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Kids at risk: Assessing diet and exercise behaviors in adolescents
January 29, 2007Do adolescents get enough exercise and eat the right foods? Is there too much fat in their diets? In a study published in the February 2007 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed the behavior of almost 900 11-to-15 year-olds and found that nearly 80% had multiple physical activity and dietary risk behaviors, almost half had at least three risk behaviors, and only 2% met all four of the health guidelines in the study.
Using both physical measurements and surveying techniques, four behaviors were assessed: physical activity, television viewing time, percent calories from fat, and daily servings of fruits and vegetables. In addition, parental health behaviors were sampled.
Fifty-five percent of adolescents did not meet the physical activity guideline, although significantly more boys (59%) than girls (33.6%) did meet the standard. About 30% exceeded 2 hours of television viewing time and the majority of the sample did not meet dietary standards. Only 32% and 11.9% of the sample met the recommendations for fat consumption and servings of fruits and vegetables, respectively.
There was some evidence that parents' health behaviors were associated with adolescents' health behaviors. For the girls, two parent health behaviors—never smoking and meeting fruit and vegetable guidelines—were associated with fewer adolescent risk behaviors. Parents' number of risk behaviors was weakly but positively associated with a higher number of risk behaviors in boys.
Writing in the article, Alvaro Sanchez, PhD, states, "These findings contribute to the body of evidence that most adolescents fail to meet multiple diet and physical activity guidelines and continue to be in need of interventions that target multiple behaviors. Although health promotion programs frequently target multiple behaviors, little is known about the best approaches to stimulating multiple behavior change"¦Further research is needed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of different strategies for promoting multiple behavior change in adolescence."
Elsevier Health Sciences
There was some evidence that parents' health behaviors were associated with adolescents' health behaviors. For the girls, two parent health behaviors—never smoking and meeting fruit and vegetable guidelines—were associated with fewer adolescent risk behaviors. Parents' number of risk behaviors was weakly but positively associated with a higher number of risk behaviors in boys.
Writing in the article, Alvaro Sanchez, PhD, states, "These findings contribute to the body of evidence that most adolescents fail to meet multiple diet and physical activity guidelines and continue to be in need of interventions that target multiple behaviors. Although health promotion programs frequently target multiple behaviors, little is known about the best approaches to stimulating multiple behavior change"¦Further research is needed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of different strategies for promoting multiple behavior change in adolescence."
Elsevier Health Sciences
Risk Behavior Current Events and Risk Behavior News RSSDecrease in physical activity may not be a factor in increased obesity rates among adolescents
Decreased physical activity may have little to do with the recent spike in obesity rates among U.S. adolescents, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Pitt study shows linkage between teen girls' weight and sexual behavior
A University of Pittsburgh study sheds new light on the relationship between race, body weight and sexual behavior among adolescent girls.
Teens are heading in wrong direction: Likely to have sex, but not use contraception
Between 2003 and 2007, the progress made in the 1990s and early 2000s in improving teen contraceptive use and reducing teen pregnancy and childbearing stalled, and may even have reversed among certain groups of teens.
Prevention program helps teens override a gene linked to risky behavior
A family-based prevention program designed to help adolescents avoid substance use and other risky behavior proved especially effective for a group of young teens with a genetic risk factor contributing toward such behavior.
Avoiding secondhand smoke during pregnancy
Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) commonly called secondhand smoke, can harm a developing fetus and may account for complications during pregnancy and birth.
Neutral HIV presentations more likely to be considered inviting, study finds
A recent study by University of Illinois professor of psychology Dolores Albarracín and her colleagues at the University of Florida and the Alachua County Health Department in Florida found a method to increase enrollment among high-risk individuals in HIV prevention programs.
Teens making poor choices when it comes to riding in vehicles
Injury prevention experts have long known that teens are less likely than other motorists to wear seat belts while driving. Now, researchers from the Meharry-State Farm Alliance at Meharry Medical College have discovered lack of seat belt use by teen passengers may be an even bigger problem.
Women in India abused by husbands at far greater risk for HIV infection
India is home to the third-largest number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases in the world and, as in the U.S. and many African nations, the rate of infection among women continues to rise faster than that among men.
When it comes to abstinence teens, adults aren't speaking the same language
Abstinence can mean different things to adolescents than to adults. That's one reason why abstinence-only programs do not have strong effects in preventing teenage sexual activity, according to new University of Washington research.
Programs succeed in reducing risky sex among HIV-positive minority men
Research has shown that HIV-positive African American and Hispanic men who were sexually abused as children are particularly vulnerable to engaging in high-risk sex and experiencing depressive symptoms. Yet few HIV intervention programs exist to help them.
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