Project Number: 6250-51000-047-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: May 21, 2004
End Date: Apr 30, 2009

Objective:
The objective of this research is to validate measures of children's diet & physical activity (PA) behaviors & beliefs about diet & PA; study correlates of infant's diet & PA, including biological variables, beliefs/practices, environments, culture, & public policies; study correlates of children's body fatness & metabolic syndrome risk factors; develop & test interventions to change children's diet, PA, body composition & metabolic disease risk factors; study statistical methods for analyzing & clustering a large number of time series, & characterize the optimal policy; and determine the associations between the perceived barriers/facilitators and actual Dietary Guidelines for Americans adherence by different groupings using group appropriate survey instruments. 1)Biological Influences on Children's Diet & PA-understand the influences on those behaviors. 2) Develop & Testing of Interventions to Promote Healthy Dietary Behavior among Youth for Chronic Disease Prevention-Develop & test family & school-based interventions to promote healthy dietary behaviors among families & youth for obesity & chronic disease prevention. 3) Family Influences on the Development of Food Intake Regulation-Investigate whether the tenor of infant feeding affects infant's ability to regulate energy & growth during the first year of life. 4) Relationships between Infant Feeding Patterns and the Development of Risk Factors for Obesity, CV Disease & Diabetes in Early Childhood-Understand the impact of early infant feeding patterns on development of risk factors for obesity, heart disease and metabolic syndrome will provide critical information for development of effective intervention early strategies for reducing the incidence of these chronic debilitating conditions. 5) Investigation of Dietary Intakes of Children-Identify eating pattern "typologies" associated with diet quality & obesity in children & young adults from a biracial population, using cross-sectional & longitudinal approaches. 6) Dietary & Genetic Interactions of Isothiocyanates-In spite of the high chemopreventive potential of isothiocyantes, present in high concentrations of brassica vegetables, critical gaps in our knowledge exist on their intake & function in children & ethnic groups. 7) A Longitudinal Study of Athletic Self-Concept & PA Behavior in Children & Adolescents - Determine the relationship between athletic identity, PA, & weight gain in a study of adolescents. 8) Prevention & Treatment of Obesity in Children - Utilize motivational interventions to prevent & treat childhood obesity. 9) Predicting & Explaining Youth PA Behavior - test a promising theoretical model of youth physical activity and to validate scales measuring its constructs.

Approach:
Survey instruments will be constructed/validated to determine different groups of populations¿ association between the perceived barriers and facilitators and actual DGA adherence. 1) Biological Influences on Children's Diet & PA - Integrate how biological & psychosocial variables influence diet & PA using the sensitivity to bitter taste (PROP), as a biological influence on dietary intake; and adiposity, as a biological influence on PA. 2) The Development & Testing of Interventions to Promote Healthy Dietary Behavior among Youth for Chronic Disease Prevention - Evaluate related dietary interventions with children. 3) Family Influences on the Development of Food Intake Regulation - Will be determined through observational measures of mother-infant feeding interactions as well as a weighed food intake protocol to measure infants' energy regulation. 4) Relationships between Infant Feeding Patterns & the Development of Risk Factors for Obesity, CV Disease & Diabetes in Early Childhood - Through a prospective examination of relationships between feeding patterns in the first year of life & risk factors for obesity, heart disease & metabolic syndrome later in childhood. An instrument for characterizing early infant feeding behavior in different ethnic groups will be developed & validated. Infant body composition will be measured within 2 weeks of birth, every 6 months through the 2nd year of life, and yearly thereafter. Maternal and parental body composition will be measured. Weighed diet records will be obtained using data collected by parents and day care providers, and parental control of feeding behavior will be assessed at birth, 1 year, and 3 years of age. 5) Investigation of Dietary Intakes of Children - Conduct sophisticated analyses of the eating patterns & diet quality of 1243 children and 1840 young adults as they relate to obesity, using the Bogalusa Heart Study database compiled from 1973-96 surveys. 6) Dietary and Genetic Interactions of Isothiocyanates - Undertake an approach to advance present methods for measuring dietary intake of isothiocyanates & metabolic activity they induce. This will provide specific targets for preventative and therapeutic interventions that will be particularly important to older children. 7) A Longitudinal Study of Athletic Self-Concept & Physical Activity Behavior in Children & Adolescents - Obtain student measures on a Athletic identity questionnaire, utilizing activity monitors, evaluating parental measures and gaining an insight into the teacher measures for the child. 8) Prevention & Treatment of Obesity in Children - Develop a data collection protocol for future studies, and review datasets to understand correlations between socioeconomic status, dietary intake, & media as they relate to obesity. 9) Predicting & Explaining Youth PA Behavior - Literature review will permit an understanding of variable definition and will permit scale construction. Cognitive interviews will initiate the pilot testing of the scales followed by an analysis utilizing 500 participants.