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Objectives: Although childhood obesity has received growing attention, parents still fail to recognize overweight and obesity in their children. Accurate identification of overweight or obesity in their child is associated with the parent's responsiveness to interventions aimed at preventing weight-related health issues. Recent research shows that a child's age and

Objectives: Although childhood obesity has received growing attention, parents still fail to recognize overweight and obesity in their children. Accurate identification of overweight or obesity in their child is associated with the parent's responsiveness to interventions aimed at preventing weight-related health issues. Recent research shows that a child's age and gender are associated with parental misperception of their child's weight status, but little is known about the interaction of these factors across various age groups. This study examined the association between a wide range of parent, child, and household factors and the accuracy of parental perception of their child's body weight status compared to parent-measured body weight status. Methods: Data were collected from a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 1708 households located in five low-income New Jersey cities with large minority populations. A subset of 548 children whose parents completed the survey and returned a worksheet of parent-measured heights and weights were the focus of the analysis. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the factors significantly associated with parental perception of their child's body weight status. Results: Based on parent-measure heights and weights, 36% of the children were overweight or obese (OWOB). Only 21% of OWOB children were perceived by their parents as OWOB. Child gender, child body mass index (BMI) and parent BMI were significant independent predictors of parents' accuracy at perceiving their child's body weight status. Conclusion: Boys, OWOB children, and children of OWOB parents had significantly greater odds of parental underestimation of their body weight status. Parents had better recognition of OWOB in their daughters, especially older daughters, than in their sons, suggesting parental gender bias in identifying OWOB in children. Further research is needed regarding parental gender bias and its implications in OWOB identification in children.
ContributorsBader, Wendy (Author) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Thesis advisor) / Lloyd, Kristen (Committee member) / Crespo, Noe (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
In October, 2009, participants of the Arizona Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) began receiving monthly Cash Value Vouchers (CVV) worth between six and 10 dollars towards the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables. Data from the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) showed CVV redemption

In October, 2009, participants of the Arizona Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) began receiving monthly Cash Value Vouchers (CVV) worth between six and 10 dollars towards the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables. Data from the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) showed CVV redemption rates in the first two years of the program were lower than the national average of 77% redemption. In response, the ADHS WIC Food List was expanded to also include canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. More recent data from ADHS suggest that redemption rates are improving, but variably exist among different WIC sub-populations. The purpose of this project was to identify themes related to the ease or difficulty of WIC CVV use amongst different categories of low-redeeming WIC participants. A total of 8 focus groups were conducted, four at a clinic in each of two Valley cities: Surprise and Mesa. Each of the four focus groups comprised one of four targeted WIC participant categories: pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding, and children with participation ranging from 3-9 participants per group. Using the general inductive approach, recordings of the focus groups were transcribed, hand-coded and uploaded into qualitative analysis software resulting in four emergent themes including: interactions and shopping strategies, maximizing WIC value, redemption issues, and effect of rule change. Researchers identified twelve different subthemes related to the emergent theme of interactions and strategies to improve their experience, including economic considerations during redemption. Barriers related to interactions existed that made their purchase difficult, most notably anger from the cashier and other shoppers. However, participants made use of a number of strategies to facilitate WIC purchases or extract more value out of WIC benefits, such as pooling their CVV. Finally, it appears that the fruit and vegetable rule change was well received by those who were aware of the change. These data suggest a number of important avenues for future research, including verifying these themes are important within a larger, representative sample of Arizona WIC participants, and exploring strategies to minimize barriers identified by participants, such as use of electronic benefits transfer-style cards (EBT).
ContributorsBertmann, Farryl M. W (Author) / Wharton, Christopher (Christopher Mack), 1977- (Thesis advisor) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Committee member) / Johnston, Carol (Committee member) / Hampl, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Dixit-Joshi, Sujata (Committee member) / Barroso, Cristina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Individual behavior change is a goal of many public policies directed at people of low socioeconomic status. Without evidence of behavioral change, these policies cannot be considered a success: a process of co-production where some level of cooperation between the client and program administrators is required to successfully meet program

Individual behavior change is a goal of many public policies directed at people of low socioeconomic status. Without evidence of behavioral change, these policies cannot be considered a success: a process of co-production where some level of cooperation between the client and program administrators is required to successfully meet program objectives. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), is one example of a co-production design. WIC encourages women to engage in healthy behaviors by providing healthy food along with nutrition education to improve the health status of low-income families. However, while WIC is one of the most studied nutrition programs, little attention has been paid to the nutrition education portion or to interactions between staff members and participants. This research draws on the public policy and administration literature about street-level bureaucrats and co-production, which provides a framework for understanding the purposeful, inter-dependent relationships between front-line service providers and clients. However, neither literature explicates the process of interactions that is expected to lead to client behavior change and co-production. The primary contribution of this research is the creation of a grounded theory that identifies and explains the WIC interaction process as one of "negotiating healthy self-government". Based on analysis of three months of observations of WIC encounters in two clinics, this research finds that participants and staff members enter into tacit and explicit negotiations concerning the degree to which participants should govern their family's nutrition-related behavior. Clients actively shape the interactions by demonstrating their discipline and efforts to feed their families, while staff members refine and reinforce self-governing behaviors through assessing action, and providing advice to ensure behaviors meet recommendations. Finally, participants and staff members distinctly link self-governing behavior to identity: "good mothers" feed their children healthy food and govern their behaviors to meet nutritional recommendations. This research has implications for the study of behavior change promotion in public programs by introducing the concept of identity as a mechanism for governance and explicating the interaction process between front-line service providers and clients
ContributorsHand, Laura Catherine (Author) / Catlaw, Thomas J. (Thesis advisor) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Committee member) / Lucio, Joanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
As part of the recently passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, chain restaurants with 20 or more locations nationwide are required to post calorie information on menus and menu boards in order to help consumers make healthier decisions when dining out. Previous studies that have evaluated menu-labeling policies show

As part of the recently passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, chain restaurants with 20 or more locations nationwide are required to post calorie information on menus and menu boards in order to help consumers make healthier decisions when dining out. Previous studies that have evaluated menu-labeling policies show mixed results and the majority have been conducted in urban cities along the east coast. This study was the first to look at the effectiveness of menu labeling in a southwest population. The primary objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine if noticing or using calorie menu labels in a fast food restaurant was associated with purchasing fewer calories. A second aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and the likelihood of noticing and using menu labeling. Customer receipts and survey data were collected from 329 participants using street-intercept survey methodology at 29 McDonald's locations in low- and high-income neighborhoods throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area. The study population was 63.5% male, 53.8% non-Hispanic white, and 50.8% low-income. Results showed that almost 60% of the study sample noticed calorie menu labeling and only 16% of participants reported using the information for food or beverage purchases. Income was the only socio-demographic characteristic that was associated with noticing menu labeling, with higher-income individuals being more likely to notice the information (p=0.029). Income was also found to be associated with using menu labels, with higher income individuals being more likely to use the information (p=0.04). Additionally, individuals with a bachelors degree or higher were more likely to use the information (p=0.023) and individuals aged 36 to 49 were least likely to use the information (p=0.046). There were no significant differences in average calories purchased among those who noticed menu labeling; however, those who reported using calorie information purchased 146 fewer calories than those who did not use the information (p=0.001). Based on these findings it is concluded that calorie menu labeling is an effective public policy and that nutrition education campaigns should accompany national menu labeling implementation in order to make the policy more effective across all socio-demographic groups.
ContributorsGreen, Jessie (Author) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Thesis advisor) / Bruening, Meg (Committee member) / Wharton, Christopher (Christopher Mack), 1977- (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Determining the factors associated with the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods in the household may help in understanding the varying complexities that contribute to obesity among children and help design interventions to impact children's food consumption behaviors. This study examined factors that are associated with the availability of healthy

Determining the factors associated with the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods in the household may help in understanding the varying complexities that contribute to obesity among children and help design interventions to impact children's food consumption behaviors. This study examined factors that are associated with the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods in children's home food environments (HFE). Data was collected from a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 1708 households, with at least one child between 3-18 years of age, located in five low-income New Jersey cities. HFE was assessed based on responses to a set of six items that measured availability of specific healthy and unhealthy foods in the respondent's home. These items contributed to construction of three HFE scales used as dependent variables in these analyses: healthy HFE, unhealthy HFE, and a ratio of healthy to unhealthy foods in the HFE. Independent variables included household socio-demographics, parental perceptions of their own weight and diet health, frequency of family meals, proximity to food outlets, and perception of access to healthy foods in the neighborhood food environment. Significant differences were observed in the HFE by race and ethnicity, with Non-Hispanic black children having fewer healthy foods and Non-Hispanic white children having more unhealthy food items available at home. Parents who reported being overweight or obese had a healthier HFE and those perceiving their own eating as healthy had more healthy and less unhealthy foods in the household. Food-secure households had more unhealthy compared to healthy foods at home. Households located farther from a supermarket had a greater number of unhealthy food items and a lower healthy/unhealthy food availability ratio. Parental perception of better access to fruits and vegetables and low-fat foods was associated with availability of a greater number of healthy food items at home. Overall, the HFE varied by parental and demographic characteristics, parental perceptions about the food environment and the actual features of the built neighborhood food environment.
ContributorsBerry, Andrea (Author) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Thesis advisor) / Johnston, Carol (Committee member) / Wharton, Christopher (Christopher Mack), 1977- (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
Despite the literature suggesting that fruits and vegetables (F&V) can have a protective outcome against overweight, obesity and chronic diseases, consumption is still inadequate. In order to address under consumption of F&V among children, schools have become a platform for a variety of food programs. The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable

Despite the literature suggesting that fruits and vegetables (F&V) can have a protective outcome against overweight, obesity and chronic diseases, consumption is still inadequate. In order to address under consumption of F&V among children, schools have become a platform for a variety of food programs. The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiative, aims to increase exposure and consumption of F&V in low-income school children by providing F&V snacks. Participation in FFVP has been associated with higher preference and consumption of F&V and research also suggests that the program has the potential to decrease rates of overweight and obesity. The benefits of this program have been found to extend outside of the school setting, with higher requests for F&V at home and at the grocery store. This study aims to explore how children’s participation in the FFVP influences home food environments and shopping practices through qualitative analysis focus group data. Four focus groups were held with parents (n=25) from three FFVP participating schools. The data was analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach to find themes within the discussions. The findings were grouped into three categories: General Perceptions of FFVP, Impact of FFVP on the Home Food Environment, and Impact of FFVP on Shopping Practices. For General Perceptions of FFVP, themes were: Children learn about and enjoy F&V, awareness of farm to school programs, and children make healthier choices. Impact of FFVP on the Home Food Environment included the themes: Choosing heathier foods and snacks, parent F&V behaviors, children request F&V at home, and children talk about or bring F&V home. Finally, Impact of FFVP on Shopping Practices included the themes: children’s involvement in shopping, children request to buy F&V, children request non-produce items, and parents decline or limit unhealthy requests. This qualitative study provides valuable insights about how FFVP participation influences child and family behaviors towards F&V at home and in the grocery store. School food programs, such as the FFVP, have a positive influence on F&V related behaviors among children and should be continued and expanded.
ContributorsAcosta Ortiz, Marina (Author) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Thesis advisor) / DeWeese, Robin (Thesis advisor) / Gruner, Jessie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
Objective: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a federally-funded program that provides supplemental food packages, nutrition education, and healthcare referrals to low-income women, infants, and children under 5, who are at the highest nutritional risk. This study explores if household WIC participation is associated

Objective: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a federally-funded program that provides supplemental food packages, nutrition education, and healthcare referrals to low-income women, infants, and children under 5, who are at the highest nutritional risk. This study explores if household WIC participation is associated with healthier dietary behaviors among age-ineligible children (5-18-years-old) in WIC households. Consumption frequency of fruits, vegetables, 100% juice, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and energy-dense snacks (sweet and salty snacks) among children from WIC and income-qualifying non-WIC households were compared.

Methods: Data were obtained from two cross-sectional panels (2009-10 and 2014) of the New Jersey Child Health Study conducted in four low-income New Jersey cities. Questions from previously validated surveys assessed consumption frequency of fruits, vegetables, SSBs, and sweet and salty snacks. Analyses were confined to 570 children between 5-18 yrs; of which 365 (5-11 yrs: 237, 12-18 yrs: 128) resided in WIC participating households and 205 (5-11 yrs: 138, 12-18 yrs: 67) in income-qualifying non-WIC households. Over half of the sample was African American and 43% were Hispanic. Multivariable analyses were conducted to compute incidence rate ratios (IRRs) using negative binomial regression to compare the differences in eating behaviors of children in WIC vs. Non-WIC households

Results: Household WIC participation was associated with a slightly higher frequency of vegetable consumption among 12-18-year-old children (IRR= 1.25, p=.05); differences were significant among older males (12-18-years-old) (p=.006), and not in females.

Frequency of 100% juice consumption was significantly higher among younger females (5-11-years-old) in WIC households who consumed juice about 44% more frequently (p=.02) compared to similar age girls in non-WIC households. Hispanic children in WIC households reported a lower frequency of SSBs consumption (p=.01); this association was only true among males (p=.02).

Conclusions: Household WIC participation is associated with healthier dietary behaviors among age-ineligible children living in the households, suggesting a positive spillover effect of the program. Proposed changes to WIC packages are likely to have dietary implications not only for WIC participants but also for non-participating children residing in WIC households,
ContributorsSteeves, Stephanie N (Author) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Thesis advisor) / Tasevska, Natasha (Committee member) / DeWeese, Robin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
Background: College freshmen are exposed to a variety of environmental and social factors that can alter changes to health habits and encourage weight gain. Weight-related conversations had with friends may be related to self-perception of weight and alterations to health behaviors, but this association has yet to be assessed in

Background: College freshmen are exposed to a variety of environmental and social factors that can alter changes to health habits and encourage weight gain. Weight-related conversations had with friends may be related to self-perception of weight and alterations to health behaviors, but this association has yet to be assessed in the college population.

Objective: This study aims to examine the relationship between friend advice about weight management, self-perception of weight, and alterations to weight change intentions, physical activity, and eating habits in college freshmen over time.

Methods: College freshmen from ASU with complete data for three time points (n=321) were found to be predominantly female (72.2%) and non-white (53.2%) with a mean age of 17.5±41. Complete data included responses for items included in analysis which were related to friend encouragement about weigh management, self-perception of weight, physical activity, eating behaviors, and weight change intentions. A longitudinal multivariate mediation analysis using negative binomial regression adjusted for sociodemographics and clustering by dorm was used to assess the relationship between 1) friend encouragement about weight management at time 1 and behavioral outcomes at time 3, 2) friend encouragement about weight management at time 1 and self-perception of weight at time 2, and 3) self-perception of weight at time 2 and behavioral outcomes at time 3.

Results: A small proportion of population perceived friend encouragement about weight loss (18.3%) and weight gain (14.4%) at time 1. Half the population (50.9%) had the self-perception of overweight at time 2. At time 3, more than half (54.3%) of individuals performed at least 60 minutes of MVPA and consumed at least ½ a serving of sugar-sweetened beverages each day, while nearly half (48.6%) consumed at least 2 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Males perceived more friend encouragement to gain weight (27.4%; p<0.01), but more females had the self-perception of overweight (54%; p=0.04) and were attempting to lose weight (59.3%; p<0.01). Individuals who perceived friend encouragement to lose weight at time 1 had a 14.8% greater prevalence (p<0.001) of overweight perception of time two, and a 9.6% and 6.9%; decreased prevalence (p<0.001) of weight change and weight loss intentions (p=0.023) at time three respectively. Individuals who perceived friend encouragement to gain weight had a 34.9% decreased prevalence of (p<0.001) of self-perception of overweight at time 1. In individuals with the self-perception of overweight at time 2, there was a 18.1% increased prevalence (p<0.001) of consuming at least ½ a serving of sugar-sweetened beverages/day and an increased prevalence of 22.8% and 24.0% for weight change intentions and weight loss intentions at time 3 (p<0.001).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that there was not a mediation effect of self-perception of overweight in the relationship between friend encouragement about weight management and behavioral outcomes in the current sample. However, the increased prevalence of overweight perception in individuals who perceived friend encouragement about weight management may inform future interventions to focus on how weight-related conversations with friends is related to overweight perception. More research about the relationship between weight-related conversations had with friends, self-perception of weight, and health behaviors is needed to confirm these findings.
ContributorsThibodeau, Tristan (Author) / Bruening, Meg (Thesis advisor) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Committee member) / Huberty, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death in the United States. Dietary behaviors influence the risk of developing multiple chronic diseases. The U.S. population consumes too few fruits and vegetables and too much sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) and fast food. The Social Ecological Model (SEM) was created as a

Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death in the United States. Dietary behaviors influence the risk of developing multiple chronic diseases. The U.S. population consumes too few fruits and vegetables and too much sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) and fast food. The Social Ecological Model (SEM) was created as a framework for health promotion interventions. The SEM organizes factors that can influence health into five layers: intrapersonal factors, interpersonal processes, institutional/organizational factors, community factors, and public policy. Each layer can influence dietary behaviors and other layers.

This work aims to understand how the community layer, represented by the food environment, moderates the association of two other layers and dietary behaviors: the interpersonal layer, represented by receiving health care provider’s (HCP) advice to lose weight, and the policy layer, represented by participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and a policy change within the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Participant data were obtained from a household telephone survey of 2,211 adults in four cities in New Jersey from two cross-sectional panels in 2009-10 and 2014. Community food data were purchased and classified according to previously established protocol. Interaction and stratified analyses determined the differences in the association between HCP advice, SNAP participation, and time (for WIC participants) and eating behaviors by the food environment.

Interaction and stratified analyses revealed that HCP advice was associated with a decrease in SSB consumption when participants lived near a small grocery store, or far from a supermarket, limited service restaurant (LSR), or convenience store. SNAP participation was associated with a higher SSB consumption when respondents lived close to a small grocery store, supermarket, and LSR. There were no differences in fruit and vegetable consumption between two time points among WIC participants, or by food outlet.

The food environment, part of the community layer of SEM, moderated the relationship between the interpersonal layer and dietary behaviors and the policy layer and dietary behaviors. The association between HCP advice and dietary behaviors and SNAP participation and dietary behaviors were both influenced by the food environment in which participants lived.
ContributorsLorts, Cori Elizabeth (Author) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Marc (Committee member) / Hooker, Steven (Committee member) / Roberto, Anthony (Committee member) / Tasevska, Natasha (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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This body of research sought to explore relationships between cognitive function and physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep, independently and in conjunction, in mid-life to older adults with no known cognitive impairment. Aging is associated with cognitive decline, and lifestyle behaviors such as PA, SB, and sleep, may

This body of research sought to explore relationships between cognitive function and physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep, independently and in conjunction, in mid-life to older adults with no known cognitive impairment. Aging is associated with cognitive decline, and lifestyle behaviors such as PA, SB, and sleep, may mitigate this decline. First, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to examine the effect of aerobic PA interventions on memory and executive function in sedentary adults. Second, a longitudinal study was conducted to examine the association between SB and odds of incident cognitive impairment, and SB and cognitive decline in older adults. Last, a cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the joint associations between different levels of sleep with levels of PA, and sleep with levels of sedentary time on memory and executive function. This body of research provided evidence to support the association between aerobic PA and improved cognitive function, SB and incident cognitive impairment and cognitive function declines, and the joint association of sleep and different levels of PA and ST on cognitive function by hypertension status.
ContributorsHoffmann, Nicole M (Author) / Lee, Rebecca E (Thesis advisor) / Petrov, Megan E (Thesis advisor) / Marek, Karen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020