The relationship between food preparation time, time spent grocery shopping, and BMI

Recent data have shown that the percentage of time spent preparing food has decreased during the past few years, and little information is know about how much time people spend grocery shopping. Food that is pre-prepared is often higher in calories and fat compared to foods prepared at home from scratch. It has been suggested that, because of the higher energy and total fat levels, increased consumption of pre-prepared foods compared to home-cooked meals can lead to weight gain, which in turn can lead to obesity. Nevertheless, to date no study has examined this relationship. The purpose of this study is to determine (i) the association between adult body mass index (BMI) and the time spent preparing meals, and (ii) the association between adult BMI and time spent shopping for food. Data on food habits and body size were collected with a self-report survey of ethnically diverse adults between the ages of 17 and 70 at a large university. The survey was used to recruit people to participate in nutrition or appetite studies. Among other data, the survey collected demographic data (gender, race/ethnicity), minutes per week spent in preparing meals and minutes per week spent grocery shopping. Height and weight were self-reported and used to calculate BMI. The study population consisted of 689 subjects, of which 276 were male and 413 were female. The mean age was 23.5 years, with a median age of 21 years. The fraction of subjects with BMI less than 24.9 was 65%, between 25 and 29.9 was 26%, and 30 or greater was 9%. Analysis of variation was used to examine associations between food preparation time and BMI. ^ The results of the study showed that there were no significant statistical association between adult healthy weight, overweight and obesity with either food preparation time and grocery shopping time. Of those in the sample who reported preparing food, the mean food preparation time per week for the healthy weight, overweight, and obese groups were 12.8 minutes, 12.3 minutes, and 11.6 minutes respectively. Similarly, the mean weekly grocery shopping for healthy, overweight, and obese groups were 60.3 minutes per week (8.6min./day), 61.4 minutes (8.8min./day), and 57.3 minutes (8.2min./day), respectively. Since this study was conducted through a University campus, it is assumed that most of the sample was students, and a percentage might have been utilizing meal plans on campus, and thus, would have reported little meal preparation or grocery shopping time. Further research should examine the relationships between meal preparation time and time spent shopping for food in a sample that is more representative of the general public. In addition, most people spent very little time preparing food, and thus, health promotion programs for this population need to focus on strategies for preparing quick meals or eating in restaurants/cafeterias. ^

Formative Evaluation of the "Time Twisters": A Comic Book Based Obesity Prevention Curriculum for Elementary School Students

Introduction: Obesity is a public health problem, particularly in Hispanic children. Alternative media channels may offer the potential to motivate children to engage in health promoting behaviors. A comic book, “Time Twisters”, was developed to impact screen time use, physical activity, and dietary behavior for elementary school children and evaluated for acceptability and feasibility prior to implementation in a multi-component physical activity intervention. [See PDF for complete abstract]

The Personal Background and Preparation Survey Early Identifies Nursing Students at Risk for Attrition

Introduction Nursing student attrition continues to negatively impact the supply of nurses and nursing workforce diversity. Little research has addressed student attributes affecting nursing student attrition today. Research with college undergraduates has indicated that noncognitive attributes influence academic achievement and retention as much as academic attributes. Early identification of such attributes can help students to timely access appropriate services, providing improved opportunities for success. However, convenient, valid, quantitative, reliable assessment instruments appropriate for nursing students have been lacking. The Personal Background and Preparation Survey (PBPS) addresses the need for such a tool. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Narrated PowerPoints and Audio Podcasts in Clinical Teaching: One Clerkship's Experience

Introduction: Clinical medical education is increasingly utilizing novel technological approaches in order to supplement traditional lecture-based didactics. The Neurology Core Clerkship at Baylor College of Medicine is a four week required course taken by clinical medical students. Given the large amount of information to be disseminated in a short period of time, part of the didactic material has been provided online in the form of narrated PowerPoint files or lecture audio tracks along with stand-alone PowerPoint files. The narrated files are generated using the native PowerPoint narration function while the stand-alone audio files are created as MP3 format files using an inexpensive digital recording device. [See PDF for complete abstract]

En Vivo: If We Call Them Will They Come? A Telephone-based Brief Motivational Enhancement Intervention Targeting TV Time

Introduction: The prevalence of overweight among children has doubled in the last twenty years, and Texas children rank near the top as the nation’s heaviest. Time spent television viewing may not only expose children to advertising for unhealthy foods, but may also take the place of physical activity.

Dielectrophoretic approaches to sample preparation and analysis

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) has been used to manipulate cells in low-conductivity suspending media using AC electrical fields generated on micro-fabricated electrode arrays. This has created the possibility of performing automatically on a micro-scale more sophisticated cell processing than that currently requiring substantial laboratory equipment, reagent volumes, time, and human intervention. In this research the manipulation of aqueous droplets in an immiscible, low-permittivity suspending medium is described to complement previous work on dielectrophoretic cell manipulation. Such droplets can be used as carriers not only for air- and water-borne samples, contaminants, chemical reagents, viral and gene products, and cells, but also the reagents to process and characterize these samples. A long-term goal of this area of research is to perform chemical and biological assays on automated, micro-scaled devices at or near the point-of-care, which will increase the availability of modern medicine to people who do not have ready access to large medical institutions and decrease the cost and delays associated with that lack of access. In this research I present proofs-of-concept for droplet manipulation and droplet-based biochemical analysis using dielectrophoresis as the motive force. Proofs-of-concept developed for the first time in this research include: (1) showing droplet movement on a two-dimensional array of electrodes, (2) achieving controlled dielectric droplet injection, (3) fusing and reacting droplets, and (4) demonstrating a protein fluorescence assay using micro-droplets. ^

Adherence to a lifestyle physical activity program: Trends over time and associations with processes of change and physical activity

Research on lifestyle physical activity interventions suggests that they help individuals meet the new recommendations for physical activity made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The purpose of this research was to describe the rates of adherence to two lifestyle physical activity intervention arms and to examine the association between adherence and outcome variables, using data from Project PRIME, a lifestyle physical activity intervention based on the transtheoretical model and conducted by the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research, Dallas, Texas. Participants were 250 sedentary healthy adults, aged 35 to 70 years, primarily non-Hispanic White, and in the contemplation and preparation stages of readiness to change. They were randomized to a group (PRIME G) or a mail- and telephone-delivered condition (PRIME C). Adherence measures included attending class (PRIME G), completing a monthly telephone call with a health educator (PRIME C), and completing homework assignments and self-monitoring minutes of moderate- to vigorous physical activity (both groups). In the first results paper, adherence over time and between conditions was examined: Attendance in group, completing the monthly telephone call, and homework completion decreased over time, and participants in PRIME G were more likely to complete homework than those in PRIME C. Paper 2 aimed to determine whether the adherence measures predicted achievement of the CDC/ACSM physical activity guideline. In separate models for the two conditions, a latent variable measuring adherence was found to predict achievement of the guideline. Paper 3 examined the association between adherence measures and the transtheoretical model's processes of change within each condition. For both, participants who completed at least two thirds of the homework assignments improved their use of the processes of change more than those who completed less than that amount. These results suggest that encouraging adherence to a lifestyle physical activity intervention, at least among already motivated volunteers, may increase the likelihood of beneficial changes in the outcomes. ^

A space-time analysis of reported shigellosis and salmonellosis cases in Texas from 2000 to 2004

Background. The purpose of this study was to describe the risk factors and demographics of persons with salmonellosis and shigellosis and to investigate both seasonal and spatial variations in the occurrence of these infections in Texas from 2000 to 2004, utilizing time series analyses and the geographic information system digital mapping methods. ^ Methods. Spatial Analysis: MapInfo software was used to map the distribution of age-adjusted rates of reported shigellosis and salmonellosis in Texas from 2000–2004 by zip codes. Census data on above or below poverty level, household income, highest level of educational attainment, race, ethnicity, and urban/rural community status was obtained from the 2000 Decennial Census for each zip code. The zip codes with the upper 10% and lower 10% were compared using t-tests and logistic regression to determine whether there were any potential risk factors. ^ Temporal analysis. Seasonal patterns in the prevalence of infections in Texas from 2000 to 2003 were determined by performing time-series analysis on the numbers of cases of salmonellosis and shigellosis. A linear regression was also performed to assess for trends in the incidence of each disease, along with auto-correlation and multi-component cosinor analysis. ^ Results. Spatial analysis: Analysis by general linear model showed a significant association between infection rates and age, with young children aged less than 5 and those aged 5–9 years having increased risk of infection for both disease conditions. The data demonstrated that those populations with high percentages of people who attained a higher than high school education were less likely to be represented in zip codes with high rates of shigellosis. However, for salmonellosis, logistic regression models indicated that when compared to populations with high percentages of non-high school graduates, having a high school diploma or equivalent increased the odds of having a high rate of infection. ^ Temporal analysis. For shigellosis, multi-component cosinor analyses were used to determine the approximated cosine curve which represented a statistically significant representation of the time series data for all age groups by sex. The shigellosis results show 2 peaks, with a major peak occurring in June and a secondary peak appearing around October. Salmonellosis results showed a single peak and trough in all age groups with the peak occurring in August and the trough occurring in February. ^ Conclusion. The results from this study can be used by public health agencies to determine the timing of public health awareness programs and interventions in order to prevent salmonellosis and shigellosis from occurring. Because young children depend on adults for their meals, it is important to increase the awareness of day-care workers and new parents about modes of transmission and hygienic methods of food preparation and storage. ^

A promotora de salud CVD intervention: Participant responses after Su Corazon, Su Vida education

In this study we sought to identify and understand feelings, benefits and barriers to making heart healthy behavioral changes by reviewing and analyzing participant responses to a follow-up telephone survey conducted as part of the HEART project (Health Education Awareness Research Team). Individuals who participated in HEART attended classes and received “Su Corazon, Su Vida” education. The HEART follow-up telephone survey was conducted only on those participants who were part of the experimental group. A total of 93 individuals from this group were successfully contacted for participation in the telephone survey after the classes ended. Quantitative data regarding ‘feelings’ and ‘difficulty making heart healthy behavioral changes’ were analyzed by calculating frequencies of each category of response for post-intervention weeks 9, 13, and 15. In addition, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were conducted for post-intervention at weeks 9, 13, and 15 to measure associations between feelings and difficulties making heart healthy behavioral changes. Changes in responses over time for feelings and difficulties making heart healthy behavioral changes were looked at by counting differences in responses between pairs of follow up weeks. Qualitative responses to the survey were analyzed by categorizing content of responses under themes in order to identify factors related to feelings and difficulties making heart healthy behavioral changes. Telephone survey participants showed positive attitudes towards making nutritional and physical activity changes. Out of the 93 telephone survey respondents, 53 (57%) reported some type of physical activity change during the follow-up period while 46 (49%) reported specific changes in nutrition. Data from the “difficulty to making changes” responses were categorized under constructs from the Health Belief Model, perceived benefits and barriers. Overall, the barriers for physical activity were health issues, individual habits and time. Barriers to eating healthy were family support, individual habits, and knowledge. This study suggests that with respect to nutritional knowledge barriers, educational programs should explore other ways of teaching and familiarizing individuals with information sources that may be more appropriate for those populations not accustomed to them. For example, nutrition labels, portions, recipes, and use of photonovelas. Our findings of the barriers to changes in food preparation due to lack of family support may also suggest the need for the development of programs where influential partners or relatives are involved in order to create a more supportive environment which may provide more opportunity for change toward healthier lifestyle behaviors. Finally, the physical activity barriers found suggest that it may be beneficial to recommend appropriate exercises for those with specific health problems or those with time restrictions due to work or travel so that physical activity is not completely avoided.^