Sarah J. Woodruff

Associations among blood pressure, salt consumption and body weight status of students from south-western Ontario

OBJECTIVE The purpose was to examine the associations among body weight status, blood pressure and daily Na intake among grade 7 students from south-western Ontario, Canada. DESIGN Cross-sectional. Data were collected using the Food Behaviour Questionnaire, including a 24 h diet recall. Measured height and weight were used to determine BMI. Blood pressure was taken manually using mercury sphygmomanometers. SETTING Twenty-six schools in south-western Ontario, Canada. SUBJECTS Grade 7 students (n 1068). RESULTS Body weight status indicated 1 % were underweight, 56 % normal weight, 23 % overweight and 20 % were obese. Mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were 108·3 (sd 10·3) mmHg and 66·0 (sd 7·5) mmHg, respectively, and mean Na intake was 2799 (sd 1539) mg/d. Bivariate analyses suggested that SBP (P < 0·001) and DBP (P < 0·001) were significantly different by body weight status, yet no associations were observed for Na. Adjusted for gender, ethnicity and under-reporting, participants were more likely to be overweight/obese if they had higher SBP (v. lower: OR = 1·06, 95 % CI 1·05, 1·08, P < 0·001), higher DBP (v. lower: OR = 1·02, 95 % CI 1·00, 1·04, P = 0·043) and higher intakes of Na (3rd v. 1st quartile: OR = 1·72, 95 % CI 1·14, 2·59, P = 0·009; 4th v. 1st quartile: OR = 2·88, 95 % CI, 1·76, 4·73, P < 0·001). CONCLUSIONS High intakes of Na, coupled with high SBP and DBP, were associated with overweight and obesity status among the grade 7 sample from south-western Ontario, Canada.

#fitspo on Instagram: A mixed-methods approach using Netlytic and photo analysis, uncovering the online discussion and author/image characteristics

The #fitspo ‘tag’ is a recent trend on Instagram, which is used on posts to motivate others towards a healthy lifestyle through exercise/eating habits. This study used a mixed-methods approach consisting of text and network analysis via the Netlytic program (N = 10,000 #fitspo posts), and content analysis of #fitspo images (N = 122) was used to examine author and image characteristics. Results suggest that #fitspo posts may motivate through appearance-mediated themes, as the largest content categories (based on the associated text) were ‘feeling good’ and ‘appearance’. Furthermore, #fitspo posts may create peer influence/support as personal (opposed to non-personal) accounts were associated with higher popularity of images (i.e. number of likes/followers). Finally, most images contained posed individuals with some degree of objectification.

Family Meals and Diet Quality

Nutrition behaviors of children have been known to track into adulthood [1, 2]; thus, it is important to develop healthy eating attitudes/behaviors at a young age. Health promotion professionals have looked for effective/easy/cost-effective strategies to support healthy eating in children and families. A social ecological perspective to health promotion recognizes that individuals can be influenced by their environment, including physical environments (e.g., home), and interpersonal relationships such as those within the family. Encouraging family dinners/meals has recently become a strong public health strategy to promote healthy eating (e.g., British Columbia Dairy Foundation’s Better Together, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution) and reduce potential unhealthy body weights (e.g., Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care report Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives, 2004, the American Medical Association Expert Committee Recommendations for Childhood Obesity). Interestingly, many countries (e.g., Malaysia, Thailand, Japan) promote family meals in their national food guide recommendations. For example, the Malaysian Nutrition Guide for Early Childhood Care suggests “making mealtimes an enjoyable experience,” and in Japan, “happy eating makes for happy family life; sit down and eat together and talk; treasure family taste and home cooking” is suggested. In North America, most health promotion recommendations include family dinner as a means to increase healthy eating behaviors; however, there is no reason to believe that the benefits of eating the evening meal together would differ from eating other meals (e.g., breakfast, lunch) and/or snacks together. This chapter will examine the associations between family meals and diet quality, including mediating factors and the potential impact on body weight status.

The associations of meals and snacks on family meals among a sample of grade 7 students from Southwestern Ontario.

BACKGROUND Research has shown the positive associations of family meals and diet quality. However, little is known about how other meals/snacks may be associated with family meals. OBJECTIVE The purpose was to determine the associations among the frequency and calorie consumption of meals/snacks and family dinners. DESIGN Cross-sectional. Data were collected using Web-based Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (WEB-Q), including a 24-h diet recall for breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and evening snack. Measured height and weight were used to determine body weight status (BMI). PARTICIPANTS/SETTING Participants included 1068 grade 7 students (52% males) from 26 schools in Windsor Essex County, Ontario, Canada. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Meal, snack, and total daily caloric intake; meal and snack frequency; with whom dinner was consumed, and weekly family dinner frequency. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED Exploratory one-way ANOVAs and chi-square tests; nominal and ordinal logistic regression. RESULTS Ninety-three percent of participants consumed dinner with family members on the night prior to the survey and 77% reported usually consuming dinner/supper with at least one parent on six to seven nights/week. Those who had dinner with family members consumed 4.88 (SD 1.1) meals/snacks per day compared with 4.40 (SD 1.3) and 4.40 (SD 1.3) times/day for consuming dinner alone or with friends, respectively (p=0.006). On the day prior to the survey, participants were less likely to consume a family meal if they consumed a lower number of meals and snacks per day (OR=0.69 (95% CI: 0.55, 0.87), p<0.001). Similarly, participants were less likely to consume regular family meals if they consumed a lower number of meals and snacks per day (OR=0.84 (95% CI: 0.74, 0.96), p=0.009). CONCLUSIONS While specific meals and snacks were not associated with family dinner, overall eating frequency was positively associated with family meals.

#LancerHealth: Using Twitter and Instagram as a tool in a campus wide health promotion initiative

The present study aimed to explore using popular technology that people already have/use as a health promotion tool, in a campus wide social media health promotion initiative, entitled #LancerHealth. During a two-week period the university community was asked to share photos on Twitter and Instagram of What does being healthy on campus look like to you?, while tagging the image with #LancerHealth. All publically tagged media was collected using the Netlytic software and analysed. Text analysis (N=234 records, Twitter; N=141 records, Instagram) revealed that the majority of the conversation was positive and focused on health and the university. Social network analysis, based on five network properties, showed a small network with little interaction. Lastly, photo coding analysis (N=71 unique image) indicated that the majority of the shared images were of physical activity (52%) and on campus (80%). Further research into this area is warranted. Significance for public health As digital media continues to become a popular tool among both public health organizations and those in academia, it is important to understand how, why, and which platforms individuals are using in regards to their health. This campus wide, social media health promotion initiative found that people will use popular social networking sites like Twitter and Instagram to share their healthy behaviours. Online social networks, created through social networking sites, can play a role in social diffusion of public health information and health behaviours. In this study, however, social network analysis revealed that there needs to be influential and highly connected individuals sharing information to generate social diffusion. This study can help guide future public health research in the area of social media and its potential influence on health promotion.

The relationship between sedentary behaviour and physical literacy in Canadian children: a cross-sectional analysis from the RBC-CAPL Learn to Play study

BackgroundPhysical literacy is the foundation of a physically active lifestyle. Sedentary behaviour displays deleterious associations with important health indicators in children. However, the association between sedentary behaviour and physical literacy is unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify the aspects of physical literacy that are associated with key modes of sedentary behaviour among Canadian children participating in the RBC-CAPL Learn to Play study.MethodsA total of 8,307 children aged 8.0-12.9 years were included in the present analysis. Physical literacy was assessed using the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy, which measures four domains (Physical Competence, Daily Behaviour, Motivation and Confidence, Knowledge and Understanding). Screen-based sedentary behaviours (TV viewing, computer and video game use), non-screen sedentary behaviours (reading, doing homework, sitting and talking to friends, drawing, etc.) and total sedentary behaviour were assessed via self-report questionnaire. Linear regression models were used to determine significant (p<0.05) correlates of each mode of sedentary behaviour.ResultsIn comparison to girls, boys reported more screen time (2.7±2.0 vs 2.2±1.8 hours/day, Cohen’s d=0.29), and total sedentary behaviour (4.3±2.6 vs 3.9±2.4 hours/day, Cohen’s d=0.19), but lower non-screen-based sedentary behaviour (1.6±1.3 vs 1.7±1.3 hours/day, Cohen’s d=0.08) (all p< 0.05). Physical Competence (standardized β’s: -0.100 to -0.036, all p<0.05) and Motivation and Confidence (standardized β’s: -0.274 to -0.083, all p<0.05) were negatively associated with all modes of sedentary behaviour in fully adjusted models. Knowledge and Understanding was negatively associated with screen-based modes of sedentary behaviour (standardized β’s: -0.039 to -0.032, all p<0.05), and positively associated with non-screen sedentary behaviour (standardized β: 0.098, p<0.05). Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run score and log-transformed plank score were negatively associated with all screen-based modes of sedentary behaviour, while the Canadian Agility and Movement Skill Assessment score was negatively associated with all modes of sedentary behaviour other than TV viewing (all p<0.05).ConclusionsThese results highlight differences in the ways that screen and non-screen sedentary behaviours relate to physical literacy. Public health interventions should continue to target screen-based sedentary behaviours, given their potentially harmful associations with important aspects of physical literacy.

The Impact of Family Meals on Diet and Food Behaviors

The family can directly determine the physical and social environment for their children and adolescents which can ultimately influence food behaviors. The family meal, in particular, may provide insight into family food behaviors and potentially influence childhood and adolescent diet quality. Family meals can be used as a learning environment (e.g., food preparation, nutrition knowledge, table manners), and may influence family traditions, connectedness, and cohesion. Family meals are difficult to define (e.g., who must be present, location, environment), yet regular family meals (5 or more/week) have been reported by 25–70% of children and adolescents and 11–44% report family meals on 2 or fewer days per week. Family meals tend to decline with increasing age. Higher diet quality (e.g., higher intakes of vegetables/fruit, grains, dairy, protein, minerals, and vitamins) and food behaviors (e.g., consuming breakfast, limiting soft drink and/or sugar sweetened beverages, and having high self-efficacy for healthy eating), body weight status (eating disorders/obesity), psychological adjustment, high risk behaviors, and academic performance have been associated with higher family meal frequency. The main reason for not consuming meals together as a family is scheduling/time difficulties. Recently, health promotion agencies have adopted promoting family meals as a top strategy for child and adolescent health.