Jessica Meendering

The relationship between shear rate and flow-mediated dilation is altered by acute exercise

Endothelial function is a predictor of cardiovascular health and is improved with exercise training. However, it is not clear how exercise acutely affects endothelial function. Previous studies present conflicting results, resulting from varied exercise protocols and ambiguity in data analysis after exercise. The aims of this study were to compare brachial artery endothelial function at rest and post‐exercise in and to compare the data expressed as a percent change and normalized to shear rate (SR).

Healthy Weight in Young Perinatal Women: Exploring Beliefs

The purpose of this brief is to explore beliefs about health and body weight in young perinatal women. Thirty-two women were interviewed. Findings point to the importance of young women receiving education related to physical activity, nutrition, and the link between these components and a healthy weight during reproductive years.

Interleukin-6 and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Do Not Vary during the Menstrual Cycle

The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference in interleukin-6 (IL-6) and delayed onset muscles soreness (DOMS) exists in two different phases of the menstrual cycle. Nine runners performed one 75-min high-intensity interval running session during the early follicular (EF) phase and once during the midluteal (ML) phase of the menstrual cycle. Estrogen and progesterone levels were significantly reduced in the EF phase when compared to the ML phase. IL-6 levels increased from pre- to postexercise in the EF and ML phases (p < .001). There was no relationship between the IL-6 level and DOMS. The results suggest that menstruating female runners need not vary training throughout the month to reduce DOMS.

Assessment of Physical Activity in 9- to 10-Year-Old Children Participating in a Family-Centered Intervention

Physical activity (PA) was assessed via accelerometers in 48 children who participated in a pilot obesity prevention intervention. Differences between pre- and postmean minutes of sedentary time and PA including light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA), and moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) were compared by paired t test (P ≤ 0.05). No significant differences were found (respective mean minutes ± standard deviation; P value): sedentary time (522 ± 46, 525 ± 49; P = 0.69), LPA (263 ± 32, 254 ± 37; P = 0.17), MPA (37 ± 12, 38 ± 12; P = 0.41), VPA (18 ± 11, 23 ± 14; P = 0.17), and MVPA (55 ± 19, 61 ± 23; P = 0.15). These findings prompted PA curriculum revisions, although PA did not significantly increase, 37% at preintervention and 47% at postintervention met PA guidelines.

Photovoice: Engaging School Communities in Wellness Efforts

Children spend the majority of weekday waking hours at school. Schools provide students with food and opportunities for physical activity, and serve as a key environment to facilitate healthy behaviors.1,2 In 2004, the US Federal Government passed the Child Nutrition and Women, Infants and Children (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) Reauthorization Act, mandating all schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to develop and implement a school wellness policy by the 2006–2007 school year.3 The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act4 and the Final Rule of 20165 added requirements to support school wellness efforts. During the 2010–2011 school year, 55% of students were enrolled in a school district whose wellness policy did not meet all federal requirements.6 Two barriers to writing and implementing effective wellness policies noted by school board members, school wellness advocates, and state public health nutrition directors were the need to educate and gain support from non-staff stakeholders and the lack of adequate tools to assist schools in their wellness efforts.2 PhotoVoice was a participatory research methodology that used photography to document and showcase strengths and weaknesses to advocate for change.7,8 PhotoVoice was used to advocate for neighborhood safety, rural childhood obesity prevention, and smoking policies.8-11 This GEM focuses on the PhotoVoice: School Wellness curriculum,12 which was developed to raise awareness of and engagement in school wellness efforts.

Bigger ≠ Better: The Comprehensiveness and Strength of School Wellness Policies Varies by School District Size.

BACKGROUND District size has been shown to impact the anticipated barriers to wellness policy creation and implementation. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine if strength and comprehensiveness of wellness policies differs among school districts of varying size. METHODS Wellness policies were collected from 10 large, 29 medium, and 31 small school districts in a rural Midwest state. District size was categorized by the average daily membership in grades 9-11. Polices were coded using the Wellness School Assessment Tool (WellSAT). Strength and comprehensiveness of the full policy and policy sections were compared among small, medium, and large districts using 1-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Data are presented as mean ± SD. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ .05. RESULTS There was a difference in the total combined (p = .041), total comprehensiveness (p = .043), and total strength scores (p = .031) based on school district size, such that small districts had stronger, more comprehensive wellness policies than large districts. Section comparisons revealed the section focused on Standards for United States Department of Agriculture School Meals was primarily responsible for these differences. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest smaller districts write policies that are more comprehensive to governmental standards and use more definitive language than larger districts.

Associations Between Sedentary Time, Physical Activity, and Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry Measures of Total Body, Android, and Gynoid Fat Mass in Children

Negative health outcomes are associated with excess body fat, low levels of physical activity (PA), and high sedentary time (ST). Relationships between PA, ST, and body fat distribution, including android and gynoid fat, assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) have not been measured in children. The purpose of this study was to test associations between levels of activity and body composition in children and to evaluate if levels of activity predict body composition by DXA and by body mass index percentile in a similar manner. PA, ST, and body composition from 87 children (8.8-11.8 yr, grades 3-5, 44 boys) were used to test the association among study variables. Accelerometers measured PA and ST. Body composition measured by DXA included bone mineral content (BMC) and fat and lean mass of the total body (TB, less head), android, and gynoid regions. ST (range: 409-685 min/wk) was positively associated with TB percent fat (0.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.00-0.05) and android fat mass (1.5 g, 95% CI: 0.4-3.0), and inversely associated with the lean mass of the TB (-10.7 g, 95% CI: -20.8 to -0.63) and gynoid regions (-2.2 g, 95% CI: -4.3 to -0.2), and with BMC (-0.43 g, 95% CI: 0.77-0.09). Moderate-to-vigorous PA was associated with lower TB (-53 g, 95% CI: -87 to -18), android (-5 g, 95% CI: -8 to -2]), and gynoid fat (-6 g, 95% CI: -11 to -0.5). Vigorous activity results were similar. Light PA was associated with increased TB (17.1 g, 95% CI: 3.0-31.3) and gynoid lean mass (3.9 g, 95% CI: 1.0-6.8) and BMC (0.59 g, 95% CI: 0.10-1.07). In boys, there were significant associations between activity and DXA percent body fat measures that were not found with the body mass index percentile. Objective measures of PA were inversely associated with TB, android, and gynoid fat, whereas ST was directly associated with TB percent fat and, in particular, android fat. Activity levels predict body composition measures by DXA and, in particular, android fat distribution.

Use of a Model Wellness Policy May Not Increase the Strength and Comprehensiveness of Written School Wellness Policies.

BACKGROUND Many state agencies have developed model wellness policies (MWPs) to serve as examples for schools when writing their own school wellness policy (SWP). The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a MWP aids schools in writing stronger, more comprehensive SWPs. METHODS For this cross-sectional study, 91 school districts submitted their current SWP and completed a survey that classified districts into either districts that utilized the state MWP (N = 56; 61.5%) or those that did not (NMWP, N =35; 38.5%). The Wellness School Assessment Tool (WellSAT) was used to assess the strength, comprehensiveness, total overall score, and subsection scores of each policy. Dependent variables were compared between groups using t tests. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ .05. Data are presented as mean ±SD. RESULTS No significant differences were found between groups in total overall (MWP 76.8 ± 37.9; NMWP 62.1 ± 34.3), strength (MWP 25.3 ± 17.6; NMWP 19.1 ± 12.8), or comprehensiveness scores (MWP 51.5 ± 21.2; NMWP 43.0 ± 22.1). The only subsection score difference identified between groups was the Nutrition Standards comprehension score (p = .02). CONCLUSIONS These data suggest MWPs may not improve the quality of written SWPs. Further research is needed to better understand the needs of school districts in SWP development.

Quality of Life Associated with Physical Activity but not Sedentary Time in Youth

Purpose: It has been reported that youth who engaged in more screen time had lower quality of life scores compared to those that were more physically active. Furthermore, increased sedentary behavior increases health risks particularly the risk for obesity. A cross-sectional analysis was completed to examine the relationship between healthrelated quality-of-life (HRQOL) and accelerometer-measured sedentary time (ST) and physical activity (PA) in 9-10-yearold youth who were recruited for the family-based, childhood obesity intervention, iCook 4-H. It was hypothesized that objectively measured ST would be negatively correlated and PA would be positively correlated with HRQOL. Methods: A subset of participants (n=118) wore Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers for 7 days and completed the Pediatric Quality of Life survey (PedsQLTM, version 4.0) to assess HRQOL. Mean daily minutes of accelerometermeasured ST (547 ± 60) and PA including light-intensity (LPA=240 ± 49), moderate-intensity (MPA=35 ± 11), vigorous-intensity (VPA=17 ± 9), and moderate-to vigorousintensity (MVPA=52 ± 19) were evaluated during waking hours. Multiple linear regressions were used to assess relationship between ST and PA intensities with HRQOL. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: There were no significant associations between ST or LPA with HRQOL. MPA, VPA and MVPA were positively associated with multiple HRQOL domains. Conclusion: The lack of relationship between objectively measured ST and LPA with the total HRQOL score and subscales merits further investigation. The findings of the current study support the need for lifestyle interventions that engage families in behavior that increases MVPA.

Innovation and Collaboration: Creating a Transdisciplinary Childhood Obesity Prevention Graduate Certificate Program

Preparing future professionals to work in transdisciplinary settings with a skill set to effectively foster collaborations and sustainable change requires a thoughtful and concerted interprofessional education approach. Through an interuniversity partnership in 2010 with South Dakota State University (SDSU), Brookings, SD, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), Lincoln, NE, a group of faculty convened to propose the Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention (TOP) graduate certificate program. With funding supported by a United States (US) Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant in 2011, a team of faculty from SDSU and UNL representing various disciplines (exercise science, nutrition, dietetics, health promotion, public health, nursing, early childhood education, family and consumer sciences, biology, biostatistics, and counseling) began developing the TOP graduate certificate program which is currently in its 5th year. The primary goal of this report is to outline the overall framework and components of the TOP graduate certificate program, providing information, strategies, and considerations other institutions can apply in developing effective and sustainable transdisciplinary, interprofessional education to their existing graduate programs. Received: 11/28/2016 Accepted: 01/11/2017