Shelia L. Broyles

Correlates of physical activity at home in Mexican-American and Anglo-American preschool children.

Twenty-two potential correlates of childrens physical activity were examined. Two hundred and one Mexican-American and 146 Anglo-American families with 4-year-old children were studied. Childrens physical activity was directly observed in the evening at home on 4 visits for 1 hr each time. Anglo-American children and male children were found to be more active. Demographic variables explained 11% of the variance in childrens physical activity. After adjusting for demographics, 3 childrens variables and 6 social-family variables did not account for significantly more variance. Five environmental variables accounted for 11% additional variance. Variables observed concurrently with physical activity, such as time spent outdoors and prompts to be active, were highly associated with childrens physical activity.

Home environmental influences on children's television watching from early to middle childhood.

ABSTRACT. Identifying correlates of children’s television (TV) watching could help identify strategies to reduce children’s TV watching and impact children’s weight status. Children’s TV time and home environment factors were assessed longitudinally among 169 families with children followed from 6 to 12 years of age. TV watching increased with age, as did the number of in-home TVs and the presence of videocassette recorders (VCRs), the frequency of meal eating while watching TV, and the percentage of children with bedroom TVs. Greater meal eating while watching TV was consistently related to overall TV watching and increases in TV watching over time. The number of in-home TVs and the presence of a bedroom TV were less consistent correlates. TV watching was related to weight status when children were younger, and when children were older, more than 2 hours of TV daily was a risk factor for higher weight. Modifying TV access, particularly by reducing the frequency of meals eaten while watching TV, could promote lower children’s TV watching and adiposity.

Anglo- and Mexican-American preschoolers at home and at recess: activity patterns and environmental influences.

Habitual physical activity in children is related to physical fitness and appears to mediate cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. We studied the physical activity patterns and associated variables of a large bi-ethnic cohort of 4-year-old children from low to middle socioeconomic families. Trained observers coded the behavior of 351 children (150 Anglo-American, 201 Mexican-American; 182 boys, 169 girls) during two 60-minute home visits and two unstructured recesses lasting up to 30 minutes each at 63 different preschools, Findings indicated that although children were much less active at home, there were low but significant correlations between their activity patterns at home and during recess (r = .13). Children who had activity-promoting toys at home also tended to have them available during preschool recess (r = .20). Ethnic differences were evident for both activity and environmental variables. Mexican-American children were less active than Anglo children at home (p < .002) and during recess (p < .03), thus adding to the adult literature that has found Mexican-Americans to be less active than Anglos, and supporting to the notion that physical activity life-style habits may be established in early childhood. In both settings, Mexican-American children spent more time in presence of adults (home, p < .04; recess, p < .03) and had access to fewer active toys (home, p < .001; recess, p < .05). Gender differences were also evident for both activity and environmental variables. Boys were more active both at home (p < .01) and during recess (p < .01) and at home watched television more frequently (p < .005). These data indicated some subgroups of preschool children are more active than others, and the findings may be useful for pediatricians and educators responsible for developing physical activity promotion programs for young children. J Dev Behav Pediatr 13:173–180, 1992. Index terms: preschool children, physical activity, systematic observation.

Childhood movement skills: predictors of physical activity in Anglo American and Mexican American adolescents?

Abstract We assessed the relationship between young childrens movement skills and their physical activity in early adolescence. Balance, agility, eye-hand coordination, and skinfold thicknesses in 207 Mexican American and Anglo American children (104 boys, 103 girls) were measured at ages 4, 5, and 6 years. Habitual physical activity was assessed at the age of 12 years by two interviewer-administered 7-day recalls. Ethnic differences in movement skills were not found. Young girls were better at jumping and balancing, and young boys were better at catching. Tracking of skills was low, and childrens early childhood skills were not related to their physical activity 6 years later. Further studies involving additional movement skills and other populations are recommended to determine if enhanced movement skills in children promote subsequent physical activity.

Variability and tracking of physical activity over 2 yr in young children

The purpose of this study was to examine tracking of physical activity at home and recess in young children. Three hundred fifty-one Mexican-American and Anglo-American children entered the study (mean age = 4.4 yr), and 83% completed 2 yr of measurement. Physical activity was directly observed on 10 d over 2 yr. Measurement waves occurred every 6 months, and each wave consisted of 2 d of observation within 1 wk. Children were observed for 60 min at home on a weekday evening and up to 30 min during recess at preschool or school. Maximum likelihood procedures using a linear mixed-effects model indicated that most of the variance in home and recess physical activity was accounted for by short-term/weekly factors. Tracking of physical activity accounted for 15% of the total variance at home and 8% at recess. Pearson correlations for physical activity over time were higher at home than at recess. Tracking of home physical activity was r = 0.15 when single days were correlated and r = 0.36 when the means of 4 d were correlated. There was a small, but detectable, stable component of physical activity in young children, at least at home.

Acculturation, Parent–Child Acculturation Differential, and Chronic Disease Risk Factors in a Mexican-American Population

Acculturation is typically defined in terms of individual responses to a dominant culture. In the present study, we examined the effects of different levels of acculturation among family members. Specifically, we looked at the health and risk behavior in Mexican-American children as related to a variety of psychosocial predictors, especially the differences in orientation toward Mexican- and Anglo-American cultures between them and their parents. Mother and child pairs (n = 106) noted their orientation toward both Anglo and Mexican cultures. Children’s dietary and sedentary behaviors, tobacco and alcohol use (and susceptibility to use), and depressive symptoms were also measured. Males were more likely to be sedentary and consume higher levels of total fat and saturated fat, whereas girls reported higher levels of depression. Anglo-oriented youth consumed lower levels of calories from fat but also more alcohol than did their Mexican-oriented counterparts. The latter was particularly the case among those children who were relatively more Anglo oriented than were their parents. Parent–child acculturation differential in terms of the differences in Mexican orientation, in comparison, predicted susceptibility to tobacco use. However, the sum of the absolute values of these two differences predicted only lifetime alcohol use, and in a counter-intuitive direction. This familial measure of acculturation shows some promise, but additional formative research is needed to operationalize this construct.

Direct home observations of the prompting of physical Activity in sedentary and active mexican-and Anglo-American children

&NA; Social interactions are important correlates of physical activity in children. Previous studies used global measures; the present study examined the influence of specific social interactions on immediate physical activity in children with data obtained from the Behaviors of Eating and Activity for Child Health: Evaluation System (BEACHES). The study examined parental and peer prompting of physical activity at home among 178 Mexican‐American and 113 Anglo‐American children at age 4 years and again at age 6.5 years. Most activity prompts came from adults interacting with children when they were sedentary. A reduction in the frequency of prompts from baseline to follow‐up occurred in the prompter group (adult or child peer), gender, ethnicity, and preprompted activity level categories. Childrens responses to these prompts showed that as they aged, they seemed to rely less on the interpersonal (especially adult) aspects of their environment for cues to be more active.

Ethnic and Gender Trends for Cardiovascular Risk Behaviors in Anglo and Mexican American Children, Ages Four to Seven

Abstract Gender and ethnic trends were examined in 351 Mexican American and Anglo American children between the ages of four and seven. Four physiologic variables, seven observed and reported variables related to diet, and eight observed and reported variables related to physical activity were periodically assessed. Children were observed at home at meal times and at school (or a day care center) at lunch and recess. A linear regression model was used. Of the four physiologic variables, two variables (height and total skinfolds) showed significant ethnic differences, with Mexican American children showing greater skinfolds over time and the tendency to be shorter than Anglo American children. Of the variables related to diet, five of the seven variables showed gender or ethnic differences; percent of calories from fat and food preparation behaviors tended to place Mexican American children at greater risk. When examining physical activity, four of the eight variables showed gender and/or ethnic difference...

Vitamin and Mineral Intakes of Anglo-American and Mexican-American Preschoolers

OBJECTIVE To assess vitamin and mineral intakes of Anglo-American and Mexican-American preschoolers. DESIGN By use of interview and observation methods, acquire food intake data, calculate total nutrient intake, and compare selected nutrients to the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for ethnic and gender groups. SUBJECTS Low- to middle-income parents and their preschool children (N = 351) recruited from preschools in San Diego, Calif, consented to participate in the Study of Childrens Activity and Nutrition conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Data regarding 15 nutrients were summarized based on the average of two food intake records for each preschooler. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED Means and standard deviations were used to describe micronutrient intakes for ethnic and gender groups; analyses of variance and t tests were performed to determine ethnic and gender differences. RESULTS Boys and Anglo-Americans had higher total nutrient intakes than girls and Mexican-Americans, respectively. Mexican-Americans had higher nutrient intakes per energy intake, which indicates a micronutrient-dense diet. When each nutrient was considered by the two thirds of the RDA criterion (66% of the RDA means adequate intake), the nutrients most likely to be inadequate were iron, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin C, and niacin. Mexican-American girls had significantly lower calcium intakes than the other gender and ethnic groups. APPLICATION Parents and day care providers must ensure that preschoolers, especially girls and Mexican-Americans, eat nutrient-rich foods in adequate quantities that will achieve the recommended intakes.

Changes and tracking of physical activity across seven years in Mexican-American and European-American mothers.

ABSTRACT Longitudinal changes in physical activity among 129 Mexican-American (mean age 30.8; SD = 5.6) and 97 European-American (mean age 31.2; SD = 5.4) women were studied. Two physical activity recall interviews were administered at baseline and 7 years later. At baseline, European-American women reported more vigorous leisure activity (p <.005) than Mexican-Americans, and Mexican-Americans reported more moderate work activity (p <.02) than European-Americans. Virtually all components of physical activity increased significantly over the 7 years. Pearson tracking correlations for total energy expenditure were about r = 0.30. The finding that both groups increased physical activity over time was unexpected and was unrelated to a reduction in the number of preschool children in the homes over time.