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Biomedical subjects

Theresa Nicklas

Publications and source records attributed to Theresa Nicklas.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Food-purchasing patterns for home: a grocery store-intercept survey.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the most common frequency of food-purchasing patterns and relate this pattern to characteristics of individuals and families. DESIGN: A customer-intercept survey was conducted in the greater Houston area, Texas, USA, in 2002. The frequency of food shopping at supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants to buy food for eating at home was assessed. SUBJECTS: A total of 823 adults (78.5% female; mean age 37.4 years) who went to any of several grocery or convenience stores, including European, Hispanic and African Americans, and Asian/Pacific Islanders. RESULTS: Major food-shopping patterns were a weekly big trip with a few small trips (34.9%), biweekly big trips with a few small trips (21.9%), no big shopping trips (15.4%), a weekly big trip without small trips (13.9%), a monthly big trip (8.3%), and biweekly big trips without small trips (6.4%). While 61.1% of participants never went to convenience stores to buy fruit and vegetables (F&V) for eating at home, 67% went to restaurants for F&V. African American families shopped for food least frequently, while Asian American families shopped for food most frequently. Educational level was negatively associated with the use of convenience stores and positively associated with take-away from restaurants. CONCLUSIONS: There is substantial variability in the frequency of food shopping. Future research on food shopping should incorporate this variable.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Physical activity and health enhancing dietary behaviors in young adults: Bogalusa Heart Study.

BACKGROUND: Obesity results from energy imbalance. This study used data from the Bogalusa Heart Study to examine relationships between the dietary and physical activity behaviors of young adults. METHODS: One thousand one hundred ninety-one young adults (76% Euro-American, 24% African-American, 61% female) completed a food frequency questionnaire and reported the location of meals consumed. Physical activity outside of work was assessed using a 5-item Likert scale. Analyses of covariance were used to determine if dietary consumption differed by physical activity level after controlling for ethnicity, BMI, age, and gender. Regression models were used to explore two- and three-way diet, gender, and ethnicity interactions. RESULTS: Consumption of fruit and dairy foods significantly differed (P < 0.05) by activity level with the most active group consuming 0.4 more servings per day for both fruit/fruit juices and dairy. Increased physical activity was significantly associated (P < 0.05) with decreased dietary fat. Increased physical activity was associated with increased consumption of fat among African-American males and decreased consumption of fat among Euro-American males. Euro-American females consumed less energy than the three other ethnic/gender groups. CONCLUSIONS: Increased consumption of fruit, dairy foods, and reduced energy from fat were related with increased physical activity with this relationship differing by gender and ethnicity.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Relationships between maternal and child cardiovascular risk factors: ethnic differences and lack of influence of physical activity.

OBJECTIVES: To obtain information about the relationship between cardiovascular and diabetic risk factors of mothers and their children and to determine whether these relationships differ by physical activity or ethnicity. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: The Texas site of the Studies of Child Activity and Nutrition Program. PATIENTS: A 1986 to 1989 triethnic sample (European American, African American, and Hispanic) of 133 mothers and their 6- to 7-year-old children. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Maternal and child fasting insulin levels; total, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels; triglyceride levels; waist circumference; systolic and diastolic blood pressures; height; weight; and body mass index. Maternal physical activity was assessed by means of a 7-day recall. Child physical activity was assessed by heart rate monitoring. Correlational methods were used to describe the relationships among metabolic risk factors and physical activity; chi2 tests of independence were used to examine the relationships between ethnic groups. RESULTS: Body mass index and waist circumference were significantly (P<.05) associated among Hispanic mothers and their children, but not in other ethnic groups. Insulin, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein levels were significantly associated among African American mothers and their children, but not in other ethnic groups. Maternal and child physical activity were not significantly associated with any of the risk variables or each other. CONCLUSION: The relationships between the risk factors of mothers and children differed by ethnicity, but not by physical activity.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Changes in food group consumption patterns from childhood to young adulthood: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess changes in food group consumption patterns from childhood to young adulthood. DESIGN: Twenty-four-hour dietary recalls were collected on a longitudinal sample of young adults. SUBJECTS/SETTING: Dietary intake data were collected on 246 young adults (70% European American, 30% African American) aged 19 to 28 years who participated in a previous cross-sectional survey when they were 10-year-olds. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Descriptive statistics and linear mixed models adjusting for study time (age), sex, and ethnicity. RESULTS: In childhood, consumption of fruits/fruit juice and mixed meats ( P </=.05), desserts, candy, and milk ( P </=.0001) were greater than in young adulthood. Young adulthood consumption was greater for sweetened beverages, poultry and seafood ( P </=.001), salty snacks ( P </=.05), and beef ( P </=.01) compared to childhood. Milk consumption decreased, but the decrease was greater among males ( P </=.0001). Sweetened beverage consumption increased, but the increase was greater for European Americans ( P </=.0001). Candy consumption decreased, but the decrease was greater for African Americans ( P </=.05). CONCLUSIONS: Changes occur in food group consumption patterns from childhood to young adulthood. Overall, there was a decrease in diet quality during this age transition. Understanding eating habits of children early in life is important for planning effective intervention strategies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Comparison of dietary intakes associated with metabolic syndrome risk factors in young adults: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggested that dietary intakes affect individual risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine dietary intakes in 1181 young adults aged 19-38 y (38.1% men; 25% African Americans and 75% whites) in relation to metabolic syndrome risk factors in the Bogalusa Heart Study. DESIGN: Participants were stratified into 3 groups according to the number of risk factors (0, 1-2, >/=3) associated with the metabolic syndrome according to the diagnostic criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program, and dietary intakes were compared between the groups with a cross-sectional analysis. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, total energy intake, body mass index, and physical activity, mean (+/-SE) intakes of fruit, fruit juice, and vegetables were significantly higher in subjects who had no risk factors than in subjects who had 1-2 risk factors (3.30 +/- 0.09 compared with 2.99 +/- 0.07 servings/d; P < 0.05). The mean intake of sweetened beverages was lower in subjects who had no risk factors than in subjects who had 1-2 risk factors or >/=3 risk factors among whites (1.45 +/- 0.08 compared with 1.77 +/- 0.07 and 2.22 +/- 0.15 serving/d, respectively, in men; 1.26 +/- 0.06 compared with 1.62 +/- 0.05 and 1.78 +/- 0.13 servings/d, respectively, in women; P < 0.001) but not among African Americans. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that low fruit and vegetable consumption and high sweetened beverage consumption are independently associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in specific sex-ethnicity populations.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Are current health behavioral change models helpful in guiding prevention of weight gain efforts?

Effective procedures are needed to prevent the substantial increases in adiposity that have been occurring among children and adults. Behavioral change may occur as a result of changes in variables that mediate interventions. These mediating variables have typically come from the theories or models used to understand behavior. Seven categories of theories and models are reviewed to define the concepts and to identify the motivational mechanism(s), the resources that a person needs for change, the processes by which behavioral change is likely to occur, and the procedures necessary to promote change. Although each model has something to offer obesity prevention, the early promise can be achieved only with substantial additional research in which these models are applied to diet and physical activity in regard to obesity. The most promising avenues for such research seem to be using the latest variants of the Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Ecology. Synergy may be achieved by taking the most promising concepts from each model and integrating them for use with specific populations. Biology-based steps in an eating or physical activity event are identified, and research issues are suggested to integrate behavioral and biological approaches to understanding eating and physical activity behaviors. Social marketing procedures have much to offer in terms of organizing and strategizing behavioral change programs to incorporate these theoretical ideas. More research is needed to assess the true potential for these models to contribute to our understanding of obesity-related diet and physical activity practices, and in turn, to obesity prevention.

Choice Behavior↗
PubMed2003

Misclassification associated with measurement error in the assessment of dietary intake.

OBJECTIVE: Dietary assessment has been used for certification to receive food supplements or other nutrition services and to provide feedback for educational purposes. The proportion of individuals correctly certified as eligible is a function of the amount of error that exists in the dietary measures and the level of dietary intake used to establish eligibility. Whether individuals are correctly counselled to increase or decrease the consumption of selected foods or nutrients is a function of the same factors. It is not clear, however, what percentage of individuals would be correctly classified under what circumstances. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the extent to which measurement error and eligibility criteria affect the accuracy of classification. DESIGN: Hypothetical distributions of dietary intake were generated with varying degrees of measurement error. Different eligibility criteria were applied and the expected classification rates were determined using numerical methods. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Simulation study. RESULTS: Cut points of dietary intake at decreasing levels below the 50th percentile of true intake were associated with lower sensitivity and predictive value positive rates, but higher specificity and predictive value negative rates. The correct classification rates were lower when two cut points of dietary intake were used. Using a single cut point that was higher than the targeted true consumption resulted in higher sensitivity but lower predictive value positive, and lower specificity but higher predictive value negative. CONCLUSIONS: Current methods of dietary assessment may not be reliable enough to attain acceptable levels of correct classification. Policy-makers and educators must consider how much misclassification error they are willing to accept and determine whether more intensive methods are necessary.

Bias↗
PubMed2003

The Fun, Food, and Fitness Project (FFFP): the Baylor GEMS pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: The Girls health Enrichment Multisite Studies (GEMS) Fun, Food, and Fitness Project (FFFP) was designed to prevent obesity among 8-year-old African-American girls. DESIGN: Twelve-week, two-arm parallel group randomized controlled pilot study. SETTING: Summer day camp and homes in Houston, Texas. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-five girls and their parents or caregivers were randomly assigned to treatment (N=19) or control groups (N=16). INTERVENTION: Girls in the intervention group attended a special 4-week summer day camp, followed by a special 8-week home Internet intervention for the girls and their parents. Control group girls attended a different 4-week summer day camp, followed by a monthly home Internet intervention, neither of which components included the GEMS-FFFP enhancements. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Body mass index (BMI), consumption of fruit, 100% fruit juice, and vegetables (FJV), physical activity. RESULTS: After adjusting for baseline BMI, there were no significant differences in BMI between treatment and control group girls, either at the end of the 4-week summer day camp, or after the full 12-week intervention. By the end of the summer camp, the subgroup of treatment group girls heavier at baseline exhibited a trend (P<.08) toward lower BMI, compared to their heavier counterparts in the control group. Overall results at the end of the 12-week program demonstrated substantial, although not significant, differences between treatment and control groups in the hypothesized directions. On average, less than half the treatment sample logged onto the Website, which limited intervention dose. CONCLUSIONS: Summer day camp appears to offer promise for initiating health behavior change. Effective methods must be developed and tested to enhance log-on rates among healthy children and their parents before Internet programs can achieve their potential.

Black or African American↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fruit and vegetable shopping practices and social support scales: A validation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the psychometric characteristics of new scales of shopping practices and social support for purchasing fruits and vegetables. DESIGN: Participants were recruited in front of diverse grocery stores. Telephone data collection was done on 2 occasions, separated by 6 weeks. PARTICIPANTS: 166 food shoppers with children at home participated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: New scales of food shopping practices and social support for purchasing fruits and vegetables were psychometrically analyzed and related to a measure of home fruit or vegetable availability as a test of construct validity. ANALYSIS: Both classical test and item response theory procedures were used. Correlations related the new measures to home fruit and vegetable availability. RESULTS: Single dimension scales were specified for fruit and vegetable shopping practices (35% of the variance), fruit purchase social support (53% of the variance), and vegetable purchase social support (52% of the variance). Item response theory difficulty estimates varied from -0.64 to 0.73 for fruit and vegetable shopping practices, from -0.55 to 0.33 for fruit purchase social support, and from -0.55 to 0.34 for vegetable social support. Each scale significantly correlated with home fruit and vegetable availability (construct validity), even after controlling for social desirability of response (0.19 for shopping practices, 0.37 for fruit purchasing social support, and 0.28 for vegetable purchasing social support). Person separation reliability was 0.80 for food shopping practices, 0.74 for fruit purchasing social support, and 0.73 for vegetable purchasing social support. CONCLUSION: The scales performed well. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE: These scales are now available to help better understand fruit and vegetable shopping practices, fruit purchase social support, and vegetable purchase social support.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Influences on diet and physical activity among middle-class African American 8- to 10-year-old girls at risk of becoming obese.

OBJECTIVE: To understand diet, physical activity, and inactivity influences among preadolescent African American girls at risk of becoming obese. DESIGN: Interviews and group qualitative discussions (i.e., mixed qualitative research method) were conducted separately with 8- to 10-year-old African American girls and their parents. SETTING: Greater Houston, Texas. PARTICIPANTS: Eight- to 10-year-old African American girls above the 50th percentile body mass index with a home computer (n = 82) and a parent (n = 74). VARIABLES MEASURED: Influences on dietary practices and physical activity/inactivity among preadolescent African American girls. ANALYSIS: Discussions were audiotaped, manually recorded, transcribed, and coded. The primary coder analyzed the transcribed notes. The secondary coder reviewed and critiqued the initial coding. RESULTS: Parents and girls were concerned about overweight and viewed physical activity as a weight control practice. Mothers facilitated daughters' physical activity, while fathers and siblings were coparticipants. Girls had access to physical activity equipment and facilities. Snack food items and carbonated beverages were often limited by the parents, and water consumption was encouraged. Discrepancies were apparent between girls' and parents' responses. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Parental convenience and girls' food preferences influenced dietary intake. Obesity prevention programs should capitalize on parental motivation for their child's health and provide practical strategies to facilitate healthful eating and physical activity.

Black or African American↗
PubMedDate not supplied

School-based obesity prevention: a blueprint for taming the epidemic.

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on school-based obesity prevention programs to identify what can be done to minimize the increasing levels of obesity. METHODS: Twenty articles reporting school-based dietary or physical activity change programs were identified that used BMI or skinfolds as part of the evaluation. RESULTS: Seven studies obtained change in BMI and differed from those not finding change in 3 ways: program implementers were not classroom teachers; intervention targeted middle or high schools; and inactivity reduction was promoted. CONCLUSIONS: An 8-step research strategy was delineated to develop and evaluate programs with a maximum chance of taming the obesity epidemic.

Adolescent↗