Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition Commons^™

How Minority Parents Could Help Children Develop Healthy Eating Behaviors: Parent And Child Perspectives, Chishinga Callender, Denisse Velazquez, Meheret Adera, Jayna M Dave, Norma Olvera, Tzu-An Chen, Shana Alford, Debbe Thompson

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Minority children and children living in under-resourced households are at the greatest risk for obesity and diet-related disparities. Identifying effective strategies to reduce these risks is an important step in child obesity prevention. Parents influence the home environment and play a critical role in child obesity prevention. Eighteen parent–child dyads living in under-resourced Houston area communities participated in a mixed methods study (online surveys, telephone interviews). The purpose of the research reported here was to conduct a secondary analysis of the qualitative data to explore Black/African American and Hispanic parent and child perspectives of the ways in which parents could …

Type 1 Doing Well: Pilot Feasibility And Acceptability Study Of A Strengths-Based Mhealth App For Parents Of Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes, Marisa E Hilliard, Viena T Cao, Sahar S Eshtehardi, Charles G Minard, Rana Saber, Debbe Thompson, Lefkothea P Karaviti, Barbara J Anderson

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: We evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of a pilot behavioral intervention delivered to parents of adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) via mobile-friendly web app. The Type 1 Doing Well app aimed to promote supportive family diabetes management by helping parents recognize and reinforce teens' positive diabetes-related behaviors ("strengths").

Methods: Parents (n = 80, 74% recruitment) of adolescents (age range = 12-17 years, M = 15.3 ± 1.5 years, 59% female, 56% insulin pump, M hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) = 9.0% ± 2.1%) were randomized 2:1 to intervention or control (i.e., usual medical care with or without app) for …

Fat And Fat-Free Mass Index References In Children And Young Adults: Assessments Along Racial And Ethnic Lines, Roman J Shypailo, William W Wong

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Fat-free mass index (FFMI) and fat mass index (FMI) are superior to BMI and fat percentage in evaluating nutritional status. However, existing references fail to account for racial/ethnic differences in body composition among children.

Objectives: Our goal was to produce age-based normative references for FFMI and FMI in children for specific racial/ethnic groups.

Methods: Body composition, weight, and height were measured in 1122 normal healthy children aged 2-21 y. Bone mineral content measured by DXA, total body water by deuterium dilution, and total body potassium by whole-body γ counting were combined to calculate fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass …

Adolescent Intermittent Alcohol Exposure: Deficits In Object Recognition Memory And Forebrain Cholinergic Markers, H. Scott Swartzwelder, Shawn K. Acheson, Kelsey M. Miller, Hannah G. Sexton, Wen Liu, Fulton T. Crews, Mary-Louise Risher

Biomedical Sciences

The long-term effects of intermittent ethanol exposure during adolescence (AIE) are of intensive interest and investigation. The effects of AIE on learning and memory and the neural functions that drive them are of particular interest as clinical findings suggest enduring deficits in those cognitive domains in humans after ethanol abuse during adolescence. Although studies of such deficits after AIE hold much promise for identifying mechanisms and therapeutic interventions, the findings are sparse and inconclusive. The present results identify a specific deficit in memory function after AIE and establish a possible neural mechanism of that deficit that may be of translational …