Starting the Conversation- A Childhood Obesity Knowledge Project Using an App
Journal Title: Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research - Year 2014, Vol 4, Issue 7
Abstract
Purpose: Starting the Conversation was a pilot project to test an intervention for childhood obesity, a major public health epidemic, using a free smartphone application (app). The primary aim was to assess students’ knowledge of nutritional indicators, physical exercise and use of screen time before and after the intervention. Methods: The study was conducted in 2011-2012. The sample, recruited from seven high schools in Snohomish County, Washington, was 65.3% minority participants. Of the 118 participants in the sample (n=118), 79 handwrote their responses (n=78) and 36 responded via the app (n=39). We compared the frequency and types of physical exercise, frequency of screen time, and nutritional variables of high school students. Participants used the cell phone app or a handwritten log to record their daily entries for 20 days. Results: Both males (n=43) and females (n=75) grades 9-12 used the app or handwritten entries. Participants who used the app ate less fast food and exercised more, as compared with those who recorded their entries by hand. Screen time usage decreased over the course of the study, based on a comparison of the post-survey level and the pre-survey level. Knowledge of recommended daily consumption of vegetables increased post-test in the app group and knowledge of water consumption increased significantly in both groups. There was no significant difference in BMI pre and post-test. Conclusions: Patterns of nutritional intake, physical exercise and knowledge of these issues varied pre and post-test. It is critical to further examine factors associated with lack of physical activity and food intake patterns of youth using social media to further address the childhood obesity epidemic. Future research should focus on specific ethnic subgroups and an intervention at the school level aimed at the students with BMI ≥ 95th percentile.
Authors and Affiliations
Hoa B. Appel, Bu Huang, Allison Cole, Rosalina James, Amy L. Ai
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP348925
- DOI 10.9734/BJMMR/2014/5512
- Views 56
- Downloads 0
Freeman Sheldon Syndrome with Characteristic Whistling Face and Windmill Vane Hand Deformity
Freeman-Sheldon syndrome (FSS) is an extremely rare syndrome with only about 100 cases reported [1]. It was first described by Freeman and Sheldon in 1938 [2]. It is characterized by oropharyngeal abnormalities, contract...
A Modified Technique for Repair of Triceps Avulsion Using Suture Anchors-A Case Report
The bony avulsion of the Triceps is a rare injury. The Triceps tendon injury accounts for <1% of all tendon injuries. Various surgical techniques have been described for the repair. We describe our variation of suture an...
Ecotoxicological Impact of Sub-lethal Concentrations of Glyphosate–based Herbicide on Juvenile Clarias gariepinus
The presence of pesticides in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems has become an important issue globally. This study determined the possibility of bioaccumulation of glyphosate, the active compound of Roundup pestici...
Telomeres and Oxidative Stress
Telomeres are long repetitive DNA sequences of TTAGGG located at the end of the linear chromosomes and bound by shelterin proteins. Shelterin proteins function as the protection for the loop structure of telomere, which...
Urinary Tract Infection in Children
We selected the pediatric urinary tract infection related research and review articles in English language using keywords or phrases such as Infant; children; culture; Escherichia coli; fever, UTI. Aims: The purpose of t...