Education Commons^™

Postural Control Strategies Differ In Normal Weight And Overweight Infants, Danae Dinkel, Kailey Snyder, Victoria Molfese, Anastasia Kyvelidou

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Background

Evidence suggests obesity can have a negative influence on a child’s motor development and postural control behavior. Little research has examined the impact of infant weight on gross motor behavior, particularly postural control at the onset of sitting.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to determine whether normal weight and overweight infants differed in their postural control strategies at the onset of sitting and one-month post onset of sitting.

Methods

29 infants (n = 19 normal weight, n = 10 overweight) were recruited to participate in this study. Infant’s length and weight were measured at 3 months of …

Gross Motor In The Preschool Classroom, Sherryll Reed

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review discusses the history of Early Childhood and how far it has come since it started. It will discuss the increase of obesity in young children and the importance of teaching children young the value of healthy living. This literature review will describe ways to use gross motor in the classroom to help with improving physical movement in the classroom. The literature review will give ideas on ways to encourage gross motor in the classroom as well as outdoors. It provides research that explains why it is important to include physical breaks in the classroom activities throughout the …

Association Between School Performance And Body Mass Index, Megan Rajagopal, Alissa Briggs, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between grade point average and other factors, including: body mass index, exercise habits, and weight perception. Data from School-Based Health Promotion Centers (SBHC) were used for this study. Students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades were screened at the SBHC for a variety of behaviors and lifestyle characteristics using the Perkins Adolescent Risk Screen (PARS). Data from a total 579 students (281 males and 298 females; 278 sixth graders, 151 seventh graders, and 150 eight graders) were obtained. Of these students, 145 were underweight, with a BMI less than 18.5; …

The Effects Of A 16-Week Introductory Nutrition Course On Dietary Habits And Body Composition Of College Students, Emily Ashton

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

As the rates of obesity continue to increase among adolescents and young adults, adopting healthy dietary and lifestyle habits is necessary in order to prevent obesity-related chronic disease later in life. Although several studies have addressed nutrition education and its effect on weight in college students, few studies have assessed percent fat as it relates to a semester-long nutrition course. As such, the effectiveness of a formal introductory nutrition course on lifestyle habits and percent fat of college students was examined. The current study aimed to address the relationship between percent body fat and nutrition education over the course of …

Wnt5a-Jnk Regulation Of Vascular Insulin Resistance In Human Obesity, Melissa G. Farb, Shakun Karki, Song-Young Park, Samantha M. Saggese, Brian Carmine, Donald T. Hess, Caroline Apovian, Jessica L. Fetterman, Rosa Breton-Romero, Naomi M. Hamburg, Jose J. Fuster, Maria A. Zuriaga, Kenneth Walsh, Noyan Gokce

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Obesity is associated with the development of vascular insulin resistance; however, pathophysiological mechanisms are poorly understood. We sought to investigate the role of WNT5A-JNK in the regulation of insulin-mediated vasodilator responses in human adipose tissue arterioles prone to endothelial dysfunction. In 43 severely obese (BMI 44±11 kg/m2) and five metabolically normal non-obese (BMI 26±2 kg/m2) subjects, we isolated arterioles from subcutaneous and visceral fat during planned surgeries. Using videomicroscopy, we examined insulin-mediated, endothelium-dependent vasodilator responses and characterized adipose tissue gene and protein expression using real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analyses. Immunofluorescence was used to quantify endothelial nitric oxide …

Have You Counted The Ingredients On Your Child's Lunch Tray?: An Economic Analysis Of Sustainability Initiatives Within The School Lunch Program, Vanessa R. Scalora

Business and Economics Summer Fellows

In 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, establishing a monetary incentive for schools that served meals following a more rigorous nutritional requirement than standard guidelines. This act is a step in the right direction towards placing more importance on school lunches, however America’s lunchroom practices continue to be environmentally unsustainable, and students absorb this message. The production and transportation of processed cafeteria food contributes to climate change, its packaging is polluting, and its consumption contributes to obesity. The use of premade foods and sales from vending machines increase as lunch times grow ever shorter. In addition, …

The Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model: An Examination Of Obesity Prevention Behavioral Change In Children Who Participated In The Afterschool Program Virginia Beach Let’S Move, Marilyn Miroshlava Bartholmae

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model (IMB) as a foundation to design childhood obesity prevention afterschool programs. This study employed a secondary analysis of pre (n=172), post (n=170), and 1-year follow-up (n=32) evaluations of the obesity prevention afterschool program Virginia Beach Let’s Move for children ages 5-11 years. Independent variables included demographic characteristics for the participating children and their parents. Dependent variables used in this study were the IMB constructs information and motivation. Motivation was measured by the attitudes of the children and information was measured by the children’s knowledge.

The …

Is There A Relationship Between Physical Fitness And Student Academic Achievement?, William Rushton Parker

Dissertations

The study utilized a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between students’ levels of fitness to students’ academic achievement as well as addressing the attitudes of elementary administrators, fifth grade regular education teachers, and elementary physical education teachers towards physical fitness and academic achievement. Instruments used in the study were the Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2^nd Edition (MCT2) and the FITNESSGRAM. The data from the FITNESSGRAM and MCT2 were archival, coming from the 2013-2014 academic school year. The MCT2 provided scores from the areas of language arts, mathematics, and science, and the FITNESSGRAM provided the fitness scores of those students. …

Project Energize: Intervention Development And 10 Years Of Progress In Preventing Childhood Obesity Public Health, Elaine Rush, Carolyn Cairncross, Margaret Hinepo Williams, Marilyn Tseng, Tara Coppinger, Steph Mclennan, Kasha Latimer

Publications

Prevention of childhood obesity is a global priority. The school setting offers access to large numbers of children and the ability to provide supportive environments for quality physical activity and nutrition. This article describes Project Energize, a through-school physical activity and nutrition programme that celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2015 so that it might serve as a model for similar practices, initiatives and policies elsewhere. The programme was envisaged and financed by the Waikato District Health Board of New Zealand in 2004 and delivered by Sport Waikato to 124 primary schools as a randomised controlled trial from 2005 to 2006. …

Family Gym: A Novel Initiative To Prevent Obesity Among Families With Young Children, Ronald Iannotti, Patrick Filanowski, Emily Mccular

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Family Gym is a program that occurs every Saturday at one of three community centers. In this program, parents bring their child(ren) in for up to 90 minutes to play in areas equipped with engaging, age-appropriate activities. Each area is staffed by student activity leaders trained to make the experience safe and fun. Parents are encouraged to play with their child(ren). The research aspect of Family Gym is observing the families and how they interact as well as their activity level. As a research team, we want to learn how parents participating in physical activity with their child(ren) affects both …

An Assessment Of A 13-Week Teaching Gardens Intervention On Healthy Behavior Outcomes In 4th And 5th Grade Students At Crestwood Elementary School In Las Vegas, Nevada, Miranda Corgiat

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nearly 13 million children and adolescents are considered to be obese in the United States, with children enrolled in Clark County School District showing elevated overweight and obese weight statuses compared to national averages. Carrying an excessive amount of weight can lead children to experience a multitude of complications with their physical and mental health as well as increase their risk of developing various chronic diseases. The American Heart Association's Las Vegas Teaching Gardens program implemented a school-based garden pilot study to target environmental causes of obesity in 4th and 5th grade students at Crestwood Elementary School. The objective of …

Yoga Training Improves Metabolic Parameters In Obese Boys, Dae Yun Seo, Sungryul Lee, Arturo Figueroa, Hyoung Kyu Kim, Yeong Ho Baek, Yi Sub Kwak, Nari Kim, Tae Hoon Choi, Byoung Doo Rhee, Kyung-Soo Kim, Byung Joo Park, Song-Young Park, Jin Han

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Yoga has been known to have stimulatory or inhibitory effects on the metabolic parameters and to be uncomplicated therapy for obesity. The purpose of the present study was to test the effect of an 8-week of yoga-asana training on body composition, lipid profile, and insulin resistance (IR) in obese adolescent boys. Twenty volunteers with body mass index (BMI) greater than the 95th percentile were randomly assigned to yoga (age 14.7±0.5 years, n=10) and control groups (age 14.6±1.0 years, n=10). The yoga group performed exercises three times per week at 40~60% of heart-rate reserve (HRR) for 8 weeks. IR was determined …

The Relationship Between Middle School Students' Perceptions Of Physical Activity, Student Engagement, And Academic Achievement, Jeremy D. Moretti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Physical activity is important, and many adolescents are not meeting the recommendation that youth participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity most days of the week (CDC, 2011). Physical inactivity among middle school students is on the rise and may be a contributing factor to a decline in academic performance. Prior research has focused primarily on bodily health; however, growing evidence supports the benefits of physical activity for academic achievement (Chomitz et al., 2009). This study examined the relationship between middle school students' perceptions of physical activity and student engagement they relate to academic achievement among 179 middle …

Parental Perception Of Childhood Obesity And The School's Role On Prevention And Interventions In Childhood Obesity, Monique Jones

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Childhood obesity is a major health crisis that is becoming an epidemic among children and adolescents. Interventions must begin early and focus on prevention strategies to achieve the goal of increasing quality years of life for today's children and families. Parents with children in a local after school Boys & Girls club were surveyed regarding their perception of childhood obesity, the causes of childhood obesity, and the school's role in the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. More than 90% of the participants identified inactivity, poor eating behavior, eating too much, and lack of money to buy nutritious foods as …

The Effects Of A Single Exercise Bout On Plasma Leptin Concentration In Obese Males, George Kyriazis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent findings suggest that leptin may be regulated in response to abrupt changes in energy homeostasis. Therefore, it is conceivable that transient changes in energy balance induced by exercise may also regulate leptin synthesis and secretion. As such, we hypothesized that acute increases energy expenditure (i.e. exercise), may regulate leptin concentrations in obese individuals. Fifteen healthy obese males underwent either a single exercise session of moderate intensity (58.4 % ± 4.0 of VO2max) for 60 min (n=8), or served as controls (n=7). The exercise session elicited an energy expenditure of 567±80 Kcal. No significant changes in plasma leptin (pre 23.5± …

An Analysis Of The Fat Reducing Effects Of Participants In Selected, Freshmen Physical Education Classes, Arthur Acuff

All Master's Theses

This study was composed of two problems as follows: 1. To determine if the four physical education activities classes did significantly control fat gain on college freshmen at St. Martin's College. 2. To determine which physical education activity will best control fat gain on college freshmen at St. Martin's College.