Solveig A. Cunningham, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Hubert Department of Global Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Her research focuses on matters pertaining to health, particularly obesity, and how it is affected by family and the social environment. Dr. Cunningham is the author of a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine titled “Incidence of childhood obesity in the United States.” (Cunningham SA, Kramer MR, Narayan KM. 2014;370:403–411). The study evaluated data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999, with 7738 participants. The researchers concluded that “incident obesity between the ages of 5 and 14 years was more likely to have occurred at younger ages,” especially among children who were overweight when they entered kindergarten.
The 2013–2014 recipients of the American Academy of Family Physicians Americans In Motion–Healthy Interventions (AIM-HI) Family Medicine Residency Program Childhood Obesity Grant, funded by MetLife Foundation, are making great progress toward preventing childhood obesity in their communities as well as helping children and their families cultivate healthy habits. Family medicine residents have conducted more than 100 in-clinic and community-based events and educated more than 800 children and adults, empowering participants with knowledge and incentives to keep engaged in physical activity, healthy eating, and emotional well-being. Motivated to keep patients and communities in a healthier state, residency programs are taking measurable steps to advance the skills and competencies of residents and staff. They are training residents and staff in strategies, including motivational interviewing, prevention and treatment of obesity, nutrition and diet counseling, and promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviors. Some residents have also taken the initiative to create educational materials and train participants to mentor their peers. With a remarkable start, the AIM-HI Family Medicine Residency Program Childhood Obesity Grant is expected to improve outcomes in health-promoting behaviors among participants as well as galvanize family medicine residents to take preventive measures toward reducing childhood obesity and related chronic conditions.
Timothy D. Nelson, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Dr. Nelson is also the Associate Director of Clinical Training. His research focuses on pediatric psychology and attempting to understand the factors that influence pediatric health and key health behaviors, as well as interventions to improve health. He is the author of an article published in Pediatrics titled “Parental underestimates of child weight: A meta-analysis.” (Lundahl A, Kidwell KM, Nelson TD. 2014 Feb 2 [Epub ahead of print]). Dr. Nelson, Alyssa Lundahl, and Katherine M. Kidwell reviewed a total of 69 articles published to January 2013 that assessed parental perceptions of children's weight and then compared those perceptions to recognized standards for defining overweight. Their meta-analysis found that half of parents underestimated their children's overweight/obese status and a significant minority underestimated children's normal weight.
The Family Nutrition and Physical Activity (FNPA) Screening Tool is a tool developed as a result of an ongoing research partnership between the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and its Foundation with Iowa State University. The instrument includes items that evaluate family policies and environments that influence children's physical activity, diet, and sedentary behavior (assessed as time spent on television and computer). This screening tool was created from an evidence-based review that summarized factors influencing children's risk for becoming overweight. Research has shown that this screening tool can predict potential adverse changes in a child's risk for overweight. After completing the survey, answers are shown as well as the recommended behaviors for each question. It is the hope that these recommended behaviors will be useful for families and provide suggested changes that they might be able to implement to promote healthy lifestyles for children. The FNPA Screening Tool is available at http://andfst.eatright-fnpa.org/public/partner.cfm.
Michael Pollan and Raj Patel are hosting a series of talks at Wheeler Hall at the University of California Berkeley titled “Edible Education 101: The Rise and Future of the Food Movement.” The course, which began on January 27, 2014, and will run until May 5, 2014, will include lectures by Alice Waters, chef, author, and proprietor of Chez Panisse, farmer and author Joel Salatin, and Pamela C. Ronald, Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis, as well as many others. Nearly every Monday, notable writers, researchers, and activists will speak about how the food system works and what we can do to make it more healthful, equitable, and sustainable. The course is produced by the Edible Schoolyard Project with support from the Berkeley Food Institute and is sponsored by the Epstein-Roth Foundation, Stephen Silberstein, 11th Hour Project, the Loker Foundation, and Bar-Lev Associates. More details can be found at: www.edibleschoolyard.org/ee101.
Barry M. Popkin, PhD, is the W.R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Nutrition and the Carla Smith Chamblee Distinguished Professor of Global Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Carolina Population Center. His research focuses on understanding dietary behavior, especially in terms of eating patterns, trends, and sociodemographic determinants. He is the author of a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition titled “The association of fast food consumption with poor dietary outcomes and obesity among children: Is it the fast food or the remainder of diet?” (Poti JM, Duffey KJ, Popkin BM. 2014;99:162–171). The study compared the independent associations with overweight/obesity or dietary outcomes for fast food consumption compared to dietary patterns for the remainder of intake. The researchers found that children who ate fast food had a Western dietary pattern for the remainder of intake that might be more strongly associated with obesity and overweight than fast food.
Katya Herman, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Her research focuses on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and obesity epidemiology. Dr. Herman is the author of a study published in Preventive Medicine titled “Sedentary behavior in a cohort of 8- to 10-year-old children at elevated risk of obesity.” (Herman KM, et al. 2014 Jan 15 [Epub ahead of print]). The study looked at 534 children from Quebec, Canada, ages 8–10 years, with at least one obese parent, between the years of 2005 and 2008. Sedentary behavior and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were monitored using an accelerometer and self-reporting and height and weight were measured. Not surprisingly, the researchers found that overweight/obese children were more sedentary overall and reported higher screen time than their normal weight peers. However, the study also indicated that even many of the normal weight children were fairly sedentary or what was called an “active couch-potato.”
Michael Fedewa, MA, is a doctoral student in the Department of Kinesiology at The University of Georgia College of Education. He is the lead author of an article published in Pediatrics titled “Exercise and insulin resistance in youth: A meta-analysis.” (Fedewa MV, Gist NH, Evans EM, et al. 2014;133:e163–e174]. The study reviewed peer-reviewed articles published before June 25, 2013, and was limited to randomized controlled trials. The researchers assessed 546 sources; 24 of those studies (4.4%) were eligible for inclusion. Although the efficacy of exercise training on fasting insulin and insulin resistance has been fairly well studied in adults, its effectiveness has not been thoroughly studied in children and adolescents. Based on the review, a small to moderate effect on fasting insulin and insulin resistance, from exercise training, was found in youth, supporting the use of exercise for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.
Ulfat Shaikh, MD, MPH, MS, is the Director of Healthcare Quality Integration at the University of California (UC) Davis Schools of Health. Dr. Shaikh is also a board-certified pediatrician at the UC Davis Children's Hospital. Her research activities focus on the design, implementation, and evaluation of healthcare quality improvement initiatives, with a particular focus on pediatric nutrition, obesity, asthma, preventable readmission, and patient satisfaction. Dr. Shaikh is the author of a study published in the American Journal of Medical Quality titled “Impact of electronic health record clinical decision support on the management of pediatric obesity.” (Shaikh U, Berrong J, Nettiksimmons J, et al. 2014 Jan 14 [Epub ahead of print]). The study assessed the impact of an electronic health record–based clinical decision support mechanism in improving the diagnosis and management of pediatric obesity. Dr. Shaikh and her team programmed a point-of-care alert linked to a checklist and standardized documentation templates to bring obesity/overweight to the physician's attention. They found that clinical guideline adherence increased significantly, although not universally.
Haidong Zhu, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Georgia Prevention Center at Georgia Regents University in Augusta, Georgia. Dr. Zhu's research focuses on the identification of genetic and epigenetic factors that contribute to the development of salt-sensitive hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. She is the author of a study recently published in Pediatrics titled “Dietary sodium, adiposity, and inflammation in healthy adolescents.” (Zhu H, Pollock NK, Kotak I, et al. 2014 Feb 2 [Epub ahead of print]). The study was conducted to determine the relationship between sodium intake and adiposity and inflammation in healthy adolescents. It involved 766 healthy white and African American children between the ages of 14 and 18 years. Dietary sodium intake was estimated, percent body fat was measured, subcutaneous abdominal fat and visceral fat were assessed, and other laboratory measurements were taken. The researchers found that the mean sodium consumption by adolescents, in the study, was as high as that of adults and more than twice the daily intake recommended by the American Heart Association.
