Public Health Commons^™

Evaluation Of The Interest In Development And Availability Of The Resting Metabolic Rate Test As A Routine Healthcare Standard, Seth Wayne Parrish

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: A growing worldwide pandemic exists today that has large implications for the future of healthcare among the nations. Obesity is a growing disease that has multiple

implications for morbidity and mortality including cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes. The obese and overweight population plagues nearly 46% of the world's population, and likely is

preventable. We wanted to examine what role metabolic testing could play in prevention.

Methods: A cross-sectional study composed of a 52-question Likert-based scale survey was constructed and distributed to healthcare providers. We hypothesized that there would be a

generally accepted interest in establishing routine metabolic rate testing …

Hpv Vaccine Status And Bmi Correlation, Ezhilarasi Manickavasagam, Hongying Dai, Joan R. Griffith

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Obese women are at increased risk of death from cervical cancer compared to non-obese women. Yet, research indicates a lower rate of cervical cancer screening among obese women, especially severely obese white women. Cited reasons for delaying screening include embarrassment, perceived weight stigma, lack of appropriately sized examination equipment and poor patient-provider communication. Parental acceptance of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for overweight adolescent females may decrease the incidence of cervical cancer among obese women in later years. This study seeks to determine the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination status of females, ages 11 to 21 years, in a university-based pediatric …

Epidemiology News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Perceptions of Child Overweight and Obesity

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Community Health: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Perceptions of Child Overweight and Obesity

Associations Between U.S. Adult Obesity And State And County Economic Conditions In The Recession, Qi Zhang, Rajan Lamichhane, Youfa Wang

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

This study examines the association between state and county unemployment rates and individuals' body weight status during the latest recession in the U.S. We used the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data in 2007, 2009 and 2011, which were collected from 722,692 American adults aged 18 or older. Overweight and obesity were defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥25, and ≥30, respectively. Multivariate linear and logistic regressions were applied to assess the association between BMI, risks of overweight and obesity, and state and county unemployment rates. State unemployment rates were negatively associated with individual BMI across years, while …

Limiting Liberty To Prevent Obesity: Justifiability Of Strong Hard Paternalism In Public Health Regulation, Thaddeus Mason Pope

Faculty Scholarship

Because of the largely self-regarding nature of obesity, many current and proposed public health regulatory measures are paternalistic. That is, these measures interfere with a person’s liberty with the primary goal of improving that person’s own welfare.

Paternalistic public health measures may be effective in reducing obesity. They may even be the only sufficiently effective type of regulation. But many commentators argue that paternalistic public health measures are not politically viable enough to get enacted. After all, paternalism is repugnant in our individualistic culture. It is "wrong" for the government to limit our liberty for our own good.

In this …

A Description Of Snack Foods In Select Ohio Schools: A Baseline Prior To Usda New Competitive Food Guidelines, Chukwudubem C. Obianagha

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: The proliferation of snack foods in school lunch programs has necessitated the USDA to regulate its consumption by implementing policies regarding its use. The competitive food guidelines were enacted in June 2013 through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. This required development of federal nutritional guidelines snack foods had to meet in order to be considered a competitive food and thus sold in school lunchrooms.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to describe the current snack food offerings in select Ohio high schools, and to determine how these snack foods affect the consumption of healthier free and reduced meal …

Preventing Childhood Obesity: A Mixed Methods Study Into The Perceptions Of African Americans In A Rural Community, Dayna S. Alexander

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Preventing childhood obesity is a global priority due to adverse health risks and financial burdens. With childhood obesity rates stabilizing it is difficult to determine which factors alone (i.e., genetic, environmental, behavioral, or demographic) increase susceptibility to childhood obesity. Parents influence childhood obesity risk factors through their parenting styles and behaviors. Social behavioral theories and public health evidence demonstrate including parents in childhood obesity efforts could assist in reducing childhood obesity rates. The objective of this study was to assess perceptions of childhood obesity among African Americans with children enrolled in a rural elementary school in the Deep South. The …

Obesity, Food Insecurity And The Impact On Perceptions And Behaviors Toward Dietary Nutrition In Low Income Women In Georgia, Amanda Lowe

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the paradoxical relationship between obesity and food insecurity and the subsequent impact of this relationship on perceptions and behaviors towards diet and nutrition among low-income women in Georgia. Specifically, this study sought to investigate whether factors such as poverty, education, socio-economic status, and participation in food assistance programs influence obesity outcomes among low-income women in Georgia. A sequential exploratory mixed-method research design was conducted for this study. Using qualitative and quantitative measures, the study employed key informant interviews with 16 administrators and staff members from the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program …

A Paradox In Development: Exploring The Obesity Pandemic In Latin America, Laila G. Heid

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of this paper is to explain the obesity pandemic in Latin America and identify the factors of development contributing to the pandemic. The paper uses the framework of the nutrition transition as presented by Barry Popkin to trace consumption patterns and changes in dietary habits in the region. The paper looks at three case studies: Mexico and Chile, two countries with high obesity rates, and Peru, the country with the lowest obesity rate in South America. This comparative framework is intended to determine which conditions are necessary for obesity, which conditions are sufficient for obesity, and any conditions …

Sleep Duration And Diabetes In An Adult Population Of Rural Upstate New York, Tarak Shrestha

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Introduction: Within the past five decades, there has been a rapid increase in the number of diabetic cases in the US. The number of diabetic cases increased from 1.5 million in 1959 to 25.8 million in 2011. Around the same time period, the average sleep duration per night decreased from 8 hours to 6.9 hours.

Association Of Demographic Characteristics With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus And Gestational Hypertension In Ohio During 2012, Jared D. Klein

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) and Gestational Hypertension (GHTN) are serious conditions that can arise during pregnancy. Both of these disorders can cause detrimental health effects to both mother and newborn. Methods: Ohio vital statistics birth data was obtained from Public Health- Dayton and Montgomery County. The data set included 137,268 women who gave birth during 2012 in Ohio and had a known GDM and/or GHTN status. IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Mac Version 20 (SPSS, IBM, 2011) was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics, odds ratios, chi-square analyses, and multivariate logistic forward stepwise regressions were calculated …

Using Sensewear Armband And Diet Journal To Promote Adolescents' Energy Balance Knowledge And Motivation, Senlin Chen, Xihe Zhu, Gregory J. Welk, Youngwon Kim, Jungmin Lee, Nathan F. Meier

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

Purpose: Educating adolescents about energy balance (EB) is essential for effective weight control. This study utilized the Sensewear (SWA) armband and a diet journal to promote adolescents' EB knowledge and motivation.

Methods: Ninety sixth graders were randomly assigned into the experimental group (n = 46) who utilized SWA and diet journal for 7 consecutive days or the control group (n = 44) who did not. Both groups were pre-and post-measured on EB knowledge, situational interest, and weight. The experimental group was tracked on motivation effort, energy expenditure (EE), and energy intake (EI).

Results: EB knowledge significantly increased and situational interest …

Certified Personal Trainers And Physicians: An Evaluation Of Consumer Preference, Influence, And Decision Making On Intent To Use A Weight-Loss Medication, Linda Lemgruber Lobb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In health-related behavioral decision-making, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) posits that attitudes toward a behavior are the function of three metrics: beliefs and strengths of beliefs toward the behavior, subjective norms around the behavior and locus of control for the individual (Ajzen, 1988). The purpose of this research was to identify the extent to which consumers would accept the recommendation of taking weight-loss medications, based on the source of the recommendation. Research shows that the source of knowledge for information plays a significant role in health-related decision-making of consumers (Pornpitakpan, 2004). In comparison to traditional weight-loss methods such as …

Factors Influencing U.S Army Personnel Meeting Body Mass Index Standards, Salma Theus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Factors Influencing U.S. Army Personnel Meeting Body Mass Index Standards

by

Salma Theus

MS, California State University, Dominguez Hills, 2008

BA, La Sierra University, 2005

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Psychology

Walden University

September 2014

U.S. Army Regulations require soldiers to be fit, as excessive weight negatively impacts their readiness, health, and morale. A quantitative study examined if personal, behavioral, and/or environmental factors predict a soldier's self-efficacy and body mass index. Data were obtained from 117 soldiers on 6 scales: the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, the Army Physical Fitness …

Public Health Emergencies: What Counts?, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Vaccines and drugs to prevent and treat Ebola Virus Disease that have never been tested in humans, and in scarce supply raise profound ethical challenges. What if good evidence emerged demonstrating safety and efficacy of drugs? What would be an ethical method of allocating scarce beneficial resources? The apparent preference given to foreign aid workers over West Africans provoked a firestorm. In addition to discussing the ethical allocation of scarce drugs, this article also asks a more fundamental question: Why did it take nearly 40 years after the first Ebola outbreak in 1976 to launch clinical trials?

Reimagining My Body, Center For Public Service

SURGE

I stood there, shoulders slouched, elbows locked, hands glued to the side of the toilet. My body convulsing, I told myself, “this is the last time, just one more time and you’ll get back on track tomorrow.” It wasn’t the last time. I had been forcing myself to purge for months at this point, and each time I hated myself for it.

It was something I couldn’t control. It wasn’t out of a need for attention as so commonly thought, but a pure need to be the unreachable level of thin that I thought would make me beautiful. I was …

Online Healthy Lifestyle Support In The Perinatal Period: What Do Women Want And Do They Use It?, Lydia A. Hearn, Margaret R. Miller, Anna Fletcher

Research outputs 2013

Unhealthy weight gain and retention during pregnancy and postpartum is detrimental to mother and child. Although various barriers limit the capacity for perinatal health care providers (PHCPs) to offer healthy lifestyle counselling, they could guide women to appropriate online resources. This paper presents a project designed to provide online information to promote healthy lifestyles in the perinatal period. Focus groups or interviews were held with 116 perinatal women and 76 PHCPs to determine what online information perinatal women and PHCPs want, in what form, and how best it should be presented. The results indicated that women wanted smartphone applications (apps) …

How To Get Rid Of Thunder Thighs, Helena E. Yang

SURGE

I appreciate the insightful and important things your muffin top has to say to me, but my thunder thighs still think they’re fat.

I’m overweight (sometimes).

On a BMI scale, I fluctuate in and out of the dreaded “overweight” category. While I acknowledge that the BMI scale has its flaws, it was designed to be a quick approximation of weight to height; it is not designed to be a scientific test. Sometimes I tell myself I am super muscular and the scale doesn’t apply to me, but it’s actually not true. [excerpt]

Child Emotional Abuse And Its Relationship To Obesity, Kelly Anderson Driscoll

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Over the past 30 years in the United States childhood obesity has more than tripled (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). In 2008, 18.5% of adolescents of the age 12-18 years old were obese in the United States (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). With the increase of obesity Americans have spent approximately 9% of their total medical costs on obesity-related illnesses (Finkelstein, Fiebelkorn, &Wang, 2003). Previous research documented the relationship between virtually every form of child abuse and subsequent obesity. Restricting focus to child emotional abuse, while studies have linked emotional abuse to the long-term consequence of …

Systematic Examination Of Infant Size And Growth Metrics As Risk Factors For Overweight In Young Adulthood, Andrew O. Odegaard, Audrey C. Choh, Ramzi W. Nahhas, Bradford Towne, Stefan A. Czerwinski, Ellen W. Demerath

Population and Public Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Objective:To systematically examine infant size and growth, according to the 2006 WHO infant growth standards, as risk factors for overweight status in young adulthood in a historical cohort. Specifically, to assess: Whether accounting for length (weight-for-length) provides a different picture of risk than weight-for-age, intervals of rapid growth in both weight-for-age and weight-for-length metrics, and what particular target ages for infant size and intervals of rapid growth associate most strongly with overweight as a young adult.Patients/Methods:Data analysis of 422 appropriate for gestational age white singleton infants enrolled in the Fels Longitudinal Study. Odds ratios (OR) for overweight and obesity in …

The Obesity Epidemic, Lenka Kollar, Evienne Epifano, Molly Mckneight, Jeff Miskovich, Heather Moore

Student Papers in Public Policy

The incidence of chronic, noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease, is increasing at an alarming rate on the global scale. The growing prevalence of overweight and obesity have led to an upsurge in cases of diabetes and other obesity-related diseases. About 18 million people die every year from heart disease, of which diabetes and obesity are major predisposing factors. Worldwide, more than 1.1 billion adults are overweight, 312 million of which are obese. The number of children that are overweight or obese is also growing (Hossain, Parvez et al.). Obesity, and the associated diseases, has become a worldwide epidemic and …

Impacts Biomécaniques Et Ergonomiques De La Manutention Chez Les Travailleurs Obèses, Philippe Corbeil, André Plamondon, Normand Teasdale, Grant Handrigan, Jasmin Ten Have, Nancy Manzerolle

Rapports de recherche scientifique

L’obésité est un problème émergent qui a des répercussions en santé et en sécurité du travail (SST). La prévalence de blessures musculo-squelettiques chez les individus obèses et les coûts indirects (non médicaux) sont plus élevés que ceux des travailleurs ayant un poids santé. Sachant qu’une hausse soutenue du taux d’obésité chez les travailleurs est observée au Canada, il est important de s’intéresser à la problématique de l’obésité liée au travail. Les risques de blessures au dos survenues au travail sont très élevés et la profession la plus touchée est celle de manutentionnaire. On connait peu l’effet de l’obésité sur les …

Childhood Obesity And Overweight: Causes And Implications In Preschool Children, Melissa L. Sittner

Kinesiology and Public Health

The root causes of childhood obesity and overweight are currently hot topics of research. While many causes have been discovered, researchers are still weighing them against one another while taking the lifestyles of at-risk populations into account. Some of these causes include lack of physical activity, increase in screen time, and the implications of health disparities borne of a child’s socioeconomic status. These causes and more are reviewed further and applied to the population of interest: preschool aged children in the United States, and more specifically preschool aged children of San Luis Obispo County in California. The need for multi-level …

Effects Of A School-Based Education Intervention On Bmi And Physical Activity, Lauren M. Panner

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

In 2011, the CDC reported that there are 12.5 million obese children and adolescents living in the United States (U.S.). The financial burden of childhood obesity in the U.S. is estimated to be 14 billion dollars. The objective of this evidence-based practice (EBP) project was to answer the question: In school-aged children, how does school-based, structured, family-oriented physical activity education affect body mass index (BMI) compared to usual education over an eight week time period? The Stetler Model of EBP and the health belief model were used to guide this project in a rural, Northwest Indiana elementary school. For eight …

Lessons Learned From Training Of Promotores De Salud For Obesity And Diabetes Prevention, Erica T. Sosa, Lesli Biediger-Friedman, Zenong Yin

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background: Promotores de Salud are impactful in reducing health disparities for Hispanic communities. The purpose of this paper is to present the training process and fidelity of study protocol implementation using a promotora model for community-based diabetes prevention.

Methods: Five Hispanic bilingual promotores were recruited from a Community Health Worker program and received intensive 30-hour promotora training on how to recruit participants, lead group sessions, and support participants making behavior changes. Evaluation of the training included a survey and focus group to assess promotores’ feedback, a post-training knowledge test to assess knowledge acquired during the training and an observational assessment …

Community Built Environment And Multilevel Social Determinants Of Obesity: Evidence From China Health And Nutrition Survey, Libin Zhang, Tim F. Liao, Laura L. Hayman

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is highest in wealthy countries like the United States, but is rapidly increasing in less developed countries. From 1992 to 2002, China had an increase from 14.6% to 21.8% in overweight and obesity. Social determinants of obesity in developing countries remain poorly understood. Further, these associations may vary by community built environment (BE) of developing countries.

Is Obesity Socially Contagious?, Ciani Jean Sparks

Statistics

The main objective of this paper is to analyze three different articles that discuss whether obesity could be socially contagious. According to the World Health Organization in 2013, obesity is the fifth leading risk for deaths around the world. This disease has dramatically increased in the last decade, which has led scientists to believe there are other factors contributing to the epidemic besides genetics. The first article I analyzed, written by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, provided a logistic regression model to estimate the odds of a person becoming obese. The model included the explanatory variables: age, sex, education, smoking …

Weight Stigma In Maternity Care: Women’S Experiences And Care Providers’ Attitudes, Kate Mulherin, Yvette D. Miller, Fiona Kate Barlow, Phillippa C. Diedrichs, Rachel Thompson

Dartmouth Scholarship

Weight stigma is pervasive in Western society and in healthcare settings, and has a negative impact on victims' psychological and physical health. In the context of an increasing focus on the management of overweight and obese women during and after pregnancy in research and clinical practice, the current studies aimed to examine the presence of weight stigma in maternity care. Addressing previous limitations in the weight stigma literature, this paper quantitatively explores the presence of weight stigma from both patient and care provider perspectives. Study One investigated associations between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and experiences of maternity care from …

Carrots, Sticks And False Carrots: How High Should Weight Control Wellness Incentives Be? Findings From A Population-Level Experiment, Harald Schmidt

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Employers are increasingly using wellness incentives, including penalties for unhealthy behavior. Survey data suggests that people are willing to accept the principle of penalizing those perceived to take health risks, but the equally relevant question of the magnitude of acceptable penalties is unclear.

While the principle of penalizing overweight and obese people has some support, findings from a population-level experiment (n=1,000) suggest that the acceptable size of penalties is comparatively small, around $50: more than 10-fold below levels favored by advocates. Reward-based incentives are favored over penalty-based ones by a factor of 4. Of two different ways of framing penalty …