Location: Children's Nutrition Research Center
Project Number: 3092-51000-058-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Mar 23, 2014
End Date: Mar 3, 2019
Objective:
1-4) [removed due to investigator departure]; 5) assess and enhance the validity and reliability of Personal Activity Location Measurement System, through multiple, iterative studies to accurately measure preschool children's PA, transportation, and location; 6) identify eating patterns in children, adolescents, and adults and examine the association with obesity and related health risk factors; 7) identify barriers and facilitators to Dietary Guidelines for Americans adherence, and examine the association with BMI; 8) assess the impact of food security status on dietary intake measured using HEI-2005, among children across the different age groups, based on parent/family participation in federal food assistance programs; 9) assess the impact of food security status on costs of meals, based on costs per serving of food, nutrient density, and diet quality as measured by HEI-2005, among children across various age groups; 10) Improve validity and reliability of objective dietary assessment by combining Sun e.button system which identifies a prioritized list of likely foods and amounts consumed and at the end of the day have children use ASA24-Kids to review, verify, and correct food identity problems and portion size information from Sun e.button images; 11) improve validity and reliability of objective physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior assessment (both type and intensity) by combining Sun e.button system with accelerometers, and enable children to review and correct estimates of type of activity/sedentary behavior from Sun e.button using a simple correction recording system at the end of the day; 12) conduct formative research with parents of 8- to 10-year-old African American girls to identify beliefs, values, and practices related to diet, PA, sedentary behavior, and body weight; 13) develop and test a text message intervention for parents to test feasibility of factors identified in Obj. 12 at promoting healthy home food and activity environments; 14) develop a model of parent-child interactions in the family eating environment among low-income families, and determine what aspects of parent-child interactions foster excess calorie intake in children; 15) collect descriptive data on behaviors used to assess infant temperament at 4-months of age; 16) assess correlations between infant temperament based on direct observation using two protocols measured at 4-months and 6-months of age; and 17) assess correlations between infant temperament based on direct observation using two protocols in each of two settings (laboratory and daycare).
Approach:
A multidimensional approach will be undertaken to address the obesity research conducted at the Children's Nutrition Research Center. Pediatricians will assess the validity of using the Personal Activity Location Measurement System (PALMS) tool to simultaneously process accelerometer-based physical activity data and GPS-based location data to identify preschool children's physical activity, transportation, and location since studies have suggested that many young children do not meet the physical activity recommendations. In another study researchers will work to understand and prevent obesity both dietary and physical activity behavior, their determinants, and their direct and indirect associations with overweight will be examined to identify barriers and facilitators to Dietary Guidelines for Americans adherence. Additionally, researchers will obtain costs of foods consumed by children, compare food costs by diet quality, nutrient density, and food security status, assess consumer behaviors from the NHANES consumer behavior questionnaire and determine the impact of food security status on consumer behaviors among children. Other research will develop a model of parent-child interactions in the family eating environment among low-income families (based on direct research observations), and determine what aspects of parent-child interactions foster excess calorie intake in children. Researchers also will utilize an electronic button that has been previously utilized in adults, to objectively assess child diet by verifying food identity and portion size as well as recording the child's physical activity levels. Qualitative research will also be performed in another study to inform intervention content, structure, and procedures in order to assess the feasibility of a culturally grounded text message based obesity prevention intervention with parents of 8-10 year old African American girls. Behavioral researchers will examine whether there is an association between affiliation and orienting in infancy and adiposity, and if so, why this association exists.
