Browsing by Subject "Body weight"
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Item Assessing the effects of the holiday season on body weight, body fat percentage, and blood pressure(2012-05) Fortenberry, Meagan; Cooper, Jamie A.; Boylan, Lee M.; Reed, DebraBackground: Longitudinal studies among U.S. adults show that average weight gain is 1kg per year. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of the Holiday Season (Thanksgiving to New Years Day) on changes in body weight, body fat percentage (BF%), and blood pressure (BP) in adults. Methods: A total of 148 subjects (age 18-65y) were evaluated in November (baseline) and January (follow-up). Data collected at each visit included height, weight, BF%, BP, and resting heart rate (HR). In both visits, subjects were evaluated at the same time of day wearing a hospital gown, were instructed to refrain from vigorous exercise for 12 hours, and fasted for 4 hours prior to testing. BF% was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: From baseline to follow up visits, there were significant increases in body weight (0.78±1.28kg), BF% (0.52±2.27%), systolic and diastolic BP (1.84±10.10mmHg and 2.32±14.20mmHg, respectively), and HR (2.32±11.52bpm). When analyzed by body mass index category, obese subjects showed a significantly greater increase in BF% from November to January compared to normal weight subjects (p < 0.02) and trended for a difference compared to overweight subjects (p= 0.09). Conclusions: Adult subjects showed an average increase in body weight of 0.78kg between baseline and follow-up visits. If these subjects gain the national average of 1kg per year, up to 78% of annual weight gain could be attributed to the holiday season. Additionally, obese subjects may be most at risk as they showed the greatest increases in BF%.Item Dietary behavior in low income postpartum women : psychosocial and body weight correlates(2004-05) George, Goldy Chacko, 1973-; Freeland-Graves, Jeanne H.The purpose of this research was to examine psychosocial and body weight correlates of dietary behavior in low-income tri-ethnic women. In Study 1, a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed and validated against diet records in 95 college women and 50 low-income postpartum women. Pearson's correlations were 0.42 among college women and 0.45 among low-income women. Cross-classification of participants into quartiles resulted in 76% of college women and 79% of low-income women being classified correctly. These results suggested that the FFQ was valid for dietary assessment among young women in the southwestern United States. In Study 2, approximately 160 mothers were recruited in the hospital 0-1 days following childbirth, and prepregnancy weight and demographic information were obtained. Weight was measured at 6 months and 1 year postpartum; psychosocial factors were assessed at 1 year. Diet during pregnancy and postpartum was assessed via food frequency questionnaires administered at 1.5 months, and at 6 and 12 months postpartum, respectively. From pregnancy to postpartum, % calories from fat (delta = +1.1%, p<0.05) and added sugar (delta = +2.0%, p<0.05) increased. A greater percentage of lactating than non-lactating women (64% vs. 38%, p<0.05) met recommendations for fruits during pregnancy. Mean intakes of calcium, vitamin A and dairy foods were higher in women who had retained <10% of their prepregnancy weight at 1 year postpartum than in those who had gained [greater-than or equal to] 10%. During late postpartum, women in the highest tertile of compliance with dietary recommendations had a more positive body image (p<0.041) than those in the lowest tertile, and less neglect of self-care (p<0.001), weight-related distress (p<0.006), stress (p<0.009), depressive symptoms (p<0.020), and perceived barriers to weight loss (p<0.039). These findings suggest that the transition from pregnancy to postpartum is associated with a negative impact on dietary behavior in low-income women. Intakes of calcium, vitamin A and dairy foods may be associated with lower weight retention in postpartum. Furthermore, psychosocial variables may influence adherence to dietary guidelines during this time.Item The effect of water loss on percent body fat(Texas Tech University, 1983-12) Lewis, Beth AnnThis research project proposed to determine if water loss, as a result of sweating, elicited a change in percent body fat. More explicitly, this study focused on a comparison of percent body fat measurements prior to sweating, following sweating, and postrehydration.Item Weight control, self-perception, and self-esteem in adolescence : the role of schools and social comparison(2011-05) Mueller, Anna Strassmann; Muller, Chandra; Raley, R. Kelly; Frank, Kenneth; Hayward, Mark; Umberson, Debra; Crosnoe, RobertFor adolescents, body weight can be a complicated and sometimes difficult issue. Though the majority of adolescents report being aware of normative gendered body ideals, how adolescents incorporate or reject these ideals into their own weight-control decisions or sense of self can vary dramatically, largely in reaction to their social experiences with body ideals in the local, immediate contexts of their daily lives. The role of one such local context - schools - has remained largely unexplored in existing literature. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and multi-level modeling, I investigate the role high school weight cultures play in the development of adolescents’ weight-loss behaviors, overweight self-perceptions, and self-esteem. I employ social comparison theories, specifically the idea of who may serve as a likely target for social comparison - general others, similar others, or high status others - to develop hypotheses about which aspects of the school context may be associated with various aspects of adolescents’ body weight. Overall, my results indicate that there is a strong relationship between adolescents’ weight-loss behavior, self-perception and self-esteem and the weight-related culture in the school. For example, adolescent boys, on average, are significantly less likely to report perceiving themselves as overweight or engaging in weight-loss behaviors when they attend schools where there are many overweight boys in the student body. I also find that there is some variation within the school in terms of which peers are most salient to adolescents’ behaviors and self-perceptions. Both boys and girls are particularly impacted by the values and behaviors of similar others, when similarity is defined by same-sex adolescents of a similar body size. For example, on average, overweight adolescent girls are significantly more likely to report engaging in weight-loss behaviors when a higher proportion of overweight girls in their school also are engaged in weight-loss behaviors. The same pattern is found among adolescent boys. Overall, these findings suggest that meso-level social contexts - like schools - may be particularly important to how individuals incorporate macro-level beliefs or values - like gendered body ideals - into their own behaviors and self-concepts.