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PubMed2006

Confirmatory factor analysis of the child-feeding questionnaire among parents of adolescents.

We investigated the validity of the child-feeding questionnaire (CFQ) among parents of adolescents. The original CFQ was developed to assess perceptions of obesity-proneness and child-feeding practices among parents of 2- to 11-year-old children. We modified the CFQ to make it applicable to parents of adolescents and added one item on monitoring sugared beverages. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using the latent variable approach. Factor scores were related to adolescent body mass index percentiles (BMI%) using structural equation modeling. The modified CFQ was completed by 260 parent/guardians (mean age 39.8 years; 92% female; 55% Black, 35% White, 10% Other). The original published measurement model was fit to our sample and yielded an acceptable fit (CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.05). Adding the extra variables decreased the fit; however, minor modifications improved the fit without changing the factor structure (CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.05). Cronbach's alphas for the subscales ranged from 0.60 to 0.88. The factors, parental perceptions of child weight, concern for child weight, monitoring and restriction were positively associated, and pressure to eat was inversely associated with adolescent BMI%. In conclusion, the psychometric properties of the modified CFQ tested among parents of a multi-ethnic adolescent sample were similar to those of the original CFQ.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Age and sex differences in health habits and beliefs of schoolchildren.

All children in Grades 3 through 12 of one school system completed a survey about health habits and beliefs including smoking and eating habits, perceptions of exercise, weight, and parental involvement in health. The surveys were factor-analyzed within grade and sex, and the overall factors that emerged were Smoking Habits, Family Discussion of Health, Family Thinking About Health, Nutritional Habits, and Health Locus of Control. Analysis of variance of each factor revealed that girls generally reported healthier food habits than did boys. However, girls reported more smoking and less exercise. There are also changes in habits and belief with age; junior high school is a particularly important time for the development of several habits. The findings are discussed in relation to theories of child development and the implications for the content and timing of future health education intervention programs with children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

[Disturbances of body-experience in acute anxiety and depressive disorders - neuroticism or somatization?].

In view of the uncertain relationship between body related "Boundary loss" and anxiety as well as depression symptoms we carried out the following study. Our aim was to explore these symptoms in their diagnostic and clinical significance and to define body distortions and organic disturbances. We examined the body perception (via Image Marking Procedure), aspects of body image via Body Distortion Questionnaire and via Visual Analogue Scales on self-perception of body weight and size) and body cathexis/satisfaction (via Visual Analogue-Scale) and their changes during hospital treatment in 28 patients with anxiety disorders (ICD-10, F40 - F41) and 40 patients with depressive disorders (ICD-10, F32 - F34). The phenomena were assessed by following instruments: Hamilton Anxiety Scale, Hamilton Depression Scale, Clinical Anxiety Scale, State-Trait Anxiety-Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Functional somatic complaints were assessed by Zerssen Complaint list three days after admission and again two and four weeks after inpatient treatment. Body size estimation was also assessed longitudinally in a control group of 44 healthy individuals (ward staff). On average, both patient groups displayed body dissatisfaction and high scores in the somatic complaint list as well as somatic depersonalisation and boundary loss, but in comparison with the control group there were no relevant disturbances of body size estimation. The body related phenomena were all closely correlated among each other as well as with psychopathology scores of anxiety and depressive disorder. The symptoms decreased significantly together with reduction of the psychopathological phenomena. The results could be regarded as body related equivalent of these psychopathological disturbances or they could be interpreted as symbolic (somatized) bodily represented negative cognitions and emotions. The hypothesis that these body-related phenomena outlasting the acute phase of illness could be used as neuroticism markers was not confirmed.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prevalence of overweight and obesity for urban adults in Cameroon.

BACKGROUND: The emergence of a nutrition transition in developing countries might lead to higher prevalence of obesity and related adverse health effects. In Cameroon,urbanization growth rate is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Such dramatic demographic change favours important modifications, notably in nutritional patterns. AIM: In this paper we examine the current prevalence of overweight and obesity in Yaounde,the capital city of Cameroon and search for possible causal factors. Detrimental consequences of overweight are also discussed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Samples of adults (519 women, 252 men) of all ages in all districts of Yaounde were subjected to anthropometric and body composition measurements, blood pressure and resting heart rate determination, and interviewer-administered questionnaires on socio-demography, smoking habits, physical activity, self-perception of body weight and health status. RESULTS: In both sexes body mass index (BMI) increases with age and peaks in the years of maturity. These changes are related to changes in adiposity. Prevalence rates of overweight(BMI >or= 25) and obesity (BMI > or = 30) increase from 20 to 29 years and peak at 40-49 years in men and at 50-59 years in women before starting to decline. One woman in two is overweight and one woman in five is obese, whereas one-third of men are overweight and only 5% are obese. Obese subjects have a larger age-adjusted waist to hip ratio(WHR) than their non-overweight counterparts, attesting that fat gain is oriented towards a more abdominal fat mass distribution. The length of residence in Yaounde, increasing education level, occupation, ethnicity, physical inactivity and smoking practices appear to influence early overweight and/or obesity. No parity effect is observed in women. From the present study, it appears that obesity, and especially obesity in women, could be less benign than that described in other studies in Africa. CONCLUSION: Research is needed in Cameroon, including aetiological and cohort studies aimed at the quantification of morbidity and mortality risks associated with overweight and obesity.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Backpack use in children.

PURPOSE: This article describes backpack use and incidence of back pain in children. METHODS: A convenience sample of 345 children, grades five through eight, served as subjects. A written questionnaire was developed to gather information on demographics, leisure activity level, bag type, locker use, students' perceptions of bag weight and comfort, and students' reports of history of back pain. Scales were provided for students to weigh themselves with and without backpacks. RESULTS: Younger children carried proportionally greater backpack loads. Percentage of body weight by grade was as follows: fifth grade = 19%, sixth grade = 21%, seventh grade = 14%, and eighth grade = 15% body weight. Fifty-five percent of all subjects carried a load greater than 15% of their body weight, and one third of students reported a history of back pain. Percentage of body weight carried, however, was not significantly related to history of back pain. CONCLUSION: Concerns raised by parents and professionals that children are carrying heavy loads are justified; however, the relationship between heavy carrying load and back pain needs further elucidation. Recommendations for physical therapy, backpack safety, and injury prevention are provided.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

Screening for unhealthy lifestyle factors in the workplace.

OBJECTIVE: To examine (1) the prevalence of four lifestyle behaviours among Australia Post employees and (2) employees' perceptions of the role of the workplace in promotion of lifestyle change. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire involved 688 employees working in Australia Post throughout metropolitan Sydney. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence related to age and sex of alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, inadequate exercise, perception of excessive weight. RESULTS: 36% of men and 11% of women reported drinking alcohol at levels considered hazardous or harmful; 33% of men and 25% of women reported smoking; 51% of men and 62% of women thought they were overweight; 30% of men and 39% of women did not exercise regularly. Younger respondents were more likely to report drinking hazardously or harmfully, were smokers and had multiple risk factors. A majority of respondents thought that their employer should be interested in employee's lifestyle issues, particularly excessive drinking (63%). However, few considered seeking advice from the workplace regarding smoking (16%), weight (25%) and excessive alcohol consumption (12%). CONCLUSIONS: These results show that many of Australia Post employees have unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. While employees perceive that the workplace has an important role in promoting healthy lifestyles among staff, few are presently willing to seek advice from the workplace regarding these issues. Promotion of healthy lifestyles in Australian workplaces is a potentially important public health advance that could reduce the incidence of diseases associated with high-risk lifestyle behaviours.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Using path analysis to examine adolescent suicide attempts, life satisfaction, and health risk behavior.

This study determined if differences existed between four race/gender groups in regard to attempted suicide among a randomly selected, cross-sectional population of 4,565 public high school students in South Carolina. A modified Youth Risk Behavior Survey was designed to gather information on quality of life, life satisfaction, and six risk-behavior categories. Data first were analyzed using logistic regression analysis and subsequently analyzed using path analysis. Results suggest several independent variables (feelings of intimidation, alcohol and cocaine use, self-perceptions of mental health, self-perceptions of body weight, dieting practices, bulimic episodes, and physical and sexual abuse) were associated significantly (p < .01) with adolescent attempted suicide either directly or indirectly through mediating variables. Significant associations among risk behaviors, mediating variables, and self-reported attempted suicide varied across the four race/gender groups, indicating a need to further study differences noticed in each race/gender scheme.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Attitudes and beliefs about exercise among persons with non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

This study examined attitudes and beliefs about exercise among 83 persons with non-insulin-dependent diabetes who had completed outpatient diabetes counseling. An adaptation of the Health Belief Model, labeled the Exercise Behavior Model, guided perceptual measures. Fifty-two percent of the subjects were exercising 3 or more days per week. Those with a greater length of time since diabetes counseling were more likely to be currently exercising. Positive and negative attitudes toward exercise characterized the group; however, only negative attitudes were related to exercise. Both exercisers and nonexercisers perceived barriers to exercise. Other people, chance happenings, physical discomfort, and perceptions of fitness, weight, and appearance played a role in whether the subjects exercised. The results indicate that providing assistance in identifying support for exercise and overcoming perceived barriers to exercise may increase compliance to this important aspect of the diabetes regimen.

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2↗
PubMed1999

A cognitive distortion associated with eating disorders: thought-shape fusion.

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to describe and investigate a cognitive distortion associated with eating psychopathology. This distortion, termed 'thought-shape fusion', is said to occur when merely thinking about eating a forbidden food increases the person's estimate of their shape or weight, elicits a perception of moral wrongdoing and makes the person feel fat. DESIGN: Two studies were conducted. The first was a psychometric study and the second utilized a within-participants experimental design. METHODS: In Study 1, thought-shape fusion was assessed in a sample of 119 undergraduate students using a questionnaire. In Study 2, 30 students with high thought-shape fusion scores participated in an experiment designed to elicit the distortion. RESULTS: Thought-shape fusion was found to be significantly associated with measures of eating disorder psychopathology. The questionnaire used to measure thought-shape fusion had high internal consistency, a good factor structure accounting for 46.2% of the variance and predictive validity. The results from Study 2 indicated that the distortion can be elicited under experimental conditions, produces negative emotional reactions and prompts the urge to engage in corrective behaviour (e.g. neutralizing/checking). This corrective behaviour promptly reduces the negative reactions. CONCLUSION: The results of the two studies indicate that the concept of thought-shape fusion is coherent, unifactorial and measurable. It is associated with eating disturbance and elicits negative emotional and behavioural responses.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

[Reforming the ambulatory care system--attitudes of patients and staff members].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to examine the attitudes of patients and staff towards the reform the ambulatory healthcare by moving services from the hospital to the community. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study using a questionnaire was conducted during 2001 to examine the attitudes of patients and staff. The study took place in eight community clinics and eight hospital-based clinics and units where surgical activity took place. Patients' and staff questionnaires were completed in each clinic, researching procedures that until recently had been performed only in hospitals and were then transferred to community clinics. One procedure was chosen for each clinic. FINDINGS: A total of 1000 patients and 78 staff members were interviewed. Most patients expressed their satisfaction with the treatment location to which they were assigned. Prior acquaintance with the physician treating the patients was a factor associated with the preference of the treatment location. Many patients view the hospital as an institution where complications can be better handled than in the community clinic. There is a difference between the attitudes of patients and staff members in the perception of the weight of certain factors on the choice of treatment location. CONCLUSION: Certain variables are significant to the patients in their choice of treatment location. There are differences between the attitudes of staff members and patients, emphasizing the importance of studying the attitude of the patients themselves before choosing the location of treatment.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed2005

Stage of readiness to control weight and adopt weight control behaviors in primary care.

BACKGROUND: While the majority of adults are attempting weight loss at any given time, few engage in optimal diet and exercise. We examined factors associated with being in advanced stages of behavior change for weight loss, diet, and exercise. METHODS: We surveyed primary care patients about their health, health habits, and perception and advice about weight as health risk, and about stage of readiness to lose weight, improve diet (control food portions, limit fat intake, increase fruits and vegetables), and increase planned exercise using the Prochaska Stage of Behavior Change model. We conducted bivariable analyses to describe the association between being at the preparation (change in 1 month), action (changing now), and maintenance (maintaining change) stages of change for weight loss and being at 1 of these 3 advanced stages for improving diet and exercise. We also conducted multivariable analyses to examine factors associated with being at these advanced stages of readiness to concurrently lose weight, improve diet, and increase exercise. RESULTS: Of 365 patients (response rate of 60%), 33% were overweight (body mass index [BMI], 25.0-29.9 kg/m(2)) and 27% were obese (BMI, 30.0+kg/m(2)). Of 199 respondents at the preparation, action, or maintenance stage of losing weight, 61% were also at an advanced stage for improving diet and exercise. Those perceiving weight as a health risk were more likely to be at advanced stages of readiness to concurrently lose weight, improve diet, and increase exercise (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 5.6; 95% CI, 2.5 to 12.5) after adjustment for confounders; this perception was associated with BMI ([AOR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.3 for each unit increment in BMI]) and being advised by a physician about weight as a health risk (AOR, 6.7; 95% CI, 3.0 to 15.1). Demographic factors, having obesity-related comorbidities, and mental and physical functioning did not appear important. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of primary care patients are at advanced stages of readiness to lose weight, improve diet, and increase exercise. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of primary care interventions to help patients optimize weight-related behavior.

Counseling↗
PubMed1997

Adolescent body mass indices and self-perception.

This study examined the relationship between body mass index (BMI) of adolescents and their perceived-weight status and self-concept, controlling for confounding factors. The data base was drawn from the High School and Beyond (HSB) study, which included 17,318 females and 15,878 males. BMI was calculated using self-reported weights and heights. Response variables included a self-concept index and evaluation of the statement "I am overweight." While respondents' perception of overweight status was accompanied by higher mean BMI values, there were discrepancies in perceived-weight and BMI-weight status. Logistic regression of explanatory variables on perception of overweight status revealed that BMI was the strongest predictor, gender was the second strongest, and the odds of perception of overweight status were higher for females than males by a factor of more than eight. Ordinary least squares regression of explanatory variables on the self-concept index revealed that perception of normal weight status, lower BMI, and male gender were strong predictors of positive self-concept. The findings indicate that substantial numbers of teenage females perceive themselves as overweight when BMI values suggest they are not, while males have a reasonably accurate weight perception.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Texture and haptic cues in slant discrimination: reliability-based cue weighting without statistically optimal cue combination.

A number of models of depth-cue combination suggest that the final depth percept results from a weighted average of independent depth estimates based on the different cues available. The weight of each cue in such an average is thought to depend on the reliability of each cue. In principle, such a depth estimation could be statistically optimal in the sense of producing the minimum-variance unbiased estimator that can be constructed from the available information. Here we test such models by using visual and haptic depth information. Different texture types produce differences in slant-discrimination performance, thus providing a means for testing a reliability-sensitive cue-combination model with texture as one of the cues to slant. Our results show that the weights for the cues were generally sensitive to their reliability but fell short of statistically optimal combination--we find reliability-based reweighting but not statistically optimal cue combination.

Cues↗
PubMed2004

Perceived importance of weight training to selected NCAA Division III men and women student-athletes.

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in perception of the importance of weight training as a part of general and sport-specific training for selected collegiate men and women student-athletes. Subjects included 139 men and 165 women varsity National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III student-athletes who participated in the following sports: baseball, basketball, field hockey, football, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field, or volleyball. Men student-athletes were significantly more likely to consider weight training essential to their general and sport-specific training than women student-athletes, as measured by the Training Information Survey. Additionally, men student-athletes were found to be significantly more competitive and win-oriented than women student-athletes (p < 0.001) as measured by the Sport Orientation Questionnaire, which is consistent with previous research. Results also showed that only highly goal-oriented student-athletes perceived weight training as: (a) important to both men and women and (b) having both feminine and masculine traits. It was concluded that significant gender differences exist in the perceived importance of weight training and that the constructs of competitiveness, win and goal orientation, may influence a student-athlete's perception of the importance of weight training. Coaches of both men and women student-athletes must teach that weight training is important for female and male student-athletes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Predictors of body image dissatisfaction in elementary-age school girls.

Concerns about weight, shape, body image, dieting, and eating are evident among elementary-age school girls [Int. J. Eating Disord. 10 (1991) 199; J. Adolesc. Health 12 (1991) 307; Pediatrics 84 (1989) 482; J. Clin. Psychol. 21 (1992) 41; Addict. Behav. (2000).]. Body image dissatisfaction, found to predict the formation of eating disturbances in longitudinal studies [Eating Disord.: J. Treat. Prev. 2 (1994) 114; Int. J. Eating Disord. 18 (1995) 221.], is likely a necessary precursor of eating disturbance development [J. Abnorm. Psychol. 102 (1993) 438.]. Turning back the etiological clock, this study examines the association between body image dissatisfaction and four potential areas of influence, including peer relationships, family characteristics, personality features, and body mass index, among girls in grades three, four, and five. Each conceptual area significantly contributed to the prediction of body image dissatisfaction. The combination of statistically significant variables, including teasing, peer modeling of weight and shape concerns, daughters' perceptions of parental influence to lose or control weight, appearance comparison, sensitivity, and body mass index, accounted for 50% of the variance in general body image dissatisfaction and 45% in weight and shape dissatisfaction. Implications for prevention, treatment, and future research are discussed.

Journal Article↗