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Health Behaviors And Fundamental Cause Theory Factors Influence The Future Need For Long-Term Care, Tabitha Ingle

Sociology Theses

Can long-term care needs be predicted? Previous studies examined the relationship between lower levels of SES and the diminishing effect on a person’s health and functional status. Additionally, other studies examined functional status and the relationship to a person’s well-being, health, and health behaviors influence on one’s life course. Few studies have attempted to predict the amount of long-term care an individual may need based on health behaviors and socioeconomic status factors and their relationship to the number of chronic illnesses diagnosed to a person. This study attempts to assess this relationship, utilizing logistic regression, with a representative sample of …

Do School Environmental Indicators Impact Student Body Mass Index And Blood Pressure?, Daniella Carucci

Open Access Theses

One third of youth aged 2-19 are overweight or obese, 3.6% of children between the ages of 3 and 18 are found to have stage 1 hypertension, and 3.4% are found to have elevated blood pressure. As children and adolescents spend a majority of their time in school, it is especially important to examine the influence of school contextual factors on body size and blood pressure status. The goal of the present study was to identify how environmental factors, such as school SES, school academic achievement, and school perceived safety influence health status in a sample of ethnically diverse students …

The Impact Of Perceived And Observed Food Environments On Fruit And Vegetable Consumption And Obesity: A Theory-Based Study Among U.S. Older Adults, Qianzhi Jiang

Doctoral Dissertations

The overall diet quality of U.S. older adults is less than optimal, featured by inadequate fruits and vegetables (FV), whole grains and dairy, and excessive sodium and fat. The current food environment can be challenging for older adults to improve their FV consumption. Both perceived and observed food environments are linked to FV consumption and health outcomes such as Body Mass Index (BMI) with mixed results. My research was guided by a social-ecological framework and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to identify environmental supports for FV consumption in older adults. Adults aged 60 and older in Massachusetts, Iowa, and …

Impact Of Bodyweight On Tissue-Specific Folate Status, Genome Wide And Gene-Specific Dna Methylation In Normal Breast Tissues From Premenopausal Women, Armina-Lyn Frederick

Masters Theses

Obesity has reached an epidemic level in the United States. A number of epidemiological studies have established obesity as a critical risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer (post-BC), whereas a reverse association holds prior to menopause. A significant scientific gap exists in understanding the mechanism(s) underpinning this epidemiological phenomenon, particularly the reverse association between obesity and premenopausal breast cancer (pre-BC). This study aimed to understand how folate metabolism and DNA methylation informs the association between obesity and pre-BC. Fifty normal breast tissue samples were collected from premenopausal women who underwent reduction mammoplasty. We developed and measured the breast tissue folate …

Identifying Ideal Body Composition Of Female Powerlifters, Elizabeth A. Flinner

Theses and Dissertations

Powerlifting is the sport of maximal effort of back squat, bench press and deadlift. The purpose of this study was to identify the ideal body composition of female powerlifters. Body composition measurements were taken on the day of competition on women who competed in a raw powerlifting meet in United States Powerlifting Federation using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Participants’ powerlifting experience ranged from novice to world-class lifters. One hundred ninetyive women completed the study and ages ranged from 18 to 75 years old. Mean body fat percentage (BF%) of all powerlifters was 31.21% and body mass index was 26.68. Results showed …

Human-Animal Interaction, Social Networks, And Health Status, Leslie Perez

Theses and Dissertations

Using online survey data and applying a series of multiple linear regression analyses, this thesis unraveled a set of intriguing and unexpected results on the impacts of human-animal interaction (HAI) on human mental and physical health status, while leaving some aspects to be further explored and explained by way of future studies. The results of this study also provided insights on how human-human interaction (HHI) in the form of social networks impact college students in a U.S. southern border city. Results of this study indicated that while HAI positively impacted mental health (i.e., lowered depression score), it also was a …

Food Insecurity, Depression, Disordered Eating Styles, And Body Mass Index Among University Students, Cristal Medina

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Food insecurity is higher among college students than in the general population. Food insecurity can lead to a variety of health outcomes. The present cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between food insecurity and body mass index (BMI), depression, and disordered eating among university students. The study was carried out at eight public universities in the Midwest.

Students at participating universities in the Midwest were recruited electronically. They were asked to complete an online survey which consisted of the U.S. Adult Food Security Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire. Participants were also asked …

Do Early Childhood Body Mass Index Trajectories Affect School Readiness, Socioemotional Development, Or Cognition? Findings From The Candle Study., Lauren Michelle Sims Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sims Taylor, Lauren M., PhD. The University of Memphis. December 2018. Early childhood weight status and its effects on socioemotional development, school readiness, and cognition.Major Professor: Vikki Nolan, DSc, MPHChildhood obesity is associated with negative health and social outcomes in school-age children. These effects range from absenteeism and poor self-esteem to worse test scores, and fewer completed grades. Although previous studies have found these associations in school-age children and adolescents, less is known about this association in young children, who are just beginning school. Additionally, many studies of the outcomes of obesity are limited by cross-sectional study designs. These projects …

Using Rapid Cycle Improvement To Improve Weight Management In Family Medicine, Kelly Mccormick

DNP Projects

PURPOSE: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to improve rates of nutrition screening and weight management in a Family and Community Medicine Clinic.

METHODS: This study was among several quality improvement projects being conducted at a Family and Community Medicine Clinic aimed at improving patient outcomes and quality measures for reimbursement beginning in 2019. Rapid cycle quality improvement was used to identify problems, implement changes, and evaluate workflow at the clinic in order to improve rates of compliance in BMI screening and documentation of weight management plans. Three PDSA cycles were completed. Activities included observation, staff education, visual …

Análisis De La Malnutrición En El Departamento De Putumayo En Los Niños Y Niñas Menores De 5 Años, Una Evaluación A Las Políticas Públicas, Carlos Andrés Guacaneme Castiblanco, Nancy Rocío Correa Becerra

Economía

El siguiente trabajo explica los principales hallazgos de la malnutrición en el departamento del Putumayo para los niños de 0 a 4 años, el cual abarca la grave problemática de la desnutrición ya que este departamento se caracteriza principalmente en tener zonas selváticas y muy pocas zonas urbanas, se realizará un análisis del IMC para cada edad y cada género, debido a que los niños y las niñas presentan patrones de crecimiento diferentes, en conjunto con un análisis estadístico de la condición nutricional y falta de nutrientes adecuados para el desarrollo integral de cada niño, adicionalmente se realiza un análisis …

The Transgenerational Effect Of Maternal Grandmothers Body Mass Index And Socioeconomic Status On Offspring Birth Weight: The Mediation Effect Of Maternal Birth Weight, Early Adulthood Bmi, And Dna Methylation, Yan Shen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior research demonstrated intergenerational effects of maternal risk factors on offspring birth weight. However, only a limited number of studies investigated whether grand-maternal risk factors, i.e. body mass index (BMI) and socioeconomic status (SES), affected grandchilds birth weight (GBW). Besides, it is unknown whether such associations are direct or mediated by maternal risk factors. Grand-maternal smoking during pregnancy was additionally included due to many studies addressing the adverse effect of maternal smoking on birth weight. I used three-generation data from Isle of Wight birth cohort in UK and performed structural equation models (SEM) to assess the associations between grand-maternal risk …

The Effects Of Body Size, Growth, And History Of Diabetes On Glioma Risk, Rebecca Barnhill Little

All ETDs from UAB

Many dietary exposures have weak or null associations with glioma risk. As nutrition can affect growth rate in adolescence, body size throughout the lifespan, and the propensity for Type 2 diabetes, the goal of this project was to examine the relationships between these surrogates of nutritional states and the risk of glioma. The aims of this project were to examine the associations between glioma risk and 1) self-reported body measures; 2) age when full height was attained; 3) and a history of diabetes. To investigate the first aim, 1,111 glioma cases and 1,096 community controls completed a structured interview to …

The Link Between Overweight, Obesity, And Perceived Exercise Benefits And Barriers Among College Students, Alexandra Szarabajko

Online Theses and Dissertations

The transition to college is a critical period in a young adult's life. Education about obesity and physical activity has significant effects on lifetime wellness before graduating and reaching adulthood. The purpose of this study was to examine exercise benefits and barriers of overweight, obese, and normal weight college students. Participants (n = 595) were college students who completed a questionnaire and whose body composition was measured. Results of this study revealed significant differences in perceived exercise benefits and barriers based on weight group. Slight group differences were mainly found between normal weight and obese students. Implications for future studies …

The Empirical Relationship Of Income And Body Mass Index In El Paso, Tx, Jessica Rubyn Mares

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

To understand the determinants of obesity in El Paso, TX, this study examines the relationship between income and the body mass index for adult men and women using County-level data from the Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Specifically, two periods are considered, 2002-2010 (BEFORE) and 2011-2015 (AFTER). Key results show that during the BEFORE period women are highly susceptible to unhealthy weight levels at lower incomes. Obesity prevalence is high among men and women as Age rises. During the AFTER period, Age and Race/Ethnicity are related to BMI in men only. Unexpectedly, no associations are found in women.

Physical Education, Physical Activity & Academic Achievement: A Longitudinal Study For 1st And 8th Grade Students, Jessica Marita

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Purpose: To examine the physical education requirement, factors that affect physical activity levels for grade-school children, and how physical activity can affect academic achievement. The purpose of the present investigation is to demonstrate a relationship between physical education, physical activity, and academic achievement in K-8th graders.

Hypothesis: Increased physical education in grade-school will be associated with higher academic achievement, higher levels of physical education will be associated with greater amounts of physical activity outside of the classroom.

Methods: Participants were children selected from secondary, publically available, de-identified data from the nationwide Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten 2011 (ECLS-K: 2011). . …