTT were also determined. Dietary intake was measured using the Block Kids Food Screener for kids ages 2-17y (2007). The intervention consisted of nutrition education classes and physical activity sessions for 12 weeks. Results: We found significant decreases in body fat % following the intervention. There were no significant decreases in fasting insulin. Proinsulin significantly decreased. However we did no see a significant change in PI/I (p= 0.003). Dietary behaviors of added sugar (p=0.03) and saturated fat (p=0.04) showed significant decreases. No significant associations were found between changes in added sugar to improvements in beta cell function, r=0.072, p-value= 0.7. We also did not observe significant associations between reductions in saturated fat intake and improvements in beta cell function, r=0.152, p-value =0.6. Conclusions: We concluded that a 12-week lifestyle intervention resulted in significant changes in dietary behaviors. These changes were not however associated with improvements in beta cell function.
