Women with breast cancer often experience weight gain during and after treatment, significantly increasing risk for recurrence as well as all-cause mortality. Based on a growing body of evidence, meditative movement practices may be effective for weight management. First, we describe the effects of stress on factors associated with weight gain for breast cancer survivors. Then, a model is proposed that utilizes existing evidence to suggest how meditative movement supports behavioral, psychological, and neurohormonal changes that may explain weight loss. Application of the model suggests how a novel "mindful-body-wisdom" approach may work to help reduce weight for this at-risk group.
Objective: The Social Ecological Model (SEM) has been used to describe the aetiology of childhood obesity and to develop a framework for prevention. The current paper applies the SEM to data collected at multiple levels, representing different layers of the SEM, and examines the unique and relative contribution of each layer to children's weight status.
Design: Cross-sectional survey of randomly selected households with children living in low-income diverse communities.
Setting: A telephone survey conducted in 2009-2010 collected information on parental perceptions of their neighbourhoods, and household, parent and child demographic characteristics. Parents provided measured height and weight data for their children. Geocoded data were used to calculate proximity of a child's residence to food and physical activity outlets.
Subjects: Analysis based on 560 children whose parents participated in the survey and provided measured heights and weights.
Results: Multiple logistic regression models were estimated to determine the joint contribution of elements within each layer of the SEM as well as the relative contribution of each layer. Layers of the SEM representing parental perceptions of their neighbourhoods, parent demographics and neighbourhood characteristics made the strongest contributions to predicting whether a child was overweight or obese. Layers of the SEM representing food and physical activity environments made smaller, but still significant, contributions to predicting children's weight status.
Conclusions: The approach used herein supports using the SEM for predicting child weight status and uncovers some of the most promising domains and strategies for childhood obesity prevention that can be used for designing interventions.
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,
This study was a parallel-arm, double-blinded, randomized control trial. Participants consumed either a vitamin D supplement or placebo once a week for eight weeks (n=23). Only vitamin D insufficient (serum total 25-OH, D < 30 ng/mL) people were included in the study, and all participants were considered to be cognitively normal (MMSE scores > 27). Serum total 25-OH, D and plasma Aβ1-40 measurements were recorded before and after the eight-week trial. The plasma Aβ1-40 change was compared between the vitamin D group and control group.
The vitamin D group experienced a 45% greater change in plasma Aβ1-40 than the control group. The effect size was 0.228 when controlling for baseline plasma Aβ1-40 (p=0.045), 0.197 when controlling for baseline plasma Aβ1-40 and baseline physical activity (p=0.085), and 0.179 when controlling for baseline plasma Aβ1-40, baseline physical activity, and age (p=0.116). In conclusion, vitamin D supplementation might increase brain Aβ clearance in humans, but physical activity and age also appear to modulate Aβ metabolism.
Methods: Data was compiled from the New Jersey Childhood Obesity Study (NJCOB). A random digit dial household phone survey was used to select 1,708 households with at least one child aged 3-18 years from five cities in New Jersey. There were 231 OWOB parent-child dyads in this sample. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the demographic variables significantly associated with the type of weight loss strategy chosen.
Results: Males had higher odds of using PA and both eating and PA when compared to females. Higher income adults had higher odds of using all types of weight loss strategies compared to lower income adults. Adults with college education had higher odds of using eating and both eating and PA when compared to those with high school education. Older children (6-11 and 12-19 years) had higher odds of using PA when compared to younger children (2-5 years). Children of foreign-born parents (> 10 years in the US) had higher odds of using eating to lose weight compared to the children of US born parents. Children overall had higher odds of adopting a weight loss strategy if it was also adopted by the parent. In subgroup analysis, parent-child dyads had higher odds of adopting similar strategies among older children (12-19) and among girls, but this association did not hold true for younger children (2-11 years) and among boys for PA.
Conclusion: Older OWOB children (12-19) and female children had higher odds of adopting their parents’ weight loss strategies. Younger children did not follow the same pattern as their parents and among boys concordance was observed only for eating strategies. Results from the study may inform future family-based weight management interventions.