Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of The Built Environment On Physical Activity In Rural Upstate New York, Kimberly Moore

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: Physical activity across the lifespan is associated with numerous health benefits. That the built environment can influence physical activity is a widely accepted hypothesis which has been examined extensively in urban/suburban and across urban-rural environments. Numerous census variables, such as housing density, percent renter, and others related to urbanity, are related to physical activity and built environment measures. However, the rural built environment's influence on adult physical activity is relatively unexplored.

Recreational Physical Activity And Premenstrual Syndrome In College-Aged Women, Aimee R. Kroll

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

It is estimated that up to 85% of premenopausal women experience at least one premenstrual symptom and 15-20% meet clinical criteria for premenstrual syndrome (PMS). PMS has a high morbidity level and reduces the quality of life for many women of reproductive age, with pharmaceutical treatments having limited efficacy and substantial side effects. Physical activity has been recommended as a method of reducing menstrual symptom severity. However, little evidence exists to support a clear relationship between physical activity and PMS. Using a cross-sectional design, we evaluated the relationship between physical activity and PMS and menstrual symptoms among 186 women aged …

Physical Activity And Maternal/Fetal Outcomes In A Pregnant Latina Population, Audra L Gollenberg

Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014

Physical activity guidelines encouraging activity among healthy pregnant women have been issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, yet Latina women remain more sedentary than non-Latina white women. Latina women are also at higher risk for gestational diabetes mellitus and, among Latina women, Puerto Rican women have the highest rates of low birth weight and preterm-related infant death. This dissertation utilized data from the Latina GDM study, a prospective cohort study of 1,231 Latina women recruited early in pregnancy and followed through delivery. Participants were interviewed in early and mid pregnancy for assessment of sociodemographics, acculturation, medical, and …

Exploratory Study Of Environmental Effects On Physical Activity And Overweight In Older Women: Research Update, Heather A. Whitcomb, Kosuke Tamura, Lauren Milius, Francine Laden, Steve Melly, Peter James, Robin Puett, Ellen Cromley, Eran Ben-Joseph, Philip J. Troped

GIS Day

Background: Physical inactivity and obesity are major public health issues. Recent studies have provided evidence that attributes of the built environment influence physical activity among adults and that factors such as greater urban sprawl are related to overweight and obesity. Few studies have developed objective individual-level measures of the built environment, a geographic scale that may be more relevant to certain types of physical activity, such as walking. In addition, further research is needed to assess the associations of both objective and perceived environmental factors with physical activity. In this 2-year exploratory study funded by the National Cancer Institute, we …

Naturally Occurring Changes In Time Spent Watching Television Are Inversely Related To Frequency Of Physical Activity During Early Adolescence, Robert W. Motl, Edward Mcauley, Amanda Birnbaum, Leslie A. Lytle

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

In this longitudinal study, we examined the relationship between changes in time spent watching television and playing video games with frequency of leisure-time physical activity across a 2-year period among adolescent boys and girls (N=4594" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: normal; font-size: 16.200000762939453px; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; position: relative;">). Latent growth modelling indicated that a decrease in time spent watching television was associated with an increase in frequency of leisure-time physical activity. That relationship was strong in magnitude …

Self-Management Strategies Mediate Self-Efficacy And Physical Activity, Rod K. Dishman, Robert W. Motl, James F. Sallis, Andrea L. Dunn, Amanda Birnbaum, Greg J. Welk, Ariane L. Bedimo-Rung, Carolyn C. Voorhees, Jared B. Jobe

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

Self-efficacy theory proposes that girls who have confidence in their capability to be physically active will perceive fewer barriers to physical activity or be less influenced by them, be more likely to pursue perceived benefits of being physically active, and be more likely to enjoy physical activity. Self-efficacy is theorized also to influence physical activity through self-management strategies (e.g., thoughts, goals, plans, and acts) that support physical activity, but this idea has not been empirically tested.

Methods

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the factorial validity of a measure of self-management strategies for physical activity. Next, the construct …

Scale Development For Perceived School Climate For Girls’ Physical Activity, Amanda Birnbaum, Kelly R. Evenson, Robert W. Motl, Rod K. Dishman, Carolyn C. Voorhees, James F. Sallis, John P. Elder, Marsha Dowda

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Objectives: To test an original scale assessing perceived school climate for girls' physical activity in middle school girls. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: CFA retained 5 of 14 original items. A model with 2 correlated factors, perceptions about teachers' and boys' behaviors, respectively, fit the data well in both sixth and eighth-graders. SEM detected a positive, significant direct association of the teacher factor, but not the boy factor, with girls' self-reported physical activity. Conclusions: School climate for girls' physical activity is a measurable construct, and preliminary evidence suggests a relationship with physical activity.

Scale Development For Perceived School Climate For Girls’ Physical Activity, Amanda Birnbaum, Kelly R. Evenson, Robert W. Motl, Rod K. Dishman, Carolyn C. Voorhees, James F. Sallis, John P. Elder, Marsha Dowda

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Objectives: To test an original scale assessing perceived school climate for girls' physical activity in middle school girls. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: CFA retained 5 of 14 original items. A model with 2 correlated factors, perceptions about teachers' and boys' behaviors, respectively, fit the data well in both sixth and eighth-graders. SEM detected a positive, significant direct association of the teacher factor, but not the boy factor, with girls' self-reported physical activity. Conclusions:School climate for girls' physical activity is a measurable construct, and preliminary evidence suggests a relationship with physical activity.

The Role Of Peer Social Network Factors And Physical Activity In Adolescent Girls, Carolyn C. Voorhees, David Murray, Greg Welk, Amanda Birnbaum, Kurt M. Ribisi, Carolyn C. Johnson, Karin Allor Pfeiffer, Brit Saksvig, Jared B. Jobe

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Objective: To study the relationship between peer-related physical activity (PA) social networks and the PA of adolescent girls.

Methods: Cross-sectional, convenience sample of adolescent girls. Mixed-model linear regression analyses to identify significant correlates of self-reported PA while accounting for correlation of girls in the same school.

Results: Younger girls were more active than older girls. Most activity-related peer social network items were related to PA levels. More PA with friends was significantly related to self-reported PA in multivariate analyses.

Conclusions: Frequency of PA with friends was an important correlate of PA among the peer network variables …

Using Media Messaging To Promote Healthful Eating And Physical Activity Among Urban Youth, B.J. Carter, Amanda Birnbaum, Lisa Hark, Brian Vickery, Charles Potter, Michael P. Osborne

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

National trends show consistent increases, as well as racial and ethnic dis- parities, in the prevalence of overweight children and adolescents. Such disparity is evident regarding behaviors such as a poor diet and a lack of physical activity and in the prevalence and outcomes of associated health problems. It has been suggested that grounding interventions in cultural traditions and norms are critical for preventing obesity among ethnic and racial minority youth; however, with some notable exceptions, few community interventions have used this approach. Moreover, urban minority youth may face additional barriers to healthful eating and physical activity behaviors, such as …

Using Media Messaging To Promote Healthful Eating And Physical Activity Among Urban Youth, B.J Carter, Amanda Birnbaum, Lisa Hark, Brian Vickery, Charles Potter, Michael P. Osborne

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

National trends show consistent increases, as well as racial and ethnic dis- parities, in the prevalence of overweight children and adolescents. Such disparity is evident regarding behaviors such as a poor diet and a lack of physical activity and in the prevalence and outcomes of associated health problems. It has been suggested that grounding interventions in cultural traditions and norms are critical for preventing obesity among ethnic and racial minority youth; however, with some notable exceptions, few community interventions have used this approach. Moreover, urban minority youth may face additional barriers to healthful eating and physical activity behaviors, such as …

A Schematic For Focusing On Youth In Investigations Of Community Design And Physical Activity, Kevin J. Krizek, Amanda Birnbaum, David M. Levinson

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper provides a first step in addressing special considerations for youth in a relatively new area of physical activity research. After reviewing the urgent need for novel approaches to increasing physical activity, the growing interest in the effects of community design are discussed. Although most discussion on this topic has focused on adults, there are important differences between youth and adults that warrant a special focus on youth and need to be accounted for. This article presents a schematic that accounts for how and where youth spend their time, decomposing the day into time spent in travel and time …