Life Sciences Commons^™

The Associations Between Meal Planning And A Healthy Diet For Incoming College Freshmen, Morgan Brower, Lacey Mccormack

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

Background: Meal planning has been shown to be positively associated with a more healthful diet among adults; however, there is not much information on how meal planning is associated with young adults, which is why it is important that more research is done on this topic. The goal of this project was to determine the associations between meal planning and a healthy diet for incoming college freshmen at eight universities that participated in the GetFRUVED study.

Results: 1,149 first-year college students passed the initial required criteria to participate in the study. The results from this data collection were analyzed to …

Provider Reported Implementation Of Nutrition-Related Practices In Childcare Centers And Family Childcare Homes In Rural And Urban Nebraska, Dipti Dev, Aileen Garcia, David A. Dzewaltowski, Susan Sisson, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Zainab Rida, Natalie A. Williams, Carly Hillburn, Danae Dinkel, Deepa Srivastava, Christina Burger, Emily Hulse, Donnia Behrends, Natasha Frost

Counseling and Human Development Faculty Publications

Approximately 15 million children under age 6 are in childcare settings, offering childcare providers an opportunity to influence children’s dietary intake. Childcare settings vary in organizational structure – childcare centers (CCCs) vs. family childcare homes (FCCHs) – and in geographical location – urban vs. rural. Research on the nutrition-related best practices across these childcare settings is scarce. The objective of this study is to compare nutrition-related best practices of CCCs and FCCHs that participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) in rural and urban Nebraska. Nebraska providers (urban n = 591; rural n = 579) reported implementation …

Epigenetic Modifications Due To Maternal Diet, Amanda Thaler

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Obesity is a growing exponentially to be a health issue globally. Worldwide the rate of obesity has nearly doubled since 1980, with approximately 200 million adult men and 300 million adult women now being considered obese. We are also seeing growing percentages of woman of reproductive age being considered obese (BMI>30). Maternal obesity is known to increase the likelihood of developing complications during the pregnancy such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. These conditions create the environment for the growing fetus that are more difficult than that of a healthy pregnancy. The Developmental programming hypotheses links the environment of development …

The Association Between The Comprehensiveness And Strength Of Written Physical Activity Wellness Policies And The Observed School Physical Activity Environment, Maggie Kringen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: To determine if there is a relationship between physical education/activity wellness policy comprehensiveness and strength and the observed physical activity (PA) environment.
Methods: The Wellness School Assessment Tool 2.0 (WellSAT 2.0) was used to evaluate the quality of written wellness policies. The School Physical Activity and Nutrition Environment Tool (SPAN-ET) was used to evaluate the school environment. Pairwise correlations and one-way ANOVAs were used to determine if written wellness policy quality affects the school PA environment. Data are presented as mean ± SD and significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.
Results: One significant relationship was found between WellSAT …

Is Vegan Confectionary Sold In The United Kingdom Safe For Milk Allergy Sufferers?, Faye Harrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background
Milk allergy is the most common childhood allergy. Reading food labels is important to prevent an allergic reaction. By United Kingdom (UK) law, milk needs to be listed on the food label if it used as an ingredient. Products can be called ‘free from’ milk if manufacturers have undergone rigorous process and testing to ensure it is not contaminated with milk. Precautionary Allergen Labelling (PAL) like ‘may contain milk’ statements are unregulated and can be used at manufacturer’s discretion. Similarly, ‘Vegan’ products are not regulated by law and appear to be on the increase. Objective
The study aimed to …

The Relationship Between Food Rules And Childhood Obesity In Rural And Non-Rural Families, Anna Venjohn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Childhood obesity is continuing to rise, leading to long-term health consequences. Research shows that rural populations have higher rates of childhood obesity. There is a lack of research on how the home environment may affect this health disparity. Parents often enforce food rules to control their child’s eating habits, but the difference between the rural and non-rural populations in enforcing these rules is unknown.
Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to determine if there is a significant difference in food rules between rural and non-rural school-aged children, and if these differences correlate to BMI categories.
Methods: Secondary …

Parenting Styles, Parenting Practices, And Dietary Intakes Of Preschoolers And Their Parents, Biyi Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emerging research efforts have focused on the role of parents in the development of dietary behaviors of their children. Parental influences play a particularly important role in determining the children’s weight and shaping children’s dietary behaviors, especially during early childhood. Parent-related determinants can be classified as two types—general parenting (parenting style) and specific parenting practices (e.g, food parenting practices). Examining the interactions between parental influences and preschoolers’ and their parental dietary behaviors and may reveal important insights into how parents influence children’s dietary behaviors. Therefore, the goal of this research is to examine the associations between parenting styles, food parenting …

Impact Of Coaching By Extension Professionals On Rural Wellness Coalition Success, Taylor Willhite

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To quantitatively assess coaches perceived confidence in coaching rural wellness coalitions and to qualitatively determine barriers and facilitators to success in coaching rural wellness coalitions.
Design: A mixed methods design was utilized with quantitative (scorecard) and qualitative (key informant interviews) methodologies.
Setting: Six rural South Dakota wellness coalitions.
Participants: Extension wellness coalition coaches (n=7), one previous and six current.
Intervention: A component of the broader SDSU Extension 1416 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) intervention.
Analysis: STATA was utilized for the quantitative scorecard data by running paired ttests. NVivo was utilized in the …

Effects Of A Campus Dining Tour Intervention On First Year Students Perception Of Healthfulness Of Environment, Paige Pappadackis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many young adults experience unwanted weight gain upon entering college. Making healthy choices in a food environment with a plethora of convenience and fast foods is important for preventing unwanted weight gain. The objective of this study was to determine if a Healthy Campus Dining Tour intervention improves perception, behavior, and priorities related to healthier choices on campus. Participants were recruited for this quasi-experimental study from freshman introductory classes at a land-grant public university and assigned to intervention or a control group. Intervention participants completed a 50-minute Healthy Campus Dining Tour that educated on how to make healthier choices at …

The Influence Of Diet On The Gut Microbiome, Kayla Wede

Health and Nutritional Sciences Graduate Students Plan B Capstone Projects

There is growing research that directly looks at the relationship between the human diet and the gut microbiome. This paper is a narrative review of the current literature on how the human diet can influence the gut microbiome. Without a healthy gut, bacterial imbalances can occur which have been linked to health complications. There are many factors that affect the gut microbiome such as diet, medications, and exercise. There is also limited research that looks at the macronutrients and their role in gut health. It is known that the type of food that people consume is a major influencer of …